All Thanks to a Cosmic Blunder

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The early morning sun blazed down upon the small Australian Outback town, baking the bitumen to scorching levels. The morning rush was in full swing, cars criss-crossing the town of twenty-two thousand on the way to drop off children at school or to head to the numerous places of employment. Normally, a morning featuring clear blue skies and a glorious unobscured sun might be seen as a perfect start to the day, but there was just one issue.

It was already forty-three degrees Celsius, at six-fifty-nine AM.

The heat was a particular issue in one household, a simple ex-government dwelling with a ‘sold’ real estate sign still sitting out the front. Inside of the cream-coloured brick house, fans and the single swampy worked overtime to keep the temperature as low as they could, however it was a losing battle.

In one plain room at the end of the house, a cheap alarm clock’s LED display ticked over to seven o’clock.

Ungodly beeping shattered the morning calm, a figure in the coverless double bed jolting up with a start.

A lightly-tanned arm swatted the clock blindly, knocking it from the small set of bedside draws. It didn’t reach the floor, the fall halted by its power cord going taut. Instead it banged against the side of the wooden draws, the alarm dying out as two sweat-covered legs swung out over the side of the bed.

“Fuck me,” the owner of said legs grumbled, running a scarred hand through his messy brown hair. “Perfect weather for a trip to bloody Tennant Creek.”

The bed creaked and groaned as Daniel Green, a perfect specimen of a twenty year-old computer technician, relieved it of his sizable bulk. Scratching the hole-ridden black briefs that he wore, he stumbled over towards the wardrobe while simultaneously shielding his cold-blue eyes from the sun. The white door was slid open to reveal its treasures, Daniel’s hand skipping the neatly arranged Iron Maiden, Metallica and Korn band shirts hanging on hangers to head straight for a brown-and-yellow vertically-striped button-up business shirt.

Withdrawing it, along with a carefully ironed pair of black dress jeans, he made a final trip to the underwear drawer before stumbling out of his room. With clothes in hand he made the short journey down the hallway, passing the remaining two bedrooms and entering the tiny shared bathroom.

Only to find a dirty set of boxers sprayed haphazardly on the tiled floor.

“Really Nick?” He sighed and sidestepped past them, shutting the door and locking it behind him. The clothing he was planning to wear to work was hung up on the towel rack, and the shower taps soon were turned to enable the ice-cold water to flow out.

Stepping into the shower-bath, he dunked his head under the water stream and immediately was slammed into full wakefulness. He had no time to enjoy the relief though, he had a wonderful five-hundred kilometre drive to complete before two and needed to get going. After the shower was turned off, he dried himself with the only towel in the bathroom that was actually were it was supposed to be on the towel rack. What followed after that was the more difficult part of the morning.

“Come on,” Daniel strained, his… ‘generous’ waistline resisting his attempts to do up his pants. “I swear to buggery!” A sudden burst of strength and the button slipped through the hole, a sigh of relief followed by the sound of a zipper. “I should cut down on the pasta,” he muttered, patting himself on the belly before donning his shirt and buttoning it up.

Turning to the mirror, he ensured that he didn’t need to shave and then placed his glasses upon his nose. One quick comb later and he was all ready to leave the bathroom, having spent no more than five minutes.

Great, that left a generous twenty-five minutes before he needed to depart.

“What a stupid cow.”

Daniel, nursing a cup of tea while simultaneously reading the local paper and putting on his forty dollar Kmart work shoes, scoffed.

“’Reducing the speed limit in the CBD to ten kilometres an hour will prevent any accidents’. Yeah, because twenty kilometres is just completely unsafe, I’m sure ten kilometres will prevent all the drunks being hit by people talking on their phones while driving”

Flinging the paper shut, he drained his tea and pulled out the ipod-touch he kept in his chest pocket. A reminder to bring the work laptop on his three day trip was quickly dismissed, and he glanced at the time.

Seven-Thirty-One am.

“Shit.” Leaving the empty cup on the table, Daniel stood up from the cheap chair and grabbed his wallet. It went into his back pocket, followed by three pens, a pencil, half a box of peppermint tic-tacs, and a spare 3 metre Cat5 Ethernet cable.

Because nothing sucked more for an IT tech than not having a network cable when needed.

The portable tool set was the last thing he grabbed, before he raced out of the front door and into the heat of the day.

Thankfully his car was only a few metres away and under the shade, the white 2007 Toyota Corolla Conquest hopefully not about to cook if he entered it. Unlocking the door and ducking inside, Daniel was thankful that the steering wheel wasn’t hot enough to sear his hands.

Unlike the previous afternoon.

“Bloody winter,” he cursed, fumbling with the key and inserting it. “What I’d give for just one day of cooler weather…”

Pausing to secure the tool set carefully on the passenger seat, remembering the last time when he had braked hard because of an idiot driver, he turned back to the wheel and commenced a final check of the time on his ipod.

‘Eh, I guess I can late by five minutes just this once.’

Shrugging at the thought, he turned the key and started the car up.

The post-market sound-system hadn’t even powered on before a blindingly white flash filled his vision.

“The fu-“

“-ck?”

It took his mind a few moments to process what had just occurred.

A chill wind ruffled his short-sleeved shirt, a light dusting of snow blew softly into his hair, and most importantly of all he was standing in a desolate, snowy landscape and not sitting in his car listening to the soothing sound of early morning metal.

Slowly, Daniel turned his head from side to side, trying to make sense of the situation. It appeared that, somehow, starting his car had transported him from one barren wasteland to another.

Except this one seemed slightly safer.

‘This is impossible,’ he thought while trying to think of an explanation for his situation. ‘Does God actually exist and is more Old Testament than New? Did Ronnie drug the miso soup last night?’ It was then that he came to a chilling conclusion.

“Oh no,” he winced. “Please tell me it’s not like the ‘Toyota brake recall’ all over again.” Shaking the though off immediately after, he spent five minutes searching in vain for any sign of civilisation. With any luck, he’d be somewhere nice like Canada, but considering his method of arrival he doubted that even they would be able to help him.

Closing his eyes, he took a calming breath when the winds picked up and the snowfall slowly became heavier. Bending down to retrieve the tool set from the snow beside him, he finally reached into his right pocket to withdraw his cheap HTC smartphone.

“Yep,” he muttered. “No signal.”

Triple zero was tried anyway, and when that didn’t work he scrolled through his contacts to find the international emergency number that his first-aid instructor had told them. One-hundred and twelve also yielded no result, not even when tried three times.

“Great, just great.” He hadn’t even brought any water with him, having expected to be at a servo filling up before his trip.

Daniel knew that he was in a lot of trouble. One does not easily go from being semi-knowledgeable about survival in the harsh Outback to knowing how to stay alive in snowy conditions, but he wasn’t stupid.

With the deteriorating weather, the ideal method of staying in the one spot and waiting for help was out. Likewise, he doubted that any helicopters or planes would be flying around nearby so a signal was out of the question. The primary concerns would be shelter, warmth, water and food. Currently he was lacking three out of the four.

‘Heh, see, this is why being fat has perks.’

Fat or not, his chances of living through the night were not high, so Daniel decided on the best way to go about things. His eyes rested on a mountain to the left of him, and he knew that a mountain meant a high chance of a cave. Given the barrenness of the surrounds, he doubted that any animal would be able to survive and thus occupy said cave. Also, the peak would provide a good chance for a mobile signal, so that was another point in its favour. Before beginning the trip which had a high chance of killing him, he did a final check of his belongings.

He had the clothes on his back, a cheap smartphone, an ipod with two years of IT notes and photos of server rooms on it, a toolset with screwdrivers and pliers, and a single three-metre Ethernet cable, blue.

Daniel was confident that he would be able to survive the hostile environment.

He was Australian after all.

‘Brrr, looks like it’ll be another rough storm.’

Even in his heavy chitin armour, Burrow shivered when the chill wind blew in through the cave entrance. Their group of stragglers, left-over from the failed Canterlot invasion two days ago, numbered at fifty-three and he still had been assigned to watch the entrance for the second day in a row. He had started to get the feeling that Sergeant Piller had it out for him, the highest-ranked soldier in their group unfortunately having landed in the same place as he had.

Looking down at his left side, he winced at the massive dent in his dirty blue armour. Fortunately, he’d escaped with only a few bruises, unlike the unlucky majority that were currently being treated by the six nurses deeper into the cave. Moving over towards the flat rock that had served as his trusty seat, he rubbed it down with his forehooves in an attempt to take the edge off it. Sitting down, he shivered when his rear touched the cold rock.

‘Curse this cold. Stupid Pillar, picking me instead of Aphid again.’ Burrow continued to silently grumble, not even bothering to check the entrance like he was meant to. ‘Stupid scholars, thinking that us soldiers wouldn’t know what to do without them. At least the nurses and drones don’t constantly complain about only having three soldiers to do all of the dangerous work!’

In truth, he was still perplexed as to why Chrysalis had ordered almost every changeling to participate in the invasion; however it wasn’t like the Queen was ever going to explain her plans to a lowly soldier hatched by insignificant parents. The small amount of nurses had been brought along as medics, the scholars to decipher the Equestrian’s magical knowledge and technology, and the drones were brought along to provide numbers. He was okay with sharing the cave system with the drones and nurses, but the scholars were another matter.

‘Pompous idiots, didn’t even know how to treat a chitin crack.’

He frowned, still remembering when the lead researcher called him a ‘dullard soldier’ in front of the drones and nurses. It didn’t help that Transmutation was the highest changeling in their group, making him the leader.

Outside, the snowstorm picked up in intensity, and reluctantly Burrow left his seat to escape the chill. Moving away from the doorway, he trotted around and searched for a new spot away from the entrance.

“Grrag ba ghraa! Grrag ba ghraa!”

Burrow froze, the unnatural growls barely audible over the harsh winds.

But they were definitely getting closer.

“Grrag ba ghraa!”

Spinning around, Burrow took a frightened step back. Whatever it was, it sounded big and pissed off. That was not something that he wanted to deal with.

He glanced back towards the tunnel leading into the depths of the caves, the unsuspecting ones within ripe for the picking for any snow monster. Looking back, he gulped and stopped his retreat.

Lowering his head so that his long horn was pointed straight towards the entrance, he shivered as the growls approached ever closer.

This time it wasn’t just from the cold.

“Fuck this snow! Fuck this snow!”

Suffice to say, Daniel was not a happy little vegemite. Despite his ample (although manly) body fat, the cold was taking its toll. His teeth chattered as he trudged through the heavy snow towards the cave that promised salvation, the rage at the cold weather keeping him going.

“Fuck this snow!”

A final curse and he had done it. Daniel had reached the cave mouth. Stumbling inside, he shook the majority of the snow off of himself before placing the tool set on the ground. Hands went to his knees, and he doubled over while huffing and puffing.

“Cherbzzt!”

He jolted upright, going straight for the tool set. Quickly snapping open the plastic latch, he withdrew the largest Philips head screwdriver he had. Waving it around in the dark, he strained his eyes and attempted to see through the gloom. “I swear, even if you’re a bloody polar bear I don’t care! I’m not leaving this cave!”

Another buzzing sound followed by a hiss was the response, so he fumbled around with frozen fingers and pulled out his ipod. Shaking the snow off of it, he managed to switch the LED light on after three shaky tries. Aiming it at the source of the buzzing and hissing, he froze when the light revealed its form.

What he could only describe as an insect crossed with a small horse was shielding its eyes from the bright light, the creature chattering with obvious anger. Thin wings on its back buzzed momentarily, and it stepped back on hole-riddled hooves. The creature came up to his waist if he was judging correctly, but one look at the fangs and horn it had convinced him to not discount it as a threat.

“The hell?” He had noticed possibly the most concerning thing about the animal he was waving a screwdriver at. It wasn’t the fangs, the horn, or the fact that he knew that nothing like it was supposed to exist on Earth.

No, it was the fact that it was wearing a simple helmet that looked like blue shell, and a covering on its back that seemed to be made of the same material.

‘An alien?’ he wondered, keeping the screwdriver held out although he lowered the light. ‘Then again, it’s not like I’m really where I should be. This is insane!’

While perplexed and, even though he wouldn’t admit it to a soul, frightened at the many differing possibilities to explain his situation, Daniel knew that standing around and lamenting his situation wasn’t the greatest idea. The bug-horse in front of him was still standing like it was about to charge, but it had raised its head so that the horn was no longer pointing towards his groin. It chattered again, tilting its head and examining him with its solid blue eyes.

Slowly, he lowered the Philips head but continued to watch the being closely. In return, the bug relaxed its stance and took a step forward, before looking up at him and chattering again. Not knowing what to do, he carefully placed the screwdriver on top of the tool set’s lid, the creature’s eyes following his every action. When the makeshift weapon was out of his hand, the bug continued to carefully approach.

The curious expression, or at least that’s what he assumed, helped to calm his nerves. The bug must have realised that he was just as confused as it was, the creature stopping a metre away and giving him another look-over. It chattered again under its breath, before it stretched out a foreleg and tapped him on the knee.

“So, I take it that we’re not going to try and kill each other over a cave?”

In reply, the creature stopped its investigation of his snow-drenched jeans and frowned at him, more chatters leaving its sharp-toothed mouth.

“Yeah, I know,” Daniel sighed while it began to prod his shoe instead. “I wish you could speak English as well.”

Burrow snarled when the snow monster stomped into the cave, although underneath the façade he was secretly terrified of the two-legged newcomer. Changelings relied on mass numbers for a reason, and he doubted that he could hold off an angry monster that likely wanted its cave back. The thing dropped something on the ground and hunched over, Burrow steadying himself and preparing for an attack.

“Stay back!”

At his shouted command, a series of very strange events unfolded. Firstly, the creature jolted and appeared to panic, a foreleg tipped with a minotaur-like hand reaching down for the box-thing it had dropped on the cave floor. Then, after snapping open some kind of latch, it withdrew a long, pointed object with a bright-green grip. The monster then proceeded to wave the pointed object around in front of it, incredibly small eyes darting around widely.

“I mean it!” he hissed at the end for good measure.

Then, the monster fumbled around on its chest and held something else towards him with the other hand.

A blinding light burned his eyes, Burrow shielding them with a foreleg while the hardened milky shells that served as eyelids closed in order to prevent any damage. He panicked and took a step back, unable to see the attack that was no doubt incoming.

No such assault came. Instead the monster uttered hushed, guttural speech and the light was removed. Blinking open his eyes, Burrow saw that the monster had lowered the light-device and was staring at him. The pointed object was still held in his direction, but now it seemed to be more like a precaution than an attempt to harm. Weighing up his options, he decided that if indeed they were trespassing in this creature’s cave then he could at least try and be a little understanding.

He lifted his head up so his horn was no longer aiming at the monster, a gesture that seemed to convey an understandable message to the intruder.

Burrow took a step forward, his eyes darting to the piece of metal in the creature’s hand. “Can you put… whatever that is down? I’m not going to hurt you.”

The biped glanced at the weapon, before lowering down onto the top of the same box that it had withdrawn it from. It steadily stood back up to full height, Burrow still not wanting to fight it even without whatever it had been wielding before. He advanced closer, taking care to not make any aggressive moves. Stopping barely a body length away, he examined the creature and came to a startling conclusion.

It was wearing clothing, something that Equestrians occasionally wore. Also, now that he was closer, he could see that the box was in fact some type of chest with a see-through lid constructed from a mysterious material. Inside he caught a glimpse of dangerous looking implements, and he suppressed a shudder whilst silently thanking that the creature did not seem intent on using them.

Going off the fact that it was wearing clothes, seemed capable of reason, and possessed eyes that held the light of intelligence, Burrow guessed that it was not some simple beast. Rather, it was a creature that belonged to a race unknown to changelings. Or rather it was at least unknown to him, he’d bet his horn that the scholars would be very eager to examine it.

“Just what are you, an alien?” he muttered taking another look at the being’s face. Now that he was closer, he could see that his previous assumption that it was a snow monster was false. There was no coarse hair to keep it warm, only a curly, drenched, and brown mane. It lacked chitin and instead seemed to be covered with a mostly-hairless substance, pale-white in colouration although he guessed that the cold had something to do with the lack of colour. Now that he was thinking more clearly, the creature looked really out of place. Instead of owning this cave, was it also lost and seeking shelter from the harsh snow plains outside?

Reaching out a hoof, he gently prodded the creature’s knee, at least what he though was a knee. Since hooves were hard, he instead used his foreleg to touch the material and found it to be very strange indeed.

He looked up again when the creature tried to speak, the being acting as if it was directing a question towards him.

“Um… no?”

Burrow hoped that his guess was right. ‘Oh, what am I thinking? We obviously don’t speak the same language.’

The creature replied with a longer string of meaningless words, Burrow too busy examining the strange and shiny black feet. Looking back up, he noticed the creature shiver when it brushed a clump of snow off of its shoulder. Glancing around, he knew that he couldn’t take it back into the cave lest the others try and kick it out. Despite the initial confrontation, it didn’t appear to mean any harm.

“Ah, over here!” Galloping over to a corner, he pointed with a hoof towards a flat surface of rock. “It’s not a fire or anything, but it’ll keep you out of the chill.” Hoping that hoof and head gestures would be enough to communicate the point, he added a smile as a bonus. At first the biped looked merely disturbed, but soon walked over to examine the offered spot. It glanced again at him before looking around the cave, Burrow tapping on the ground to try and convince it that it was a good idea.

Evidently it was enough, the creature sitting down and placing the box of murderous implements next to it. Burrow cast a final glance towards the tunnel leading deeper into the caves. “Good, okay, you stay here and get warmer while I stay on watch. If anyone, especially those scholars, try to force you out then I’ll stop them.” He returned to his own rock, sitting down and leaning up against the wall. “Hey, at least now I have some company, even if we can’t really talk to each other.” He tapped his forehooves on the rock, asking the first question on his mind.

“Say, sorry if this is offensive, but are you a male or a female?”

Daniel tried to rub some warmth back into his limbs, grumbling to himself as the bug-horse continued to chatter away from its own seat. ‘I know I wished for it to be cooler, but this is just too far. Now I’m stuck in a cave, freezing my arse off, and the first intelligent lifeform I meet wants to beat the cold by talking me to death.’ Turning his head, he rolled his eyes at the creature. “Look, I appreciate the talk, but you know that it’s pointless though and… and now I’m doing it. Perfect.”

Bug-Horse nodded and chattered merrily, only providing another example of the communication issues. It seemed to be rather pleased with his presence now, not that he was really an expert on alien bug-horse facial expressions.

Highschool IT didn’t cover that one.

Another chatter from Bug-Horse bought up a more pressing concern than not being able to verbally communicate.

Thanks to his long and arduous journey to get to the cave, his less-than-impressive man-girth, and the fact that he still hadn’t had his usual morning coffee, the lull of sleep was calling to him with increasing temptation. Knowing that falling asleep while being watched by an unknown creature was an unwise move, he tried to keep his mind off things by thinking about how one could route an Adobe Cloud product through multiple firewalls.

He was fast asleep the next minute.

“…and then Shutter told Trans about it, and you should have seen the look on her fac- oh.”

Burrow stopped talking when he realised that his companion was no longer listening, the strange head resting on a shoulder and the fat stomach rising and falling in time with the breathing.

Obviously the spot had worked, Burrow pleased that he had made a new friend and helped out a lost creature all in one go. Already some colour was returning to the outside of it, Burrow shivering on his own seat when another gust blew by him thanks to the storm outside.

Eying the sleeping creature, he realised that the spot it was in did look far warmer than his own.
Glancing to the entrance once more, he decided that it couldn’t hurt to move to a warmer place.

After all, a cold soldier on guard duty was an inattentive soldier on guard duty.

“Don’t mind me,” he muttered, sitting down next to the sleeping creature. “I’m just going to sit here for a moment.”

It was pretty relaxing, and over the next ten minutes he did feel a little warmer. Glancing over at his friend, he smiled at the silly grin on its face.

It was then that the fin on the back of his head quivered, Burrow’s eyes widening in surprise. He felt a small amount of affection coming from the biped, not directed at anything in particular but rather leaking out. Tilting his head, he tried to figure it out. Even stranger was the fact that it contained an undercurrent of lust, but how was that possible during sleep.

Burrow fidgeted on his spot, trying to ignore the trickle of energy. Whatever the magical force that had expelled them from Equestria had been, it had also almost drained him completely dry of energy. Two days later and the need to feed had grown, now the arrival of the creature and the revelation that it could provide affection fit to feed on provided a most tempting situation.

‘No, it’s wrong,’ he tried to look away. ‘It’s asleep and trusts you.’ His mind recalled just what the plans had been if they had succeeded in their invasion, the Equestrians enslaved as a source of nourishment for life and workers. He had, and was, still willing to do that if it meant the prosperity of his Hive. ‘But this is different,’ he reasoned while he fidgeted with his forelegs. ‘It’s lost just like we are.’ His attempts to not betray its trust were ruined when his stomach growled, Burrow glancing back towards the oblivious target. ‘Well, maybe just a really small snack, but only one.’

His mind made up, Burrow edged closer until he was touching the biped on its foreleg. As soon as he did, the energy stopped leaking and instead flowed to him. Burrow buzzed with content, thankful that fate had looked down on him that day. Taking his fill, the tide of emotion never seeming to ebb, he realised that it had a subtly different taste than what he was used to. There also seemed to be very limited magic power in it, in fact it was almost devoid of it. Still, it was a filling meal and that’s all he was really after.

Unfortunately there was a side effect. With the energy came warmth, and with warmth came drowsiness. Even though it was against the rules, he reached up with both hooves and removed his helmet. It was placed down in front of him on the rocky floor, although his main armour stayed on. Yawing, Burrow lost focus on watching the cave entrance and instead rested his head against the softest thing available.

The creature’s shoulder was surprisingly comfortable, even if the fabric covering it was still a little damp. Knowing that it would be a huge embarrassment if he was caught sleeping on the job by his fellows, he focused more on the tunnel leading into the inner cave rather than the doorway he was supposed to watch. In addition, they’d probably just see him as hording a source of food for himself, even if it wasn’t like that at all. That would certainly cause trouble, both for him and his friend.

‘This can only end badly,’ was the last thing he thought before sleep came to claim him. His eyes closed and he toppled over further against being he was resting on, the snowstorm outside picking up with no sign of dying down.

“Burrow?”

Aphid, a simple soldier serving Hive Chrysalis, entered the small entrance cave from the tunnel and looked around. “Burrow, Pillar wanted me to take over from you for the night.” She waited for a response, and when none came she lowered herself to the ground and slinked forwards. Limping slightly thanks to sealed crack in the chitin on her right hind leg, her eyes scanned the gloom. Living underground and in dark places had given changelings excellent night vision, and it wasn’t long before she identified the soldier she had come to relieve.

Unfortunately, he was resting up against a large creature that she had never seen or even heard about before.

It was like a furless minotaur, or at least that was the closest thing she could think of to describe it. A strange box was clutched to its chest, grey with a white top. The creature was wearing some type of clothing and its feet were some of the weirdest she’d ever seen, shiny, long, and black things with what appeared to be little bits of black thread criss-crossing the middle.

Burrow was snoring peacefully, curled up against the monster’s side with a smile on his face.

It took a few minutes for her to get over the shock of finding out that her comrade had not only let an unknown creature into their caves, but had also decided to fall asleep next to it. Aphid didn’t know what to do, glancing to the creature and then Burrow.

Whatever it was, it looked big and mean, massive shoulders and a large gut a likely sign that it didn’t have a lot of problems with securing food. Hopefully it didn’t like dining on changelings. Even if it was wearing clothes and appeared to be a civilised creature, she couldn’t afford to take any chances.

Unlike Burrow it seemed.

Creeping around softly, she reached out a hoof and shook Burrow’s side.

“Huhza?” Burrow muttered, opening drowsy eyes to look at her. She gave him a few seconds to wake up.

And wake up he did.

“Aphid!” he winced, glancing towards the creature he was against. It continued to slumber, Burrow sheepishly scooting away from it before refocusing on her. “Look, I can explain.”

“I doubt that!” she hissed back. “You’ve let in a monster! What if it decides to snack on a few changelings when it gets hungry!?”

“He isn’t like that!” Burrow whispered back, frowning at her. “Mr Growls is nice, he’s just lost like we are!”

“Mr Growls?” she couldn’t believe this. “That’s its name, is it even male?”

Burrow began to fidget. “Well, I don’t really know. He looks like a male, and he can’t speak out language.”

“Did you try Equestrian?”

“No,” Burrow admitted. “But it won’t make a difference, I think he’s from very far away.” He looked up at her. “Please Aphid, he’s my friend. He won’t hurt anyone, and I promise to take care of him and keep him out of trouble. He’s nice, see? He was just scared at first, that was all.”

‘I can’t believe that he’s done this,’ she mentally sighed, before shaking her head.

“No, Burrow. This thin- Mr Growls, is too much of a risk. Besides, we can barely feed ourselves let alone a solid food eater.” At her words, Burrow brightened. She watched on in confusion as Burrow moved back towards the sleeping being and gently held out one of its forelegs out to her with pride on his face.

“Aphid, come and touch him, he’s still leaking out enough love to feed plenty!”

He received a flat look in response.

“Ew. I may be a soldier class but even I have standards. Still, ah… good for you?”

“I’m surprised you’re not an infiltrator, considering that was your first thought.” Aphid took a step back in surprise, the venom in Burrow’s voice taking her off guard. “No, I mean that when he’s sleeping, Mr Growls is letting out love. If you touch his foreleg then you can feed off of it.”

“No way,” she tilted her head. “That’s impossible, love is either directed at you or you drain it, it doesn’t just ‘leak out’.”

“It’s true,” he pressed on. “Step closer and you’ll feel it.”

Hesitantly, she approached closer. Only a body length away, her head-fin began to quiver and her eyes widened. ‘Wow, he’s actually telling the truth!’

“See?” Burrow grinned. “If you’re hungry, and don’t mind ‘leaked love’, then go on and touch his foreleg to get some. It’s different and it won’t recharge your magic very well, but it’s good to eat.”

Aphid reached out her leg but stopped short, wavering as she eyed the creature she was about to feed off. “Are you sure? What if he wakes up and attacks?”

“Then I’ll tell him that you’re not to be attacked, and that’s even if he does attack you.”

“But should we be hogging it for ourselves, what about the others?”

Burrow frowned, glancing down the tunnel. “We’ll… work that out after Mr Growls wakes up. Then we can ask him if it’s all right, but we’ll have to make sure that we let him recover after each feeding.”

“About that, will this harm him?”

“No, it shouldn’t. I mean, it’s only a small amount, right?”

“He is much bigger than a pony,” Aphid began to agree. “That means more love, right?”

“I guess?” Burrow answered, before gesturing again. “Go on and just give it a small try.”

Reaching out the rest of the way, she shuddered when her hoof made contact with the strange substance of the bare foreleg. Burrow was right, a trickle of love beginning to flow into her. It soon grew in amount, and while it tasted weird it did indeed do the trick. Breaking the contact after taking enough, she stared at the creature, then her hoof, and then the proud Burrow. “That’s amazing!”

“I know, right?”

Aphid glanced behind her, making sure none of the others could overhear them. “Should we really be hiding him? I don’t object to a secret food stash, but some of the injured drones could really use this more than us.”

Burrow frowned, clutching Mr Growls’ foreleg protectively. “I don’t know, he’s my friend and I don’t want to just… to just share him around with everyone.”

Aphid had to restrain herself from making another sex joke.

“Burrow, relax,” she reassured while taking a seat away from them both. “I’m sure the scholars will go easy on him.”

“Yeah, right,” Burrow grumbled, settling back down next to Mr Growls. “They’ll probably try and do horrible experiments on him.”

She shook her head, but didn’t attempt to defend the four scholars that were leading their group to safety.

After all, she wouldn’t put it past them.

Can You Hear, Can You Hear the Thunder?

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It was cold, although slightly less so than before.

That was Daniel Green’s first though when he woke up, his limbs stiff but still seemed to have blood flowing through them. Something was leaning on his right side, but his tired mind didn’t mind that much as it was radiating a decent amount of warmth. The chattering was the next thing he noticed although it took him a second to figure out that there were two voices this time.

Looking around, he saw that the weight against him was Bug-Horse, merrily chattering away to a second one that was sitting down against the opposite wall. Neither noticed him awaken, so he used the opportunity to observe the newcomer.

It pretty much looked the same as the Bug-Horse that he had interacted with, except that it seemed slightly smaller with a slender muzzle. The way it was sitting, with its forelegs in the middle of its outstretched hind legs, prevented him for gaining any physical clues as to its gender. However, its chattering seemed softer in tone, so he thought it was fairly safe to assume that it was a female.

Shifting his gaze to his right, he tried to confirm the theory. Unfortunately, first Bug-Horse was sitting the same way as the other, but again that was probably a good thing. Daniel had to remind himself that these creatures weren’t just simple animals, so making an obvious attempt to confirm gender by ogling genitals probably wasn’t the safest idea. Still, he was confident that the first Bug-Horse was a male due to the comparisons to the other creature, so until he had more proof he was going to have to go off of that.

‘Maybe that’s Bug-Horse’s sheila,’ he wondered. ‘If so, checking its gender could get me into a heap of shit with him.’ He decided that playing nice was the best option, after all the creatures seemed to be comfortable around him and with any luck he could scrounge assistance from them. Shifting in his spot to let the one resting on him know that he was awake, he turned his head to be met with a wide smile.

A happy-sounding burst of chatter from Bug-Horse greeted his ears, the creature making the point of looking towards where it was leaning against him and then tilting his head. Raising an eye at yet more evidence of sapience, Daniel guessed that it was wondering if it was okay to rest against him.

“If you’re asking what I think you’re asking, then I guess the answer is yes?”

Bug-Horse stared blankly at his reply, electing a sigh and the implementation of a risky move. Noticing that its helmet was off, Daniel held up a hand and slowly moved it towards Bug-Horse. Blue eyes followed his hand but nothing was done to halt it. Keeping mindful of the fangs that Bug-Horse sported, Daniel very gently laid his hand down upon Bug-Horse’s head.

Another smile and chattering was the response to the gesture, Bug-Horse taking him by surprise and returning the gesture with a hoof. Daniel couldn’t help but stare at the holes that dotted Bug-Horse’s limb, having no clue as to what could have caused them. The owner of said limb had to strain to reach the top of his head, but when he had the hoof rubbed his head. Bug-Horse laughed, or at least that’s what the rapid and light-toned chattering sounded like, re-facing the other creature and chattering away with obvious excitement.

Not to be outdone, Daniel started to rub Bug-Horse’s head, causing the light-grey tail to swish and the wings to buzz erratically. The creature seemed most pleased with the head-rub, chattering and moving its head around so the hand covered more area. Encouraged by the success of the move, he eyed the two black ears on Bug-Horse’s head.

‘I wonder if these things are like normal horses?’ he wondered, thinking about the next stage. Swiftly, he moved his hand to scratch behind one of Bug-Horse’s ears.

The effect was immediate.

Bug-Horse collapsed, falling forwards and landing with his head on his outstretched forelegs. The other creature, who had been watching the exchange with silent interest, made to bolt from her position with her sharp horn lowering. Unsure of what he had just done wrong, Daniel grabbed the tool set and prepared to fend off any attempts of attack.

“Chzzt!”

Both Daniel and the other creature halted, the collapsed Bug-Horse looking back up and nodding. Confused, as was the other creature if her facial expression was anything to go off, Daniel held up his hand and waggled his fingers. Bug-Horse nodded with another short chatter, so figuring it was what he wanted Daniel once again began to scratch him behind the ears.

It was the right move, Bug-Horse groaning and continuing to buzz his wings. Female Bug-Horse watched for a few moments before speaking, and judging from Bug-Horse’s frown Daniel bet that it wasn’t something nice. A reply was sent out between scratches, Daniel wondering if Bug-Horse was enjoying it a little too much.

The other creature seemed to think something over before approaching closer, looking him right in the eyes before making a point to show her sharp teeth. A short, sharp, and no-nonsense burst of speaking exited her mouth before she removed her helmet and set it on the ground. The creature he decided he was going to dub ‘Sheila’ hesitatingly lowered her head and presented the bald dome to him. Not knowing what else she expected, he placed his other hand on her head and commenced the scratching.

“Oh, oh that is soooo good!”

If Burrow wasn’t so pleased with his own massage, then he would have called Aphid out on her previous comment about ‘sucking up to the creature so he could horde all of its love’. Instead he was intent to watch first her legs quiver, and then her entire front half collapse under the feeling. Mr Growls stopped scratching when her head rested on his thigh, Aphid frowning when the hand was quickly removed.

“What’s wrong, why did he stop?”

“I don’t know,” Burrow answered, glancing up to find Mr Growls looking down at him. He seemed worried about something concerning Aphid, pointing a finger at her. “It’s okay, Mr Growls,” he reassured before slowing his speech. “Aphid friend. Yes. Friend.”

“I don’t think that’s going to wo…” The scratching resumed and Aphid couldn’t finish the sentence. Burrow sighed happily and relaxed, this was the best guard duty ever. Minutes passed without much incident, the Mr Growls-changelings diplomacy going very smoothly.

“Hey, Burrow?” He turned his head, Aphid having worked her front half onto Mr Growl’s leg and was now nuzzling against his stomach. Somehow she was managing to speak throughout the scratching.

“Y-yeah?”

“I take it back,” she muttered while tilting her head so more attention would be paid to the left ear. “This thing is useful after all, keep it.”
Burrow was about to agree with her, but it was then that their perfect guard duty shattered.

“What… What are you two idiots doing with that thing!?”

“Interesting, very interesting indeed. A hairless, bipedal mammal unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s almost like a minotaur, but the differences are just too vast to assume it’s a subspecies.”

Burrow sat in the corner and fidgeted with his forehooves while the four scholars examined Mr Growls. It didn’t sit right with him, watching while Transmutation and his cronies treated his friend like a scientific curiosity. Aphid was likewise muted, the fellow soldier sitting with her forelegs crossed and a glare at having her new massager pulled away. Sergeant Pillar, however, was not about to let them intervene. Having trotted in on them while they had been receiving ear-scratches instead of guarding, Pillar had not responded well.

The attempt to bribe him with an ear-scratch from Mr Growls also did not go over well.

Mr Growls himself had reacted to the arrival of five new changelings with surprise, but had so far remained mostly quiet and civil. Hungry eyes roamed his form and possessions, Burrow glaring at the scientists. Occasionally a scholar would stray too close, Mr Growls expressing his displeasure by pointing at the offending changeling and saying what Burrow hoped was an insult. As such, attempts to actually touch Mr Growls had been warded off, even Sergeant Pillar not game enough to force compliance.

“What is that box it’s holding? Catalyst, attempt to remove it from the creature.”

“Me?” the only female scholar in their group protested. “Why me?”

Transmutation rolled his pupils. “Well, the creature looks dangerous, and naturally as the leader I should avoid all unnecessary danger. Hence, you should be the one who should attempt to extract the item.”

“But it’s already shown a displeasure towards invasion of its-“

“I don’t care, Catalyst, if it doesn’t want us to go near it. Sometimes we scholars must make sacrifices if we wish to push the boundaries of learning! Now go on and take the box!”

The lesser scholar shook on her hooves, before slowly creeping forwards towards Mr Growls. Burrow didn’t envy her, Mr Growls noticing the eyes focusing on the box he clutched in his hands and watching her pointedly. Catalyst continued on, staying away as far as possible before reaching out a hoof to take the box from him.

“Grrghrah!”

“Ah! It’s attacking!” Catalyst cried out, rapidly beating a swift retreat. “It’ll eat us all!” The other scholars joined her, dashing over to hide behind the unimpressed Pillar while Mr Growls smirked.

Burrow had heard and seen enough.

“No he won’t!” He stood up, Pillar not stopping him while he glared at the once-haughty scholars. “Maybe if you actually treated Mr Growls nicely, and not like a stupid animal, then he’d let you look at what he’s got in there!” He huffed, frowning at all of them. “You know, for scholars, you’re all pretty stupid.”

“You can’t speak to your betters like that!” Transmutation protested.

“Mr… Growls?” another scholar named ‘Bunsen’ questioned.

“Grarb-raws!” Mr Growls… growled.

“I know, I’m telling them.” Burrows trotted over towards him. “They’ll soon see.”

Pillar attempted to block his path. “Soldier, that thing is dangerous.”

“Sergeant, you saw me and Aphid before, he’s not dangerous.” To prove his point, Burrow continued on. Pillar didn’t protest any further and let Burrow past, the scholars gasping when he entered Mr Growls’ personal space. Standing right next to his friend, Burrow turned around to face the scholars and soldiers. “Psst, Mr Growls, do the ear thing.” He nudged the biped with his head before waggling his ears, hoping it would get the message across.

It worked, Burrow struggling to remain upright when the scratching continued. He managed, barely, and continued to smile at the assembled group. “See? He’s friendly if you actually attempt to treat him with respect.” He closed his eyes for a second, Mr Growls hitting a sweet spot before pulling the hand away. Glancing at him, Burrows noticed that Mr Growls was pointing at the other changelings and making a swivelling gesture with his other hand.

“They’re some of the other changelings in this cave. Don’t mind them too much, they may be rude,” he made a point to glare at Transmutation, receiving one back. “But they aren’t trying to annoy you. Scholars just… don’t really know anything about how changelings and other creatures like to be treated.” He received more glares, but he knew that the scientists wouldn’t dare try anything with Mr Growls on his side. Seeing a chance to try and repair the bad start they had gotten off to, Burrow gestured to the scholar that had attempted to approach before. “Now, let Catalyst meet you normally.” The last word was directed to the scholar herself, the unlucky creature pushed forwards by Transmutation.

Her eyes were focused on Mr Growls, even as she tried to take a step back into the relative safety of her fellows.

“I… I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

Daniel tried to figure out just what was going on. Ever since the third bug-horse had stormed in and confronted the two that had been sitting with him, the entire situation had just gotten more perplexing. For the past hour, four new bug-horses had attempted to touch him, take things from him, or generally just stood around and pointed at him.

He was cold, hadn’t eaten for a few hours, and the only bug-horses that weren’t utter pricks had been corralled in a corner and watched by the one that had started this mess. One of the new bug-horses had obviously attempted to steal his tools right from his arms. He didn’t particularly value the cheap tools, but he wasn’t about to just let some bludger take them. The bug-horses may have been admittedly cute, but he didn’t trust them with any sort of tools.

One ‘Fuck off’ later and the thief had forgotten the plan, running back to hide with its equally terrified fellows. That was okay with him, if they were frightened of him than that meant he had sway and was pretty safe for the moment. However, he knew that he had to sleep again sometime, and pissing off his hosts probably wasn’t the best idea in the long run.

Thankfully Bug-Horse had apparently shouted some sense into the others and was now, once again, sitting next to him and soliciting a head scratch.

‘I’ve got to figure out a new name for him,’ Daniel mused to himself while complying with the creature’s wishes. ‘And figure out just how much I can exploit this fondness for ear-scratches.’ Trying to think of a new name, he linked Bug-Horse’s fondness for ear-scratches with his old pet dog, Boris. Shrugging mentally to himself, he did the usual thing and took the obvious route. ‘Fuck it, Boris it is.’

Boris, the name sounding much better than ‘Bug-Horse’, chattered to the others while swivelling his head in bliss. Then Boris pulled his head away and looked up at him, chattering as he did so. Trying to get some communication going, Daniel pointed at the new creatures and tried to communicate his displeasure.

“What’s their problem anyway? They’re looking at me like I’m a baby-taking dingo.”

Another burst of chattering, Boris first directing it at him before turning back to the other bug-horses and speaking with them. It was utter gibberish to Daniel, but the bugs had surprisingly expressive faces and it was clear that there were disagreements.

There appeared to be a commotion amongst themselves between before a bug-horse was pushed out to the front, the creature staring at him and shivering. Eyeing it back, he realised that it was the suspected female from before. At first it tried to back up, chattering worriedly.
However, Boris evidently persuaded her to approach again, Daniel immediately tightening his grip on the tool set.

Something poked him in the side, and when he looked down Boris nodded towards the approaching bug-horse and chattered again.

“C-c-c-chzt,” the creature in front began, her head bowed. Boris offered some words of what Daniel assumed was encouragement, prompting her to continue on. A long line of rushed chattering followed, before she raised her head and looked at him. Another prod from Boris and Daniel assumed that they wanted something. Guessing at what it was, he shrugged at the one standing in front of him.

“I… I guess I forgive you?” he tried, evidently the right thing as Boris nodded happily and the bug-horse in front tried to smile. Shaking his head at what he was about to do, he sighed and opened the clasp on the tool set.

Immediately all eyes focused on him, the bug-horses watching his every move with baited breaths. Boris even craned his head over to see, Daniel rummaging around in the plastic chest to find something he could give to them.

“What to give, what to give,” he muttered to himself while making the choice. He didn’t want to give away anything particularly useful… or sharp, so it was a difficult choice. Then, his eyes rested on the voltameter, Daniel doubting that he would have many batteries or electrical devices to test. Picking out the bright-yellow, rubber-clad electrical tester, he held it out to the creature in front of him. “There, go ahead, knock yourself out.”

The recipient looked shocked, but she quickly sat down and reached out her forelegs. Passing the gift over, Daniel placed the device in her hooves and gave her a quick pat on the head for good measure. A rushed thankyou, or at least that’s what he assumed it was, exited her mouth before all of her focus was placed solely on the voltameter. Turning it over, she placed it gently on the rocky floor like it was a treasured artefact. Then she managed to unravel the two testing rods and muttered to herself, Daniel shaking his head at how such a simple device could hold so much wonder.

Then the chaos broke out.

The other bug-horses rushed to gather around the female one, chattering away amongst themselves with all of their fear completely gone. Hoping he hadn’t made a huge mistake, he backed up further against the wall as the feeding-frenzy of sorts intensified. Daniel almost pitied his poor voltameter, testing rods being unplugged and examined while the dial on the front was fiddled with.

‘Just look at them go.’

The bug-horse he had dubbed ‘Sheila’ had gotten up and trotted over to join Boris, the two whispering to each other before sitting down and watching the others fight over the voltameter with the same surprise and amusement that he himself felt.

“Normal for you blokes?”

Evidently words weren’t really needed, Boris looking up at him and shaking his head sadly.

“I guess not,” Daniel agreed, fine to sit back and just watch the spectacle unfold.

“Just look at them go.”

Burrow couldn’t help but agree with Aphid, the scholars going absolutely nuts over the yellow device that Mr Growls had given them. The upside was that it diverted attention from Mr Growls himself, and even though the biped still seemed wary of the scholars, he did seem far more relaxed in general. However, the frown that covered his face alerted Burrow to someone approaching, Sergeant Pillar moving from the side to examine Mr Growls himself.

“So this is the monster you’ve tamed?” Pillar began. Burrow narrowed his eyes, pointing a hoof towards Mr Growls.

“He’s not a monster, see what he’s wearing and the things he has?”

Pillar raised an eye. “Just because it has cloths and things doesn’t mean it’s not a monster. Sure, it can think, but that just makes it more dangerous.” A cold stare was focused upon him. “I’m still disappointed that you actually let it inside, who knows what damage it could have done before we stopped it?”

“Mr Growls wouldn’t attack us,” Burrow defended, Aphid chiming in from her spot.

“He’s right, sir,” she gestured towards the biped. “As much as I hate the name that he’s been given, Mr… Growls does seem to be friendly towards us, Burrow in particular. Also, Burrow is right in saying that he’s not just a mindless beast. So far he’s tried to talk, he’s attempted to communicate with gestures, and sir,” Aphid shivered for a split second. “Those ear scratches are really good.”

Pillar didn’t look convinced, so Burrow thought of two things that could possibly persuade the Sergeant. While he hated what it might mean for his friend, with Pillar on their side it would mean that it would be incredibly difficult for the scholars to exert their will over Mr Growls.

“Sergeant, there’s a few more things.”

“Oh?” Pillar replied. “I must say, you’re trying very hard to keep your pet.”

Ignoring it, Burrow continued. “One, Mr Growls is big, and could be seen as scary. When he first came into the cave, I thought he was going to tear me limb from limb. Keeping him with us will help if we’re attacked by anything, even if he doesn’t actually know how to fight.”

“I couldn’t have guessed, it’s got a pretty big amount of fat on it and hasn’t even got a horn. I doubt it’ll help in combat at all so you better have a good second reason.”

Burrow nodded with a wince. “I do, we can feed off Mr Growls when he sleeps.”

Pillar stared at him, then at Mr Growls, then back. “What do you mean? We can attempt to drain him-“

“No, I mean that he sort of… leaks love when he sleeps.”

Another blank stare. “Burrow, I knew that you like him, but isn’t that a step too fa-“

“What is it with everyone and saying that!?”

The scholars stopped squabbling over the device and stared, Pillar doing the same while Aphid rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Burrow, you have to admit that when you keep on talking about ‘leaking love’, it’s hard not to tease you about it.”

“No Aphid,” he countered. “I just wish that you’d all have some more maturity.”

Unfortunately, Mr Growls must have picked up on the raised voices, and decided that a head rub was need. As such, right after his outburst, Burrows found himself on the receiving end of the soothing contact.

“Thanks,” he muttered, Aphid laughing out loud and only increasing his embarrassment. Even Pillar cracked a smile, but another problem soon raised its head.

“Excuse me,” Catalyst spoke up while shielding the gift with her forelegs. “But did you say that the creature radiates love passively, without a focused target and without an act of deliberate draining?”

“I guess? I noticed it when he went to sleep before, and when I touched him I could feel it sort of… direct itself. It has a little amount of lust in it, and almost completely lacks magical energy.”

“Hmm, lust and lacks magical energy,” Transmutation muttered to himself. “The lack of magical essence could be explained if, Mr Growls I believe you named him, has travelled from an area of the world with little to no magic. The lust, however, is a more difficult matter to figure out.”

All paused to try and puzzle it out, the scholars muttering amongst themselves while Burrow also put some thought into it. It certainly was strange, how could one feel lust and love while asleep?

The quiet and tranquillity was broken by a sharp peal of laughter, Burrows feeling Mr Growl’s jump in his seat when Aphid began to cackle like mad. Everyone watched in complete confusion as the female soldier rolled on the ground, continuing to madly laugh while smacking a hoof down in front of her. The cackling continued, Aphid almost in tears thanks to the humour that she was finding in the situation.

“Soldier,” Pillar managed out through his own befuddlement. “Just what is so funny? This is a serious development!”

Aphid managed to regain some composure, however she continued to lay on her stomach with the occasional giggle. With all eyes on her, she got up to her hooves and trotted over towards Mr Growls, the biped letting her approach. Aphid patted him on the head while still grinning widely. “Oh, this is just a riot! You, Mr Growls, are a magnificent creature. I haven’t had a laugh this good since I can remember!”

“What?” Pillar repeated, Aphid chuckling again before gazing at them all.

“You still don’t get it?” she shook with laughter. “It’s obvious when you think about it. He’s male-“

“We can’t be sure,” Transmutation reminded. “While it possesses features which are a likely indication that it is male, since it’s an unknown species-“

Burrow’s eyes widened in shock and Mr Growls froze when Aphid snaked a forehoof past the chest in Mr Growl’s lap. Reaching down, Aphid seemed to rummage around before removing her hoof, Mr Growls still completely motionless and silent.

“Yeah,” she stated nonchalantly while giving her offending hoof a curious sniff. “He’s a male.”

“I… I…” Transmutation stuttered, Burrow too shocked to even say that much.

‘Did… did Aphid just… molest him!?’ Burrow tried to comfort the still-unresponsive creature, patting his limb hand with a hoof.

“Well, I must admit that your manner of investigating is certainly… direct.” Transmutation coughed into his hoof, his face a shade of embarrassed green. “But that still doesn’t explain-“

“Oh, do I really have to spell it out for you?” Aphid rolled her eyes. “We can feed off him when he sleeps, right? And for some reason it also has a measure of lust in it, right? Well, that’s because what we’re doing is,” she shook her head with another chuckle. “What we’re doing is feeding off his dreams. Dirty ones.”

More silence, before Catalyst finally broke it.

“That… that makes far too much sense.”

Daniel slowly moved a hand down towards his groin, shielding it from any further gropings. It hadn’t been a passing touch, Sheila had been incredibly vigorous with her investigation. Judging from the stunned behaviour of the rest of the group it wasn’t exactly seen as normal behaviour by their species either, although if he went off Shelia’s previous fit of laughter then she wasn’t exactly what he would call normal.
The only other female he knew that laughed like that was a station girl back home, and she had enjoyed telling everyone about her childhood of prepping cattle for slaughter on a daily basis.

Boris was patting his hand in an obvious attempt to calm and comfort, although Daniel soon regained his composure while Shelia and the new bug-horses chattered back and forwards.

‘She was probably just checking to see,’ he reasoned to himself. ‘Hell, I can’t tell what they are straight away, so I guess it’s just as difficult for them.’ He glanced down at his chest when the group went silent again. ’I guess the man-boobs don’t really help.’

Shelia and one of the male newcomers were exchanging words, Boris chiming in with a frown. His words didn’t seem to impress Sheila, the female raising a hoof to her head before shaking it. She chattered again, but whatever she said caused alarm to run through the assembled group. Boris actually started to get up from his seat while chattering loudly, but it was Sheila that had Daniel’s attention.

The female bug-horse had cocked her grey tail to the side, given him a fang-filled grin, and was beginning to trot in front of him, Daniel hurriedly averting his gaze towards the cave ceiling.

‘Nope, nope, he repeated silently while the chattering grew in intensity. ‘This is not happening, she’s not… doing that. Bloody hell, isn’t she Boris’ missus? Why me? I’m too fat to be the target of alien seduction attempts!’

Daniel risked a glance back down.

How could he not? It was an unusual situation and anyone would have done the same thing. At least, that was what he was telling himself, but thankfully when he did look there was nothing to see.

Sheila had stopped in the middle of bending over, Boris up on his hooves and glaring at her angrily. The two exchanged a brief and sharp set of words before the tail was put back into place and Sheila huffed with annoyance. Then, she thankfully sat down and returned the stares she was getting, Boris pointing an accusing hoof at her. Daniel watched them with a racing heart, not liking how everything was getting weirder and weirder.

‘Well,’ he figured to himself. ‘At least I can say for sure that this is certainly the strangest thing that can happen today.’

Burrow continued to glare at Aphid, the others wise enough to stay out of it.

“Aphid, what were you thinking!? Haven’t you… you… traumatised him enough?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aphid dismissed with a wave of her hoof. “I’m sure he would have hated getting a peek.” She huffed. “Besides, you were the one saying that I can’t just touch him like that to check, so I thought that I’d return the favour. Admit it, changelings aren’t exactly easy to tell apart if you can’t read leg-holes.”

“That may be true,” Burrow frowned. “But there are ways to go about it. What if his race is incredibly modest? He’s wearing a lot of clothes after all. You can’t just wave your… that, in his face so he can tell that you’re female.” He made sure to fix her with a no-nonsense stare. “And you certainly don’t touch him like that.”

“Fine,” she agreed, although with obvious displeasure. “I’ll refrain from attempting to speed this whole mess up.” Burrow didn’t like the smile on that regrew on her face. “After all, I’d hate to get in between you and your crush.”

“Really, Aphid? I can’t make a friend without you constantly trying to belittle it, can I? You said exactly the same thing when me and Morphus were posted on the front entrance.”

“Oh yeah,” Aphid murmured. “He was cute…”

He shook his head and turned back to Mister Growls. “I don’t know why I bother.”

A short growl answered him, Mr Growls fixing Aphid with an unwavering stare. Burrow sighed when she noticed and mischievously grinned, swishing her tail and making Mr Growls look away again.

‘Well, at least she can’t make it any worse,’ he realised, trotting over to Mr Growls before facing the very quiet scholars.

“So, what do we do now? If Mr Growls can feed changelings in his sleep, then surely we can use that.”

“You have a point,” Pillar agreed. “The number one thing we need now is food, and this Mr Growls is a source if Aphid and you are correct. I’d say that we’d be best off moving him into the main cave and rationing what he gives off. Of course,” Pillar stared pointedly at him and Aphid.
“We still need to guard, competently guard, the front entrance. We lucked out this time, if Mr Growls had turned out to be some starving animal then we would have had a fight on out hooves. At this time, we can’t afford to have fights.”

Burrow tapped his forehooves together, knowing that Pillar’s plan was the best for all of them. Still, there was one concern. “Can I still hang out with him sometimes?”

Pillar smiled. “Of course, it’s not like we’re going to cocoon him and just hang him off the roof,” he turned to the scholars. “Right?”

“Of course not!” Transmutation agreed immediately. “We will of course do our duties and attempt to learn more about this ‘Mr Growls’, but as long as he cooperates then I see no reason to treat him like a prisoner.” The scholar smiled shakily at the biped, before looking back to Pillar and lowering his voice. “Besides, he is a rather big fellow and I would prefer to not irritate him.”

“Yeah, like you cared about that before you found out he could feed you,” Burrow muttered, Transmutation directing the smile towards him.

“Of course, Burrow, that means that keeping the changeling soldier who has forged a bond of friendship with him close is ideal. A comfortable food source is a plentiful food source, after all.”

“He’s not just a food source,” Burrow defended forcefully. “Any sign that he’s being harmed from the feeding, and I want it stopped.”

Transmutation stared, before smiling even more forcefully. “Of course, his safety will be our first concern.”

Burrow didn’t believe it one bit, but it was better than nothing. “So, we’re moving him now?”

“I think it would be best.” Pillar trotted around to examine Mr Growls. “He still appears to be cold, so moving him into warmth is a good idea. The only other issue we have is finding him food and collecting more snow for water.” Another glance back towards him. “Since you’re so fond of him, you can be in charge of finding his food.”

‘Great,’ Burrow inwardly sighed. “That’s… fine.”

“We have an agreement then,” Transmutation nodded, before getting up to trot down the cavern. “I’ll warn the others of our guest, the last thing we need is a panic.”

The other scholars fell into line behind him, the yellow device carried along with them. Making sure to keep a close eye on Aphid, Burrow poked Mr Growls and gestured towards the departing scholars. “Come on, we’re going to go somewhere warmer. Now, I know you can’t understand me, but we’re going to be meeting some new changelings. A lot of them. They’ll be just as confused as you so please try and remain nice and calm.” Glancing towards Aphid, Burrow leaned in to whisper in a peach-coloured ear. “Also, I’m sorry for what Aphid did. We soldiers tend to be, well, direct.”

“Nymph,” Aphid insulted, before getting to her own hooves and moving over towards the cave entrance. “Anyway, you better be getting Mr Buffet down to the main cave. I’ll stay on guard.”

“Good soldier,” Burrow didn’t even get a chance to return fire before Pillar complimented Aphid. “Burrow will switch with you at sunset,” Pillar strained his head to look out of the entrance. “If we can even see the sun, that is.”

‘Wonderful.’ Poking Mr Growls again, he made an upwards gesture with his hood and then pointed towards the tunnel. Mr Growls started to get up, looking towards him for guidance. Burrow nodded and took a step back, allowing the biped to stand up fully. The chest of devices was held in one hand and the other was shielding the groin. Burrow cast a final glance towards Aphid before turning to trot down the tunnel. Heavy footsteps and a glance back confirmed that Mr Growls was indeed following. ‘I’m sure everything will be fine.’

“Bugger me…”

He’d understood why they’d gotten him to move, feeling warmer as soon as he had entered the large tunnel. Also Sheila, who he had seriously considered renaming to ‘Hoovsy McGropesy’, was evidently assigned to watch the cave mouth.

And to be honest, the further away the better. Even if she was only curious about his gender, that was still not a path he wanted to go down.

Now, he stood faced with scores of new bug-horses staring straight at him. Boris stood at his side and pointed a hoof around to all of the different groups, chattering away in what was a likely attempt of introduction. Even if he couldn’t understand it, Daniel appreciated the attempt. So far, Boris had proved to be a fairly trustworthy guy… thing.

One of the bug-horses from before in the cave also began to talk to the watching creatures, Daniel guessing that he was some sort of leader. It seemed to have presence with the crowd and was still surrounded by the group from before, the deep voice a likely indicator that it was male. A name was decided, Daniel thinking that ‘Tony’ was an appropriate choice considering the current Australian Prime Minister.

Tony appeared to have the situation under control, a small number of the new creatures waving their forehooves at him.

‘Heh, they’re almost like people.’

Beside him, Boris sighed in relief and patted him on the leg with a smile, evidently everything had gone well. Now that the tension was over, Daniel observed his surrounds with a more focused eye.

Two small fires burned in the centre, the smoke wafting up into cracks in the cave roof. Around them huddled bug-horses, all of them looking almost identical. Some were tending to others, a few forelegs in makeshift splints but the majority seemed to have cracks in the shiny carapaces covering them. Looking down to his left, he noticed that Burrow had just such a crack, although it at least was sealed together.

“What sort of scrap did you get yourselves into?” he asked, more to keep up the friendly vibe than actual understanding. “I know that I’m probably not in Canada now, so… any rival tribes I should know about?” Burrow chattered back with a wide grin, only further ramming home the point that communication was still shaky. “I guess not.” Wondering what they wanted, he tapped his fingers on the tool set nervously. “So, I don’t suppose that you little buggers are keeping me around because of my charming personality?”

Boris tugged on his pants leg and started forwards, Daniel following mainly because he didn’t have a better idea of what to do. They moved further into the cave, bug-horses watching them when they passed. None of these ones were wearing armour or helmets, and considering the injuries and the fact that so far there were only three armoured creatures in their group, whatever had happened had depleted their military hard.

Bug-horses didn’t shift away from him when he passed by, instead they chattered to themselves quietly. A few seemed to direct questions towards him, but Boris answered them all and left them apparently satisfied.

‘Wonder what Tony told them? They certainly don’t seem as frightened as Boris was.’ It was true, while there were many stares they were of curiosity and not fear. Instead of staying with them, Boris led him towards the back wall of the massive cave. It was relatively quiet at the back, close enough to the fires to feel the warmth seep back into his bones but far enough away that the chattering wasn’t overwhelming. After Boris mimed the action, much to Daniel’s amusement, he sat down like the bug-horse had requested. Boris sat with him, chattering away like they were old friends.

Well, at least being in a large cave with a mass of aliens was far better than freezing to death.

“… so these Equestrians have the most magic and love in the known world. Queen Chrysalis thinks that if we take most of the hive and attack-“

“Where is he!? Where is the Chosen One!”

Burrow frowned and interrupted explaining things to Mr Growls, turning around to see what the commotion was.

“Oh, no,” he muttered, wincing when he saw the commotion happening on the far side of the cave. More specifically, at who was causing it. “Not Old Switcher, anyone but him.”

Switcher was the eldest scholar in their group, and possibly the entire hive. A brilliant scientist decades ago, there was one simple reason why he wasn’t the one in charge.

Quite frankly, he had gone incredibly insane.

There was a rumour as to how he had gained his madness. Back when Burrow had still been a nymph, Old Switcher had lead a small team of fellow scholars to investigate some ruins uncovered by a mining team of drones. Only Old Switcher had returned, bleeding and raving about ‘the coming of the end’ and ‘the Messiah’. Queen Chrysalis ordered the entrance to the ruins destroyed and Old Switcher to be placed under medical care. Why she didn’t remove him from his respected position was a mystery, but there were suggestions that they had been ‘close’.
Considering it was Chrysalis, it wasn’t much of a surprise.

Still, Burrow was not pleased that Old Switcher had chosen now to cause a ruckus. Even worse was the way the old scholar’s eyes lit up when Transmutation directed his attention towards Mr Growls.

“The Chosen One!”

Drones and nurses scattered from his path, Switcher making a beeline towards their position with a youthful energy that had long since left him. Mr Growls tensed up again, but Burrow was thankful that Switcher still had the common sense to stop sort of touching Mr Growls when he reached them.

The sudden bowing, however, was an equal shock to the both of them.

“Oh, most glorious day!” Switcher raised his head to positively beam at Mr Growls. “I must apologise for my fellows lack of understanding, oh most wise one! They have no idea of your divinity, of our majestic splendour!”

Burrow’s mouth was wide open, the cave completely silent when Switcher raised himself up and focused.

Then, the old scholar began to sing.

‘Three moons before the solar month’s end, a holy being will soon descend.
Clad in cloth and dusted with snow, with him hope and happiness follow.
A divine rule will then begin anew, and last until the heavens are few.
No changeling will feel hunger, nor have great sorrow.
And in wealth and wonder,
All will hallow.’

Switcher had tears in his eyes, shaking with happiness while he recited the last verse.

‘The strongest reign of changelings begins, and their success and glory will never end.
For with them stands the mighty one, and forever shall his name be spoken.
All hail the Chosen One, most benevolent Benjamin Nokans!’

The silence continued, Switcher having undone himself. Burrow managed to shut his mouth and turned towards Mr Growls, the biped looking back with eyes betraying his complete bafflement. Transmutation and his cronies pushed their way through the gathered crowd, the scholar staring at first his colleague and then Mr Growls.

“Is it true? Are you this ‘Benjamin Nokans’?”

“What?” Burrow finally found his voice. “You’re seriously listening to this crazy talk?”

“Crazy talk?” Switcher chortled. “Ha! An unbeliever I see! Tell me, Soldier, is it not true that he can feed changelings at will?”

To be honest, that one stumped him. “I… uh, well...”

“I can tell from your hesitation that it is indeed true!”

Burrow shook his head, raising a hoof and fixing Switcher with a no-nonsense look. “Look, I’m his friend, and I’d be able to tell if Mr Growls was some kind of god.”

“And I, dear soldier,” Switcher continued ranting. “Am his holy prophet! I, the one who deciphered the ancient tablet of the Anakanukanukanoo tribe, was chosen to serve as his holy translator! It is I who will decipher his holy speech, and deliver his verdict upon all of changeling kind!”

“I don’t think so,” Burrow replied with more force than he intended. “He’s. Not. A. God. He is my friend, I would know.”

“Piffle, you can’t even speak to him,” Switcher gloated, turning around to face the crowd. “Well, since there is doubt in the prophecy, a test is in order to prove the divine!” The crazy changeling refaced Mr Growls, bowing once again. “Oh, mighty Benjamin, if it is indeed you then give the sign most holy!”

Burrow, like the rest of the changelings, focused completely on Mr Growls.

‘It can’t be true,’ he tried to reason. ‘Switcher is just gone in the mind.’

Mr Growls, Burrow refusing to acknowledge the name of ‘Benjamin’, looked to him for guidance. Honestly, Burrow had none to give, so he had to leave it up to Mr Growls to handle. When he didn’t react, Mr Growls looked back and gazed at the fully attentive crowd.

Then, he shrugged.

“There!” Switcher announced with a raised hoof. “The holy sign, Benjamin be praised!”

The cave erupted into excited murmuring, even the other scholars looking towards Mr Growls with newfound curiosity and a little awe. Burrow didn’t know what to do, he seemed to be the only one still sane. Well, he and Pillar, the Sergeant shaking his head with the same disbelief.

Mr Growls was understandably looking for answered, and Burrow felt a small victory when instead of Switcher the next question was directed towards him. Mr Growls had only uttered a few words before Switcher butted in.

“Yes, Lord, tell me so I may fulfil your wishes!”

Mr Growls paused before sighing, looking towards Switcher and moving his hands while he talked.

Burrow closed his eyes and took deep breaths, hoping that Mr Growls wouldn’t take any offense.

“Look, mate, I get that you’re excited but seriously, let me talk to Boris. You’re acting like a fucking pyscho and you’re creeping me the fuck out.” The new bug-horse, dubbed ‘Bugsy’, nodded with intense concentration. “Now, like I was asking Boris before you butted in like a bloody Darwinian, can I please have a drink of water? I don’t care if I have to get my own snow and boil it, I want a single cup of water and that’s it.
So, do we have an understanding?”

Bugsy considered it, nodding with his hoof under his chin. Then, he smiled and bowed again, turning around and chattering towards the crowd.

‘Finally,’ Daniel thought with a smile and crossed arms. ‘Progress.’

Burrow watched, Switcher facing everyone with a satisfied grin.

“My fellows!” the old scholar announced. “Our Messiah has made his first decree!”

The noise in the cave died out, changelings leaning forwards on their spots to hear what he had to say. Burrow winced, somehow knowing that it was about to go badly.

“He has made a request!” Switcher continued with full belief. “One that we must fulfil if we wish to maintain his favour! The Chosen One, Benjamin Nokans, demands… a harem!”

‘A harem?’ Burrow couldn’t believe his ears, tilting his head and looking at the still-confused Mr Growls. ‘That doesn’t sound right at all.’
Regardless of sounding right or wrong, the rest of the group seemed to be seriously considering it.

“I’m just as confused as you are.” He glanced to his right, Pillar trotting up and speaking with a hushed voice. “Your friend doesn’t seem like the harem-demanding type.”

“No,” Burrow agreed while a hand started to pat him on the head. “He certainly does not.”

You Better Run, You Better Take Cover

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“So, about that water…”

Daniel tapped his fingers on the top of the toolset, currently feeling very uncomfortable.

After Bugsy had sparked a massive amount of noise in the main cave, the bug-horses had apparently held some kind of meeting amongst themselves. It seemed important, lasting for at least half-an-hour and it involved every one of the strange creatures. Judging from the way that the five ones who had taken his voltameter were leading the meeting, he assumed that they were the ones in charge. However, what was strange was the way that Bugsy acted.

The annoying one had dominated the meeting, pacing up and down while chattering confidently towards the others. Daniel had noticed that while Bugsy seemed to be disliked by the other leaders, not one bug-horse had interrupted his speech. Then they had reached some form of agreement, and all attention had turned to him.

So, now he was currently sitting in a small side-cave with no water, but instead with four of the bug-horses who were watching him closely from a few metres away.

He’d already come to the conclusion that they were all female, although admittedly there was a large chance that he was getting it completely wrong. All he had to go off without resorting to the impolite checking of genitals was body shapes and sizes, as well as the smaller muzzles.

They were sitting on their rumps with their forelegs resting between their outstretched hind ones, much like a dog would do. The four wore no armour and weren’t trying to vivisect him, so Daniel gathered that they were likely just normal bug-horses. Still, the way they were constantly watching him was unnerving, it was if they were waiting for him to do something that they weren’t particularly looking forward to.
Daniel sighed, he just wished that Boris hadn’t returned to the entrance so soon, so far he was the only bug-horse that was both easy to trust and pleasant to be around.

“So,” he tried, more for his benefit than the four that he was addressing. “Are you four guarding me? I bet that’s what that crazy one told you to do, right? Make sure that I don’t try to escape or anything?”

The four didn’t reply at first, staring at him with identical blue eyes. Then the one on the far left mumbled out what sounded like a nervous chatter, glancing towards her fellows before shakily raising a fore hoof in the air.

He raised his eyebrow when he noticed a crack in the black shell, previously concealed by the limb. It was sealed with a strange kind of green covering, but it seemed to still be a recent injury. With no clue what the creatures wanted and a rising curiosity about the cause of the injury, he gestured with his hand towards the one raising her hoof.

“Come on,” he tried to coax. “I won’t hurt you , I just want a peek at that cut.”

The indicated creature lowered her ears but left her spot, cautiously advancing forwards while the others diverted their gazes. As she got closer he could hear her muttering to herself, seemingly repeating the same string of words over and over again. Her eyes were down and her movement shaky, the creature not looking at him while she stopped with a bowed head.

Daniel began to panic when she sighed and started to turn around, fearing a repeat of the earlier incident. Quickly placing a hand on the creature’s head, he looked her in the startled eyes, waggled a finger, and gave her a no-nonsense look.

“No, none of that. Not again.”

“Please be quick, please be quick…”

Cypher was severely regretting her choice to volunteer for the harem, as well as the one to raise her hoof when the creature had asked some kind of question. Slowly trotting forwards, she shuddered at the thought of what it would be like, her mind conjuring up all sorts of images about how strange alien-gods copulate.

‘The extra-energy better be worth it,’ she thought to herself as she came to a stop in front of the being who was apparently a mighty god, according to the scholars. Already every single changeling had been promised a share of the energy the creature emitted while sleeping, but the Scholar Switcher had declared that all who served in the holy harem would be able to keep all that they earned. As an ordinary drone, she had joined the other volunteers in the hopes that the promise was genuine.

Turning around slowly, Cypher shut her eyes and tried to block out all knowledge of what she was about to do.

“Grrugh, guragha.”

She froze when something was placed on her head, Cypher glancing up to see what was wrong. The creature was shaking one of his fingers at her, growling forcefully before it became softer. Listening with befuddlement at the continuing alien dialogue, she found a curious stare being directed to below her left foreleg.

“O-oh, you’re looking at this?” she questioned, refacing the creature and slowly sitting back down. Raising her foreleg, she watched while a finger was extended towards the wound that the nurses had sealed. “Yeah, I got that during the landing, against a rock. It’s fine now, the nurses know a lot about medical stuff.” She didn’t know why she was explaining it as if he could understand her, but it seemed to relax him and the finger was withdrawn. Hesitantly, she tapped her fore hooves together and returned her thinking to the current predicament. “So… how do you… is there… I mean…”

In response to the stammering, the hand on her head started to rub, Cypher feeling her muscles relax at the soothing motion. “Oh, that’s… amazing. Right there, near the left side.”

“Cypher,” one of the other drones asked. “What’s it like?”

Rotating her head to look behind her, she could see that the others were facing the opposite direction. “It’s nothing bad or embarrassing, he’s just… rubbing my head. It’s actually really nice.” At that, the other three risked a glance at what they had assumed was a lewd activity. Curiously they watched as the rub continued, Cypher smiling before lying down beside the creature.

“So he hasn’t made any moves?”

“No,” she murmured back. “I think he doesn’t even know why we’re here, that scholar was probably just wrong about what he said.”

“So he’s not some god?”

Cypher groaned when a finger scratched behind her left ear, struggling to reply coherently. “I don’t know about that, but I swear that this massage must be better than any afterlife.”

That prompted movement for the other three, the drones moving forwards with curiosity and a little anticipation. The realisation that the new creature was seemingly not out to use the harem in the traditional sense helped their confidence, the three sitting down in a circle while they watched the head rub continue. Then, Cypher felt the rub stop, and upon looking up she found that the creature was glancing around at all of the other drones.

“He looks worried,” one of the others noticed. “Is it something we did?”

“Maybe he doesn’t like being surrounded,” another pointed out while moving back slightly.

Cypher thought for a second, before getting an idea. “I know,” she said as she raised a hoof. “Lower your heads, flick your ears and then slowly lean in. He can’t speak but surely he’ll get what that means.”

They did as instructed, the creature quickly cluing in and starting to rub the three alternatively with his other hand. Cypher sighed once again when her own rub and scratch resumed, stretching out her limbs and pushing up against the side of a large leg. Almost as a bonus was the small trickle of affection, not full love, that seemed to radiate from the creature she was leaning against.

‘Maybe this harem duty won’t be so bad after all,’ she realised, closing her eyes and resting her head on her forelegs in absolute bliss.

Pillar had paused at the entrance to the small cave that had been set aside for the creature to stay in. Moans and exclamations of pleasure indicated that the four harem volunteers had been put to use, but what was really surprising was that he could hear all four at once!

‘What is he, some kind of ravenous sex god?’ Personally, he’d have been happy with one, but four was just mindboggling. The creature which he had begrudgingly begun to name as ‘Mr Growls’, thanks to Burrow, had honestly not appeared to be at all interested in changelings to require a personal harem. He suspected that old Switcher was madder than first thought, although he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the scholar was playing them all for fools.

It was this doubt that had warranted the visit, Pillar having vowed to make some progress in terms of communication. Having noticed that the being was constantly using gestures to help explain itself, he had put a plan together. Unfortunately, said plan needed him to talk to the creature, and that meant interrupting whatever carnal acts were being explored in the small cave.

‘Chin up,’ he reminded himself, adjusting his helmet so it was on firmly.‘You went through military school, it can’t possibly be worse than some of those parties.’

His resolve steeled, Pillar took a deep breath, knocked on the side of the cave, then entered with dire expectations.

The cave was dimly lit by two globs of glowing phlegm attached to the walls, the weaker light indicating that it had been placed by a malnourished changeling was not much of a surprise given their current conditions.

What was a surprise however was the scene playing out in the middle of the cave. Pillar blinked before tilting his head, wondering just what was with the creature and being able to enthral changelings with the simplest things.

Mr Growls was covered with the four female drones assigned to harem-duty, all four nuzzling the creature affectionately while they all allowed themselves to be petted like some kind of animal. One was even sprawled out in the creature’s lap, eyes unfocused while she received an obviously pleasant belly rub.

‘By the Queen,’ he thought while staring at the scene. ‘He hasn’t even removed his clothing and he’s got them completely under his power!’ The drones didn’t even notice that he had entered, too caught up with enjoying the pampering. Mr Growls did; however, and the drones were quickly left without roaming hands when both were enthusiastically held out towards him.

‘Great, what now?’ Pillar wondered, trotting forwards in preparation for an ambush of some kind while Mr Growls tried to speak.

“Boris! Finally, can you please get these ladies off of me? I know that you blokes don’t have any hands at all, but my fingers can only take so much.” The armoured bug-horse seemed to be hesitant, but still he approached. The four creatures who had enslaved him for massages first looked up grumpily and then saw Boris. The resulting scramble to get off him took only a few short seconds, even the one who had claimed his lap bolted up without complaint.

And she was the one who had threatened him with her fangs when he had tried to get her to leave it earlier.

“Wow mate, you’ve got some authority around here.” Boris stared blankly at him before glancing towards the other bug-horses, a short and unusually sharp burst of chattering sending them hurrying out of the cave. Daniel was slightly sad to see them go, secretly he had enjoyed the way they had fawned over him so. Even if they were alien bug-horses, they were still female alien bug-horses.

The four gone, Boris continued to advance before stopping a metre away, sitting down on his rump and raising his foreleg in the air. Moving a foreleg in the air, Boris pointed to himself before uttering a slow chatter.

“Czbet cizer. Czbet. Cizer.”

Realising what was going on, or so he thought, Daniel returned the gesture. “Australian. Austra. Lian.”

Boris smiled slightly and nodded, evidently having gotten what he was after. Daniel was also pleased, and beckoned his friend to come closer. The smile dropped from Boris’ face, but he still got up and moved forwards cautiously.

“Chzzert? Cz-“

Boris’ speech stopped when Daniel’s hand reached out to rub him on the back, the bug-horse freezing in place. “Something wrong?” Daniel inquired, looking down at the blank face. “You seem a little off.”

“Chzzezt!”

His hand stopped at the cheery-sounding chatter, Daniel looking up to find a second armoured bug-horse entering the cave. This one was waving a foreleg in the air, and going off the voice it was not the female one from before. The smile and general attitude towards him was exactly like Boris, but so far he’d only seen three of the armoured soldiers and if that wasn’t the female then…

“Oh shit,” he said, glancing down at the bug-horse he was patting and receiving a glare in response. “You’re not Boris, you’re that grumpy one.”

“Sergeant Pillar. Sergeant. Pillar.”

Pillar finished his introduction, hoping that it would lead to a much-needed breakthrough. It was the simplest way he could think of, and thankfully it looked like it had paid off. In return, the creature raised his own frontal limb and touched his chest. “Grawbigrin. Grawbig. Rin.”
Even though it was still all gibberish to him, Pillar nodded his head and tried an encouraging smile. Mr Growls, or ‘Grawbigrin’ apparently, had understood his attempt and replied.

‘Good, maybe he’ll be able to make himself useful in other matters.’

Mr Growls was beaming a wide smile, before he made a motion with his hand. Understanding it as a gesture to come closer, Pillar raised an eye and slowly stood up. While he was confident that the creature would cause no harm, it always paid to be cautious. Moving forwards in the most unthreatening manner he could, Pillar made sure to keep a close eye on him.

“Yes?” he asked. “What is-“

Without warning, Mr Growls leaned forwards and touched him. Pillar went completely still, able to feel the fleshy digits pat him on the lower back where his light armour ended. The creature growled, seemingly in confusion, the pats slowing down. Pillar didn’t respond, he didn’t know how to react to what had just happened.

Then, salvation.

“Hey, I’m back!”

The patting completely stopped at the sound of Burrow’s voice and the hand remained still. Pillar looked up at Mr Growl’s face and realised what had happened, a realisation that was at the same time comforting and slightly insulting.

‘Don’t tell me… he thought I was Burrow the entire time?’

While he could understand how a non-changeling could get two changelings mixed up, he was still a little miffed that he had been compared to Burrow of all changelings. The soft-hearted soldier wasn’t exactly the ideal warrior, so he found himself glaring at the creature.
Mr Growls met his eyes, growled out what Pillar assumed was an apology, then removed his hand.

“It’s fine,” he replied. “Just don’t make that mistake again.”

“Sergeant?”

Pillar turned and trotted past Burrow, the newly-arrived soldier visually confused. “It’s nothing,” he told his subordinate. “You’re in charge of him, try and get him to communicate so we can understand him. I’ve had enough for now.”

With that, he left Burrow and the creature alone in the cave, happy for the two friends to suffer each other’s presences.

“What was all that about?”

Burrow tilted his head at the departing Pillar, before facing his friend. Mr Growls muttered in response, drumming his fingers on the chest he had sitting by his side and shrugging. He appeared to be less enthusiastic than the situation would warrant, Burrow wondering if Pillar had done something to upset him. He did take note that there was no harem in sight, but he doubted it was that.

Trotting forwards, he frowned when Mr Growls didn’t reach out to give him the usual ear scratch. “You okay there?” Burrow gave one of the hands a nudge with his muzzle, before sitting on his rump and taking off his helmet. “Look, Pillar’s cold, but from the sounds of it he was trying to help you out. If he said anything… wait, is that it?” Burrow tilted his head. “Did you think that he was me, and you’re embarrassed that you mixed us up?”

Mr Growls looked at him but didn’t answer, Burrow trying to think of a way to visually ask the question. Getting an idea, he made a show of replacing his helmet and then taking it off again while pointing to himself. Mr Growls still stared at him with confusion, so the idea was abandoned almost as soon as it had begun. “Never mind, I guess it doesn’t really matter now anyway.”

On the plus side, Mr Growls was relaxed and beginning to smile, evidently also thankful that the mix-up had been resolved. Then, he seemed to brighten, Burrow watching while a hand went down to the side of a hind leg. The clothing that Mr Growls wore on his bottom half had small little holes up near the waist, seeming to be storage compartments of some kind. A hand entered one, rummaged around, and then was withdraw with a strange item held in the fingers.

Burrow stared in awe at the shiny blue rope-thing, the material like nothing he had ever seen. On each end of it was some kind of white plastic bit, a multitude of tiny coloured pieces sitting within the transparent end-pieces. His eyes could make out some form of writing in black ink, but it was so tiny that he was certain that whoever had wrote it must have had an impossible amount of patience.

Mr Growls nodded towards the cable, Burrow grinning up at him with a nod. “It’s amazing! What is it?” In reply, Mr Growls smiled back before taking the cable and twisting it into a circle, tying the two ends together. With the flexible ring in his hands, he slowly moved it towards Burrow’s head.

‘It’s a gift!’ Burrow realised, his smile growing wider. As such, he allowed Mr Growls to place the object over his ears to rest around his neck. Burrow examined it once Mr Growls had leaned back, the shiny blue thingy resting securely thanks to the way the knot had been done.
“Thank you so much,” he acknowledged while looking back up. “Now we won’t have any problem with mistaking Pillar for me again, right?”
Mr Growls growled twice before reaching out a hand, Burrow continuing to smile at the head pat he received. Focusing back on the chest sitting on the floor, he wondered what other treasures might be hidden within.

“Hey, do you mind showing me some more things?” He pointed a hoof towards the chest, Mr Growls glancing towards it. “I promise to not run off with it like the scholars did.”

Watching Mr Growls reach out towards the box, Burrow expected him to pass over a single object for examination. Instead, when the clasps were unclipped and the lid opened, the entire chest was placed down between them.

He was elated at the show of trust, Burrow immediately peering into the container to see what secrets it held.

It was mind-boggling.

There were strange tools like the one Mr Growls had brandished at their first meeting, all held in two see-through cases and arranged via size. There were items with ends that seemed to be for gripping things, a roll of some kind of black material, devices with grooves, another smaller box that looked like the gift that had been given to the scholars, and many other strange implements. He glanced up, Mr Growls waving his hand towards the box.

“You want to let me touch them?” he asked with hope, moving his hoof towards the chest and watching for a reaction.

Another nod signalled the confirmation, Burrow eagerly going right for the item that stood out. Lifting it out, he examined the solid metal design, the two jaw-like clamps, and the strange tails coming out the other end. With his hooves, he pressed on the tails and watched as the jaws at the other end clamped shut.

“Wow,” he murmured, wondering what it was for. A hand gestured to him, the fingers curling up repeatedly. Guessing the meaning of the movements, Burrow passed the item back over to see what Mr Growls wanted with it.

Growling slowing, as if trying to explain what he was doing while showing, Mr Growls took the tool and activated the tails with his hand. The jaws at the end closed and then he twisted, Burrow completely lost as to what he was doing.

“Uh… that’s pretty good,” he tried, Mr Growls murmuring happily before patting him on the head again. The tool was returned to the chest, Mr Growls rummaging through and pulling out bits and pieces while offering what Burrow assumed was names. Then, Mr Growls paused, staring at his hands when he pulled out a small black rectangle.

All of a sudden, Mr Growls was speaking to himself with excitement and waving the rectangle around. Burrow tried to get a better look, and upon noticing this Mr Growls held it down and flipped it open.

Burrow recognised what seemed to be bits of white parchment all contained as small sheets in the rectangle. It was like the ‘books’ that the scholars had stashed away back in the hive, except only a few pages had writing on them. He was ashamed to admit that he couldn’t read or write at all, only the scholars and infiltrators bothering to learn equestrian and other languages. Still, in this case it didn’t matter considering the unknown origin, but he soon understood why Mr Growls was so excited.

One of the long, thin, and blue cylinders was taken out of a storage flap on the front of the clothing covering Mr Growl’s upper body, Burrow watching while it was brought down towards a blank page. Then, he heard a click as a finger was pressed down on the end, and Mr Growls began to move it around on the paper with an excited gleam in his eyes.

“You’re…” Burrow mumbled, his eyes widening when he realised that Mr Growls was in the middle of drawing something. “Drawing! Why didn’t we think of that earlier?”

He got no reply, Mr Growls focused on his task. Waiting patiently, Burrow tried to imagine of what wondrous secrets would be conveyed via the pages. Finally, his friend appeared to be finished, Mr Growls showing him the page. On it was a picture of what he assumed was Mr Growls, a tall container like a pony cup, and a drop of what he assumed was water.

“Oh,” it all finally clicked, the prior incident with Switcher making a bit more sense. “You don’t want a harem, you just want a drink?”

‘Finally!’ Daniel was halfway between kicking himself and jumping for joy, Boris nodding his head and passing back the notebook. ‘How could I have forgotten to just draw it? These guys seem smart enough to figure it out.’

Smart enough indeed, the bug-horse before him gesturing with a hoof towards the exit of the mini-cave he had been put in. Boris seemed excited to go, evidently he had also figured out the significance of their new communication method.

“So I’m not a prisoner?” Daniel asked, more out of habit than anything. He was starting to doubt his initial assumption that he’d been placed in the side cave under confinement, but the previous presence of the four bug-horses was still confusing. Following Boris as the creature trotted out merrily, he looked around the main cave to see what was going on.

Most of the bug-horses were asleep, huddled up into groups on the rocky floor in a likely attempt to beat the chill. He was thankful for his own ample fat supply and, although damp, his basic items of clothing. Still judging from Boris’ cheery attitude he doubted the cold weather was as bad on the bug-horses as it appeared, the creature he guessed he could class as a ‘friend’ leading him around groups towards the corridor that led to the cave mouth.

Occasionally a set of blue-eyes would focus on him and examine with curiosity, but not a single one even tried to engage him in conversation. So far all communication had been out of some misunderstanding, and at times he felt like the creatures were truly scared of him. It was understandable, given his growing suspicion that it was he that was somehow the alien, but it put him on edge.

Frighted creatures made for unpredictable and possibly dangerous creatures; something that his own species demonstrated rather well.
The relief was that Boris seemed to be working hard on getting him to fit in, and already they were letting him stay in their caves. The other bug-horses that had interacted with him had either treated him with distrust, curiosity, or in that one disturbing case a touch of over-familiarity.

“I’d think this was a dream,” he muttered to himself after going back through the last few hours. “Except this place makes far too much sense for that.”

He followed Boris into the corridor and noted the curious lack of chattering from him, the normally chatty guy seemingly focused on his own thoughts. The helmet and armour was still on, Boris adjusting the headgear while they approached the mouth of the cave proper. Drawing closer, a figure looking outside became apparent, the armour and helmet marking it as one of the three soldiers.

Judging by the way the bug-horse smirked when it turned and saw them, he had little doubt as to who it was.

“Well, well, well,” Aphid smiled, looking towards them as they neared. “If it isn’t Burrow and his favourite pet, come up to visit me on lonely guard-duty.” Burrow didn’t like the way she batted her eyes at him, and then looked at an uncomfortable Mr Growls to lick her fangs. “You two here to offer me some company? Help me warm up from this miserable cold?” His shock at her words must have been apparent, Aphid letting out a laugh after her teasing.

Burrowed shuddered at the thought of what she had jokingly implied, thankful that Mr Growls couldn’t understand the words and therefore meaning. Still, the biped was watching Aphid warily, likely having picked up on her intention to cause yet more trouble.

“That’s sick,” he countered, shaking his head at her suggestion. “Even as a joke.”

“Who said it was a joke?” Aphid shot back slyly, Burrow not rising to the bait. "Nice necklace by the way, it matches your eyes."

“We’re going out to find some water, or at least get some more snow failing that,” he explained rather harshly while moving past her. “We’ll try to be back in an hour.” He hissed at the end, Aphid hitting a nerve.

“Hey, Burrow.” He paused, turning around to find her looking at him with flattened ears while she scuffed a hoof. “Look, sorry if I was a bit over the line, it’s cold and I’m bored-“

“I get it,” he accepted with a sigh. “Just… could you drop it down a notch, at least until we all get a little settled with this situation?”

“Fine, I’ll try and keep from saying anything too raunchy.”

“Thanks.” He turned back to exit the cave, the snowfall currently very light with a full moon lighting the night.

“One thing though.” He looked back, Aphid sitting down to remove her helmet. “Before you two leave, he has to pay the toll.”

Burrow rolled his eyes at her demands, Mr Growls looking towards him with a questioning gaze. “Go ahead,” he instructed, miming an ear scratch as best as he could before pointing to the awaiting Aphid.

Mr Growls was obviously hesitant, but still got the message.

“Ah, that’s the stuff,” Aphid groaned happily, rolling her head around. It lasted a few seconds before Mr Growls pulled his hand away, Aphid grudgingly replacing her helmet before waving them onwards. “Little light,” she muttered before standing back up. “Well, just make sure you bring him back in one piece. He can’t feed changelings if he’s dead, or failing that at least bring back that chest of his so the scholars can loot it.”

“Thanks Aphid,” Burrow shook his head and resumed his trotting. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

His hooves hit the snow, Burrow wincing at the cold before reminding himself that movement would help warm himself up. At least the winds had died down, and the strong moonlight piercing through the normally grey sky almost gave the wasteland they were in a picture of calm beauty. Glancing behind him to make sure that Mr Growls was following, Burrow noticed that the cold seemed to be affecting him even less.

‘He must be used to the cold,’ Burrow though while trotting through the snow. ‘That would explain the fat.’

Focusing back on the task ahead of him, Burrow searched for any trace of a water source. He’d heard that some drones had found a frozen river not far from the cave, but none of them had been able to crack the ice. Given that information, their best bet would be finding a natural spring that was hopefully not frozen solid.

A scraping sound behind him caused him to stop and turn his head, Burrow watching while Mr Growls carved an arrow pointing back to the cave using one of the pointed metal objects. “You don’t need to worry about that,” he informed while his friend stood up. “Changelings have a mental link to other changelings, even without a nearby Queen. I can still tell where the cave is because f everyone inside.”

Mr Growls obviously failed to pick up the meaning he was trying to convey, pointing to the arrow he have made before pointing back to the cave.

“Yeah, I guess that works too,” Burrow chuckled lightly while continuing on.

They travelled through the snow for what Burrow guessed to be an hour, almost every pile of rocks and snowy mound warranting investigation. Their search yielded no results however, the barren land almost proving to be completely inhospitable.

Until, that is, they finally found what they were searching for.

Burrow spotted it first, the glinting of the moonlight twinkling off a particular spot in the snow. “Hey, over here!” He waited for Mr Growls to walk over from his own searching of a snow bank, before heading over to the area with the biped in tow.

Drawing closer, he tried to puzzle out the scene before them.

There was a small lake, likely fed by some underground source, but it was frozen over at the top. Curiously, around the useless water source grew a small number of bushes laden down with some kind of shimmering fruit. Long-gone remains of dead trees were fallen around the area, Burrow trotting up to investigate one of the frozen trunks. Tapping it with his hoof, he frowned when the first wood they had discovered proved to be unusable for any sort of fire.

Moving onto the berry bushes, he peered at the fruit resting upon the branches. It was oval-shaped, multi-coloured, and shimmered like glittering gems. He was so focused on the prettiness of them that he didn’t react while Mr Growls joined him, the biped poking the fruit with a curious finger.

“Look at them,” Burrow whispered. “They’re like little jewels.” Glancing around, he could see that most of the bushes seemed to be very young, some even just sprouting from the ground. “How can these plants grow out here?”

Mr Growls grunted before standing back up, pointing towards the lake with a finger. “Grunga.”

Trotting over, Burrow tapped the ice with his hoof before shaking his head. “It’s no good, it’s frozen over too hard. We’ll have to just settle with snow I’m afraid, the scholars were finding a way to boil more of it rather than… Mr Growls?”

“Graw rag raw!”

Burrow watched while his friend stooped down, bent his knees, and wrapped his arms around a massive rock. The boulder was nearly the size of a changeling, Mr Growls visibly straining to lift it.

“Are you-“ Burrow began, before Mr Growls shouted, stood up with the rock in his arms, and then ran at the lake while continuing to yell at the top of his lungs.

“Be a man!”

With the bellowed battle cry, Daniel found a urge of strength to lift up the boulder.

Those years spent carrying Universal Power Supplies with lead batteries up and down stairs had paid off.

Charging towards the lake while the shocked Boris looked on, he improvised the next line.

“Going to bust open this fuck-ing lake!”

With that, he reached the edge of the frozen surface of the lake and threw the rock while swinging to the side. It travelled less than two meters, crashing down onto the surface of the ice while Daniel fell to the snow.

It was enough.

The ice cracked asunder, the boulder shattering the long-frozen surface and sinking down in a spray of ice-cold water. With a face-full of snow, Daniel looked behind him see that his hasty plan had been met with success. Standing up in triumph, he raised his fists to the sky and roared with elation.

“Raaaagh!”

His arms hurt but his pride had never been better, seeing the simple accomplishment as a feat of herculean strength at the current time. Calming down slightly he turned to give a thumbs up to the open-mouthed bug-horse staring at him.

“Look,” he continued to celebrate while pointing at the now-free water. “Bloody Bonza mate! Now we have all the water we need!” Daniel pointed to the lake and laughed. “Never underestimate the power of a human with a rock!”

The situation may have been getting to him.

Walking over to the defeated lake, he bent down, sniffed the water, and then scooped a drink up with a cupped hand. Taking a small sip, he found that it was crystal-clear and amazingly fresh, the relief at having finally achieved a drink more than making up for subjecting his hand to the icy water. Beside him while he continued to drink, Boris trotted up and tried the water for himself, the bug-horse just lapping the water straight up. The quality proved to be just as acceptable for Boris, the creature drinking deeply before removing his head with a satisfied sigh.
Judging from the excited chattering and hoof gesturing that came afterwards, Daniel guessed that that Boris was very pleased with their new water source.

“It’s good,” he replied with a nod, standing back up and walking back to his dropped tool set. “But stuff walking for an hour just to get a drink.”

He rummaged around, trying to find a sizable container in which to carry some of the water back in. Unfortunately there was nothing that was suited for it, Boris watching on with curious eyes. Rubbing his eyes and looking around the surrounding area, Daniel paused when he spotted a hollow log about as long as his arm with almost twice the width. Glancing back to his tool set and seeing the soft case of boot cd’s and the box of asset labels, he got a very stupid idea.

But a stupid idea that was just stupid enough to work.

‘What in Tartarus is he doing?’

Burrow watched on while Mr Growls shoved a silver circle with a strange red, green, blue, and yellow symbol on the non-shiny side into the log that had just been picked up and washed out. The biped jammed it in tight, shiny side pointing out with the circle filling up one end completely. Then, Mr Growls went for a white box in his chest, pulling off shiny squares with alien writing on them and sticking them around the circle to seal up any gaps with the log. Next up was the hole in the middle of the circle, Mr Growls covering it completely before putting the construction materials back in his strange chest before holding the log out towards him with pride.

“What… what’s it for?” Burrow asked, tilting his head in confusion. Mr Growls in response then pointed to the lake before he stood up again, walking over and gently placing the log in. Removing it, he waited for a few moments before grinning like a fool. Burrow trotted over to see what had him so happy when he realised it.

The log wasn’t leaking any water.

“That’s genius,” he breathed, craning his head to see that the makeshift bottom was indeed staying sealed. “There’s enough water in there to get everyone a drink!”

Mr Growls nodded, pleased with himself. He set the log down and ambled over towards the berry bushes, Burrow following to see what he was doing.

His friend stared at the bushes for a moment, thinking hard. Then, the hands went to work on the clothing on his top half, buttons being undone to allow Mr Growls to slip it off. Burrow looked over the pale skin, the chest dotted with hairs, and most surprising were the two teats mounted up high on the torso.

‘Wow,’ he wondered, not even wanting to think about why his apparently male friend had teats he swore only pony mares and other female milk-making mammals had. ‘That’s… different.’

Mr Growls didn’t even notice the attention, hastily picking berries and using the removed clothing as a makeshift sack to load them up. Burrow shook his head and moved over to help, the two quickly stripping one bush completely of fruit. It was a sizable haul, although judging from his size Burrow was fairly confident that Mr Growls required a lot of physical food.

“Can you even eat them?” he inquired, but the question was ignored while Mr Growls picked up the log under one hand, stuffed the berry-sack into the item-chest, and gestured back towards the direction they had come. Burrow let it go and instead moved out front to guide them, focusing on returning them to safety with their haul.

“Guess we’ll just find out later, then."

Aphid’s ears picked up the sound of something approaching, so she removed her head from her forelegs and looked out of the cave. The weather had improved greatly, the light snow-fall enabling her to see clearly outside.

It was Burrow and the creature he had named as Mr Growls, both talking away to each other while they drew closer. It was funny, watching them both converse without actually understanding what the other was saying, but secretly she was impressed that Burrow could so easily make friends with such a creature. He was probably one of the softest soldiers she had known, but she couldn’t really fault him for trying to be nice to everything he encountered.

Cricking her neck, she stood up and waited for them to enter. She raised an eye at the fact that Mr Growls was wearing nothing on his top half, and was for some reason carrying a large log under one arm.

“Aphid,” Burrow greeted, shaking off the light dusting of snow before stepping into the cave. “You’re still on duty?”

“Pillar’s working on something with the scholars,” she explained, watching while the two stepped past her. “Did you find water?”

Burrow nodded, before tapping Mr Growls on the leg and pointing at Aphid. “We sure did, show her.”

Aphid took a step back when the log was lowered towards her, but she quickly realised that the water was sitting inside of it. Somehow, the two had managed to find some and stopped up a log to transport it back.

“Wow,” she murmured, sitting down and taking off her helmet. Holding it out upside down, she waited for Mr Growls to pour some of the refreshing liquid into it before taking a sip. Eyes widening, she took a number of long gulps before lowing the helmet and wiping her mouth with a foreleg. “Where did you find that stuff? It’s some of the best water I’ve tasted.”

“Mr Growls broke a lake open,” Burrow informed with a nod. “He also took some of these weird berries that were growing around it, near all of these dead trees. It was strange, it was like the berry bushes were just beginning to grow for some reason.” His voice lowered in volume.

“Also, we really don’t want to fight him, he lifted up a rock as big as me and was even able to throw it.”

They both glanced at Mr Growls, the biped focused on holding what Aphid assumed was one of the berries that had been found. The shiny fruit was touched to Mr Growl’s lips, before he used a finger-claw to slice into the fruit and dab a bit of the deep-purple juice onto his arm.

“What’s he doing?”

“I don’t know,” Burrow answered. “Hang on, I’ll ask.”

Aphid rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to work.”

Burrow ignored her and instead looked up towards Mr Growls, pointing a hoof at the berry and then at the spot of juice. “Why did you do that?”

Mr Growls set the log he was holding down in reply, reaching into his bottom clothing to withdraw a small black rectangle and a cylinder. Her interest peaked when he started to move the cylinder around on what proved to be paper.

“We figured it out,” Burrow explained. “We can draw to try and explain more difficult things. Come and see.”

Aphid couldn't resist, her interest rising as she trotted over beside him. Mr Growls was soon finished in his task, holding out the rectangle to show them.

On the paper was a drawing of what was a skull and crossbones, as well as a crude depiction of a berry with a large cross through it.

“Oh,” she realised, nodding her head. “He’s checking it to see if its poisonous.”

“I don’t see how,” Burrow murmured.

“Well, we don’t eat solid food usually,” Aphid pointed out. “Maybe there’s a way to tell?”

Both nodded towards Mr Growls, the biped placing the paper-rectangle in his clothing before gesturing down towards the log of water.

“Main cave,” Burrow answered with a pointed leg. Mr Growls shrugged and picked the log back up, Aphid left behind while the two moved deeper into the cave. “See you later, Aphid.”

“That’s right,” she called back. “You will, you’re taking over for me soon.”

Burrow groaned, but turned his head around. “Fine, I’ll be back in few minutes. Just let me help Mr Growls out first.”

She didn’t answer, focusing on the biped while he began to talk with Burrow again.

She already had an idea of how she was going to spend her time off.

“So, they’re okay for you to eat?”

Mr Growls touched the berry to his tongue, before pulling it away and settling back down to wait again. Burrow shook his head, he could understand the desire to make sure that it was poison-free but the entire process of seemingly testing every variable was taking ages.

Standing in the small cave that had been set aside for Mr Growls by the scholars, Burrow watched while his friend sat on the ground with his arms around his naked torso. Mr Growls was only inconvenienced by the cold judging from the small amount of attention paid to it compared to the berries, so there was no immediate danger.

It had been worth it, however. While Mr Growls had at first been hesitant at sharing the water they had gathered, the log was currently sitting in the main cave and had almost been emptied already as everyone had taken the chance for a refreshing drink. What Mr Growls had lost as a personal water supply was returned in the form of gratitude from the drones and nurses, already a group of drones had gone to get more water from the discovered lake.

“Well,” Burrow said while making to leave. “It’s my turn to guard the entrance again. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He put his helmet on and pointed to the exit, Mr Growls nodding his head in understanding. Finally the berry was introduced to its doom, evidently the poison tests coming up clean as it disappeared into Mr Growl’s mouth.

Burrow shook his head with a light chuckle, turning to trot out of the side cave. ‘Well, at least he seems to be happy.’

Daniel was not very happy at all.

“These berries taste terrible,” he muttered to himself after Boris had left. “Far too sweet.”

Still, overly sweet berries or not, nourishment was nourishment. The makeshift ‘can I eat this?’ test had deemed the berries safe to consume, although that was relying on his memory of the test being accurate.

“Blasting my guts is the last thing I need,” he grumbled to himself, eating another three berries before bundling the rest up in his shirt. He intended to share them with Boris when the bug-horse returned from guard duty, so far he hadn’t seen him eat a single thing.

‘And he did help me find them,’ Daniel reasoned, settling back and giving his arms another rub. ‘Bloody cold, shame that wood was too damp to use.’

Then, with a hushed chattering at the end of the cave, his focus on the cold was broken.

Four of the bug-horses, the ones he suspected from before, slinked into the room after glancing around behind them. Judging from the way they headed straight for him with obvious anticipation on their faces, he could guess as to what was coming next.

True to his expectations they didn’t even slow at his shirtless form, instead he was buffeted on all sides by the four. One instantly flopped down into his lap and rolled over with her hind legs crossed, forelegs bunched up with an obvious demand.

“Really, again?” he questioned with a sigh, being met with giggling chatter in return. With nothing else to do he gave her what she wanted and rubbed her belly, the creature in his lap closing her eyes with a blissful grin. A head nudging his other hand made another demand known, so a second bug-horse received an ear scratch. The third and fourth rested up against him while waiting their turns, Daniel glaring at one when she prodded his right nipple.

She got the message, bowing her head and sheepishly withdrawing the hoof with a nervous chattering.

Time past as he rotated paying each one certain attention, able to identify them by their favourite treatments alone.

There was the one that liked belly rubs, the one that particularly enjoyed ear scratches, one that preferred him to kneed along her spine, and the last and most unnerving one that wanted him to constantly work the soft-spots on the bottom of her hooves with his fingers.

‘Well,’ he thought to himself. ‘At least if I never make it back home or… whatever I am, at least I’ve got a guaranteed job as one of those massage people.’ Glancing down at the bug-horse in his lap, humming to herself as he patted her stomach, he had a follow-up thought. ‘Just… if there is a god then please don’t make this a ‘happy ending’ type scenario. I can only take so much.’

Evidently, God either didn’t exist in the current lands or was a massive prick, as it was at that moment that one of the soldiers trotted in to gaze at him unimpressed. It wasn’t Boris, and it wasn’t even the grumpy one. No.

It was the worst of the bunch, the female.

Even though he couldn’t understand her speech, the mocking tone was more than enough for him to reach a conclusion.

She was here to cause trouble.

Aphid shook her head at the scene, the four drones apparently assigned to harem duty busy with instead trotting all over Mr Growls like they owned him. There were head rubs, ear scratches, one was even lying on her back in his lap with her tongue out while a hand stroked her belly. In short, it was rather disappointing compared to her goal of observing some really weird stuff between changeling and… whatever he was.

He noticed her and his movements slowed, Aphid giving him an unamused look. “Seriously? That crazy scholar gives you a harem and you spend your time doing this?”

At her words the drones looked towards her, caught red-hoofed like a nymph sneaking into the love stores.

“And you four,” she continued, trotting up closer. “I seem to recall you all telling the others of how horrible harem duty was, forced to ‘submit to the whims of his ravenous appetite’ while in reality you’re just getting him to do this to you.”

“It’s not our fault,” the drone in Mr Growl’s lap protested. “He doesn’t even seem to want to do anything more. Look at this,” the drone uncrossed her hind legs, Mr Growls immediately averting his eyes away to the side. “See? Talk about modest.”

Aphid rolled her eyes, able to see where they were coming from. Still, she had come all this way…

“It doesn’t matter,” she dismissed, removing her helmet and armour to dump them on the floor. Mr Growls didn’t seem too pleased with that, his eyes never leaving her. “As a superior, I order you to vacate that lap.”

The drone stared at her, placing her forelegs protectively over the hand on her stomach. “And just what am I supposed to do?”

“You can start by acting like you’re in a harem,” Aphid stated dryly, stopping just before Mr Growls and staring down at the drone. Then, she thought of an idea and smiled. “For starters, you’ve had your fun. Why don’t you start working on those shoulders of his?”

The drone made to protest but stopped before uttering a word. With a groan she left the lap and stood up, Aphid smirking at the worker while she jumped up and began to rub Mr Growl’s shoulders as ordered, much to his confusion. Quickly, so as to minimise any protest, Aphid darted in and claimed his lap as hers, spreading out on her stomach while the other drones watched on unamused.

“You, Mr Growls,” she addressed with a lazy wave of her foreleg and a flexing of her wings. “Start with the wings muscles, then the neck, then the shoulders.” She moved each part as she said them to ensure that he understood. “If you’re good, then I’ll even let you work on my rump for a few minutes.” In truth, her rump was incredibly sore from sitting on the cold ground near the entrance, so it wasn’t likely that any bad behaviour on his part could rule that chance out.

“Stupid soldiers,” she heard a drone mutter, before a hand began to rub the area between her wings as she had asked and Aphid closed her eyes in blissful relaxation.

Let them dislike her for taking their spot, it was totally worth it.

“Hmm… why’d you stop?”

Aphid woke up from her nap to find that a stationary hand was draped over her rump, the side cave silent save for heavy breathing. Shifting in her comfortable spot, she raised her head to look around. The drones were all around them, in true changeling fashion they had huddled up in a group with Mr Growls in the centre. Aphid brushed away a foreleg from the thigh she had been laying her head on and looked up towards the creature she was resting on.

Mr Growls was out like a light, his weird chest rising and falling steadily while he slept. Realising that she could recognise the feeling of the love trickling in steadily, she struggled with the decision to inform the scholars like she had been ordered to or to just remain in her spot and gorge on it while enjoying the warm body heat.

Grunting, she regretfully rose from her spot and stumbled off, stepping over a drone lying by the creature’s feet. “The things I sacrifice for the hive,” she grumbled, moving into the main cave and looking around. Most of the drones were asleep, so she headed straight for the third tunnel. It lead to the cave that the scholars had claimed for themselves, Aphid poking her head inside to deliver the news.

She rolled her eyes when she found that they were also asleep, the higher-ups all in a group on the floor with the dismantled yellow object sitting on a flat rock with wires everywhere. Trotting over, she focused on one and gave Transfusion a sharp kick in the side.

He spluttered awake, the other scholars stirring along with him. Irritated eyes stared at her, Aphid meeting them with a judging gaze.

“Foods up,” she informed, before trotting back out to try and get a good spot in the line.

“Oh no…”

Burrow rushed over to the tunnel leading to Mr Growls’ cave, the volume surprisingly muted given the amount of drones all in one place. A line had been formed that filed into the cave holding his friend, a line that was far too short for his liking. As he watched, a changeling exited the tunnel with a happy grin on his face, another then trotting in to presumably feed on the sleeping creature within.

“Hey, back of the line,” a drone interjected when Burrow tried to push past to check on Mr Growls. Food was often the one factor that trumped rank and class. “Even if you’re a soldier, you’re here last.”

“He’s right,” another drone chimed in with a stamp of her hoof. “We get to eat something first!”

“Shh,” a third, closer to the side cave itself, whispered. “You’ll wake him.”

‘This isn’t right,’ Burrow worried. ‘He’s not just a food source.’ However, there was nothing he could do but go to the back of the line, hungry drones watching him all the way.

Waiting, the line grew shorter and shorter, before it all hit a snag.

“There’s no more!” a frantic drone announced while galloping out of the cave. “The love’s stopped!”

The news caused a disappointed murmuring to start amongst the seven that had yet to receive any energy, frowns on their faces as they slowly made their way back to their spots around the cave. Burrow was more concerned about the well-being of Mr Growls, but he was beaten to the tunnel by Aphid.

“Relax,” she reassured, causing the crowd of drones to stop and look at her. “I’ve got a solution, the love will return shortly.” With that, she ducked into the cave, Burrow making to follow but was blocked by the seven drones racing back to their spots in line.

All he could do was wait and worry, before a minute later Aphid emerged from the cave. She was licking her fangs with a content smile on her face, Burrow’s unease rising when she spotted him and sauntered over.

“The love is back on,” she informed, the first drone in line eagerly heading into the cave. He didn’t join the line this time, his concerns faded at Aphids announcement. However, her grin didn’t help matters much.

He watched Aphid draw up to stand alongside, the fellow soldier silent for a few moments while she continued to run her tongue over her teeth and fangs. The smacking noises she made send shivers down his spine, a minute passing before she casually looked at him.

“So,” Aphid started nonchalantly. “Did you know that your friend is most likely a meat-eater given those teeth?”

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay with this chapter, if it wasn't enough that I had other fics that needed updates, my internet then decides to die every two minutes over the weekend.

Anyway, our ~~hero~~ ~~adventurer~~ IT guy now has a harem of his very own... the only problem is that he doesn't yet know that he even has a harem. But, at least he now has a new form of communication, one that he'll have to use more and more as the questions become more complex.

This chapter showed that yes, you indeed can use Microsoft boot disks for something other than computer maintenance. Also, make sure you know which changeling it is before you touch it. That's a big one.

Aphid is back and worse than before, menacing human and Burrow alike with her ways. However, true to HIE ~~self-insert~~ totally-not-a-self-insert form, the ladies are all over Mr Human... just, not in the way that is particularly wanted on said human's part.

As for the 'crystal-like berries' looking like they've just grown, foreshadowing perhaps?

None of these questions answered, just more questions (as usual) next chapter.

As always, I've probably fucked up some spelling somewhere, so here's the deal. For every spelling mistake or grammar issue you spot, you receive ten Official Dropbear Points!(c) that you can save up and keep! Reach ten million, and you win a magnificent prize!

Prize is not guaranteed, not refundable, not swappable, not tangible, not traceable, not dependable, and all complaints should be directed to the benevolent Lord Knightly.

God Save the Queen

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Daniel awoke with a dull headache, although thankfully it wasn’t one of the migraines that he got from time to time. The second thing he noticed was the strange taste in his mouth, unidentifiable but not unpleasant. Placing it down to an aftereffect of the berries he had eaten, he shifted and his spot and noticed the third new addition.

Only one bug-horse was still near him, the creature snoozing lightly with its head on its forelegs while it lay by his side. A helmet was placed next to it, and from the blue Ethernet cable he identified the creature as Boris. Looking around, Daniel wondered where all the others had gone, remembering how he’d been mobbed earlier.

“Could really use one of those shoulder massages now,” he muttered, pulling his back away from the hard stone wall and cricking his neck. Taking care to not wake the bug-horse sleeping next to him, Daniel stumbled to his feet. Glancing down to the tool case, he figured that Boris would be a capable guard. “Watch the stuff,” he whispered. “I’ve got to go and water the wasteland.”

Leaving his friend behind to rest, Daniel quietly exited the small side cave with a yawn.

The main cavern was lively, bug-horses chattering amongst themselves in groups with more vigour than before. He of course drew attention, but this time there was a higher amount of smiles and greetings. A few of them even approached, looking up while chattering at him in their alien tongue. Not knowing what else to do, he tried to smile back and nod at each one.

‘What suddenly made me so popular? Was it Boris? Maybe these guys all want me to give them an Ethernet collar as well?’

One of the more friendly creatures suddenly went for his legs, Daniel looking down while preparing to either step back or boot it if needed.

“Hey, personal space.” However, upon closer inspection the creature wasn’t trying to tear a chunk off of his leg with its fangs, but instead it was rubbing its head and muzzle against his pants leg. At his words it stopped and looked up with a curious chatter, Daniel guessing that no harm had been done. “It’s all good,” he reassured it, patting the bald head before continuing to move past.

It didn’t follow, Daniel managing to avoid any more interruptions on his way towards the tunnel leading to the entrance. Unfortunately for him, the path contained another obstacle far more terrifying than a group of bug-horses out to nuzzle his legs.

It was the female.

She was sitting down and staring out of the cave, mouth movements leading Daniel to guess that she was muttering to herself.

‘Of course it’s her on watch, and not that other soldier one,’ he winced, hoping that she wouldn’t pester him during his bathroom trip. Still, he didn’t exactly have all of the time in the world, so he’d have to man up and deal with it.

Walking straight towards her, he paused when she turned her head towards him. Her frown turned into a smile, and she grinned wickedly at him while her tongue gave her fangs a once-over. The giggling chatter afterwards reassured him that she wasn’t intending to try and intimidate him, but that still left a few alternative meanings that he wasn’t too fond of. With nothing else to do, he pointed out of the cave and nodded.

“Ah… great. Well, I’ve got to go and take a piss, so… I’ll be right back.”

Hurrying past her, the cold outside was a welcome choice compared to the irritated glare that he could feel on his back and the rapid chatter that sounded none too pleased.

“Hey, get back here! You didn’t pay me my toll!” Aphid huffed as Mr Growls just outright bypassed her, the creature muttering what she hoped was some kind of explanation. No explanation would make up for his lack of proper observance to the Aphid Tax, however. “You’ve got two warm hands and I’ve got one cold and sore rump, you won’t get away that easily!”

Her words did nothing, Aphid cursing the language barrier as she watched him leave the cave. Wondering just what had prompted the biped to leave the relative warmth for the cold outside, she got up to follow him into the light snow fall.

Flakes of the cold snow caused her to shiver when they hit her back, but still she pressed on and followed the tracks leading around the side. Her ears picked up when she heard the sound of running liquid, and upon poking her head out around the side she stared on in confusion.

Mr Growls was facing the mountain wall with his back to her, an arc of liquid coming from the front of his body to splash against the snowy ground. It took Aphid a few moments to realise that he was actually urinating.

“Wow,” she muttered, unable to look away. “How can he do that standing up?”

Changelings were actually a very efficient species when it came to survival. Apart from their major weakness of needing the positive emotions of other creatures to live, they were able to survive in some of the harshest environments. Being able to conserve water and as a result needing less of it than other creatures, urination was a rare need for a changeling not living in opulence.

Aphid had the standard knowledge of the bodily function, and she’d heard from an infiltrator that ponies needed to do it daily. Still, while females she could work out, she had no idea how males of the species achieved the feat without difficulty.

But, apparently, Mr Growls’ species just did it by standing up and letting fly.

‘It’s just so weird,’ she thought, continuing to stare at the spectacle. ‘It really shouldn’t be freaking me out so much, but it just does.’

With a satisfied sigh and a few shakes, Mr Growls stowed his equipment and walked a few steps away from the wall. Then, after dipping his hands into a patch of fresh snow and shaking them off with a shiver, he turned to walk back.

Guessing that he’d react poorly to finding out that she had been watching him, Aphid beat a hasty retreat to her guard spot. Sitting back down on the cold ground, she made sure to glare at him to cover her tracks. Mr Growls entered while rubbing his hands together and shivering, briefly pausing to dust off the layer of snow on his clothes and hair before he glanced at her.

“Gragh, graw ragah.” The fact that he rolled his eyes and sighed didn’t earn him any mercy, Aphid moving to block his path when he tried to head back inside. Staring up at him defiantly, she used a hoof to point at him and then her.

“Don’t you give me any of that,” she lectured. “You don’t just walk out when a female orders you to do something. You’re lucky that the Queen isn’t here, she’d have you thrown to the nymphs as a tied-up toy until you promised to behave.” His eyes, filled with a complete lack of understanding, caused her to sigh. “Why do I even bother?”

Returning to her seat to sulk, she waved a hoof at him to leave. “Go on, return to your boyfriend Burrow. I bet you give him all of the rump massages he wants.” Crossing her forelegs, she glared at him to further translate the point. “Stupid creature, just leave me alone then.”

Turning around, she huffed and tried to ignore him. A muttered set of growls followed, before a groan of what sounded like defeat. Then, footsteps approached, Aphid not even facing him when he sat down beside her.

“Grawb?”

“Go away, I’ll have nothing to do with…” softly, a hand patted her on the back before it ran up and down her spine. The motion caused her wings to buzz every time it went between them, her hind leg twitching when the rub turned into a scratch. “Ah… on second thought I suppose that an apology is in order after all.”

Standing up from the cold ground, she turned to find him perched on a short, flat rock. He tilted his head at her, but his question was cut off and his eyes widened when she climbed up onto his lap. Spreading herself over the warm legs and relishing the heat, Aphid sighed in contentment. “Well, Mr Growls,” she said while giving him a thankful smile. “It’s a good start, but my rump cheeks aren’t getting any warmer with you just sitting there.”

He still continued to stare at her, before hesitantly reaching a hand out for her helmet.

“No,” Aphid smacked the hand away with a forehoof. “That is my head. I said my ‘rump’. Rump.” Pointing her hoof towards her rear, she gave him a no nonsense gaze. “Rump, not head. Bad biped.”

Mr Growls glanced from her face to her rear, not looking very pleased at all. When he looked back, she narrowed her eyes. In a surprising move from the biped, Mr Growls defiantly shook his head.

“Oh, what a shame,” she over-exaggerated, a foreleg slipping down past his thigh. She rested it on a very warm spot, and despite his adequate body temperature the creature froze. “Imagine if something lewd were to happen? A modest one like you just wouldn’t want that, hmm?” Her hoof had barely begun to rub before the two hands were waved in the air, Aphid grinning a victory grin. Flicking her short tail, she ensured that he could see that it was securely covering anything that he might find unsavoury.

For whatever strange reason.

Her extortion efforts were rewarded with two large, warm, and surprisingly soft hands reluctantly cupping her buttocks, the thin chitin covering it still hardened from the cold. With a soft rub, warmth started to seep back into them and she could feel the chitin relaxing, returning to the normal smoothness of everyday use. Only in battle or danger did chitin really start to harden, and when it did so during normal situations the loss of feeling could prove quite irritating.

“Not a concern right now,” she murmured into a leg, shuddering with bliss. “By the Queen, if you’d do this every day then I’d claim you as a mate. Granted I’d probably have to fight Burrow for you, but it would be so worth it. That’s even with you being such a prude as well.” Aphid was so caught up in imagining what a paradise it would be to have Mr Growls on her beck and call, that she didn’t notice the ceasing of the rub.

Or, more accurately, she didn’t notice why Mr Growls had stopped.

“What’s this about claiming the creature as a mate?”

Aphid whipped her head around at Pillar’s voice, raising her foreleg in a quick salute. It didn’t seem to have much effect, her Sergeant smirking at her as she lay caught on the lap.

“I… uh, it was just a joke, sir.” She chuckled nervously, glancing towards the cave mouth. “Mr Growls here was just helping me to stay alert, you know, sharing body heat to properly ward off the cold.”

“Uh huh, sure.”

“It’s true, see?” Aphid shivered, a hard task given the warm spot she was in. “So c-c-cold.”

With a glance first towards the hands on Aphid’s rump, then to Mr Growls, Pillar raised an eye. “And you, what’s your excuse?”

Raising his hands off of Aphid’s rear, Mr Growls first pointed to himself and then to the cave mouth while growling an explanation. Pillar looked back to her once Mr Growls was done, the Sergeant continuing to stare.

“He went out to… urinate.”

“Ah,” Pillar nodded his understanding. “A difficult task to do properly in a civil manner, but one that must be done I suppose.”

“Wasn’t difficult for him,” Aphid explained. “All he did was walk around the side of the mountain and stand there facing the wall.”

“Really?” Pillar continued on, intrigued. “He didn’t even have to dig a trench or hole so it didn’t get on his hoov- well, whatever those things are called?” Then, his eyes narrowed again. “Wait… how do you know?”

‘Curses,’ Aphid winced, caught out.

“Uh… I followed him?”

Pillar was silent for moment. “You followed him and watched him urinate?”

“Hey,” she tried to defend. “I was just seeing where he was going, I didn’t know it was for that.”

“But he wouldn’t have let you follow, going off his past reactions when it comes to modesty,” Pillar reasoned. “So, that means you left your guard post and stalked him away from the main cave, leaving it unguarded. Then, even when you’re back in the cave, I find you spread out on his lap with your rear in his hands and your foreleg suspiciously absent.” It was then that Pillar’s eye narrowed. “Hang on… are you threatening him somehow so he’ll use his hands on you?”

Aphid remained silent, but it was all that Pillar needed.

“Chrysalis’ leg-holes,” he cursed under his breath. “Really, Private Aphid? Should I just demote you, assign you as a drone, and just have you placed in his harem-turned-changeling-massage-parlour to save myself some trouble? At least Private Burrow is still capable of preforming basic guard duty when Mr Growls is around.” Pillar made a show of sitting down near the entrance, no mind paid to the cold. “The scholars have requested a meeting with Mr Growls. Burrow is still asleep, so you can be his escort. Get going.”

Aphid scrambled up from Mr Growls’ lap without complaint, knowing that she was incredibly lucky to be escaping with such a light punishment. She bit down on the end of Mr Growls’ shirt, tugging it to get him to his feet. The biped looked very confused, glancing from her to Pillar and back. “Come on,” Aphid growled out through a mouthful of cloth. “Quickly!”

He began to walk, Aphid letting go and leading him down into the cave.

‘Well,’ she thought to herself with a scowl. ‘At least it’s Pillar’s rump that will be sore now.’

With one hand held at his groin, ready at a moment’s notice to defend against any further sexual threats, Daniel followed the female soldier down the corridor. Evidently she’d been caught red-handed by the cranky soldier, and had been tasked with taking him somewhere. Daniel hoped that it was back to Boris, so far only he had been effective at halting the unwanted advances.

After all, while he himself could likely halt any attempts physically, there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that he probably wouldn’t do so well with actual resistance once it started. Unfortunately, along with the obvious teasing and actions from the female, had come certain… theories as to what would actually happen if she got her way.

And to think that his roommate had complained about how hard it was finally deciding that he was gay, Daniel would have liked to have seen him try to decide what to do in this situation.

“I need to try and meet more people,” he muttered. “Or bug-horses. Whatever.”

Unfortunately his wish came true, in the form of the female leading him towards the other side cave, the one which contained the crazy bug-horses. Following his suddenly hesitant guard, he ducked under a low rock ceiling and found himself in an unfavourable situation.

Five bug-horses were looking out at him from their circle, and at his entrance they began to chatter away with excitement. That is, save for the one with chitin tinged dull grey. Daniel tried to step back but the bug-horse was too quick, the creature chattering away with an insane grin as it approached him. It was gesturing widely with its hooves, yellowing fangs clacking together as it tried to guide him to a free spot.

“Of course,” Daniel smiled, hiding his actual opinion. “Bugsy. How… utterly unpleasant to see you.” The creature smiled and nodded, turning to the others and chattering away like he had just heard a proclamation from God.

With nothing else to do, Daniel took a seat on the floor, thankfully one that was as far away from Bugsy as possible. The solider sat next to him after an annoyed burst of speech, Daniel glancing around to see what else was of interest and possible danger.

On his opposite side sat two of the bug-horses side-by-side, the only other female in the room and one of the males. Judging from the way had their forehooves intertwined, he doubted that he needed to worry about any seduction attempts from this one at least. She waved at him meekly, Daniel hesitantly returning it after figuring out that she must have been the one who had been given his voltameter.

A quick glance around the room confirmed his suspicion, his poor voltameter lying gutted on a flat rock. ‘At least they had fun with it,’ he supposed. ‘Although I hope they don’t try to pull me apart.’ Shifting on his spot, he tried to push the thought out of his mind. ‘Relax, you can take them if they try anything.’

He jolted when something touched his knee, Daniel looking towards it and finding the female soldier’s right hind hoof resting against it while she sat. She gave him a smile, but he quickly turned his head away in fear of accidently making a gesture of acceptance.

He didn’t even notice her scowl when Bugsy began to speak, chattering away with a vivid excitement.

“So good to see you in good health, and spirit.”

Switcher sat back down after his excessive greeting of Mr Growls, Aphid muttering to herself while crossing her forelegs. “Stupid creature can’t even hear you, stupid old crazy scholar.”

“Soldier?” Scholar Transmutation asked from his spot opposite. “Is something the matter?”

“N-no,” Aphid answered, receiving a nod in response.

“Good, then please keep quiet and pay attention. We need to ask his Divineness his opinion on an important matter.”

Frowning, Aphid sat quietly. If it wasn’t for the fact that the scholars could easily cast her out of the cave to freeze to death, she would have told them all that they were some of the stupidest changelings in the cave for listening to the most insane scholar in the hive and believing that the creature that couldn’t even stand to glimpse her vag without freaking out was some kind of all-knowing, long-lost changeling god.

Glancing to Mister Growls, she could at least take some comfort in the fact that he seemed far more confused and worried. Plus, the way he was deceiving them all with an obvious fake smile was both a little funny and only proved the obliviousness of the scholars when it came to actual things that mattered.

“Moving on,” Transmutation continued. “As you all know, fellow changelings of learning, a few hours ago one of our drone teams fetching more water reported that they picked up a very faint link with the Queen.”

Old Switcher nodded excitedly towards Mr Growls.

“Indeed, without the guidance of our Divine Lord which led to the discovery of the magical lake, we wouldn’t have had any drones pick up the link!” Aphid actually began to worry when the rest of the scholars nodded in agreement, not having expected them to have bought the crazy idea so fully.

“The only question now, is one of great importance!” He stood up, Mr Growls tapping his fingers together nervously when Switcher approached and bowed. “My Lord, oh Mighty Benjamin! Shall we follow this link back to the Queen and attempt to convince her of your divinity? Or shall we instead stay here and build a wonderful holy kingdom under your rule?”

Mr Growls closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and breathed deeply. A tapping on her shoulder caused Aphid to glare at him, but it softened when he held out the book of paper and the writing tool.

“Huh? You want me to…?” The fact that he thrust the paper out again with an almost frantic glance to the muttering Switcher confirmed that yes, he did want her to explain what was happening. Aphid hesitatingly took the offered instruments, much to Transfusion’s confusion.
“He wants the soldier to do what?”

All of the scholars leaned in to look, even Switcher interrupting his praising to see what was happening.

“He wants me to draw the question,” Aphid explained, taking the writing tool in her mouth and trying to concentrate. While Mr Growls had been a good source of energy, she didn’t want to use her magic on a potentially wasteful task.

“Impossible.” Switcher trotted over, Aphid moving the pad of paper away when he made to grab it. “I am his prophet, so I will be the one to inform him via drawing.”

“Well, your so-called God wants me to do it,” she fired back, flashing her fangs in irritation. “I don’t know why either, but it’s probably because he thinks your insane.”

Switcher glared, trying to snatch the paper again only for her to knock his foreleg away. “Blasphemy! Stay your tongue, unbeliever!” Another grab was made, except this time the foreleg was intercepted by Mr Growls himself. Switcher stared at the hand around his foreleg with awe, Mr Growls letting go when he sat back down. “He… he touched me. He blessed me with his touch!”

“Moron,” Aphid muttered under her breath, once again trying to concentrate on her drawing with the threat of Switcher dealt with for now. “If he was a changeling god, then why do I have to draw him what you’re asking?”

Daniel waited for the female to finish drawing, eyes carefully watching the greyed bug-horse. He’d chosen the soldier as, despite her unwelcome advances, she was the second bug-horse whom he had met. While what he knew of her was seemingly only her wish to seduce him, he knew her far better than these seemingly-crazy ones. Unfortunately, this bug-horses seemed to be the leadership.

‘Must be like European royalty,’ Daniel thought while the others muttered among themselves. ‘Inbreeding to secure power and all of that.’

“Chzzert!”

With the noise of success, the notepad and pen were passed back to him. Surprisingly, there was no apparent request for physical contact of any sort, although he did have to wipe the pen free of bug-horse saliva.

‘Urgh,’ he rubbed it off on his shirt. ‘Wouldn’t want that on my hands.’

Checking the soldier’s handiwork on the paper, he examined the pictures in an attempt to puzzle it out.

There were two panels at initial inspection. The first showed what he assumed was him, sitting in a cave with a small amount of bug-horses lounging around him.

‘No thank you.’

Looking at the second panel, he saw a scene where at first him and the bug horses were making a journey through the snow. Then, they came upon a bunch of other bug-horses led by a large version of one with crudely drawn hair. However, it was the drawing of the sun that made it easy for him.

“That one’s better, I guess,” he said while pointing towards the second picture. The bug-horses all nodded and chattered excitedly, well, all except the soldier and the grey one. The older-looking bug-horse sighed sadly, while the female had a more disturbing reaction. Her grin was back, and she pointed to the notebook while making a turning motion with the hoof.

Hesitatingly, he withdrew the notepad from the view of the others and flipped the page.

What greeted him was a shocking image, one that seemed to have attracted the most effort from the female. It was a bug-horse giving him bedroom eyes, while exposing herself with her tail in the air.

Quickly snapping the notebook shut, Daniel fixed her with a glare and shook a finger. “Well, that settles it. No more drawing for you.”

In return she laughed wickedly and flicked her tail, giving him a come-hither look.

“I’d take a trek through the snow than this any day,” he grumbled, watching while the room filled with animated discussion.

“So, when should we leave?”

“It’s snowing at the moment, but going off past observations it picks up then dies down. The best time to leave would be after this storm has passed.”

“But, even though he chose the second option, wouldn’t that mean we’d risk being caught in the snow without shelter?”

“It’s either that or stay here. Sooner or later there will be no more food or water, then when he… goes, then we’ll be without food as well. If Chrysalis is alive, then she’ll have found somewhere easier to live in then here. It’s the best option.”

Aphid paid only a small amount of attention to the debating scholars, far more interested in teasing Mr Growls. He still glanced at her with unease from time to time, looking back away whenever she flicked her tail. He may have been an overly-modest prude, but he was certainly fun to mess with.

“Soldier.”

Ceasing licking her fangs seductively, Aphid turned her head to look at Transmutation.

“What?”

He ignored the venom in her voice, pointing a hoof towards Mr Growls. “Take him back to his area and ensure that he falls asleep. We’ll all need a good dose of energy if we’re to make the journey with minimal losses. Especially those still injured, we need all changelings up and walking for the trip.”

Aphid stared at him, tilting her head. “So, ensure that he falls asleep? What, you want me to smack him in the head and knock him out?”
“No, of course not,” Transfusion sighed. “Try some… other methods.”

Of course she knew what he was getting at, and she did realise that he was a superior in addition to being kind of right that such a course of action would tire out a recipient, but Mr Growl’s receptiveness to the method was easy to guess.

“I don’t think he’d like that, he doesn’t even want to see my-“

“Soldier, for the sake of the Queen!” Transfusion drew the focus of the other scholars, waving his hooves at her. “I’m not ordering you to fornicate with him, I’m telling you to relax him and help him fall asleep. Organise the harem to give him a relaxing massage, ensure that he’s warm, fetch him water or food.” He fixed her with a disappointed gaze. “Don’t think I haven’t heard about your actions towards him. Us re-joining the others and the Queen is far more important than your personal attraction to him. Save it for later.”

‘Why that…’ Aphid held back a scathing reply, getting to her hooves while glaring at the scholars. Nudging Mr Growls with her head, she gestured towards the cave exit.

“Come on, we’ve got to get you back to sleep.” Then, she muttered under her breath. “You stupid creature.”

Apparently he didn’t need any further prompting, Mr Growls getting up and following her without question.

Unseen by anyone, Aphid smirked at the thought that even after her stunt, he’d still rather risk going off with her than staying with the scholars. Leading him back to his assigned area, she rolled her eyes when she saw that Burrow was still asleep. While Mr Growls sat down and patted the snoozing changeling on the head, she took the more direct route.

“Hey, get up,” she kicked Burrow in the side.

“Huh?” Burrow spluttered, Mr Growls looking at her with a frown. “What’s happening?”

“Some drones picked up the Queen,” she explained curtly. “The scholars want us to make sure Mr Modest goes back to sleep so we can all get a good feed. Then, we’re leaving thanks to those scholars thinking he’s a god and that the choice he made is the right one.”

“Wait, we can’t just do that. We only fed off him recently, and we don’t know how much it will hurt him if we do it again so soon.”

“Too bad,” Aphid gestured to the other cave. “The scholars decided on it, and to be honest we need all the energy we can get if we’re going out into the snow.” Her voice softened, Burrow looking at Mr Growls with worry. “Look, I’m going to get those drones in his supposed harem to relax him, we’ll make sure he’s comfortable and when he falls asleep we’ll keep an eye on him. Okay?”

Burrow took a moment to reply, but he eventually caved in. “Fine, I guess it’s going to happen anyway, isn’t it?”

Turning away without answering, Aphid left to go and find the four assigned drones.

She was sure that Mr Growls would be fine.

Burrow watched his friend rub his own temples, Mr Growls wincing slightly before turning back to him. Despite whatever discomfort he was in, he still smiled and reached out a hand. Allowing him to pat him on the head, Burrow tried to get some conversation going. “So, what’s wrong?”

Apparently the head wasn’t an issue, Mr Growls checking to make sure Aphid was still gone before growling in a lowered voice while moving his hand. The note book was produced and shown, Burrow looking at the two pictures.

“You chose the second one, didn’t you?” He pointed a hoof towards the picture, Mr Growls nodding and pointing specifically at the sun in the top corner. With a small smile, he couldn’t help but agree with the reasoning behind the choice. “Yeah, sun is certainly better than freezing cold, but you do realise that if we do make it back to the Queen then we’ll likely be living underground anyway?” Another happy-sounding set of Growls showed that, no, he didn’t really understand that, but evidently just the thought of sun was enough to lift his spirits.

Then, Mr Growls shifted uncomfortably, once again checking that they were alone.

“Something else?”

The notebook page was turned over, what was on it making Burrow rub his forehead with a hoof.

“Really? I mean, I’m surprised that you actually trusted her enough to let her draw, but really?” He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m actually starting to think that it’s more than just teasing, you know?” Mr Growls made a hesitant rubbing motion with his hands, Burrow making a guess as to what he was miming. “Well, it’s sort of your own fault in that regard. You’re more than twice as big as her, if she tries to bully you then just tell her no.”

Burrow had to admit that he could see Mr Growl’s problem. After all, if he was in a cave full of whatever Mr Growls was, then he’d be hesitant in making enemies as well.

‘Still, the least Aphid could do is not intentionally make him uncomfortable,’ he though, before the object of their frustrations entered the cave.

“I’m back, and with one harem,” the soldier announced. Burrow looked over towards her, Aphid trotting in with the four drones in tow. “Now, everyone get to work, we need one relaxed and sleeping biped as soon as possible.”

As a group, the four drones approached Mr Growls. He didn’t really seem to enthused with their presence, but his face morphed into one of confusion when they began to rub his shoulders and press up against him to share warmth. Burrow watched with apprehension and admittedly a small amount of jealousy, only looking away when Aphid sat down beside him.

“Soon he’ll be back to sleep, then we can all eat again,” she told him. Taking off her helmet, she placed it in her lap before flashing him a smile. “So, had a good sleep?”

Burrow fixed her with a no-nonsense gaze. “He showed me what you drew, Aphid.”

“Oh come on,” she snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re freaking out over that as well.” She leaned in with a smirk. “You should have seen the look on his face when he saw it, priceless.”

Shaking his head, he sighed. “I swear, if you spent as much effort in your job as you do teasing him, you’d already be Commander of the entire military.”

“Wouldn’t suit me, if I was then I wouldn’t have the time to irritate him and you.” She leaned back against the wall, drumming a forehoof on the ground. “Besides, this is much more fun.” Turning to the drones, Aphid rolled her eyes. “Come on you slackers, I don’t see him asleep yet.”

All four glared at her, before switching tactics. Burrow winced as Mr Growls was pulled away from his spot against the wall, one of the drones lying down against it instead. Then, the two on the sides pushed him down, a very confused biped soon finding his head resting on the one lying down. The same two then embraced him from the sides, wrapping him up in a warm embrace. The last drone then finished it all off by lying across his legs, sighing while she settled down for her task to be complete.

“Grawbra?”

“Oh hush, you big nymph.”

Burrow tore his eyes away from the strange ‘changeling-lounge’ to raise an eye at Aphid. “Oh come on, you’d be a little freaked out as well.”
“Nope,” she replied with certainty. “Just replace three of those drones with big males and I’d be in absolute bliss.”

“Only three?”

“Hey,” Aphid raised a hoof to her chest. “I like to keep my options open, even if it means I have to share.”

“Unbelievable,” he muttered, shaking his head again. “If you had your way, it’d be nothing but a giant orgy until the end of time.”

“Pfft, we’re changelings. Don’t tell me he’s starting to rub off on you.”

“No,” Burrow glanced at Mr Growls, who’d surprisingly started to relax. “I just think that sometimes there’s more important things to focus on.”

“Not fun things.”

His reply to Aphid’s mutter was cut off, the drone serving as Mr Growl’s pillow beginning to sing softly while patting his head with a hoof.

“Go to sleep, so we can eat. Drift off you fat biped.

Start to snooze, we can’t loose, and soon there will be food.

Go to bed, rest your head, and soon we can be fed.

Leak that love, god’s above, this song is ann-oy-ing-“

“Drone,” Burrow winced. “I don’t think that’s helping.”

“Oh, really?” the female fired back, pointing a hoof down towards the now-snoozing biped. “I think it worked rather well.”

“I… fine,” Burrow sighed in defeat, the drone smirking victoriously. “I guess if he’s asleep, then it did work.” Leaning over, he touched a foreleg to Mr Growl’s limp hand. “No love just yet, guess it takes some time.”

“We don’t have time to wait for him, so we’ll have to speed things along.” Burrow watched on, apprehension rising while Aphid stood up and trotted over towards his sleeping friend. He was prepared to stop her if things got too out of hoof, Aphid stepping over a leg. He watched as she settled down atop Mr Growl’s stomach, her head resting on her forelegs while her own stomach rested atop the sleeping creature’s groin. “Huh, this is actually really comfortable.”

“I know, right?” one of the drones on the side agreed. “It’s like hugging a warm, breathing pillow.” She nuzzled an arm. “Sure beats freezing your chitin off.”

Burrow looked back down at his hoof, a trickle of energy beginning to flow. Glancing back to Aphid, he rolled his eyes when he saw her rolling around onto her back.

“What?” she asked with a raised eye. “If I’m going to be lying here for a while, I might as well get comfortable.”

“No, no, stay back!”

Daniel thrashed helplessly on the ground, a horde of the insidious bug-horses advancing upon him. Holding him down at his arms and legs, he was surrounded by the mass of chattering creatures as their leader approached him.

A bug-horse, wearing a blue helmet and back armour, stood over him and smirked with a wicked gleam in her solid blue eyes. He shuddered when she licked her fangs, a drop of saliva falling upon his chest with a smack. Slowly she began to descend, hooves from the others beginning to tug at his pants while she laughed.

“All… mine,” she hissed, Daniel trying to kick free but his entire body was limp.

“No, bad touch!”

Just as the female soldier was about to dive her face into his crotch, a shadowy shape flashed overhead and the scene turned to black.

“Ah… wait.”

Daniel sat up and blinked his eyes, finding himself in a cosy room with a fire burning within a stone fireplace. He let out a relieved breath when he realised that there was no bug-horses about to have their way with him, but given the tendency of his dreams to go from bad to worse he still kept on guard.

“What manner of creature are you?”

Slowly, one hand guarding his groin, he turned his head towards the female voice. It was not the monstrous visage of the female soldier that he was expecting, instead he was met with the unexpected sight of a dark-blue coated horse. It had both a set of wings, a black necklace with a moon icon, and a long horn, the creature’s wide eyes giving him a curious once over.

“Confused,” he managed out, earning a small smile from the horse.

“I apologise, I often forget that doing this with creatures not under my rule leads to confusion. I am Princess Luna, and you are currently dreaming.”

“I don’t know what clued me in, the fact that you’re a talking horse or for the first time since I got here I can understand something. So, are you a representation of my strained relationship with my mother or something?”

The Princess laughed lightly, waving a silver-shoed hoof at him. “Oh, no, nothing like that. I just watch over the dreams of my subjects, and occasionally any others I can find.” The laughter died out, Luna pausing momentarily. “I must say, it is not often that I come across such a…”

“Disturbing one?” Daniel provided, receiving a nod. “Yeah, well let’s just say that it’s been a rather interesting stay so far.”

“Are they hurting you, the changelings?”

‘Changelings?’

“Is that what the bug-horses are called?”

Luna smiled again. “Yes, they are not seen as very pleasant creatures.”

That didn’t match up to his experiences with them. After all, so far the most worrying thing about their treatment of him had been their over-familiarity.

“No, the ‘changelings’ are mostly okay,” he answered, beginning to relax as he leaned back against the stone wall. “Except for one of them that acts all crazy, and another one who seems to have the hots for me.” He shuddered, remembering the dream he was just pulled out of. “You can probably guess who that was, and to what extent she goes to.”

Luna tilted her head, leaving her seat to sit on the rug next to him. It was then that he realised her height, she was at least up to his chin.
“How did you find yourself with such creatures, I know not of anything like you, Mister…?”

“Oh, sorry,” he apologised. “Daniel Green. Well, I’m an Australian, and to put it simply I was just going to work before I was suddenly dumped into snow. I found a cave, there were bu- changelings in it, and I made friends with one. The others let me stay and that’s it so far.”
He tapped his fingers together. “Also, I couldn’t speak to them. So, since I can understand you-“

“I may not be able to speak what you speak,” she told him. “Dreams allow many things not possible in the waking world.” It was her turn to look curious. “Speaking of which, I am surprised that you are so accepting of this.”

“Yeah, well given what’s already happened, this is hardly a leap into insanity.” His voice lowered to a mutter. “Besides, those damn berries might be the cause of this.” She didn’t act if she had heard his doubts about her existence, but he decided to just roll with it. Looking around the room, he decided to find out some more information. “So, where are we then?”

She perked up at the question, chest puffing out with pride. “This is my study, or rather a dream version of it. It is inside the castle I share with my sister, in Canterlot city. We both watch over Equestria, and I am glad ot be back after a… long break.” Her ears drooped, Daniel trying to think of something to say to cheer up the dream-horse.

He decided to skip the comment over how this couldn’t be a dream, as he’d have far more imagination when it came to horse puns, and instead tried to lighten the mood. “So… do you often bring strange creatures up to your dream-study or am I just one of the pretty ones?”
He got the intended response, the Princess covering her mouth with a hoof while she laughed.

“My, such boldness. If my guards were here then they’d throw you in the dungeon for such insinuation!” Her chuckles dying down, she flexed her wings. “No, I usually try to take those in trouble to their dream safe-place, but I was unable to look at your mind save for your current dream.”

“Good,” he joked. “That’s probably the best for your own sanity.” She laughed again, but his smile hid his real thoughts about the matter. Some horse claiming to be a dream-travelling princess looking into his mind? That was something he didn’t want at all.

Luna settled back down, coughing daintily into a wing before smiling back at him. “I haven’t had so much fun in a dream for a long time. Usually it’s either ponies panicking that I’m there, calling me ‘Princess’ repeatedly like we are addressing them in court and they are eager to leave, or the occasional stallion requesting that I take the form of my sister instead.” She snorted, spreading her wings out and flicking her starry mane. “Am I not regal enough for them?”

Daniel didn’t know who this much requested sister was, but he could bet ten bucks that the mentioned males weren’t too concerned with who looked more regal when it came to their dream females.

“Nah, you’re plenty regal,” he reassured, receiving another smile. “However, I do have to ask where we go from here.” Luna seemed to sadden at that, so he quickly followed up. “You know, because of time and all that.”

“Oh, we have plenty of time. Time moves much slower in dreams and we’ve only been talking for… two real-world minutes.” Looking towards the fire, Luna tapped her hooves together. “You are welcome to stay here and talk to me, or I can let you go back so you can dream normally again.”

That helped him make a decision, the brief memory of a tongue flicking across fangs swaying his mind. “No, staying here sounds good. You can… tell me more about yourself I suppose.”

At that, the horse princess brightened. “Really? Thou would- I mean you, would like to spend your dream time talking to me?” Daniel shrugged, it wasn’t like he could currently talk to anyone else, and to be honest she wasn’t the worst person he had talked to.

“Sure, might as well.”

“Wonderful. Well, as Princess of the Moon, it is my duty to watch the night for…”

Daniel settled back and enjoyed the feeling of being in a cosy study, letting Luna talk on while he relaxed.

Hey, at least he wasn’t being exploited in his own dreams anymore.

“Yes, right there.”

Burrow couldn’t look away, he and the four drones watching while Aphid nuzzled Mr Growl’s stomach in her sleep. Her hind legs would kick occasionally, and her tail would twitch erratically. Unlike the drones, he wasn’t holding back laughter. Instead, he was concerned as to what Aphid could possibly be dreaming about.

“That’s right, own that rump you five-fingered freak.” Aphid’s own sleep-muttering covered up the giggling from the drone on Mr Growls’ legs, Burrow shaking his head. “Ah, those fingers are amazing, don’t stop the massage or I’ll touch you so inappropriately that your prude mind will explode.”

‘Chrysalis’ sake,’ Burrow thought as the drones all broke out into giggles. ‘Aphid has some serious problems if she acts like this from a simple massage.’

Mr Growls himself was out like a light, seemingly not ill-affected by the second round of feeding that had finished some time ago. Burrow had guiltily also joined in on the energy-siphoning, but he had reasoned that without it he might not be strong enough to make the trip back to the Queen. After all, he was needed by Mr Growls to protect him from Aphid.

On the topic of Aphid, his comrade was currently beginning to jerk her hips, the other females just a moment away from full-out laughter. Rolling his eyes, he got to his hooves and trotted over to safe her any further embarrassment. Nudging her in the side, Aphid’s eyes slowly opened to look up at him.

Burrow couldn’t resist.

“Sorry to spoil your fun,” he smirked. “But if Mr Growls wakes up to find you sleep-mating him, I doubt he’d be very pleased.”

Aphid glanced down to find herself resting awkwardly upon the biped, a damp patch upon the black pants. “I… uh…”

“Take a few minutes to get your composure back,” he recommended. Returning to his seat, he sat down and watched her. Aphid’s blush soon died down and she got to her hooves, glancing around at all of the drones with a glare.

“If you tell anyone about this, even him, I’ll hunt you down and slowly remove your chitin.”

Any remaining giggles died out immediately, the threat delivered with a full dose of seriousness. Aphid then stepped over Mr Growl’s leg, turned for tunnel leading to the main cave, then gave them a final glance.

“You know, it’s his fault for giving out those amazing rump massages.” With that, she trotted out with her tail firmly tucked between her legs.

“True,” the drone lying on the legs agreed softly, Burrow not even wanting to think about it. So, it was just him and the four drones, waiting from Mr Growls to wake up.

“So, do you think we’ll be able to make it back?” One asked the others. “The one time I was sent out, it was freezing beyond belief.”

“It won’t be so bad,” the makeshift-pillow answered. “We’ll have Mister all-you-can eat here, and we’ll all be in one big group. Who knows, maybe there’s only a few hours of trotting until we leave the snow.”

“Why can’t we just fly?”

Burrow decided to join in. “We can’t fly because he can’t and besides, there’s still a bunch of you drones with broken wings. It takes a week to grow them back, and we don’t have that long.”

“Should we really be taking him back?” the one hugging Mr Growl’s left side asked. “Think of how the Queen would react.”

“To a semi-willing source of energy?” Burrow questioned with a raised eye.

“No, to the fact that the scholars think he’s a god. Even a few of the drones believe it. We all know the Queen, remember how she sulked when those soldiers joked that Celestia was the prettiest ruler in the world? What happens when we return with a biped who can feed changelings while he sleeps, with the scholars gushing over how he’s some long-lost god?”

Burrow paled at the reminder of the soldiers involved in the ‘Pit of One-Thousand Poisons’ incident. “Oh no, please tell me she won’t try that again. Those soldiers were lucky that the Commander was able to calm her down before the ropes broke.”

“Who can tell with her?” The pillow once again replied. “Especially after the invasion, I bet she’s really ticked off.”

‘Great,’ Burrow worried, glancing back to the sleeping Mr Growls.

For all of their sakes, he hoped that the next day would go smoothly.

‘You know, the cave wasn’t such a bad place.’

With his arms wrapped around him against the cold, Daniel continued to trudge on through the snow. He scowled, his headache having gotten worse despite his strange yet relaxing sleep. All in all, it was pretty bad timing considering that the entire group of bug-horses, or changelings if he believed his dream, had decided to make their huge snow trek. He was in the approximate middle, the number of the creatures showing when they were all out in the open. Boris was trotting along by his side, the creature in his armour and helmet with the toolset carried on his back.

The fact that the creatures seemed set on being as close as possible while travelling only made things worse. While Daniel could see why herd-like creatures would act that way for warmth and protection, having bug-horses press up against his legs while he walked had nearly caused him to trip more than once.

Looking up into the sky, he cursed under his breath when he saw just clouds and no sun.

‘It may not be snowing at the moment, but one ray of sun is all I ask.’

With no quick end in sight to their quest of finding more bug-horses and the sun, he used one hand to fumble in his shirt pocket. Withdrawing two of the glimmering berries, he popped them into his mouth and chewed with a sour face despite their sweetness.

‘Damn berries, bet they’re some kind of natural meth that’s been causing all of those funky dreams.’ Shaking his head, he snorted to himself. ‘Talking pony princesses, what a bloody joke.’

Celestia looked up from her tea, toast, and the Equestrian Editorial at the sound trotting approaching from the side door. She raised an eye as Luna entered through the doorway with a wide smile, quite unusual given her sister’s normally dour mood after ‘boring’ night courts.

“Good morning, Luna. You certainly seem animated.” Sitting down and pouring herself her own cup of tea, Luna nodded back.

“Indeed sister, it was a most wonderful night!”

Smiling at the loud reply, although thankful that it wasn’t in the royal voice, Celestia could hazard a guess at what had happened. “You fell asleep on your throne for the entire night court session again, didn’t you?”

Halfway through a gulp of tea, Luna raised a hoof to her chest. “Why, sister, you imply that I did not properly fulfil my duties?” Celestia continued to stare, Luna rolling her eyes before huffing. “Fine, I may have slumbered during my empty court session, but I accomplished a great feat!”

“Go on.” Celestia expected a tale about saving a foal from a vicious nightmare, or of Luna helping a subject dream only good dreams again.

“It was a productive night, for I have made a new friend!”

“That’s very good news,” Celestia gave Luna a smile of encouragement. “You are certainly making new friends at a fast rate.”

“Ah, but this one is different. We spent many a hour in my study, talking about so many things!”

That got Celestia’s attention, her teacup lowering. Usually, Luna would spend a few minutes helping a subject out with their dreams, easing them back into peaceful sleep after any scares or shocks. This way, she could reach many ponies in a single night. Luna never mentioned it, but Celestia suspected that more than a few of their subjects were still unused to the returned Princess popping up in their dreams from time to time.

For Luna to spend hours with one individual was unheard off, Celestia taking a guess to the reason based on Luna’s mood and description.
“Ah, a stallion’s caught your eye,” she voiced with a grin. In return, Luna gave her an unamused look.

“Nay, sister. He did not ‘catch my eye’, but merely was content to converse with me without constantly bowing or requesting that I assume your form for some reason.”

Celestia paused. “Wait… you said you get stallions asking you to turn into me?”

“Yes,” Luna huffed, before waving it off. “But the matter of who looks more regal matters not now.” Debating with herself on whether or not to inform Luna that it wasn’t likely a matter of ‘regal’, Celestia decided to just let her sister continue on. “Granted, he did not seem very convinced that I wasn’t just another dream, but he seemed to be a very nice Australian.”

“An Australi-what?”

“Australian,” Luna repeated with a smug grin. “He comes from ‘down under’, more specifically the ‘Northern Territory’. Apparently their land is ruled by King ‘Abbot’, and is one of relative prosperity.”

“Down-under…” Muttering to herself and trying to puzzle it out, Celestia came to a conclusion. Taking a bite of toast before looking back to Luna, she finished her mouthful and smiled again. “Well, I’m glad that you’ve found something interesting. Let me know how it turns out.”

“I will endeavour to do just that.” Merrily, Luna left her seat and trotted back the way she had come, Celestia shaking her head with a smile before returning to her newspaper and breakfast.

“Nearly there, so close…”

Licking his fangs to clear them of icicles, Burrow continued on with new-found vigour. The Queen’s link was traceable but still weak, although that wasn’t the cause for the excitement.

No, it was the snowless horizon of a grassy meadow that drove him on.

Following the leaders of the group with more changelings behind him, Burrow ignored the fact that he couldn’t feel his own hooves and persisted on. A quick glance up towards Mr Growls showed that his friend had also noticed the goal, the biped moving quicker despite the drone that he held in his arms. Burrow winced at the opened crack in the drone’s right hind leg, but thankfully they still had all of their group members alive despite the trek and Mr Growls to carry the injured ones that needed a rest.

“Burrow, we almost there?”

He looked to his left, Aphid moving up to press against his side. She was shivering with her teeth clacking together, Burrow nodding his head while continuing his slow trot. “Almost, just a few more minutes and it’s bye-bye snow.”

“G-great, I’m freezing my horn off.”

Glancing at her mentioned horn, Burrow winced at the long icicle hanging off the tip. Come to think of it, they all were covered with the remains of the journey, even Mr Growls having to pause occasionally to give himself a rub down or to brush snow from himself. The light-peach skin tone had quickly gone pale again, Burrow hoping that none of them had suffered any permanent cold-related damage.

“Just a little further,” he told his friend over the sound of excited talking, the others having spotted the grass as well.

Mr Growls didn’t seem to notice, his eyes filled with determination as they stared ahead at the visible vegetation.

Growing up in the Australian Outback, Daniel had always wished for it to snow. It had come close a few times, but usually the closest it had ever gotten in his lifetime was when it once hailed ice the size of cricket balls. Still, the dream had remained all the way past his childhood and into his adult years.

He could now safely say that he would be overjoyed to never see another snowflake in his lifetime.

While he made the last few steps towards the beacon of hope that was the grass, the bug-horse he held in his arms chattered excitedly. Holding the mid-sized male under the chest and hind legs for the past hour had been easy compared to the chill he felt. It was like his body had been submerged in ice water for hours on end.

“Least I’ve still got feeling in my fingers and toes,” he muttered to himself, mainly to help keep himself focused. “Now I’m actually glad that the explorers were the only socks I had clean.”

Right after finishing the sentence, thickly-socked foot and shoe touched the blades of grass, Daniel for the first time since leaving the cave finally standing on a surface not covered with frozen sludge. He could even see a few trees and boulders in the distance, and although the trees were dead it was a sign of hopeful things to come.

The bug-horse he was holding struggled, the creature looking up at him and speaking a sentence in its buzzing tongue. Getting the hint, Daniel carefully lowered it down amongst its fellows, the bug-horse taking care to leave pressure off of its hind leg. Looking up with a shiver, the creature smiled and chattered again, Daniel waving a colorless hand. “It’s all good, I think you helped stopped my hands from getting frostbite anyway.”

Evidently understanding words weren’t needed, the bug-horse nodding again before limping off to join the rear group. Sitting down on the grass, Daniel gave himself a quick rub in an attempt to get some warmth back. They may have left the snow behind, but the sky was still grey and the air still chill.

He looked back up when something sat next to him, Boris planting his rump down and scooting in close with a relieved-sounding chatter. Daniel put an arm over his friend’s shoulders, Boris attempting to return the gesture but having to settle to patting him on the back due to the height difference.

“We’ll, I hope you all know where you’re going,” he tried, Boris listening with the utmost concentration. “You’ve promised me sun, so I expect sun. I’m freezing my tits off here.”

“Cezert, chez.” Boris pointed a hoof out towards the main group, Daniel looking over. A number of the bug-horses had raced ahead to a clump of dead trees, a few even flying using their thin wings. To be honest, he hadn’t expected the wings to work given what he remembered from science class in high school. They seemed too thin and small compared to the body, but given the fact that he was currently living with intelligent bug-horses he figured that some leeway could be given.

“You want to follow?” he asked in reply, starting to get off the ground. He was halted when Boris shook his head, the creature not moving from his seat. “Okay then,” Daniel sat back down. “Waiting it is.”

“Come on, come on, light you stupid wood.”

Aphid gritted her teeth and shot another spark of magic into the kindling covering the heap of logs. The drones standing around watched with awe as this one finally sparked a flame, the standard workers not knowing any combat-orientated casting. Huffing slightly and stepping back, Aphid smiled as the pile of wood started to finally burn. Her fellows crowded in around her, jostling for a spot by the toasty fire.

“Some good work, Private,” Pillar complement, squeezing through the drones to reach her. “I didn’t expect you to actually get it done.”

“Well,” she began, gritting her teeth. “If I had had some help, sir, then it would have been done sooner.”

Pillar either didn’t notice the accusation or chose to ignore it. “We couldn’t spare anyone else. The Drones aren’t trained to create a focused bolt, I need all of my energy for when I take the watch in case our fire attracts unfriendly creatures, and Burrow is still behind on Mr Growls watch.” Both turned their heads to look, able to spot the tall biped slowly moving towards them.

“Pfft, you mean Burrow’s on mate-watch.”

Pillar fixed her with a stare. “Private, Burrow has formed a bond of friendship with Mr Growls, and as such is an integral part to securing a steady supply of food as well as whatever else Mr Growls can provide. Already, he has proven to be at least as intelligent as a drone, and is large and intimidating. I would much rather him be with us than against us, especially if we happen across more of his species.” He turned to leave, but not before lowering his voice. “In addition, I have yet to catch Burrow acting overly-affectionate towards him, unlike a certain female soldier.”

With that, Pillar left her to fume, a smirk on his face while he departed back into the crowd.

Burrow turned so that his left side was facing the raging fire, quickly warming it up much like his right.

“Oh yes, finally I can feel my chitin again!”

He stretched out his back and limbs, making sure to buzz his wings so the heat would get rid of any excess moisture. Finally finished, he trotted a few body lengths away to allow a drone to take his place. Spotting Mr Growls sitting up against a dead tree trunk with his shirt off, Burrow made his way over and laid down upon the grass next to him.

“Enjoyed the fire?” he inquired with a grin, Mr Growls giving him a thumbs up with a smile.

“Graw, grug grawga!”

Burrow nodded happily, still able to feel some of the heat even from here. The sky had darkened, but they had more than enough wood to last them the night. “That’s good, hopefully we’ll all still be warm by the time we leave tomorrow. It’ll still be a long way to go until we reach the Queen, maybe even weeks, but then we won’t have to worry about any more snow.” That thought brought a twinge of doubt to his mind, Burrow tapping his forehooves together. “You know, I hope that she does let you stay, Chrysalis was always… unforgiving to other species.”

Mr Growls tilted his head, Burrow continuing. “But I’m sure that you’ll be fine, after all, how could she not like someone who’s friendly towards changelings?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat, knowing that the Queen tended to think with her emotions rather than logic. And, as mentioned before by a drone, bringing back someone seen as a god by the leaders of their group wouldn’t exactly bring out the best emotions.

‘I hope she doesn’t do anything drastic,’ he pleaded silently while a hand scratched his ears. ‘Surely she’ll be able to see that he’s just a normal creature mistaken for someone else?’ Glancing back to the fire, Burrow could make out two of the scholars joining the drones in enjoying the warmth. ‘At least Switcher hasn’t been annoying him, but is that a relief or a concern?’

Sighing, Burrow gave up and just rested his head on his forelegs. He was worrying far too much over events he couldn’t change, about the only thing he could do was to try and keep Mr growls relaxed and at ease.

“Easier said than done,” he muttered, before trying to just relax and enjoy the scratching fingers.

Unfortunately, life had different plans.

“I’ve got the lap!”

“Right hand!”

“Rig-I mean left hand!”

“Uh… lap as well!”

He had barely opened his eyes before the four drones raced passed him, calling out their spots widely.

“Graw?”

Burrow watched as a tired but unsurprised Mr Growls was piled on, the drones relentless with their assault. True to their words, one went to sit up against his left side and another his right, while the remaining two flopped down onto his lap and jostled for the most room.

“Hey, I was here first Mirror!”

“So what Meddle? You’ve got the warmer spot!”

“Will you two stop it?”

Burrow looked from the pair arguing over ownership of Mr Growls’ lap towards the newcomer, Aphid approaching to glare at them.

“What?” Mirror replied, surprisingly bold for a drone addressing a soldier. “You’ve come here to ‘claim’ his lap?”

That earned giggles from the other three, Aphid snorting before sitting down next to Burrow. “I could, and have you all put on firewood duty,” she threatened. “But I just don’t feel like it right now.”

“She sure felt like it before,” Burrow heard the one named Meddle whisper, Aphid glaring once more before lying down.

“Just ignore them,” he advised with a shrug. “After all, they can’t claim total innocence either.” Both glanced back, the two in the lap
attempting to win more favour than each other through nuzzling Mr Growls’ stomach while the unamused biped was busy scratching the ears of the drone on his left and rubbing the spine of the one on his right.

“I guess,” Aphid groaned with a flick of her tail. “But they weren’t exactly caught rubbing themselves against him in their sleep.”

Burrow honestly found it hard to counter that point.

“Well… I’ve got nothing.”

“Thanks, you’re such a help.”

He raised an eye. “Hey, don’t blame me. Look, I get if you like-like him, okay? After all, those ear scratches alone are pretty amazing so I can’t imagine what else those finger coul-“

“Only a rump massage!” Aphid growled, narrowing her eyes at him. “And no, not anything dirty. Sometimes my chitin hardens up when I sit down for a long time, and he’s able to make it soft again. I feels good, I admit it, but everything else I do is just tease him for laughs. With that one incident, I was cold, he was warm, I may have been having a ‘good’ dream-“

“It’s okay,” Burrow reassured, raising a hoof to try and calm her down. Looking towards Mr Growls, he smiled. “Besides, I think we can safely say that you aren’t the only one that enjoys it a little too much.” She followed her gaze, Burrow figuring that she’d feel the same way.

Meddle was rolling from side-to-side, tongue out while her hind legs kicked erratically. The cause was obvious, Mr Growl’s hand on her stomach. He had obviously ceased rubbing and had looked away when Meddle began to flip out, her position and lack of care to her decency not exactly concealing. “Why’d you stop? Come on, it’s only a belly rub!”

“Wow,” Aphid tutted, before lowering her voice to a mere whisper. “I’ve got to try that sometime…”

Burrow raised his ear. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Aphid recovered, laying back down. “I was just saying that she should stop.”

“Uh huh,” Burrow smirked. “Sure.”

“Oh shut up and go to sleep, you’ve got to take the watch in a few hours.”

Laying back down, Burrow smiled to himself.

‘Maybe things won’t go as bad as I thought.’

Lime eyes narrowed as they tracked the smoke plume, the buzzing of many wings filling the air around her.

Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, was tired, hungry, and pissed off.

Having been expelled from Canterlot, she had been robbed of both weeks of energy and her victory over Equestria. The landing had left bruises, but nothing hurt more than her wounded pride. She had been made a fool of in front of her subjects, beaten back by ponies who couldn’t even defend a shielded city without magical tricks!

The last few days had seen her subjects returned to either the Hive or to her, depending on which they could find. Her mind-link was still weak however, something about the love-wave had drained her powers and left her feeling angry at everything. Thankfully, even though she was still weeks away from the Hive in the Badlands and the small stores of love that were held within, her group of five-hundred and twelve assorted changelings had come across a blessing.

A small, lightly defended farming town of roughly one-hundred ponies.

However, she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. There would be no sneaking, no disguising herself as a princess in order to fool the simple ponies. No, had a different plan in mind.

A straight up night attack, overwhelming the town while the townsponies slept and taking it over.

While her numbers were great, she had picked up the faint trace of changelings from the north of the settlement. Reasoning that it couldn’t hurt to have more loyal subjects ready to fight for food, she had set out with her attack group to regroup with them and bolster their numbers in case of any more unwelcome surprises.

Or, rather, that’s what she had told her subjects. In truth, it had been Commander Scuttle who had suggested the regroup. She had wanted to just attack then and there to work off some steam.

‘Scuttle better be right about this,’ she thought with a scowl, flying closer to the source of the smoke. ‘I somehow think that changelings who light a big signal telling everything where they are will prove to be more of a burden than help.’

Flicking her ears against the cold air, she kept on scowling while she led her swarm towards the remains of a large bonfire in the grassy fields below.

“No, it’s can’t be her… already?”

Burrow nodded alongside Aphid, looking up in awe while Queen Chrysalis herself descended upon the field. “Guess we didn’t have to find her after all, she found us.”

“Strange,” Aphid frowned. “She’s never really been too caring. I would have thought that she would have returned to the Hive to sulk.”

“Stow your tongue,” Burrow advised, the Queen and three members of her personal guard approaching the bowing group of scholars while the remaining changelings greeted the others. “If she hears you say that, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Too late for that.”

Looking back to the Queen at Aphid’s comment, Burrow’s eyes widened when he saw Transmutation pointing towards them with a hoof. The Queen’s face was locked in a frown, her fangs showing while she glared.

It was then that Burrow realised that the anger wasn’t directed towards them.

Glancing back, he managed to catch a glimpse of Mr Growls still snoozing with his back against the log. The four drone harem was also still asleep despite the noise, all curled up around Mr Growls with their forelegs draped over him.

“You all think he’s what!?”

And then, with the furious buzzing of her wings, Queen Chrysalis arrived to pay him a wake-up visit.

“…so you are okay with them using you for their own pleasure?”

Daniel took a sip of imaginary dream-tea, setting the dainty cup back down on the saucer while pondering Luna’s question. “Well, I mean it’s not anything sexual.” That was a tough word to say to a princess, suspected imaginational construct or not. Luna raised an eye, so he continued on. “All it is is ear scratches, head rubs, back rubs, belly rubs, and there’s this one that really likes me to rub the bottoms of her hooves.”

“Really?” Luna removed her left shoe, staring at the bottom of her hoof with curiosity. “One would think that an odd place for a ‘massage’. I have heard that a new ‘trend’ is for one’s hoof to be filed smooth for appearance rather than utility, but I have not heard of these ‘hoof massages’.”

“I dunno,” he shrugged. “Maybe it’s some kind of fetish?”

“Fet-ish?”

“Never mind,” he brushed off. “It’s not the most polite thing to talk about anyway. Still, as I was saying, it doesn’t exactly cost me anything and it keeps them happy with me, so what’s the harm in… Luna?”

The moon princess was shaking her head, eyes closed. “I’m sorry, but you’re about to…”

He waited, but she didn’t finish. “I’m about to what? Luna?”

“Chezertez! Cherzez Czzch!”

Daniel awoke with a gasp, sitting up to find an angry pair of lime eyes staring right into his. The angry bug-horse speak was followed by the eyes narrowing and beginning to glow a sickly green, Daniel doing the natural thing when one is woken up by a threatening monster.
He lashed out.

“Just who do you think you are, Ape!? Telling my subjects that you are a Changeling God!?”

Burrow slowly trotted forwards towards Chrysalis as she stood over Mr Growls, one hoof raised in the air.

“Please, Your Highness, he didn’t tell us anything at all about that, he can’t even speak our-“

“Silence, Soldier!” Chrysalis whipped her head around to snarl at him. “He will answer to me!”

He could only watch while Chrysalis turned back to her prey, her face lowering towards the still-sleeping Mr Growls. The rest of the changelings, hundreds of them, watched on with baited breaths.

“Answer me, you fool!”

All of a sudden, Mr Growls sat up. He was breathing heavily, Chrysalis recovering quickly from the jolt back and leaning back in to glare at him with untold malice.

“Very well,” she growled as Mr Growls focused on her. “The hard way it is!”

“Wait, don’t do-!”

It was too late.

Chrysalis, visibly frustrated with the lack of progress with her attempts to communicate with a creature who couldn’t speak her language, resorted to a desperate measure.

Her eyes glowed and snarl widened, staring fully into Mr Growls’ eyes with an evil goal in mind.

Then, it happened. Time seemed to slow, Burrow’s eyes growing wider and wider as the disaster played.

Mr Growls, obviously not an early morning biped and not a fan of being mind-controlled, punched Queen Chrysalis square in the chops with a mean right hook. The Queen was knocked flat on her back, eyes rolling shut as her head hit the grass.

No one moved.

Mister Growls slowly glanced around at them all, before looking at Chrysalis’ unconscious body. Then, he put a hand into the shirt at his side. Looking into the notebook, he seemed to compare Chrysalis to something inside before dropping the notebook and putting his head into his hands.

Burrow slowly approached, wincing before tapping Mr Growls on the shoulder. “You… you okay buddy?” Glancing down at Chrysalis, he sucked in air through his teeth. “And you, Your Majesty?”

Of course, there was no reply from the queen, her cheek starting to swell.

There was no action from the other changelings, what could they do? They were all still trying to work out what had happened, and most were too scared of what Chrysalis would do once she awoke to even go near her.

Burrow could do nothing but pat Mr Growls on the shoulder, still trying to work out what to do. If Chrysalis was mad at Mr Growls before… then he didn’t even want to think about it. He was so caught up in trying to figure it out, that he didn’t even notice the approaching hoof steps.

“I know this is totally the wrong thing to say, and the wrong time to say it…” Aphid began, breathing deeply while she looked down at the Queen’s prone form.

Burrow braced himself, hoping that she wouldn’t-

“But seeing him punch out the Queen is such a turn on.”

Pills and Thrills

View Online

‘Gah, my head!’

The first thing Chrysalis noticed was the pain in her face, her tongue prodding some of her teeth to see if any were loose. She could taste a small amount of blood, but overall the damage was thankfully minimal save for the throbbing ache. There was also the feeling of something cold on the hurt area, the numbing effect quite a relief.

The second thing was the warmth of the object she was resting on, the smooth cloth an obvious contrast against the cool grass her rear half was against.

The third and final notable feeling was the soothing motion on top of her head, something trailing through her mane at a regular rhythm. It was not unpleasant, but she could tell by the multiple and soft digits that it was not a hoof.

Waking up further, she flicked her ears and picked up some conversation.

“Graw, rawgraba, grab graw.”

“I know she’s scary, but… well, the Queen may have tried to use magic on you but she’s not completely unreasonable. She seemed really frustrated and it was probably an irrational response that she won’t repeat. Here, I’ll try and draw it for you.”

Opening one eye, Chrysalis stared out at the changeling soldier in front of her. He was holding up a pad of some sort of parchment, a picture of her with an angry face on it. The soldier was so focused on his drawing that he didn’t notice her paying attention.

“Now, that was what you saw,” the soldier pointed to something above and behind her before flipping the page over. On it was a drawing of some kind of two-legged monster, with an overly-exaggerated bulk. There was an indignant snort from behind her. “Yes, I know I’m not the best drawer, but this is what she,” a hoof was pointed at her. “Sees you as, so you can understand why she’d be scared of you.”

It all came back to her: Arriving in the field, finding out from the scholars that some creature was parading around as a god, attempting to reason with the creature, and being assaulted by said creature in return. Her second eye opened and she glared, the soldier freezing mid page-turn when he noticed her attention upon him.

“I was not scared!” Chrysalis growled, sitting up sharply and causing the soldier to fall flat onto his back with wide eyes. “Whatever that thing was, it pales in comparison to me!” She snarled and pointed down towards the soldier and then towards the parchment with her face on it. “And you, showing that picture of me to…”

Turning her head, she came face-to-face with the very creature that had hit her. Her snout was almost touching his weird and pudgy nose, and that was with the creature leaning his head back to avoid her.

Unfortunately for her, the shock of seeing it that close was overridden by the sharp pain that rippled through her swollen cheek.

“Ah!” With a wince and a hiss, she closed her eyes and raised a forehoof to touch the area.

It didn’t exactly help.

“Nrgh!” Chrysalis gave up trying to touch it, the painful throbs only increasing in intensity at the contact.

“Grung.”

She opened her eyes, a cold object being pressed to her face without her consent. The creature was holding the snow-filled cloth for her, the throbbing swiftly declining down to more manageable levels.

“Give me that,” she grumbled, swatting his hand away while using her other hoof to hold it on herself. “This is all your fault to begin with.” Chrysalis shifted on her spot and looked down at what she was resting against, grimacing when she found out that it was the creature. However, despite that fact she decided to stay put for the time being, her throbbing head a great deterrent to leaping off his leg and fighting him.

“Um, Your Highness?” The soldier who had spoken flinched when she turned her glare onto his prone form, the other changelings around them all watching attentively. “Mr Growls didn’t mean to hurt you, you just startled him.”

“Mr Growls?” Chrysalis scoffed, looking back angrily into the nervous blue eyes. “What a stupid name. You’re a stupid brute, though, so it suits you well.” Her frown increased when he only blinked in response. “Just how stupid are you?”

“He can’t speak,” the soldiers answered for it, slowly sitting back up. “I mean, he can’t speak our language.” Under her gaze, he tapped his forehooves together. “That’s why I tried to draw it for him, so he could understand that you were… cautious, and that’s why you attacked.”

“Cautious?” she scoffed. “Ha! No, I attacked him because he is claiming to be a god of changelings!”

“No he’s not, that was all the scholars jumping to conclusions.”

“So you’re saying the scholars, your intellectual betters, are wrong and you are correct?”

“I… I’m saying that they are mistaken. My Queen, he can’t even talk so how can he claim to be a god?”

‘That’s actually a pretty good point,’ she realised, her accusation faltering for a moment.

“Plus,” the soldier continued. “He hasn’t tried to order anyone around, or demand anything. He also tried offering me some berries to eat, so I don’t think he’s even seen changelings before.”

“I suppose.” The evidence that it was all a mistranslation was swiftly piling up, but there were still some unanswered questions. “But I was told he had a harem, is that true? You are well aware that only I am allowed to keep a harem, and I alone.” In reply he winced, Chrysalis narrowing her eyes at the tell. “What’s your name? I do not recognise you.”

“Burrow,” he answered with a weak salute. “I’m just a simple soldier, Your Highness. And to answer your question, it’s less of a harem and more… four drones that make him give them massages.”

‘Wow,’ she internally sneered, glancing once more towards the still-silent biped. ‘He’s even more pathetic than he looks, being ordered about by drones.’

“I see,” Chrysalis grumbled, eye twitching when her face throbbed again. “However, he’s a dangerous creature who has attacked me. We shall feed on him and then leave him behind to fend for-“

“Ahem, excuse me, Your Highness.”

Glaring towards the changeling that had interrupted her, she was met with another soldier. This one however was giving her a full salute, and the ridges on his shoulder armour marked him as a sergeant. His respectful manner softened her glare. “Yes?”

“With all due respect, that’s not the best option available to us.”

“You doubt me?” her eyes narrowed.

“Not at all,” the soldier replied without skipping a beat. “There’s just information concerning… Mr Growls, which may open up other and more useful choices for the long-term.” The soldier nodded towards the biped. “Private Burrow is correct when he says that no attempt to proclaim himself as a god has been made by Mr Growls, and so far the creature has not acted with any hostility to changelings.”

“My face says differently,” Chrysalis grumbled, shooting the creature another glare.

“To be fair, My Queen, he was startled at the time. You know of course that your power can terrify all who witness your might.”

A part of her mind knew that the sergeant was just flattering her to get his way, but she couldn’t resist a grin as her ego was stroked. “I suppose that could explain it…”

The soldier took a step closer. “There’s more, Your Majesty. In addition to being strong he is comfortable around Private Burrow and other changelings in general. Also, we are able to feed upon him while he sleeps with no apparent side-effects.”

“I think his head has…“ the Private was silenced with a look from the sergeant.

“Queen Chrysalis, we have in our possession a being that not only can feed at least forty changelings, but one that does it regularly and without complaint. To just drain him in one go and leave him behind would be a waste.”

Chrysalis seriously had to think about what she wanted to do. On one hoof she didn’t want the thing anywhere near her, but the sergeant was also making very good points. Reluctantly, she silently admitted that his proposal held merit, and the current situation of her Hive really didn’t give her many options to be picky.

“But who will feed it, make sure it doesn’t run amok, and train it? I can’t waste a large number of changelings on looking after some lumbering food-beast.”

“I will,” Private Burrow volunteered, raising a hoof into the air. “He already knows me, and I promise that I’ll do a good job.”

“That’s a start, but-“

“I will as well!” Another soldier, this one a female raised her hoof from the crowd watching. Chrysalis turned her head to give the interrupter a glare, the female sheepishly lowering her hoof. “I… ah, I mean I will share the work with Burrow, Your Highness?”

“Step forwards,” Chrysalis demanded, the soldier bowing her head and doing as asked. Giving her a once over, a question soon followed. “Your name?”

“Private Aphid,” the soldier replied, shifting from hoof to hoof.

“And tell me, Private Aphid, why you are so eager to volunteer?”

Aphid’s eyes shifted towards the creature. “To guard an important resource to the Hive, of course.”

Chrysalis continued to stare at her, something iffy about the Private. Looking back towards the biped, she noticed the way he was staring back at Aphid with unease. He seemed uncomfortable under her gaze, Chrysalis grinning at the thought of some possible payback against her attacker. “Very well, from now on you and Private burrow are the official creature-controllers. I expect you to keep it behaved and ensure that it continues to output energy.”

“You don’t need to worry,” Private Aphid nodded, eyes still fixed on Mr Growls. “That is easy to arrange.”

“Grang,” the creature muttered under his breath, Chrysalis’ smile widening at his discomfort.

“Good. I have decided to also allow it to retain its harem in case it contributes to the amount of energy made. You, Private Aphid, are in control of that.”

“Oh no…”

Chrysalis glanced at the other soldier, Burrow. “Is something wrong?”

“Actually, Your Majesty, Aphid isn’t really the best choic-mpph!“ Private Aphid dashed over and forced a hoof around Burrow’s mouth, a forced smile on her face while she struggled to stop him from speaking.

“I’m so sorry, My Queen. Burrow here gets a little jealous sometimes and he often says the strangest things.”

Chrysalis decided to not inquire further, and instead got to her hooves. Continuing to hold the icepack to her face, she looked around at all of the changelings. “Okay, listen to me!” All of the hushed conversations died out immediately, her hundreds of subjects waiting for her orders. “To the east there is a small pony town, ripe for the taking. The ponies within are all soft farmers, and will be unable to withstand an attack of our numbers. Then, we will take them back to the Hive as our prisoners.”

She trotted forwards, a scowl growing on her face at the reminder of her bitter defeat. “Hiding is no longer an option. The Equestrians could seek to drive us away further, so we must prepare for any of their foolish attempts. No town will be safe, and while we take their subjects ours will grow. When we number in the thousands, then we will attack their capitol again, and this time we won’t hold back.”

Pointing a hoof towards the creature behind her, she buzzed her wings. “We will walk near to this town, it isn’t far, and wait until nightfall. You will all take as much energy as you can from this biped, so you will be ready for any fighting.” She grinned evilly. “But, no doubt we will catch all of those Equestrians unaware in their beds like the stupid ponies that they are.” Pointing towards the direction they needed to head towards, Chrysalis began to trot. “This way, if you go slow then you don’t eat.”

The threat ensured obedience, the masses falling into line behind her with chatters among them. While flying would have been faster, she wanted to keep the element of surprise. In addition, her new portable food-bag seemed to have no wings, and as much as she despised him he would no doubt prove to be a useful tool in her plans.

“I have the feeling that today is going to improve greatly,” she murmured to herself, her cheek not even bothering her anymore.

“Chhzrt!”

“Crzt. Chizzert.”

“So, anyone one want to explain what just happened?” Daniel looked at the two arguing bug-horses while he got to his feet, the bug-horse leader trotting away with his shirt. “For starters, am I going to have my bloody head chopped off or something? Your… tall chick kind of seems like she’s still pissed at me.”

Boris pointed towards the apparent bug-horse leader, chattering away while the female soldier nodded. Then, the hoof was pointed to both of them, then to himself with an apologetic smile being sent his way.

“Chzt iz ziz!” the female soldier added merrily, Boris rolling his eyes before gesturing towards the crowd of bug-horses. Daniel looked up and saw that they were all walking away, following the bug-horse leader as she led them away from the snow. Assuming that they wanted him to follow, and going off Boris’ mood he wasn’t about to be punished for punching their Empress or whatever she was, he bent down to pick up his toolbox and shrugged.

“Lead on then, I guess.”

Boris turned and started to trot after the others, the female soldier joining him with a hushed chatter. Daniel followed, still tired from the sudden wakeup but thankful to be moving away further from the cold snow. As he walked, he looked around at the numerous groups of bug-horses surrounding them.

None were flying on their fragile-looking wings, all of them trotting through the field at a steady pace. He was receiving a lot of stares from the newcomers, making him slightly uncomfortable now there were hundreds of the bug-horses. At more than double the height of all of them save for the leader, he stuck out like a French tourist in an outback pub.

They’d only been walking for five minutes before another bug-horse slowed down to join their group. It was a normal one without any armour, and judging from the shape he pegged it as female. A smile and happy chatter was directed towards him, the bug-horse briefly greeting the two helmeted bug-horses leading him afterwards. They all slowed down as conversation was shared between the three, Boris occasionally looking back at him with concern during it. Finally, with a sigh Boris nodded, and Daniel quickly found the new bug-horse moving alongside him while bumping her head against his left leg.

“What?” he questioned, before he noticed her flick her ears at him. “Oh, you’re one of those four. Great, just what I needed.” She bumped against his leg again, causing him to sigh and give in. “Fine, I guess it can’t really hurt, can it?”

He gave her a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ears, before he focused on the walking. With a glance he saw the stares they were getting, the noise of the bug-horse speech all around them. He looked down at another bump, the bug-horse looking up at him again with a confused look.

“What?” Daniel asked it again. “I gave you a pat, so leave me alone for a while. It’s not like you missed out or anything.”

It was at this time that Boris turned his head and appeared to chastise the bug-horse bothering him, the newcomer grumbling under her breath before moving ahead and trotting next to the female soldier. Boris then glanced towards him and then pointedly shook his head with a sigh.

“I know right?” Daniel answered with a huff. “The first time I have girls clambering over themselves to get at me, and they aren’t even my species. Talk about bad bloody luck.”

Aphid stared evenly at the drone trotting beside her, the worker having introduced herself as ‘Muddle’. After having annoyed Mr Growls into giving her an ear scratch, she had approached and had asked a predictable question.

“I don’t know,” Aphid answered absentmindedly. “Should you be allowed into the harem?”

“I was in it before,” Muddle argued, gesturing with a hoof back towards the biped. “And the Queen said he was allowed to keep it. You can’t just kick me out and replace me!”

Aphid tittered. “Calm down, I haven’t made my mind up just yet. You have to admit, you four haven’t really done much to be called a ‘harem’.”

“We keep him happy.” Aphid gave Muddle a look while tilting her head at the response, prompting a revision. “…Sort of?”

“You use him for massages and it’s an easy and cushy job, don’t try and pretend it’s for his benefit. I’m in charge of him and the harem, so what’s stopping me from replacing you with another group of drones far more ready to heed his every desire?”

“But we… we were there first!” Muddle began, before swallowing a lump in her throat. “If I have to… do other stuff to stay in then I’ll do it, you don’t need to replace me.”

“Hmm…”

Aphid mulled over the plea, secretly amused that the job was so well sought after. She guessed it was better than digging holes or building, and the potential amount of bonus energy was rather appealing.

‘Hang on,’ she realised, a grin forming on her face. ‘This can be a good chance.’ Focusing back on Muddle, she shrugged.

“I don’t know, I think it’d be easier to replace all of you and start fresh. Maybe try and see if some of the infiltrators are interested, they’ve probably all screwed ponies so they’ll probably be up for some more unusual work.” Muddle’s ears dropped, Aphid moving in for the kill with a whisper. “You know, I could probably forget to look for a replacement.”

Muddle looked up with a knowing look. Biting her bottom lip, the hopeful drone whispered back. “A third of the energy I earn from any activities with him?”

“Half,” Aphid countered. “It’s not like he’s going to likely take advantage of what he’s got often. You can either take it, or leave it.”

“Fine,” Muddle accepted with a frown. “Even though I feel like you’ve just shafted me harder than he ever will.”

Aphid giggled lightly, giving the drone a wicked grin. “It’s what I do. Now, be a good little harem worker and leave him alone for a while. Considering what the Queen said, you’ll be in for a lot of work with him soon so he’ll be extra full of that affection.” Muddle began to move away with a scowl, Aphid finishing before she could leave completely. “Oh, and that offer extends to the other three, by the way.”

Muddle grumbled but her words were unintelligible, Aphid straightening with victory while continuing to trot along.

“What offer?”

She turned to smile at Burrow, her fellow soldier and current ‘Creature-Controller’ staring at her with apprehension. “Oh, just a little deal to ensure that everyone remains happy. Don’t fret about it Burrow.”

“I have good reasons to, anything with you in it usually goes terribly wrong for everyone except you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Let me guess: you’re abusing your power to control access to Mr Growls, right?”

‘Drat, he’s clued in.

“Burrow, Burrow, Burrow,” she repeated with a laugh. “Whatever could make you think that? I’m a loyal and hardworking soldier now in charge of an important resource for the entire Hive. To abuse that power would be unthinkable.” His stare remained, Aphid switching tactics. “However, say I was ‘utilising a precious resource to benefit at no harm to anyone’, then I’d be very happy to of course cut my co-worker into the deal at, say, ten percent?”

Burrow shook his head. “Wow, were you just hatched without any morals? For one, Mr Growls is not a ‘precious resource’.”

“Again with this,” she interrupted. “Look Burrow, if you want to ‘tame the bipedal beast’ then that’s fine, even a little hot.” Her mind wondered to the opposite scenario, intriguing her. “Or, be tamed by the beast, that could really do something for m-“

“No,” he stopped her, scrunching up his face. “I don’t have a thing for other males. You’re just immature.” Sighing again, he looked down at his hooves. “If you want to go around bullying drones, then fine, that’s your choice. Just don’t spoil this, okay?”

“Cross my heart,” she nodded, letting out a snigger. “You sap.”

“Better to be a sap then be you,” he grumbled, only increasing her mirth. Aphid laughed again, Burrow almost missing a step when she placed a foreleg over his back and trotted along on three legs.

“Oh come on, you love me,” she teased, before glancing back at the confused creature following them. “Right big guy? You both wouldn’t have a clue what to do without me to guide you on the right path.” She flashed him a wide grin and winked. “I sure do know some great paths to go down, and it’s always more fun with two friends instead of just one.”

“Grabaraw?”

“See?” she continued to Burrow. “Totally lost.”

“Of all the changelings to have to be stuck with,” he grumbled. “I get the sleazy, crazy, and constantly horny one.”

“Hey, I’m not crazy!”

“Of course that’s the one you’d argue against.”

Aphid shrugged, cricking her neck while she did so. “Eh, I can’t really deny the other two, can I?”

“You certainly got that right,” muttered Burrow, just as they left the field and started trotting through a second one.

“Fifty percent, are you joking?”

Muddle shook her head at Meddle’s question, the other drones assigned to the harem just as surprised at the harsh terms.

“I’m not, that’s what Aphid said. Either you accept the deal, or she’ll just replace you.” She rolled her eyes. “And unfortunately she was right when she said it was a cushy job.”

“Can’t we just go to the Queen?” asked Mirror.

“To say what? ‘Oh, Your Highness, a solider is stopping me, a drone, from being in the harem of the creature that punched you. She’s trying to extort me, please help’? Yeah, I can’t see that going badly for you.”

“Well,” Cypher added, glancing across at the biped and two soldiers sitting down on the grass to the far left of the field they had stopped in. “We could always try and ask that other soldier, Burrow, if we could stay. He seems pretty nice.”

“You can try if you want, but I don’t think he thinks a harem is even wanted.” sighed Meddle.

“Is it?”

“That’s not the problem,” Muddle stopped the two before they went off topic. “Look, I’ve accepted the deal and my spot is safe. To be honest I doubt that we’ll be doing anything raunchy often, so we don’t exactly lose much. It’s not like that soldier can tax us on affection we earn by just being around.”

“And it’s not like there’ll be a shortage of replacements,” she continued, sparing a glance around the crowd of changelings resting around the field. “As soon as the word gets out that there’s an easy job looking after a harmless and gullible creature who doesn’t even know what a harem is for, with a chance of lots of bonus food thrown in, you can bet your wings that Aphid will be drowning in volunteers. I suggest you all take the deal, no matter how unfair it is.”

The other three all muttered under their breaths, Muddle turning around to trot towards her new bosses. She passed groups of drones, soldiers, and nurses all sitting down on the ground waiting for what was to come once the night fell.

‘At least I don’t have to help attack,’ she shuddered, remembering her time in Canterlot.

A quick search around the area yielded nothing unusual save for the Queen flying off low to the ground with a bunch of soldiers in tow. Guessing that Chrysalis was taking a closer look at the town they planned to attack, Muddle refocused on her task. As she approached the two soldiers and Mr Growls, she overheard the conversation between them.

“… just don’t do it again without permission, Aphid. Look at him, he didn’t really like touching you before and now you go and do this.”

Moving closer, Muddle could see that Mr Growls was eyeing Aphid uneasily while Burrow frowned.

“All I did was just give his finger a kiss,” Aphid defended with her forelegs crossed in front of her chest. “He’s got to stop being such a baby.”

“A kiss? Aphid, when he went to give you an ear scratch you wrapped your mouth around a finger and sucked. I just… what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing at all, it’s all in good fun.” A saucy grin was directed at Burrow. “Also, you forgot the part where I gave the end a lick on the way out. Come on, you’re just jealous that I’m not teasing you all of the time.”

Muddle paused and started to circle around when Burrow placed his head into his forehooves.

“By the Queen, why you weren’t hatched as or promoted to an infiltrator is a mystery.”

Circumventing the two, she quietly advanced behind the biped and ignored the stares she was receiving from the other changelings around the field. Burrow and Aphid continued to argue and annoy each other, so they paid her no mind while she snuck up to sit beside Mr Growls.

“Grawba?”

“Shh,” she shushed with a foreleg in front of her mouth, being careful to not make any sudden moves that might unsettle him. He stared back at her before refacing the pair of soldiers, but Muddle could see him watching her carefully out of the corner of an eye.

“You worry far too much, Burrow.”

“Of course I worry. If it wasn’t bad enough before when you were flashing your rump at him, now we’ve got the Queen herself keeping an eye on what happens. She already doesn’t like him, so we need to be careful.”

“He has a harem, it’s not like anything I do will really draw much attention.”

Muddle looked towards the biped when he sighed, the creature appearing to already be tired. The afternoon sun probably wasn’t helping, the warm rays welcome after the harsh cold and grey skies. Reaching a foreleg around, she gave him a pat on the bare back.

“Grab!?” he jolted up, Muddle quickly withdrawing her hoof when she realised that she had misjudged and gone a little too low. A light burst of laughter caused her to look forwards again, the two soldiers having noticed her presence.

“See?” Aphid continued to giggle. “I’m not the only one.”

“It-it was an accident,” Muddle tried to explain, lowering her ears at Burrow’s frown. “I’m sorry, I didn’t-“

“Grabwar.” A hand hesitantly rested on the top of her head, giving her a pat. “Grrung graw.”

Figuring that she had been forgiven for the slip-up, Muddle smiled up at the wary Mr Growls. “Thanks, I’m sorry for that.” The head rub continued, Burrow turning to Aphid.

“See? At least she apologised for what she did and didn’t revel in it.” He turned to her and nodded. “It’s okay… Muddle, wasn’t it?” She nodded, so he continued. “Thanks for that, Aphid kind of freaked him out a little earlier, and you know how skittish he is about… that.”

“I’ll try to keep within the boundaries, but he does seem far more, well…”

“Prudish?” Aphid suggested, Muddle nodding an affirmative.

It was kind of true. Granted, changelings weren’t exactly what many would call a modest race, but even ponies were less touch-shy than Mr Growls.

“He probably just doesn’t like strange creatures trying to get with him constantly,” Burrow sighed while rubbing his temples with his forehooves. “How’d you like it if you were surrounded by hundreds of his sp- and I’m just going to stop myself there.”

“Oh, keep talking,” Aphid teased, grinning widely. “I like where it’s going.”

“No.”

“Spoilsport.”

Mr Growls sighed again, and the head rub stopped when he laid down on his back to stare up at the sky. Muddle remained sitting, tilting her head at the expression on his face. It was one of mild amusement, and she briefly wondered as to just how much information he was able to pick up without being able to talk to them.

“Hey there, big guy.” The arguing was cut off again, Cypher trotting right past the two soldiers to flop down onto her belly beside Mr Growls. “Sleep time already?” She stretched out her legs and cricked her neck, before glancing over. “Anything happen, Muddle?”

“No,” she answered with a wave of her hoof. “I think he’s just worn out from the walk, I know my own hooves are killing me.”

“You could always get him to help with that,” Meddle joined in, also joining them on the ground with Mirror in tow.

“That’s not going to happen,” Burrow cut in, relocating so he was sitting down and watching them all. “I think Mr Growls just needs a break from all the attention, right Aph… Aphid, what are you doing!?”

“What?”

Muddle had to hold in her laughter at the sight of her boss, Aphid having sat down… right on top of Mr Growls’ groin. Her forelegs were rubbing the exposed belly while she stared at Burrow with a confused look.

“I… I don’t…” Burrow stammered, Aphid shrugging at his reaction. Muddle glanced down to Mr Growls, the biped’s eyes wide as he seemed to be desperately concentrating to prevent… something.

“Hey, Chrysalis wants him to feel love,” Aphid commented with a light smile. “So I intend to make that happen. I’m in charge of a harem now, Burrow. That means it’s my job to instruct the workers on to how to properly conduct themselves.” The smile grew. “Of course, if you want to be in charge instead of pretty much being his nymph-sitter, then I’m sure I could trade jobs for a day every now and then.”

Burrow paled, and he quickly waved his forehooves in front of him. “Oh, no, I’m sure that you’ll be able to do fine. Really, and the Queen did already appoint you in the job and I’d hate to take it away from you!”

“So easy,” Aphid murmured, before clicking her tongue. She glanced around to all of them, ensuring that she had their full attention. “Now, watch closely you four. Today, we’re going to all learn about how to at once relax and stimulate an overly-modest biped for maximum energy potential. The first step is to use his own tactics against him, in this case a nice belly rub to calm him down.”

Muddle once again checked on Mr Growls, the frozen look of horror not exactly what she would call ‘calm’.

“Damn it,” she heard Burrow mutter quietly while he looked away. “Things are only going to get worse from here, aren’t they?”

Feeling a little sorry for the concerned soldier, she tried to put it out of her mind and refocused her attention towards Aphid.

She couldn’t help but think that the soldier was a little too enthusiastic and experienced in such things, right as Aphid gave Mr Growls a look that would make even the experienced of infiltrators blush.

“Such idiotic morons, completely unaware that tonight their little town will become mine.”

Chrysalis muttered to herself while her eyes narrowed at the pony farming town. Typical of equestrian settlements, even the farms were within spitting distance of each other the town was that small and compact.

“And then my army will grow, with new strength to crush those accursed princesses!”

The soldiers escorting her remained silent, Chrysalis too focused on revelling in her plans to pay them any mind. Her hooves dug into the dirt while she sneered at the ponies shutting their windows and extinguishing lights, the orchard of orange trees hiding her and her soldiers from any watchful eyes.

The brick houses with their thatched roofs were soon all bathed in darkness save for a single building with a red cross on the front. The dirt streets were silent and empty, even the surrounding farmhouses having turned in for the night. She looked up towards the sky, the moon not even close to being in the middle of the starry sky.

‘They huddle in their beds at the darkness,’ she thought, licking her fangs at the thought of the feast that was soon to come. ‘But that won’t save them. They will be the first to fall.’

“Ha!” she suddenly laughed, wings beginning to buzz as she turned for the main camp. “Tonight will be a good night, I can already taste it! Soldiers, follow.”

She lifted off into the air with another laugh, her subordinates accompanying her with the darkness of the night eliminating the risk of discovery by the sleeping town. Chrysalis had to restrain her malicious joy, a grin on her face while she went to gather her army.

There was one more things she needed to do before the attack.

Feed.

‘Time to test the new buffet,’ she decided, anticipating the chance to drain her unwanted guest. Her speed picked up, the soldiers lagging behind as their weaker wings struggled to match hers. The grassy fields below blurred into one, before she reached her destination and landed upon the grass next to a group of sleeping drones.

“Wake up,” she commanded, the drones blinking their eyes awake before shooting upright once they saw it was her. Not paying them any attention while they rushed to their hooves, Chrysalis continued on towards her goal as the soldiers landed behind her.

The biped was sleeping on his back, surrounded by the changelings assigned to look after him and serve as entertainment to keep him passive. Her initial look of disgust turned to one of confusion when she spotted the soldier she’d assigned to manage the harem slumbering atop the creature, hind legs spayed out on either side while she snored into his chest.

Four drones were also resting around the large beast, seemingly at ease while they huddled up against the bulk and snored along with the soldier on top.

Private Burrow, the only awake one assigned to the biped, lifted his head from their resting spot on his forelegs. He clambered to his hooves and bowed his head, Chrysalis able to sense his concern.

“Your Majesty,” he greeted softly.

“Private,” she returned with less venom than he was likely expecting. “What have I just trotted upon?”

The soldier looked towards her gesturing hoof, wincing when he saw that it was pointed towards his comrade. “Ah… Aphid decided to instruct the drones she’s assigned to the harem how to relax Mr Growls. Well, she got a little too invested and ended up falling asleep on top of him.”

Grimacing at the stupid name that the creature had been given, Chrysalis snorted. “I don’t know how she can even bare to sleep like that, let alone take pride in her assigned task.”

“Aphid’s pretty much, and excuse me for saying this Your Highness, strange to the point of insanity sometimes.” He noticed her glance towards Aphid again. “She just really enjoys teasing him, and…” he scuffed his hoof on the grass. “I guess his modesty is something she wants to break for some reason. I think she finds his reluctance to respond to her amusing, and a challenge.”

Chrysalis nodded, actually able to understand the female soldier’s desire for an interesting challenge to overcome, but some of Burrow’s words stood out to her. “Hold on, you’re saying that… Mr Growls, isn’t attracted to changelings?”

Burrow shook his head. “He seems to like us, but so far he’s tried to avoid any intimate contact. I don’t know if it’s because we’re a different species or if his species is just really modest.” He paused, looking towards the four drones lying down with a thoughtful look. “However, having changelings around him seems to be helping him to fit in better.”

“But it’s a waste of drones,” she told him trotting around the side of the creature to examine him better. “A cocoon would eliminate the need to help him ‘fit in’, I don’t plan on letting any dangerous creatures ruin my plans.”

The soldier trotted up to her, bowing his head once more. “Please, Your Highness, I can make sure he keeps on being good. All I need is a chance, and I promise that this idea will work.”

She stared at the soldier, his head remaining lowered the entire time. Looking towards the biped then to the changeling sleeping atop him, she huffed and approached closer.
“We will see what happens after we seize the nearby town. If I find the energy he admits in this state satisfying, then that will be a bonus in his favour.” She advanced upon the sleeping biped, warily keeping her distance from the two forearms that had clocked her earlier. Rolling her eyes at the dopey look on Private Aphid’s face, she bent down over the sleeping Mr Growls and commenced her feeding.

The ambient energy around him flowed into her, Chrysalis sighing happily as the surprisingly palatable emotion relaxed her mood. Pausing to savour it, she pondered the quality and compared it to her previous dining.

It was magically barren compared to that of Shining Armour’s or even a standard unicorn’s love, and it lacked the power that she was expecting from such a large creature, but it was rather tasty and filling. Smacking her lips, she decided that she enjoyed the spicy tinge it had, a rather exotic ‘flavour’ that had so far been unknown.

‘While it has little magic in it, it tastes pretty good.’ Chrysalis went in for another sample, nodding her head afterwards. ‘Yes, he will make a very fine food-beast, and could possibly improve with some work.

Stepping back, she found her mood lifted and it surprised her. Glancing down at Burrow, whose eyes were wide with hope, she couldn’t even glare as she nodded once more. “It is good and filling, he can remain free… for now.”

“Thank you,” Burrow bowed, and she quickly halted him with a hoof.

“There is no need for thanks. Continue to improve his mood and ensure the proper flow of energy, and I shall be able to… overlook his past transgressions.” Pausing to wonder at her sudden bout of consideration, she dismissed it as an aftermath of the feeding. “As soon as the soldiers that accompanied me have fed, we will take over the pony town. Wake him when we leave and follow behind on hoof, but ensure that he does not interfere.” She glanced to Mr Growls, her eyes narrowing. “He may be in allegiance with the Equestrians.”

“I’m on it, Your Highness,” Burrow saluted, before his ears perked up. “Also, once the town is taken, can I take supplies for him?”

Chrysalis laughed with a grin on her face as she turned to leave. “I have no problem with you appropriating pony supplies as you wish, it’s not like they’ll need them once they’re back in the hive.”

She didn’t wait for a reply, the soldiers who had scouted with her moving past to jostle for some energy of their own. Still savouring the decent meal she had just consumed, Chrysalis reassessed her previous grievances about keeping Mr Growls around.

‘This might just prove to be useful after all,’ she silently chortled, before returning to her imagining of ruling over Equestria with an iron hoof.

‘Ah fuck, not now..’

Daniel winced as a hoof prodded him in the shoulder, but it wasn’t the contact or the apologetic chattering that caused it. Placing a hand over his forehead, he groaned and hesitantly opened his eyes. Boris was tilting his head at him with concern evident in his eyes while he withdrew his hoof.

“Just a migraine,” Daniel brushed off. “I’ll be fine in a few hours.” He made to get up but there was a weight on his chest, a snoozing bug-horse drooling onto him with her forelegs shoved into his armpits.

‘Bluegh, bug-horse spit.’

He shifted uncomfortably, a noticeable warm spot on his groin not helping things. Looking towards Boris, he grimaced and started to speak. “Do you mind waking her up? I kind of… well, it’s really a natural reaction and-“

Boris got the point, already moving to remove the sleeping female. After a few prods of a hoof yielded no response save for some muttering, Boris’ face hardened.

Daniel, despite the splitting headache, struggled to hold in laughter when Boris suddenly shoved the female soldier off of him. Waking up instantly, she flailed her limbs before thudding down onto the grass, a frown on her face while she got to her hooves. Irritated chattering was exchanged between the pair, waking the other four bug-horses that he suspected were the same from before.

“Okay, keep it down,” he requested with a point towards the arguing pair. Briefly rubbing his forehead above his left eye, he got to his feet. He noticed Boris eyeing his groin with a stare, before the bug-horse turned to chatter at the female again. She also looked and quickly bowed her head, Daniel grimacing when he saw the damp patch that had been left there.

He shuddered at the thought.

The four normal bug-horses standing around him all giggled, causing the female soldier to lower her head even more. Daniel sighed at her behaviour, reaching out a hand to pat her on the head.

“Hey, at least you’re embarrassed about it as well,” he shrugged, her blue eyes looking up at him with confusion. Pausing to quickly rub his temple, he forced a smile. “I guess these things happen? Just… maybe try to not rub against me and then fall asleep. That sort of shit causes problems for both of us.” Giving her a scratch behind the ear, he watched while her wings buzzed and she nuzzled his hand in response.

“Chzt, Chrrzt.”

Boris trotted up to grab their attention, his hoof pointing towards the far side of the field.

All of them looked over, the rest of the bug-horses taking flight and heading into the night away from them. Daniel squinted and managed to spot a flash of coloured hair that matched that of the leader he had punched.

“We’re leaving already? Can I at least find some water before we go because this headache is bloody annoyin-“

“Czzt.”

Boris cut him off with a gesture and buzz, starting to trot away after the main group. Daniel hesitated, not really looking forward to another walk at the current time. He was thirsty, out of berries, and there were no painkillers in sight for the pounding in his skull.

Something nudged him in the back of his leg, one of the bug-horses chattering at him while the others followed Boris’ lead. Assuming they wanted him to follow as well, he sighed and trudged after them.

“Tonight’s going to be shitful,” he grumbled, toolbox in hand while he did what they wanted him to.

Ponies screamed in fright while doors splintered under the weight of charges, the small farming town sleepy no-longer.

Chrysalis strolled down the street with a wicked grin, cackling while her subjects took over the small town.

“Yes, take them all! Make these ponies pay for what their princesses did! Soon everyone shall dread the name of ‘Chrysalis’ and tremble in their hovels! Feast, my children, feast and grow stronger still!”

She continued to laugh as the townsfolk were dragged from their homes and onto the street, the ponies utterly stunned by her ingenious plan of attack.

“This is only the beginning!” she continued, laughing madly while a fork of lighting flashed across the sky.

Burrow winced when Mr Growls heaved again, the biped crouched over a small bush as the attack continued in the town down the road. His friend had appeared sick since he had woken up, with pale skin that was cold and clammy. The four drones watched with equal concern, while Aphid was scrunching up her face.

“Gross,” she commented, taking a step back when another lead of stomach contents splattered against the grass. “Bleugh.”

“He’s sick,” Burrow snapped at her with more anger than he expected. Aphid drew back, shocked at his baring of fangs. “Have a little compassion.”

“I… I do,” she stammered.

“Then stop acting like you don’t, this isn’t a joke.” Burrow turned back to Mr Growls and trotted over to pat him on the back. “You okay?”

Burrow didn’t get a response, the biped wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before sitting down and holding his head.

“I’m going to get a nurse,” he decided, pointing at the four drones. “Watch him, I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“What about me?” Aphid asked softly.

“Just… don’t do anything stupid,” was all he could say, dashing off towards the town.

His hooves pounded on the simple dirt road, Burrow looking everywhere for his fellow changelings. Soldiers flew over the town, drones surrounded the exits, and the Queen’s laughter could be heard even by him. Angling towards a group hanging back, Burrow skidded to a halt while the twenty-three changelings stared at him.

“Is anyone here a nurse?” he tried, five of the changelings raising their hooves. “Great, I need to borrow one of you to take a look at Mr Growls.”

All of the changelings shared confused looks. “Who?” one asked, Burrow huffing in irritation at their cluelessness.

“The big biped,” he clarified. “Come on, he’s really sick and needs help.”

“We only know how to help changelings, sorry,” one nurse apologised with a bow of her head. “If it’s a cut or something like that then I’ll take a look, but anything else I wouldn’t know what to do.”

She received murmurs of agreement, another one of the nurses shrugging with a sad smile on her face. “Yeah, sorry we can’t help your friend. Maybe the Queen might know something?”

He glanced to the town behind them, the evil laughs continuing over the yells and shouts.

“I’d rather not ask,” he gulped, before sighing and nodding. “Thanks anyway.”

He resumed his galloping after reseating his helmet, passing by the group and heading towards the assaulted town. The line of drones and soldiers guarding one end of the main road parted to let him through, Burrow passing rows of houses and groups of ponies and changelings alike.

His fellows were dragging ponies of all ages and colours onto the street and binding their hooves with sticky green phlegm. Burrow’s brief glances as he raced past only revealed earth ponies, no unicorns or pegasi amongst the captured population. Racing down the street to find the Queen, he dodged to the right as a green mare ran out of a grocery store and nearly collided with him. She didn’t pause, and after she had galloped past him Burrow heard the sound of a changeling diving down from the sky and the thud that signalled the halting of the mare’s attempted escaped.

The fate of the Equestrians was at the very back of his mind, however. Burrow didn’t pause for anything, leaping over captured ponies sobbing on the ground and weaving through groups of soldiers looking for more to capture. Only passing attention was paid to the buildings around him, until one in particular caused him to stop and stare at it.

It was a simple and small brick building, but the large red cross mounted above the glass door made its purpose obvious to work out. It looked like it was untouched, Burrow trotting up carefully and pushing against it with a forehoof.

The door swung open inwards, Burrow’s ear lifting when he heard a loud thump and a sharp intake of breath.

He had a plan in mind.

“Ouch…”

Scarlet Streak rubbed her head with a hoof, but thankfully no blood was present in her cherry-red mane. Lowering her grey hoof back down, she made sure to not back well away from the shelf above before standing up. Taking a quick second to readjust her white nurse’s hat, she placed the parcel of bandages into the large brown doctor’s bag.

Being Graindale’s only doctor’s assistant and resident weather-mare, in addition to being the sole pegasus amongst the town of earth ponies, often had caused her to wish for something exciting to happen for once in her life.

Unfortunately, a changeling invasion had not been what she had hoped for.

“Got to hurry,” she muttered, using her wings to sweep in more medical supplies in preparation for her escape. She could hear all of her fellow townsfolk in the streets, but there was really nothing she could do apart from run out of the back door and hope that she could warn another town or treat any ponies injured in their own escapes.

Fumbling with the bag’s clasp, she froze when she heard the front door softly close. ‘Oh no…’

Turning around slowly, she gulped when she laid eyes upon the changeling standing in her only exit out. It looked really, really mean, a blue helmet on its head and armour on its back. Her eyes immediately focused on his fangs, Scarlet shuddering at the thought of what they might be capable off.

She backed up, only to have her rump hit the wooden bench behind her.

“Good changeling,” she whimpered, raising a hoof towards it in an attempt to calm it. “Don’t come any closer…”

“Pony.”

The buzzing speech sent another jolt through her, Scarlet flinching.

“Don’t hurt me, please,” she pleaded, shrinking on the spot. “I don’t want my emotions drained!”

“You’re a nurse?” the changeling replied with the voice of a male. She nodded, and he relaxed as a result. “Good. If you help me, I won’t hurt you.”

Scarlet looked up, eyes wide while she looked him over. “Y-you’re hurt?”

He shook his head. “No, a friend of mine is sick.”

She didn’t know what to do. Scarlet doubted that she could fight the changeling and escape wasn’t possible. From the sounds outside, the town was well and truly lost. She’d never been a brave pony, so she nodded and mumbled quietly. “I’ll help, just don’t-“

“Hurt you, I know,” the soldier cut her off with a buzz of his wings. “Now grab that bag and trot in front of me, if you try to escape then our deal is off.”

Shaking, Scarlet took the bag with a wing and placed it onto her back. It was heavy but she didn’t dare to complain, the changeling watching her closely all the while. Hoping that it wasn’t going to end with being imprisoned in a cocoon, or worse, she slowly trotted past him to pause in the doorway.

“Trot,” the changeling ordered. “Down the main street towards the south end of town.”

Scarlet nodded and tried to hold back her tears, her legs shaking with fear. She passed the empty reception desk and pushed open the glass door, folding her ears down at the shouts and sobs. Stepping out into the street, she sniffled when she saw the bunches of ponies tied up with green goo on the ground.

“Go on,” the changeling behind her urged.

She trotted in the direction he had ordered, three other changelings in armour approaching them with wide grins.

“Taking one for yourself, hey?” one of them laughed, Scarlet drawing back at the question.

“No wonder, she’s pretty,” the second chortled, his eyes giving her a once over. Scarlet instinctively tucked in her wings and tail, praying that it wasn’t going to end up like… that.

The soldier that had captured her stepped up beside her, glaring at the trio. “I’m taking her to have a look at Mr Growl’s, the biped, because he’s sick and the nurses said they couldn’t help him.”

“You mean Foodbag? He doesn’t need a cute pony nurse, but exercise!” the first laughed. "But, you know, running and that. Not the fun kind." He was was cut off with a growl.

“If you’ve got a problem, take it up with the Queen. I’m authorised to take any supplies I need to look after him, and that includes ponies. Now get out of the way and stop acting like such sleezebags.”

The three parted with scowls, a nudge in her side prompting Scarlet to move through and past them. She kept her head down and her eyes on her forehooves, the soldier muttering behind her.

“I swear, is that all we changelings think about?”

She didn’t attempt to answer or question it, moving as commanded to save her own hide. She occasionally had to swerve to avoid captured ponies lying in her path, but no other changelings bothered them until they reached the end of the town.

“Hey, Burrow.” Scarlet looked up, a line of the scary creatures looking her way. One in armour was moving out to meet them with a hoof raised. “Where are you taking that pony mare? The Queen ordered that all ponies are to remain in the town.” The advancing changeling’s eyes narrowed. “She also commanded that they are to all be treated like food, not entertainment, so if you’re thinking of-“

“I’m not, Sergeant,” her captor reassured. “She’s a doctor, and I’m taking her to help Mr Growls.”

The Sergeant’s stare lost its accusation. “He’s sick?”

“Vomiting, he hasn’t really been looking good since the last feeding.”

“Hmm, I hope we haven’t overdone it. I was worried that such a large amount at once might drain him completely.” A hoof was waved, the Sergeant gesturing for the blockade to part. “Go on then, I’ll deal with any complaints.”

Scarlet felt a hoof prod her in the side again, and she moved without question. She sniffled, but her tears had stopped when the creatures had said what they needed her for. The soldier behind her didn’t speak to her, he merely guided her towards a clearing in the trees. Another changeling moved to meet them, four more sitting around a big, furless creature that was lying flat on the ground.

“What's this, Burrow?” the new changeling sighed, but there was a small smile on her face. “When it was suggested that you fetch a nurse, I didn’t think you were going to get a pony one.” Scarlet shuddered when the new changeling leered at her. “She is pretty cute though, the drones might have some competition when Growly wakes up.”

“Really Aphid, ‘Growly’?”

“What? I think I’m familiar enough with him to not have to call him ‘Mister’ by now.”

“Familiar? All you’ve done is… gah, we don’t have time for this now. Pony, come on.”

Scarlet advanced as commanded, gulping as she came close to the thing on the ground. It had its eyes closed and wasn’t really moving save for the rising and falling of its chest, one of the changelings next to it eyeing it with a worried look while she touched a hoof to a large forehead.

Carefully, she lowered the medical bag to the grassy ground, gulping while trying to get her shaking limbs under control. Aware of the unwelcoming eyes on her, she reminded herself to not make any threatening moves.

“Is…” she began, before changing her mind. “I mean, what is he?”

“We don’t know,” the changeling called Burrow answered, watching her closely.

“Okay,” Scarlet took a deep breath. “I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to help-“

“You’ll try your hardest, and if you hurt him more…”

Scarlet choked back a sob at the implication, nodding her head and just getting on with it.

“Geez Burrow, what’s gotten into you?” Aphid trotted around to tilt her head at them. “She’s just a terrified pony.”

Getting to work while they argued, Scarlet touched a hoof to an arm. It was cold, but to be honest she couldn’t really tell if it was normal or not. Deciding to try her luck with another of the changelings, she looked at the one with her hoof on the forehead and asked in a soft voice. “What happened, exactly?”

The changeling looked at her, before glancing to the ones in armour and back again.

“He woke up and looked sick, he was holding his head a lot, and he threw up once we stopped here. Since then, he’s just been lying down and keeping his eyes shut.”

‘A headache maybe?’ There was one stallion in the town who’d been having bad headaches from time to time, but she needed more to go off.

“That’s good, and... is he usually that cold?”

“No, that’s why we’re so worried.”

Scarlet honestly had no idea at all as to what could be wrong apart from a bad headache. Leaning down towards the creature, she gulped. “Um, hello Mr… Growls?”

“He can’t understand you,” the same changeling told her, but paused when a blue eye opened. Scarlet took a step back as the creature lifted himself up on an arm, rubbing his temple and staring at her.

“Graw?”

“Hello,” Scarlet waved hesitantly, having gotten a peek at the teeth that he possessed. She knew that changelings ate emotion, but this monster was no changeling. “My… my name’s Scarlet, and I’m going to help you, okay?”

The creature didn’t reply to her, and instead looked at Burrow. “Grawbra?” A finger was pointed towards her. “Grabragra?”

“Hey, she’s here to help you,” Burrow smiled, moving past to pat the beast on his shoulder. Scarlet was surprised that his voice was far less harsh than when he’d been talking to her. “Just let her do what she needs to do to make you better, okay?” A hole-riddled hoof was pointed towards the nurse cap.

The creature nodded, before turning to look at the town. Scarlet lowered her head and didn’t follow his eyeline, trying to ignore the evil laughter coming from the village that had only increased in volume.

The sound of scribbling caused her to look back up, the thing drawing something on a pad of parchment. He wasn’t using a quill, but instead a long cylinder. Scarlet also noticed that all of the changelings were patiently waiting for him to finish.

“He can’t speak to us, as you’ve probably noticed,” the female soldier whispered to her. “So he draws things and gets us to draw as well, to explain things.”

Scarlet looked over the parchment when it was shown to her specifically. On it was what looked like the biped in a bed, appearing to be asleep. Next to it was a glass of water, and a bunch of tablets.

“Oh,” she nodded, already using her wings to fumble in her bag. “You need water, painkillers and sleep? Has this happened before?”

He didn’t reply, his eye locked on her wing as it pulled out pill-bottle after pill-bottle. Scarlet shook her head, sighing sadly. “I haven’t got any painkillers in here, but I’ve got some sleeping tablets.” Glancing towards the two soldiers, she managed to mumble out a request. “Could I get someone to get some water from somewhere, please? There should be a stream just to the left.”

“What are you going to do?” Burrow asked, his previous venom gone.

Scarlet prepared for backlash. “I’m going to give him a sleeping pill, hope that it’ll work on something his size, and then give him a drink of water. It seems to be what he wants and a good rest is pretty good at solving a lot of problems.”

Instead of a protest, the soldier nodded. “Okay then, I guess that’s a pretty decent option. I’ll go and get some water. Aphid, make sure she doesn’t escape.”

“On it,” the female replied, gesturing for her to sit down. Scarlet did as she was told, her rump hitting the grass while she tried to make herself as small as possible. The biped was still staring at her, a worried look on his face while he looked from her to the town.

As Burrow galloped off to find the stream she’d told them about, Scarlet tried to calm her racing heart.

Unfortunately, being trapped in a forest with an unknown giant and changelings didn’t help much in that regard.

Daniel stared at the horse creature sitting before him, amusingly with an old-timey doctor’s bag at her hooves and a white hat with a red cross on it. The grey and red pony had neighed at him, the voice leading him to assumed that she was female. While she seemed as intelligent as the bug-horses, having somehow communicated to them with neighs despite the bug-horses buzzing back, it was her wings that were the oddest thing to him at the moment.

‘It’s like the greek gods are real, and Zeus and Poseidon are running wild around here,’ he mused, thinking of all of the strange creatures he’d seen so far.

He winced at the laughter from the town again as a particularly loud cackle rose up. For some reason it sounded closer to him, almost as if it was coming from within his own skull. Blaming his migraine, he redirected his attention back to what he was just going to dub ‘Flying-Horse’.

She did not look like she wanted to be there at all, and combined with the commotion in the town it wasn’t hard to work out that the bug-horses and ponies did not seem to get on. He certainly hoped that Luna, if she was even real, wasn’t in charge of these ponies.

That would be an awkward conversation.

Flying-Horse was keeping still and quiet, the female soldier watching her carefully as if she was a prisoner. Hoping that his bug-horse friends weren’t going to hurt her afterwards, he decided to lean back down and wait for Boris to return with what he hoped would be water. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his left temple and cursed the amount of trouble he was causing everyone.

Something touched him on the forehead, so Daniel opened an eye to see what it was. It was one of the normal bug-horses with a hoof, the creature chattering at him in what he guessed was an attempt to comfort.

Oh, how he wished he could tell them all that it really was just a migraine, considering that it seemed like they thought he was dying or something.

“Chrtzt!”

He heard the trotting of approaching hooves before he saw Boris reappear, the bug-horse standing over him with a smile. Boris’ horn was glowing green, a curved section of tree bark holding water clutched in a green field that was levitating near his mouth.

‘Eh,’ Daniel mentally shrugged. ‘I don’t really care if they can telekinesis at this point, there’s already flying horses that can apparently talk.’

Speaking of talking flying horses, a feathered wing came into view. It was hesitantly holding out a white pill to him, Daniel reaching up to grab it from the grey feathers. Flying-Horse’s brown eyes watched his fingers closely, and he noticed her shiver when he took the medication from her.

“I hope this won’t kill me,” he said, popping it into his mouth and accepting the water from Boris. He swallowed the pill without issue, even if the water provided tasted a bit woody. “Thanks fellas, I just need a little sleep and I’ll be all good in a few hours.” Almost as an afterthought, he reached out towards the nurse-horse that had provided him with the pill. She froze, his hand patting her on her curly red mane while he looked at Boris. “Also, I know you’re just trying to help, but don’t be such a wanker towards her, okay mate?”

Boris looked towards the nurse pony before nodding, Daniel giving a nod back before he laid his head back down and tried to get comfortable. He could feel a fuzziness in his head, his eyes getting heavy.

The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was Boris chattering, only to be met with a confused nay.

Scarlet stared down at the creature, now fast asleep thanks to the sleeping pill. Briefly raising a wing to touch her mane, she wondered what the biped had said. However, there was a more pressing concern at the current time.

Looking towards Burrow, the changeling who seemed to be in charge, she tapped her forehooves together nervously.

“So… can I please go now? I’ve done all that I can and you said-“

“I said I’d let you go when he’s better,” Burrow replied, before glancing at the creature and sighing. “But he did seem to like you.” He sat in thought the other changelings waiting for him to speak.

“I say we keep her around until he wakes up again,” the female soldier, Aphid, commented. “Sorry pony, but I don’t quite trust you just yet. Besides, it’s not like we can just let you go right away.”

“I did say that she could go as soon as she helped, Aphid.”

“Burrow, I know that you did, but do you think the Queen will be happy if we just let a pegasus escape to tell the Royal Guard that we’re here?”

Burrow shuddered, shaking his head. “I guess not.”

“But you said…” Scarlet tried, starting to shake again. “You promised.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. Look, we have some power over the others. If you just stay quiet and act like you’re helping us with looking after him, we can probably convince the Queen to let you go after he’s all better. In the meantime, we can make sure that no changelings bother you, okay? I’m sorry again, but that’s the best we can do.”

He was waiting for her to speak, but Scarlet didn’t know what to say. She laid down and put her head in her forelegs, hoping desperately that the biped would indeed wake up all better.

She heard Burrow sigh, before he began to trot away.

“I’m going to get some more drones, let’s try and move him to a bed in the pony town instead of this forest. “

“Fine, I’ll stay here and look after the drones and the pony.”

“Aphid, no touching.”

“Oh come on Burrow, would I ever take advantage of him when he’s… actually, don’t answer that.”

“Typical.”

The hoof beats moved away, Scarlet shivering again when a weight settled down next to her.

“Don’t worry pony,” Aphid buzzed with a laugh. “You’re probably in the safest group in the Hive at the moment. Growly even punched out Chrysalis, and we’ll take good care of you.” There was another laugh, Scarlet tucking her wings in even tighter.

She wasn’t exactly reassured.

“Uh, where am…”

Daniel trailed off, looking around the room that he found himself in. It was the familiar study that had frequented his last few dreams, a roaring fire filling the area with a relaxing heat. He looked down at the surprisingly comfortable armchair that he was in, the same blue colour that most of the room was decorated with.

”Ah, good evening, friend.” He looked up to find Princess Luna lying on a couch with a weighty book open on her forelegs and a tea set on a table beside her. The book disappeared with a poof of blue dust when Luna sat up with a smile. “It’s been a while since we last spoke. Tea?”

He glanced at the set, yet to have tried the refreshments that she was always offering.

‘Eh, why not?’

“Sure.”

While Luna poured two cups, she tilted her head at him. “So, you left abruptly during your last visit. Is something wrong?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did the changelings bring harm to you?”

“No, they’re still treating me well.”

“Oh,” Luna relaxed, before she nervously tapped her forehooves together. “Was it something that I said or did? My social interactions with my subjects can be difficult at times, so if I...”

He waved a hand. “Oh, no it was nothing you said. I was woken up by something and that’s why I kind of left without saying goodbye.” He recalled what it was, supressing a shudder at the memory of the bug-horse leader and her glowing eyes. “It’s uh… been a little crazy since.”

“Oh, something interesting?” Luna perked up, sitting up and shaking her wings. Daniel eyed the feathered appendages warily, having just met another horse with wings as well. “Night court has been so boring tonight, and I’m thankful for your company. Please, do tell all.”

Daniel winced, she didn’t look like she was going to back down.

He rubbed his nose and, coughed into a hand at what he was about to have to explain.

“Uh, well, it’s complicated…” he began, before taking a deep breath. “First off, you mentioned that you and your sister have horses as subjects?”

“Ponies,” Luna correct, smiling with a giggle. “The term ‘horse’ sounds like another word that has existed since I can remember, and it’s not used in polite conversation.” Her smile faded slightly, Luna huffing with a role of her eyes. “Referring to them as ‘mares of the night’ has also, unfortunately, remained.”

He tapped his fingers on the armrest, before clearing his throat while Luna continued to brood. “Ah, well, so you do have ponies as subjects?”

“All kinds of ponies,” Luna nodded, smile back with full force. “You of course remember me telling you about my bat-ponies?”

“Oh, oh yeah I do.” Daniel bit his bottom lip.

Luna leaned forwards, studying him intently. “You seem tense, is something the matter?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “So, these ponies of yours, do you happen to look after all of them?”

“We do, all of the ponies in these lands. Why?”

Daniel winced, before sighing and leaning back in the chair.

“Just a warning, you’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you…”

Washed Up

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“Gah, whatzat?”

Daniel’s awakening was less then graceful, his head fuzzy and his vison unclear. With a snort he tried to sit up, one hand lifting him up from what felt like a bed while the other rubbed his forehead. He felt soft sheets below him, and he looked down while blinking to try and figure things out.

…Only to freeze when he saw that he wasn’t just resting on soft pink bedsheets, but was wearing one as well.

‘What the…?’ It was as plain as day, the pink fabric a far cry from his smart-casual work uniform. It had been crudely sewn up at the sides and the ragged hole that his head was through indicated that it had been a last minute arrangement. Still, it raised far more pressing questions once a slight breeze drifted over his bare legs and through the seams in the sides.

“Fuck,” he swore while bringing his legs in and holding down the bottom of the makeshift gown with his hands.

The breeze on his pair of Devil’s Marbles was a clear indicator that his dependable pair of Bonds under-trunks had been removed, and a shudder went down his spine at the thought of it. Given his current company, he highly doubted that there had been innocent reasons involved.

Next, he noticed the smell. Raising an arm to his face and taking a sniff, Daniel identified the floral scent as being primarily comprised of lavender. It wasn’t unpleasant, and at least offered some explanation for his sudden change of attire.

‘Okay, relax,’ he told himself with a calming breath. ‘I’ve been stuck in the wilds for a few days, probably stank like town camper, and god knows my clothes were filthy. All they did was give you a wash... while you were out cold.’

He placed his face into his hands, grimacing at the scene in his head. “Shit.”

The sound of movement turned his attention away from his shame, Daniel glancing to his left and finding his glasses sitting on a tiny bedside table next to him. The spectacles were soon put on and adjusted, allowing him to properly see his surrounds in full detail.

He was lying on not one, but three small beds. Evidently none were even remotely designed for a human, so whoever had set them up had dragged the trio together and placed them horizontally together to account for his height. One had pink sheets while the other two had blue, and in an attempt to find out where they were from he glanced around.

They had placed him in a small house from the looks of things, all one big room with a kitchen to the left and a tiny living area to his right. Directly across was a small door that was slightly ajar, Daniel assuming from the wooden basin inside that it served as a bathroom. Sunlight streamed into the house from a large window next to the outside door, the glare preventing him from seeing outside for now.

More movement and a scuffing sound, Daniel looking over towards the living area with the hopes that Boris was at least nearby to explain things.

Instead he caught a glimpse of red mane before it was lost behind the brown-coloured couch, Daniel’s curiosity peaking when he recalled that neither his friend nor acquaintances had any hair save for their ash-grey tails. With a grunt, he swung his legs over the side of the beds and stood up shakily. He felt wood panels under his bare feet, before he slowly ambled over towards the couch to investigate.

‘Oh,’ he sighed at the sight. ‘Come on guys, fuck’s sake.’

The nurse-pony had obviously been crying for a while if the tear tracks were any indication. A taut rope was looped firmly around her neck with the other end tied around a supporting wall post, a line of frayed fibres at both ends where the creature had likely tried to chew her way free. Her wings were also bound with heavy rope and the round rug she was sitting on was dotted with the occasional grey feather.

Wide eyes stared at him, the pony’s breathing visibly quickening while she madly scrambled back from him. She managed to get her back up against the wooden wall before the rope pulled taut, her attempts got more frantic while her hooves scraped uselessly at the floor panels.

“Whoa,” he raised both hands and took a step back making sure to show his palms. “Easy there, I’m not going to hurt you.” Taking another step back to highlight his point, he paused and waited for her to calm down.

At first there was no change, but slowly the tension ebbed. Whether it was due to his deliberately non-threatening behaviour, his rather comical clothes, the rope cutting off some of her air supply for too long, or his innate Australian ability to sooth a terrified and potentially dangerous animal, the pony eventually stopped trying to desperately escape and instead sank down onto her belly. Curling up on the rug with her forelegs covering her eyes, the small horse started to make some odd sounds.

It took him a second to get it, Daniel still not completely used to the human-like way that the equines acted.

“Hey, don’t cry,” he tried, getting no response.

‘This isn’t my forte at all.’

It was true. He’d never been much for empathy or sympathy, a trait that had caused numerous problems in his earlier life. Not very susceptible to his own emotions, let alone those of others around him, he was completely out of his depth when faced with the crying horse.

After all, even a self-confessed bastard like himself still felt a small twinge for the sobbing pony.

Figuring that he needed some way to connect if he was to attempt a consolation, and not able to ignore his own parched throat, he turned towards the kitchen and started to make his way over.

Glancing back at the pony, he continued on after seeing that she hadn’t even registered his movement.

The kitchen bench and small sink was clean and tidy save for a smashed glass that rested within the sink itself. Searching around, he found two clean glasses in a side cupboard and retrieved them. Daniel had to bend down to work the tiny tap, but soon both glasses were filled with sparkling clean water. He took a sniff of one, nodding to himself when he recognised the tell-tale scent of rainwater, courtesy of the tanks that resided at the old family home.

With his refreshments-slash-conversation starters in hand, he returned to the crying mare with the peace-offering held out in front. Slowing upon nearing her while keeping a mindful two metres distance, he crouched down and carefully set her glass down upon the floor before backing up.

The pony shifted at the clinking sound it made, a glistening eye opening to peek out from the flowing mane. It stared at the offered liquid before looking at him.

“It’s just water,” he reassured, making a show of raising his own glass and taking a gulp. Tasting it, he raised his eyebrows and gave the glass an approving nod. “Huh, tastes just the same as back home.”

Thoughts on that put aside, he carefully sat down on the floor while ensuring that he didn’t flash the unfortunate equine thanks to his lack of underwear. Continuing to sip his drink, he maintained a close watch on the equine while it glanced back towards the water.

With a sniffle, it shakily got to its hooves and took a few steps towards the offered glass. Her red eyes looked up at him, as if to ensure that he hadn’t moved, before she carefully trotted to the glass and picked up the edge with her teeth. A tiny amount splashed onto the rug when she lifted it up, before the pony retreated back to her spot by the wall and sat down.

Daniel watched while she took a sniff before tasting it with her tongue. Evidently it proved safe to drink, and with one fell swoop she once gain grasped the edge with her teeth and lifted the glass up. The mare drank greedily, the water quickly vanishing down her throat with large gulps. Once finished she set the glass back down onto the floor, eyes warily focusing back on him.

“More?” he asked. Upon getting no reply save for the stare, he raised his own empty glass. “More water?”

Either the pony didn’t understand him or didn’t dare give him a reason to approach her, Daniel sighing again at the lack of response.

“Look, I’m not too keen on what’s happened either,” he tried to explain. “I know that you’re scared, pony, but at least try to make an effort when I’m trying to help.” She continued to watch him, so he rubbed his belly with a smile. Daniel completely missed the way her ears flattened and her body tensed. “Do you want something to eat then?”

The pony immediately began to sob again, collapsing back down to the floor on her side. It curled up into a ball and began to shudder, and he finally clued in to what he had done wrong.

“Oh for…” he stopped himself from swearing, and forced himself to calm down.

‘She doesn’t know any better, they all obviously haven’t met a human before so you scare the shit out of her.’

He got to his feet, slightly irritated at the communication breakdown. “Pony, I’m not going to eat you.” He moved forwards, well past the point of taking it easy and slow. The mare didn’t notice him approach until he had knelt down beside her, Daniel grabbing her withers and rolling her over so she was facing him.

It was a mistake.

The pony let out a half-neigh, half-scream that was accompanied by a flurry of her forelegs. Wincing at the hellish sound, he had no time to back up before a flailing forehoof smacked him in the chest.

“Fucker!” he cursed at the impact, a sharp burst of pain shooting through his chest.

Instead of running away to avoid further hits, he only gritted his teeth and redoubled his efforts. It was far less of a gentle approach than before, the mare having pissed him right off. Another hoof cracked into his meaty shoulder, certain to leave a mark. “I swear you stupid little shit, I’m not taking this crap!” He leaned on her side to pin down her hind legs and body, with his right arm grabbing her forelegs and forcing them to the floor.

Daniel was a big guy, and his anger only fuelled his strength as he immobilised the pony’s legs and used his left hand to grip her around the muzzle. Her forced her mouth shut and made her look into his eyes, the pony still struggling in his grip.

“Stop!” he ordered with a growl, putting more pressure on her muzzle with his hand.

Just like when he used to do the same to the misbehaving family dogs, the pony stopped her struggling and ceased her cries. Both lay there for a few moments, chests heaving while Daniel continued to use his considerable body weight to pin her down.

“I’m going to take away my hand,” he told her slowly, continuing to stare into her teary eyes. “You seem reasonably intelligent for a horse, so I’m going to assume that you now realise that if I wanted to hurt you then I easily could right now. If you bite or kick me again, I will bloody hurt if I have to, understand?”

He used his hand to make her nod, the mare closing her eyes with a shudder.

Slowly he relaxed his grip, and her eyes opened with confusion evident while the fingers slipped away. Daniel still kept his hand at the ready, wary for any more yelling.

Either the mare understood him somewhat or was just too afraid to make a move. Regardless his tactic had worked, so he maintained eye contact.

“Right, now I’m going to get up. Don’t run and fight or we’ll have to start this all over again.”

With those words he began to sit up. First he relaxed the arm that was pressing down her forelegs, followed by shifting his body. The pony didn’t move throughout the process, not even when he was sitting up fully over her without making any contact. Instead she puffed and stared while continuing to lie on her side, Daniel making sure to soften his tone before continuing to speak.

“See, we can both act like reasonable creatures now, can’t we?”

She actually looked up at him this time, before she struggled to sit up. Forelegs between her hind hooves, the pony remained still and merely stared. Slowly, Daniel extended a hand towards her, holding it out while her sight was focused on it.

“I’m Daniel,” he greeted, figuring that continuing to talk would help calm it down. The pony hesitated, before she tilted her head sideways and slowly lifted her left foreleg in response. He could see her shudder at first when he reached out and gripped it, but as he shook the fur-covered limb she relaxed and instead seemed to be curious.

Daniel let the leg go and instead reached for the rope around her neck. Once again her ears folded down, but she’d apparently realised that fighting wasn’t going to achieve anything and so remained still. She ducked her head down once she realised what he was going for, the nurse-pony uttering a soft neigh while his fingers tried to undo the knot.

‘For things without hands, they sure can tie a bloody good…fuck!’

He was making no progress, the mare looking at him while he stood up and headed for the kitchen.

‘This is probably going to freak her out, but stuff it.’

He pulled out the first wooden draw he found, searching for any sort of large kitchen scissors. Instead it was only filled with spoons, so he tried the next draw and then the next. There was nothing save for plates, bowls, and baking equipment, so with his patience running out he just went for the easy route and grabbed a sharp knife from the block on the counter.

“Now, don’t spaz out on me,” he warned, the nurse shrinking and folding back her ears. Slowing his pace, he made sure to bend down and clearly indicate that he was only going to cut the rope acting as her leash. It took a few moments, but the blade made quick work of the heavy rope and with the last fiber cut the leash fell to the floor.

The pony stared at it, before she looked back up at him with another neigh.

“Come on, wings next.” He beckoned her closer, figuring that it would be better if she approached him instead of the other way round. He pointed, the pony following his finger and actually brightening. Her hooves made light clopping sounds on the wood as she approached, and she carefully watched while she presented her side to him.

The second rope lasted even shorter than the first, and with a final slice the pony was once again free. Immediately the pony smiled and stretched out the feathered appendages, flexing them before folding them back up. She glanced at him before trotting to the window, peeking out from the edge to lay eyes on what lay outside.

Immediately the pony hurried backwards, crouching down low to the ground while her breathing quickened. Daniel got to his feet and wandered over, a quick look outside confirming why the mare was acting so distressed.

Evidently he had been brought into town, the same one that had been attacked if the smashed doors and windows of the other houses were any indication. The street outside was clogged with a mass of bug-horses, the creatures all quiet as they looked towards the unseen end of the street. Judging from their perked up ears and attention there was some kind of speech going on, and Daniel tried to spot Boris out in the crowd.

It was like trying to find a specific Ethernet cable in a government server room.

He gave up and looked back down at the pony, the mare slowly backing away to hide behind the couch. Daniel understood her fear, after all the bug-horses so far had been pretty disappointing in their treatment of her.

However, now that he was no longer occupied with his lack of clothing or the panicking pony, he recalled Luna’s reaction to his news…

“What? A changeling attack!?”

Daniel winced, and he slowly set the tea cup down.

“Uh, well there was this town, and the big bug-hor… changeling had the others attack it.”

“Where!?” Luna rose to her hooves, Daniel staring up at her with a flat look.

“I don’t even know what planet I’m on, remember?”

“You have been already told that it is named Eques.”

“I refuse to accept that name on the basis that it is silly.”

Luna frowned down at him, and she stamped a hoof on the study floor. Slowly, Daniel reached for the tea-cup again, ready to throw it at her if she decided to charge him.

“This is no time to be a fool,” she condemned. “Changelings are evil creatures that feed on the love of others-“

‘Bullshit,’ he thought with a roll of his eyes.

“-and Queen Chrysalis is vicious indeed! There is no time to waste!” She trotted over towards him, and extended out a wing. For the first time since he had met her, Luna actually made physical contact with him when she placed the wing on his shoulder with a pleading look. “I beg of you, friend. Please tell me anything you know of this village so that I may help my subjects.”

Ignoring how real it all felt, Daniel long having accepted that dream-horse wasn’t a figment of his twisted imagination, he met her gaze with an even look. “I’m sorry; it’s near a forest and has only a few houses and buildings. That’s all I know.”

Luna spun around with a huff, the princess pacing backwards and forwards with a grimace. She thought for a moment before looking back at him, Daniel still holding his tea-cup at the ready.

“You could help free my subjects,” she suggested, nodding to herself. “Or create a signal with smoke that I will instruct my guards to look out for. Then, when the changelings are defeated and driven out of Equestria for good, you can stay in Canterlot with me and my sister.” Her frown softened, and she smiled at him instead. “It will be fun, and we could meet in real life and not just dreams.”

Daniel sighed, Luna’s smile dropping. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, before he looked back up at her.

“I’m sorry Luna, I really am. But… you’re asking me to help you fight against the creatures that’ve helped me and, to be honest, out-number me a thousand-to-one. “

Luna tilted her head, her mouth open slightly.

“But they are wicked,” she explained as if he was an idiot. “They are merely using you for their own means.”

“Maybe, but they also give me food, water, and aren’t really that bad.” He shrugged. “Their ‘Queen’ seems like a bitch, and I actually don’t really feel that keen about being stuck in the fight you have going on, but I don’t really know what you expect me to do.” He sighed again. “I’m sorry, but it’s just survival Luna. You’ve been nice, but just turning on the guys I’ve been leeching off for a week who probs helped save my life would be a dog of move.”

Luna’s glare softened at Daniel’s explanation, but she still looked very upset.

“So, you are choosing their side then?”

“I guess I am,” he clarified. “Look, I wish I didn’t have to and it’s not you-“

“Enough.”

The study began to distort, the fireplace extinguishing with a wisp of icy air. It threw the room into darkness, Daniel only being able to just make out Luna.

“I must leave you, as I have a town to save,” she told him through the blackness. Daniel wasn’t too sure, but he could have sworn that there was a brief sniffle. “I… I doubt we will meet again under cordial circumstances.”

“Wait, Luna there’s no need to be like-“

“Goodbye, my friend.”

And with that the dream ended, Daniel jolting up awake.

“Gah, whatzat?”

“Stupid…” Daniel muttered to himself, before turning to look down at the nurse-pony. “Hey, relax. I won’t let them just tie you up again.” She returned the look and replied with a few hesitant neighs, before hanging her head low.

It was plain to see that she had been hoping to escape, but there was no chance of that with the swarm that was waiting outside. While he wouldn’t be too fussed if she managed to fly off and away, Daniel was quite certain that the bug-horses would have a different point of view.
After all, he seemed to have gotten himself involved in the middle of a war.

“Just great,” he grumbled, moving over towards the couch and taking a seat. He filled up most of it, and the tortured furniture gave a pathetic creak under his weight. “Stick in an equine feud, with rulers on both sides hating me, and I don’t even have my pants anymore. Wonderful.”

“-so feed while you can, for when the sun rises tomorrow we shall fly on to the next town and take it like we did this one! The ponies shall rue the day that they dared to defy me!”

A buzzing cheer rang up from the gathered swarm, both verbal and over the mind-link. Burrow however remained silent, his mind on other matters.

Glancing backwards through the crowd, he could just make out the house where Mr Growls had been placed for recovery. He could see no sign of Aphid around, something that only increased his worry.

‘She better not disturb him after what she did,’ Burrow frowned to himself. ‘She’s lucky that he didn’t wake up and smack her like he did to the Queen.’

He shook his head at the thought. While he agreed that yes, Mr Growls had begun to emit a rather strong odour and had become rather ragged-looking over the past week, Burrow did not endorse stripping him down and having the four harem members give him a bath while he slept. Legitimate points aside that both the biped and his clothing needed a good clean for health reasons if nothing else, Aphid’s curiosity and creepy enthusiasm with helping and directing the task had been quite disturbing.

Burrow doubted that Mr Growls would have been very happy to wake up in a soap-filled, almost comically under-sized equestrian bathtub with four drones and Aphid scrubbing him down while giggling constantly.

In fact, he wasn’t looking forward to the biped waking up and finding out that it had happened either. The makeshift bed-sheet covering would certainly be a major tip-off to a being that seemed very familiar with complicated clothes.

The crowd began to move off towards the town hall, eagerly chattering while the Queen led them to where the prisoners were being kept. Burrow decided that there were more important things than feeding at the current time, turning and weaving through the crowd as he made his way towards the house.

‘Besides, it’ll just be small scraps left by the time I even get to the Equestrians,’ he reasoned, knowing that Chrysalis would have the others drain the prisoners to a mere inch of their lives in her present mood. He wasn’t really feeling that hungry, anyway.

While he received a few stares along the way, news having spread of the pony nurse that he had been allowed to acquisition, no-one caused any issues. Those that had been part of the original group largely liked Mr Growls, and those that had arrived with Chrysalis were far too intimidated by the large queen-punching creature to openly question just why he and his carers received such privileges.

Reaching the heavy wooden door, Burrow pushed it open and trotted through into the main room. While it was certainly humble compared to the houses he’d seen in the Equestrian capitol, it certainly beat the small and shared unfurnished living quarters back at the Hive.

He immediately noticed the set of beds, noted that they were empty, and with a sinking heart realised that Mr Growls was staring at him from the couch by the wall.

‘Great, he woke up.’

“Hey there,” he awkwardly greeted, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof after shutting the door. “Um, now I know that you may be a little upset about your clothes…” Burrow trailed off and blinked as he noticed the broken ropes on the floor. “Where’s the pony?”

He spotted the nurse as soon as he had finished asking the question, a flash of red tail easily visible from behind the couch. Burrow narrowed his eyes and began to storm towards her with Mr Growls forgotten.

‘She chewed through the rope that fast? I knew I should have used phlegm!’ he fumed, darting round the side to come face-to-face with the nurse.

“Please!” she pleaded while sinking down and ducking her head. “Stay back!”

“You troublesome-!”

It was all of the reply he could muster, before something grabbed him around the back of the neck and pulled back. Burrow found himself jolted back, falling back onto his rump when his hooves failed him. He looked up with surprise, wide eyes meeting a very cross look.

“Graw!” Mr Growls ordered with force that Burrow had only seen from the Queen herself. “Grab grawab rawb!” A finger was pointed towards the cowering nurse, then to the rope on the floor. A glint caught his eye, Burrow noticing the knife that was resting upon the couch’s foreleg rest.

‘Oh…’ he figured it out, but Mr Growls wasn’t done.

“Graw, gaw rab rarg!” the biped brushed a hand down his bedsheet smock. “Greb rag rabba!” another point towards the nurse. “Gra, grung grenga rung!” With the last grunt, Mr Growls tapped his own head and glared. Burrow remained still, not willing to risk it.
Then, slowly the hand let go, Burrow getting back to his hooves with his ears folded back in shame.

“I… well I…”

Burrow’s explanation faltered, Mr Growls letting out a sigh soon after.

“Grawb.”

The hand came down again, but this time it rested gently upon his head. Burrow looked back up, Mr Growls staring off at the wall.
Evidently he had been somewhat forgiven.

It was not quite over yet, however. Burrow furrowed his eyes when Mr Growls muttered under his breath, and the nurse pony gave a gasp when she was pulled out from her hiding place by a hand.

“What are you…?”

She was forced to sit down a few hooves away, the pegasus freezing up while she stared at the changeling that was just in front of her. Burrow was equally confused, but before he was even unable to voice a question he found his left foreleg grabbed.

Mr Growls moved his hands so that Burrow’s forehoof made contact with the nurse’s, both equines flinching at the contact.

“Gra, grung ra.” Mr Growls announced with a nod, the pegasus shivering while she stared at the hoofshake.

“W-what does he want?”

“I…” Burrow paused. “I really don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

“You think I’d be doing this if I did?” he whispered back, forcing a smile up at Mr Growls. “I mean… yay, it’s so nice that we’re… getting along?” He tried to move his hoof away, but the biped fixed him with a pointed glare. Burrow quickly returned his hoof to the pony’s, the pegasus remaining in a confused state of stillness. “Okay, okay I’ll keep it here.”

‘What is he doing? Doesn’t he know that changelings and equestrians… oh, right. Still, you’d think he’d get the hint.’

“Can you let go now?” the nurse whispered, Burrow surprised that she had the courage to address Mr Growls directly.

“I guess it’s not that bad,” he cut in before a growled answer could be given. “At least he’s happy just making us have a hoofshake.”

‘Stuff that line, I’ve got a much better food source!’

Aphid merrily trotted down the street with a grin on her face and a swish in her tail, heading to a plain thatch-roofed house that was her main objective. The Queen’s speech had been rather interesting, although Aphid wasn’t too concerned about the plan to secure more food along with the conquest. After all, one big and huggable biped was more than enough for her.

‘He looks so adorable when he’s asleep,’ she recalled, smile growing wider.

She had taken it upon herself to get the biped and his clothes clean, having organised with the four drones and coordinating the process. It had been a most interesting experience, Mr Growls even stranger without the protective coverings. There were many answers she intended to get from him once he was awake, and hopefully Burrow would be called away for some other duty in the meantime.

After all, he hadn’t been pleased at all when he had returned from running an errand for the Queen to find an unclothed and freshly-bathed biped sleeping peacefully.

‘He worries too much,’ she thought while pushing open the house’s front door with a hoof. ‘I’m trustworthy.’

Aphid trotted in, her steps pausing and head tilting when she was met with an unexpected sight.

Mr Growls was up and awake, the biped lounging on the much-too-small couch that took up a fair amount of the small home’s main room. Squashed up beside him, looking very uncomfortable with the arrangement, was Burrow and the pegasus nurse. Aphid stared at the awkward pair, the two sitting together with no signs of restraints on the pony raising many questions.

“Grawba,” Mr Growls pointed towards her with a slight frown, Burrow and the pony looking right at her. Batting her eyes, Aphid shut the door and just decided to roll with it.

“Growly !” she greeted with a cheer. She rushed towards him with a smile, the biped quickly leaning back. It was no use; Aphid stood up and hugged him around the waist regardless. She took extra care to rest her body against his crotch, and smirked when she felt him flinch at the action. “You’re awake again and all better!”

“Gra…”

“I know, I know,” she replied to the hesitant stammer. “It was really tough work getting you all nice and clean, but it’s better now isn’t it?” She sprung up and landed in his lap, the biped’s eyes going wide. Aphid leaned forwards and whispered in his ear. “Don’t worry about the drones, I took it upon myself to wash that certain place that you are oh-so protective about…”

“Gr… Grawba?”

“Aphid!”

She turned her head to roll her eyes at Burrow, the other changeling still squashed up against the pegasus. “Oh calm down.”

“Calm down? Aphid, first you undress him and get the drones to wash him and his clothes, then you come back in here and start to tease him. Why do you have to do this all of the time?”

She blinked. “Well duh, it’s fun.”

“I can’t believe-“

“Plus we took his pants,” nodded Aphid sagely. “Now he can’t run away.”

“Oh Celestia, these changelings are insane,” the nurse whispered to herself while shivering.

“His pants?” Burrow stared at her. “Aphid, you are going to give them back.”

“I will, just relax.” She tilted her head at him, glancing pointedly towards the nurse. “Besides, it seems like I’ve trotted into something most unusual here.”

Burrow followed her gaze towards the nurse, the male soldier jolting when he realised what she was getting at.

“Mr Growls wasn’t happy about us tying up the pony and has been trying to get me to make friends with it. I don’t think he gets it at all.”

“Friends?” Aphid let out a laugh, the pegasus shrinking down in her spot. “With a pony? Ha! Growly, listen here,” she placed a foreleg over his shoulder, the biped still unmoving. “You see, ponies are just food for changelings. Kind of like you, except that you’re more than twice as large as a changeling and scare most of the others.” She paused to nuzzle him. “But me and Burrow know that you’re just a big softie.”

“Aphid, you know he can’t understand you-“

“Shh! Quiet Burrow, I’m talking!” she smiled back up at Mr Growls. “Well, you’re also lucky enough to be friends with me as well. Anyway, this pony here,” she pointed a hoof at the nurse. “Is just a walking bag of love and happiness, granted a pretty cute one.” Aphid paused again to wink at the mare, the pegasus admittedly not looking too happy or loving at the moment as she winced at every word. “Now I guess she’s here to help us look after you, so now she’s your personal pony. Kind of a waste really, since you don’t feed on emotions and all.”

A thought popped into her head, and Aphid glanced at Burrow. “Talking about food, have you fed him yet?”

“I haven’t gotten the chance. I’ve been stuck here on the couch since I got back from the Queen’s address.”

Aphid sighed and made a point to roll her eyes once more. “Great. If you want something done right, do it yourself.” With that, she pointed with a hoof towards the pegasus. “You, Pony, you know about solid food. Make him a sandwich.”

The nurse flinched but quickly nodded, her hooves hitting the wooden floor while she hurried towards the house’s kitchen.

“Ragrawb?”

“Hush,” Aphid murmured, leaning back with a content sigh against his bedsheeted chest. “We’ll get you your clothes back after the pony has made you some food.”

“Uh… please don’t get mad,” the pegasus meekly said from the kitchen, Aphid glancing over with a frown. The pony flinched under her gaze. “But what does he… um, eat?”

“Well, berries and meat-“

“Aphid!”

She stopped at Burrow’s interruption, her comrade frowning and gesturing back at the pony. Looking over, Aphid could see the pale equine quivering on her legs.

“What? Ponies are naturally skittish and she’s been acting like that since you captured her.”

He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, and he raised a forehoof up. “Just stop, I’ll handle this.” Turning to the pony, Burrow sighed. “Look, he’s not going to eat you or any other pony. Just… make him something that you would eat and I’m sure that will be fine.”

“O-okay, I’ll t-try.”

The mare got to work, Aphid huffing when Burrow shot her a smug look.

“Softie,” she grunted, crossing her forelegs and leaning back further into her living pillow.

Daniel grimaced as he withdrew the last piece of hay from the sandwich, the pegasus sitting opposite him having lowered her head. The two bug-horses sitting on either side of her were watching him with curiosity, and he was still keeping a close eye on the female one while he attempted to eat.

Taking a final glance inside of his sandwich and ignoring the pile of hay that had been placed back on the plate, he only saw a slice of cheese, mashed egg, and lettuce. Deciding that it was now fine to eat, he took a single hesitant bite.

It was as expected from an egg-salad sandwich, Daniel chewing with a neutral expression. While it wasn’t the best sandwich he’d ever had, it wasn’t like he could blame the small colourful horse given the current circumstances.

“It’s decent,” he admitted, pausing to glance at the depressed pony. “Thanks, uh… flying-pony.”

The mare looked up but didn’t say anything, Daniel pausing when he noticed her eye the sandwich mournfully.

‘Hang on,’ he wondered with glances towards the bug-horses. ‘Have they not fed her anything?’

Glancing down at the sandwich and figuring that he wasn’t really losing much, he carefully tore off the bottom half of it and held the morsel out towards her. “Here, you did make it after all.”

This time there was no hesitation from the pony, the small horse leaning forwards and reaching out with her wings.

Daniel stared while the feathered appendages took the offered half from his hand, the pony using them almost like hands as she pulled the sandwich back and mumbled a soft neigh. Then she began to eat, taking petite and cautious bites with her eyes staring straight down at the floor.

‘Well, it’s some improvement,’ he figured, finishing off his own half before fixing the pair of bug horses with a stare.

“Now,” he asked, pointing at the both of them so he had their full attention.

“Which one of you took my pants?”

“Typical.”

Burrow muttered to himself while he trotted down the sparsely populated street, many of his fellow changelings ducking in and out of houses with glee as they looted the rare comforts of equestrian society.

Torn between not trusting Aphid with Mr Growls and the pony, and sending her out on the important errand, he had been overridden by her higher status and sent out himself to retrieve the missing clothes. Burrow could only hope that the biped would be able to fend her off, a hurry in his trots as he acknowledged that Aphid would have no qualms about inappropriate harassment.

He spied his destination, a two-story thatched-roof house sitting at the end of the dirt street. The front door was ajar and nothing was heard from inside, Burrow moving towards it with a slight frown.

The four harem drones were usually rather loud.

Upon getting closer, he slowed his steps and cocked an ear when he heard muttered whispers.

“…you do?”

“For the fourth time Muddle, nothing!”

The sharp hiss was followed up by a clatter.

“You must have done something.”

“Or maybe you did Cypher, you were the one who put them near the fire to dry!”

“Don’t blame me, they were fine when I looked at them!”

Burrow pushed open the door and trotted inside, the four drones whirling around to face him with wide eyes.

A fire was blazing behind them in the house’s fireplace, pictures of ponies hanging above it on the wall while the large windows let in ample sunlight. The four drones had bunched up, suspiciously placing themselves as a sort of barrier that blocked his view.

“I’ve come to collect Mr Growls’ clothes,” Burrow informed, gazing at all of them. “What’s going on?”

“His c-clothes?” Mirror stammered, glancing towards her fellows. “Ah… they’re still drying.”

“Yes, drying,” Muddle nodded with the others following suite.

“Besides, that sheet is so slimming on him,” added Cypher. “Very nice.”

“I sewed it up myself,” smiled Meddle, taking a step forwards. “So we’re sorry sir, but it’d be such a shame to give him wet clothes back. Come back in a few hours, and I’m sure it will be all ready for him.”

Burrow wasn’t convinced.

“It’s be a whole night and morning,” he pressed. “They would be more than dry now. Hurry up and hoof them over, I left Aphid alone with him and you know what she’s like.” He moved forwards, not missing the way the drones stepped back with panicked steps. “Move aside.”

The drone in front of him, Meddle, glanced back towards the others. Then, she refaced him with a strained smile.

“Well sure, we’ll give them to you.” Burrow jolted when she moved towards him and gave him a small peck on the cheek. “But first… well, surely you’re not opposed to lending me a few minutes of your time. A simple drone like me just can’t resist a big, strong soldier like yourself.” A hoof caressed his side, Burrow holding his tongue while his face heated up. Meddle leaned in to whisper in his ear. “While these three are finishing up, why don’t you and I head upstairs and test out one of these pony beds?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good-“

“Nonsense,” Meddle cut him off, pressing against him and herding him towards the stairs. “After all, if I’m in the harem then I better demonstrate that I’m suited for the job. You’re next in line in the command chain, so who better to judge my… work ethic.”

Burrow didn’t know what to say, the suggestion an admittedly temping one. It had been a while, and his changeling instincts were urging him to go along with her plan. He found himself breathing heavily while she stared into his eyes, while his heart pounded in his chest.

‘I can’t.’

“No.” He gathered himself and ceased backing up, Meddle leaning back in surprise at his reaction. He didn’t give her a chance to work her female ways on him any longer, quickly sidestepping her and moving back towards the fireplace. “The offer is tempting, but my friend needs me back.”

“Wait, I-“

“Meddle,” he stated forcefully. “No more excuses, don’t think I don’t know what you were trying to do. Drones, hoof over the clothes now.”

“But we…”

“See it’s like this Burrow…”

“Oh, what’s the point?”

Everyone stopped when Muddle groaned, the drone shaking her head. “Look, he’s going to find out anyway. If it’s not Burrow, then it’s going to be Aphid. We tried.”

‘Uh oh…’

“Look, Burrow sir,” she continued while sitting down. “It wasn’t our fault, alright? All we did,” she waved her forelegs in the air. “Was wash the clothes in a tub and hung them up to dry. We used a small amount of pony cleaning stuff and brushes, that’s all. How were we to know what would happen?”

He stared at them, all of the drones lowering their heads.

“What. Did. You. Do?”

“Girls, show him,” Meddle sighed.

Burrow stared as the drones parted, revealing a small wooden table that had been placed next to the fire. On it sat a few pieces of cloth, Burrow’s mouth falling open when he realised what they were.

Mr Growls’ clothing had been, for lack of a better expression, shrunken down to a point where even a massive burst of weight loss provided no hope of him even fitting into them again. The pants were small enough that he doubted even he would be able to wear them, the shirt was now about the size of a tea towel, and the undergarments looked more like a small patch of coloured fabric.

In other words, it appeared that bedsheet mutilation was going to become a lot more common.

“What…?” he began. “How…? I just… shrunken…”

“We just washed them,” Muddle explained. “Honest, that’s all that we did.”

Burrow trotted towards the table, lifting the ruined pants up with a hoof as he stared at the horrifying aftermath. “Why did they shrink?”

“We don’t know!” Mirror wailed all of a sudden, burying her face in her forehooves. “We just don’t know!”

“Okay, calm down.” Burrow let the pants drop back down, his head spinning. “We can deal with this, there’s no need to panic.”

“Yeah… he’s right,” Cypher agreed with a deep breath, the others looking up and ceasing their panicking. “Mr Growls likes us after all, and it’s not like losing some clothes is the worst thing to happen. Also, it’s not like he’ll blame all of us for one teeny, tiny accident… right?”

Burrow had frozen up, a chill running down his back. Cypher noticed, her resolve wavering.

“…Right?”

“Rawg, graw…”

Scarlet continued to stare at the scene playing out in front of her, unsure of whether she should intervene or not.

“Oh come on Growly, just a little kiss.”

The changeling that had been left to guard her was currently sitting on the very uncomfortable-looking biped’s lap, her forelegs on his shoulders while her wings fluttered occasionally.

“Grawb!” the creature shook his head, frowning down at the changeling named ‘Aphid’.

“Pleeeease?”

“Grawb.”

Another shake of the head, rather futile considering the changeling’s continued ignoring of it.

It was strange, Scarlet examining the two on the couch while she sat. While scary, the big creature the changelings called ‘Mr Growls’ had so far been pretty nice to her, at least far nicer than the changelings had been. She recalled her attempt to escape the house and town, particularly how he made no attempt to stop her. Was he also a prisoner of the evil shapeshifters?

Scarlet doubted it as soon as the thought emerged, noting the way Mr Growls gently pushed away Aphid’s head when she tried to lean in and kiss him.

‘He could easily escape from them,’ she thought. ‘And he’s far too nice to them.’

It was confusing, from what she had heard changelings were wicked and evil. Heartless creatures that captured ponies for food weren’t supposed to be nice to other creatures. Even the way the other changeling in charge, Burrow, talked to Mr Growls was odd.

‘Maybe he’s their pet?’ Scarlet wondered, right as Aphid laughed and launched another assault on the creature in question. ‘Ponies have dogs and cats, so do changelings have big things that walk on two legs?’ The closet creature she could think of was minotaurs, but she didn’t know much about them as the only ones she had seen were during her trip to Manehattan. ‘But he acts a bit like a pony, not like a pet.’

She gave up trying to puzzle it out and instead sighed and laid down. Resting her head on her forelegs, she watched while Mr Growls finally got fed up and pushed Aphid over onto her side.

“Oh, someone likes it rough,” the changeling teased with a giggle. "I sure know that I do."

Scarlet tried her hardest to ignore every innuendo the lewd creature made. ‘I guess the important thing is that he seems to like me,’ she supposed. The examples were many, such as the cutting of her bonds and the sandwich-sharing. ‘Maybe he’ll even help me to escape, when they let their guard down.’

The only thing to do was to wait and hope that she’d avoid irritating her captors, until an opportunity presented itself.

Any further thoughts on the matter were put on hold as the door opened. She lifted her head to see five changelings trot in, one with a brown sack on its back. The one at the front was slightly larger, and after a quick glance at the underside she identified it as a male. Scarlet assumed that it was Burrow, a guess that was confirmed when he sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Aphid, what are you doing?”

The changeling in question was currently on her back, legs splayed while she grinned up at the biped. Scarlet noted that Mr Growls was pointedly diverting his gaze away, even as Aphid prodded his bare leg with a hind hoof. “Nothing, just trying to cheer him up.”

Scarlet highly doubted that it was either the real reason or an actual solution.

“Yeah, well he’s not going to be much happier after this.”

That caught Scarlet’s attention, her right ear cocking. Looking over her captors, she realised that despite their weird appearance, the four females behind Burrow seemed to be far from comfortable. They kept on glancing towards the sack, a nervous energy filling the room.

“What did they do?” Aphid huffed, before she sat up hurriedly when Burrow approached.

The male changeling placed his hoof upon the biped’s knee, Burrow swallowing a lump in his throat before looking up.

“Now, don’t be mad. They were only helping and to be honest no-one has any clue how it happened. Just… please don’t be mad.” The last sentence was a bare whisper, Burrow glancing back at the four females. “Drones, empty the sack and show him.”

“I do not fear the creature, Scuttle. He is but a gnat compared to my power.”

Chrysalis frowned while she approached the house holding the biped, her dependable commander by her side. Sometimes she wished that he’d give her an excuse to be rid of him, with his annoying habit of using being right about things when arguing with her.

“He did manage to knock you out, my Queen,” Scuttle replied with a much heavier buzz than usual for a changeling. “The fact that he achieved that is a worry in itself. Confronting him is unwise if we do not yet know the full extent of his abilities.”

Chrysalis’ glare hardened.

“I don’t care,” she growled while the distance to the house was reduced. “He is not keeping a vital bit of food to himself, for whatever reason. Ponies are for draining, only I am permitted to use them for my desires.”

“I do believe that the pegasus was taken because she is a medical nurse,” Scuttle informed without a hint of hesitation. “When you think about it, it makes a fair amount of sense. A pony nurse would be far more suited to diagnosing problems with a solid food-eater and it means we do not need to waste a changeling nurse on him. The payoff is more than worth it.”

“Stow your tongue!”

She hated having to resort to that order with Scuttle, as it tended to mean that she was unable to come up with any logical counter-arguments.

He did as asked, and offered no more complaint as she reached out a hoof to push open the door.

“Nothing will change my mind, we will confront the beast and he will bow to my whim!"

Chrysalis was prepared for anything, a confident smirk on her face while she pushed open the door...

Only to jump back in fright at the roar of sheer rage that came from within the pony house.

"Ragarawga! Grawbra gunt!"

There was a crash as a wooden chair shattered the window and flew out to land in the street, surrounded by shards of broken glass. It was followed up with a wooden coffee table, Chrysalis and Scuttle backing away slowly while it continued to rain furniture.

"Perhaps... another time," Chrysalis decided, Scuttle nodding in agreement while not making any comment regarding the earlier 'Nothing will change my mind'.

"A wise choice, my Queen."

Moving On

View Online

Burrow stood completely still while the huge angry biped flung the small table through the already decimated window. His refusal to move in the face of danger, however, was not the result of any kind of bravery. In fact he was completely petrified as his friend continued to, to state politely, ‘flip out’.

The drones had bolted for the safety of the bathroom as soon as the first chair had been thrown, locking the door behind them. Aphid had moved faster than he had and was taking shelter behind the kitchen bench, her eyes wide as she peeked out to watch. The pony nurse was cowering behind the couch, hooves over her head.

Burrow was left alone to face the wrath, his legs quivering while the surrounding area was quickly depleted of what little furniture that it already had. With a final growl of rage and a toss of a flower vase, Mr Growls flung the last of the possible munitions out of the broken window. Unfortunately, that meant that the attention was soon turned to him.

“Grung.”

The fact that the word wasn’t yelled didn’t bring any comfort, even the most useless of changelings would easily pick up the sheer threat in the tone. Burrow gulped and followed where the finger was pointing to, his ears folding down when he saw that it was the front door.

“Grung.”

“Okay,” Burrow quickly replied at the harsher repeat. “I’ll… I’ll give you some time alone.” His legs worked again, and he hurried towards the exit without complaint. The front door wasn’t locked, and he easily pulled it open and stepped out into the street where a growing number of his fellows were gathering.

He turned his head to look back at the sound of a door slamming open, but he was unable to see any details before he was buffeted aside by the mad onrush of the four drones.

“He’s really, really mad,” Cypher whimpered as they all hid behind him for protection.

“He just busted down that door and shattered the lock,” Mirror added. “It was horrifying.”

‘A bit of an understatement,’ he thought, before trying to say something to calm the quivering drones down.

He didn’t get the chance, as a sharp yell beat him to it.

“Ah! Growly, put me down!”

“Grung!”

“It wasn’t even my fault!”

Mr Growls appeared in the doorway, a struggling Aphid held in one hand. “Grung!”

“I don’t even know what that means!” Aphid yelled while she tried to kick. It was no use, Mr Growls having managed to get a handhold under the chitin plate at the base of her neck. Aphid’s flailing hooves were unable to reach the arm as a result, but she got her wish when she was set down on the dirt path rather roughly.
Burrow winced when the door was slammed shut in their faces, and he heard the sound of a lock latching soon after. The six of them were still quite stunned at the sudden burst of rage, but it was Aphid who was the first to recover.

“What in Tartarus is wrong with him!?”

She made to stare in through the broken window, but the green curtain was quickly drawn across to block her view.

“Aphid,” he warned. “Let it go. He’s already ticked off enough.”

“I don’t care,” growled Aphid while she glared back at him. “Ungrateful is what he is, he can’t just kick us out like that.”

“He just did.”

Aphid’s hardened glare convinced him to quickly reword his answer.

“What I mean is, he didn’t actually hurt any of us.”

“Speak for yourself,” she returned, showing off her rump to him. Burrow winced at the green bruise that was growing on the left cheek, but continued.

“Well, okay. But I didn’t think he wanted to do that, and he didn’t throw you across the street like he did with everything else. Obviously those clothes meant a lot to him, and I guess having them shrunk just… set him off.”

“Oh no…”

Burrow looked behind him at the whisper, Mirror having bowed her head while the other three drones looked equally depressed.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine if we give it time,” he reassured them with a poor attempt at a smile. “I’m sure of it.” They didn’t appear convinced, but when Aphid trotted back to join them he noticed all of the attention that they were getting.

Changelings of all castes were approaching from inside buildings, from alleys, from the roads, all whispering amongst themselves as they gazed at the furniture carnage that lay in front of the house. Nudging his companions and lowering his voice, Burrow eyed a relatively untouched bakery.

“Let’s go and wait in that bakery for a little bit, out from the crowd.” He began to trot for his goal, the rest following his lead.

“What about Growly?”

Burrow looked around at Aphid’s query, shaking his head when he saw that no changeling was game to even approach the locked house.

“I doubt he’ll be getting any visitors after what just happened.”

Scarlet removed her forelegs from her head and peeked out from her hiding spot, a weight settling down on the couch that she was sheltering behind. The incredible ruckus from before had died down into relative silence, save for the slight flapping of the curtain and a light murmuring.

Despite her concern for her safety, Scarlet found herself slowly getting to her hooves. Glancing out, she spotted the items that had prompted the sudden outburst. The now-useless clothes had been flung against the opposite wall, Scarlet shaking her head at the pathetic sight.

‘Just how did they manage to do that?’ she wondered. ‘Sure, they probably don’t ever wear clothes, but that’s just absurd.’

The thought reminded her of the swift eviction of the changelings, and how Mr Growls had even thrown out the male that seemed to be on the best terms with him.

‘Did he forget about me?’ Scarlet cautiously began to ease out from her hiding spot, preparing for the yelling to start up again. ‘I hope he doesn’t just throw me out into the street with the changelings…’ a shudder ran down her spine at the thought of what could happen. Still, her fear was overridden by her helpful nature, and she continued to emerge. ‘Mother always said that I was soft, even by her standards.’

It was true, Scarlet being suited for nursing from the moment she could talk. Her parents had at first been disappointed that their daughter had no interest in the family history of serving in the Manehattan police force, but eventually even they had admitted that helping other ponies was the most important thing in both careers.

‘He’s not a pony, or even anything else that I’ve seen in Manehattan, but still…’

“Hey,” she greeted, struggling to keep the shudders out of her voice. The beady blue eyes turned to look at her, and she swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing. “Are you okay there?” He looked away from her and just sighed deeply, Scarlet nodding towards the clothes. “I guess they meant a lot to you, didn’t they?”

There was still no reply, not even a growl or a grunt.

Frowning to herself, Scarlet turned away and began to head over towards the beds to give the biped some space. After all, she was already incredibly lucky that he hadn’t even raised his voice at her as it was. Still, it was surprising to find that she still felt bad for him, and she looked over towards the kitchen sink with her eyes focusing on a line of glasses.

‘Actually, I think I might have an idea…’

Daniel continued to sit and fume, the pony already out of his mind.

‘This entire situation is fucked,’ he silently repeated for about the hundredth time. ‘Fuck wherever I am, fuck everyone, fuck Toyota…’

He actually felt a tiny shard of tooth crack off as he continued to grind his pearly whites.

‘Now I’m stuck in the middle of a bloody war between magical horses, surrounded by some weird bug-things that are far too direct, and now I don’t even have any fucking underwear.’

He glanced down at the bedsheet he was wearing, instinctively crossing his legs.

‘Fuck this entire situation…’

He was vaguely aware of the sound of approaching hooves from behind, the clops completely distinctive thanks to the wooden floorboards. The flying-pony emerged from around the side, Daniel glancing down at her with the words ‘piss off’ already primed and on the tip of his tongue.

Those words quickly died upon the sight of the wide-eyed pony staring up at him with a glass of water held in her mouth. The way she held one edge delicately between her teeth was almost sickeningly adorable, and her wings gave a tiny flap when she extended her head out towards him. Daniel couldn’t really think of anything to say, the pony reinforcing her offer by stepping closer and nodding slightly.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. Reaching out to gently take the offered glass from her, his anger softened somewhat when he remembered how he had done the same for her. “I guess you haven’t exactly had the best time of your life either, I suppose.” The pony merely smiled and let out a soft, happy-sounding neigh that caused him to lightly shake his head. “Why does everything here have to be so god-damn cute?”

He peered at the glass of water and considered giving it a wipe down before taking a drink, but a second glance at the smiling equine convinced him otherwise. It might have come across as insulting, and considering his recent behaviour…

‘I hope this wasn’t her house, not that it really changes much.’

Pushing the sobering thought that he had just trashed the house of some small equine to the back of his mind to be dealt with later, he took a drink of water and returned to sitting in silence. Evidently it wasn’t good enough, and he watched as the pony trotted around to the other side.

With the aid from a small flap of her wings, the pony effortlessly jumped up onto the couch beside him. She circled once and then laid down upon it with her hind legs tucked up into her body, and her forelegs dangling slightly off the edge. She looked up at him once more, her head tilting to the side.

‘At least she has the decency to not sprawl over me from the get-go,’ Daniel granted. He wasn’t able to tell if it was because of his recent behaviour or if the bug-horses were just more casual with their physical contact, but the pony seemed far more knowledgeable when it came to personal space.

He took another sip of water, face turning to a frown while he watched the curtain flap in a slight breeze.

‘Damn bug-horses, getting me involved in a war with these ponies. Guess Dream-horse is real and right, they do cause problems.’ Another drink of water, and the frown disappeared when he sighed. ‘Still, it’s not like I can really understand why they’re doing it, but that leader of theirs’ does seem like a bit of a bitch.’ He remembered the six he’d kicked out of the house in his anger, how well they’d treated him save for a few minor exceptions, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘They surely can’t be that bad, and I guess they didn’t actually mean to mess anything up.’

“Shit,” he muttered while placing the half-finished glass down next to the couch. “Hope I didn’t fuck things up too badly between us all.”

He looked to the left when the pony stirred, the flying-horse sitting up with her forelegs between her hind ones. Daniel took note of the familiar sitting position, and began to wonder at just how similar the two new species he’d been recently acquainted with were.

As terrible as the thought was, he nearly smirked at the idea of the current conflict being some kind of small equine race war.

The pony neighed, and he took a guess at what she was asking.

“Oh, nothing,” he replied while drooping back into the couch. “Just lamenting about my sorry state I suppose.” He returned to staring at the curtain, and nearly jolted out of his seat when he felt something rest on his back.

The pony quickly withdrew her wing and leaned away with a worried expression. Daniel relaxed slightly when he realised what had happened, but still examined her for any unsavoury signs. He sighed again once he realised that, despite shifting closer to him, the equine wasn’t showing any hints of indecent intentions.

‘Sure says something about my usual company that I can’t let an equine get near me without worrying it’ll try to seduce me.’

“It’s fine, I’m sorry,” he apologised, leaning back once more. “It’s just… well, I’m sure you’ve seen enough of that female bug-horse to work it out.”

The pony just looked puzzled, before she hesitantly reached out the wing again. This time he let her place it down, and the pony scooted even closer as she did so.
They both sat on the couch for a few minutes without any talk between them, but it was calming nevertheless. Daniel had actually nearly completely forgotten about his prior behaviour and mood, instead focusing on the surprisingly soothing motion of the feathered wing. He quickly found himself yawning, already tired despite his earlier rest.

“I think I’m…”

He stopped short as soon as he glanced to his right, the flying-horse lightly snoozing with her eyes closed.

“Well, this is going to look awkward,” he muttered before deciding to just wait until she woke up.

‘Imbeciles.’

Chrysalis scowled at the two so-called ‘Creature-Controllers’ while they cowered before her, the four harem drones wisely staying in the back corner without uttering a word.

“I’ve heard enough,” she told them all. “Obviously you are not skilled enough to perform even the simplest of tasks when it comes to that beast, you can’t even keep it under control! I’m ashamed to have even thought of appointing you! Effective immediately, you are reassigned to normal duties. I expect to see you scouting ahead of us when we leave this town in a few hours.”

The male soldier looked up. “But, My Queen-“

“Silence!”

The echoed thought pulsed through the mental link, all of the changelings in the room save for Scuttle and herself wincing at the command. The soldier in question immediately winced and bowed his head, Chrysalis making a mental note to have Scuttle assign him to the most dangerous of missions.

With Scuttle at her side, she gave a final huff before turning heel and walking out of the pony bakery with a scowl still on her face.

“Now, to deal with the problem,” she growled. Setting her sights upon the house with the pile of broken furniture sitting outside, she stormed towards it with malicious purpose.

“Is this wise?”

“Shut it.”

Scuttle did as told and kept his mouth shut while they approached the house, Chrysalis scowling all the while.

‘This accursed beast is more trouble than it is worth!’ An eye twitched. ‘Even if it is good to feed off, I will not stand for some insolent creature making a mockery of my power!’

Reaching the door, she tried it with a hoof before scowling at the lock. One flare of her magic later and the bolt slid open to allow them entry.

Chrysalis pushed the door aside and stormed in, horn glowing with a paralysation hex in case of attack. Her tongue was ready to unleash a verbal assault of the likes that none had seen before, but on first glance the room appeared to be deserted.

“I sometimes wish that we had space for places like this in the Hive.”

Chrysalis scowled down at Scuttle, her Captain seeming more focused on the wooden floors than on his actual task.

“A complete waste of resources,” she growled, before examining the room again. This time she picked up on the shapes resting upon the couch, her eyes narrowing while she approached from behind.

Coming to face the target of her wrath, she paused upon the sight that met her.

The creature was fast asleep, and clad in the same pink bedsheet that the former controllers had explained about. Internally she scoffed, she would have had the brute go naked like the rest of them.

A far more pressing matter was the grey-coated pegasus resting halfway upon the creature’s lap with her forelegs tucked in, the mare likewise being in a deep slumber. Chrysalis’ eye twitched at the same time that a fluffy wing gave a small twitch, her suspicions somewhat confirmed.

“So much for just being a nurse,” Chrysalis muttered.

“I doubt it’s anything more myself,” spoke Scuttle while he took a step closer. Chrysalis didn’t like the smile on his face. “Most Equestrians do tend to be fairly empathic to those in distress, and if his prior behaviour was anything to go off…” He looked up at her. “Besides, you have to admit that it’s a little adorable.”

She stared at the worthless Equestrian resting upon the huge bloat of a beast, a sour taste rising in her mouth.

“It’s far from that, I do not have to admit nothing.” Her scowl morphed into a less-murderous frown at a small tinge of sweetness in the air. “Still, I suppose that I can partake in some sustenance before dealing with the beast. I will permit you to feed as well, Scuttle.”

“You are most generous, Your Highness.”

Chrysalis paused at the reply, trying to work out if he was being genuine or not. Deciding that it wasn’t worth interrogating him over, she instead rested her left forehoof on a bare fleshy knee and drew deep.

Tasty and satisfying emotion flowed into her, enriching her energy and actually eliciting a relaxed sigh. So soothing was the bountiful feast, Chrysalis didn’t even take notice as her anger ebbed and a pristine calm replaced the white-hot rage. She was dimly aware of Scuttle joining her via the other knee.

“Hmm, so this is the fabled food-creature then,” Scuttle muttered to himself. “I must admit, it is one of the finer that I’ve feed off. Not the best, low magic and all, but it is rather satisfying.”

She merely hummed in agreement, almost having had her fill.

“I’m actually pretty confident that we should keep it around.”

Chrysalis stopped and stared at her subordinate, one thousand reasons as to why the creature would be spending the remainder of his time in a cocoon ready on her tongue. Still, something stopped the words before they left her mouth, and she ceased her feeding in order to try and clear her head.

“I… I don’t know about that,” she managed out with a rather alarming amount of difficulty. “I will…”

“Are you alright, my Queen?”

“I’m fine. As I was saying, I will see how things pan out with the new Creature-Controller before making a decision.” Trying to summon a frown at the memory of the previous beast-handlers, she found herself unable to even manage a slight grimace. “Which reminds me, there is urgent business to attend to.” Turning around, she didn’t even glance back before making for the door. “Come along, Scuttle. We are leaving this place in a few hours and need to prepare.”

With that, she pulled open the door and paused momentarily to rub her head with a foreleg.

‘Huh, why do I feel so strange all of a sudden?’

Dismissing it as an aftereffect of the bountiful feast she’d just had, Chrysalis gave her head a shake and trotted out of the house with Scuttle following behind.

“Only two local guards, both pegasi. That’s five pegasi total that we’d have to take care of first. You three?”

Burrow adjusted his hoofing amongst the tall grass, Sergeant Pillar awaiting his answer while the four of them watched the bustling pony town from afar.

“I spotted the same five,” he added with a sigh. “The rest are earth ponies, and I counted about seventy of them.”

“I got seventy-one,” Aphid contributed with an equally disinterested tone. Glancing across towards his armoured comrade, Burrow saw that she too looked completely down on her luck. “And add in one unicorn, the local doctor.”

The final member of their scouting party, a male soldier named Clicks, nodded to Aphid’s answer. “I got the same, seventy-one with an additional unicorn.” He seemed to pay no notice to the sullen mood, but Burrow noticed Pillar give both himself and Aphid a quick glance.

“So it seems like we have the numbers we need,” he finally said. Glancing up towards the sun, he gestured back towards from the direction they had arrived from. “Come on, the Queen and the Commander will want to hear our report. You all did well, we’re well ahead of schedule.”

‘Yay,’ Burrow thought to himself as he sighed again.

Either he had thought too loudly, or had drawn attention regardless.

‘Don’t be so down,’ he heard Pillar whisper over the mental link. ‘For what it’s worth, I think you did a pretty good job with the big guy.’

Burrow didn’t bother to reply, and instead turned around and prepared his wings.

“We going then?”

The Sergeant gave him and Aphid another glance, before his own wings buzzed and he took off to lead them back to the others.

A grey-furred foreleg swatted away the thing poking her nose, Scarlet frowning while she shifted slightly on her side. She was vaguely aware of something moving in front of her, but it was paid no mind as she tried to return back to a much needed sleep. It didn’t help that whatever she was lying upon was both warm and soft, and soon she was almost returning to the wonderful world of slumber.

That is, before the sound of a throat clearing ruined her chances for good.

Frowning as she opened her eyelids, Scarlet finished a long yawn before looking into a pair of narrowed eyes that were barely a hair breadth’s from her own.
They were a solid light blue.

“You disgust me! Get up at once!”

The shout was enough to get her to nearly leap out of her fur.

The crack of the whip that followed was more than enough to get her to leap up from her spot with wings fluttering madly.

‘I told you, I already completed Year Eight bloody years ago, you outrageous c-‘

Freakish dreams about high school long since passed were cut short at an immense crack that seemed to split the very air.

Daniel jolted awake in a flash, only barely registering a grey-and-crimson blur before a weight enveloped his head and shoulders. “The Fuck!?” He almost toppled over sideways on the couch, but managed to steady himself with one hand on the armrest and the other grasping whatever was resting on him.

He felt soft fur and immediately relaxed his grip when he felt the dock of a tail, but this in turn caused the owner to wrap a foreleg over his eyes to keep hold. Daniel could hear the rapid beating of a heart in his left ear, along with rapid sound of a flapping pair of wings. Getting his balance, he used the hand previously propping himself up to lift the foreleg up so it wasn’t blinding him.

‘I thought she’d be heavier.’

“Just what the Hell…”

All thoughts about the weight of flying ponies and inquiring as to the reason for the sudden head-hug were set aside when he found the answer to the latter, Daniel setting sights upon the lone male bug-horse that was standing in the middle of the room. Rather than the friendly smiles (in addition to the very friendly ones) that he was used to from the creatures, he was instead faced with an outright glare from the small equine. A menacing whip was held in a green magical glow, Daniel taking a moment to work things out.

‘You know, it certainly says a lot about this place that I can’t figure out if he’s trying to scare me or if this is some kind of seduction attempt.’

Playing it safe and deciding on the first option, Daniel narrowed his eyes at the bug-horse. Never breaking eye contact, he slowly reached up with both hands and grasped the flying-pony around the rump and under the chest. She let out a small shiver, but didn’t resist when he pulled her off and set her down upon the couch next to him.

“Stay there,” he ordered, all while the bug-horse let out a burst of angry chattering and cracked the whip again. “I’m going to find out just who this fucking tosspot thinks he is.”

With that, he got to his feet and glared down at the adversary that came up to his waist. The bug-horse to his credit stood his ground despite the irate biped towering over him, but the next crack of the whip was noticeably less enthusiastic than the previous two.

“Mate, you picked a crap fucking day to try and start shit.”

“In only a short time we shall depart this place, and move on to one with an equally good amount of undefended pickings.”

The crowd before her buzzed with a hungry excitement, Chrysalis basking in the glow of their obedience with a wide grin on her face. She had been concerned that her defeat at Canterlot had affected her subjects’ loyalties, after all it had been an extremely embarrassing event, but Scuttle’s decision to raid the isolated hamlets on the border with the Badlands had proven quite popular. Glancing down quickly towards the Commander by her side, Chrysalis twitched an eye. ‘Still, I must ensure that he does not get too confident with his successes…’

Her attention turned back to the crowd, in particular to the stolen wagons lined up and ready to go. Each of the ten transports contained a number of cocoons, the green prisons containing the entire town’s population save for one. She resisted the urge to frown at the thought, her weakness when dealing with the biped… disturbing.

“The next Equestrian town in our path will be simple to overrun, and our scouts inform me that it is completely unaware of our presence.” Chrysalis scanned over the crowd, her eyes noticing the baubles that were stuffed into stolen bags or tied onto backs with rope. There was pots, pans, jewelry, and even stranger items like stuffed toys. While she didn’t see the need for such worthless things, it did no harm for her children to take what they wanted from the hated ponies. “You may of course take anything that you like, save for food.”

There was another cheer from the swarm, Chrysalis preparing to dismiss them. However, she halted upon detecting a change in the overall mood. It started as a small ripple of concern and confusion, before it turned into a wave that swept through the street. A split second later and she spotted the cause, her eyes narrowing.

‘What the…?’

Changelings backed up, parted, and made way for the tall biped stomping down the street. The pink bed sheet fluttered in a light breeze, and the creature was wearing a frown that almost matched hers. The crowd went silent, all watching while the creature approached the platform she was standing on.

Chrysalis could only stare as a changeling was lifted off a shoulder, and placed down in front of her rather roughly.

“Mhmm! Mrhhm!”

The struggling bundle, that she recognised as the newly-appointed Creature Controller, stared up at her with wide eyes. His legs were bound together with the whip that she had given him, and his mouth was gagged with what looked to be some kind of grey fabric.

“Mhrmmhm!”

“Grawb raga.” The biped spat out, before turning heel and marching back from where he had come. Chrysalis was speechless while she watched him leave, the previously excited crowd dead silent while he passed through them. The trussed up changeling at her hooves struggled some more, but Chrysalis had forgotten all about him as she tried to process the sheer insolence that the beast had displayed.

‘Fucking bitch.’

Quick as a flash, Chrysalis whipped her head around and glared at Scuttle as the thought rippled through the mental connection. However, she paused with a sharp admonishment on the tip of her tongue, her commander looking up at her with a jolt.

“My Queen, is something the matter?”

She could pick up no trace of a lie, Scuttle looking genuinely surprised as to why she was glaring at him. Head darting around, Chrysalis looked first to the changeling at her hooves and then towards the watching crowd.

Nothing. No trace of defiance, bravery, or backbone to be found. They were all nervous and jittery, Chrysalis frowning harder when she was unable to find the culprit. Either the changeling in question was very good at masking their mental stare from her, which was next to impossible, or…

She focused back on the departing human, the biped having cleared the crowd and was just about to round the corner of a house. Chrysalis managed to catch a final glimpse before he disappeared from sight, one of the creature’s forelegs held up with the middle digit out of five extended in the air towards her.

‘No…’ she thought, furrowing her eyes and doing a double take. ‘Surely not…’

‘This is the pits.’

Burrow sighed again while he sat on the road, staring out to the east where they were heading off to. In a matter of an hour they would be on the move from the current town to the next, the final resupply spot before they would make the long journey back to the hive.

Although the prospect of going home was a welcome one, he couldn’t help but feel a little disenchanted. Aside from the fact that Mr Growls had kicked him and the others out, it was the thoughts of the future that really got him down. More specifically, how the Queen would handle their recent defeat.

The invasion of Equestria had been far from just a malicious attack, it had been one of the only options left. The hive had grown too big, the occasional abduction of a lost traveller or townspony no longer significant to feed everyone. Even the numerous infiltrators had difficulty in bringing in enough energy, and with the Equestrian’s heightened security after the attack…

‘It’s far from good,’ he thought with a frown. ‘At least the Queen tried to invade when the stores were somewhat filled, but the ponies we have just won’t be enough.’ A darker thought came to the forefront of his mind, and he winced. ‘Still, if the Equestrians decide to attack us back, then we might not need as much food for many changelings.’

Burrow dismissed the thought and sighed again, one forehoof lazily drawing a circle in the dirt. He was nothing but an ordinary soldier, and to be honest a pretty terrible one at that. There was no way any of his thoughts or opinions would have even a slight impact on how things would pan out.

With nothing else to do but sit and feel sorry for himself, Burrow remained in a most melancholy state.

In fact, he didn’t even hear the footsteps approach until it was too late.

“Grawbra.”

“Hey, what the-!”

He couldn’t help but jump when something snaked underneath his stomach and lifted. His wings buzzed on instinct while he was lifted up into the air, his legs dangling down as he was pulled into the air. He barely had time to look to his left and see who was carrying him before they began to move, Burrow tilting his head.

“Mr Growls?”

“Grawb.”

“Uh… could you put me down?”

He received no verbal response, instead a hand slightly lifted up the side of his helmet and gave a little scratch behind his ear. Burrow’s wings stopped moving, and his entire body went still at the motion. The continued to walk back into the town, no mind paid to the varied stares that they both received.

“Burrow?”

Mr Growls stopped walking at the female voice behind them, and Burrow had to try to crane his neck to see behind them. He spotted a fellow soldier emerging from a house with a busted door, and he recognised her immediately.

“Aphid?”

She trotted around the side, tilting her head at him. “What are you doing up there?”

Burrow glanced over to Mr Growls, the biped trying hard to avoid eye-contact with Aphid. “I don’t really know. I was just sitting down and minding my own business when he snuck up behind me and lifted me up.”

Aphid frowned at his explanation, also avoiding looking Mr Growls in the eye. “You haven’t tried to escape? Trust me, he isn’t gentle when he puts you down. Brute.” Before he could answer, she held up a hoof and shook her head. “Actually, I don’t really care. If you still trust him after what he did, then that’s your loss.”

“Gra…” Mr Growls spoke up, using his free hand to scratch the back of his head. “Rawb, graw rabba gaw-“

“I don’t care anymore!” Aphid suddenly snapped, glaring up at the anxious biped. “You’re a… a… good for nothing! Even drones have better manners than you!”

“Grawbra-“

“Shut it, Growly!” Aphid barked. Burrow was just about to ask her to calm down, but Aphid got in first. “You too, Burrow. I’m never going to just let that go. Now trot on off and leave me alone.”

With that, Aphid turned with a huff and began to trot away from them.

It was a mistake on her part.

Time seemed to slow for Burrow, everything going silent as the situation was taken to a whole new level. It all happened so fast, and he could only dangle helplessly in an arm with no chance of effecting the outcome.

Mr Growls obviously wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and Aphid had left herself exposed and open to attack.

The biped lunged forwards with frightening speed, Aphid’s head slowly turning around while she slowed her pace. Burrow watched it all happen, even noticing the way that his comrade’s eyes began to widen as soon as she noticed the arm that was swinging down.

Then, time resumed its normal flow.

“No!”

‘Too late,’ Burrow thought, still watching while Aphid was scooped up in the same manner as he. Mr Growls had a solid hold on her, seemingly not caring about the weight of the two changelings that he now held in his arms on either side.

“Growly!” Aphid squealed while kicking her hooves in the air to no avail. “Put me down now!” There was no verbal response, Mr Growls possessing a smug smile on his face as he turned around and began to walk back to the house that they had been storing him in. “If you don’t, I swear that I’ll bite you!”

The small smile on Burrow’s face vanished at her threat, his eyes widening while he watched her open her jaws wide. While her reaction to being carried had been amusing, this was now no laughing matter.

“Aphid, no!” he warned, M Growls glancing down at Burrow when he spoke. “Don’t you even think about biting him?”

“Wbhy noft?” she managed out with jaws still open and fangs prepared. Burrow raised a forehoof, hoping that he would retain Mr Growl’s attention for long enough.

“Aphid, he’s currently carrying you. Just a few hours ago, he threw a table twice your size halfway across a room and out a window. Do you really think it’s a good idea to bite him?”

Slowly, her jaws closed softly once more.

“Fine,” she grumbled, before resuming her thrashing. “But I still won’t let him get away with this!”

Her legs kicked and occasionally a hoof would graze or scrape a bedsheeted arm or torso. Barely a few houses away from their destination, Mr Growls finally ran out of patience. They swerved into a small alley, and Burrow found himself lowered gently to the ground. Relieved that he was once again on solid ground but worried as to what was become of Aphid, he looked up at his friend as Mr Growls struggled to move Aphid into both of his hands.

“Now, let’s all think about this before we do anything we might regret…”

His words went unheeded by both parties, Mr Growls gripping Aphid under the forelegs and holding her out so she was unable to hit him. Aphid meanwhile continued to struggle.

“Grab, ragraba rawb-“

“No!” Aphid glared at Mr Growls. “Growly, put me down. You’re pure A-grade flankhole!”

“Rawbraga grawb.”

“I don’t care.” Aphid turned her head away while she stopped kicking, her forelegs crossed in front of her chest. “You’re just mean, Growly.”

“Rawbgra?”

“You heard me, mean. Rotten. No good.”

Something she was saying was getting through, Mr Growls seeming to sag a little. Crouching down, he gently placed her down on the ground. As soon as he left go, Aphid swivelled around to face in the opposite direction with her forelegs still crossed.

‘Is she really going to be this nymphish?’

“Grawb.”

The word from Mr Growls came out flat, the biped still crouched down with his eyes furrowed at Aphid. A hand was stretched out and placed on her shoulder, but was quickly brushed off by a foreleg.

“No,” Aphid chided with a huff. “Nothing you can possibly do will change my mind, we’re through.”

Burrow didn’t know what to say in order to salvage the situation. Despite her behaviour, Aphid seemed genuinely hurt and resolute to not change her stance on the matter. Mr Growls, meanwhile, glanced at him with a unsure look that, quite frankly, caused Burrow to feel a small amount of dread.

The feeling that something bad was about to happen only increased when Mr Growls glanced behind them and out of the alleyway.

‘What are you-‘

It happened all of a sudden, the action on the very bottom of the list of things that Burrow was expecting.

Darting in with astonishing speed, but yet with a gentle grace, Mr Growls closed his eyes and moved his head towards Aphid. A quick peck was laid upon the bare head next to an ear, before the head was drawn back with eyes still closed.

Burrow was frozen, Aphid having gone ridged at the advance. Slowly, a foreleg was raised up and a hoof touched the sport where the kiss had been laid.

“What did you just do!?” Burrow hissed to his friend, Mr Growls watching Aphid with visible apprehension. “Why? How!? There is no way this is going to end well for you!”

“Grawbra,” came the reply, hands being raised before a finger was pointed back towards Aphid. “Rawro.”

Looking back, Burrow went silent while Aphid began to turn her head. She stared at Mr Growls, forehoof still rubbing the damp patch on her head.

“Growly…”she started slowly, face natural. “What was that?”

Mr Growls was now looking very uncomfortable.

“Raw, grabbra-“

“No,” Aphid cut off the mumbled explanation. She got to all four hooves and walked up towards the biped. Looking up, her eyes locked with his. “Do you really think that that was enough for me to just forgive you?”

Evidently, Mr Growls mistook Aphid’s question and tone, both hands extending out with palms showing. A flurry of growls and grunts came out as an attempt at explanation, obviously as the speaker tried to apologise for, in his mind, going a step too far.

However, Burrow didn’t miss the small smile growing on Aphid’s face.

Nor did he miss her wings begin to flutter.

Nor the tensing of her legs.

Apparently, the ‘forgiveness kiss’ hadn’t been nearly enough to buy any forgiveness. Instead, it had only provided an opening.

“Aphid, no!”

It was too late. There was a buzz, followed by a brief grunt of alarm, followed by a loud ‘whump’ as Aphid propelled herself into Mr Growl’s chest. Forelegs wrapped around a neck, and then there was a sharp clang as a rapidly back-peddling biped tripped over an empty metal garbage can and fell onto his back.

“Mr Growls!” Burrow rushed over and past another line of cans that obscured his vision, only to be met with a very disturbing sight.

A pile of old cardboard boxes had broken the fall, but his friend had suffered a far more shocking fate than a back injury. Aphid had latched on with a strong grip, face mushed into Mr Growls while she furiously made out greedily. Given his position and the changeling on top of him, Mr Growls was pinned down as Aphid, to put it bluntly, took advantage of him. Burrow could only stand and stare for a few moments as legs kicked weakly and wings buzzed erratically.

But then he bolted forwards, forelegs already around Aphid’s barrel to pull her off. She separated with a wet smack, Burrow falling onto his side with Aphid landing next to him.

“Gr… Grawbra?” Mr Growls muttered out weakly from his spot amongst the cardboard boxes.

“That was entirely uncalled for!” Burrow said as he sat up and glared at his comrade. Aphid struggled in his hold, eyes locked onto the helpless biped while her tongue lolled out of her mouth. Something about her look gave Burrow pause, a noticeable spark of lust that seemed unusual even for the normally promiscuous female.

Aphid nearly broke free, Burrow getting to his hooves and using his weight to try and hold her down.

“Lemme go!” she ordered while she continued to struggle and stare hungrily at Mr Growls. “Burrow, get off! I need this!”

“What in the name of the Queen is wrong with you!?” he fired back.

“You don’t understand Burrow, just let me go!”

He doubled his determination and refused to give in, Aphid continuing to fight him for a few moments. It was in vain, however, and soon she began to slow her movements. Glancing back down at her, she seemed far more composed than she had a minute ago.

“Aphid, just what-“

“It was… the best thing,” she panted, before shaking her head. “You need to feel it to understand, Burrow.”

“Understand what?”

“If you thought the ambient stuff was good,” Aphid took a brief pause. “…then what I just got will blow your mind. It was… oh my…” A dopey grin crossed her face. “You just have to try it.”

Burrow frowned, and shook his head. “Eh… no thanks, I’ll pass.” A rustling drew his attention back to Mr Growls, who was now trying to sit upright amongst the pile of trash. Forgetting about Aphid, he hurried over towards his friend and pushed against his back to lend a hoof. Mr Growls sat up with a grunt and a wince, one hand rubbing the back of his head.

“Are you okay?” Burrow noticed the way Mr Growls was moving his mouth like there was an odd taste, and shot a look towards Aphid. “I’m so, so sorry about what Aphid did. I know that you get annoyed over things like that.” He noticed Aphid get to her hooves with a grin, and he watched her carefully. “I’ll keep a close eye on her, I promise.”

“Grung, unga…” Burrow took a step back while the biped got to his feet. A hand came down and hesitantly patted him on the upper back. “Rawg unga.”
Mr Growls then turned his attention towards Aphid, the two staring off for a few tense moments.

“Don’t worry Growly,” Aphid said with a grin, breaking the silence. “I forgive you… for now. However, from time to time I might need you to… renew that forgiveness.”

‘Not dealing with this now,’Burrow thought before giving a long sigh. Wrinkling his nose, he noticed the stench of decaying rash that was coming off of Mr Growls.

“Look,” he spoke up, meeting his friend’s gaze. “You’re not going to like this, but I think you need to get back to the house and take a real quick bath before we leave…”

“Hey, they’re coming!”

“Shh! Get everything ready!”

Scarlet watched on from the couch as the four changeling drones scrambled away from the window and into their pre-practiced places.

After ‘Growly’ had stormed out of the house with a tied-up changeling over his shoulder, she’d been left in the dark over what had happened. The best she could assume was that the earlier angry display had sparked a high-up changeling, likely the Queen, to replace the previous ‘Creature Controllers’. Obviously Scarlet wasn’t exactly sad to see the whip-happy replacement go, but she’d been left alone in the house until the four drones had cautiously sneaked back inside.

With them, they had brought pilfered fabric and sewing supplies, and had largely ignored her as they busied themselves with a hidden task on the other side of the room. Scarlet was fine with that, she had no desire to interact with the emotion-eating shapeshifters if she could avoid it. She would have been able to get her mind around evil changelings, the villainous invaders and defilers of families, but so far these ones…

These ones were just plain weird.

It certainly said a lot that, so far, she understood Growly far better than she understood her race’s twisted cousins.

The door knob rattled, a silence descending over the inside of the house.

‘Muddle, Meddle, Mirror, and Cypher.’ Scarlet went back over the names she had overheard in her head. From what she had gathered, the four belonged to the lowest group of changelings and as such the ‘drones’ were the ones that stood to lose the most if the biped refused to let them near him. The changelings in the group did seem to receive some kind of special status amongst their peers, after all.

The door opened up after a moment, Scarlet able to catch the four drones hiding something behind them thanks to her spot on the couch. She continued to watch as Mr Growls and the two changeling soldiers entered, the trio stopping in front of the drones. The glances given were certainly ones of curiosity, but Scarlet noted something odd about the newly-arrived group.

‘Is it just me, or does he seem much more nervous of Aphid than before?’

“Wow, that smell…” Meddle broke the silence with a wave of a foreleg in front of her nose.

‘Or is it Muddle? It’s hard to tell these changelings apart.’

“Mr Growls had a… unfortunate encounter with some trash cans,” Burrow glanced over towards a grinning Aphid before looking back at them. “As of such, he needs a bath.”

One of the drones, Scarlet thinking it was ‘Cypher’, raised a hoof. “But the Queen said that we’re going to be leaving soon.”

“It’ll be a very quick bath,” Burrow reassured them. “It’ll be over hours before we need to go.” Scarlet tilted his head when he looked at her. “Get the pony to help you, heat up some water, and fetch whatever tub you put him in last time. If you work quickly, it’ll be over with quick as a flash.”

Aphid trotted forward, before one foreleg went over her chest. “And with me as the leader, we’ll have Growly bathed in no time!”

“No.” They all looked towards Burrow, who was shaking his head. “Not this time, Aphid. You’ve already traumatised him enough today.”

‘I wonder what he means by that?’

“You will sit down and stay on the couch,” he continued with a point of his foreleg. “Mr Growls will be let alone to bath in private, I’m sure he can cope with that by himself.”

Scarlet looked up at the mentioned biped, finding that Mr Growls was still silent and wary while Burrow focused away from Aphid and back on the drones.

“So let’s get a move on, we need heated water and soap.”

“Okay,” one of the four answered. “But there’s something we need to do first.”

“Make it quick… and don’t do anything to upset him. He’s had a rough day already.”

Under Burrow’s watchful eye, the four trotted forwards the biped and all looked up with wide eyes. Mr Growls made to take a step back with another glance towards Aphid, but halted when four horns lit up and a number of bundles and a piece of parchment was levitated out towards him.

“We’re really sorry about your clothes,” the changeling Scarlet assumed was Mirror apologised. “We were only trying to help get them clean for you.”

“You got really mad and kicked us out,” Cypher joined in, Meddle and Muddle nodding along. “And so we thought we’d make it up to you.”

“They’re not as good as the ones you had before, but…”

Mr Growls, after a moment of pause, grabbed the first bundle from the air and held it up. Scarlet recognised it as a large shirt when it unfurled, certainly large enough to fit the large biped. From the looks of it, it had been sewed together from a mixture of green bedsheets and yellow pillowcases.

The drones hesitantly passed him the second item, this one being a set of long pants made from the same stolen materials as the shirt. Scarlet tilted her head, long pants were normally reserved for very formal occasions and seeing a set made from bedsheets just seemed… wrong.

The third item was the most curious, a smaller set of pants that was made up solely of white pillowcases.

“We don’t really know why you wear pants under pants,” Muddle admitted. “But we made you some anyway.”

Mr Growls continued to examine all threes item with a blank expression, the last item being hesitantly levitated up towards him.

“So,” Meddle asked while all four stared up at him. “Do you forgive us, Growly?”

Scarlet caught a brief glimpse of the parchment, a large ink drawing displayed upon it. The surprisingly passable artwork consisted of a large love heart with a picture of Mr Growl’s face in the middle. All around the love heart was six changelings… and even a sole pegasus that could only have been her.

‘I don’t know if I should be flattered that they thought to include me… or concerned.’

Mr Growls stared at the parchment for a long time, before he glanced back at the gifted bundle of clothes.

“He doesn’t like them,” Mirror whispered with her head bowed. The other three continued to look up with a rapidly fading hope, everyone in the house waiting to see how the biped would react.

“Rawbrag,” Mr Growls finally said with a nod. “Gra… Graw rabba rab.” He cautiously bent down onto one knee, the items carefully being placed on the floorboards next to him. With a sigh, he extended his arms out to the sides. “Grab raw ung.”

The meaning of the gesture was clear, and after a brief pause the four drones wasted no time with rushing forward and leaping up onto their hind legs. They all giggled as Mr Growls was smothered with hugs in return, Burrow grinning happily from the side while Aphid sat with a frown on her face and forelegs crossed.
Scarlet couldn’t help but give a small smile at the display, for a moment the evil changelings almost seemed to act like normal and well-adjusted ponies.

“Aw, thank you Growly,” one of the drones buzzed merrily as they all slowly let go and dropped down to all four hooves.

“Grunga braw,” he replied with a uncertain smile. He only had time to give Burrow a quick pat on the back, before the four drones raced past him and out the door.

“We’ll be back with water and a tub!”

Mr Growls picked up his gifts and stood back up, glances being sent towards Burrow and Aphid. “Grung?”

“Aphid, on the couch,” Burrow ordered. “No excuses.”

There was a loud harrumph, but Aphid did as she was told and approached. Scarlet shifted right up to the opposite side as she was joined by the surly changeling. Burrow, meanwhile, looked back up at Mr Growls. “I’m going to find some soap that hopefully won’t shrink you, not that I don’t trust the drones, but still. You stay here, and,” a foreleg was pointed right at Aphid. “Don’t let her cause you any problems. Keep an eye on her.” Then, Scarlet found the focus turned onto her. “Same for you, pony. If Aphid tries to… ‘interfere’ with him, then at least try to stop her.”

‘I don’t know how I feel about that.’

“Um… okay?”

Burrow nodded and turned, and as such he completely missed Aphid lean over and whisper dangerously.

“Try to stop me, and I’ll find out just how different ponies are under that fur. You get me?”

A shiver ran down Scarlet’s spine.

“I, uh…” the front door closed as Burrow left, leaving her stranded with Mr Growls and the most unbalanced changeling out of the lot. Aware of the pair of eyes boring their way into her skull with a menacing glare, Scarlet made the wise choice to leap off the couch and make a mad dash for the bathroom. “I’m going to make sure that there are plenty of fresh towels!”

“Good pony,” she heard Aphid praise from behind her. Then, the sound of a back hitting a wooden wall was audible even in the tiny bathroom. “Now Growly, I think it’s time that I get that hug that you gave everyone else.”

The sound of trotting hooves on wood started up, Scarlet folding her ears down while she focused fully on rummaging around in a cupboard.
‘Sorry Growly,’ she mentally apologised. ‘But not even I can help you out with that.’

“Grawb… grunga rawb!”

“Oh what are you going to do? It’s just a hug you big nymph.”

Burrow trotted up towards the house while ignoring the stares of any changeling that passed him. Granted, he must have looked an entertaining sight with a box of soap powder in his mouth, but it wasn’t nearly half as weird as some of the other items that he had seen his fellows pilfer.

He paused outside of the door and cocked his left ear, a loud thump coming from inside of the house.

“Careful Muddle, you almost destroyed that sink.”

“Hey, it was you who was supposed to be steering the tub, Meddle!”

‘Ah, looks like the drones got here before me.’

Hoof reaching for the door, Burrow pushed it open and trotted inside.

Only for the soap box to fall out of his open mouth.

“Aphid!?”

Seated on the couch was Mr Growls, an irritated frown on his face while he stared blankly ahead at the wall. The source of his discomfort was obvious, Aphid having draped herself over him with her forelegs around his neck. Lovingly nuzzling the underside of Mr Growl’s ample chin, Aphid didn’t stop when she opened one eye up to look at him.

“What is it?”

Burrow did a double take. “You know what I’m talking about, I told you to stay away from him.”

“Not quite. You told me to stay on the couch, and that’s where I am.”

Burrow winced and sighed, his teeth grinding together before he managed to calm himself down. “Can’t you tell that he’s uncomfortable?” He glanced around the house, eyes narrowing. “And where is the pony?”

“In here.”

They both looked over towards the bathroom, a rear half of a drone poking out from the open doorway. Glancing towards Aphid, Burrow narrowed his eyes at her in warning before moving over to investigate.

He squeezed around the side of the drone, raising his head into the room to get a better look.

The drones had managed to get the large wooden tub into the small room, somehow, and were busy filling it with a mixture of boiled and cold water. The pegasus, Scarlet, was carefully arranging a set of two towels while obviously trying to avoid the drones as much as she could.

“She’s been in here since we got back,” Meddle told him, before lowering her voice. “Aphid apparently threatened her to get to Growly.”

Burrow turned to tell the pony off, but paused at the look of sheer terror on Scarlet’s face.

“She threatened to skin me,” the pony nurse whispered while trembling. “She’s sick.”

‘No argument there.’

“Still,” he persisted. “Did you at least try to stop her? Now she’s sprawled over him and considering what she did…”

Mirror tilted her head at him, and the others halted in their work. “What?”

“Not now, I’ll tell you later.” Burrow took another look at the bath, and deemed it ready. “Anyway, that’s enough water. Leave his new clothes nearby and we’ll let him have some privacy. That means you as well, pony.”

All obeyed the command without question, and they followed him out into the main room.

“Bath is ready,” Burrow announced, pointing with a foreleg towards the bathroom. Mr Growls deepened his frown, likely having figured out what they wanted, but a glance at the location of the tub and the changeling clinging to him soon prompted him into action.

“Grubra,” he growled, both hands snatching up the surprised Aphid and pulling her off. She was practically dropped upon the seat next to him, and quick as a flash Mr Growls was off the couch and making a mad dash for the bathroom. The door slammed shut, Aphid racing from her own spot only to reach the door right as the lock was latched.

“Growly!” she wailed, banging up against the door. “We talked about this, we were going to have a bath together!”

Burrow sighed and paid her no mind, instead he clambered up onto the couch and laid down for a much needed rest. He looked to his right as the pegasus joined him, Scarlet keeping a fair distance away while she sat and watched Aphid moan against the door.

“Should we… do something?” she asked, while the drones moved to lay down in front of the couch to wait and watch as well.

Burrow considered the question, and weighed up the consequences versus the effort. Finally, he shook his head as he reached a verdict.

“No. Just let her tire herself out. She’s bound to stop sometime soon.”

He’d been wrong.

“Growly!”

Burrow winced again as Aphid whined with a particularly high pitch, the others around him also grimacing with their own discomfort.

It’s had been ten minutes since the biped had first entered the bathroom, and Aphid had been relentless with voicing her complaints. Burrow seriously didn’t know what was going on with her, she’d been acting weird… well, weirder, ever since the incident in the alley.

She didn’t even stop when the front door was slammed open.

“Why are you all not ready to depart!?” In stomped a furious Queen, followed by Commander Scuttle. Burrow immediately jumped off of the couch and bowed to her alongside the drones who did the same, only Aphid refusing to follow the proper protocol. Chrysalis scanned the room, and behind her Burrow could see a mass of changelings moving down the street. “Where is the food beast?”

Before anyone could provide an answer, the Queen’s attention was directed towards Aphid. Burrow winced at the way Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed and began to glow.

Someone was going to die.

“Growly!”

Instead of an execution, Chrysalis’ horn lit up and Aphid was plucked off of the ground. The Queen levitated her up to eye level, the monarch’s glare fading into a intrigued eye raise. “Hmm, what is this?” Aphid was too busy sobbing to resist, as she was spun around in the air and examined. “Bright eyes, shiner chitin…” the frown returned. “Pining for the attentions of a male.” The attention was turned to him. “This soldier is suffering from over gorging, why did you permit her to feed so wastefully?”

‘Oh wow, how am I going to explain this to her...’

“Well uh, you see Your Majesty-“

“Enough.” Aphid was set down surprisingly gently considering the Queen’s entrance and mood. “There is no time. We are to leave… now.” Chrysalis turned to stare at the bathroom door. “Is the food beast ready to leave?”

Burrow immediately jumped off the couch and made to move to incept his Queen. “I was actually just going to check up on him.” He moved beside her, and knocked on the door with a hoof. “Hey, buddy? Um, the Queen is here and she wants you to get ready to leave…”

He had barely finished before he was roughly pushed to the side by a foreleg, Chrysalis glancing down at him with a frown.

“Fool. This is how it is done.”

One glow of a twisted horn later, and the door lock unlatched.

“Urg… Grawbra?”

Despite the protest from inside, the Queen placed her hoof upon the door and prepared to enter.

“Your Highness, that’s not a good-“

Chrysalis evidently had no time for listing to warnings, the royal changeling opening the door and walking in.

“Grawbra! Gra-grung? Grungrab!”

The Queen stopped hallway in, Burrow not even game to look. Aphid however wasted no time, her tears gone while she leaped up to her hooves and rushed to peek her head in through the door.

There was a few moments of silence, Aphid’s tail waving all the while. Then, Chrysalis backed out slowly and turned around for the main door.

“Why does it have teats?” Shaking her head, she glanced back towards Burrow. “It is no matter. We need to leave. If it’s not ready to fly within two minutes, then we’re leaving it behind. Scuttle, with me.”

With that, the Queen and the Commander left the house, Burrow going a shade paler.

“Just how are we going to get him to fly in two minutes?”

With that, Aphid turned around with a grin on her face.

“I’ve got an idea, but you’re not going to like it…”

An armoured purple shoe cracked a wooden plank underneath it, the owner glancing down before returning her frown to the front.

Luna continued to move through the street, silent as her guards combed every building in the small town.

“Princess,” a bat-pony mare in dark-purple lacquered armour trotted up to salute her. “The town is deserted, and there is no sign of the enemy.”

Luna nodded, still no change in her expression.

“That is to be expected, they have taken this town’s population and moved on to a new location. It is most likely that they will repeat their foul actions in the nearby areas.”

Both of them looked towards the pile of ruined furniture lying shattered in the middle of the street.

“Whatever happened here, it must have been a terrible occurrence.”

The guardmare nodded in agreement, her purple batwings giving a small flicker.

“As it appears, Princess. Our enemies must be of the most merciless kind indeed.”

“What the fuck are you doing!? I did not agree to this at all!”

Daniel gripped onto the side of the tub for dear life, not even paying any mind to the amount of rapidly-reducing water as it sloshed out over the sides. It would dip from side to side, sometimes even seeming to nearly tip, as his unusual method of transportation stopped and started.

“Chzrrt crt!”

He received a face full of grey tail, one of the bug horses attached to the rope sagging slightly. The other three buzzed their wings harder to make up for it, Daniel staring straight ahead at the swarm of bug horses that were flying ahead of them. It was that, or taking the choice of looking at the ground to see just how far above the ground they were.

It wasn’t that surprising, but flying in a bathtub suspended under four flying bug-horses while naked was hardly his preferred method of travel.

‘I’d rather fly with Tiger,’ he thought, before he closed his eyes and prayed for the trip to be over as soon as possible.

Unluckily for him, he wasn’t going to be that fortunate.

Unconsciousness for Everybody!

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It was dire, most dire indeed.

Daniel covered himself with his hands as best as he could, the water in the tub now barely enough to wet his heels. At least the air was warm, but it was a small compromise considering he was without a single scrap of clothing. Staring straight ahead, he continued to ignore the occasional bump that caused the limited water left to splash up and out of the tub.

He swore that it was a deliberate act on the part of the four bug-horses, but he had no means to prove it.

‘I swear I’m going to kill someone over this,’ he silently grumbled to himself. ‘Who’s fucking stupid idea was this anyway? They couldn’t even let me get out and dressed, what a bloody joke.’

At that point, Boris picked the worst time to try and start a conversation. At the sound of chattering to his right, Daniel glanced over to see a flying bug-horse with a blue Ethernet-cable around its neck. The bug-horse’s wings were beating rapidly, and Daniel returned his friend’s smile with a deadpan stare.

“You. You did this.”

Boris obviously missed, or more likely misinterpreted, the tone in his voice. A lengthy burst of chatter was followed by a buzzing laugh, but at least it didn’t seem like the humour was directed towards him. In fact, upon finishing what he was saying, Boris rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and said something in a more subdued tone of voice.

“This is possibly the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to me in my life,” Daniel replied while returning his gaze to the front. “That includes the time that I caused the school to go into lockdown over that brick. I don’t know if you just apologised, I hope that you did, because I swear on my life that I’m probably going to fucking throw this bathtub down the nearest cliff as soon as we land. Every second that I spend in here merely increases the chances that the bastard that thought this up is going to be inside of it when it happens. You got that, mate?”

Boris was silent, and while Daniel knew the bug-horse couldn’t understand the words, the audible gulp that he heard certainly signalled that the creature got the message loud and clear from the tone alone.

“Fucking splendid.”

“Chrzt… chrt.”

With the final, hesitant speech, Boris slowed his wings and dropped away to the rear of the group. Tucking in his legs and crossing his arms, Daniel paid no mind to the possibility that he had perhaps laid it on a bit thick. One does not lightly forgive when travelling naked via bathtub, after all.

‘At least the horny one isn’t here,’ he thought while glancing around. Daniel spotted the four familiar bug-horses suspending the bath tub beneath them via ropes, the grey flying horse flying next to them with a rope tether around her right foreleg, and a sullen Boris bringing up the rear by himself. He peered out over the edge of the tub, trying to ignore the far-away ground beneath him as he scanned the flying swarm up ahead.

‘Yeah, like I could even tell them apart anyway,’ he scoffed to himself. ‘Still, she’s the one I’m worried about. The further away she is, the better.’

Continuing to stew in his own misfortune as they continued to fly, Daniel’s mind turned to the topic of just what was happening.

Everything had seemed so simple when they had been in the snowy cave, but now it had just gotten ridiculous. With talking dream-horses claiming to be magical pony princesses, tall bug-horse females that seemed far too liberal with their glowing eyes, the sacking of a magical horse town, and even a flying horse that was a prisoner for some reason. It was far too complicated to try and sort out in his current state, especially considering the conflicting information that he was getting.

According to Luna and his own observations the ‘changelings’ were certainly not the nicest guys on the block, but he wasn’t exactly going to just bugger off and leave without knowing how the rest of the place he was in worked.

His thoughts on his situation were interrupted by a shrill series of chatters that rang out from the front of the swarm. Daniel winced at the sound, the alien words seeming louder than they should have.

‘Fly. Strike. Feed.’

He rolled his eyes at the possible translation that his mind thought up, but it was soon followed by a snort. ‘That was odd, but then again it seems quite fitting.’ He risked removing a hand to rub his temples, another wince pushing the tiny thought that the translation might not have been his own to the back of his mind.

Down below and out in front of him, the already noisy buzz of the bug-horses grew in pitch and intensity. Peeking over the edge again, Daniel’s eyes widened at what he saw.

The swarm of bug-horses was descending upon a small village of thatched-roof houses like a cloud of noxious black smoke. The village couldn’t have contained more than forty houses, and the surrounding ploughed fields and single road through the middle led him to guess that it was some kind of rural farming settlement. From his spot above he could hear the faintest of panicked neighs, and once again it seemed like the leader bug-horse had decided to attack another village for unknown reasons.

The four bug-horses carrying the tub he was in slowed down and began to lower, giving him a closer view of the mayhem. It didn’t exactly help much, save for the occasional flash of colour it was merely an undecipherable brawl that was punctuated by the ever-present buzz of bug-horse wings.

Stuck up in his position above the town, there wasn’t exactly much he could do about it. Not that he was really game enough to try.

‘It’s their war after all,’ he decided with a small frown. ‘I just wish that I wasn’t a bloody part of it.’

Meddle watched on with interest while her fellows plundered the Equestrian town down below. Even the Queen was partaking in the spoils, Meddle able to hear her Majesty’s laughter over the hive mind as the ruler no doubt drained some unlucky Equestrian of their positive emotions.

Her attention turned to one of the houses on the outskirts, a small fire rising up from the thatch roof. She winced at the flames, evidently one soldier had messed up with a stun spell or something similar. It made her thankful that she wasn’t actually down in the action, and she couldn’t help but acknowledge how there was no need for her to feed since she was lucky enough to be one of Growly’s entourage.

She glanced down below her at the thought, Growly sitting down and mumbling to himself in the tub. Meddle didn’t like the way he just stared forward and uttered his low growls, all of the water in the tub long since gone.

‘Surely he understands that we had to leave in a hurry,’ she tried to convince herself. ‘He won’t be mad, no. Not… not at all.’ She swallowed a lump in her throat, before glancing around the area in an attempt to distract herself.

Her fellow drones were all busy keeping the tub in the air, the four of them connected to the two ropes that were looped through a metal ring on either side of the bathtub. It wasn’t easy work, but once again Meddle acknowledged that it was far preferable to the fighting going on.
Both Burrow and Aphid had been ordered by the Queen to participate in the attack, and even though they were both soldier-class and therefor lorded over the drones…

‘I hope they both stay safe,’ she frowned while watching a changeling tackle a fleeing pegasus out of the air, both struggling creatures falling down towards the ground. ‘They’re far from the best, but they’re not that bad.’

It was relatively true, the two soldiers far more lenient than they really ought to be. There had been barely any harassment or constant reminders of the different social standings, Burrow and Aphid generally treating the drones as equals when it came to looking after Growly. It was a welcome relief considering the amount of problems that occurred already, having to deal with replacements that were far more hostile and controlling would have just been unbearable.

Meddle glanced over towards the pegasus named Scarlet, the nurse pony hovering by the side of the tub with concern in her eyes. She seemed to pay no mind to the tether that connected her to the same iron ring that held the rope that Cypher and Muddle were holding up, her gaze firmly fixed on the town below.

Looking away from the teary-eyed Equestrian, Meddle felt a small amount of guilt well up inside of her.

‘She’s only an Equestrian, good for nothing but food.’

Rather than reinforce her confidence, her thought only helped the guilt to grow. Sighing, Meddle tried to focus her mind on other matters, but was unable to look away from the chaos that was unfolding below.

A low creaking sound caused her to snap out of her self-doubt, Meddle glancing around before focusing on the tub that she was helping to hold in the air. Mr Growls was likewise looking around with confusion evident on his face, and all the while the creaking was growing louder.

“What’s going-“

Mirror, flying right behind Meddle, didn’t have a chance to finish her question. With a final creak, there was a sharp snap of and a twang. Meddle’s eyes widened when she was jolted in the air, and when she looked down she saw that the iron ring that they had attached her rope to was hanging in the air.

Completely separated from the tub.

“Ah!”

With only two changelings left to hold up the tub and weighty biped, Cypher and Muddle were pulled down as the bath fell. The wooden tub tipped downwards dangerously, Mr Growls desperately holding onto the side now facing upwards in an attempt to stay inside.

“Grunga! Rang gungra rung!”

‘If he wasn’t happy before…’

The surprisingly inappropriate thought considering the concern shooting through her was the only thing that Meddle had time to process, before the second iron ring finally snapped off from the side of the tub.

“Grungraaaa!”

She could only watch as the bathtub, and Mr Growls, hurtled down towards the town below with less grace than a sack of potatoes.
Eyes wide with shock, Meddle could only watch on as the biped-filled bathtub soared downwards with much velocity, before the fall was suddenly interrupted violently by the thatched roof of a pony house.

‘Chrysalis’ leg-holes…’

“Nothing, nothing, nothing.”

Aphid’s frown hardened when she tore the third and last drawer out of the dresser. It clattered to the ground and spilled out its contents of worthless clothes, the same as the other two drawers. While she didn’t doubt that Growly was a fan of clothing, the frilly dresses in front of her weren’t suitable as a gift to win his affections.

Besides, she wanted him in less clothing, not more.

Aphid looked around the empty main bedroom, its occupants having fled in terror as soon as she had buzzed in through the open window. A shame, although she didn’t want to put up with panicking Equestrians they certainly would have made her whole ‘rob them of valuables’ plan far simpler. Instead she had to rely on her own looting of their house, and it was proving to be rather fruitless.

“Damn it,” she muttered, one forehoof rubbing the side of her helmet while she looked around. “If I was a pony, where would I hide my loot…”
She was just about to head into the bathroom, before a peculiar sound caused her to cock one of her ears.

"Graaaaaaaaa…"

“Huh?”

Looking up towards the ceiling, she focused her hearing.

“-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”

Taking a step back as it grew in volume, Aphid tried to process what she was hearing.

“Growly?” she muttered to herself, taking another step back as the yell grew louder and louder.

“-aaaaaaaah!”

Aphid only had time to widen her eyes in pure shock as the roof above her exploded with a tremendous crash, before a solid wall of wood smacked into her face with the force of a steam train.

“Ah! Fuck!”

Lifting his hand up, Daniel rubbed the rapidly growing bruise on his right shoulder while he used his other hand to snatch his miraculously intact glasses from the wooden floor beside him. Groaning when he rolled his naked body out of the bent and battered remains of the tub, he winced when another bruise on his arsecheek made contact with a wooden floor.

‘How am I even alive after that?’

Grunting while rolling over onto his knees, he raised himself up and looked around the room that he now found himself in.

The very first thing Daniel noticed was the hole in the ceiling. Sunlight steamed in and bits of straw occasionally fell to join to rapidly growing pile below, and it was an obvious entry point. Outside he could still hear the sounds of smashing glass, buzzing, and panicked neighs.

The room itself was fairly small and compact, a double bed sitting against the far wall with a set of dressers next to it. Spying the yellow and green patchwork top sheet, Daniel crawled forwards towards it and pulled it off the bed. Then came the hard part.

“Shit…” he cursed softly as he stood up, another bruise on the inside of his upper left thigh making itself known. “That one almost ended in complete disaster.” Now on two feet, he quickly got to work and draped the sheet over him like a toga. It was still unsecured meaning he had to hold it with a hand, but at the current time it was better than nothing.

With decency secured, Daniel turned to observe the wreck of his makeshift tub-transport. It was a sorry sight, and the bent and broken wood and the mangled metal rings that had once held it all together only brought out another wince as he was once again reminded that, until a few minutes ago, he’d been seated in it high above the town.

He took a step towards it before stopping, his foot hitting a metal object on the floor. Bending down to pick the purple helmet up in his hand, Daniel looked it over for a second before his eyes widened and he focused back on the shattered pile of wood.

‘Oh hell…’
With helmet still in hand, Daniel rushed over to the remains of the tub and franticly searched for any sign of the helmet’s owner.

‘I really, really hope I didn’t squash one of them.’

Thankfully, as he pulled the last bit of wood away, there was no bug-horse lying flat underneath the debris. However he did spot a grey tail poking out from behind an overturned cabinet, and hesitantly he crept forward.

“Bug-horse?”

Daniel looked over the cabinet, grimacing at what he found.

One of the bug-horses, a female, was laying on her side out cold. A small pool of green blood was growing underneath her head, with a solid trickle of alien vital fluid falling from a squashed muzzle.

“Shit.”

Bending down, he gently lifted up the limp body and examined the other side of the injured bug-horse’s head. Luckily there only seemed to be a few bruises, the muzzle the only source of the bleeding. Most importantly, the wheezing breaths every few seconds and the rising and falling chest were a clear sign that he hadn’t just committed man(bug?)slaughter via means of bathtub.

“Must be tougher than you look,” he muttered, looking around before grabbing a yellow pillowcase lying on the floor. He used it to dab at the bleeding muzzle, the knocked out bug-horse not stirring while he held its front half up off of the ground.

“Chrzrt? Crzt?”

Daniel glanced backwards at the bug-horse speech, his eyes looking up towards the large hole in the roof. Four bug-horses, somewhat hilariously still attached to each other in pairs via rope, where standing up on the roof and looking in. They were all focused on the smashed bathtub, so he raised a hand and waved it at them. “Hey, over here.”

All eyes looked at him, the four seeming to brighten while one leaned in closer.

“Chrzrrt- crzt!?”

The closest bug-horse noticed the limp fellow that he held in his hands, her eyes widening as she immediately jumped in through the hole.

The other bug-horse attached to the other end of the rope was forced to follow afterwards, but there was really no encouragement needed for the four to quickly all enter and rush over. Even the grey flying-horse was dragged in, still tethered to one of the bug-horse pairs.

Daniel found himself swarmed by the concerned quadrupeds, the bug-horses chattering rapidly while they rushed to examine the unconscious female he held. He quickly, but gently, lowered her to the floor and shuffled back.

‘They’d know far more about this stuff than me, anyway,’ he figured.

It was likely the right call, as the four got to work as soon as he had gotten out of the way. One immediately bit through her rope, buzzed her wings and flew up and out of the hole in the roof while the rest turned their attention to providing medical assistance, the pillowcase soon being used to dab at the muzzle like he had been doing.

Sitting back against the wall and watching them, Daniel winced when something prodded the large bruise on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw that the flying-horse was looking at the coloured spot with concerned eyes. Her hoof touched the bruise once again, more gently this time, and she muttered out a soft neigh.

“It’s nothing,” Daniel tried to reassure her. “It’s just a bruise, I’ve had worse.” He withheld a grimace at his next thought. “It’s probably going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow morning though.” Glancing back over to the bug-horses, he nodded his head towards them. “You’re some kind of doctor, aren’t you? Go and help the one I knocked out instead, there’s not really much I think you could do for me.”

Flying-horse glanced over, before she looked back at him and shook her head with another neigh. Daniel eyed the taut rope around her front leg, and guessed that she really wasn’t in the mood to help her captors out. He flinched when she touched his bruise again, the pony looking at the hand-sized spot with a morbid curiosity in her eyes.

“Fuck’s sake, cut that out will you,” he grunted as he brushed her hoof away with his hand. “It’s almost as bad as slapping someone’s sunburn, don’t just go around poking stuff like that.”

The flying-horse folded her ears back at his words, causing him to sigh.

“Come here, let’s get that rope off of you before one of those bug-horses accidently pulls you over.”

At first the flying-horse was confused, but as soon as she realised that his hand was pointing to the rope her eyes seemed to brighten. Eagerly trotting closer, she held out her foreleg with a hopeful smile.

Undoing the knot, Daniel let the rope fall to the floor before sitting back up. “There. You know, I’m wondering when they’re going to just eventually let you go considering-“

He was cut off by a happy neigh and, more disturbingly, the next action of the flying-horse. With a big grin, she took him by surprise by leaning in close and rubbing the side of her face against his own. Daniel froze, not entirely sure of what was happening, and after a few moments the flying-horse pulled her head back with another soft and happy-sounding neigh. She fluttered her wings before circling around to sit beside him against the bed, seemingly not noticing his discomfort.

‘It was just a nuzzle,’ he finally reassured himself, remembering that the action was a common one amongst horses. He returned his attention to the hole in the roof as three bug-horses flew down into the house, two of them making a beeline for the still-unconscious soldier while the third one landed in front of him to chatter rapidly.

“Chrzzt-rzzt? Crztczrt!”

Daniel winced when a black hoof reached out to prod his shoulder bruise, with none of the gentleness that the flying horse had at least tried to show. Quick as a flash, his hand reached out to grab the outstretched foreleg, the bug-horse’s blue eyes widening as he wrenched it away from his shoulder.

“No,” he told her firmly with his voice raising. “All of you, stop trying to bloody poke it!”

Realising her mistake, the bug-horse lowered her head and let out a low chattering. Daniel at first held firm, adamant to get his point across, but his stern stare wavered when he noticed the bug-horse sniffle.

“Oh come on,” he said while letting her foreleg go, his voice losing its irritated edge. “There’s no need to be such a sook about it…” He trailed off when the bug-horse raised her head to look at him, her mouth trembling while her eyes teared up.

‘Huh, they have tear ducts.’

The rather out of place thought was followed by the bug-horse letting out a weak burst of speech, the creature struggling to maintain her composure as she no doubt hurried out tearful apologies. Dain sighed when she lowered her head again, the bug-horse’s ears folded down mournfully. Something bumped him in the side, and the flying-horse whispered a soft neigh and gestured towards the sniffling bug-horse with a wing when he turned his head to look.

Looking back at the bug-horse in front of him, the other occupants of the room all far too busy to notice what was happening, he stared at her for a few moments more. She was vaguely recognisable, her actions and seeming familiarity with him likely meaning that she was one of his ‘regular’ bug-horse companions. She also wasn’t all rapey, so he assumed that she was one of the normal four.

Another sniffle reminded him that she was still waiting for him to do something, and Daniel hesitantly reached out a hand.

“It’s fine, just don’t touch it again,” he said. The bug-horse looked up when he placed his hand on her shoulder, and with her attention on him he made a point of touching a finger to the bruise and shaking his head. “No touch, got it?”

She appeared to get the gist of it, her mouth letting out a soft series of chatters while she gave him a small nod.

“Good girl, there’s no need to get so upset.” He turned and patted the wooden floor beside him to the left. “Do you want to sit down for a second and get yourself under control?”

His hand had barely left the floor before the bug-horse rushed to sit down, the creature plonking her rump right next to his before shuffling closer. She pressed herself up against his side with another series of chatters, a stark contrast to the flying-horse who had so far been quite restrained and quiet. At least the bug-horse seemed content for the time being, with no further advances save for resting her head against his arm.

They all looked back at the group surrounding the injured bug-horse as a series of loud chattering rose up, the mass of bug-horses parting somewhat. The five were lifting the injured member up onto bed, and Daniel could just make out some kind of green substance covering the broken muzzle. It looked similar to the stuff that he had seen coving cuts and cracks on the bug-horses when he had first stumbled upon them, so he could only assume that it was some kind of medical treatment.

‘This day just keeps on getting worse and worse,’ he thought to himself as he and his equine companions continued to watch on quietly.

“I am sorry that it is not up to your usual standard, My Princess, but-“

“It is most adequate,” Luna assured the armoured and aproned bat-pony with a wave of her wing. Magically manipulating her silver spoon, she lifted another spoonful of the vegetable stew to her mouth and took a dainty sip. “One cannot expect lavish luxury when combating the enemies of one’s nation, after all.” She shifted her seating on the blue cushion that she had placed on a flat rock, the other members of her guard forces arrayed around the small camp eating the same meal. It was a peaceful field of grass, quite a change from the castle in Canterlot.

The cook nodded his head, his wings giving a flap. “I’m thankful that you feel that way. Would you like me to fetch you some bread?”

“No, this shall suffice.” She paused her eating to give him a look. “You, however, will require some sustenance. It will be a hard day of searching, and much energy will be required.”

The cook nodded his head and bowed. “Yes, Your Highness. Right away.”

Luna smiled and resumed eating while he turned away to return to the large pot that was bubbling away on the campfire. Her sister would have likely rolled her eyes at the guard’s response, but Luna still placed great value in having oneself treated as the royalty that she was. There was a fine line when it came interacting casually with their subjects, and personally she thought that Celestia sometimes crossed that line a little too often.

She bit down onto a delightful piece of carrot, the fresh burst of flavour invigorating her somewhat. They had spent the night searching for the changeling raiders, and had woken up midday to prepare for the next. Despite the halved amount of sleep, Luna had never felt better.

Although the circumstances were regrettable, chasing down evil-doers alongside her loyal guards was far more thrilling than the consistently dull night courts.

She paused mid spon-raise at the thought, her mind briefly bringing up the memory of her strange dream-friend.

‘It matters not,’ she decided with a small sigh. ‘Stopping the changelings is the most important thing. The time for repairing friendships can wait until later.’ She let out a small huff. ‘Besides, there is no time to catch up, not when my quarry is so near.’

Luna resumed eating, her brow furrowing as she considered her chances of actually finding the changelings. They could have gone anywhere after the last village, and their race was well equipped to escape detection. She could of course summon help from her sister, Celestia no doubt possessing knowledge of magic much more refined than her own.

‘…No,’ Luna decided. ‘I shall deal with this matter myself, and when I return triumphant she will be most pleased.’ She smiled at the thought of how happy her sister would be at the return of their subjects, safe and sound.

“Princess?”

Her thoughts were left where they were at the call from one of her guards, Luna looking over towards a group of gathered bat-ponies.

“Yes? What is the…”

She stopped speaking and slowly placed her near-empty bowl of stew next to her. Her guards all looked to her, awaiting her decree.

Luna stared at the rising finger of smoke in the distance, the black cloud far too large and noxious to be from a simple chimney or camp fire. In addition, it was in the same direction as a nearby farming town, Luna narrowing her eyes at the apparent coincidence.

“Leave the tents and the pots, take only your weapons and armour,” she ordered, standing up. Giving her wings a quick test flap, she waited for her guards to gather their tools of battle before continuing.

“It appears as if our foes have made a costly mistake.”

“You’re not serious?” Burrow put the bucket of water on the ground and spat the handle out, before looking back up at the male drone and continuing. “What do you mean, ‘there was a problem with the food beast’?”

They both glanced to the left as several drones and soldiers buzzed past to empty their assorted containers of water onto the house fire. The flames fizzled and shrank, but still continued to burn the dampened straw.

“Well, the food beast-“

“Mr Growls,” Burrow corrected with a frown.

“-fell with its… bath tub, into one of the houses.”

Burrow’s eyes widened, and he took a step closer towards the drone. “He fell!?”

“The foo- Mr Growls is fine,” the drone hastily reassured while taking a step back. “But, when he landed it appears as if he crashed into a soldier. It was the other creature controller and she’s knocked out, so we need you to keep Mr Growls under control.”

Burrow processed the information, his heart sinking as he did so. Mr Growls had, somehow, fallen out of the sky and crashed into a pony house. In addition, by some amazing stroke of ill-fortune, he’d managed to completely floor Aphid on the way down. He initially winced at the thought of how his bipedal friend would likely react and could understand the drone’s concern, but it was then his worry for Aphid that quickly took centre stage.

She wasn’t exactly the best or easiest comrade to work with, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern for her.

“Which house?”

“The one with the hole in the roof.” The drone didn’t flinch under the stare that Burrow gave him, but he did clarify his answer. “What? They all look the same to me.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Burrow pointed his hoof at the bucket of water. “Fine, It’ll have to do. Take over from me and help the others get that fire out, understand?”

“Yes sir.”

As soon as the drone had finished, Burrow buzzed his wings and took to the sky. Straightening his helmet with a foreleg, he scanned the town from above in the hopes of quickly locating the needed house.

The attack had been a complete success from the looks of things, bunches of equestrians lying or sitting in the streets. Secured firmly with sticky phlegm and guarded by many drones and soldiers, there was no hope of escape for the sizable population. Burrow figured that there was at least a hundred, more than enough prisoners to feed the hive for an entire year.

‘Maybe the Queen was right to go with this plan,’ he silently admitted, before his eyes picked out a house on the main street. It was a rather small two-story home constructed with timber, and the large hole in the yellow thatch roof along with the five changelings looking down into it was a good indication that it was his target.

Burrow swooped down with his wings buzzing away, the five drones noticing his approach and backing up upon seeing his helmet and armour. He paid them no mind and slowed to a hover when he reached the opening, before he went through and dropped to the wooden floor below.

Landing amongst the scattered remains of straw, the first thing he noticed was the buckled wooden tub that used to contain Mr Growls. The second thing was the pony bed on the other side of the room. Three of the harem drones were standing around it and whispering amongst themselves, while another changeling was lying motionless atop the coloured sheets. Despite the covering of green goo around her muzzle, Burrow instantly recognised her as Aphid.

Looking to the other side of the room, he spotted Mr Growls. The biped was sitting up against the wall with the grey pegasus on his right, while the forth harem drone was pressed up against his left side. Surprisingly, Mr Growls didn’t seem at all perturbed by the close contact with the drone, and was even scratching her ears. The most important thing was that he didn’t seem badly injured, and with that in mind Burrow moved over towards the bed.

“Is she okay?”

The three drones turned to look at him, all of them failing to meet his eyes with their own.

“The nurses said that she is going to be fine,” Meddle replied. “Her muzzle was broken though, and it’s going to need a few days for it to fix itself. She won’t be able to talk at all, and it’s going to be hurting a lot as well.” Meddle stopped and looked back towards Aphid, her eyes furrowed as she did so.

“I see,” Burrow nodded, after waiting for a few moments to see if the others were going to add to the explanation. Gently, he reached out a forehoof and touched it to Aphid’s forehead, frowning when his colleague didn’t react to the contact. “So what exactly happened? The drone who got me only said that the bathtub fell through the roof?”

“The little metal rings that were holding the rope snapped,” explained Mirror, her head lowering. “Mine and Cypher’s was the first to go, and then Meddle’s and Muddle’s a second after. It all happened so fast.”

“We were waiting and watching the town, then snap.” Muddle glanced over towards Mr Growls. “At first I thought that we were falling with Growly, but then our side gave out as well. He just hurtled down in that tub and hit the roof before we even knew what was going on. I don’t know what Aphid was doing in the house, but he must have hit her on the way down.”

Mirror shifted on her hooves. “We flew down as quickly as we could, and he was sitting next to her and holding her head. Then we got the nurses and they made sure that the cracks in her chitin weren’t going to get bigger.” She looked back up at him. “We’re so sorry, if we’d been paying more attention-“

“It’s not your fault,” Burrow quickly reassured, glancing around at the three of them. “You couldn’t have known that it was about to happen, and at the very least Aphid is only hurt, not worse.” He noticed their solemn frowns enlarge, so he tried to raise their spirits. “And besides, I don’t really think that the tub was supposed to hold something that large anyway.”

His semi-joke didn’t have much of an impact, the three not even showing the faintest smile. Sighing, Burrow made to turn away but paused to give Aphid a final glance.

‘Talk about bad luck.’

Trotting away from the bed, he made his way towards where his bipedal friend was sitting. Mr Growls was watching him cautiously, hand still scratching the ears of the drone beside him. Swallowing a lump in his throat at the memory of the less-than-stellar reaction to the bathtub plan even before the accident, Burrow continued on and sat down just in front of him.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asked hesitantly. His eyes noticed a big off-colour patch on Mr Growl’s exposed shoulder, and he pointed a hoof at it. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Mr Growls tensed at the hoof going out, but relaxed as soon as he realised that it wasn’t going to actually touch the spot. Burrow watched as his friend waved a hand and muttered out something, a gesture he’d learnt meant ‘it’s fine’ or ‘don’t worry about it’.

“He doesn’t seem too bothered about it,” the drone spoke up while still receiving the ear scratch. “Don’t touch it though, both me and Scarlet found that out pretty quickly.”

‘Scarlet?’

Burrow’s gaze settled on the Equestrian nurse, his smile fading. The pony was trying to avoid eye-contact with him, and it was understandable given the current circumstances. Despite the best efforts of Mr Growls, neither the pony nor himself had made any effort at all to overcome their differences.

‘Not that it matters. I still don’t see why he likes a simple Equestrian so much anyway.’

Noticing the measured stare that his friend was giving him, Burrow made sure to put his smile back on before focusing back on him.

“Well, it’s nice to see that you’re okay a least,” Burrow continued with his smile still steady. “Considering that you don’t have wings, it must have been a pretty scary trip down. I know that the tub wasn’t a good idea, but it was either that or roping you up directly. The Queen wasn’t exactly going to be lenient on us, and you know how her… temper gets.” He shifted on his spot. “Aphid’s going to be okay as well, so don’t worry too much about her. Not that it was your fault, anyway.”

“Grung.”

Mr Growls had been steadily relaxing as the conversation had gone on. Burrow also felt more at ease now that it seemed that the tension initially between them was gone, and with no superior in sight he reached up with his forelegs and removed his helmet. He barely had time to place it down next to him on the ground before the drone next to Mr Growls spoke up again.

“Aww, no fair.”

It quickly became apparent why. Burrow flicked his ears with pleasant surprise when warm and soft digits began to give him a very soothing head rub, and he couldn’t help but lean forwards in an effort to cox the fingers to cover more chitin. He heard a snort at his actions, but paid it no mind as he first tilted his head to the right and then the left in order to solicit an ear scratch as well.

‘I must look pretty silly,’ he thought, but it still didn’t stop him for enjoying the rub for a few more seconds before he pulled his head away to look up.

“I can assume that I’m forgiven, then?”

He was met with a small smile, before Mr Growls’ hand moved downwards to the blue necklace that he had given out. Burrow watched while his friend examined the gift, before Mr Growls glanced over at Cypher by his side.

“Grenga…” Mr Growls muttered to himself, before he started to look around. “Grung rawb arga…”

“What is it Growly?” Cypher asked, the biped looking at her while making a vague rectangle shape with his hands. She watched him closely, before she sat up straight with a look of realisation. “Oh, I know!” Burrow watched as she got to her hooves, the drone buzzing her wings. “Hang on Growly, I’ll be back real quick.”

With that, Cypher took off and flew up through the roof, the other three drones glancing at her but soon returning their attention to Aphid. Burrow took the opportunity to scoot a little closer, the Equestrian nurse watching him and wisely deciding to keep silent. However, he did notice the pony shift closer to Mr Growls as well, and Burrow wondered just what was going on between the two.

‘She better not be up to anything.’

Getting comfortable, Burrow tilted his ear up to the roof while he waited for the drone’s return. The din in the town had died down, a likely indicator that they had now gotten all of the Equestrians under control.

‘Good, the sooner we can leave, the better. The food is nice and all, but I just want to get back to the Hive.’ He glanced at the nurse at his thought, his brow furrowing. ‘Are we going to have to bring her with us? She’s really the only one that can help if Mr Growls gets sick again, but she won’t like that much.’ He turned his eyes away from her and directed them towards the floor before his next thought. ‘Or, we could always just keep her cocooned without him knowing once we get back. After all, it’s not like she can tell him or anything…’

He snapped out of the dark ideas at the sound of buzzing wings, and he looked back up at the rooftop hole just in time to see Cypher return. She was going slow, and was visibly struggling as she descended with the dark metal box that contained all of Mr Growl’s things. She landed on the floor next to the biped and placed the box down, Mr Growls patting her on the head as she spat the handle out of her mouth.

“The-there you are,” Cypher wheezed, her chest heaving. “It’s pr-pretty hea-vy.” She collapsed down onto her rump while continuing to pant, Mr Growls doing a surprising thing and pulling her closer. Cypher looked up at him with confusion, but her eyes widened when Mr Growls’ free hand undid the clasp on the box and pulled out…

An unmade necklace just like the one handing around Burrow’s own neck, except that this one was coloured a bright red.

Mr Growls removed his hand from Cypher’s head and quickly got to work, his fingers weaving the unknown material into a wide loop. It was over in a few moments, and with a smile he presented it to the drone next to him.

“Grab, grung-ra –brarg.”

“For… for me?” Cypher touched her chest with a forehoof, Mr Growls obviously understanding the gesture as he nodded his head and held the newly-constructed necklace out towards her.

Burrow watched Cypher shiver with excitement while she lowered her head, and then Mr Growls as he carefully placed the gifted loop over her horn and then around her neck. Cypher sat back and stared at the gift when he was done, the bottoms of her hooves running over the alien material while she took it all in.

“Growly…”

“Grung?”

“Thank you so much!” Cypher exclaimed while she leapt to her hooves and charged him into a hug. Forelegs around the surprised biped’s neck, the happy drone danced on her hind legs while she embraced him. “It’s so pretty, and no-one’s ever given me a gift before! Thank you Growly!”

Burrow, despite the rather dour circumstances with Aphid, had to hold back laughter at the pained expression on Mr Growl’s face. Even the Equestrian was watching the events with a small smile, Cypher oblivious to them both as she continued to celebrate.

Others were not quite as oblivious, however.

“Wow Cypher, what did you do to earn that?”

Burrow glanced behind him, the other three drones trotting up to see what the commotion was about.

“I don’t know,” Cypher answered with a wide grin before she let go of Mr Growls and dropped back to four hooves. “But just look at it, it must mean something special!” All four of the drones busied themselves with examining the necklace, Burrow watching them with a knowing smile.

‘I wonder if they have considered that it might just be to tell us apart from the rest of the Hive,’ he thought, but didn’t voice. After all, what was the point of spoiling the small amount of fun that the gift had brought?

“Grangau.”

Everyone stopped as Mr Growls spoke up again, the biped rummaging around in his storage chest once more. Burrow leaned forwards when he looked up at him, the next growls softer in tone but easy to interpret.

“Rung Granra Granret Rng.”

“Yeah, you probably are going to regret this,” Burrow quietly answered with a nod, as Mr Growls pulled out a handful of unmade necklaces.
Which immediately commanded the attention of the harem drones.

“Chrzrtzrt! Chrzrt czrrt zzrchz rzzt chzt!”

“Okay, okay I get it. Calm down, it’s just an Ethernet cable. It’s not even Cat6.”

Daniel sighed in relief as the last bug-horse stopped hugging his head and dropped back down to the floor, her set of wings still buzzing with what he could only assume was joyful excitement.

His identification efforts had gone ever well with his… well, whatever they were supposed to be.

‘Guards? Groupies? A combination of both?’

Now each bug-horse was wearing a good and reliable Cat5 Ethernet cable around their necks. Red, green, yellow, and grey in colouration, the cables-turned-necklaces would mean that he was no longer required to go off behaviour alone to id his usual hangers-on. The fact that the four seemed overjoyed with their identification method was a pretty neat bonus as well, if he was going to be honest.

The four sat down in a loose circle just off to the side of him, forehooves playing with their necklaces as they chirped and chattered with each other at a rapid pace. The fifth Ethernet bearer in the room, Boris, was watching them with a smile from his own spot. Daniel was glad that he at least had one ally that seemed equally as amused about the situation, but when he noticed Boris’ helmet he was hit with a realisation.

‘That’s right, there’s still one left.’ He repressed a grimace. ‘The most important one to keep track of, as well.’
Reaching his hand back into the toolbox, he withdrew one last loop of cord.

‘RJ45 phone cable, cream-coloured.’ He’d run out of coloured Ethernet cables and so would have to resort to the rather bland-looking cable to mark the rapey-one, but it wasn’t all bad. His well-trained eye could pick out the cable at a hundred metres and easily tell it apart from an Ethernet one, giving him a much better chance of detecting his bug-horse bane before she could cause too much damage.

There was really no worries about her accepting it, considering the response that he had just received for the other cables, but it did mean that he had to do something quite unusual.

He would have to seek her out.

‘Bloody wonderful,’ he thought to himself, before swallowing his apprehension. ‘Still, it has to be done. I haven’t seen her for a while, so she’s probably out menacing some other poor SOB in the town.’

Daniel cleared his throat and looked over towards Boris, the bug-horse looking over towards him and tilting his head.

“So, this is kind of a retarded question…” Daniel began. “But would you happen to know where Miss ‘fuck-your-consent’ is?” The puzzled stare that he got in return was a good reminder that he needed more than just words to get through to them. Thinking for a moment, he pointed to the helmet and then to one of the normal bug-horses. “You know, she’s a guard or something like you are?”

He seemed to be making progress, Boris giving him a short chatter in reply, but Daniel still needed something else to really get the message across. Furrowing his brows in concentration, he glanced into the toolbox as he had another idea. “Did they…?” he muttered quietly as he rummaged through it, before his hands grasped the familiar notepad and pen that he had been using to ‘talk’ with the bug-horses. “Yes, they did!”

Holding out the notepad triumphantly, he flicked over to the page with the lewd bug-horse picture and pointed at it with a finger.

“There,” he proclaimed, while also pointing at the helmet. “She’s the one that drew this.”

Boris’ eyes lit up with recognition, but his smile faded. With a foreleg he pointed back towards the injured bug-horse on the bed, his chatter even drawing the attention of the four normal bug-horses despite their noise.

“No,” Daniel repeated slowly. “The bug-horse that drew this. You know…” he paused, before making a rump-rubbing gesture. “That one.”
Boris stared at him, before reaffirming his previous gesture and chattering again.

“Fuck off,” snorted Daniel as he pointed a finger at the bed. “You’re trying to tell me that the bug-horse I crashed into, out of the hundreds of bug-horses in this town, just-so-fucking-happens to be Touchy-McGee herself? The very same bug-horse that has been a pain in my arse this entire time? Pull the other one.”

Boris just stared at him.

“Nah, mate,” Daniel said while getting to his feet. The flying horse stood up with him, obviously keen to stay as close to him as possible with the bug-horses around. He walked over to the bed and looked down at the unconscious occupant. “She doesn’t even look the same…”

He took a moment to reconsider what he had just said.

“Well, okay, she looks the same. But you all do.” Sighing, he endured another few moments of stares before he rolled his eyes. “Fine. So, you’re absolutely sure that this bug-horse is her?”

Boris carefully touched a hoof to his own chest, and then pointed it towards the four normal drones and then the bug-horse on the bed. There was another bust of speech, and then a slow nod.

Daniel glanced from Boris to the now apparently confirmed last member of their group, and then back again.

“I blame you for all looking alike,” he grumbled, before he placed the phone cable down on the small bedside table and stumbled back to sit against the wall.

He leaned back with a sigh, barely noticing Boris utter another series of chatters while he did so. Two of the normal bug-horses took flight and departed through the hole in the roof, but Daniel neglected to farewell them as he glanced back to the bug-horse on the bed.

The slight feeling of guilt was annoying, and didn’t much help things, either.

“You there, cocoon this one up and load it with the others. I have had my fill, and it is taxed for the day.”

The glow around Chrysalis’ horn died out as the grey unicorn stallion slumped to the ground. Her scouts had missed the presence of the town’s sole unicorn, a doctor of some sort, but the weakling had been no trouble for her to subdue so no harm had come of it.

And he had proven to be quite the bounty of magical energy, after all.

Two soldiers quickly moved to remove the Equestrian from her sight, dragging it along the ground towards the four wagons fully stocked with cocooned captives. Chrysalis smiled wickedly at her bounty, her Hive would be fully fed for many weeks to come. There was possibly even some left over to replenish their numbers, a thought that caused her to let out a low chuckle.

“Mhmmh, yes! Those accursed princesses haven’t seen the last of me. I’ll take their gaudy cities and make them my own, and their subjects will bow to even the lowest of my children!”

She started to trot down the main street, her long tongue dancing over her fangs while she examined the devastation that her attack had wrought.

Another low chuckle escaped her mouth as she laid eyes upon a pony house with a hole in its roof, the former occupants long since cocooned.
She had heard about the biped’s fall from the sky, and it had amused her greatly.

A group of soldiers in armour scattered around her as she passed them, wisely diverting their eyes to the ground. The figure behind them, however, did not. Instead, her Commander stopped in front of her and nodded his head.

“My Queen.”

“Scuttle,” Chrysalis returned with a noticeable lack of venom in her tone.

‘It’s been a good day,’ she excused herself silently.

“The town is completely secured,” Scuttle reported without a moment of hesitation. “No captives escaped, the fire in the town bakery has been extinguished, and the loot found has been very rewarding.” Chrysalis watched while Scuttle reached into a small brown saddlebag he seemed to have acquired, his hoof returning with a squat brown bottle. “This is ‘Griffonian Aged Ale’ here,” he explained enthusiastically. “Now, while not a rarity considering the prevalence of such beverages in griffon culture, the way it’s brewed is most interesting since-“

“Scuttle.”

He looked up at her, bottle still in hoof. Meanwhile, Chrysalis maintained her even stare.

“Put that away, now, and cease your prattling. I have no interest towards your ‘brewing’, but I am strangely lacking in information regarding my recent conquests.”

He did as commanded, the bottle soon stowed back in its looted bag. Scuttle looked back up at her and saluted.

“Of course, your Majesty. On that, I have much to report.” He swung a hoof out dramatically, gesturing towards all of the houses. “As you can see, this utterly defenceless town has easily fallen to our elite forces. The residents put up no resistance, and yet we still somehow managed to overrun them completely without any losses save for one unconscious beast-handler.” He nodded his head. “Yes, it is quite the stepping stone in our flawless plan for conquest, my Queen.”

Chrysalis stared at her commander while he continued to salute.

There was no trace of detectable mockery, either visible or emotional, and Scuttle himself was completely straight faced as he stood in front of her. Neither of them moved an inch, Chrysalis still trying to figure out if he was just enthusiastic or whether she had just been insulted.

“I… very good,” she managed to get out, her mind quickly brushing the reply off. “So, there is nothing else to report?”

“No, My Queen.” Scuttle allowed himself a small smile. “Nothing else at all.”

Still staring at him warily, Chrysalis decided to just answer him with a dismissive snort. Turning away from him, she paused when a rather portly soldier buzzed overhead to land heavily on the ground before her.

“My Queen,” the soldier huffed out with rushed breath. “We are under attack from the west!”

“What!?”

She spun around, her eyes going up as she tried to spot what the soldier was talking about. It wasn’t hard to miss, a swarm of dots numbering in the forties descending from high in the sky. Her eyes narrowed at the shapes of bat-winged pegasi, and she grit her teeth as she recognised the armoured form of the Equestrian Princess of the Night at the lead.

‘Princess Luna and her filthy guards, this was not part of the plan… at all.’

“Well…”

Chrysalis spared a glance down to her right, Commander Scuttle peering up at the approaching foes.

“I stand corrected, My Queen.”

Luna powered up a myriad of spells as she approached the town below, her eyes narrowing as she went over the details.

The changelings were here, that much was obvious. The black shapeshifters had all gone to ground as soon as they had noticed her approach, but she could still pick out the forms of the raiders as they darted from house-to-house in a likely attempt to form some sort of hasty defence.

Four wagons, once loaded with farm produce but now stacked high with innocent ponies in green changeling cocoons, sat by the town hall which was home to the largest concentration of the emotion-draining pests.

The main thing that she noticed, however, was the form of the changeling queen. She hadn’t had the wonderful opportunity of meeting the odious creature in the Canterlot attack due to her absence in the Zebrican lands, but her sister’s description of the dark monarch fitted the figure perfectly. Currently it was sneering up at her with a few of its guards by its side, Luna levelling a glare back at it while she descended.

‘I must be cautious,’ she reminded herself. ‘This creature bested Celestia, so it would be unwise to underestimate it.’

Her silver-clad hooves touched the cobblestone road, five of her loyal guards landing on each side of her with their spears at the ready. Luna did not have to glance around to know that the remaining thirty were maintaining their positions in the air, all poised to strike at a moment’s notice. Instead, she focused on the tall changeling that was barely ten body-lengths away, the creature’s long and jagged horn glowing with sickly green energy.

“You are ‘Queen Chrysalis’, I presume?”

The Queen narrowed her eyes. “Princess Luna.”

“Oh, we have met?” Luna feigned a look of hard-thinking, before making an over-exaggerated nod. “Oh, yes. I must suppose that I gave you wedding congratulations before I left Canterlot. I was under the impression that you were Princess Candace of course, but now I can see what a truly wicked creature you are.” She made a point of looking around the town. “You will pay for your evil deeds, Queen Chrysalis. Surrender and release my subjects now, and I will promise you and your spawn a fair trial.”

A long and sharp laugh was the initial response after a moment of hesitation, Luna’s frown intensifying as the evil cackle seemed to reverberate around the entire town.

“Surrender? Surrender!? Ha!” the Queen smirked, before she turned to one of the armoured changelings at her side. “Did you hear that, Scuttle? This glorified unicorn is demanding our surrender!” The Queen refaced her, fangs flashing menacingly. “I’ll tell you what, fool. Surrender to me, and I won’t completely drain you and your hopeless guards.”

Luna glared at the retort, her wings flicking while she prepared her muscles for a charge.

“A single one of my guards is worth ten of yours,” she returned with confidence. However, that confidence quickly wavered at the Queen’s next action.

“Well, then…” Chrysalis hissed with a grin. “It’s a good thing that I brought a few hundred extra of mine.”

At once, the town filled with the sound of hundreds of insectoid wings beating rapidly. From behind and within houses, from back alleys, and from the outskirts of the town, a swarm of vicious changelings rose up as one into the air. Their numbers were such that the entire area seemed much darker than it ought to be, and the bat-pony guards still in the air found themselves locked in from all sides by the foe.

Luna kept a calm face while she took stock of their odds, and subtly she let one of her spells off as she did so. Her magic coiled around her guards, strengthening their hearts and focusing their minds while she returned her attention back to the changeling queen.

“I will not warn you again. Cease this folly before you force me to resort to violence.” Her eyes narrowed once more. “You managed to defeat my sister whilst she was off-guard, and you will not find the same with me.”

Unfortunately, it failed to convince the evil tyrant.

“I have feasted on the bounty of love that your precious ponies have provided me,” Chrysalis chortled while lowering her horn. “Off-guard or not, your own emotions will still add to my power regardless when I defeat you!”

Chrysalis punctuated her threat with a blast of noxious green magic, the crackling bolt leaping through the air towards her. Luna cast her second prepared spell, and a sudden barrier of blue magic deflected the projectile away from her face and down harmlessly into the ground. Still, the Queen wasn’t lying about her current power, Luna casting another shield and trying to not show her surprise as the first one cracked under the magical attack.

‘This fight may not be as easy as I first expected,’ she thought with gritted teeth. Preparing a stun spell of her own in retaliation, she gave a single order to her guards.

“Attack.”

Daniel looked up from his lettuce sandwich (understandably there was nary a scrap of meat to be found) mid-chew at the sound of a mass buzzing of wings. The flying horse beside him, her enjoyment of a chocolate-cake slice interrupted, glanced around with a noticeable shiver.

He frowned despite the numerous sandwiches and cakes that sat on the large plate before them, brought to them by the two bug-horses that Boris had sent out.

‘Something’s going down.’

He had become very suspicious when his bug-horse friends (save for the one still unconscious on the bed) had all left in a hurry, their concerned expressions far from comforting. At first Daniel had assumed that it was another meeting to celebrate their victory, just like in the last town, but he couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of danger.

“Rise, my children! Take flight and surround them!”

The sandwich nearly dropped from his hand at the vaguely female voice, his eyes glancing around before he focused them on the flying horse.

“Please tell me that you heard that.”

Flying Horse stared back, her eyes wide and her body shivering, but there was no verbal response. Deciding to check things out, Daniel stuffed the last remainder of the sandwich into his gob and got to his feet.

“Yeah, I guess I should go and see what’s up. Stay here, okay?”

After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out a hand and gently patted the flying horse on the top of her mane. It worked somewhat, the equine ceasing her shivers at the contact, but her fearful expression remained intact. Leaving her with the food, Daniel made for the stairs but stopped as he considered one last thing.

‘Fuck it.’

Hurrying over to the toolbox, he opened the top and pulled out the largest phillips head screwdriver within it. With black rubber handle in hand, he nodded at the twenty-centimetre length before stuffing the screwdriver under his armpit.

It would not be a good day for someone to piss him off.

Heading back to the staircase, he turned to look back at the nervous flying horse one last time.

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure out what’s going on.”

She managed a weak neigh in reply, and Daniel nodded back to her before he began to descend the steps to the floor below.

“Attack!”

‘The fuck?’

He was about halfway down when it happened.

A mere second after the strangely disembodied command seemed to ring out over the area, a bright green beam of energy smashed through a wooden wall with a sizzle. Whizzing past his bare legs, close enough to singe the hairs upon them, the energy continued on until its flight was interrupted by the brick fireplace against the far wall.

There was a bang and a crack as the energy chunked some bricks before fizzling out, the smell of burnt mortar filling the air before the fireplace collapsed in on itself.

Daniel stared at the broken fireplace, then glanced at the hole in the wall, and then down at his legs.

“Nope.”

Turning on his heels, he went back up the stairs and was greeted with the wide eyes of the flying horse.

“Yep. Definitely something going down in horsy town,” he explained while rubbing the front of his legs. “I can only guess that your horse friends aren’t too happy about the whole ‘raiding party’ thing.”

Daniel’s suspicions were confirmed with a glance up towards the sky through the hole in the roof, a black and purple blur flying over with three bug-horses in hot pursuit. He looked back down at flying horse just in time to catch her wince at another loud bang, and he glanced at the closed window on the wall opposite the bed.

Looking back down at her, he remembered how his bug-horse friends had been treating her. It was obvious that it had something to do with racial tensions, or at least that was what he had picked up on, and it was plain to see that it hadn’t changed despite his repeated attempts to prompt everyone to get along. The bit of rope that they had used to tether her was still lying on the floorboards behind her, which only made his next decision a little easier.

‘Should I really…?’ he wondered while glancing around, the bug-horse on the bed still out like a light. ‘It’s not like they’d really miss her, and she won’t exactly give away our location now…’

Moving over towards the window with the flying horse still watching him, he peered out through the glass.

Lush green fields with the occasional tree was all that he saw, the sounds of fighting filtering in through the roof evidently limited to the town itself. Daniel continued to look out for a few more moments, before another explosion from the bottom floor of the house helped him to make his mind up.

“This is only going to come back and bite me,” he muttered to himself while he turned to face the flying horse. Gesturing with his hand, he once again checked the hole in the roof for any trouble. “Come over here, this is probably your best chance.”

She tilted her head, appearing confused, but shakily she got to her hooves and trotted over towards him. As soon as she was close, Daniel unlatched the window and pushed it open, Flying Horse’s eyes widening at the realisation of what he wanted.

“It seems clear out this way, but it might be a good idea to hurry.” He grabbed a foreleg and coaxed her up, her wings fluttering as she took flight. Still somewhat confused, she hesitated at the window. Looking back at him, she tilted her head and neighed with a tone that implied a question.

With no time to decipher the many possible queries she could be asking, Daniel went for the obvious route and pretty much forced her out of the window. Letting the surprised horse go as she hovered in the open air, he pointed with his finger towards the grassy horizon.

“Go, now,” he ordered. “Before any bug-horses catch you again. Considering that one wanker with the whip, you were lucky enough the first time to get captured by some decent ones so don’t tempt fate, okay?”

There was a moment of hesitation between them both, before she suddenly lunged forwards towards him. Still flying, she wrapped her forelegs around his neck in a hug and nuzzled his cheek with her own. Stumped for a few seconds, but not that surprised considering all of the equines he’d met so far, he let her remain for a few more moments before gently pushing her off.

“Enough of that mushy stuff,” he said, while pointing towards the horizon again. “It’s time for you to leave. Go on.”

Flying Horse nodded in understanding, a forehoof reaching out to gently touch his hand, before she said one final neigh.

A moment later, and she was gone.

Daniel watched her soar into the air and make a beeline out of the town, her departure going unnoticed by anyone else in the area. Silently wishing her good luck in her flight back to friendly lands, he closed the window and re-latched. He moved away from the window and back to his spot just in time for all five of his missing bug-horses to appear back through the hole in the roof, Daniel pausing at the sight of them.

All were visibly exhausted, the four normal ones panting and huffing rapidly. It was Boris that drew his attention however, Daniel frowning at the sight of his friend.

“Shit, mate. What the fuck is going on?”

There was a massive gouge in Boris’ metal helmet, the blue metal warped and blackened as if it had been partially melted by something. A pen-sized crack in Boris’ left shoulder was leaking green fluid, and a long but thin gash on his right side was also bleeding steadily. He was also limping with his right foreleg held off the ground, but none of the injuries seemed to stop him from hastily chattering out a series of loud orders.

The four normal bug-horses immediately got to work despite their fatigue. One went and picked up Daniel’s toolbox with her jaws, one gingerly headed down the stairs to scout it out, while the remaining two moved towards the bed and the unconscious occupant.

“Chrztrt Chrt.”

Looking down to the bug-horse by his left, Daniel picked up Boris’ helmet from his head and examined the damaged metal.

“That bad, huh?”

“Crzt.”

He put the helmet back on Boris after his friend had finished nodding his head with gritted teeth.

“You okay?”

Boris followed his finger point to the wound on his side, and nodded once more.

“Playing ‘tough bastard’, I see.”

The slight compliment didn’t garner any reaction, both of them glancing across as the bug-horse who had gone down the stairs returned and chattered out some information. The one carrying his toolbox trotted over to join Boris at his side, all of them then looking back over towards the bed.

The other two were struggling with moving the blacked-out bug-horse off the bed, their wings straining as they each tried to lift her up via her forelegs.

Daniel didn’t hesitate, and hurried over to give them a hand. Instead of just helping lift, however, he decided to just go all the way and picked up the unresponsive bug-horse. Nestling her in his arms so that her head was well supported against his chest, he used one of his hands to tuck in her legs and tail before glancing at the two bug-horses he had helped. They both gave him weary but thankful smiles in return, and one swooped down to collect the helmet and the phone cord necklace that were both sitting on the bedside table.

Turning around to face Boris, Daniel watched as his armoured friend pointed a hoof down towards the stairs.

“We bugging out then?” he asked, without realising the unintentional pun at first.

Boris just nodded and descended the steps, so Daniel followed his example along with the rest of the bug-horses who fell into line behind him. There were no more bangs from outside, and the sound of fighting had ceased for the time being.

Daniel wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

‘Yep, today sure is a shitty one.’

It was over.

Luna kept her eyes fixed on the downed Changeling Queen under her, her horn glowing with a finishing spell at the ready in case Chrysalis tried anything. It wasn’t likely however, and as the Queen coughed and spluttered on the ground Luna gritted her teeth.

“I gave you a chance, one that you decided to ignore.”

“Shut your mouth, you stupi- ah!”

Chrysalis hissed through clenched fangs while she touched a hoof to the large gash in her chest, the bottom of the hoof coming away with a smattering of green gore. The ruler had other assorted scraps and cracks all over, but the chest wound was certainly the worst out of all of them. Still, Luna had deliberately refrained from outright trying to kill the changeling, so the wound wasn’t very deep and in no way life-threatening.

“Your force’s number counted for naught,” Luna continued. “My guards have bested your warriors, so I will reiterate my demand for your surrender one final time.” In a feat of magical skill, she simultaneously depowered the offensive spell she had active while replacing it with a strong stun bolt instead. The glow on her horn never wavered, a ploy to convince Chrysalis that she wasn’t above ending the life of a fallen foe.

‘I do hope she falls for it,’ Luna wished while maintaining a straight face. ‘This battle is not quite over.’

It was unfortunate to admit. Her guards, every single one, all bore the gashes and marks of a battle fiercely fought. They had been forced to group up around their Princess in the centre of the town, hedged in by changeling opponents on every side. Five of them had been heavily injured, and being unable to fly meant that another ten guards were occupied with carrying them and ensuring their safety. As an added burden, four more of her troops had managed to snatch away a wagon loaded with cocooned civilians, and were busy keeping it aloft in preparation for a speedy escape.

The changelings were likewise heavily battered. Many were grounded behind their Queen with the bulk of their forces protecting the remaining three prisoner wagons, the spears of bat-ponies having proven more effective than teeth and fangs. While there were a few of the creatures that were barely moving, their rough chitin had appeared to have saved most of them from a grisly demise.

Looking back at Chrysalis, the Queen having given up on moving, Luna leaned her head in close.

“Your own subjects are heavily injured, Queen Chrysalis. If there is but a shred of goodness in your wicked heart, then you will not surrender for your own sake, but for theirs.”

With another cough, Chrysalis focused her eyes into a glare and began to hiss out a reply.

“F… Fu-“

Luna didn’t get the wonderful opportunity to hear the vulgar reply.

“Princess!”

The loud cry of alarm from one of her guards prompted Luna to snap her head up. She was vaguely aware of movement to her left, and so she turned to look at the possible threat.

Just in time to catch the brown bottle labelled with a smiling griffon…

…With her face.

The glass shattered against her cheek and griffon ale sprayed everywhere, the bulk of the mass hitting her right in the side of her head.
Her mind briefly registered a single, straight-faced changeling in ornate blue armour standing off to the side with his right foreleg extended post-throw.

And then, she found herself slumping to the ground to take a rather unexpected slumber.

“Retreat!”

‘Wh..what?’

Chrysalis struggled to stay awake as the weight atop of her was lifted off, her blurry vision just good enough to make out a swarm of bat-ponies taking away... something.

She blacked out for a brief moment before she was shaken awake, her eyes blinking open to see her loyal Commander above her.

“Your Highness!”

“Scuttle?” Chrysalis coughed out, her chest burning with agony. “What happened?”

“You have been hurt badly and your energy is incredibly low, My Queen. The duel with the Equestrian princess was taxing to both your health and your magic.”

‘Oh yes, that happened.’

“I…” she nearly blacked out again, but she fought to stay awake. “Scuttle… did we… did we win?”

He seemed to look around, Chrysalis unable to focus on anything else.

“Well, they managed to escape with their Princess and a wagon of captives, but yes, I believe that we can notch this one down as a victory.”
Despite her fuzzy mind, Chrysalis was keenly able to remember lying helpless at the hooves of the Alicorn, her subjects scattered around her.

“H-How?”

It must have been brain-damage, but she could have sworn that Scuttle actually allowed himself a small smile.

“Well, my Queen… I managed to get a rather good shot on her with that bottle of griffon ale while she was distracted with you. I must admit, it was quite the stroke of good fortune- Your Highness?”

Chrysalis didn’t fight her blackout this time, and instead embraced the relative sanity that blissful unconsciousness provided.

It had been a long, but admittedly interesting, day.

Them Fingers Be Salty

View Online

‘This is starting to become the norm, isn’t it?’

Daniel sighed while he continued to walk through the field, unable to even stop for a break thanks to the lines of bug-horses both in-front of him and behind him.

‘At least it’s grass this time, and not snow.’

The entire swarm, for lack of a better term, was obviously in a hurry to put as much distance as they could in-between themselves and the town they had attempted to pillage. Going off of that, the rapid exit, and the way that the bug-horses at the rear anxiously kept glancing back behind them and up into the sky, he could only assume that they had suffered a solid defeat.

Boris was limping along beside him with a sullen expression, his uninjured foreleg slung over the back of another bug-horse for support. The second bug horse, one of the ones wearing a blue Ethernet cable around her neck, was obviously trying to cheer him up with occasional chattering. It didn’t appear to be working, but Daniel was sure that Boris at least appreciated her efforts.

His own bug-horse burden was even less chatty, and Daniel glanced down at the injured female in his arms with a smidge of concern. Green gunk, much like the stuff that the bug-horses had used to seal over Boris’ wounds, covered her smashed muzzle and held it in place. Still out cold, even after the three hours that had passed since they had retreated, the only sign that she gave of being alive was the occasional wheeze from her uncovered nose.

‘It’s probably a good thing that she’s still asleep,’ he thought to himself while gently shifting her weight in his tired arms. ‘I bet her face is going to bloody cane.’ Reminded of something, he looked up and over at the distant front of the long bug-horse line. ‘Speaking of a blooding caning…’

The mass of bright colour in the majority black and grey line was explained by the multiple stolen beds carried aloft by four bug-horses each. While he had seen a few heavily injured bug-horses resting upon them in varying states of consciousness, it was the largest bed that stood out the most.

Daniel had seen the bug-horses carry their leader to the front of the line earlier at the town, the largest member of the bug-horses surrounded by attendants and any armoured guards still able to walk by themselves. She’d been covered in all sorts of cuts and gashes, causing Daniel to wonder at just what she’d been fighting.

All in all, it once again seemed that there was a lot of walking ahead of them, and this time it was after they had gone and pissed off the locals.

“Wonderful,” he muttered out.

“Chrzzt?”

Daniel glanced down to his left to meet the solid blue eyes of another bug-horse with an Ethernet cable around her neck. She had been trotting along next to him so quietly that he hadn’t even noticed her there, and he also noted that she was one of the rare bug-horses without a fresh injury.

“It’s nothing,” he told her with another sigh. “Just being a bit of a grouch, that’s all.”

“Crztrt, chzzzrt crzzt.”

She briefly nuzzled his patchwork cloth pants after her response, Daniel getting the strange feeling that he’d just been told something along the lines of ‘everything will be all right’. The bug horse pulled back and gave him a smile, before she returned her attention to the line ahead.
Deciding to just let it go and follow her example, he resigned himself to trudging forwards in his spot of the line.

‘Hopefully we’ll have a break soon,’ he silently wished. ‘If we keep going for much longer, I’ll actually start becoming skinny.’

“Hold still, my Princess. Almost there…”

“Nrgh…”

Luna winced as the guard pulled the final shard of brown glass from her muzzle, the sliver coming away with a slick coating of her own blood. The guard’s batwing pulled away from her face, and a second later there was a light clink when the shard was dropped into a bucket containing many more.

“That looks like all of them,” the nocturne stallion announced. “Thankfully they weren’t very large, do you want some dressings for them?”

“No,” she brushed off. “They are small, save any dressings for those that really need them.”

“As you wish, Princess.”

Luna sat up straight as the guard left with the bucket in wing, the warm afternoon sun bathing the field they were resting in with light. A frown crossed her face as she surveyed the clumps of guards arrayed around on the grass, many already bearing the same white dressings that she herself had declined.

To complicate matters further, three of her least injured guards were busy over by the wagon they had stolen back from the changelings. Green translucent cocoons were being slit open carefully with silver swords, the captured civilians that tumbled out quickly transferred to a shady spot underneath a tree.

The civilians, numbering at fifty and made up of a mix of ages, were all thankfully still slumbering thanks to whatever magic the changeling cocoons held. It may have been morbid to count it as a good thing, but Luna was not looking forward to when they all awoke and the resulting panic.

‘So much for our pursuit,’ she mentally huffed. ‘I had their Queen beaten as well, and their forces would have surrendered quickly after.’ Luna paused, before scanning back over her force of injured guards. ‘Then again, it’s not as if we are in an ideal position ourselves.’

Touching a hoof to a cut on the side of her face, she grimaced at it when it came away with a smear of blood.

‘To think that I, Princess Luna, was beaten in a manner more suited to a common barroom brawl. I best not boast about the Queen’s defeat by my hooves to Celestia, lest she find out about my own... embarrassment.’

All further worries about Celestia finding out about her failure were forgotten at the sound of flapping bat-wings, Luna turning around on the spot as four of her guards touched down before her.

“Princess,” one of the mares addressed, touching her bandaged foreleg to her helmet. “We scouted out the town as you commanded, and found no remaining changelings… nor prisoners. There were however signs of rampant looting, and judging from the tracks it seems as if they are mostly on-hoof and heading further west.”

Luna nodded at the information, her eyes furrowed. The guard glanced hesitantly back towards her fellows before continuing.

“Shall we pursue them, Princess?”

“No,” Luna answered without hesitation. “While we performed admirably against them, we lack the forces needed to fully contain them.” They all looked to a left as a shout of alarm rang out, two guards rushing over towards the group of civilians as they started to wake. Luna refaced the guards before her. “At the moment, we have other matters that we must deal with. Aid the civilians and rest up, I’ve already sent a messenger to fetch reinforcements.”

“The Solar Guard?”

Luna winced. “By the Moon, no. The last thing I want is for Celestia to find out we’ve been hunting changelings without her knowledge.”

The guards shared an uneasy look.

“You… you didn’t tell her, Princess?” a stallion spoke up.

‘Curses.’

“I may have neglected to inform her, yes.” Luna glanced to all of the guards, a cunning plan forming in her mind. “I assumed that my elite Lunar Guard did not require the aid of the regular Solar Guard. Is that not the case?”

All four guards stood up straighter, wings flicking with pride.

“No Princess,” they all answered at once.

Luna nodded, their response brightening her mood somewhat despite the circumstances. “Good, that is what I like the hear. Now, assist your comrades with reassuring the civilians, with any luck our reinforcements will arrive before the changelings’ trail goes cold.”

“Yes, Princess.”

With that, and a final salute, the four guards raced off towards the civilians, Luna watching them go.

‘Those changelings haven’t escaped yet. They’ll pay for what they did to these ponies…’

“Grungara?”

Meddle took care to avoid stabbing Growly in the back of the leg with her horn, the butting of her head prompting the biped to move forwards again.

“Come on Growly,” Cypher pleaded from behind the other leg. “We need to take you to the Queen, so she can get all better. All the ponies are already drained of their energy and need to recover.”

Mr Growls stopped and looked back to his former spot against the cave wall, or more specifically, to Burrow. The soldier was curled up in slumber next to the snoozing Muddle, and both were right next to where Aphid was sleeping on a pilfered pillow.

“Burrow will be fine,” reassured Meddle with another butt of her head. “You already fed him, Muddle will look after him, and all he needs is some rest so he can heal.”

“Meddle’s right,” Cypher added, her own head-butt prompting Growly to move again. “You already helped Aphid and Burrow, now you have to help the Queen.”

Meddle smiled up at him. “Maybe she’ll even start to be a little nicer if she sees you helping.” She left his leg alone, the three of them already moving down the narrow tunnel that led to the main cave. “And you’ll be an actual member of the Hive, and you can stay with us without her threatening to cocoon you all of the time!”

“…Grang.”

Growly didn’t say much more after that, and he continued to move forwards down the tunnel with his head bowed to avoid hitting it on the ceiling. Meddle smiled at his cooperativeness, and pulled out in front of him to trot next to Cypher.

“It’s a good thing that the last town wasn’t far from the caves,” she said to Cypher. “Do you think that we’ll be going through the tunnel to the Hive soon?”

Cypher tilted her head to one side. “I don’t know; it’ll still be a long walk. We’ll probably have to wait at least until the Queen is able to move by herself again.”

“What about the Equestrians?” Meddle shuddered. “What if they find us?”

“They won’t. Infiltrators have been using the tunnel for centuries to go from the Hive and back. The Queen wouldn’t have ordered us to come here it was going to be a huge risk.” Cypher shrugged. “Besides, it’s either the nice, cool tunnel or trotting across the desert.”

“Point,” Meddle nodded.

The tunnel they were in was a short one, and right after they had stopped talking they entered the main cave.

Even Growly didn’t have to duck his head to fit in this one, the ceiling more than twice his height. Many pairs of bright blue eyes blinked open at their arrival, buzzing whispers filling the gloomy cave once they noticed the presence of the resident ‘food beast’.

“Grung…”

Growly stopped soon after he entered behind them, Meddle looking back to find him glancing around at the changelings staring at him.

‘Oh,’ she realised, already powering her horn. ‘He probably can’t see as well in the dark as we can.’

A warm green glow fizzled into life from the tip, acting pretty much as well as a standard fire torch. Normally she’d be quite cautious about using it because of the energy drain, but it was hardly an issue now that Growly was around.

Looking back at him, she found him staring at her horn.

“Come on you two,” Cypher called from out front. “This way.”

“Follow me, Growly,” Meddle instructed as she started to trot forwards again. Growly gave once last glance around before following as asked, eyes to the ground as he used the magical light to avoid tripping over any rocks.

The three of the left the main cavern and entered another tunnel, this one still large enough that no-one needed to bend their heads. Meddle looked down with a frown as her hoofsteps echoed off the rocky walls.

‘I hope that the Queen will get better soon, she looked like she was pretty badly hurt.’

She had to stop before she nearly rammed into Cypher, and upon looking up she could see the reason for the interruption.

Four soldiers, all armoured, stood blocking the way through to the next cave. Each one alternated their gazes from Cypher and her to Mister Growls, before the lead guard addressed them with a suspicious look.

“Drones?” she questioned, head tilting sideways. “You are the ones in charge of the food beast?”

“For now,” Cypher nodded. “The two soldiers in charge were both injured during the fight, so they’re resting up.”

The gazes focused on Mr Growls.

“Is he obedient?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say obedient, but he’s very nice to changelings.” Both Cypher and Meddle looked back to the biped in question, Mr Growls eyeing the four soldiers with a slight frown. “He’s normally much happier, but the last few days have caused him to be a bit of a grump.”

“He fell through a roof,” Meddle added, trying to help.

It didn’t really seem to convince the soldiers, but after another few moments of wary examination the female in charge stepped aside. The other three followed suit, the entrance into the next cave unblocked.

“Okay, you can take it in,” the head soldier said. “But I suggest that you two drones keep a tight lease on it, the Queen is understandably not exactly in her best mood.” The soldier looked at the both of them. “You might want to be very careful yourselves, as well. If there’s any trouble caused in there…”

The soldiers all narrowed their eyes with the warning, Meddle gulping while Cypher managed to maintain her composure.

“The three of us will be our best, don’t worry.”

“Y-yeah,” Meddle quickly nodded, before sneaking another worried glance at the frowny Mr Growls.

‘Hopefully he doesn’t punch the Queen this time.’

“Go on then,” the lead guard ordered with a sweep of her hoof. “Don’t keep the Queen waiting.”

The three of them quickly complied and entered the Queen’s cave, Mr Growls thankfully picking up on the urgency and following without complaint. Muddle stuck close to him regardless, the guards continuing to eye them all the way.

The cave that the soldiers had put the Queen in wasn’t overly large, in fact it was roughly the size of an average Equestrian house. The Royal was resting upon the bed in the centre of the room, two nurses and a male soldier stepping back from it when they noticed them enter.

“Who… who is it?”

Muddle winced as the Queen raised her head, tired eyes staring right at them.

Chrysalis’ once royal mane was now a mattered mess, the teal strands still sporting an occasional splash of green. Green healing goop covered multiple spots on her neck and chest, while many other small scratches and nicks dotted her chitin without any healing aids. The stern eyes that used to hold enough power to silence the Hive with a single look alone were now lifeless and bloodshot, but somehow they still managed to furrow into a frown.

“Oh…” Chrysalis muttered. “It’s you.”

Muddle noticed Cypher dropping into a low bow beside her, and so she did the same. Bending her front knees down and lowering her head to the ground, she hoped once more that Growly wouldn’t cause any problems.

“My Queen,” Cypher addressed carefully. “We were ordered to bring him to you, so we are here as requested.”

Muddle shivered when she sensed the monarch’s gaze sweep over her.

“Where are your superiors?”

“I-injured, Your Highness,” Muddle answered so as to not appear quite as nervous as she felt.

Chrysalis was silent for a moment, before she snorted.

“Fine, I suppose that it will have to do.” Her voice dropped to a mumble. “And there are absolutely no more unicorns left? My magic is weak and I desire more.”

One of the nurses at the side of the bed coughed into her hoof.

“The sole unicorn we captured is completely drained,” she advised. “If you take anymore, then it will die.”

Chrysalis frowned, before turning her eyes to Mr Growls once more. Muddle looked up at the both of them, the two beings staring off at each other with matching frowns.

Then, Chrysalis broke the stare with a hacking cough, the two nurses immediately rushing to her side. They were quickly waved off with a hoof, the Queen laying her head back down against the pillows with a grunt as she got her breathing back under control.

“I guess it will have to do.”

There was a moment of inaction, before Muddle decided to take that as a prompt to action. Rising from the bow, she looked up at Mr Growls.

“Come on then, Growly.” She reached out with a hoof, pointing at the Queen’s bed.

Mr Growls stayed where he was.

“Growly,” Cypher spoke up in a whisper as she stood up.

The biped remained still, gaze not leaving the Queen.

‘Oh why now…?’

Muddle frowned to herself, before a devious tactic entered her mind. Stretching out her head, she took hold of his patchwork pant-leg with her mouth and gave it a tug. Then she looked up, and upon seeing that she had successfully drawn his attention, she looked deep into his furrowed eyes and ensured to widen her own.

“Growly…” she began, as pleadingly as she could. “Please?”

Cypher trotted up next to her, obviously getting the hint. “Yeah Growly, please?”

“Pretty please?”

“Please? Do it for us, Growly.”

“We’ll make it all up to you.”

Their tactic of hitting him with a double-dose of wide eyes started to take an obvious toll on his stubbornness. His frown disappeared as he glanced between them, but it was when Cypher moved forwards to hug his leg that he finally gave in.

“Grang, grang-gra.”

With a sigh, a hand reached down to brush her off from his leg. Still grumbling to himself, he started to walk over towards the Queen with the two nurses and the guard watching him the entire time. Muddle and Cypher both got up to follow him, the two of them sharing another concerned glance between them.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Chrysalis warned with a cough, Mr Growls reaching the side of her bed. “I may be wounded, but I’ll still utterly destroy you if you so much as think about fighting me again.”

Mr Growls didn’t even move, his expression sour as he stared down at the Queen.

Chrysalis glared back, her mouth slightly open in order to show off her fangs.

“We have to do something,” Cypher whispered to Muddle as the stare-off continued. “Before it gets any worse.”

Muddle nodded her head in agreement, as another plan started to take shape in her mind.

“I think I’ve got something,” she replied, before raising her voice to a normal level. “My Queen? Could you please, um… not bite him?”

Chrysalis’ head swung around to turn the glare onto her. “What did you just say to me, Drone?”

Muddle winced and, ignoring the possible chance of imminent death, powered up her horn in response.

“Gra… grungara!”

Mr Growls jolted on the spot, his right arm lifting up with a jerk. The biped stared at the light green glow that surrounded his limb, seemingly frozen in surprise.

“Muddle…”

“It’s okay Cypher,” she quietly reassured even as Mr Growls tried to poke the green glow with a finger. “I’ve got this.”

Queen Chrysalis had, upon hearing Mr Growl’s earlier grunts of surprise, turned her head to see what was bothering the biped. She’d been focused on watching him examine his magic-covered arm, and as such she was unprepared for said arm to suddenly jerk towards her.

“Just what…!”

A hand gently slapped the Queen around the face as Mr Growls found his arm shooting out towards the monarch. Muddle winced at the light contact, and quickly repositioned the hand so that it was on top of the Queen’s head. Mr Growls froze, before he slowly turned his head to shoot an unamused glare over towards Muddle.

“For once…” Chrysalis began through clenched teeth as she also focused her seething frown at the two of them. “I’m in agreement with the Food-beast.”

“Muddle!” Cypher hissed out of the corner of her mouth as she tried to smile reassuringly at the Queen. “Stop it before you get us killed!”

‘Almost… there…’

With that thought, Muddle concentrated hard and made Mr Growl’s arm go through one last movement. As gentle as she could, she guided it back and forth atop of the Queen’s head, Mr Growl’s fingers mussing up Chrysalis’ mane as his hand gave her a very awkward head rub.

The change was slow at first, Chrysalis going quiet before she seemed to relax as the rub continued. Mr Growls likewise seemed to lose his glare, and instead he stared down at Chrysalis with an odd look.

As for Muddle, she slowly powered her horn down, her magical hold over Mr Growl’s arm weakening until it was non-existent. With the magical control gone the head rub ceased, but Mr Growls still kept his hand on the Queen’s head as he quizzically looked at them for an explanation.

“Keep going,” Muddle urged with a nod. She eyed the Queen, Chrysalis still unusually quiet while she flicked an ear with a confused expression. “Go on, Growly.”

Thankfully, it seemed as if Mr Growls had understood what she was trying to say. His gaze went back towards Chrysalis and the head rub resumed, this time of his own accord. The movements were far more controlled and graceful this time, and Muddle watched as even Chrysalis couldn’t help but crack a small smile at a quick scratch behind an ear.

“We’re so lucky that this worked,” Muddle muttered while she moved up to stand beside Mr Growls.

Cypher moved with her, the other drone still eyeing Chrysalis warily despite the Queen’s current calmness. “You’re insane.”

“What?” Muddle tilted her head, Cypher moving to the other side of Mr Growls. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Cypher didn’t reply, and instead she laid down next to Mr Growl’s leg with a sigh.

Seeing her fellow worker rest her head on her forelegs with the obvious intent of ignoring her, Muddle frowned and looked away.

‘I suppose that I could have gotten her in a lot of trouble…’

“Mhmm…”

The content hum drew Muddle’s attention back to Chrysalis, the ruler sitting up straight with her ears rapidly flicking. Chrysalis’ right eye slowly turned to meet her gaze, and when it did the Queen went stock still with even her ears ceasing their involuntary movement.

There was a flash of green as the Queen’s horn lit up with a glow, Muddle falling backwards onto her rump as Mr Growl’s hand was yanked from Chrysalis’ head.

“Grung!”

“Quiet you!” Chrysalis growled, before she turned to the two nurses and the soldier. The trio had been standing quietly on the other side of the cave, watching the entire incident play out without interruption. However, they all jolted as one when their Queen barked her commands at them. “You three, leave and only return when I call for you. Tell no-one else of what has occurred here! If you do, then I’ll make myself a new throne out of your chitin!”

With repeated and hastily replies of ‘Yes, Your Highness!’ and ‘At once!’, the two nurses and the soldier raced out of the exit as fast as their hooves could carry them.

With them gone, the Queen’s gaze turned first to Cypher and then to Muddle.

“You…” the Queen muttered dangerously, Muddle shrinking down as most of the threat was directed at her. “Turn around and keep quiet. If I see so much as a peek towards me, I’ll take back my forgiveness of your previous actions. Do you understand?”

Muddle quickly rotated on the spot so that she was facing the wall, before replying.

“Y-yes, My Queen.”

“Good,” she heard Chrysalis say from behind her. “Now, as for you, Foodbeast…”

“Grung?”

The soft sound of hand hitting mane could be heard as the tingle of magic died out.

“Keep on rubbing.” There was a pause. “Ah, yes… like that there. Mmm…”

The Queen stopped talking as the light patting sound of the head rub continued, Muddle content to just lay down and take the opportunity for a rest.

‘Well,’ she silently pondered as she got comfortable. ‘That could have gone a whole lot worse…’

“Hmmm.”

A golden glow daintily lifted the white teacup to Celesta’s lips, the princess taking a refined sip of soothing tea as she adjusted her seating on the red cushion. Looking away from the tea-set on the large dining table, she glanced through the open doors to her left at the circular staircase that led to the upper floors.

She held her gaze for a moment, eyes raised in thought, before she returned to her tea with a shake of her head.

Taking another sip of tea, Celestia found her eyes wandering back to the staircase despite her efforts to ignore it, and with a sigh she carefully placed her tea-cup back onto the table before her.

‘Have I done something to upset her?’

The light tinkling of a small bell pulled her away from her thoughts, and she looked back to the doors just in time to see a yellow-coated unicorn mare in a maid’s apron push a silver trolley into the room.

“Good Morning Princess,” the mare greeted with a small nod and a smile. “Is the tea to your liking?”

“It is as perfect as always, Lemonfresh,” Celestia returned with a smile. “A fine job done, thank you.”

Lemonfresh beamed back at her while pushing the trolley up to the side of the table, before there was the light tinkle of magic. A warm orange glow carefully lifted the lid off of the trolley, before a number of plates and dishes were levitated out onto the tabletop.

Slices of fresh toast found themselves next to an assortment of jams, a bowl of carefully sliced fruit was placed to the left, and most importantly of all was the generous slice of warm tea-cake that found its spot just to the left. Celestia’s smile grew at the smell of cinnamon that wafted up from the treat, her mood lifting somewhat.

Finally, after a glass jug of vibrant orange juice had been placed down, a bundle of newspapers was levitated over to a spot on the centre of the table.

“I recommend the Manehattan Minute this morning,” Lemonfresh said as she reseated the lid on the trolley. “There’s quite a few juicy stories about the Mayoral election on pages three to seven.”

Celestia made a show of wincing. “Ah, Manehattan politics. No doubt a great start to the morning.” She followed it up with a smile as Lemonfresh allowed herself a warm laugh, but her next question was a tad more serious. “Lemonfresh, I must ask, how well has my sister been eating as of late? I’ve failed to have seen her in the last few mornings.”

The maid paused her task of picking up a dirty glass, her brow furrowed. “Princess Luna? I thought she was away on a trip. As far as I know, there’s been no sign of her around the kitchens and there’s been none of her usual midnight requests. I don’t even think she’s taken tea during Nightcourt.” Lemonfresh tilted her head. “Princess, is something the matter?”

Celestia merely smiled back and shook her head. “Oh no, Lemonfresh. There’s nothing to be concerned about, I was just a little curious.” She took another sip of tea. “I seem to recall Luna mentioning a trip to the Nocturnes some days ago, so I’ve probably just forgotten the exact dates.”

“Oh…” Lemonfresh looked up from the trolley with a slight grin. “You must be getting old, Princess.”

Celestia raised an eye, but her smile remained genuine. “You’re lucky that I’m a benevolent ruler, or that comment would have earned you a thousand years in the dungeon.” She took another sip of tea. “And then I would have to miss out on my favourite morning beverage.”

Lemonfresh continued to smile while she pushed the silver trolley back out of the door. “A most terrible fate indeed, Princess.”

The oak doors closed behind her, Celestia letting out a light laugh before refocusing on her breakfast.

She could afford an hour of relaxation, before her investigation into Luna’s whereabouts would have to begin.

“Ouch…”

Burrow winced as he woke up, a pang of pain shooting up his left foreleg and through his shoulder.

‘Probably should have accepted that pillow from the nurses,’ he thought to himself as he glanced down at the crack in his chitin. It was sealed over with a light green film, and fresh chitin was already starting to seal it all together. ‘Still, at least energy isn’t much of a worry.’

With that thought in mind, he turned his head to look behind him. The spot against the wall was empty, and there was no sign of his large friend.

‘Wonder where he went to?’

He looked back down when his stomach growled, Burrow grimacing at the thought of what it meant.

‘Well, I suppose I should get up to look for him.’

Slowly and carefully, he struggled to his hooves while putting as little weight onto this injured foreleg as possible. The rest of his injured body ached, but it was small potatoes compared to the painful throb that plagued his shoulder.

“Ow.”

Still, he managed to get to all four (well, three) hooves without much hassle, and after cricking his neck he looked around the cave.

Aphid was still sleeping on her cushion in the back corner, Burrow able to hear the occasional wheeze of her breathing from time to time. Two of the drones were also present, the pair huddled together near Aphid with their own slumber undisturbed.

‘I suppose that the other two will be with Mr Growls,’ he decided with a sigh. ‘I better go and make sure that they’re not causing him too much trouble.’

He quickly and quietly limped over towards Aphid just for a double check, before making his way towards the exit corridor.

It was probably for the best that she was still asleep.

Moving through the cave system, he didn’t pay much mind to the occasional changeling that shot him a sympathetic glance as they passed. Instead, he was much more focused on his own hooves, his mind going over the situation they were all in.

‘I guess we got too greedy,’ he decided while his hoofsteps echoed around the grey rock walls. ‘Now we’ve gone and drawn the attention of the Equestrian Princesses themselves. That means that it’ll probably be…’ He gulped. ‘Full out war once they find us. And after what just one of them did to the Queen…’

Burrow quickly decided to stop thinking about it, and instead he tried to focus on meeting back up with his friend.

‘Maybe a nice head rub,’ he wondered, before an ear flicked involuntarily. ‘Or even an ear scratch. Maybe… maybe even a neck rub too, to help get this crick out.’

He managed to make it into the main cavern just as his latest thought finished, his changeling eyes easily piercing the gloom.

Hundreds of his fellows were dotted around the massive carven, some resting on the floor while others lounged around in the numerous spaces in the walls. More than one head poked out from a wall crack, inquisitive blue eyes watching him slowly make his way across.

Burrow looked around, trying to spot any sign of Mr Growls and the two drones. He doubted that the biped would have gone too far, especially considering that the cave entrance they had come through was a good half-an-hour trot away. Pausing in his steps, he furrowed his brow and tried to think of where they would have gone.

“Hey.”

He looked up at the female voice, his eyes meeting another’s.

The changeling who had spoken was sitting in a gouged-out space about halfway up the wall, a solid twenty body-lengths up. Burrow could make out a spot of green on her chest, evidently the drone had fought in the recent battle.

“Yes?”

“You’re one of the soldiers watching that thing, right?”

Numerous other changelings looked over towards them at her sentence, Burrow paying the listeners no mind.

“I am.”

The drone pointed a hoof downwards towards one of the many tunnels, the particular one slightly to Burrow’s left.

“Two drones took him to see the Queen a few hours ago. You’re looking for him, right?”

“Yep.” He tried his hardest to smile, the news of Mr Growls meeting the Queen again sending a shiver down his spine. “Thank you.”

With that, and with newfound urgency, he hurriedly entered the indicated tunnel as directed. Hobbling along with his aching shoulder completely ignored, he didn’t stop until he rounded a corner and came face-to-face with four other soldiers.

“I’m one of the ‘Creature Controllers’,” he explained in-between puffs. “I’ve been informed that two drones took-“

“They’re in there,” one of the soldiers interrupted, before her voice dropped to a whisper. “There was some yelling, and they’ve been in there for hours now.” Burrow’s heart froze, and the soldier glanced back into the cave behind her before continuing. “You better go in and check things out.”

Hesitating, Burrow tried to peer into the room behind them.

“You… you haven’t checked?”

All four soldiers stared at him as if he was insane.

“Are you joking?” a male soldier hissed softly. “The Queen was in a mood already when we brought her in, and that was before she threw out all of the nurses and the guard!” The other three soldiers nodded with his explanation. “There were threats made about building a throne out of chitin! I don’t want to risk my chitin, none of us do.”

More nods, Burrow glancing nervously at all of them.

“So… that’s it then?” There was no answer save for stares, prompting Burrow to sigh. “I suppose that you won’t mind me risking mine, then?”

Two guards each stepped to either side of the door, allowing him entrance.

“Your funeral,” the first female spoke again.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Burrow cautiously moved into the Queen’s cavern, well aware of the gazes that watched him the whole while.

After exiting out of the small entrance tunnel, he looked around the cave before a light growl caught his attention.

“Grung ra.”

Despite not being able to understand the words, he certainly got the meaning.

‘Help me.’

Burrow glanced around the cavern, before his eyes settled upon the rather strange sight in the middle of the area.

Mr Growls was sitting cross-legged up with his back against the Queen’s pilfered bed, his face looked in an uncomfortable frown. For some reason his right arm was held out behind him, Burrow unable to see exactly where it was resting.

The two drones, however, were far easier to pinpoint. One was facing the wall and snoozing on her side with her back against a panted leg, while the second drone had managed to find her way into the biped’s lap where she had curled up to doze with a wide smile. Judging from the free hand gently stroking her back chitin, Burrow took a guess that the drones weren’t the source of his friend’s discomfort.

“What’s wrong?” Burrow whispered, drawing closer while taking great care with his steps. Judging from the lack of activity from the bed, he could only assume that the Queen was also asleep.

Burrow wasn’t game enough to want to find out how she’d react to being woken up by him sneaking into her temporary quarters.

“Grung-ra-grung,” Mr Growls hissed back, tilting his head back in the general direction of the Queen. “Rung-ra.”

Trotting closer, Burrow managed to reach his friend’s side before he looked over at the sleeping Queen.

He had to fight hard to hold back his laughter, knowing that it would mean a de-chitining for all if even a single waking chuckle escaped him.
Queen Chrysalis had a wide grin on her face while she slept, her royal wings giving an occasional twitch underneath her. The sight of the Queen sleeping peacefully was not the source of his humour, however.

No, that honour was reserved for what she was doing with Mr Growl’s hand.

Like a newborn pony foal with a pacifier, Chrysalis had clamped her jaws around two fingers while her forelegs were wrapped around the arm to pin it to her chest. A visible line of royal saliva dribbled down Mr Growl’s palm, and every so often the Queen’s teeth would lightly gnaw the hapless digits. It at least looked like Chrysalis was somewhat restrained, her fangs not seeming to cause any damage while she continued to peacefully nibble.

Burrow noticed his friend shudder with a wince, and he couldn’t help himself when he noticed the Queen’s light red tongue gently lick the underside of both fingers.

“Well, at least it looks like she likes you now,” he whispered with a grin.

Mr Growls didn’t need to understand the words to get the gist, the biped fixing Burrow with a cold, hard, stare.

Burrow’s grin morphed into an apologetic smile, and he tore his eyes away from Chrysalis to sit down beside his friend.

“Look, what do you want me to do?” he said while he placed a forehoof on Mr Growl’s shoulder. “It’s not like I can force her to let you go, do you have any idea what would happen if she caught me trying?” Gesturing with his head towards the royal, he then raised his other hoof to his own throat and drew it across in a slicing motion. “Sliiick.”

“Graug.”

The muttering was accompanied by a defeated sigh and a nod, Mr Growls slumping down in his seat as his captor continued to skilfully ravage his hand with her mouth.

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” Burrow said in an attempt to cheer him up. “At least it’s the Queen herself, and not someone like Aphid.” He looked back up behind him. “Besides, she’ll probably stop sometime soon. Probably.”

Mr Growls didn’t answer, and Burrow decided to settle down and make himself comfortable.

It was possibly going to be a long wait, after all.

Golden shoes clinked on the polished marble staircase, and Celestia hummed to herself while she ascended the steps towards the second floor. A list of possible explanations filled her head, but none really made sense.

Stepping onto the red carpet that led down further into a marble corridor, she mulled over one possible example as she made her way towards her goal.

‘Could it be this apparent new coltfriend of hers? She was rather excited about him the last time we spoke.’

The thought of her sister preferring to spend time with an acquaintance of the male persuasion instead of her did not provoke the reaction that one might have expected. Instead of hurt or jelousy, Celestia could only lightly laugh to herself as she continued through the corridor.

‘My, wouldn’t that be an interesting conversation? I have yet to even inform her of the proper, modern way of courtship. I do hope that she doesn’t use a royal decree on the poor stallion…’

Celestia rounded the corner with another chuckle, and the red carpet beneath her shoed hooves gave way to one of a deep midnight-blue colour. The banners on the walls shared the same hue, their pictures of the moon and stars more than hinting at who’s area of the castle she had entered.

Regaining her composure and straightening up, she focused on the large double doors at the end of the corridor, a pair of Lunar Guard barring the way. The two guards were slouched to begin with, but quickly returned to a professional stance with a rapid salute.

“Princess Celestia,” the mare and stallion both greeted in unison when she stopped before them. Celestia took a second to examine them both, her smile warm on her face.

The two grey-furred nocturnes were wearing the usual lacquered purple armour plates of the Lunar Guard, their folded bat-wings poking out from two slits on the back. The short-spears they both held with the crocks of their hooves glinted at the top, Celestia well aware that the silver-tipped weapons were primarily designed for monsters of the night that were of the more… unreasonable natures.

“Can we assist you in any way?”

Both pairs of slitted yellow eyes looked up at her for further instructions, Celestia realising that she must have been eyeing their weapons for a second too long.

“Yes, I think that you can,” she answered with a nod. “I was actually seeking my sister, is she in her quarters at the moment?”

She raised one eyebrow when the guards shared a confused glance.

“Princess Luna?” the mare replied hesitantly. “Ma’am, the Princess left Canterlot a number of days ago with a good portion of the Canterlot Lunar Guard.”

Celestia stiffened.

“She assigned us to guard her quarters during the night,” the stallion continued. “If anyone was to ask for her, then we were to say that she was visiting our country for a few days.” The guard shifted on the spot. “However, you’re not exactly ‘anyone’, Your Highness.”

“So you don’t know exactly where she is?”

The mare spoke up again. “No, I’m afraid not. All we know is that she was taking the guards out towards the west of Equestria. She didn’t exactly say that there was trouble, but… she did take forty fully-armed guards with her.” The guard looked back up at her. “She really didn’t even tell you that she was gone?”

“No, she did not,” Celestia admitted with a shake of her head. Her concern from before had returned, and she quickly nodded once more to the guards. “Thank you both, I must take my leave now.”

“Ma’am.”

After the guards both replied and gave her a final salute, she turned and made her way back down the corridor from which she had come. Celestia stopped just as she turned the corner, however, her horn powering up with a warm golden glow.

‘Luna, just what are you up to now?’

“We shall attack them as one cohesive group, splitting off to chase down quarry one-by-one was an error we committed last time. When our reinforcements arrive we will have enough fresh guards to tip the scales of battle in our favour.”

Luna watched her two Lieutenants nod their helmeted heads at her words, the remaining thirty guards listing in from their spots around the clearing. She was unfortunately down eight healthy guards thanks to their task of escorting the freed civilians back to a safe town, and a glance over her present troops really hammered in just how little she had to work with. Everyone bore an injury of some kind, and four of her soldiers weren’t even in flying condition.

Still, a time to rest and recover was also a time to discuss future attack plans, so they would be ready for when the time to attack arrived.

“One positive in our favour is the status of their ruler, Queen Chrysalis.”

More than one guard winced at the name, a mare at the back even glancing at a hairless spot on her foreleg where a sickly green beam had singed the skin.

“My wounds are but mere scratches compared to the injuries inflicted upon her,” Luna tried to encourage. “She may have escaped to fight another day, but she did so in no fighting state. She is weak and vulnerable, and I doubt that she will recover in time to defend against a second strike.”

Another glance over her troops, the warm morning wind whistling through the tree tops and rustling restless wings.

“Unfortunately, our strength is also not at a peak. As such, we will attempt to recover as much as we can while we wait for our support to arrive.” She took a breath. “Barring any unexpected complications, I fully expect them to arrive within a-“

A sudden gust of wind and a tingle down her spine was the only warning Luna received of what was to come, before a golden flash lit up the patch of grassy meadow before her.

Her eyes widened when she beheld the cause of the rather well-timed interruption, and she allowed herself a wince as Celestia teleported in to stand before her.

‘Oh, this shall be difficult…’

“Luna,” Celestia initially greeted with a frown, before her eyes noticed the cuts on her muzzle. Her frown immediately dropped, to be replaced by a gasp.

Luna barely had time to flinch before white feathers reached out to touch her face, Celestia wincing when her wingtips came away with dried blood.

“Sister, you’re wounded.”

“Tis nothing,” Luna dismissed while straitening. “My guards have been dealt far worse, and yet they still stand.”

They both glanced around, the Lunar Guards all watching the sisterly exchange with surprise. Every guard was wise enough to not interrupt however, and Luna quickly lowered her head and voice towards Celestia.

“Please Sister, do not worry for me in front of my guards. I am fine.”

Celestia nodded softly. “Okay then.” The small frown from earlier returned. “Then perhaps you could enlighten me as to why you’re standing in this meadow, wounded, with…” Celestia glanced around again. “With all of these injured guardsponies.”

Luna ruffled her wings and flicked her mane.

“I received word that isolated towns in this area were being raided and ransacked.” She looked into Celestia’s eyes. “The work of changelings.”

Celestia took a breath, drawing air in through her teeth.

“I see.”

“Myself and my guards have already done battle with the parasites,” informed Luna, with another encouraging look towards the watching bat-ponies. “As you can no doubt see.”

“How bad is it?” Celestia asked, her eyes filled with concern. “You said multiple towns.”

Luna took a second to gather the information. “They number at least three-hundred, and have attacked two towns that we know of so far. Many townsponies have been abducted by the villains, and although we managed to free a good number, it was unfortunately not nearly enough.”

She gave Celestia a moment to process the news, before continuing.

“Their Queen, Chrysalis, was badly wounded in our skirmish however.”

That caught Celestia’s attention.

“Chrysalis? She’s with them as well?” The question was followed with a grimace, before Celestia returned her gaze to Luna. “Did you fight her?”

Puffing out her chest, Luna allowed herself to show a small amount of pride with her answer. “I did, I did duel with the tyrant and managed to overcome her despite her time spent gorging on the love of our citizens. She was helpless at my hooves, and was but a breadth away from surrendering her forces.”

Unfortunately, she didn’t stop herself from giving it away, Luna worriedly glancing back at Celestia as soon as she had said it. Celestia was paying the upmost attention despite the circumstances though, and asked the dreaded question before Luna could cover up her mistake.

“You had her beaten? Yet I can only assume that Chrysalis escaped and the battle was lost?”

“The battle was drawn!” Luna hurriedly countered, before forcing herself to calm down. She still couldn’t stop her ears from instinctively folding back with her next words, however. “Yes, drawn. As to how the Queen escaped, I was… overwhelmed by her remaining minions and distracted from preventing her escape.”

She could feel her sister’s eyes focusing on the muzzle cuts.

“My guards were fighting foes more than thrice their number, and we had managed to snatch away a wagon loaded with our captured subjects. Given the choice of pursuit or regrouping our forces…”

A wing reached out to lay itself on her armoured shoulder, Luna looking down at the white feathers as Celestia took a step closer.

“I’m sure that you, and your guards, did the very best that you could. Luna, I am in no way trying to diminish your efforts.” Celestia sighed, a weary smile showing. “I just would appreciate it if you would talk to me before rushing out to battle.”

Shifting on her hooves, Luna sighed and nodded. “I… suppose that you make a fair point, Sister. I apologise for acting… rashly.”

Celestia merely smiled back.

“I understand what you were doing Luna, and I know that you only have the best of intentions.” Another glance went around to the injured guards, Luna noticing that Celestia tensed as she examined the evidence of the fight. “I share your concern for the well-being of our subjects, and I think that it will be best if we return to Canterlot at once.”

Luna, slightly surprised at the lack of a lecture, tilted her head. “You… agree with my course of action?”

“Of course. I regret that it has come down to this, but we cannot sit idle while our ponies are in peril. Return to Canterlot with me, and we will muster our forces in preparation for the rescue attempt.”

Standing up straight, Luna nodded in reply.

“Of course, Sister. That course of action is one that I find most agreeable.”

Salt.

The pleasant taste was the first thing Chrysalis noticed as she slowly returned to wakefulness, her tongue having sub-consciously wrapped itself around whatever was in her mouth in an attempt to get more of the mineral. She frowned slightly and nibbled at the foreign object, her curiosity rising as she felt it flex as if it was alive.

‘Hmm?’

Slowly opening her eyes, she looked down at what she was sucking on and froze when she traced the patchwork-covered arm towards a pair of small and unamused blue eyes.

“Grung.”

“Ah!”

With her yell of alarm and resulting jump out of the bed, Chrysalis noticed several things.

Flying in the air with her wings buzzing madly, she didn’t feel one shred of pain. No aches from her wings, no searing pain from gashes in her chitin and flesh, nothing. In fact, if she had looked down at herself then she would have seen no trace of the wounds that Luna had inflicted upon her, save for a few faint lines where the chitin had sealed together.

Secondly was the mad scrambling of the two drones that she had allowed to stay in the room, the workers jolting up from their own slumber to cower behind one of the Creature Controllers who had obviously snuck in while she had been sleeping. The three changelings stared up at her with wide eyes, but Chrysalis was instead focused on the Food beast.

He was staring down at his salvia-coated hand with a grimace, and he quickly shook as much off of it as he could before he wiped his hand on his pant leg. With that done, he crossed his arms and glared up at her.

Chrysalis couldn’t help but feel just a little insulted.

“M…My Queen,” the Creature Controller greeted after a moment of hesitation, awkwardly bowing his head. The two drones behind him followed suite, or at least tried, their shaking not exactly helping them. “I see that your… ah, ‘feeding’, has done wonders for your royal health.”

He flinched back when her wings buzzed furiously, but Chrysalis neglected to admonish him for daring to bring attention to her prior slumbering activities. Instead, she dropped to the ground and gave herself a proper examination, one eye raising as she found that the cracks had indeed healed.

‘Huh,’ she wondered to herself while prodding a seal mark on her chest with a hoof. ‘Just how much did I drain from him?’

Looking back up, she caught the biped rubbing the side of his head, before his beady eyes turned to glare at her once more. Deciding that it wasn’t worth demanding an explanation from him and, honestly, never considering to actually apologise herself (she could do no wrong after all), Chrysalis instead fixed all four of them with a hard stare and pointed a hoof towards the door.

“No one saw anything,” she commanded with the narrowing of her eyes. “If I hear of any talk about this matter, I’ll deal with the problem changelings myself.”

There were three audible gulps, Chrysalis returning to the bed and crossing her forelegs.

“Now get out.”

She watched the three changelings bump and corral the biped, the Creature Controller butting the biped’s leg with his head to get him to move.

“Grumngra.”

“Come on, Mister Growls,” the soldier whispered, before the biped tore his unhappy gaze away from the Queen with a huff. Chrysalis watched him turn and leave with his escort, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the back of them.

‘What a bunch of fools.’

Despite her harsh thought, her frown waivered as she struggled to maintain her anger towards the departing beings. Giving a final glance down to her healed chest, she gave up with a snort and instead laid back upon the bed to stare up at the rocky ceiling.

“You’re going to have to let it heal for at least another six days, with a double ration of energy to help it along.”

“I don’t really think that you need to assign her a double ration Nurse, she gets more than enough as it is.”

Lying down on the equestrian pillow that had been looted for her, Aphid was too miserable to even shoot a disapproving glare at Mirror. The drone was standing behind the female nurse as the latter frowned, the medical changeling circling around Aphid with a shake of her head.

“About that. I can’t say that I know a lot about the assignment you’ve been given, but you all need to be getting a varied diet.” The nurse
trotted back round to the front, looking Aphid in the eyes. “You in particular have been feeding excessively from one source, and that’s the cause of the Overgorging.”

“Overgorging?”

The drone who had spoken, Meddle, sat up in her spot towards the back of the cave.

“It’s a common issue amongst infiltrators,” the nurse explained with a glance back towards Meddle. “Feeding off a lone source of affection and love can have side-effects upon a changeling.” Her focus returned to Aphid, and the nurse tilted her head. “Have you been experiencing an unusual attraction towards the source of your energy?”

Aphid frowned.

“Define ‘unusual’.”

The nurse did a double-take, before shaking it off.

“Okay then… erratic behaviour?”

“Define ‘erratic’,” Muddle jumped in with a teasing grin, Aphid summoning up the effort to glare at the offending drone.

“Ha. Ha.”

Meanwhile, the nurse was glancing between them with a sigh,

“Well, regardless of anyling’s personal quirks or desires, I need you all to keep this in mind. You need to occasionally take some energy from the stores so you’re not just feeding off of the sole source. I know that this situation is… unique, but it’s a standard safety practice.”

The nurse focused back on Aphid, her tone softening slightly. “But you can worry about that later. I want you to get plenty of rest, refrain from talking except through the Hive link, and refrain from any muzzle-intensive activities. You do that, and you should come out of this without any major signs of damage. Okay?”

Nodding, Aphid snorted out air through her uncovered nostrils. Folding her forelegs over each other and resting her head upon them, she stared at the rocky cave floor with her ears folded down.

“Thank you for stopping by to see her,” Mirror said to the nurse.

“It was no bother. Still, I’ve got many more changelings that need my attention, so I must be going.” Trotting towards the cave exit, the nurse looked back. “Remember what I said about varied diet.”

“We will,” Muddle called out from her spot, before she turned to look at Aphid. “At least you’re okay, right Aphid?”

Another snort. “Do I look like I feel okay?”

Muddle quietened down and laid down in her spot, Mirror soon joining her.

Aphid could hear both of them whispering to each other, likely about her, so she shifted onto her side and tried to blot it out.

‘This sucks.’

While not the most profound thought, it was certainly appropriate. Sighing again, she wiggled her nose in an attempt to get rid of the itch that had popped up on the end of it, but that only succeeded in sending a jolt of pain through her snout.

Wincing, she resisted pulling up a hoof to touch the sore spot, and instead she could only grit her teeth and look up as voices grew louder from the entrance tunnel.

“I don’t think she was that mad to be honest, she wasn’t as yelly as usual.”

“Shh, Meddle. Don’t speak about it anymore. Do you want to get us all in trouble?”

“Grabra bra graw.”

“You tell her, Growly.”

Aphid sighed when four more beings entered the small cave, the other two drones and Burrow trotting next to a biped she was quite familiar with.

“Aphid?”

They all instantly noticed that she was awake, and predicably it was Burrow who immediately made a beeline straight towards her. What she wasn’t expecting was for him to lean down and give her a light nuzzle, her fellow comrade leaning back after a few moments to smile at her.

“You’re awake! Thank the Queen, we were all so worried about you.”

For once, she was thankful for the hard green goo that held her muzzle in place, as it worked wonders for hiding her blush from them all.

“Worried about me?” she quickly tried to cover. “It should be the other way round. Who knows what trouble you’re all getting into without me around to keep you in line.”

Her mental response elected a laugh from Burrow and the drones, her fellow Creature Controller sharing a conspiring look with Muddle and Cypher.

“Well,” Burrow said with a low voice. “Mr Growls was ordered to help the Queen recover by letting her drain him.”

Aphid raised an eye. “Oh?”

“It went well,” Cypher answered with a smile while she brushed up against a panted leg. “Growly was a little wary of the Queen to begin with, but soon she was… well, the ponies would say ‘eating out of his hoof’. So I guess she was eating out of his hand.”

“More like eating his hand,” Muddle sniggered softly, Burrow shooting her a warning look.

‘What did I miss?’

“The Queen is pretty much fully healed though, thanks to him,” continued Burrow. “She was still pretty cranky, but that’s nothing out of the usual.”

“So she’s going to lay off us a bit then?”

Burrow moved to sit down against the wall, the drones following to rest beside him. “Hopefully. There’s a bit more for her to worry about now, after all.” Then, Burrow tilted his head. “Mr Growls? Aren’t you going to sit down?”

Aphid looked back towards Mr Growls, the biped having remained where he was standing. He was looking right at her, and Aphid quickly adverted her eyes with the nurse’s words from before echoing in her mind.

“Grung.”

She was aware of him approaching, but Aphid only looked back up when he sat down and placed a hand on top of her head.

“Gra… grawbra grungraw rawbra. Rawng grabraw.” Mr Growls sheepishly rubbed the back of his own head with his other hand, Aphid blinking as he continued. “Rawbranga graw. Grabran. Graw?”

He seemed to be waiting for something, Aphid looking over towards Burrow and the drones. All five were watching the exchange with smiles, Burrow nodding his head.

“I’m pretty sure that he’s apologising for crashing into you. He was pretty cut up about it while you were out.”

“Oh…”

She looked up to meet Mr Growl’s eyes, her forehoof pointing towards her sealed mouth.

“Can someone tell him that it’s okay?”

Burrow pointed back to Mr Growls. “I think he’s already working something out.”

Focusing back, Aphid watched Mr Growls pull out his writing things from his pocket. With the black drawing-stick on white parchment, he seemed to carefully scribble something while she waited. Finished after about a minute, he turned the parchment around proudly and showed her the results.

Aphid stared at the crudely drawn picture of a changeling shaking hooves with… a mass of lines that she assumed was supposed to be himself. Lightly smiling at her, he took the parchment back and drew one big line underneath his picture.

“Grung.”

The parchment and drawing-stick were placed down in front of her, Aphid quickly getting the idea.

Ensuring to shield the paper from his view with a foreleg her horn lit up as she quickly got to work. Mr Growls sat back all the while, arms crossed as he waited for her to finish.

Aphid took a few minutes to finish, but when she did so she held the writing-parchment out to him, face down. Gently taking it from her, he nodded before flipping it over and looking at her response.

His smile dropped.

“Aphid,” Burrow questioned from his spot, having watched the entire exchange. “What’s wrong?”

The parchment was passed over to Burrow, Mr Growls shooting her an unamused look as he did so. Burrow grasped it in his hooves, and was silent for a few moments.

“I see,” he stated flatly. “A penis. A big, incredibly detailed, changeling penis.”

Burrow lowed the parchment as the four drones sat up to look at the drawing.

“Aphid, I think you misunderstood the purpose of his gesture.”

“Ha-!”

She stopped laughing immediately as pain smashed through her snout, her hooves cradling her face as she realised her mistake.
Then, a soft hand grabbed her left foreleg, and she felt something she wasn’t expecting.

A large, healthy dose of concern.

The soothing energy flowed into her like a flood, the positive emotion swelling up and soothing the pain plaguing her. In fact, within a few moments it was gone completely, and Aphid withdrew her hooves to look back up.

Mr Growls had furrowed his eyes, and behind him she could see Burrow about to get out of his seat with worry plain to see.

“I’m fine, really,” she reassured those able to mentally communicate. “Sit back down, Burrow.”

He did as asked, and Aphid pulled her foreleg out of Mr Growl’s grasp to lie back down.

‘Can’t even laugh at Growly anymore.’

Flopping back down upon her side, not even a nice ear scratch could cheer her up. She looked up at the biped sitting next to her, granted he was at least trying something, but in the end she just shook her head at him.

“It’s just no use, Growly.”

The ear scratch slowed, almost as if he had heard her. Frowning, Mr Growls slowly removed his hand from her head.

And then, Aphid saw his eyes light up.

‘Hmm?’

A five-fingered hand dived into a patchwork pocket, before it emerged with an item that instantly took hold of Aphid’s full attention.

A cream-coloured necklace, two clear ends tied together neatly in a bow.

‘About time.’

Even if she wasn’t prevented from speaking, Aphid still wouldn’t have voiced the half-complaint out loud. Instead, she remained still save for bowing her head and her slight excited trembling. Her reward came soon after, one edge of the alien gift catching on the tip of her horn for a second before it slipped over neatly to rest around her neck.

Aphid looked down and touched the clear ends with her hooves, her eyes marvelling at the sheer detail that they seemed to hold. Looking closer, she could even make out small bits of bronze-coloured metal within the centre. It seemed like an impossible craft to complete by hoof, or in this case hand, and she figured that the sheer value of the necklaces Growly had been handing out must have been huge.

Looking back up to meet his eyes, Aphid had to find another way to say thanks without being able to talk or even smile.

‘Nurses be damned.’

Lunging forwards, she wrapped her forelegs (or tried to, anyway) around a large stomach, and nuzzled against the drone-made shirt while taking care not to make contact with the injured parts of her face.

“…Rangraw.”

Despite the sigh, and the muffled laughter from her fellows observing, Aphid could still feel the small trickle of affection that signalled the acknowledgement of her appreciation.

‘Maybe these six days won’t be so bad after all,’ she thought while a hand rested upon her back and she happily arched up to meet the rub. ‘Not with me being able to guilt-trip Growly like this, anyway.’

Hoofsteps upon rocky stone echoed through the main cavern, changelings all around bowing in reference to the figure that marched out of a tunnel with five soldiers flanking her on each side.

Chrysalis ignored the wisps of surprise and awe that floated towards her from her gathered subjects as she surveyed the gloomy cave with a glint in her eyes. Her heart pumped strongly in her chest, a surprising amount of new-found strength surging through her veins with every beat. Even the guards around her were having difficultly repressing their shock at the situation, and it was with a smug smile with which Queen Chrysalis said her next words.

“Attention, my children!” she addressed, her voice booming and strong. “There is no time for us to delay in returning to the Hive, now that I have recovered fully!”

‘And then some,’ she silently admitted.

Straightening with pride at the whispered chattering that broke out at her announcement, Chrysalis continued on while still smiling.

“I know that many of you are still injured, lacking my royal constitution, but it matters not.” Her smile lessened. “The foolish Equestrians continue to hunt for us above ground, likely thinking that we took shelter in the mountains above these very caves. Ha! Once again they underestimate my cunning! We will return to our Hive with our prisoners and loot, we will feed, we will grow in number. And then…”

She allowed herself a quick and evil laugh.

“And then we shall return to their lands with renewed strength, to take what should be mine!”

This time, her subjects all joined in with the laughter, the entire cave echoing with the sound of buzzing wings and stamping hooves.
Chrysalis basked in the feelings of eager agreement, her already swell mood increasing even more.

Then, with a wave of her hoof and a quick mental command, she silenced them all.

“I’m pleased that you all agree with my course of action. As such, I expect you all to be ready to depart down the tunnel as soon as I command it.” Her tone gained an edge of warning. “I expect it to be in a few minutes, stragglers will be left behind to find their own way back.”

With that, she turned and led her guards towards one small tunnel in particular, Chrysalis once again inwardly gloating over her refreshed physical state.

‘Still one more thing to take care of,’ she thought with an absence of her usual malice. It was quite a surprise for her when she realised it.
Leaving the main cave behind, it was only a small trot through the tunnel before she reached one of the smaller caves that she knew of.

Pausing and looking back at her soldiers, she waved a hoof.

“Wait for me here, I will be out again in a moment.”

“My Queen,” the lead soldier acknowledged with a bow of his head, the others following suite.

Focusing back on the cave, Chrysalis trotted right into it and took a moment to examine the occupants.

The Foodbag was sitting down in the centre, the female Creature Controller sprawled out on her back in his lap. Chrysalis could almost taste the enjoyment as a hand gently rubbed a stomach, the Creature Controller’s hind hooves twitching with every stroke.

She almost wanted to take the Creature Controller’s place.

‘Wait, what?’

Chrysalis blinked her eyes at the brief thought, a snort escaping her nostrils at the mere suggestion of allowing such a beast to… pet her royal form so. She was Queen of the Changelings, not some mere soldier who she couldn’t even remember the name of.

Still, she felt no need to order them to stop. Passing it off as a shred of sympathy once she noticed the obvious injuries of the Creature Controller, who was no doubt feeding off of the energy for recovery purposes, Chrysalis turned her attention to the rest of the Foodbag’s handlers.

The male Creature Controller had already shot up to his hooves as soon as he had noticed her enter, and the four drones were not far behind. All five bowed, Chrysalis noticing the male shoot a glance towards the Foodbag.

“Aphid!” he hissed. “The Queen is here!”

To her credit, the Creature Controller at least managed to look up at her. The Foodbeast had also paused and was now focused on her, Chrysalis taking note of how he protectively tucked his free hand into his pocket.

A brief flash of a finger-filled memory, and Chrysalis found her tongue giving her lips an unconscious lick. She didn’t notice the Foodbeast flinch, being too focused on shaking her head to chase another bad thought away.

‘Just what in Tartarus is wrong with me?’

“My Queen, I’m so sorry!”

Putting her attention back to the mental words, Chrysalis eyed Aphid. The Creature Controller was trying to struggled to her hooves, but it seemed as if the biped’s lap was a deep and difficult trap to escape indeed. Chrysalis held up a hoof to holt her once the Foodbag went to help her off, though.

“Don’t worry about,” she dismissed, the surprise from the other changelings easy to pick up. “I’m not here for shows of reverence, I am here to speak to the Foodbag.”

“Oh…” the male Creature Controller said, one eye raised. “You want to speak with Mr Growls?”

“Amazing,” Chrysalis huffed with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve got a Creature Controller that’s unable to speak, and now one that apparently can’t hear, either. Now all I need is a blind changeling to add to this group and it’ll all be complete!”

The male shut his mouth, and lowered his head ashamed.

Dismissing him as not worthy of the worry, Chrysalis focused back on the Foodbeast and raised a hoof to point at him.

“You, Foodbeast.”

The dumb creature blinked his beady little eyes, one hand still resting upon Aphid’s belly. “I found the sustenance you provided me with to be most… sufficient.”

A brief image of incredibly nommable fingers flashed through her mind, Chrysalis gritting her teeth into a smile and trying hard to ignore it.

“As such, I am going to make you my official evening meal.” She smirked. “You should be honoured.”

There was a harsh cough, and both Chrysalis and the ‘Foodbeast’ broke eye contact to look towards the male Creature Controller. The four drones stared with worry as the male straightened up, his face scrunched up with hesitation.

“My Queen, as much as as… honour that it is…” he gulped. “Do you really think that it’s such a good idea to feed off of him so often? We had a nurse around earlier checking up on Aphid and she said…”

The soldier trailed off as Chrysalis leaned in towards him, lime-green eyes digging a stern glare into the hapless fool’s own.

“Soldier,” Chrysalis began slowly. “Do I look like a changeling that a nurse has authority over?” She got closer still, her muzzle nearly touching his own. “Do you think that a nurse would even command a full understanding of my own royal magnificence?”

The four drones had notably stepped away from the two of them, and wisely everyone had kept their mouths shut during her questions. The male soldier was left on his own, and he loudly swallowed another lump in his throat before he tried to answer.

“Um… I…”

“Grungra.”

Chrysalis snapped her head around at the interruption, the biped having set the other Creature Controller down on her hooves before his challenge. Said Creature Controller had wisely decided to take shelter behind his legs.

He was frowning at her with his eyes crossed, Chrysalis meeting it with a glare of her own.

‘Gah! I hate having to look up to this beast whenever he is standing!’

“Rawng grunder grabra grungraw,” the Foodbeast grunted out with a finger poking out to point at the only male changeling in the room. “Grungra graw.”

Now, normally Chrysalis would have bared her fangs at anyone who dared to defy her will, especially if they were some lowly non-changeling. A quick jolt from her magic or a short burst of mind-control would be the follow up if they were really unlucky or persistently rude, followed of course by the unpleasant experience of being love-drained to near-emptiness.

Unfortunately for her, this time she found herself still focusing on the delicious finger the was just hovering there in the air. A sweet, innocent finger that was just helplessly attached to an equally scrumptious hand, the digit almost taunting her with its urge to be savagely ravaged by her royal tongue…

A drop of drool nearly escaped her mouth, and Chrysalis quickly snapped her jaws shut before it had the chance to reveal itself to everyone watching. A shudder ran down her spine, and she further disguised her uncomfortable urges with a huff and irritated flick of her mane.

“Fine, you can prepare to depart without me here,” she grunted. Turning, she shot steely glances towards the two Creature Controllers. “My previous decree hasn’t changed either. I expect the Foodbeast to be brought before me at every sundown.” Her eyes lingered on the male soldier. “Understood?”

“Yes, my Queen,” the male hurried out with his head still bowed.

“As you command.”

“Good.” She looked back over her shoulder at the Foodbeast, his arms still crossed as he watched her warily.

‘A defiant one, aren’t you?’ she thought, before making sure to meet his eyes with a final stare. ‘Unusual, especially for one that looks so disgusting, you fat Oaf.’

“Oi, watch your mouth, Cunt.”

The room’s temperature seemed to drop to a chill.

“Who dares!?” Chrysalis hissed, eyes blazing with a dangerous fury as she swept her eyes across the occupants of the room. Every changeling hunched down with flinches at her words and venomous tone, Chrysalis’ tongue flicking in and out as she tried to taste any hint of the culprit.

There was none, her eyes finally making it back to the now confused biped’s.

“Talk about bloody fucking ballistic.”

“Again!” Chrysalis gave her terrified subjects another furious examination. “I will find you, and I will take your chitin from you! Mark my words!”

A stammering stutter escaped from a huddled drone.

“Q-Queen Chrysalis, what did we d-do wrong?”

Her tongue flicked out at the drone, before Chrysalis pulled her head back with a puff of air through her sharp fangs. With slitted eyes she glared at all six of the possible offenders, still unable to find one trace of the idiotic rebel.

Snarling, she gave the room a quick flurry of glares before her eyes rested back upon the Foodbag.

“You better not be hiding a changeling behind that bulk of yours!” she uttered menacingly, another burst of mental communication choosing that exact time to enter her head.

“The fuck does she even want?”

Chrysalis went stock still, before her eyes blinked in shock.

‘No…’ she thought while still looking into the beady blue eyes. ‘It can’t be the Foodbag..’

“The fucking what?”

It was at that time that both Chrysalis and the ‘Foodbag’ stiffened, both of them continuing to look into each other’s eyes as they tried to process their identical conclusions. It was Chrysalis who broke the ‘silence’, her hooves taking her a step back as she fully comprehended the situation.

“What fresh torment is this!?”

Foodbag was notably less eloquent in his own addition.

“Fuck me sideways and call me Sheila...”

Come On In, The Water's Fine

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Burrow had to resist the urge to bolt from the cave as Chrysalis uttered a low and menacing growl. The four drones cowering behind him were likewise fighting the same compulsion, he could feel at least one of them shivering. Across the room, Aphid peeked out at Chrysalis from behind Mr Growl’s legs, his fellow soldier’s eyes wide with fear and confusion.

He couldn’t help but share in her befuddlement. At first everything had been going pretty well, and it had seemed that Mr Growls and Chrysalis had started to come to some sort of accord, but then the furious outbursts had started. The Queen appeared to be under the impression that one of them was mentally insulting her, but Burrow was positive that no-one in the cave would ever be foolish enough to challenge the imposing monarch directly.

“You? You!?”

‘Wait, what?’ Burrow furrowed his brows when Chrysalis pointed a hoof directly towards Mr Growls.

“How are you doing that!?”

Burrow looked towards Mr Growls, the biped’s own eyes narrowed and head tilted.

“Grung rawbra… Gra?”

The undecipherable-as-usual reply elicited a low hiss from Chrysalis.

“Foodbeast.” The Queen’s fangs flashed. “Did you just call me… a crazy bug?”

Burrow alternated his glances from Mr Growls to Chrysalis every few seconds.

‘I… I am completely and utterly lost.’

“You are getting dangerously close to provoking me, beast!” Chrysalis shouted at Mr Growls once again, before she paused and shook her head after a few seconds. “What does that even mean!? You are speaking nothing but nonsense words and insults!” Another few moments of silence, and Chrysalis snarled. “You’re the one that is acting like a ‘stroppy sook!’.”

“Oh no…” he heard Muddle whisper fearfully from behind him. “The Queen’s actually lost it this time…”

As if on cue, Chrysalis swung her head around to glare at them with her hoof still pointing towards Mr Growls.

“Do you hear the filth that your Foodbeast is saying to your Queen? Have you not trained him at all?”

All of them glanced back at Mr Growls, the biped having crossed his arms with a frown.

“Rawbra grung raw graw.” A finger was then pointed at Chrysalis. “Grubbra grung rawb grawbra.”

Burrow slowly looked back towards Chrysalis to meet her furious eyes, and he had to swallow a lump in his throat before answering her.

“Uh… well, we can certainly hear him, Your Highness. It’s just that…” he trailed off, the last bit of his courage fleeing him as Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed further.

“Yes?”

“What Burrow means,” Cypher managed to get out. “Is that we can’t really, uh, understand what he’s saying.” She quickly coughed into her hoof.

“It is kind of all grunts and, well…” Meddle took over. “Growls. My Queen.”

Chrysalis stopped pointing her foreleg at Mr Growls, and leaned her head in towards them.

“I realise that,” she spat. “I am referring to his interference with the Hive Link! How come none of you sought to bring this to my attention earlier?” She looked back at the biped, and hissed again. “He is a non-changeling, and a rude one at that!”

Burrow’s ears picked up at the news, and despite the Queen’s rage he couldn’t help but take a step forwards.

“My Queen… did you just say that Mr Growls is in the Hive link?” He resisted the urge to grin. “And that you can speak to him?”

Evidently it was the wrong question to ask at the current time, and he quickly found himself on the receiving end of a venomous glare and a low growl. Burrow’s eagerness to investigate the Queen’s claim quickly fled as she leaned in close to him and narrowed her eyes further.

“Creature-controller,” she stated low and evenly. “This is no time for celebration. I have much to deal with, and adding this annoyance into the mix is not something that you want.” Chrysalis glared around the room, making sure that everyone was paying her their full attention. “It’s not something that any of you want, let me make that clear now.”

She stood back up and made a point of avoiding eye-contact with Mr Growls, her eyes shut as she massaged her forehead with a hoof. Then, opening them again, she shook her head and let out a snort.

“I’ve had enough stupidity for now. I’m done.” Frowning once more at Burrow, she pointed a hoof towards him. “Fix this issue. Find out how he did it, find out why, and then find out how to stop it. If you don’t, I’ll have him investigated by the scholars… and all of you punished. Severely.”

A second’s pause was left to allow the threat to sink in. “Do I make myself clear?”

Burrow nodded quickly, and bowed his head afterwards.

“Yes, my Queen.”

“Good. We leave in a matter of moments.”

He looked back up, Chrysalis already having turned and started to hurry out of the small cave they were in. Burrow was quite glad to see her gone, and he took the time to wipe the sweat off of his brow.

“My Queen?”

Burrow froze as Meddle spoke up from behind him, Chrysalis pausing in the cave tunnel.

“Do you still want us to bring him to you so you can feed?”

The Queen didn’t even turn around, Burrow swearing that she seemed to tense up before relaxing.

“Of course. I need the energy, after all… unfortunately.”

The last word was faint, but Burrow still managed to pick up on it.

He was wise enough to not say anything, and Chrysalis left without any further interruptions. He waited for a few moments for her to get out of earshot, before he turned to stare at Meddle. She looked back at him with wide eyes, before she tilted her head.

“What?”

“I…” Burrow gritted his teeth, before sighing. “Never mind.” He gave up and trotted over to Mr Growls, leaving the drones to whisper amongst themselves.

Aphid was already sitting down when he reached them, his fellow soldier staring up at the silent biped as she held her forehooves tight to her temples.

‘I need to meet new changelings,’ Burrow thought to himself, closing his eyes for a brief moment, before he opened them again and prepared himself.

“Aphid, what are you doing?”

“Trying to communicate with him,” she replied over the Link without breaking eye contact with Mr Growls. “Chrysalis only seemed to freak out when they were looking at each other, so maybe that’s why he can apparently ‘talk’ to her. You have to look at him and concentrate maybe.”

Burrow tilted his head. “Huh, that actually makes a bit of sense.” He looked back up at Mr Growls. “Any luck so far?”

“Not quit- Hey, Growly!”

“Graw?”

Mr Growls turned and tilted his head, and in doing so broke eye contact with Aphid. A finger was then pointed at her, and the other hand went up to scratch the confused biped’s head.

Unable to resist, Burrow cracked a smile.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Did he just talk to you?” Aphid had gotten to her hooves and immediately pushed her way in-between them to face Mr Growls once more. “Growly, did you just talk to Burrow, and not me!? Growly!?”

“No Aphid, I was just…”

“Growly!?”

“Oh! Oh!”

Things only got worse for Burrow as the four drones swarmed around him, pushing and shoving in their attempt to get the closest to Mr Growls.

“We can help!” Mirror eagerly stated. ”Growly!”

“Growly!” Cypher joined in, eyes wide as she grinned up at the backpedalling biped. “Speak to us Growly!”

“Growly!” both Meddle and Muddle contributed at once as the females kept pace with his retreat.

Mr Growls quickly found himself out of cave, and with a thud his back hit the wall. Burrow noticed him glancing nervously between all five of his silent questioners, and winced at his friend’s predicament.

“We’re helping!” Meddle proudly proclaimed through the link to them all.

‘I’ve got to wonder if being able to hear them over the Hive Link is better for him at all.’

He sat down on his rump and, unable to really do much else, watched on as the females all silently stared up at Mr Growls with their wide and unblinking eyes.

For both of their sakes, he hoped that the Queen would give the order to move out sooner rather than later.

“Crzzt rzzt.”

Daniel glanced down at the bug horse trotting alongside him, the male shaking his head after a few moments of silence.

“Bzzrt chrz.”

A sigh followed up the alien speech, and it wasn’t hard to guess why.

The bug horse hitching a ride on his back shifted slightly, her forelegs clasping tighter around his neck as her hind legs readjusted their position around his waist. He frowned while she settled down into her new position, the creature resting her head down upon his left shoulder and letting out a wheeze through her nose.

Trudging through yet another long and dark cave tunnel, bug-horses all around him, Daniel couldn’t help but get the feeling that she was playing him.

‘I mean, sure, a hug now and then is nothing really, considering.’

The female wiggled her head in closer to his cheek with a happy snort just as the thought popped up.

‘But she can bloody well forget it if she thinks I’m going to be waiting on her like some sort of butler forever.’

He focused back on the way ahead, the occasional green glow of a bug-horse horn lighting up the otherwise pitch-black tunnel. There were more important things to worry about, after all.

‘Fuck, the tall one’s certainly bad enough,’ he thought with a frown. ‘I liked it better when she was just pissed off, now she’s pissed off and can argue about it with me.’

Daniel absentmindedly smacked the side of the rocky tunnel wall with a fist, drawing glances from a few bug-horses that he didn’t pay any mind to.

‘I bet she can probably hear me right now, head-invading grumpy bitch.’

He paused and looked out through the darkness towards the head of the trotting black mass, no telepathic insult flying out in retort.

‘Maybe not then.’

It was certainly strange. Well, relatively. He was currently surrounded with waist-high sapient magical insect-aliens on the run from magical sapient ponies after all. But no matter how hard he tried to file the new occurrences under the ‘deal with it later’ mental folder, he just couldn’t quite shake off the new concerns.

‘I would have thought that being able to actually communicate with them would have been a good thing, but of course…’

He was unable to keep his scoff inaudible.

“The top dog has to be a psycho.”

“Bzzzrt?”

Daniel looked back down to his right, his words having grained his friend’s attention. Bright blue eyes stared up at him as an ear flicked, the bug-horse swerving slightly to avoid a small rock in his path.

“See? Why couldn’t I be able to speak to you instead? You know, with the whole mind-thing? At least you seem to be sort of sane.”

He got a tilt of a head in return.

“Not that you’ve got much competition, after all.”

Daniel quickly glanced behind him, setting eyes on a group of four bug-horses. The different network cables around their necks made identifying them easy enough in the gloom, the females ceasing their hushed chattering once they noticed the attention.

He was immediately met with wide smiles and ear twitches, and Daniel hurriedly returned his eyes to the front in the hopes that they would remain content to stay behind him.

But it was in vain.

He sighed to himself as he felt one of them move up alongside his leg, the creature continuing to trot along in time with him while occasionally bumping her side against him to make her demands known.

“Crzzt brzt.”

Glancing down to his left, Daniel met his friend’s eyes just in time to receive a pointed eye (or rather pupil) roll.

“Yeah, I know,” he muttered back as his right hand lowered down to give the other bug-horse the head rub she wanted. “Sometimes I just bring it upon myself.”

“Chrrzt.”

“Pfft,” Daniel scoffed while he focused back on walking along through the tunnel. “Like you can talk.”

“Well, we’re making good progress despite all of the injuries. I’ve ordered a few scouts to check out the way ahead, but for now I think we should be okay to rest for a few hours. I’ve also commanded that everyone gets half-rations as well, so we don’t overdraw from our current stocks. Is that okay, Your Highness?”

Chrysalis didn’t pay Scuttle any mind as he prattled on, her attention focused solely on her aching left forehoof. Leaning back further into the large white cushion that one of her subjects had pilfered from a pony house and subsequently ‘gifted’ to her, she frowned while she used her magic to pluck a small yet sharp stone from the inside edge.

“My Queen?”

“What!?”

Her snarl echoed around the small cave that they were both sitting in, a few changelings lying down in the outside tunnel lifting their heads to peek in through the small entrance. They quickly averted their curious gazes when they noticed her eyes dart towards them, and Chrysalis snorted before refocusing solely on Scuttle.

The Commander, to his credit, hadn’t even flinched at her irritated reply. Instead, he gave it a second before repeating himself.

“I said that I ordered for the love-ration to be cut in half. Is that okay with you?”

Wriggling back further into the pillow, Chrysalis flicked an ear and breathed out through her nose. “Why wouldn’t it be?” She frowned. “I’ve got better things to concern myself with than rations at the moment. Think more, Scuttle.”

Scuttle, sitting down in his full armour and helm, didn’t reply for a few moments. Chrysalis ignored his unblinking stare, and instead focused on shifting herself into a new resting position atop of the pillow. Laying down on her right side, she grimaced as her bottom half was forced to rest down upon the cold stone ground.

‘I bet that Cadence, curse her, hasn’t had to suffer the indignity of having to spend even a single minute with her rump on the cold ground.’

Then the memory of the crystal caves beneath Canterlot entered her mind, and Chrysalis felt some of the irritation lift as it did so.

‘Well, more than a few days, in any case.’

Unfortunately, it was a fleeting moment of wicked happiness, and she quickly found herself slipping back into her regular scowl again. The comfortable pillow did little to take her mind off of everything, and she snorted air out of her nose once more with a huff.

There was movement to her left.

“Is something wrong, My Queen?”

Chrysalis didn’t even bother to look at Scuttle, or even muster up any malice to inject into her answer.

“Oh, nothing at all, Commander. I’m only stuck in a cold tunnel away from my throne, after losing to a bunch of high-and-mighty pony princesses and their irritating, soft-hearted subjects.” She scoffed. “Then another personal loss to that arrogant, so-called ‘Princess of the Night’. Then being forced to flee from Equestrians once again…”

She laid her head down upon her forelegs, her eyes furrowed.

“And to top it all off,” she continued with her voice dropping to a mutter. “The Foodbeast of all things is suddenly able to insult me over the Hive Link like it’s natural. The Creature Controllers I picked are inept, everyone seems to be utterly incapable of doing anything helpful, and… nothing seems to be going right.”

Another scoff, and she didn’t continue. Instead, she just stared at the dusty cave wall and waited for Scuttle to undoubtedly prattle off yet another useless question.

“Well,” he said after a few moments. “I suppose there’s some valid complaints.”

‘I can’t even be bothered to berate him…’

“But, how about…” Scuttle leaned in slightly. “I fetch you a nice, love-filled pony snack to take your mind off of things? I’m sure that I can find one that’s almost unused, and-“

Chrysalis silenced him with a buzz of her wings, her head not moving from its spot upon her forelegs.

“No,” she groaned, wincing briefly. “Don’t you remember? The Foodbeast is being brought to me soon, unfortunately.”

Scuttle raised an eye.

“I thought you liked the Foodbeast?”

“I like feeding off of the Foodbeast,” she quickly corrected him with a growl. “I eagerly await the day I drain that irritating blubber-pile into nothingness.”

This time, it was Scuttle that scoffed.

“Oh, come on. The energy he emits is bountiful and satisfying, and I doubt that he’s that bad. The other changelings seem to get on fine with him from what I’ve heard and seen.”

Chrysalis folded her ears down and groaned. “They can’t talk to him. I’m not lying when I say that it’s an irritating experience to go through, I don’t even understand half of the words that exit his disgusting mind.”

“So no progress on getting any useful information then?”

“…Scuttle, shut up.”

She could almost feel his smirk.

“Of course, my Queen.” There was a shuffling sound as he shifted on his spot. “Besides, I think that we’re about to receive some visitors.”

Chrysalis lifted her head, frown primed and ready, just as her evening meal arrived through the entryway.

Stepping hesitantly into the cave, the Foodbeast squinted his beady eyes as he looked around as a single drone trotted before him with her horn lit up with a soft green glow. Chrysalis immediately noticed the bright red cord that was hanging around the drone’s neck, marking it as one of the changelings that somehow was able to withstand the beast’s presence for extended amounts of time.

Both arrivals immediately paused upon spotting Scuttle and her, yet only the drone had the sense to drop to her knees in a bow.

“Y-your Highness, Commander,” the lowly female addressed without looking up. “I’ve brought Growly, like you wanted.”

Chrysalis noticed that the Foodbeast was taking care to advert his eyes, a fat hand scratching his stomach through the ugly patchwork clothes he was wearing.

“Growly?” Scuttle questioned from the side with a slight laugh. “I thought that he was supposed to be a ‘Mister something’?”

The drone, perhaps curious at the light-hearted query, raised her head to look at them both.

“Only Burrow… I mean, the Creature Controller, calls him ‘Mr Growls’ anymore.” One of her ears twitched. “Commander Scuttle, Sir.”

“Oh,” Scuttle followed up with an eye raise. “I see. You like him that much, do you?”

A light green shade tinged the drone’s cheeks, visible even in the darkness.

“I… ah, well, he’s just really nice and all, Commander. All of us, the six of us watching Growly I mean, we all get along with him really well. We help him fit in and feel comfortable, you know?”

Chrysalis didn’t miss the way Scuttle’s smile grew as he glanced up at the grimacing biped.

“Oh, I can certainly see it, Drone.”

Both of them ceased talking when Chrysalis decided to make herself known, her throat-clear causing the drone’s eyes to widen.

“Are you both quite done?” she asked, before quickly raising one of her forelegs. “I’m not actually asking Scuttle, I’m displaying my irritation.”

Scuttle wisely closed his mouth.

Chrysalis focused on the drone, the changeling shivering under her gaze. “I believe that’s all, Drone. Leave us.”

The drone broke her bow, but didn’t start to move out of the cave. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes to get her point across, yet still the drone hesitated.

“Um, I’d love to, My Queen,” the changeling hurried out with another bow of her head. “But it’s Growly. He can’t see that well in the dark, and well…” The drone’s foreleg went up to touch her glowing horn. “I’m sort of making sure that he can see where he’s going.” She bumped her flank against the Foodbeast’s leg, and smiled nervously. “I’m not being mean, but if he falls over then he might… crush someone.”

Chrysalis fixed her with an unamused glare.

“Drone, I gave you an order, did I not?”

“I… yes, you did,” the drone answered with a wince, before she seemed to take a deep breath and straighten up. Meanwhile, the Foodbeast was glancing between them all with his hand scratching his head.

“A light would be good,” Scuttle suddenly chimed in again. Chrysalis shot him a look, her Commander looking back at her with a shrug. “What? She has a pretty good point. I don’t want to have to sit around with my horn acting as a torch, do you?”

Looking back at the drone, Chrysalis huffed.

“Fine,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “The drone can stay. Just remember, if you speak of what goes on in this cave to anyone…”
She let the threat hang in the air, the drone gulping as she no doubt imagined any number of the possible punishments.

“I… I won’t, My Queen.”

“Good.”

The drone smiled and looked up towards the still-confused Foodbeast.

“Besides, I don’t think this feeding is going to be half as embarrassing than when you started sleep-sucking Growly’s-“

Chrysalis’ head immediately shot up straight, her fangs flashing wide and sharp at her subject.

“Silence! Finish that sentence and I’ll have your head decorating the top of my throne!”

With a yelp, the drone immediately fled for the sanctuary of the Foodbeast’s legs, the female sheltering from the withering royal glare behind a wall of bipedal blubber. Chrysalis didn’t let up, save for a quick glance to the entryway to once again ward off the unwanted attention from the changelings outside.

“Don’t think that your precious Foodbeast will save you from me, whelp!” Chrysalis spat with narrowed eyes. “I ordered you to never, ever mention what happened in that cave! I should de-chitin you right now!”

“I’m sorry!” the drone wailed as she collapsed down and covered her eyes with her forelegs. “I’m so sorry Queen Chrysalis! Please don’t take my chitin!”

“Graw-“

“You shut your mouth!” Chrysalis shot to her hooves, one foreleg extending out to point right at the cowering drone while maintaining her glare on the female. “For once, this isn’t about you! This is a solely changeling matter and as Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, I alone am the only... the only…”

Chrysalis, the Foodbeast, and even the teary-eyed drone stopped their respective yelling, grunting, and sobbing to glance over at the slowly-building source of laughter.

“You…, oh my…”

Scuttle slapped his armoured side.

“You sucked his what!?”

A lime-green eye twitched.

“I swear I…” Chrysalis gritted her teeth while Scuttle continued to shake with laughter. “It was his fingers, his fingers Scuttle! That’s all!” Her Commander continued to laugh, Chrysalis shaking with rage as she stamped her hoof on the rocky floor. “Stop laughing you fool!”

“C…can’t!” Scuttle wheezed, collapsing onto his back and rolling onto his side. “Too… funny. Image… stuck in my h-head and… ah-ha-ha!” He continued to roll, his purple armour quickly gaining a fresh coating of dust. “Can’t stop l-laughing. Send help!”

“Why you…!”

Scuttle didn’t stand a chance. With a snarl and a embarrassed blush, Chrysalis powered up her horn and magically plucked up her Commander from his spot on the ground. With nary a second thought she then flung him out through the entryway and into the main tunnel, Scuttle’s guffaws continuing to be heard even as he flew through the air unaided by his wings.

The resulting crash of changeling-armour impacting against hard ground was quickly drowned out by the nervous chattering of the many witnesses outside in the tunnel, and Chrysalis let out one more low growl before she stopped the magic glow to her horn and returned to her pillow.

“Just great,” she grumbled, flopping her belly down atop of the comfortable cushion and rotating to face the wall. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”
She continued to fume in the following silence, her head once again going down to rest upon her crossed forelegs.

“Um…”

Chrysalis closed her eyes and tried to take a calming breath as hoofsteps approached from behind her.

“My Queen? Do you want me to take Growly away and, maybe, come back in a little bit when you’re… feeling better?”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Chrysalis raised her head up once more. Twisting around, she locked eyes with the drone and asked her a question with a perfectly even voice.

“What’s your name?”

The drone swallowed a lump in her throat.

“C…Cypher, Your Highness.”

“I see,” Chrysalis nodded. “Cypher. I shan’t quickly forget that name.”

Cypher made to take a step back, but Chrysalis got in first.

“Cypher, be a good drone for me, will you?”

Her hoof patted a spot on the ground right beside her.

“Come sit down beside your Queen.” Her eyes flashed with a dangerous glint. “I insist.”

“O-oh… wow,” Cypher gulped again, but wisely decided to start trotting over. “You h-honour me, My Queen.”

Chrysalis didn’t take her eyes off of the drone as the she hesitantly moved over, Cypher wincing as she sat down right by her side. Reaching out a foreleg, Chrysalis patted her on the head and watched as Cypher shivered under her touch.

“Don’t be afraid, my subject,” Chrysalis reassured. “No harm will come to you,” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “…yet.”

The shivers increased.

“M-m-m-y Que-“

“Just remember to keep your mouth shut when I tell you to, hmm? If you listen to your Queen and obey, then every changeling gets to stay happy. You understand what I’m saying, yes?”

She ceased patting Cypher on the head, and kept her hoof firmly on the drone’s forehead as she made a nodding motion.

“Yes. Your Highness,” Cypher managed out with another shiver.

“Good.” Chrysalis turned her attention to the Foodbeast, the biped still staring at them and scratching his head. She met his beady blue eyes, and had to focus on not flashing her fangs at him. “As for you, sit down beside me.”

Surprisingly, the beast didn’t object or fire back with a barrage of insults. Instead, with eyes shifting to watch the still-shaking drone, he lumbered over to take a seat on the ground next to her without making a sound. Chrysalis watched him all the while, forehead still on top of Cypher’s head.

As soon as the biped had sat down, his back against the cave wall, his eyes once again made contact with hers.

“I’m in no mood for your rudeness,” Chrysalis informed him with an even gaze. With a flash, her horn lit up and her magic moved to envelop his closest hand. “Sit down, shut up…” Her magic moved the hand through the air, warm fingers quickly coming to rest atop of her own head. “And focus on rubbing. Do I make myself clear?”

He simply stared at her, hand not moving.

“You… going to explain what happened?” his irritating mental ‘voice’ asked. “Like… the shouting? Old mate laughing? Or the whole ‘mental chat’ thing? Or…”

“I said rub, not prattle,” she grunted, using her magic to keep his hand steady on her head as she rested on her forelegs once again and broke eye contact to stare at the wall.

The mental quiet that followed was the first true moment of peace for Chrysalis in a long while. As an additional bonus, the Foodbeast seemed to take the hint, and Chrysalis let her magic die out as she felt the soothing fingers start to massage her scalp.

‘I’m starting to really hate being Queen,’ she silently skulked as she ignored the Foodbeast reaching out his other hand over the top of her to pat the rattled drone upon the shoulder. ‘I sometimes wish that I could just be a carefree and spoiled moron, just like that prissy pink wench Cadence…’

Barraging snow whipped all around the desolate wasteland of the frozen north, occasionally blocking out the distant crystal city that sat just outside of the storm’s edge.

“Crrrrystals!”

“Why does he keep saying that!?” Cadence yelled above the howling winds as she continued to gallop for her life, a single backwards glance going to cloud of evil black smoke that swirled around up in the storm behind her.

“I don’t know!” Shining shouted back from beside her as he sent another bolt of magic towards Sombra, before dodging the shard of crystal that shot out in return. “But Celestia forgot to mention anything about this!”

‘I should just give up and leave.’

Daniel sighed and drummed his fingers against both cheeks, his eyes tracking the many cracks in the cave wall as he shifted slightly to dislodge to small pebble from beneath his stomach.

“Crrzrt brzt?”

“No, it’s fine,” he answered with a dismissive wave to the bug-horse straddling his waist. “Just a rock.”

The surprisingly soft hooves resumed their previous movements upon his sore back, and Daniel winced as one of them dug into his left shoulder blade for what seemed like the hundredth time.

The bug-horse sitting on him was certainly commendable in her eagerness to give him a relieving and stress-releasing massage, and he wasn’t exactly the sort to have sought one out previously to compare, but Daniel couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t exactly qualified for the task.

“Brrzt chrrzt, brzzerz…”

“All good,” he forgave with a sigh. “Maybe you’ll miss it on the next try… or the next…”

‘Eh, maybe I’m being a bit harsh,’ he thought as the bug-horse moved her forehooves to his shoulders themselves. ‘It’s not really her fault.’

He glanced sideways towards the snoozing mass beside him, the leader bug-horse curled up on her pillow in a thankfully quiet slumber. She’d conked out a few hours earlier after copious amounts of petting, and Daniel was still without answers to his many pressing questions.

Like the whole sudden telepathy thing. Kind of important, that.

‘Typical bloody luck.’

Still, it was probably for the best, considering her previous mood.

“Chrrzt burzt bzzrt. Czzt.”

“Hmm?”

The bug-horse atop him paused her massage as she spoke, and when he looked up Daniel noticed her glancing towards the cave entrance.

Following her eyes, he spotted the male bug-horse from earlier trot into the cave. In addition to the purple armour and helmet, the creature had the new addition of a brown saddlebag on his right side, a light clinking sound coming from within whenever the bug-horse took a step.

“Cherrzt?” The newcomer asked as he looked around at the three of them, a smirk growing on his face as he no doubt noticed that his leader was asleep.

‘Should probably keep an eye on this one,’ Daniel thought to himself as he recalled the male’s role in the earlier bug-horse fight. ‘He seems to piss off Sour-Tits more often than I do, could be good for a laugh’

The bug-horse on his back obviously had a different opinion, the female rolling off to the side in order to prostrate herself with her head bowed towards the obvious higher-up.

“Brrzt Chrzt.”

“Crzzt.” The male waved off with a buzzing laugh, the bowing female looking up with her head tilting in confusion in response. “Chrzrt Brzt.”

His next words actually caused the female to smile, and she left the bow in order to sit up on her rump with her forelegs in-between her outstretched hind ones. Both of the bug-horses glanced towards the slumbering leader, before they shared a knowing look.

Not really caught up with all of the local bug-horse politics, Daniel took the time to sit up against the cave wall and dust himself off, a frown crossing his face as he realised how dirty his patchwork shirt was.

‘Time for a wash soon,’ he thought absentmindedly, before he winced. ‘Yeah… after last time, it’d be better if I did it on my own terms.’ Memories of a bathtub and a roof flashed in his mind, before he shook them off. Instead, he focused on the armoured bug-horse before him, the creature trotting closer with a grin.

Daniel had learned to not trust the smiles of the bug-horses, so naturally he warily eyed the newcomer and prepared to ward off an advance. Left hand stealthily moving to cover his groin, he waited for the creature to make his move.

The bug-horse’s horn glowed a bright green, and despite being already close he took another step forwards.

‘I’m primed and ready to slap a bitch,’ Daniel tried to mentally warn as he looked into the male’s bright eyes, his right hand tensing by his side as the brightness of the bug-horse’s horn intensified…

Only to dim down as the purple helmet lifted off of the creature’s head to land down on the ground by his side with a green glow.

“Brrrzt czzrt zzrzrt! Zzzrt crzzt!”

Daniel took a second to process the happy greeting, his hand already half-way raised in the air. It took him another few moments to work out the meaning of the raised foreleg that was being held out towards him, the bug-horse still smiling all the while.

“I…” he stammered out before hesitantly reaching out his own hand. “Uh…”

His fingers clasped around the purple leg greave and the top of the bug-horse’s gold-tipped shoe, the strange metal cool to the touch. The bug-horse watched his fingers all the while, head tilted with interest.

“As useless as it is, name’s Daniel.”

Giving the foreleg a few good shakes, he let it go and returned his arm to his side.

‘Says a lot about this place that I can’t even recognise a simple handshake.’

Still at least it was only a handshake and, more interestingly, the first one that had actually been offered to him.

“Zzrt!”

Continuing to smile, the bug-horse lowered his leg and moved to sit down, a green glow removing the saddleback from his side as he did so. Obviously as concerned about modesty as the rest of his kind, the armoured bug-horse was perfectly happy to spread his hind legs wide as he cricked his neck from side to side with a content sigh. Then the saddlebag was plonked down in front of him, the bug-horse chattering rapidly while he swiftly removed both of his forehoof shoes and set them down beside him.

Daniel just sat and watched while the excited creature undid the flap of the saddlebag with his hooves instead of his magic, the creature digging around in the sizable bag with a ponderous expression.

Something warm bumped against his side from the left, and Daniel glanced down to see that the female bug-horse had shifted herself over to sit up against him. She was watching the armoured bug-horse with her head tilted, one ear flicking as the sound of clinking glass once again could be heard.

“Brrzt crzt!”

Daniel looked back to the front just in time to see the male withdraw something from the bag with his triumphant chatter, the bug-horse immediately stretching out his limb with something held carefully in the crook of his hoof.

Gingerly taking the offered item with his fingers, Daniel lifted his hand up to examine the clear drinking glass in the steady glow provided by his bug-horse escort. It was pretty tiny really, looking more like…

“Oh shit,” Daniel mumbled out, before he looked back to witness the male bug-horse take out three differently labelled bottles from within the saddlebag. “Is this…?”

The male’s next action of taking out a further two tiny glasses and passing one to the puzzled female only confirmed his suspicions, and Daniel found himself starting to smile as he watched the grinning bug-horse eagerly remove the cork from the fattest brown bottle. Thick reddish-brown liquid filled the male’s own glass, before the bug-horse held the bottle out towards Daniel with one eye raised.

“Fill ‘er up,” Daniel said as he held his glass out, the bug-horse grinning as he carefully as he complied. The bottle was only taken away once the shotglass was filled, and Daniel sighed happily as he lifted the glass to his nose to take a whiff of the strong alcohol. “Fucking finally, someone is starting to talk my language around here.”

“Crrzzt zrrt,” the male seemed to chatter in agreement as he filled the female’s glass, before the bottle was placed on the ground and the male’s glass held out into the air. “Zrrt chzzrt, brzzt!”

“Damn right,” Daniel grunted as he clinked his glass together with the male’s. He could have been toasting world genocide, and he still wouldn’t have really cared one bit.

The female bug-horse, having sniffed her drink and scrunched up her face afterwards, looked to both of them before hesitantly clinking her own glass against theirs. The male then immediately withdrew his and made to take a drink, the female hesitantly bringing her own glass in to take a hesitant sip.

She stopped before any liquid reached her tongue, Daniel having tapped her on the shoulder to grab her attention.
“Nah,” he told her as she looked up. “Like this.”

With her attention on him, he raised the glass to his lips and tipped his head back, draining the shot with one gulp before placing the glass on his thigh and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

To be honest, the taste was horrible. Comparable to the cheapest bourbon often found in only the most refined backyard pissups of the local bogan gentry, he was used to far better. Still, grog was grog, and the drink’s strength was readily apparent as the alcohol continued to burn in his throat.

“Fuck, I needed this,” he announced out loud despite there being no chance that his present company could understand. “You should hook us up with-“

He didn’t even need to finish his sentence before the bottle was already back at the rim of his glass, the male bug-horse flashing him a fang-filled grin with his own glass already refilled. Daniel stared down at his now full-again glass as the bottle was once again withdrawn, before looking back up at the bug-horse.

“Like I said, talking the same language here.”

“Chrzt.”

Once again, in apparent agreement, both of them raised their shotglasses at once and simultaneously downed their second drinks without another word. Daniel, still slightly aware of the sleeping (and continuously cranky) leader next to him, put a fist over his mouth to muffle the belch that came afterwards. He had barely lowered his empty glass before the bottle was once again filling it back up, Daniel glancing back towards the female at his side.

She was still hesitantly sniffing her full glass, Daniel grinning and rolling his eyes at her.

“Come on,” he goaded, making a drinking motion as she looked up at him. “Give it a chug.”

“Zrrt brzt,” the male bug-horse joined in, nodding in agreement. “Crzzt brrzzrt.”

“At least have one. We’re already on our third.”

The female glanced back down at the glass held in her hooves, before she wrinkled her nose. Closing her eyes, she lifted it up and in one fluid motion downed the entire drink fully with a gulp. Barely even a moment passed before her face scrunched up again and she spat out her little red tongue with a hacking cough, her head shaking from side to side as she ‘savoured’ the booze’s ‘delicate’ aftertaste.

“Crzzrzrzrt!” the male chuckled, pausing to quickly down his third drink before making to refill it immediately. “Brrzt chrrzt zrzt! Brrzt crzt.”

“Chrzrt!” the female answered with a sour expression, before glancing down at her empty glass with disgust. “Brzt!”

“Crzzrzrzrt!”

Daniel let them have their conversation as he downed his own glass again, the drink tasting noticeably better this time around. Only starting to just feel a tingle, he placed his empty glass down in the hopes of getting another refill.

He had barely finished his thought before the bottle was once again moved into pouring position, this time with a green glow around it. Daniel looked towards the male and scoffed as he watched him take another drink while simultaneously pouring.

“Show-off. Let’s get to eight and then we’ll see how well you majick-it.”

A smug grunt was the only reply, and they both turned to stare at the female as the bottle was withdrawn from his glass to hover by hers.
“Up for another?” He asked her, waggling his own full glass. “It gets better as you drink more, honest.”

She removed her hoof from the side of her head as he spoke, her eyes going from her empty glass to their full ones. While she was pondering the suggestion, the male leaned in with his free hoof waving in the air.

“Crrzrt urzzt. Crrzrt urzzzzzt!”

Daniel didn’t need to speak bug-horse to understand the notorious ‘Come on, come oooonnn!’ that heralded all bad drinking decisions.
Evidently it was enough to sway the female, and the third glass was soon held out and filled to the brim. Seeing that she was still regarding it warily, Daniel surprised her by giving her a reassuring pat on the back.

“It’s all good,” he told her before tipping his drink back and gulping it down. “There’s a first time for everything, love.”

Her focus went back to her own glass, and both Daniel and the armoured male let out encouraging cheers as she took another drink.

“That’s the way!”

She had barely finished gulping the liquid down before he wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her closer, his glass already held out in front of him while she hiccupped with surprise. The other bug-horse was already grinning and hooflessly refilling all three of the glasses, Daniel giving the female’s head an affectionate rub before turning to nod at the new bug-horse friend he had made.

“Damn right, let’s do the proper thing, ay?” He let out another soft belch into a fist, his smile the widest it had been for days. “Let’s get ab-sol-lutly off our fucking tits!”

“G-grunga.”

“I knows-hic! -rights? Can yous believe that shes said that?”

Chrysalis’ eyes blinked open a few times as she awoke with a start, her ears flicking as they picked up the conversation that was happening behind her. She recognised Scuttle’s voice, odd as it was, but it was only when she rolled off of her side and onto her stomach to look up that she realised how bad things were.

Commander Scuttle, her number two and second highest-ranked changeling in the entire hive, was sprawled on his side with a half-full bottle clasped in his forehooves. His horn was glowing a faint green, and Chrysalis glanced to where his half-lidded eyes were loosely focused on.
The Foodbeast hadn’t yet noticed that she stirred, the disgusting creature slumped against the cave wall with his own bottle clutched in a meaty paw. For some reason he was wearing a small glass upon his head, the drinking container rocking precariously from side to side with every heavy breath.

The drone that was supposed to be watching him was clearly passed out in the Foodbeast’s lap, little snores occasionally escaping from around the two fingers that she had snared in her mouth. A shudder went down Chrysalis’ spine as she watched the drone’s tongue give the fingers a tiny lick, the female smiling happily in her sleep as she enjoyed the salty taste.

‘Did I look that undignified while I was…?’

Chrysalis quickly shook it off and forced her attention away from the juicy finger-pops and back to Commander Scuttle, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she became aware of the reek that arose from all three of them.

“Ohs, Queeny,” Scuttle made the attempt at addressing with a floppy wave of his foreleg as he turned to smile at her. “Yous awake. Want to…” Scuttle moved a forehoof to his mouth, and held it there for a few moments as his eyes unfocused. Then, eyes focusing again, he removed it and instead pointed towards an empty bottle by his side. “Drink? Drink’s good. Drink? Drink!”

“Gra-grunga!” the Foodbeast felt the need to add with his eyes rolling upwards, his hand awkwardly groping for the glass atop his head. “Grunga!”

“Psssph,” Scuttle half-huffed, half-chuckled. “Nots you. Too much alr-already.” Scuttle’s forelegs swung out to the left, pointing in Chrysalis’ general direction. “I wash ashking Chrissy.”

Chrysalis closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again.

“Get out.”

Scuttle blinked at her words, before he glanced down to the bottle in his hooves.

“I donsh have that ones.”

“No, Scuttle,” Chrysalis said slowly, taking care to space out her words. “Get out. Of my cave.” She looked into Scuttle’s eyes when he looked back at her. “Please.”

“Ohsh.” Scuttle staggered to his hooves, his magic scooping up all of the glasses and bottles to store them in his brown saddlebag. He took a few seconds to fumble with the flap clasp, before giving up and looping the saddlebag’s strap around his neck.

“Grung?” the Foodbeast slurred, Scuttle looking over as he fumbled with his armoured shoes.

“I’sh gots to go,” he explained, turning for the entrance after the last shoe was securely on. “Queen’s mad.” Without waiting for an answer, Scuttle started to stumble towards the exit. “We shoulds do shish-“

Without warning, Scuttle pitched forwards as his forelegs collapsed underneath him, his helmet clanging against the ground. Luckily for Scuttle, his saddlebag hit the floor before his face, and thus he came to a complete stop with his head on the bag and his rear in the air.

All was still.

“Scuttle?” Chrysalis said slowly. “Are you alright?”

There was no reply, save for a long and drawn out snore.

“Oh for…” Chrysalis sucked in air through her teeth, trying to think of something that she could do to punish him.

“Rabraw.”

Unfortunately, the Foodbeast got in first. Chrysalis looked over at the creature just in time to see him yank his fingers from the drone’s mouth with a wet plop. Rubbing the saliva off on his shirt, and with eyes unfocused, the Foodbeast drunkenly snaked an arm under the drone’s torso as he made to stand up. Lifting the still-sleeping drone up with him, the female’s four legs dangling down as she was held by his side, the Foodbeast ambled over towards the downed Commander with only a tad more grace than Scuttle had himself demonstrated.

“Grumbra-grung.”

Bending down, and still somehow maintaining his balance, the Foodbeast stared at Scuttle for a second before making his move. As Chrysalis watched on wordlessly, a free arm reached out to repeat the same process that the drone had been subjected to, Scuttle soon safely secured under said arm as the Foodbeast stood up again with visible effort.

Then he was off, ambling towards the exit with both drunken changelings in his arms, for only a few steps before pausing.

“Grung…”

Staggering, he turned on the spot, and Chrysalis felt a spike of dread shoot through her when she realised that he was staring right at her.

Sitting up still, she didn’t do anything as the oaf managed to make his way over towards her, the biped quickly towering over her before he bent down to stare right into her eyes. He was dangerously close, and Chrysalis pulled her head back even before she fully registered his bloodshot eyes and booze-laden breath. Still he moved his head closer, Chrysalis’ own eyes widening as her heart-rate quickened.

‘Is he… surely he won’t even…’

She nearly leapt out of her chitin when his nose bumped against hers, the biped holding the contact for a full second.

“You... you have pretty eyes.”

“…”

Without warning he stood back up, turned on his heels, and resumed his stumbling towards the main tunnel without another word.

Chrysalis watched him go with her mouth agape, before she sat back on her rump and raised her forelegs up in front of her.

“What!? What just happened!? Why!?”

Burrow raised his head from his forelegs as the general chatter of the tunnel picked up a notch, his ear flicking as he turned to stare past the changelings in front of their group and further up the tunnel.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, even as he noticed Aphid stir beside him to likewise take a look. “It’s probably Mr Growls coming back though, he’s been gone for a while.”

A changeling trotted out on his left, the drone wearing a bright green Ethernet cable around her neck.

“I hope it’s Growly,” Muddle murmured while craning her neck forwards and squinting her eyes for a better look. “Chrysalis has been hogging him all to herself.”

Burrow pointedly cleared his throat. “You might want to watch what you say, Muddle. The Queen might be bringing him back herself, after all.”

Muddle quickly folded her ears down and sunk back down onto the ground, tucking her legs in beneath her.

“Chrysalis has been acting a little odd, lately,” Aphid silently shared with them.

“Well, we did lose at Canterlot,” added Meddle from behind them, evidently feeling that it was better to communicate her thoughts non-verbally.

“And again after to that blue pony,” Mirror contributed out loud from the right. “She’s probably feeling a bit down.”

“She can talk to Growly though.”

“I don’t think that’s a plus,” Burrow reminded them while he lit up his horn with green light. “Now quiet down, I think they’re coming this way.”

All five of them stopped conversing to stare towards the front of them, the chattering of their changeling fellows growing louder and louder. Then, over the increasing din of voices, a familiar and distinctly different voice became clear.

“Grung. Grung. Grung. Grung…”

‘Is that…?’

Burrow had to blink his eyes a few times to ensure that what he was seeing was accurate. He would have blamed the strange image on the general gloom if it wasn’t for the fact that his magical light lit up their section of the tunnel almost like day, and he slowly tried to process the unlikely scenario heading towards them.

“Grung.”

Mr Growls, with an unconscious Cypher nestled in one arm and the sleeping Commander of the entire damn Hive held under the other, was stumbling through the resting lines of changelings while repeating the same grunted apology ever few seconds. Unable to act, Burrow could only stare as his friend slowly made his shaky way towards them, befuddled changeling drones and soldiers getting up from their spots to clear a wide path for the biped. The whispers and murmurs of the witnesses of the strange event didn’t seem to faze Mr Growls, and he continued on without paying any mind to the general changeling populace.

“Growly?” Mirror took it upon herself to call out as he drew nearer. “Are you okay?”

“Grung-a-rung, grah!”

The cry was strangely jubilant, and Burrow didn’t miss the wide grin that was plastered over his friend’s face as he drew nearer.

“By the Queen,” Aphid said as her eyes widened and she instinctively made to raise her foreleg in a salute. “Is that… Commander Scuttle himself? No way.”

Burrow had to admit it was unlikely, but there was no mistaking the fine purple armour and golden trim that marked one of Mr Growl’s passengers as being the Hive’s second-in-command. He couldn’t help but feel a cold chill run down his back at the realisation, Commander Scuttle not even twitching as he flopped with Mr Growl’s every shambling step.

He hadn’t interacted with the Commander much, as he was but a lowly soldier and no-where near important enough to warrant even a silent acknowledgement from Scuttle, but he had heard things about the officer. Talk about Scuttle’s ability to somehow even stump the Queen from time to time, and the whispered rumours that even Chrysalis wasn’t game enough to challenge him in arguments when they occurred.

And here was Mr Growls, with said Commander firmly in his grasp.

Burrow didn’t even want to begin to guess at what had gone down while Chrysalis had been feeding.

“Rangra.”

Mr Growls sat down with a thump against the right wall of the tunnel, a dopey grin on his face as he sat his two unresponsive passengers up against him on each side.

Burrow, aware that a hundred other changeling eyes were watching, cleared his throat once more.

“Mr Growls, are you-“

He was cut off by a loud snort and then a snore, his friend’s head flopping down to rest against a shoulder. Beside Mr Growls, both Commander Scuttle and Cypher slumped in further to rest against him, their own deep breaths of slumber joining his.

“…Okay?”

Burrow sighed, his forehoof poking Mr Growl’s chest with no response.

“Just what did the Queen do to him?” Mirror murmured from behind, Burrow shaking his head after pulling his foreleg back.

“I don’t know.” He turned his head around to look at her, ignoring the stares of the other changelings in the tunnel. “What about her, though? We should probably check.”

Mirror immediately shrunk down, her eyes glancing in the direction that Mr Growls had arrived from.

“Uh… perhaps you should. You’re a soldier and I’m a drone, after all. If she’s in a… mood like before, then she’ll probably listen to you more.”

Burrow glanced around at the group, the other drones and Aphid merely looking at him while keeping their mouths shut.

“You know what?” he answered with a gulp, slowly lying back down. “On second thoughts, I’m sure she’s fine. She’s the Queen, after all.”

With that, he started to focus intently on the tunnel wall while ignoring anyone else, silently praying that their journey back to the hive would be quickly over.

“Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot…”

Daniel continued to mutter to himself as he trudged forwards through the same endless tunnel that he had been struggling through for what had seemed like days. In truth, it had been about two hours since he had woken up with the aftermath of the recent piss-up, and the chattering of the of the bug-horse horde that marched around him wasn’t doing much to help things.

“Czzzrrt…”

He glanced down to the bug-horse cradled in his arms, the female letting out her own tortured mumbles with one foreleg held firmly over her closed eyes.

“It’s not that bad,” Daniel quietly reassured her as he tried to focus on his balance. “You’ve just got to think about a cure. Like Maccas, or a fat and juicy Whopper, or Maccas and two Whoppers. With cheese. And more Maccas. Mhmm…”

“Chrrzt?”

“Yeah, tough shit that there’s none of that out here though.” He snorted, stomach churning widely. “Guess we’re just going to have to put up with it.”

She only mumbled an unintelligible reply, well more unintelligible than usual, before sinking her face deeper into the crook of his arm with a huff. Fairly secure in the assumption that she wasn’t exactly up for more banter, Daniel kept his mouth shut instead turned to his own thoughts.

‘Fucking purple-fucker,’ was the first thing that popped up. The high-up bug-horse in purple armour, who had generously shouted the grog, had been spotted about an hour earlier. Chatting carelessly with the bug-horse leader up at the front of the pack, the creature had shown no ill-effects from the prior drinking session and seemed quite chirpy. ‘No way he could have escaped with the amount that we put away…’

Closing his eyes and wincing as a throb went through his head, Daniel stopped walking when the front of his left leg collided with a bug-horse rear and tail. Suppressing a grimace of irritation at the hurried chattering that followed the contact, he looked down to meet the eyes of the bug-horse with the yellow collar.

“Chrzrtzt!”

“What?”

Glancing up, Daniel noticed that the tunnel section they were in seemed brighter than usual, and the mass of bug-horses ahead of them were increasing their pace and chatters. Squinting his eyes, he swore that…

“Oh, hell yes!”

He almost leapt over the surprised bug-horse in his haste, the ones in front of him parting to the sides as he barged down the tunnel that grew brighter and brighter. Bright blue eyes stared at him in confusion as he continued to move forwards, but Daniel paid them no mind. He didn’t even acknowledge the bug-horse in his arms when she lifted her head to chatter out a question. No, he only paid mind to the dot of light that steadily grew into a noticeable hole at the end of the tunnel.

“Finally!” he shouted as he neared the tunnel exit, and he thundered through the chittering bug-horse horde with a speed that was impressive for his bulk and hangover. Bursting out of the tunnel and onto the rocky plains, bug-horses all around him, he looked up into the sunny blue sky with a wide grin and a yell of triumph. “Glorious sun!”

It took a second for his eyes and mind to register his mistake.

“Ah, fuck!”

Immediately, he clasped his eyes shut as his entire head throbbed in protest, and his ears picked up the sound of multiple hooves as they thundered out of the tunnel.

“Fucking light!”

The galloping stopped, and he could feel bug-horses flocking around his legs. “Chrrzrtt?”

“Give me a sec!” Daniel took a deep breath in, before breathing out slowly. Gently, he bent down and lowered the bug-horse he was carrying in his arms, the creature taking the hint and vacating her spot to scramble off to his left. Then, after standing back up and ensuring that he was looking down at the ground, he opened his eyes.

Plain grey rock broken up by tiny amounts of ash grey dirt was the first thing he saw, the pair of black chitin-covered forehooves being the second. Raising his hand up to shield his eyes from the sunlight, he traced them up until he saw the blue-collar that the owner possessed.

“Yeah, what?”

“Crzrt, brzzt zrrt?”

“I’m fine, just… fuck, I need a drink.” The bug-horse’s concerned frown lessened, his head tilting. “Shit’s fucked.”

“Zrrt chrzzrt!”

Daniel looked down to his right, another of the bug-horses circling around his legs and chattering up at him. A yellow Ethernet cable dangled around her neck while she looked up at him with a toothy grin, his locked toolbox strapped firmly on her back with a yellow sheet.

“Chrzzrt!”

A second female joined the first one, her rump jerking to the side to knock the other away. Daniel didn’t need to see the grey phone cable to identify her, the green goo covering her snout was identification enough. Understandably, Yellow Cable wasn’t too pleased with having the legs annexed, and a glare was sullenly levelled at Grey. It was returned with a smug and haughty snout raise, Yellow huffing as the other bug-horses around him chittered with laughter.

Despite his head, Daniel couldn’t help but feel his mood lift a tad.

“Brzzt crzzt,” the lone male bug-horse muttered under his breath before looking up and attempting a smile. “Brzt. Zrrt chzzrt brzzt crzt.” He turned on the spot and gestured outwards with a foreleg, so Daniel winced and risked another dose of sunlight to see what he was trying to show.

Jagged rocky outcroppings dominated the surrounding area, their fractured and upwards-facing positions hinting at a previous upheaval in the earth long ago. Sickly and near-leafless trees swayed in the light wind, scattered around the area in patches of dry dirt. There wasn’t a single hint of animal life that Daniel could see, the entire area seeming completely dead and barren.

‘Huh,’ he thought. ‘Feels a bit like home.’

But his attention only lingered on the surrounds for a few brief moments, his eyes going directly to where his friend was pointing.

“Oh…”

A jagged spire of ash-grey rock sat in the distance, easily rivalling a mid-sized skyscraper in size. The central ‘tower’ was flanked by a number of smaller rocky spikes, every single one pointy and looking as if they aimed to spear the sky above.

Towards the wider base, a number of holes of various shapes and sizes dotted the rock face like holes in swiss cheese.

Daniel glanced down to the bug-horses around him, paying particular attention to the appearance of their legs.

‘Not really the weirdest observation,’ he realised, before he looked back up at the sound of buzzing wings.

The horde was on the move again, almost all of the bug-horses taking to the sky with excited chittering. Daniel watched on even as the sky darkened, the sound of the swarm echoing around the rocky wasteland. They all zoomed off towards the spire in the distance, leaving only his group of six with him.

“Crrzt. Zrrzrt chrzzt?”

“It’s nice, I suppose” Daniel shrugged without taking his eyes off of the tower of rock. “Could use some paint and a verandah, though.”

Walking closer to the tower, the six bug-horses leading the way, Daniel felt apprehension creep up upon him as they neared closer to the largest hole in the rock.

It wasn’t the mass of armoured bug-horses swarming around the apparent entrance, nor the general foreboding look of the bug-horses’ home. Rather, it was the realisation that he had come to a few moments earlier.

As large as it was, there was no way that the tower itself could host the many bug-horses that he had travelled with, not even taking into account the larger swarm of creatures that had flown out to meet their approaching brethren. That either meant that they were all going to pack into the tower like sardines, or…

“We’re going underground again, aren’t we?”

Bluey, Daniel having decided to change the bug-horse male’s original name of ‘Boris’ to a name better suited to his collar, glanced up with a smile.

“Bloody knew it…”

His mutters didn’t go ignored, Bluey about to say something before quickly snapping his attention back to the entrance at a buzzing shout.
Up ahead, a dozen or so bug-horses stood in a line as the group of at least fifty armoured bug-horse guards inspected the bundles of assorted loot that they carried on their backs. The one at the head of the line was waved through the entrance by a guard as his collection of wooden mugs evidently proved to be acceptable, but all of the attention was quickly focused on their little group.

Daniel was a little more unusual than cutlery, bags, and the occasional pillow after all.

“Brrzrt.”

Bluey stopped the group with a low chatter and a gesture with his foreleg, his magic adjusting the purple helmet upon his head. Daniel complied without question, his guard immediately up as the bug-horse guards filled the air with buzzing wings.

In just a matter of seconds they were surrounded, dozens of blue eyes locked on Daniel with glares and frowns. He didn’t need to be a bug-horse expert to recognise the looks of distrust, hate, and even fear that the soldiers gave him, and even Bluey seemed a little taken aback by the cold reception. The other bug-horses previously in the inspection line took the chance to leave, a few looking back with a touch of concern on their faces.

“Chrzrtzt,” Bluey called out to his fellows, the female with the injured snout also adjusting her helmet and stepping forwards to stand beside him. “Brrzrt chrrzt?”

“Zrzrzt,” one of the flying guards buzzed back, a foreleg snapping out to point right at Daniel. “Crzrt? Brzrt zrrzrt czrt?”

Bluey attempted a calming smile. “Brzt.” Daniel looked down as he trotted backwards to stand beside him, and Bluey reached out to touch a patchwork-panted leg with a hoof. “Zrzrzt. Brrzt crzzrt zrzrrrt.”

All at once, the surrounding guards seemed to relax their aggressive stances, many of the hostile looks turning into confusion and curiosity instead.

“Zrzt?” the same guard questioned.

Bluey’s smile increased and he nodded his head. “Zrzt.” Daniel watched as he made a gesture up towards him. “Crzrt zrrrzzt, brrrzt.”

Glancing to his fellows at first, the guard slowly flew forwards, stopping just in front of where Daniel was standing. His big bug-horse eyes gave him a quick look up and down as he hovered in the air, a foreleg hesitantly reaching for his helmet.

“Zrzrt,” Red Cable encouraged from the ground, the bug-horse soldier furrowing his eyes before removing his helmet.

Daniel felt a nudge in his leg. “Crzrt.”

“I’m pretty sure I can work it out,” Daniel answered with a roll of his eyes. “You bug-horses aren’t exactly hard to impress.”

Raising his hand, he watched for any signs of imminent biting as he extended his arm out towards the helmetless guard, the hovering bug-horse never taking his tiny white pupils off of his approaching fingers.

Wishing to get it over with, Daniel gave the creature a quick pat on its bald head and a scratch behind the ears, the guard going stiff for a second before flicking his ears with a smile.

“Brzrzrt!”

Daniel removed his hand and returned it to his side, the soldier watching it go with his smile still intact.

“Crzzrt?” Bluey nodded with his own grin, his foreleg once again gesturing up towards Daniel. “Zrzrt.”

“Czzrtzrt!” Green Cable added in support from behind his right leg, the female leaning forwards to wrap a foreleg around his leg and nuzzle against it.

There were a few moments where the guards shared glances and hushed chattering, before they all steadily ceased their flying and settled back down to land on the rocky ground. The soldier that had received the head pat tilted his head to the side in thought, but it was only for a moment. He stepped aside, out of their path, and extended a foreleg towards the entrance tunnel.

“Crzzrt.” He put his helmet back on and levelled a steady stare at pair of bug-horse soldiers leading the group. “Zzrt brrzt crrzt krrzt, zrt?”

“Zrt,” Bluey answered with a nod, and then began to trot forwards while looking back with a smile.

Daniel started to follow as soon as he felt Yellow release his right leg, aware of the many stares on his back as he once again walked into a dark tunnel for what seemed the hundredth time in the past week.

The six bug-horses trotting with him were all talking excitedly as they did so, Daniel switching his attention to his surroundings once more.

The entire tunnel was coated with an odd black substance, even the floor. It was firm yet springy beneath his shoes, Daniel guessing that even the seemingly resilient bug-horses got tired of walking on hard rock the entire time. He was able to see the coating because of the green glow that lit up the entire tunnel, and upon looking up to the ceiling far above him he could see spots of hardened green goo that shined light down upon them.

‘Better to not question the glowing goo,’ he silently thought as he was guided further into the entrance tunnel.

Smaller passages branched off occasionally from the main tunnel, some heading upwards into the rock while others snaked off around corners. Daniel’s focus was solely turned to the wide open up ahead however, a loud buzzing sound hinting at the presence of more bug-horses. The bug-horses leading the group headed towards the opening, and Daniel paused with a start once he reached it and peeked out.
Bug-horses. Bug-horses everywhere.

A massive hollow chamber greeted Daniel and his bug-horse group, a single cylinder of rock rising up in the centre from the rocky floor to disappear into the heights above. Staircases hewn from the same rock that made up the entire tower snaked everywhere, connecting the cylinder to the hundreds of holes in the walls that buzzed with bug-horse activity. The green-goo pods that provided lighting hung everywhere, bathing the cavern with a surprisingly warm glow.

Speaking of bug-horses…

“Fuck me… they’re coming out of the goddamn walls.”

Daniel whistled at the sheer amount of the creatures, their numbers far beyond counting. Many flew around the central rock pillar from wall-hole to wall-hole, others trotting up the stairways in pairs or groups as they chittered to one-another. A few of the ones flying caught sight of them, many stopping mid-air to stare while a few looked over with recognition and small waves of their forelegs before continuing on their way.

He took a step forwards out into the cavern, his curiosity peaked, but he was halted by a foreleg going out in front of him.

“What?” he asked while looking down to meet the stares of the bug-horses. He raised a hand and pointed out at the pillar of rock. “I want to have a quick squiz around the joint.”

“Brrzrt,” Red Cable said with a shake of her head. She gave him a pointed glance, and scrunched up her face while waving a hoof in front of her nose.

Seeing the other bug-horses nod in agreement, Daniel raised an arm and sniffed.

Only to immediately snap his head away with a wince.

“Point taken,” he admitted, glancing down at his dirt-stained shirt and pants before fixing them with a stare. “What do you want to do about it?”

They seemed to pick up on his implication, Bluey sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with a foreleg before chuckling.

“Zrz… brrzt czzzrzt rzzzrt.”
He gestured with his head towards a passageway to their left, the other bug-horses seeming to perk up at his words.

“Chrrzt brrzt zrtz?” Yellow asked, Bluely shrugging his shoulders before smiling.

“Zrzt.”

This prompted Yellow to give a small bounce and a buzz of her wings, the female zipping off into the passageway with a wide grin. The other bug-horses rushed to follow, Daniel noticing that Bluey shook his head in disbelief before looking up at him and gesturing forwards with his head again.

“Brrrzt?”

“Sure.” Daniel started to follow the group already rushing ahead, his friend smiling again before trotting along at his side. “But if there’s any flying tubs, I’ll have to smack you one.”

The pair of them made their way through the passage, the ceiling thankfully a full metre above Daniel’s head so he didn’t have to slouch. Wide enough to comfortably fit the two of them side-by-side, it twisted and turned before angling downwards with a gentle slope. Occasionally they would pass other bug-horses who would move to the sides and stare, but evidently the presence of Bluey was more than enough to avail any fears that they may have had about the biped in their presence.

There was no sign of the other five bug-horses that belonged to the group, and after a full minute of walking combined with several passage changes Daniel was completely lost.

‘At least he seems to know the way,’ thought Daniel with a glance down to his smiling friend.

Thankfully, it was proven correct when they reached a much wider tunnel soon after, Daniel guessing that they must have been at least two hundred metres underground.

The new tunnel led to a cavern up ahead, and contained a sound that Daniel was well-familiar with.

Bug-horse chattering.

It was the second sound, however, that caused Daniel’s head to lean forwards even as he walked closer.

‘Is that… water?’

For the second time that day, Daniel stepped into a large cavern that certainly hammered home that he wasn’t in familiar territory anymore.
Water, crystal clear and pure, poured out of several holes in the perfectly rectangular walls of the new cavern like underground waterfalls.

Each constant stream of water fell into the same large underground river that swiftly flowed through the cavern, the snaking stream of water vanishing through another large hole in the opposite wall. A set of bars, seemingly constructed of the same black substance that caked the walls of the bug-horse hive, sealed off the hole while simultaneously allowing the water through.

Smaller streams, which appeared to have been artificially carved in the rock, directed water away from the main river and into a dozen large pools that dotted the massive cavern. Daniel took a quick guess and figured that they were roughly the same size as a standard commercial pool back home, vastly outdoing his town’s local swim centre. He also didn’t miss the steam that wafted up into holes dug into the rock ceiling far above, and idly remembered that he hadn’t noticed any vapour pouring out from the rock tower when he was looking at it from outside.

Bug-horses also filled this cavern, although there wasn’t nearly as much as the horde that dominated the central pillar room. Individuals and groups rested by the side of the dug-out pools chatting to each other in their alien tongue, while others bathed and swam in the warm waters. A few were even clustered around the sides of the massive rectangular cave, drinking from water troughs apparently made from the strange hard black material. Daniel followed the makeshift piping of the drinking troughs, the waterworks running up the walls to a single pulsating green pod located high up on the side of the cave.

He could just faintly see the water gushing out of a wall-hole and into the huge pod, the alien construct shaking and glowing as it took the water and funnelled it into the pipe-system, and he wondered just what it was for. A massive amount of steam seemed to radiate out of the pod, hinting to its purpose, but he had no further time for thought as he felt a tug at his pants leg.

“Hmm?”

Bluey looked back up him with a grin, his foreleg moving away from the pants to point at a tunnel leading off to the left of them. Daniel didn’t miss the small stream that flowed through the middle of the walkway, and he glanced around at the general populace of the bathing area.

“Somewhere more private?”

“Crzzrtz!”

Trotting off through the passage with the reply, Daniel had no choice but to follow Bluey through the cavern. Many of the bug-horses turned to look as he passed, but Daniel noticed that most of them greeted him with smiles and chattered greetings instead of stares.

‘Probably all of the other guys from the trip,’ he figured, pausing a few times to rub the heads of the bug-horses that trotted up to him expectantly. He noticed Bluey sighing out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t miss his friend’s light smile at his actions never-the-less.

Continuing on through the small side-tunnel, they passed into another cave room with a much smaller pool inside. More circular in shape, this bathing spot was currently occupied by only four bug-horses that he knew very well.

Daniel briefly winced at the sight of every one of them wearing their network cable necklaces in the water, but silently reminded himself that the cables were unlikely to ever see a socket again in their lifetime.

Three of the females were currently engaged in a vicious splash-fight between themselves at one end, their chittering laughter filling the small cave with mirth. The forth one, Red Cable, was preoccupied on the side of the pool. Hind legs resting in the warm water, she was busily scrubbing her grey tail hairs with what was likely a pilfered bar of pink soap.

Strangely, there was no sign of the fifth bug-horse, the crazy snout one.

Daniel would have normally been worried about that, but he was currently too preoccupied with just enjoying the relaxed moment that was playing out before him.

Thanks to the four being preoccupied with themselves, Daniel and Bluey managed to make it to the side of the pool without being noticed. While his friend immediately slid into the water with a blissful grin crossing his face, there was a small matter that Daniel had to attend to first.

Quickly removing his dirt-streaked work shoes, glasses and carefully taking off his bug-horse made socks, he placed them gently against the wall next to his tool chest before standing up and walking over to the pool edge.

“So,” he said with a smile, gaining the attention of the bug-horse group as they stopped what they were doing to glance at him. “What’s the water like?”

It was almost as if they understood his words. A mischievous grin crossed the face of Green Cable, and Daniel didn’t take heed of it before it was too late.

He didn’t even flinch when the splash of water flew an impressive distance out of the pool to collide with his legs.

Well, okay, he flinched a little, but it was a manly flinch.

His earlier observations were proved correct however, and the water was a comfortable warm temperature. Grinning, he took a second to point a finger directly at Green Cable, the other bug-horses glancing at the confused female as Daniel’s eyes focused on her.

“You,” he whispered out just loud enough for them all to hear, and Green Cable only had enough time to widen her eyes before Daniel slipped into the pool still-clothed and submerged himself in the water.

Using his feet on the wall to propel himself off the smooth wall, he swung his arms wide out to the sides under the water and propelled himself forwards with surprising speed and power. The pool wasn’t that deep, only about a metre and a half or so, but it was enough for him to travel underneath the water like the magnificent and majestic dugong, true king of the seas.

The water was perfectly clear, and so he had a perfect line of sight to his target as he surged forwards.

Green Cable had quickly regretted her splashing decision, and had turned around in an attempt to clumsily doggy-paddle her way back to the safety of the closet pool edge in a panic. Unfortunately for her however, Daniel had been raised a swimmer, and her attempt was ultimately in vain.

Even under the water, Daniel could hear her squeal of surprise as he grasped her around the barrel with his hands, her legs flailing as he stood up and lifted her right out of the water.

“Ha!”

Standing up, the water reaching the bottom of his chest with his feet on the floor of the pool, Daniel held her out in front of him and flipped her around to face him. Hands under her forelegs, he chuckled as she mock glared at him. Meanwhile, the other bug-horses chittered with amusement at her situation as they watched.

“I think you know what’s coming next…”

Eyes widening, Green Cable glanced down towards the water below her below her before looking back at him.

“Crrzt zrrt zrr-“ she slowly tried to negotiate, before Daniel interrupted her by dunking her under the water with a splash.

Letting her go, he laughed again when she surfaced with a splutter, her eyes furrowing with a frown as she treaded the water. It quickly faded into a smile however, and she only paused to laugh, fire off a quick splash at him, then quickly turn to launch a flurry of surprise water-attacks at the giggling and unsuspecting Yellow Cable floating beside her.

Leaving them to splash-fight amongst themselves, Daniel swam over to the chuckling Bluey to join him in hanging out at the side of the pool. Leaning his back up against the smooth wall, avoiding the small ridge jutting out from the side under the water that he guessed was for bug-horses to sit on, and resting his arms on the pool edge to hold him up, he settled down to relax and let the warm water do its job.

“Maybe this won’t be so bad,” he mentioned to his friend with a smile. “By the way, where’s old Snout McGrout?”

Eyes facing Bluey, Daniel completely missed the curved black horn breaking the surface of the pool water as it headed towards him, before it submerged completely into the depths.

Waving his hand, Daniel rolled his eyes at Bluey’s tilted head and pointed to his own nose. “You know, Ms Bad Touc- Ah! Bad Touch!”

He jolted up in his spot as two objects roughly groped his ample (yet supple and firm) buttocks, the pair of hooves massaging his arsecheeks like they were trying to cover as much ‘ground’ as they possibly could.

Shoving his left arm into the water, Daniel grabbed the closet foreleg he could and pulled, and it was no surprise as to who it fished out.

Snouty didn’t make a sound as she was pulled from the water to answer for her crimes, but Daniel knew that she would have been cackling like a mad thing if she had been able to. Staring at him with grinning eyes, she made an unintelligible gesture with her free forehoof towards the other females before using it to splash water at him.

He let her foreleg go, and she didn’t waste any time in swiftly swimming to the edge and resting up against the wall and his right side. She looked up at him and waggled her eyes teasingly, so Daniel fixed her with a flat look in return while the other bug-horses laughed and giggled at the incident. Even Bluey, normally protective and quick to admonish the over-familiar female soldier, was wearing a huge grin on his face.

“I’ll get you back for that,” Daniel threatened with a steadily-growing grin of his own, which was met with another eye wiggle from Snouty while she snaked a foreleg over his shoulder.

Ignoring it, he chose to just relax and focus on the water, the bug-horses continuing to laugh and chatter even as he rested his head back and closed his eyes in bliss.

“What a rump!”

Burrow snorted at Aphid’s mental comment, his compatriot earning giggles from the four drones.

“Best one I’ve felt in a while.”

Quickly banishing the idea of questioning that particular comment, Burrow instead let out a final chuckle before glancing towards Mister Growls. His friend was currently relaxing with his eyes closed, apparently paying no mind to Aphid’s close-contact and with the previous molestation forgiven and forgotten.

He himself even felt relaxed, no thoughts being given to the incidents with Chrysalis nor her orders regarding his friend, and he realised that this was one of the rare bits of peace they had experienced in a while.

‘And we’re finally back in the Hive,’ he thought with his smile still wide upon his face as he enjoyed the soothing water. ‘Seems like things are finally quieting down.’

Improving Relations

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‘Mhmmm, yes.’

Queen Chrysalis purred softly to herself as she settled down atop her throne, the magical energies contained within the precious green crystal sending a soothing tingle across her chitin. A low hum, barely audible, steadily ebbed into life at the same time that a pulse of magic caused the throne to glow brighter for a short second.

Tucking her hind legs up underneath her, and resting her head on her forelegs, Chrysalis shifted and cricked her neck. The resulting crack reverberated around the cavernous throne room, even reaching deep into the many holes carved into the surrounding rock walls. Smiling as she felt her chitin re-adjust, she allowed herself a quick private laugh.

“Ha, Equestrian fools!” she chortled to herself, reminiscing about the many ponies now cocooned down in the hive’s depths. “This is only the beginning! First I shall take their towns, then Canterlot, then the whole of Equestria! They thought they could challenge the might of Queen Chrysalis and not suffer the consequences!?”

Her laughter echoed around the throne room, the lack of an audience not phasing her one bit.

As Chrysalis laughed, the memory of her battle with Princess Luna tugged at her mind and caused her to stop suddenly with a wince.

“And those accursed, so-called Princesses…” she snarled, her teeth clenching. “Though they may have thwarted me through their trickery before, I won’t be so easily denied again. I will steal their precious subjects from right under their hooves, and there won’t be a thing they can do to stop me!”

Her evil grin lessened somewhat as she raised one forehoof to her chin.

“Still, it wouldn’t hurt to add some more power to my overwhelming might, just to make their inevitable defeat that much more pathetic…”

Her mind twisted and churned with possible ideas and plots, the ancient malice contained within fuelling her desire for sweet revenge. Flashes of possible magical artefacts she could create or steal, scenes of conquest as Equestria was tamed beneath a million changeling hooves, plans of more subtle methods…

“Hmm,” she brushed her chin with a hoof as one particular idea sprang to mind. “Risky, of course, but if I manage to get them to fall for it again…”

Fangs flashed in a wicked smile, Chrysalis licking her lips as more parts of her new plot formed and slotted into place. Almost as if it sensed her noxious eagerness, her throne’s glow increased its glow as more and more power ebbed and flowed throughout it.

Then, her ear lifted as approaching sounds made themselves known, echoing down from the wide entrance cavern opposite her.

The sounds of gnarled hooves, buzzing wings, and chittering speech.

Chrysalis allowed herself to keep a small smile as she sat up upon her throne, her mind still radiant with her many schemes as she prepared to commence the first changeling royal court since her embarrassing defeat at the hands of her hated foes, the Equestrians.

A defeat that she intended to not experience again.

A drop of moisture fell from the smoothed tunnel ceiling to splash against bare skin, and Daniel absentmindedly lifted up a hand to brush the water off of his right shoulder.

Walking bare-footed through yet another bug-horse tunnel, (all of his clothing save for his dependable patchwork-briefs having been whisked away earlier by a group of bug-horses in the pool area), he surprisingly wasn’t feeling as sour as one would expect. It may have just been because of the relaxing soak and swim, but he had surprised himself with how chill he had acted when the second group of chattering bug-horses had intruded upon his group’s private bathing time.

He looked towards the front of the convey he was travelling in, Bluey and Snouty heading up the pack with a new bug-horse trotting alongside them. This one was male, and if his vibrant red cape and jade-buttoned crimson vest was anything to go off of, an important one. The fact that all of his bug-horse groupies had left the pool and bowed to the newcomer as soon as he had trotted up was also a pretty good indicator of high rank.

The leading trio hadn’t stopped sharing whispers since they had left the bathing area, and Daniel was certain that something was up. Still, he was sure that Bluey could handle it, and he hadn’t picked up on any unease from the group.

Almost as if on cue, a bump against his leg reminded him that there were more than three bug-horses with him, and he looked down to meet the smile of Yellow Cable. Rubbing her head, much to her enjoyment, he took a second to glance around at the others.

‘They seem to know what’s going on,’ he figured, the remaining three sharing hushed chatters as they trotted up behind him. Even though he still couldn’t understand their words, it was impossible to miss the air of excited anticipation that surrounded them.

Another thing noticeable was the lack of bug-horses so far. While they had swarmed the bathing area, he had yet to spot many since they had entered the new tunnel. Daniel kept on glancing to the many alcoves and smaller passageways that branched off as they passed, finding nothing save for the same black walls and green-glowing lanterns. Then, they turned down one of the smaller tunnels to the left, the three leaders out in the front beginning to slow.

“Czzzrt chrzzrzrt.”

The group came to a halt, the bug-horse in the cape gesturing to a solid black door set into the tunnel wall as he spoke to them all. Daniel gave it a once over, a simple rectangular handle set into the smooth black surface, before the caped bug-horse pushed open the door with his foreleg and trotted inside.

The entire group followed him, Daniel ducking his head to get through the doorway before looking around.

The room was about the size of a small hotel room, though the ceiling was thankfully high enough for him to stand up comfortably. A small wooden table and two matching round stools, unlikely to have been made by bug-horses considering the sappy floral engravings around edges, sat up against the far wall with a single flowerless glass vase atop of it.

Opposite the table and set into the wall was a strange rectangular booth made of polished bug-horse black stuff, a smooth oval-shape carved out from the top. Judging from single white pillow that sat within it, Daniel figured that it was meant to be some kind of sleeping spot.

‘Fuck that, won’t even fit my arse in it.’

The middle of the room contained the only splash of colour, save for the green lantern-lights set into the ceiling. A wide and circular red rug was set out upon the middle of the floor, an array of bright and fluffy-looking cushions spread out across the edges. A single folded quilt sat in the centre, Daniel raising an eye at the picture of a mustard-yellow flying-horse in explorer’s gear winking at the viewer.

‘They stole that from a child, didn’t they?’

All in all, the room was fairly plain and basic. Granted, better than random caves and open fields, but a far cry from some of the small horse dwellings that he been in before.

However, apparently not all had the same opinion.

“Chrrzrt!”

“Crrrzt, brzzrt crzz!”

“Brzrzrzrz!”

Red, Green, Grey, and Yellow all chattered happily to each other as they rushed around the room poking pillows and cushions with snouts and hooves. The other three bug-horses were much more restrained, caped bug-horse speaking softly with the two in armour before leaving through the door.

Bluey shut the door after him, before trotting over to look up with a smile and gesture around the room.

“Brzzhrzt.”

Daniel made a show of looking around the accommodation.

“Eh,” he said with a shrug and a glance over at the sole sleeping-rectangle. “Where are you lot sleeping then?”

“Wow, an entire room to ourselves!”

“Look at all of the soft things!”

“I want this one!”

Burrow smiled and shook his head at the reaction of the drones, the four zipping around to excitedly investigate every part of their new accommodations as Mr Growls stood and examined the room for himself. Aphid was likewise amused, however the noble standing next to them didn’t even bat an eye.

“The Queen, in addition to having generously provided you with accommodation well above your station, has also felt it fit to excuse you from regular hive duties.” His eyes glanced up towards Mr Growls. “You also have permission to take from the stores if needed, but Her Majesty stressed that you are responsible for obtaining the majority of what you need. She has also asked me to remind you about the feeding schedule, understood?”

Both Burrow and Aphid nodded, the noble moving towards the door.

“Good, that will be all.”

With that he trotted out and left, Burrow shutting the door behind him before moving back next to Aphid.

“Well, that went smoother than I expected.”

“Yeah, it did.” Aphid replied while giving the room a look around. “And we got a private room out of it too, a table and everything.” Dodging around two drones fighting over control of a yellow pillow, she stopped just short of a small black door set in the back wall. “Huh, we even got a toilet as well.”

Burrow trotted over to her, coming up alongside just as Aphid pushed open the door with a hoof. They were both greeted by a tiny room, the single distinct feature being the bottomless hole in the floor.

“Huh, so we do.”

“Queen likes us that much now.”

Burrow glanced up and behind him as Mr Growls joined them in the toilet investigating. The biped leaned down and tilted his head at the hole, before his shoulders shrugged and he ambled off to check out the table.

“I’m willing to bet that it has more to do with the Queen keeping her new favourite food away from the general hive populace,” he scoffed, before glancing around the room again. “Still, we can’t really complain.”

There was a flurry of activity off to the side, Burrow and Aphid looking over just as Mr Growls sat down on the rug against the wall.

“Growly, look!” Mirror announced as she bounded over towards him and dropped a large frilly pink pillow straight onto his lap, much to his visible annoyance. Not that Mirror noticed, of course. “Can you believe this? We’re living like ponies now!” Clambering up on top of it, she rolled over onto her side with a happy hum and tucked in her legs, just as Cypher ambushed him from the side.

“Well, not quite like ponies just yet.” Forgoing a pillow, she instead opted to just sit up against his side and bury her head into his patchwork shirt, one forehoof absentmindedly playing with a stray string of cloth while the other worked its way around an arm. “We’re not nearly as soft as they are. Stupid Equestrians.”

The remaining two drones, Meddle and Muddle, chose that exact moment to dive upon Mr Growls’ other arm. Muddle grabbed his hand and started poking his fingers with her forehooves, while Meddle became engrossed in closely studying the tiny hairs that dotted the skin.

“Yeah,” Mirror agreed from her spot on the pillow, back resting up against his stomach. “Stupidly soft Equestrians.”

Burrow met Mister Growl’s eyes, and could only nod in agreement with the resulting eye roll as Aphid mentally scoffed.

”Pah, pathetic. Like they can criticise ponies while acting like that with him!”

Burrow didn’t say a word. A single word.

”‘Still… I’m up for a lie down.”

He couldn’t help but shake his head as she trotted over to claim a spot by Mr Growl’s feet, and he moved over to sit down upon the still-folded quilt off to the side. Head resting on his forelegs, Burrow could only watch and trade eye rolls and shrugs with his female-besieged friend.

‘Wouldn’t want to trade places with you at all,’ Burrow thought with a scoff, just as Aphid rolled over and began playfully poking a foot with her hind hooves.

“Thank you, My Queen. We will do as you command.”

“Good. I expect you to work quickly, scholar. That will be all.”

The changeling bowed before hastily trotting away from Chrysalis’ throne, passing the four armoured guards at the doorway with a wince at their stares. Heckling chatters echoed out from the numerous seating spots inside of the walls, which caused Chrysalis to smirk as her many children continued the courtly tradition of mercilessly harassing any that dared approach her with questions.

It may have seemed counterproductive given the entire purpose of Court, but it gave her much amusement, at least.

‘Still, I tire of this.’

Sitting up and waving her hoof in the air, Chrysalis glared around to meet the blue gazes of her now-silent subjects.

“Enough,” she announced. “Public Court is over. Drones, return to your assigned tasks at once.”

Buzzing wings and galloping hooves signalled that her order was being followed to the letter, the majority of the changelings exiting out through the many passageways and crevasses that filled the throne room. A few scholars and high-born nobles remained lounging in the lower (and thus closer) mini-caves, but they were wise enough to keep any conversations between themselves to a dull whisper.

She enjoyed the brief minute of quiet, before an ear cocked at the echoing sound of a single set of hoofsteps. A pair of heavier thuds accompanied them, Chrysalis sitting up straight in her throne. Her dainty tongue flicked out to taste the air, her eyes narrowing as her new visitors entered through the main doorway.

“Oh,” she scoffed at the drone and Foodbeast while the guards eyed the newcomers with glares. “That time already.”

The biped was preoccupied with meeting the stares of the guards, Chrysalis raising an eye at the defiant way he crossed his fat arms, while the drone decided on a smarter course of action.

Prostrating herself upon the floor, the changeling’s strange grey necklace dangled down around her neck as she bowed her head.

“My Queen,” the drone addressed. “As you have ordered, Mr Growls is now here for you to feed on if you so wish it.”

The Foodbeast turned away from the guards at her words, Chrysalis twirling a hoof with a sigh.

“For want of better,” she growled, before wrinkling her snout. “But it will do. Drone, bring the Foodbeast to the side of my throne.”

“At once, my Queen.”

Taking care to avoid eye contact with the creature in question, Chrysalis watched as the drone manoeuvred behind the Foodbeast and began to butt his legs with her head, the creature moving forwards at the prompting.

Chrysalis didn’t miss the eye-roll as he did so.

Butting away, the drone guided him to the left side of the throne, the Foodbeast sending an unamused look down at her as they reached the very base of the black spire. Ignoring it and moving to the side, the drone bowed once more.

“As you have requested, my Queen.”

‘At least this one knows how to speak to her betters.’

“Very good. Now return to your assigned quarters until I send for you.”

The drone’s head shot up, Chrysalis raising an eye as she met the changeling’s eyes. She could sense the surprise. The confusion. The spark of jealousy that flared up and threatened to boil over into a visible reaction. Chrysalis actually leaned forward a little as she continued to stare, and part of her hoped that the drone would try her luck in challenging her.

“…Of course, my Queen.”

But it was not to be, the drone suppressing her emotions and obeying as she had been raised to do. Slightly disappointed, Chrysalis watched as the female turned to leave, the Queen’s hoof scratching her chin.

A clearing of her throat. “Before you go,” Chrysalis followed up with the drone’s back to her. “What is your name, drone?”

The female drone turned back around. “Mirror, your Highness.”

“Hmm,” nodded Chrysalis, before waving a hoof in dismissal. “That is all.”

With the drone resuming her trotting towards the exit, Chrysalis switched her attention to the Foodbeast. The biped’s arms were still crossed, and he turned his gaze away from the departing drone to look up at her with an even stare.

“As for you,” Chrysalis spoke with her eyes focusing on his. “It’s time that we had a little talk about how things work around here.”

“About time.”

Daniel was tempted to add on a suitably colourful insult, or several, but he managed to show enough restraint not to. Judging from the way the big bug-horse narrowed her eyes anyway, he’d already pissed her off. More.

“To start with,” the voice in his head continued as the bug-horse leader emitted verbal chattering as well. “I, Queen Chrysalis, am to be obeyed without question. Especially by a lowly non-changeling like you.”

With an indignant snort, Daniel was just about to fire back, but the apparent Queen got in first.

“That means no insults, or filthy words.” Her fangs flashed. “You’re lucky that my advisors tell me that you could be of some use, or else I would have… dealt with you already.”

Daniel couldn’t resist. “Dealt with me like before, right?” He flicked his chin up with a smile. “How’s the cheek?”

Chrysalis’ left eye twitched, and Daniel’s smile increased when he noticed her teeth grit together. Then, he did it.

“Cunt.”

The temperature of the entire throne room seemed to instantly drop, a stark contrast to the Queen herself. Chrysalis bolted up from her chair with a buzz of her wings, her horn crackling to life with a sickly green glow as she stood atop of her seat on all four hooves. Daniel didn’t even care at this point if she tried to shoot him with magic or whatever, so he didn’t budge from his spot. With the angry alien equine snarling right at him, he uncrossed his arms right before she spoke again.

“Listen, you little-“

“No, you listen, bug-horse. Cause I’m fucking done with this shit.” He raised his voice a little and didn’t yell, however he did point a finger right at her. “I couldn’t care less about ‘obeying your every word’ right about now, cause I’m fucking done. You’ve been nothing but a complete bitch this entire fucking time to me and the other bug-horses, and I don’t even know why.”

Chrysalis seemed a bit taken-aback by his interruption, and this time Daniel was the one controlling the argument.

“I call you a cunt because that’s what you are, a complete and total cunt. And don’t pull the whole ‘It’s because you’re not a changeling’ thing either, because I’ve been watching you treat everyone else like shit as well.”

He took a step forwards, aware of the bug-horse guards behind him shifting from their spots.

“I’d rather go back to that snow than be stuck here with you if you keep on acting like this. I get along fine with other bug-horses, I follow them when they take me to you, I even sat down with you when you got the shit bashed out of you by those other horses.” He jabbed the finger in the air to make his point. “You won’t even explain to me how this whole mind-talk bullshit works, you just keep on telling me to shut up when I ask about it.” He lowered his finger. “So stop acting like a cunt, and I’ll stop calling you cunt. Fuck, we might even be able to actually speak with each other like civilised people.”

Daniel stepped back after his tirade, the guards bug-horse guards moving up behind him scattering to the sides as he did so. He then recrossed his arms and waited for the bug-horse leader’s response, Chrysalis still staring at him with her horn aglow and eyes wide.

She continued to stare for a few seconds, before her eyes snapped away from his and focused on the guards. A short burst of buzzing chittering later and the four guards were all racing for the exit, another twenty bug-horses emerging from the holes in the surrounding walls to fly off after them. The black resin doors shut heavily behind the last bug-horse to leave, the chamber going quiet save the hum of the Queen’s horn and the buzzing of her wings.

“Don’t you ever do that again in front of my subjects!” Chrysalis growled as she flew down to land in front of him. Trotting forwards, she raised a forehoof and pointed right at him. “I am Queen!”

“You’ve mentioned,” Daniel replied with a look down. “Cunt.”

He watched Chrysalis grit her teeth again, the equine lowering her hoof as her horn’s glow died out.

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“I don’t know how this is even possible!” She glared at him. “You think that I also don’t hate this? Being insulted by you whenever you open your stupid fat mouth? You going around and bewitching my subjects? Teaching my drones and soldiers to talk back to their betters?” She flicked her head with a snort. “It’s bad enough that my invasion failed, now I have to rebuild everything while dealing with you.”

Daniel decided, this time, to not respond with the tried and tested response of calling her a cunt.

“So don’t make it any harder than it has to be,” he suggested with his arms uncrossing. “You agree to chill out a bit, I’ll stop insulting you, and we can both just get on with it."

She bared her fangs again, but only for a second before she relaxed back into a frown.

“Fine. If only to lessen the time that I am forced to spend communicating with you,” she conceded with another snort. “So let’s get it over with. Just don’t expect me to act like I can actually tolerate your presence, brute.”

Skitter used a hoof to adjust his helmet as he watched the last of the nobility and scholars rapidly exit down the corridor. His comrades behind him closed the throne room doors and ensured that they were shut, Skitter turning back around to face the other three.

“Wow,” he huffed. “I don’t know how the Queen could understand him, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that mad before.”

One of the other guards, Shimmer, shuffled on her hooves and looked back towards the closed doors with her ears down. “I hope she doesn’t hurt him too much,” she murmured. “He seemed pretty nice.”

Skitter nodded in response, turning to take up his guard position.

“Nice or not, I don’t think Her Majesty thinks so.”

A muffled snort from the guard named Chitter. “Can’t imagine how you figured that out. I bet we’ll be cleaning up monster remains in about ten minutes, tops.”

“I still can’t believe that you all feed on emotions. It’s like a Red Dwarf episode.”

Chrysalis snorted and shifted her eyes away for a quick break from conversation, her neck cricking and legs stretching out as she adjusted her position upon her throne. Snuggling her back up against a pleasantly warm leg, she flicked her ears as a hand removed itself from rubbing her shoulder to give her ears a scratch.

The mutual learning session… may not have been as unpleasant as she had been expecting.

“You still insist on talking about things like I’m supposed to know what you mean,” she grunted after remaking eye contact. “And what is so hard to believe about it? You eat meat and plants, don’t you? Am I supposed to think that odd?”

The hand moved back to her shoulder, Chrysalis not even trying to hide her smile as it massaged the softened chitin.

“Snags aren’t an emotion, and you can actually touch a carrot.”

She snorted again, knowing how this line of conversation would go. For a being that had seemed to be surprisingly intelligent under all of the cursing (not nearly as intelligent as herself, however), he certainly was naïve when it came to the sheer power and expanse of magic.

“Yet we changelings thrive and prosper on love despite its lack of physical form, with no need to consume solid food unless we absolutely have to.” A smirk from her to him. “Maybe you just aren’t evolved enough to achieve the same.”

This time it was Foodbeast’s turn to snort in dismissal, Chrysalis repressing a laugh. It was certainly a welcome change from his previous antagonism.

“Yeah, whatever you want to think then. I’m not seeing any supercomputers around here, just saying.” His hand switched once again to rubbing her ears, cutting off her retort. “So define this love that you feed off, then. Are we talking like romantic love, what?”

Chrysalis took a second to shake her mane out, before answering. “Well, all kinds will do. Certain changelings have a taste for specific forms of love, with lust often being the most fun to earn.” She gave a smile and a lick of her fangs upon noticing his shoulders squirm in discomfort. “But anything will do, generally. Changelings often don’t have many chances to be picky, so we have to just feed on whatever is offered to us.”

His hand paused the rub, his voice lowering. “Are… are you feeding off of me, now?”

“Maybe.” Chrysalis flashed her fangs in a grin, before rolling her own shoulders. “Why, do you… feel attraction, Foodbeast?”

“Fuck no,” he quickly denied, so quickly that she actually felt a bit insulted. “You’re just… you know…”

Intrigued, Chrysalis rolled over onto her back.

“What? What am I?”

“Well… you’re kind of like an animal to me. You know, like a dog. Not that you’re not intelligent like a person. Just that... you’re a bit, uh…”

“What, a pet to you?” Chrysalis’ good mood vanished, her fangs showing for real this time. “A creature to treat like a nymph? Like an innocent beast to dole out attention to? Really?”

Both of them looked down to his hand, now resting on Chrysalis’ chest due to her changing position. Their eyes made contact once again, Foodbeast failing to hide a small smile.

“You haven’t exactly asked me to stop. It’s been at least two hours.”

Huffing, Chrysalis brushed his hand off of her using a foreleg, and rolled back over onto her hooves. “So it’s been that long that we’ve been sitting here. I have things to attend to, so you may return to your room.”

With grace, she buzzed her wings and leaped off of her throne. Turning her head back, she did one last glance over the holes in the walls to check for any hidden observers before meeting his eyes again.

“This evening was… less unpleasant than I expected. I…” Chrysalis stopped herself from saying ‘I look forward to’. “…expect to see you again tomorrow. If you continue to be reasonably behaved, then we can ask and answer more questions. One of the guards will escort you back. That is all.”

With that, she turned and trotted for the doors, before she paused to look back over her shoulder. Foodbeast was halfway down dismounting her throne, no wings to aid him. Chrysalis waited for him to look into her eyes again before continuing.

“And don’t you even dare let anyone else know of what we have spoken about or what has transpired. If you do… the consequences will be dire.”

Foodbeast snorted as he made his way over towards her. “Oh, yeah, I was just about to go and blab to everyone about how much of a softy you are. You know, with how I can speak bug-horse and everything.”

“For the last time, we’re changelings.”

“You look like bug-horses to me,” Foodbeast grunted, stepping past her and breaking eye contact. Rolling her eyes with a frown, Chrysalis just waited for him to push open the doors so she could verbally berate him in front of the guards.

“Yeah, thanks for showing me back and all. You can go now, I suppose.”

Daniel, one hand ready to push open his shared room’s door, watched while the bug-horse guard chattered at him with a commendable attempt at a smile. The male bug-horse was still as undecipherable as all of the bug-horses before it, despite his last few hours of listening to the Queen talk in her buzzing speech as well as mentally ‘talk’ with him. It was all the same buzzes, clicks, and chirps to him.

‘Well, at least I know her name now,’ Daniel thought, nodding back as the guard raised a foreleg to his helmet in a salute. ‘That's something, at least.’

It was certainly welcome to see that the bug-horse ruler could be just as co-operative as the rest of them after a few minutes of light petting, but he knew that she was going to be far more difficult to completely win over compared to his current hangers-on.

“Brzrzrt-chrzt.”

With a final wave of his foreleg, the bug-horse guard turned and trotted off back down the long corridor, leaving Daniel to push open the door and step inside.

‘On the topic of hangers-on…’

Daniel scanned the room he’d been assigned, the glowing green orb suspended from the ceiling aiding him with warm light. His eyes glanced over the pilfered piles of pillows and bedding, but at first he couldn’t find any trace of the six bug-horses.

“Huh, maybe they had to go and do something,” he muttered to himself. As he did so, he caught sight of movement on the strange smooth pod-bed, the pile of quilts and sheets heaped on it shifting. A single bug-horse foreleg popped out from under one side, the appendage flopping down by the side of the pod. A head appeared from the sheets a second later, ears twitching and nose sniffing.

The sour and downright sulky look on the bug-horse’s face vanished in an instant as soon as she spotted him, and her frown changed to a wide smile.

“Chrzrst!”

Bedding fell to the ground as she stood up and shook herself, the bug-horse’s grey Ethernet cable bouncing from side to side, before she bounded off the sleeping pod and landed in front of him with more chatters.

“Crzrtzrzt bzrtz czrt!”

Her face immediately went for his patchwork pants leg, the bug-horse continuing to chatter and buzz as she nuzzled.

Daniel looked around the room once again, searching for anymore bug-horses lying in ambush, before he focused back on the one rubbing up against his leg. “Just you then, huh? Did the others leave you behind?”

“Brzrrzzrzt!”

The reply was, as expected, completely unintelligible. Still, Daniel judged from the way that she looked up with a grin that she at least appreciated the attempt at conversation. Chattering some more, she left his leg to trot over towards the pile of cushions up against the wall, before flopping down belly-first atop of a blue one and looking back at him.

Meeting her wide eyes, brimming with expectation, Daniel raised a finger into the air.

“I’m onto you, bug-horse. You’re just like a four-legged tick, an emotion vampire.”

Said four-legged, tick vampire simply chittered in response and enthusiastically thumped the cushion next to her with a foreleg, her short grey tail wagging as she did so.

‘Granted, a cute tick,’ Daniel thought with a scoff. Taking a step forwards, he rolled his eyes as Grey’s wings buzzed with excitement. “Fine, have it your way. I’m warning you now though, don’t expect much in the ways of pats. Your bloody Queen pretty much took up the entire day’s quota already.”

Burrow stepped to the side of the corridor as a single scholar trotted past, Aphid and the three drones following his lead. The scholar paused and tilted his head at the bundles on their backs, but didn’t say anything or ask questions before trotting on. Watching him go, Burrow stepped back into the centre of the corridor and moved forwards, his eyes searching the doors on either side from the correct room.

‘Ah, there.’

Spying the doorway with the correct set of circular markings, Burrow approached it. Raising a foreleg to push it open, he reconsidered and instead gave it a few knocks instead.

‘Wonder if he’s still with Mirror and the Queen,’ he thought, before a voice called out from inside the room.

“Grabra?”

“It’s just us,” Burrow replied as he pushed open the door and trotted in, only to sigh and shake his head. “Well, what a surprise Mirror.”

“Mhmm… what?”

Eyes half-lidded, Mirror shifted her head from a cushion to glance over towards him. Her body was resting on top of a leg, her wings buzzing as a hand kneaded the small of her back.

“Shudup,” she murmured as her head went back to the pillow. “It’sh good.”

“Grung,” Mr Growls greeted with a raise of his free hand, the other one not stopping.

Shaking his head, Burrow moved to sit beside his friend on a pillow, his hind legs splayed out as he placed down the brown cardboard box he had been carrying on his back. Opening the lid and starting to go through the items inside, he glanced up a few times as the drones moved in to claim their own spots.

“Haven’t had enough yet, huh?” Cypher teased as she flopped down beside Mirror, Meddle joining her on a large pillow. Both drones shifted the numerous bags and boxes from their backs onto the ground, Mr Growls peeking over to try and look inside of one.

“No,” Mirror grunted out. “Meany Queeny wouldn’t let me stay, so I had to wait forever for Growly to come back.”

That caused Burrow to look up and tilt his head. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“Is that right?” Burrow said with a look to Mr Growls. It was returned, Burrow meeting it with a smile. “I hope the Queen didn’t go too hard on you, I mean, you’re still here after all.”

“I’m sure he can hold his own against Chrysalis,” Aphid said over the hivelink as she stood and waited for Muddle to relieve her of her two brown saddlebags. Burrow watched as the two bags were placed gently on the ground, Mr Growls hesitantly waving his free hand at Aphid.

“Grung.”

“Right back at you, Growly.” Trotting over towards him, Aphid circled around the wary biped much like a shark laying claim to its prey. To his credit, Mr Growls didn’t even flinch as her short grey tail flicked over to brush his nose as her rump slid past. Aphid finished the circling by ducking under an arm and draping herself down over his lap with a content sigh. “Now how about you give me a more solid greeting, hey?”

Burrow didn’t miss the way Mirror raised her head to glare at Aphid, before glancing over to meet Mr Growl’s eyes. The biped shrugged his shoulders at her with a pointed glance down towards Aphid, before both of his hands went to the soldier’s shoulders to earn a happy snort from the changeling in question.

“Rwarg grawg ra,” he whispered to Mirror, Burrow guessing that it was something along the lines of ‘make it up to you later’. Evidently Mirror thought the same, the drone flicking her ears with a small smile.

“Oh, someone likes you,” Meddle teased with a whisper, earning a giggle from Cypher beside her. “Must have been that alone time, Mirror?”

“Oh shut it Meddle.”

Someone cleared their throat, everyone save for Aphid looking over at the source. The final drone, Muddle, was standing over by all of the bags and boxes that they had brought in.

“Are you all forgetting something?” She grumbled with a look out to all of them. “What about all of Growly’s things?”

“I only care about one of his things,” Aphid spoke up over the link even as her face failed to leave a thigh. Muddle sighed in return, Burrow catching the annoyance in her eyes as she raised her head up towards Aphid and prepared to speak again.

Figuring that Muddle was about to say something she’d regret, Burrow decided to defuse the situation by loudly tapping his hoof against the side of his own box.

“Muddle’s right, we should probably get everything sorted before lounging around with Mr Growls again.” He nodded his head towards the mentioned drone. “Speaking of which, do you want to go first, Muddle?”

Her face lit up with a smile, and her horn glowed as she scooped up one of the saddlebags. “Sure!” She trotted over towards Mr Growls, the bag levitating out towards the waiting biped. “For you, Growly.”

“Hey, don’t stop!”

Unable to hear Aphid’s silent objections, not that Burrow thought that Mr Growls would care regardless, two hands lifted up to take the offered saddlebag. Everyone watched as the clasp of the bag was undone, Mr Growls reaching in to withdraw the treasures inside.

A bright pink hairbrush was lifted out first, Mr Growls examining it with a snort of amusement. Muddle, standing before him, lit up her horn again and took the brush back from him. “It’s a hairbrush. Hair-brush. Brush.” Levitating it up, she moved it to one of his arms and stroked the exposed skin with the bristles. “I thought you’d like it, so you can brush all of those teeny-tiny hairs that you’ve got. To keep them all clean.”

They all watched her continue to use the brush, before Mr Growls laughed lightly and placed a hand upon the handle.

“Ragraw.”

Taking the brush from her, he lifted it up and started to brush the brown hair upon his head, Muddle folding her ears back as the others chuckled. “Oh, well I suppose you can use it like that instead…”

“Gra.” Mr Growls didn’t seem to mind or take any insult, the brush being left stuck in his hair as he moved his hand back to the bag. Rummaging around, a smaller brush was pulled out and held up before them all, Mr Growls smirking with more amusement as he eyed the bright pink toothbrush.

“That’s a smaller one,” Muddle helpfully explained. “I think the Equestrians use it to clean their ears. Like this.”

Burrow could only sit and smile as his friend turned to give him a flat look, Muddle gleefully trying to poke the small brush into a defenceless earhole as the other drones watched on with fascination.

‘And that’s only half of one bag,’ he thought with a grin, subtly gesturing around at the rest of boxes and saddlebags with a hoof.

With a snort, Mr Growls rolled his eyes, before he winced as Muddle’s wings gave a light buzz.

“Haha!” The drone announced victoriously. “It fits!”

“Ah…”

Daniel sighed and glanced up at the full moon in the night sky, the desolate wasteland around him lit up almost as if it was day. The leafless and twisted tree before him was likely very thankful for the watering he was providing it, and the crisp breeze in the air was tinged with the biting scent of urine.

‘So glad I came out here instead,’ he thought with a grin as he shifted slightly from side to side to give the tree ample coverage. ‘An indoor dunny is good and all, but stuff being cooped up in that place all of the time.’

He stared ahead at the blackened bark of the tree in front of him, a hum escaping him. ‘Wonder if that’s why some of them seem so shitty all of the time. Not enough sun.’

Shaking off, he readjusted his underwear and pants, making a mental note to take another swim/bath in the morning.

“Maybe I’ll even try out some of the stuff they brought me,” he mumbled to himself. “Hopefully it’s not the same stuff they used on my actual clothes…”

Pausing only to give his hand a wipe down on the tree, he turned and started the walk back to the bug-horse tower. His shoes crunched the dusty ground underneath them, and Daniel looked into the main ground-level entrance to find two armoured guards staring back out at him.

“Chrszt!”

A third bug-horse bounded out from between the two, Grey bouncy and full of energy despite the late hour. Daniel raised an eye as she ignored the looks from the guards and went straight for him, chatting with her focus right on him. Meeting the stare of her solid blue eyes, he decided to try something.

“You’re pretty clingy today, aren’t you?”

He only received happy chittering in reply, no trance of mental communication whatsoever.

“Okay then,” he continued as he took a step into the tower. “Let’s go back in then, hey?”

Grey understood what he was getting at, the female chattering what Daniel assumed was words of thanks to the pair of guards, before she trotted out in front of him with a glance back. Following her, he kept up with her pace as she took corridor turn and stairwell with an ease he doubted he could ever match.

After about a minute of confusion navigation, they arrived at a familiar straight corridor of many doors, Daniel trying to get a quick count of them for future reference. He wasn’t able to finish before Grey moved to the left side and pressed open a door, the bug-horse turning around to make a shushing motion with her foreleg before stepping into the room.

Taking care to soften his footfalls, Daniel quietly followed her and took stock of the room, squinting as he did so to compensate for the dim light emitted from the green pustule up above.

It was the same as they had left it, half-empty boxes and bags sitting around the room with numerous items piled up beside them. Four of the bug-horses were curled up next to each other on the colourful horse quilt, a few legs intertwined as they snored peacefully in slumber. The fifth was on her back in the smooth sleeping pod, a pillow clutched in her forelegs as she wheezed out through her green-covered snout.

Grey cable went over to the sleeping group and tilted her head, before she seemed to brighten. With a smile on her face, she picked up on of the spare pillows with her mouth and trotted over towards the opposite wall, stepping over a stack of various canned vegetables as she did so. Dropping the pillow down she turned and looked at him, a wide grin on her face.

He raised an eye at her, Grey lifting a foreleg up to point towards the sleeping bug-horse in the pod.

“Oh, I see,” he whispered with a sigh. “You expect your due, huh?” He quickly removed his shoes and patchwork socks, the bug-horse not moving from her spot, before he placed them down by the door and tip-toed over towards her. Sidestepping a pilfered box of unknown small-horse food, he stopped beside Grey and looked down at the pillow on the floor. “I take it you want me to sit down first.”

Grey didn’t reply, instead she excitedly shifted her weight from forehoof to forehoof as she gestured to the pillow with a nod of her head.

Suppressing an eye roll at the predictable response, Daniel just yawned and sat down against the wall.

“Now it goes without saying, but there’s not going to be any funny busin-“

He was cut off by Grey clambering over him, her stomach flopping down to rest upon his. While her forelegs wrapped around his sides, the hind legs planted themselves on his own, hooves resting upon his knees. Planting her head onto his chest, she nuzzled up with happy murmurs until her snout was tucked into his neck.

‘Okay…’

Initially frozen as she shifted around to get comfortable, Daniel glanced over towards the four bug-horses sleeping on the quilt. Once again noticing how clumped together they were, his thoughts turned to Snouty.

‘Well, it’s not nearly as bad as she is, I suppose.’

Deciding that her intentions were pure, and resigned to the fact that he wasn’t really going to get much sleep if he let it bother him, he relaxed and instead took the alternate route.

Grey’s thin wings tickled the underside of his forearms with a quick buzz as he returned her gesture, her own forelegs tightening their hold on him. A happy chatter escaped her, and Daniel remembered his conversation with the Queen earlier in the day.

“If you’re not careful, you’ll end up a fat fuck like me.”

“Chzst.”

Her muffled response to his whispered warning didn’t sound too concerned, Daniel just laying his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.

Burrow blinked his eyes open and let out a short yawn, a foreleg cracking as he stretched it out in front of him. He tried to do the same with the other, but upon turning his head to investigate he found it firmly in Meddle’s grasp. Smiling to himself, he managed to wiggle it free without waking her up, and with that accomplished he stood up from the pile to look back at the three drones he’d bunked down with.

‘Wait, three?’

Looking first to the sleeping pod, and only finding a passed-out Aphid spooning a pillow, he quickly blinked the remaining drowsiness out of his eyes to scan the room.

Finding Mr Growls wasn’t difficult, but it was the black and grey addition to the patchwork pile that caused him to raise an eye. Softly trotting over towards the oddity, he paused and tilted his head at what he found.

Mirror had obviously been very persuasive the previous night, the slumbering drone snoozing on top of Mr Growls with her forelegs on either side of his chest. Her snout was resting under a chin, but most interesting of all was the fleshy foreleg that was draped over her back. Burrow didn’t miss the soft smile that his friend had on as he also continued to sleep, so he figured that maybe it hadn’t taken Mirror much effort to obtain the enviable slumber spot.

‘I swear, Aphid and these drones…’

Turning around and leaving the two, he looked up at the dim green light fixed into the ceiling. A brief glow of his horn and the light’s intensity started to steadily grow. Smiling at his work, he moved over towards the table and chairs, his rump taking a seat as he sat and waited for the growing light to wake the others up.

“Gragraragra!”

“Filthy beast, I have told you again and again to address me properly!”

“Rawgrawa!”

“That does it, I’ve had enough of your disrespect!”

Chrysalis gave a pointed glare over to the four guards at the door, her foreleg flicking out as she made a show of baring her fangs. “You, leave us and shut the door! Don’t let any changeling in no matter what!” She pointed the same foreleg down at the Foodbeast as her guards slowly backed out of the room. “This creature needs to be taught a lesson for defying me. Don’t repeat its mistake!”

The rapid hoof beats of the retreating guards was followed by the bang of the throne room doors slamming shut behind them.

“And as for you…!” She shouted out after them, before she gave the alcoves in the walls around them a good inspection for any spying changelings stupid enough to stay behind. Finding none, she lowered her foreleg and waited for a few moments with her ears cocked.

Finally satisfied that no-one was watching, she relaxed her glare and reclined back on her throne with a huff.

“You may approach.”

Watching the Foodbeast roll his eyes and move towards her throne, she shifted over to the left side as he heaved himself up onto the raised platform. He sat up next to her and kept his arms by his sides, Chrysalis holding back the urge to thrust her head at him and demand attention. Still, one of her ears gave an involuntary flick.

‘No, I will not give in that easily.’

“So, Foodbeast,” she said while looking into his eyes. “You don’t look quite as dirty today.”

He glanced down at himself and back up, his makeshift clothes dirt and dust-free.

“Yeah, me and the others spent a lot of time today at the pool-things you’ve got going on down below. Not too bad, really.” He scrunched up his mouth. “Not a big fan of smelling like a weird mix-up of flowers, banana, and mint though. They couldn’t just stop at one bottle of soap, no, they just had to find out what each one was by dumping it on me.”His fingers jittered. “And they brought in a fucking horde of bug-horses that pretty much wanted endless pats and massages. Bloody Snouty.”

It took Chrysalis a second to figure out which changeling he was referring to, an amused snort escaping her at the nickname. Still she didn’t question it, her head tilting as she raised an eye at him.

“You seem talkative.”

He grunted in response. “I don’t really have many options open to me, do I?” Fingers popped as he flexed them. “So, pretty obvious why I’m here anyway.”

Chrysalis tried to keep her smile neutral, but it came across as predatory anyway. “You may proceed with the feeding, yes.” Framing it with her in control soothed her ego, Chrysalis shuffling closed as he rolled his eyes in return.

Still, his hand went to her head regardless, Chrysalis closing her eyes for a brief moment as his fingers hit a sweet spot at the base of her ear. The slight affection she was feeding off seemed to spike, his words from the previous evening resurfacing in her head.

'Like a dog.'

‘Pfft, what does he know?’ She shuffled even closer at the thought, her teal tail giving a quick swish as she moved her head so she could still look at him while receiving the rub.

“You should be thankful that at least you have a use,” she told him as she flicked another ear. “A way to earn your keep.”

“What, apparently feeding you and six others? And I thought my previous job was a bit boring.”

Moving her side to touch his, Chrysalis ignored how he lent back.

“It could be worse, you could be put to work digging holes and mining out new tunnels for the Hive. Or sent out into the land to scavenge stones and materials we need. Instead you get to spend your time lounging around in the baths, fawned over by drones and soldiers alike.”

Foodbeast scoffed at her words, his hand pausing. “I wouldn’t mind some of the scavenging, actually. Good excuse to get out of this place more instead of sitting on my arse all day.” He gave her a look over. “And the sun helps too, you should try it more often.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“It can’t be good for you, staying in here all the time brooding like an emo. An hour or two of sunlight and fresh air might actually cheer you up a bit, works for me.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure you’re right. Why, you can’t even correctly pronounce the word ‘changeling’, so you must be an expert on our race.”

He scoffed again, his own eye raising up. “Sounds like some evidence right there, to me.”

“Shut up and get back to work.”

The hand started to move again, Chrysalis finding it hard to keep her frown as it moved down to the back of her neck. A tingle going down her back, she gave another glance around to the holes in the wall.

‘Should I tell him?’ she wondered. ‘It’s not as if he can repeat it to anyone, after all.’ Looking him back in the eyes, she cleared her throat.

“Well, speaking about work, I was actually thinking about expanding the population of the Hive sometime soon.” The neck rub stopped, and Chrysalis snorted at the fear that crossed his eyes at her words. “No, there is absolutely no plan to involve you, you complete fool. Besides extra feeding, that is.”

“There better not be, I’ve seen Alien.” Foodbeast’s spare hand moved to cover his heart. “No cunt’s going to put an egg in my chest.”

She could only stare at him with a concerned gaze. “You… you don’t actually think that’s how we reproduce, do you?”

The neck rub started up again, Foodbeast moving his other hand to his knee. “No, not really. I sort of figured that since you have males and females that it would be sort of normal. And fucking Snouty has been doing her best to try and root me it seems, so unless she’s packing a facehugger tube somewhere, I don’t really have to worry too much.” He rolled his eyes again. “Still, going off of what you’ve told me, I wouldn’t be surprised if you all spring up out of the ground through the magic of evil thoughts, or something like that.”

“Pah, what a stupid thought. Changelings have existed since the dawn of the world, even longer than I.” She flicked her mane, almost insulted, but she brushed it off as his usual sheer ignorance. “Still, creating more changelings is not the main issue. The problem I face is a much more personal one.”

“Oh really?”

Chrysalis squinted and pointed a foreleg at him, and due to their closeness it actually pressed up against his chest.

“You’re not to tell anyone this, changeling or pony. Ever.”

He blew a dismissive burst of air through his nose. “As I’ve told you before, if it’s too complex to convey in stick-figure drawing form, I doubt I’m going to be able to spill the beans even if I wanted to.”

Chrysalis eyed him for a few solid seconds, before she glanced around the empty throne room again. Sighing, she looked back at him and lowered her foreleg.

“Fine.” She hesitated, before shaking her head. ‘Just tell him, it’s annoying and he can’t possibly repeat it.’

“It’s an issue,” she continued on after a moment. “But I need to decide on a suitable mate.”

Daniel remained still as he processed the information.

“No means no.”

It wasn’t the right choice of words, Chrysalis glaring at him with a flash of her fangs.

“Wha… Foodbeast! How could you even… A drone maybe would consider it, but I…” She rubbed one of her temples with a hoof, closing her eyes briefly. “No, you oaf. I need to pick a changeling! Not everything revolves around you!”

Daniel gave her a look and stopped the neck rub, withdrawing his hand back to his other knee. “I know, I know. No need for rudeness.”

Chrysalis growled at him with a quick buzz of her wings, before she closed her eyes again and took a deep breath.

“Okay, fine. I’m… sorry.” The queen actually shuddered when she pronounced the last word. “It’s just a touchy topic, after all.” Her ears laid back, Daniel watching as she struggled to speak. “But it’s just so irritating. You have no idea how hard it is.”

There were many ways for him to reply to that accusation, but Daniel decided that playing safe and keeping the (relatively) trusting queen on his side was a good idea. So, to her surprise, he placed an arm over her back and patted her on the shoulder.

“Okay, so tell me then.” He said, using his other hand to lift up a foreleg. Daniel’s fingers stroked the soft underside part of her hoof, he couldn’t recall the correct name, and watched her reaction. One of the so-called ‘drones’ he shared a room with seemed to love the treatment immensely, and judging from the Queen’s eye flutter he felt it safe to assume that she shared the opinion. “I mean, you’re not bad-looking, considering you’re an alien bug-horse, and aren’t you the leader around here with all of the power? Shouldn’t you be drowning in bug-horse chads?”

Chrysalis tilted her head with a shiver. “Chads?”

“Dudes. Manly men. Uh… Colts, I think?”

“Colts are young male ponies. I think you mean males.” She winced, despite the petting. “And it’s not lack of suitors that are the problem, I can just order them to if I need to, after all. No, it’s the lack of quality males.”

Chrysalis groaned, her eyes giving an exasperated look to the ground before she looked back up at him.

“My scholars are all stupid fools, and the few ones that even come close to my own intelligence are either too old or too pathetic. The infiltrators are all hopeless buffoons, aided only by the Equestrians’ own stupidity. And the soldiers, don’t even get me started on the soldiers.”

Her forehoof pulled out of his grasp, Chrysalis breaking eye contact as she buzzed her wings. Flying up and over him to the other side, he could only watch as she lowered herself sideways onto his lap back-first. A green glow from her elongated horn levitated out a large green cushion from somewhere behind her throne, Chrysalis resting her head upon it as she crossed her hind legs. To finish, she stuck both of her forehooves out at him, and only returned to eye contact once he had grasped both of them.

“So, what you’re saying is that there’s no one suitable in this entire place,” Daniel replied as he resumed massaging her hooves. “Out of the, what, hundreds?”

“Four-hundred and eighty-six males.”

“Right. So, I already take it that you don’t really love anyone of those blokes already?”

She actually laughed at that. “Ha, love them? I am Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, I have no need for such feelings save for the sustenance that it provides me!” She noticed him raise an eye at the declaration when she was done, Chrysalis flicking her head to the side with a snort. “But no, Foodbeast, I do not have feelings for any of them in particular. Not that feelings would matter, anyway.”

“Oh, so you’re more looking for a genetic thing?”

“A what?”

“Uh, like the best possible changeling.”

Chrysalis nodded, her expression souring once more. “Yes, unfortunately as I have already told you, that is quite impossible.”

Not even attempting to try and figure out what sort of standards the Queen was running on, Daniel let a moment of silence pass. Although he did suspect that her ego wasn’t helping her quest for top-shelf Vitamin-D that not even the sun could provide, he wasn’t exactly in a position to judge her. Still, surely it wasn’t that hard to pick out a single worthy bug-horse.

“Hang on,” Daniel muttered, looking Chrysalis in the eyes again with one hand leaving her hoof to raise a finger. “What about the one with the fancy armour?” All he got was a blank stare, so he elaborated. “You know, the one who you chucked out of the cave before, the legend with the rum?”

Green eyes narrowed, Chrysalis pursing her lips. “What, Scuttle? Scuttle!?”

‘Scuttle?’ Daniel thought, making a note to write the name down in his notebook later. ‘Now that I think about, I should probably ask her for the others’ names as well.’

He didn’t exactly have a chance to get to that line of questioning, Chrysalis lightly slapping his free hand with her hoof.

“No Foodbeast, bad selection! Scuttle barely qualifies for a changeling, let alone me.” She scrunched up her face and flicked out her tongue. “No, absolutely not.”

Still, despite her objections, her could feel her squirm atop of him. Also, as she looked away to try and hide the thoughtful look in her eyes, Daniel was once again reminded at how the bug-horses seemed like pretty bad liars. So, getting tired of the run-around, he pressed his point.

“But he’s obviously high up in the ranks.”

“He’s my second in command,” Chrysalis admitted with a huff after meeting his eyes. “The Commander of my forces.”

Daniel managed a smile. “Sounds like a pretty good qualification to me. You obviously think he’s suitable to lead your army, so he’s probably good enough to lay the pipe.”

‘Am I talking him up a bit too much?’ Daniel wondered as Chrysalis seemed to mull over his words. ‘Nah, not really. Cunt gave me booze, might as well help a bro get some.’

Another huff from Chrysalis brought his attention fully back to her, the Queen flicking her head again.

“I’m not even going to ask what you mean by that, but I can take a guess.” Her eyes glanced down to his hand rubbing her hoof. “You’re lucky that you have those, otherwise I’d have you drained dry for talking about me like that.”

“Your fault for bringing it up.” Daniel stopped rubbing her hoof to wave his hand down before him with his best highschool girl impression. “So, are you ready to goss about the boys that I like, girrrrrrl.”

Her forehoof slapped his hand again, but Chrysalis couldn’t hide the small smile on her face.

“Oh shut up, fool,”

She shifted herself back a bit, wiggling her hind hooves as she did so.

“Now pay some attention to the royal rear hooves, and I might be generous enough to explain to you how changeling society works.”

“Hey, thanks for showing me the way back.”

Daniel turned away from the door and faced the guard, his shoulders shrugging.

“Not sure if you’re the same one from yesterday, but take this regardless.”

The guard at first didn’t move when his hand moved to lift up the purple helmet, but then bug-horse’s ears flicked when the ear scratch began. Breaking out into a smile, the male rolled his head around a few times as the scratch continued, before Daniel stopped and replaced his helmet.

“Zrzzt.” The guard nodded with smile still present, Daniel giving him a final wave before turning around and walking into his room.

He’d barely shut the door behind him before he felt a snout poke into the back of his thigh, a burst of bug-horse chatter rising up from behind him.

“So…” Daniel said as he turned around to face the only bug-horse in the room, Green’s short tail swishing and wings buzzing as she grinned up at him. “Is this going to be the normal work day, then?”

She excitedly tapped her hooves on the floor, her eyes making a pointed glance back over towards the pillow-stocked rug in the middle of the room.

“Crzrt rzzrtz zzrt!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Hello? My Queen?”

Chrysalis adjusted her spot on the bed, her body stretched out over the dark green sheets. Resting her head on an upright foreleg, she focused on the small hallway that led to the doorway of her royal chambers.

“Commander Scuttle, I’m in bed. You may approach.”

The sound of hoofsteps on the smooth black floor drew closer, until Scuttle’s helmeted head poked around the corner wall. He didn’t say anything initially when he first spotted her, but one of his eyes rose slightly.

A second of silence passed, Chrysalis resisting the urge to glare at him.

‘Thanks a lot, Foodbeast,’ she silently thought.

However, before she had to resort to breaking the quiet, Scuttle did it for her.

“Good evening then, My Queen.” He trotted fully into her room, fully armoured with a brown saddlebag on his side. “Did you wish to talk about something?”

Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis sighed.

“No Scuttle, I asked you to my room so you could stand there and stare at me all night in silence.”

“Okay then, my Queen.”

He stopped talking and stood ramrod straight, Chrysalis once again wondering just why she decided to take the Foodbeast’s advice.

“Scuttle, you idiot.” Her head gave a flick. “I asked you here to discuss the needs of the Hive.”

Her Commander nodded at her, his rump hitting the floor as he sat down. “Yes, I take it that you wish to organise some breeding pairings over the coming days?” He must of noticed her look of surprise. “It was something I suspected, giving our recent good luck with our acquisitions. The love stores are at bursting point, so much so that I’ve already got the scholars working on another bank of crystals.”

Scuttle met her eyes and waited for a response, Chrysalis giving her mane another flick before replying.

“Well, yes, that. Get to selecting some suitable pairs with the aid of the nurses, and I shall be the judge. Hopefully these ones will prove to be more effective for our causes, considering out last embarrassment.”

“Unfortunate, that,” Scuttle huffed. “At least some of us turned out to be competent though, My Queen.”

Chrysalis looked at him deadpan, before shaking it off.

“If you say so, Commander.” Her hooves fidgeted. “Still, that is not the only thing that we have to discuss tonight.” Her tail flicked, Chrysalis staring down her snout at him. “The time has come for me to personally ensure that we have a suitable group of elites and nobles for our future schemes. As of such, after some advice, I have decided on an acceptable male to make that happen.” She straightened her posture. “I have selected you, Scuttle.”

There was another moment of silence, Chrysalis letting him adjust to the news. No doubt he was overwhelmed with surprise, the opportunity to bed with the Queen for the purpose of procreation. A rare honour indeed that any changeling would be humbled to rec-

“Wow, did you just say that you took advice?”

Unable to respond to that, Chrysalis just looked at him with her mouth agape and eyes furrowed. Regardless, Scuttle continued on unperturbed.

“I mean, you barely listen to what I say, so who could you have possibly…” Scuttles eyes widened ever so slightly, a small smile growing on his face. “Oh. Ohhhh…”

“Stop right there!” Chrysalis tinged the warning with a hiss, her foreleg going up to point at him. “I know exactly what you are thinking, and you’re completely wrong!” She shifted on her spot. “I have scholars that I talk to, you know. It’s not just you.”

Scuttle stood up on all four hooves, and nodded his head. “Of course, My Queen.” Still, the smile remained on his face as he trotted over towards her. Watching him all the while, Chrysalis frowned when he placed his saddlebag on top of her small, squat and black bedside table. Glass clinked together as he fumbled around with it, before Scuttle pulled out a fat brown bottle and two small glasses. “Forgive me, I’m thankful to be chosen. Would you like to join me in a few drinks to relax a bit?”

Chrysalis eyed the bottle with distaste, before she sighed and gave in.

“Okay Scuttle. But only this once, it’s a special occasion after all.”

Her Commander nodded and started to pour the drinks, Chrysalis fidgeting on her spot as she waited.

‘This better be worth it,’ she thought, Scuttle passing over her glass with care. ‘If not, I’ll hang Foodbeast upside-down from the highest spire myself.’

Head On A Stick

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Bug-horse chattering and the sound of an occasional splash echoed off the walls of the small pool area, the air smelling of a mix between a flowery field and a fruit orchard in full bloom. Occasionally a group of bug-horses would glance in from the main bath area, resulting in many raised eyes and smiles.

Daniel was long past caring about the spectacle he’d become, however. Not that he could do much to avoid it in his current position, his bare legs resting in the pool’s lukewarm water while the two bug-horses pressed up on either side of him giggled and chittered to each other. Red and Yellow were obviously having a good morning, their own hind legs also resting in the water and occasionally rubbing up against his.

The bug-horse soldier sitting out in front (and awkwardly for Daniel, between his legs) on the submerged pool bench was a stark contrast to the two drones. He hadn’t uttered a sound for the last five minutes, instead sitting down in the water with his forelegs sitting in-between his outstretched hind ones. With eyes closed and red tongue poking out, the occasional wing twitch was the only movement as a pair of hands massaged banana-scented liquid soap onto the scar-spotted head. Daniel sighed at the thought of what he was doing, regretting his decision to just give up and let the four drones ‘volunteer’ his services out to every curious bug-horse that entered the ‘private’ bath area.

“I feel like a whore,” he muttered to himself while rubbing the soldier behind the ears.

“Chrrrztt-Czt!” Grey said with a smile as she leaned down over his shoulder from behind, her own soap-covered forehooves not leaving his hair. “Bzrt-zzrt.”

“I suppose it can’t hurt to make some more allies,” Daniel replied with a grunt. He didn’t actually understand what she had said, but found no harm in continuing the conversation. “And it could be worse, after all.”

He glanced around the pool as he spoke. His eyes still found no trace of Snouty, just a few random bug-horses dotted around the area and in the pool (all with squeaky-clean heads), with Green at the opposite end happily chatting away to a group of three listening intently.

Grey didn’t need an understanding of English to grasp what he was alluding to, a soft laugh escaping her before she stood back up and refocused on washing his hair for him. Daniel for his part ignored the teasing giggles and prods to his unprotected and defenceless nips from Yellow and Red, and instead removed his hands from the soldier’s head.

“Times up,” he informed, managing a small smile. “Sorry.”

The soldier opened up his solid blue eyes and turned around with a grin of his own, a nod and chatter reassuring Daniel that he understood. Slipping off the bench and fully into the water, the bug-horse doggy-paddled over towards to the middle of the pool to join up with another.

Daniel glanced down at his still-soapy hands and his smile grew. Aware of the hooves still poking his chest, he lifted both arms up and plonked his palms down atop of Red and Yellow’s heads, much to their surprise and Grey’s amusement.

“Zrrzt!” Red jolted, before she turned to fix him with a frown and huff. Yellow did the same, but before the two could protest further they were set upon by Grey, the snickering bug-horse pushing Daniel’s hands off with her hooves vigorously going to work. Temporarily free of the bug-horses, Daniel took the chance to slid down the smooth black surface and enter the pool fully, coming to rest with his arse on the bottom with his head and shoulders above the water.

‘Finally.’

Dunking his head under the surface, he rubbed it with his hands to get the soap off and re-emerged only to receive a face-full of water. A trio of sharp squeals from behind him caused a wince, before he opened his eyes to spot the perpetrator.

Green had obviously learnt from her last watery-assault, the bug-horse cackling loudly to herself while already madly paddling for the opposite pool edge. Daniel glanced back to the three now-soaked drones before looking back at Green, the bug-horse chattering and chittering loudly to the entire pool in-between gasps of air.

‘Fucking spastic.’

Shaking his head in an attempt to get most of the water off, he didn’t miss how the general noise in the pool died down all of a sudden. Blinking his eyes and looking around, he saw that every bug-horse had bowed their heads, even the ones in the pool having ceased their splashes to float in place and go quiet.

Daniel only had time to register the fact that they were all aiming their bow towards him, before cold metal touched down upon his right shoulder. Shifting his gaze to spot the purple-metal shoe that was now resting upon him, Daniel tilted his head back to meet the bug-horse’s gaze.

“Crrzzhrzt.”

Muddle lifted her head to watch as Commander Scuttle made numerous facial and hoof gestures at Mr Growls, the high-born changeling backing away from the edge to let the biped turn around. Both of the males had smiles on as they ‘conversed’, smiles that quickly grew into grins as they continued to interact.

“Runga?” Mr Growls directed towards the Commander, before his eyes raised at the wink and nod he got in return. “Grung…. Gra?”

“Yeah, she did,” Scuttle answered with a hoof banging against his chest and a smug grin. “All thanks to some advice she received from one of the ‘scholars and stuff’, don’t you know?” His armoured hoof went back to pat Mr Growls on the bare shoulder, Muddle bowing her head back down when the Commander glanced back over at her and Cypher. “I owe you one, buddy. See you later, I’ve got some things to attend to for the Queen.”

“Grangra.”

Armoured hoofsteps approached, and Muddle looked up to find the smile of the second-highest changeling in the entire hive directed to her.

“Keep up the good work, drones.” Commander Scuttle said with a look towards Cypher and Mirror as well. “It seems like your charge is managing to fit himself into the hive quite nicely. Well done.”

With that, Scuttle gave Growly a final wave of his hoof, before trotting out of the private pool area with a bounce in his step. Every changeling in the room looked up as soon as he had left, whispers starting up between them with curious looks going towards Mr Growls. Muddle for her part trotted over towards him with Mirror and Cypher following behind, her head tilting with her question.

“Growly, just what did you do?” She lowered her voice to a whisper as everyone’s eyes were on them. “That was the Commander, the Commander of the Hive! He even thanked us, us! We’re just drones!”

Growly’s smile, smugness equal if not greater than Scuttle’s just before, didn’t even waver when Meddle surfaced up alongside him to poke him in the nipple.

“Growly!”

Burrow waited at the side of the corridor for the pack of drones to pass by, taking the opportunity to shift the position of the brown saddlebag he’d commandeered from the Stores. Behind him Aphid did the same, the other soldier making loud smacking noises with her lips while she did. Waiting for the five drones to pass, each one looking back at Aphid with furrowed eyes, Burrow fixed her with a look.

“Are you okay there?”

“Never better,” Aphid ran her tongue over her fangs and teeth, the back of her shoed hoof rubbing her nose. “Feels good to finally have that gunk off of my snout, I had this itch that was driving me wild.” She smirked, and Burrow rolled his eyes at the grin she gave him. “Speaking of itches needing a scratch…”

“You can’t use your injury to guilt Mr Growls anymore,” he reminded her, the pair moving back into the centre of the corridor and continuing on towards the bathing area. “And I’ve built up an immunity to you, thankfully.”

“We’ll see,” she muttered, her lecherous tone causing Burrow to tuck his tail in tighter instinctively. “We’ll see…”

Trying to ignore it, Burrow led them on closer and closer to the bath area, the pair heading down a small ramp and making to turn around the last corner. A flash of purple and gold beat them to it from the other side, both Aphid and Burrow skidding to a halt before immediately going straight and saluting at the changeling that likewise stopped and stared at them.

“Commander, Sir,” Burrow greeted, Scuttle raising an eye at him before breaking out into a smile.

“Ah, the two notorious ‘Creature Controllers’,” the Commander chuckled, before moving around to the side of them and inspecting them both. “Wearing armour and saddlebags into the baths? Planning on trying to impress some of the drones?” Scuttle tapped his hoof against Aphid’s purple-armoured shoulders as he spoke, a solid clank echoing around the corridor thanks to his own armoured shoe.

“No Commander,” Aphid answered before Burrow could, the normally lax female staring straight ahead at attention. “We’re hunting bigger prey today.”

Burrow twitched, a reaction that seemed to go unnoticed by the Commander. Still, Scuttle’s smile widened into a grin while he circled back around to the front.

“Foodbeast, I take it?” He didn’t give them a chance to reply, Scuttle shaking his head with a chuckle. “I’d be careful with how you treat him, Soldier. That non-changeling has made some surprising progression with his hive social status, I just ran into him in the bathing area a few minutes ago.”

Cocking an ear, Burrow allowed himself a tilt of his head. “The drones certainly are warming up to him from what I’ve seen, Sir.”

‘Is he also talking about himself? There was also that one time back in that cavern with him and Mr Growls…’

Scuttle chuckled. “Yes, that was fairly plain to see.” Stepping to the side, the Commander started to walk on past them, but not before one last remark. “But not just drones it seems, even I’m still surprised by it.”

Armoured shoes clacked off down behind them, both Burrow and Aphid waiting until he was well out of earshot before relaxing to look at each other.

“Hunting ‘bigger prey’, really?”

“Hey,” said Aphid with a hoof going over her chest. “It’s just the truth, isn’t it?”

Briefly closing his eyes with a sigh, Burrow looked back at her. “I… what’s the point?” After the mutter, he gestured with a foreleg in the direction that Scuttle had left. “What do you think he meant anyway? Himself?”

“Probably just the scholars,” his counterpart dismissed while shoving her way past him. “Going crazy over those things of his. I’m more concerned about what the Commander said about the drones, and how they’re probably-“

“Yeah, yeah,” Burrow groaned while starting to trot up behind her. “Going crazy over his thing, I get it.”

“Burrow, you too?”

He didn’t bother replying, his teeth grinding together as they entered the main bathing area and looked around.

Only a smattering of changelings were hanging around, the few groups of soldiers and drones likely taking a break in-between their works shifts to relax and socialise. Aside from a few glances the pair of Creature Controllers managed to avoid drawing attention to themselves, Aphid pausing to sniff the air before immediately making for one of the more secluded areas with a spring in her step.

“This way, I can already smell all of the pony soap!”

Having no choice but to follow, Burrow was a second behind Aphid when they entered the smaller bathing area.

A second too late.

“Gra! Ra… grung, unga.”

Aphid had managed to catch Mr Growls right as he had been exiting the pool, the unfortunate biped having nothing but a towel around him to protect himself with. Water dripped off of his hair, a few drops splashing down against Aphid’s helmet as she busied herself with nuzzling the side of her head into the towel, the awkward spot she had chosen likely no accident.

“Growly!” she greeted, both forelegs wrapped around Mr Growl’s waist. Without any hint of subtlety, her armoured hooves squeezed biped-behind while she rubbed. “I’m back to full strength!” Her voice lowered, Burrow having to strain his ears to hear the following whisper. “There’s no more need to be gentle with me…”

“Bleugh,” he muttered under his breath, the four drones moving up alongside him with frowns firmly fixed on the oblivious Aphid.

“Good to see that she’s back to her usual self,” Muddle growled, the other drones nodding in agreement.

“I know,” Burrow sighed. “I’m almost tempted to order you to find another bathtub…”

The five of them let that thought hang in the air for a moment, before Mr Growls looked over at them with a strained expression. A giggle from Aphid accompanied it, the soldier still nuzzling and muttering into the towel.

“Oh, now what do we have here…”

“Grag.” With the grunt, Mr Growls gave up with waiting for assistance and instead firmly pushed Aphid off before hurriedly marching over to the patchwork clothes that were draped over a black bench. The female blinked a few times in confusion, before she frowned and made to follow.

“Aphid,” Burrow addressed, gaining her attention. “Leave him alone and let him get changed. We have to talk with the drones about the plan for today.” He made sure to inject a commanding tone, Aphid shifting her frown onto him before huffing and trotting over. Burrow didn’t miss the thankful look Mr Growls gave him, before he picked up his clothes and retreated behind a low dividing wall to quickly get dressed.

Focusing back on the waiting drones, Burrow gave them all a smile while Aphid slid up alongside him to sulk.

“Some good news. I received a message this morning from one of the nurses, apparently Her Majesty wishes for us all to spend the day outside of the Hive. Surprisingly, it seems as if she trusts us enough to go out without any other soldiers to supervise.” The drones all shared looks and raised eyes with each other, Burrow giving it a moment before patting his saddlebag and continuing. “We’re primarily tasked with foraging for anything useful or edible for Mr Growls, although general scouting is also something she would like us to do during.”

The drone with a red necklace, Cypher, raised a foreleg. Burrow nodded at her to go ahead, Cypher shooting a look over towards the biped in question.

“What about Growly?”

Burrow smiled. “He’s coming with us, a condition that the Queen laid down for whatever reason.” A gesture to his saddlebag. “We’ve got some food and water for him, and I’m sure that he’ll be more than happy to spare us some love once we’re outside in the sun.” He glanced back to his friend, Mr Growls now dressed and working on putting on his weird shoes. “As soon as he’s ready, we’re good to go.”

All four of the drones were already smiling at the news of the excursion, even Aphid had brightened at the reminder of their task.

“A whole day with Growly, away from the rest of the Hive!” Aphid chortled while dancing on her forehooves. “What could be better?”

“I could think of a few changes,” Mirror muttered just loud enough for Burrow to overhear, but her tone remained jovial.

Then, they all looked up as the creature in question ambled over to see what was happening.

“Guess what, Growly?” Before Burrow could even smile in greeting, Muddle was already bounding in front of Mr Growls. “We’re going outside today! Queen’s orders!”

“Ragrab?” The response was accompanied with a smile and a head pat for Muddle, the happy drone pushing her head up into his hand to meet the rub with a hum. “Gungra rab?”

Burrow couldn’t help his own smile upon witnessing his ‘friend’ talk with Muddle, the other drones quickly moving up to circle around on the off chance attention would be given to them as well. Despite there being absolutely no shared knowledge of each other’s speech, the continued efforts at genuine socialisation was oddly touching. Especially considering that his friend was as non-changeling as one could get.

‘Is he really though?’ Burrow thought while watching Mr Growls give alternating head rubs to the drones, and even hesitantly to Aphid when she approached. ‘So far, I understand him better than any Equestrian…’

Granted, his primary interactions with the colourful equines hadn’t exactly been on relaxed and friendly terms, but still.

He had no more time for thoughts on the topic though, Burrow blinking with surprise at the quick ear scratch that managed to get him past the helmet.

“Come on Burrow!” Cypher called out as the other five changelings and Mr Growls made fast progress past him and out of the private bathing area, Aphid leading their two-legged friend out with his hand in her jaws. “Let’s get Growly’s things and leave already!”

Shaking his head, Burrow started to trot and catch up, a snort escaping his nostrils.

“Onwards, to a new and no doubt eventful day,” he murmured, increasing his pace to keep up.

Small rocks crunched beneath dependable work-boot, Daniel pausing to take in a deep lungful of dusty air as he crested the sun-scorched top of the rocky hill. While still barren like the area around the black spire castle, at the very least the hill had a few sprouts of hardy green bushes dotted around in various soil-filled crevasses. More importantly, the bushes in question were laden with fat berries coloured a grungy brown.

Glancing up while placing his tool case on the ground beside him, and seeing that the sun was about halfway up into the sky, Daniel reached out to the closest bush and plucked a single fruit. Shoving it into his gob, already knowing that it was fairly safe to eat thanks to previous bushes in the morning, he chewed and nodded slightly at the tart taste.

The bug-horses had admittedly been feeding him rather well with assorted canned produce and suspiciously-fresh baked goods, a lack of meat being understandable, but it didn’t hurt to ingest some fresh food from time to time.

Still smiling and chewing, he turned around to his left as a set of black hooves landed upon the rock next to him and pulled their owner up.

Bluey huffed and panted while he secured a solid hoofing on the dusty bolder, and Daniel shook his head once again at the purple breastplate, shoes, and helmet.

“Probably not your brightest idea to wear that out, mate,” he said, Bluey looking up at him before chattering in response. Taking a moment to remove off his helmet, the bug-horse reached around with a foreleg to rummage around in his worn bag and somehow retrieve a rounded canteen. Pausing to offer it to Daniel, receiving a head shake in response, Bluey tilted his head back and took a few deep gulps, before recapping the canteen and replacing it into his bag with a satisfied sigh.

More puffing heralded the arrival of a second bug-horse, this one also armoured. Bluey frowned when Snouty joined him on the rock, the female pushing him out of the way to rest her heaving side up against Daniel’s leg.

“Brzzrt,” she huffed with a glance to Bluey. “Zrrrzt-hrrt.”

Cricking her neck and shifting on her hooves, Snouty started to bump her side against his leg repeatedly, Daniel taking the hint and rolling his eyes.

Snouty’s back arched up to meet his rub, the bug-horse’s wings tickling the underside of his forearm while she chittered and shifted. She seemed to perk up immediately at the contact, Bluey eyeing her with a raise of his eye and a shake of the head.

Glancing back down the hill while still rubbing, Daniel saw nothing but rocks and the occasional shrub.

“Where’s the rest then?” He asked, both of the armour-toting bug-horses noticing where his attention was and straining their own eyes. The three of them scoured the rocks, until Bluely gave up on using solely his eyes and cupped a hoof around his mouth.

“Brrzzrrrrrrt!”

The call echoed out, a second passing before it was returned.

“Czzrt!”

All three turned, the reply sounding from the other side of the hill. Daniel was the first to investigate, initially bending down to pick up the tool case again before walking over to the opposite edge and looking over.

Red smiled up at him from about four metres down, the other three drones already laying down underneath the shade of a rocky outcropping. Looking over the area they had chosen to take a break at, it looked as if the four had managed to navigate around a small natural path to find a flat section of hill.

“A small rest couldn’t hurt,” Daniel agreed out loud. With Bluey and Snouty up alongside and looking down, he started the perilous journey down the hill. In actuality, it wasn’t that bad. With plenty of small rocks for footholds, he only had a slight stumble even with the toolbox in hand. Boots once again hitting solid ground, the four drones watching with interest all the while, Daniel looked back up at the two armoured bug-horses. “Easy-peasy. Your turn.”

Both bug-horses shared a look, before their wings sprang into life with a buzz, the two lifting off into the air. Daniel shook his head at them as they landed beside him a few moments later, Bluey grinning at him while Snouty stuck out her tongue.

“Soft cunts.”

With the snort of dismissal, he moved over to the three bug-horses laying down already. The trio greeted him with chatters as he paused to look over the edge, the rather steep face broken up by the occasional small cave or similar outcropping to the one they were on. Sitting down upon a fairly flat rock with a grunt, he placed the tool chest down beside him and glanced around at the resting drones.

“How are you all holding up then?” He smiled. “You know you’re in trouble when the fat guy’s got more stamina than you.”

Green, laying down on her side, chittered and chattered in between her puffs. “Chrzrrzt, brrzzrtt zrzt.” Her wings twitched, before she rolled over onto her back and flopped out all four limbs to her sides. “Zrrzt.”

“Brzzrt tzzt!” Yellow teased from the right, laying up against the cool stone wall. Green shot her an unamused look and a sharp gesture with a hoof, earning a round of buzzing laughter from all the bug-horses.

Bluely and Snouty took up spots near the cliff edge while they continued to laugh at whatever it was that Green and Yellow had shared. Blue’s mirth quickly ceased however, Snouty still chuckling while looping a foreleg around his midsection. Daniel managed to catch the unfortunate male’s eye, and with a grin he gave him an exaggerated wink. It was returned by an eye roll, however Bluely made no visible effort to fight off the friendly gesture.

‘Better you than me, mate.’ Daniel shifted on his spot, one hand instinctively covering his groin at the memory of the morning hug. ‘That bloody semen-demon knows exactly what she’s doing.’

Red chose that exact time to join them, the last drone sitting down right next to him. Her rump had barely hit the ground before a sharp and girlish squeal rang out from the two soldiers, Daniel and the drones snapping their attentions back to the pair.

Bluey had a very, very deep green blush on his face, Snouty cackling madly as she wriggled her foreleg in Bluey’s grasp. Roughly it was forced out from his lap, the male soldier going quiet while quickly crossing his legs.

While the females continued to giggle and chortle, Daniel shook his head in sympathy.

‘Better you than me, better you than me…’

He’d spoken (or rather had thought) too soon, a weight settling down over the top of his left arm. Looking down, he met Red’s smile and noticed her two forelegs, the pair of limbs held straight out across his own arm. Her dusty hooves wiggled, Red tilting her head at him before waggling an ear and buzzing.

“Chrztz.”

Quickly giving the others a glance, and seeing that they were all preoccupied with Snouty and her wandering hooves, Daniel raised an eye at her smiling face.

“Well,” he replied, keeping his voice low so only she could really hear. “While demanding, you did at least say ‘please’ after all… I think.” Pausing to dust his hands off on his patchwork pants, he did what she asked and took both forehooves in his fingers. Red’s wings briefly buzzed as the rub started, the bug-horse uttering a low chitter while shutting her eyes and relaxing up against him.

Shifting in his spot as she rested her head up against his arm, Daniel’s smile lessened.

‘Should probably be more careful and dial it back a bit, don’t want them to get too comfortable with stuff like this.’

He didn’t exactly want to admit that, rather than them, it was he who was starting to skirt a dangerous line with familiarity.

His dwelling on the rapid change between threatening Bluey with a screw driver shanking to bathing with the creatures was interrupted by the noise of metal clinking together, Grey shuffling forwards with his box of tools pushed in-between her forelegs.

Daniel, Red’s hooves still in his hands, matched her tilt of the head with a curious look.

“Hmm?”

Grey tapped the clear plastic top of the chest with a hoof, bowing her head down towards it before looking back up to him. Then she gave a pointed look around at the others. Daniel followed her gaze and saw that the two soldiers were preoccupied with hushed conversation, Green and Yellow had both decided to nap in their spots, and Red of course was not looking like she was planning on doing anything else for a while yet.

Facing her again, Daniel shrugged and nodded. “Sure, go ahead. Just don’t hurt yourself or break anything.”

His meaning was instantly clear to Grey, the eager bug-horse giving a swish of her short tail before diving into the tool chest with a wide grin. Daniel watched her struggle with the plastic clasps initially before she managed to get them open with a chitter of success, and upon seeing her manage to open it he rested the back of his head up against the cool stone wall and just let her go at it.

Metal clanked and clicked together from beside him, occasionally punctuated by hushed chatters and inquisitive buzzes. Closing his eyes for a brief rest while he continued to work on Red’s hooves, he only managed to catch a few minutes before a sharp clanging brought his attention back to Grey. Glancing down to his right, a few of the other bug-horses also looking over, he found the drone happily banging two large flat-head screwdrivers together.

Grinning to herself, Grey showed no signs of stopping her newfound activity as the banging continued. A few moments passed, even Red breaking from her relaxed rest to stare over at Grey, before Daniel finally removed his hands from her hooves.

“Okay, okay,” he said, Grey looking up at him as he placed a hand over the ends of both screwdrivers. “Congrats on discovering music, but maybe you can practice your percussion skills another time?”

She looked around at the other bug-horses at his words, their unamused looks likely having a much better effect on getting the point across. Muttering softly, Grey bowed her head sheepishly and slowly lowered the screwdrivers back into the toolbox.

Daniel gave her a quick pat on the head, Grey immediately perking up before resuming her rummaging unperturbed, the other bug-horses returning to either their previous conversations or naps.

Not Red however.

Daniel was well aware of the eye-roll and sigh he received from her when he failed to return his hands to her hooves, his attention instead focused on the small and rectangular object that Grey pulled out next from the box.

The cheap work smartphone was fumbled around in Grey’s hooves, the bug-horse tilting her head at the faux-leather encased device. Finding the small flap for the part covering the screen, her horn lit up with a soft green glow, a tiny cloud of green encasing the tab and pulling the cover open. The blank black screen was met with all sorts of investigation, Daniel reaching over to grasp it in his fingers as soon as she started tapping at it with the tip of her hoof.

Grey didn’t resist, instead her eyes locked on him with interest and she scooted closer while Daniel held the phone in his hands. Red for her part also tilted her head at the device, both bug-horses leaning in closer when Daniel held down one of the buttons on the side. The screen lit up white, both bug-horses locking their focus on the phone as it went through its colourful start-up sequence.

It took a while for the device to start up completely (It was a cheap hand-me-down after all), but upon reaching the main blue menu screen there was a nice surprise for Daniel.

“Huh, look at that,” he muttered to himself, both bug-horses remaining quiet while they watched him tap the screen with a finger. “The battery is still over ninety.” The signal however was, as expected, non-existent. Quickly moving to turn off the data connection to conserve even more power, Daniel was left staring at the near-useless phone in his hand. “Still got a light at least.”

He turned the phone over, his eyes catching sight of the circular area cut into the material of the case. Daniel paused, the round lens of the phone camera facing up towards him.

“Actually…”

With a smile he flipped the phone back around and turned the rear-facing towards Grey, the bug-horse blinking at him with a titled head while she sat. Looking at her through the phone’s screen, Daniel felt the side of Red’s head slid up against his left arm.

“Crzrzgzrt!” Red whispered upon seeing the scene before her recreated on the phone screen in real time, and Grey’s ear flicked right before a soft snap sounded from the phone as Daniel took her picture.

Lowing the phone to his lap, Daniel let the two sit up beside him and lean in while he brought the fresh photo up onto the screen, Grey in particular uttering an excited burst chatter upon seeing the picture of herself in full digital glory.

“Brzzt crzrz zzrztz!”

“I know,” Daniel replied, before raising an eye and smiling. “What a looker.”

He zoomed in closer using both fingers, until only Grey’s face and confused look complete with floppy ear were in frame. Tapping it, he pressed a few buttons and closed out of the camera, showing both Red and Grey his new wallpaper.

“What do you think?”

Both bug-horses chattered rapidly at the same time, Grey’s tail starting to swish up against him. Chuckling at their reactions, he made sure to reopen the camera application before holding the phone up.

“See this?” he said, both bug-horses watching as he pointed to the largest button on the side of the phone. “This takes the picture for you, if you press it.” To demonstrate, he aimed the lens at Red and made a show of pressing the button, another snap sounding out before he turned the device back around to show them the new picture. It went away after a few seconds and returned to the shifting view through the camera, Daniel then passing the phone over towards Grey.

The bug-horse for her part carefully held the phone before her with a green glow from her horn, her eyes widening up at him.

“Have a play. Go wild.” He waved with his hand towards the other, still distracted, bug-horses around the clearing.

Grey’s mouth broke out into a toothy grin, her wings buzzing while she jumped to her hooves with phone still in magical grasp. “Brzzrzrt!”

Red stood up from her spot as well, hoof massage forgotten as she joined Grey with a smile and tail swish. Chattering to themselves, the two immediately made their way over to the two drones who were still snoozing in the shade, Daniel shaking his head as the faint sound of camera snaps started up.

‘This will be trouble.’ Daniel stood up from his spot at the thought now that the two drones were distracted, his back clicking. Turning around to face the mountain side, he started to stretch and crick and his neck while he had the chance. Behind him, more bug-horse chatter started up as the other drones no doubt were introduced to the wonders of a digital camera. ‘Still, at least they’re having some harmless fun.’

Burrow kept a neutral expression while the four drones giggled amongst each other as Mirror took another picture, a complete opposite to Aphid. Sitting beside him, one of her forelegs wrapped around the back of his neck, his fellow soldier wore a wide and toothy grin at the situation. She’d adapted quite quickly to the discovery of Mr Growl’s picture-taking device, her position and pose against him changing every time the four complicit drones captured another photo. Burrow’s eyes gave a quick glance away from the group of four in front of him and towards the device’s owner, Mr Growls standing over at the mountain wall with his back towards them and his forelimbs held in a stretch over his shoulders.

‘Good work with distracting them so well,’ he thought with a silent groan inside of his thoughts. ‘I just wish they hadn’t latched onto me instead.’ Another camera snap punctuated his mental grumble, Aphid also wrapping a hind leg around him this time as well. ‘Although to be honest, this isn’t nearly as bad as it could have bee-‘

His musing was short lived, his trail of thought quickly wrenched away by the feeling of a wet tongue invading his ear.

“Wha-!?” He was too late in pulling away, another sound of a picture being taken sounding out. “Aphid!”

“Got it!” Mirror cheered, all four of the drones leaning in to examine the device front. “Ha, this one’s great! Burrow’s face!” All four broke out into another round of giggles, before their attention turned to taking more pictures of themselves.

Burrow frowned at Aphid beside him while brushing his now-wet ear with the side of his foreleg, the other soldier chuckling while flicking her tongue out at him.

“Oh don’t be so sour,” she teased. “It was just a small lick.” Her eyes waggled, Burrow getting in before she could no doubt follow up the comment with something filthy.

“Yeah, well how about you keep your tongue to yourself next time,” he grunted, managing to get most of the wetness out. Still, he could still feel the sensation of it, and shuddered. “Don’t just stick things into other changelings’ ear holes without asking.” Burrow paused at the last word, already realising that he had made a mistake a second before Aphid’s grin widened.

“Oh hoho,” chortled Aphid with another raise of her eyes. “Speaking of orifices…”

He wasted no time in pushing her away, Burrow getting to his hooves while she laughed at him.

“Anytime Burrow, anytime!” Aphid stood up herself, still chuckling to herself as she made her way over to the drones. “Hey, stop hogging that thing Mirror, I want a turn!”

“I swear…” Shaking his head, Burrow looked over towards the only other sane member of the group and considered joining him.

‘Actually,’ he reconsidered, seeing that Mr Growls was still happily stretching by himself. ‘I’ll let him have a break from changeling attention.’ He rolled his eyes at the next thought, a small smile crossing his face while he turned around. ‘After all, we’ll both be swarmed again as soon as they lose interest in pictures.’

Leaving the group of troublesome females behind as well, Burrow trotted away from everyone and peered out over the horizon.

Standing on the very edge of the rocky mountain outcrop, Burrow looked out over the barren ground and smaller hills. He could just make out the green grass of the fields far off in the distance that marked the unofficial border of Equestria, the large mountain ranges they had passed underneath towering above them.

A brief gust of cool breeze swept by him, and he turned his attention to scanning the area closer to them for anything interesting.

A few more berry bushes seemed to be growing on top of a hill to the left of them, Burrow mentally jotting them down as a possible stop on their scouting journey. Apart from that, a few of the other hills seemed like good places to stop and examine, clusters of leafless trees and other hardy plants hinting that something of interest could be found.

A flash of gold caught his eye, Burrow ceasing his scanning to look down at the small hill to the right of their current spot. Searching the rocks he couldn’t see anything at first, but then movement and another flash of metal drew his focuses to one spot near the top.

He froze in place as soon as he noticed the first Equestrian Solar Guard, the golden-armoured pegasus trotting out of a concealed cave mouth to stand in the sun with spear-point glinting in the warm light. The pony was followed by yet another one a moment later, the two conversing with each other. It was the third guard that exited the cave that caused the most worry however, the dark-purple armoured bat-pony sheathing a silver short sword with a bat wing as it did so.

“Aphid!” Burrow hissed out while simultaneously dropping down to a low crouch behind a rock.

“Wh-“

Her reply immediately cut off and he heard her rapid hoofsteps approach him, Aphid thankfully taking the situation seriously without further prompting. He could hear that even the drones had stopped their joking around, the rocky outcrop going dead quiet.

Burrow kept his focus firmly on the three conversing guards, Aphid wriggling up beside him and following his stare.

“Equestrians,” she cursed under her breath, eyes narrowing. “Easy to guess what they’re doing here.”

He didn’t need to answer her, the two of them perfectly aware that the hunt for them wasn’t just going to stop at the mountain ranges. Still, Burrow had never heard of Equestrians bothering to come out so close to the Hive’s location, and by the looks of things they weren’t going to be stopping soon.

A soft sound of a picture being taken drew his attention to his left, Burrow spotting Mr Growls crouching behind a large boulder. The picture-device had obviously been liberated from the drones as soon as he had noticed the alarm, the biped thankfully having the sense to conceal himself while snapping the shots.

“What should we do?” Aphid asked him with a hushed whisper, her eyes also glancing over towards their two-legged friend. “Two of us and the drones have a chance of taking them on, especially if Growly helps.”

Burrow whispered back. “No, too risky. They’re armed and the drones aren’t fighters.” He paused for a second. “Even if we managed to overcome them and not end up with heavily injuries, what then? We take them back to the Hive and the other guards will know that they went missing.” He shuffled back away from the edge, Aphid following a second later.

Out of sight and standing up, Burrow faced the drones.

“Me and Aphid are going to warn the Hive,” he told the four, Mr Growls creeping over in a crouch to join them. “You take Mr Growls back the fastest path you can while staying as concealed as possible.”

“What if they find us before we get back?” Muddle asked, causing Burrow to grimace.

“You’ll have to fight them off,” Aphid answered for him, her expression serious. “At all costs, you can’t endanger the location of the Hive.”

The pair of them started their wings.

“Growly will help you though,” Aphid continued. “We’re sure of it.”

At the mention, Burrow turned in preparation to try and explain it all to Mr Growls, but thankfully his friend was already grabbing his case of things. Moving over to the path that the drones had taken to get to the outcrop, he stood by and looked back at them. Giving him a nod of thanks, Burrow breathed a sigh of relieve at his comprehension of the situation.

“Remember,” he reminded the drones as he jumped up into a hover with Aphid alongside. “Be quick but careful. Good luck.”

With those words he flew off low, zipping through the valleys between the hills and darting through shadows. He didn’t need to look back to see whether his fellow soldier was following, Aphid keeping up behind him as they cleared the highest point of hills and set eyes upon the spires of the Hive in the distance.

He could only hope that the Equestrians had a few more caves to search to occupy their focus.

Chrysalis raised an eye while she gave her foreleg a curious sniff, the scent of fresh citrus not disagreeable to her nose. Dunking her leg back into warm and soapy water, she settled back down into her polished black bathtub and let the bubbles cover everything save her head.

“Maybe the Equestrians do have a good idea with this ‘bubble bath’,” she admitted with a mumble to herself, relaxing back into the soothing warmth. “Hmmm.”

She swirled a forehoof through the bubbles with a glance over to her bed at the other side of the room, currently missing the sheets.

Chrysalis didn’t envy the unfortunate drone in charge of cleaning them that day.

“Accursed Foodbeast.” She uttered the words with a scoff, but couldn’t find the urge to blame him too much despite her best efforts. The initial frown quickly died away, the Queen sighing to herself with another flick of the bubbles with a rear hoof. “Oh well, no point dwelling on it now, maybe things won’t go so bad this time around.”

A shudder went down her spine at the thought of a thousand more Scuttles running around, so she quickly dumped the worrying concern out of her mind and instead tried to focus on other things.

Chrysalis had just managed to turn her thoughts to fantasising about her inevitable conquest of Equestria when she heard a faint commotion, her ears flicking up as the noise seemed to draw closer. It reached her bedroom door, and it was testament to her current state of relaxation that she merely frowned at the changelings who dared burst into her private chambers unannounced.

“My Queen!” Her bulky door guard shouted as two armoured soldiers tried to push their way past him. “A thousand pardons, but these soldiers-“

“Enough.”

She didn’t raise her voice in anger, but still the three immediately ceased their squabbling to stare at her. Idly flicking a rear hoof, her right leg hanging over the smooth edge of the tube, Chrysalis fixed the two intruders with a firm gaze.

“I recognise my two Creature Controllers.” Her eyes narrowed. “And while I’m certain that even they have the sense to not just barge into the royal chambers during my bath for nothing, I of course have to remind everyone of the possible punishments that will be dispensed if I deem so.” Her voice gained a cold edge. “I swear, if you’ve gone and destroyed his clothing again or something equally incompetent…”

Chrysalis allowed the threat to linger for a moment, but curiously not even that stopped the two soldiers. Using the momentary distraction of the guard at the door, the pair pushed past and wisely dropped into a full bow of supplication.

“I apologise for the disturbance, My Queen,” the male she recalled as ‘Burrow’ hurried out. “But we bring urgent news.” He looked up, his fellow still maintaining her own bow. “While out scouting with our charge as you ordered, we came across two Solar Guards and a Lunar Guard inspecting caves out to the East.”

Queen Chrysalis immediately sat up, her wet mane loudly slapping against the side of the tube.

“What!?”

“They didn’t see us,” the other Controller, Aphid, quickly followed up. “They seemed focused on their task and we managed to slip away without notice.”

“Our four drones and Mr Growls are making their way back to the Hive now,” added Burrow. “Entering through one of the secondary entrances if needed.” He frowned. “But the Equestrians may have more troops in the surrounding area and are certainly looking for us.” The pair, and the silent door guard, stared at her. “What would you have us do, My Queen?”

Water poured off of chitin to splash down on the smooth floor, Chrysalis almost jumping up from the tub and stepping out without a care for the mess she was making.

“You two are to alert Commander Scuttle and the rest of our forces, we must prepare to repel any attack.” Her dripping mane fell around her shoulders, Chrysalis barging over to the doorway to join them. “Also, we shall dispense weapons from the armoury, the security of the Hive is paramount. Go.”

The two rushed back out to follow her commands, Chrysalis making to follow while focusing on her guard.

“You, order the scholars to attend me in the Throne Room immediately. We have spells to cast.”

“Your Highness.”

Chrysalis ground her teeth as he left, and she didn’t even pause to dry herself before stomping out into the corridor linking her quarters to the rest of the Hive.

‘Stupid Equestrians,’ she thought with a scowl, storming off to her throne. ‘Of course they have to bother me now.’

“Chrrz.”

“I’m fine, all good.”

Brushing the remnants of the small bush off of the back of his patchwork pants, Daniel silently hoped that the latest slip and resulting flora destruction hadn’t ripped anything. Their rapid descent down the mountain had gone relatively well despite a few minor falls and close calls, and Daniel couldn’t really blame the four drones for hurrying him along.

Red led the group further down at the front, her eyes scouring the terrain for the easiest paths and gentlest slopes. Green followed next, somehow managing to balance the toolbox perfectly on her back even as she darted between bushes and rocks. Behind him, Grey and Yellow kept their focus behind them and above, no doubt searching for any potential pursuers.

Daniel had placed his phone back in the case before they had left the outcrop, the images of the three armoured horses stored within. He had recognised the grey bat-like one from the earlier equine battle, and it wasn’t too much of a stretch to assume that the white and gold ones also belonged to the local horse rulers.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath after his boot slipped on a small rock, although he was lucky enough to find another foothold a split second later. “If I’m not careful I’ll just end up running down this fucking mountain.”

“Brrzt zzrt.”

Green’s encouragement didn’t exactly cheer him up that much, but he could do little but continue on the path that Red had selected.

More slippery rocks and patches of soft sand continued to plague their descent, but despite all that they managed to make the bottom the mountain in good time. Stepping down from the last jutting rock, Daniel take a moment to catch his breath.

‘Yeah,’ he though between puffs. ‘That’s about enough exercise for today, I think.’

He looked back up when a snout bumped against his knee, Green standing before him. She met his eyes and then gestured her head to the other bug-horses, Yellow and Grey hopping down from the mountain to join them with hushed chatters and skyward glances.

“Sure, guess we should continue,” he agreed before pausing. Reaching over with one hand, he lifted the toolbox off of Green’s back and with the other gave her a quick pat on the head. “Thanks, by the way.”

“Chrzzrt,” she replied with a smile, tired but thankful.

“Not far left at least,” Daniel said while looking up towards the hive in the distance. “It’s only- wait…”

The black spires were gone. As in, completely gone. Bare rocky earth, unmarked by even a large boulder of interest, sat in the former place of the bug-horse castle. It was certainly the same location though, Daniel just able to make out his favourite pissing tree from where he was, but there was nothing else there. Just empty and barren ground.

He made to ask the others (or at least make the attempt), but he saw that they were already slinking off to the right. Taking a second to once again look at the former castle location, he sighed and tried to follow them as stealthily as he could.

‘I suppose that if they’re not worried about the entire place going, I shouldn’t be.’

He was of course not nearly as stealthy as they were, his increased bulk making it quite difficult to squeeze through the small rock passages of the new hill they had reached. Still, he managed, and with frequent glances back the way they had come from Daniel was fairly confident that the armoured horses had yet to spot them regardless.

Within a few minutes they came upon a gap in the rocks, Red and Grey’s horns lighting up to move a sizable boulder away from the rock wall.

Daniel noticed the small cross marked with dried green bug-horse goop on the rock a second before the bug-horses finished their task, Yellow rushing into the tunnel that was now revealed. The drone turned back and looked at him while the others held the rock, her horn almost touching the rock roof.

“Brrrzrt.”

Daniel gave the tunnel a flat look, the small size meaning that he’d have to crawl, and he realised just how far away they were from the castle’s previous spot.

“I’m not that keen on this, to be frank.”

Yellow seemed to think for a moment, before she smiled at him nodded. Her horn lit up with a bright glow, the green light banishing the tunnel’s darkness. She then turned and trotted forwards a few steps, before looking back at him hopefully.

“That’s not...” He gritted his teeth before giving in. “Fine, fuck it. We’re being chased after all.”

Grunting, he moved to the small entrance and dropped to all fours, toolbox held awkwardly in one hand through the handle. The bottom of the sturdy plastic chest thumped against the ground while he moved forwards further into the tunnel behind Yellow. He felt grey hair tickle his nose, and too late he realised that he was now stuck in a very awkward position in line. It was too late to turn back however, the other three drones piling in behind him.

‘I swear we better not stop suddenly.’ His thought was punctuated by the sound of the boulder rolling shut over the entrance with a groan, Daniel not even able to properly glance back at the drones behind him.

“I just want to let you know,” he announced to all of them while the line started to slowly move deeper into the tunnel. “If I die down here, I’m going to haunt all of you forever.”

Yellow obviously misinterpreted his words and chattered back happily at him without looking back, her tail giving an involuntary swish to either side while she did so.

Daniel closed his eyes, sighing while continuing to crawl forwards on his hand, knees, and toolbox.

It was going to be a long journey.

The Throne room hummed with magical energy, a soft green light bathing all of the forty-two scholars sitting within it. They chattered and whispered to each other while they sat on looted equestrian cushions, an occasional drone passing each learned changeling with a tray carrying water jugs and small concentrated love-gems on their back. The Scholars’ horns maintained solid streams of magical energy looping straight up to the ceiling, every one of the forty-two strands of energy powering a massive glowing crystal that jutted out from the centre of the roof. Six soldiers stood guard at the doors watching it all, their freshly-sharpened chitin spears and polished blue armour glinting in the glow of the magical efforts.

The Queen meanwhile sat upon her throne with her own horn adding a far larger stream to the spellcasting efforts, her long teal hair frazzled and unkempt. Sipping from the cup of water she held in the crock of her hoof, she tried her best to keep her frown from morphing into a full-blown scowl.

Finishing her drink, she left the cup on the edge of her raised seat for the next passing drone to collect before adjusting her position, her back sitting flush against her throne with her forelegs resting in-between her hind ones. Allowing herself a quiet and irritated sigh, Chrysalis looked over towards the main throne room doors upon hearing them open.

Expecting another few drones arriving to help keep her scholars refreshed and comfortable, she was surprised to see that it was instead another soldier and Foodbeast. Chrysalis didn’t even notice the way she managed the slightest of smiles, although the human himself did not seem too happy either.

“Ah, Foodbeast,” she greeted across the room, the puzzled guard left standing at the door as the creature in question made his own way to the throne without coercion. “I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon after your scouting trip.”

He kept his eyes on her while sidestepping around scholars and making his way through the rows towards her. Chrysalis noticed a few of the Hive’s best and brightest smiling at him with some familiarity, the oldest scholar amongst them even going so far as to enthusiastically wave his forelegs in the air while muttering unintelligible murmurs. He was pointedly ignored by Foodbeast, the human approaching closer to her throne.

“I assumed, considering the situation, that getting here sooner was the better option," he replied, a few of the closest scholars tilting their heads at the conversing pair. "Your entire castle-thing was gone, after all.”

The Queen’s smile grew slightly, even as she rolled her eyes.

“I’ve told you before, this is the Hive, not a ‘castle-thing’. And it is far from gone as you can see.” She gestured with a hoof first up towards her horn and then to the crystal in the ceiling high above. “A concealing spell will hide us from Equestrian detection, those fools will have no chance.” She allowed herself a chortle at her own words while he stopped at the foot of her throne, before she raised an eye at him. “You’re hurt?”

Foodbeast raised a hand to his face, his fingers touching a long and red scratch across the left cheek.

“Got this from a bush I face-checked on the way down a mountain, along with a few more scrapes and a lot of bruises.” He lowered his hand. “Hard to be graceful when you’re pretty much running down rocks. Nothing major though, don’t worry about it.” A pause, Foodbeast shrugging. “It actually kind of fun, really. Going out of course, not coming across those horses you pissed off before.”

She snorted at that, but judged that it would be a waste of time explaining how she was one-hundred percent in the right, and instead settled for flicking a forehoof at him.

“Well at least you had fun.” Her response had a healthy amount of sarcasm injected into it, Chrysalis silently reminding herself that others were watching and that she couldn’t be as unguarded as she normally was with their talks. Still, he merely snorted, likely realising the same thing.

“So, what do you want?” Foodbeast continued, glancing around at the scholars before focusing back on her eyes. “Head rubs with all these blokes watching?” The corner of his mouth twitched. “My fingers in your mouth again?”

Chrysalis didn’t even award him a glare for the latter suggestion, but she couldn’t help but mentally smirk at the jab. ‘Maybe he’s a little bit more like a changeling than I first thought.’

“You shall sit down in front of my throne,” she commanded with a gesture with her hind hoof. “And remain there until I deem otherwise. Our concealment must be maintained until the Equestrians give up their search of the area, and the scholars will need to be rested soon so I will require a bounty of energy from you.”

Expecting at least a token resistance, or the usual dismissive insult, her order was instead met with a shrug.

“Alright.”

Foodbeast made to sit down as commander, however the Queen halted him with a raised hoof. Furrowing her eyes, Chrysalis lowered her voice to a befuddled whisper.

“Wait, just ‘alright’? Not even another swear?”

“I can call you a cunt again if you want,” he said. “But honestly I’m just tired and can’t be bothered. Anyway,” he looked behind him again, before re-establishing eye contact. “All you’re asking is the usual, and if it keeps you bug-horses safe then I don’t see why not.”

The Queen didn’t really know how to respond to that.

It wasn’t as if she could thank him for cooperating within earshot of other changelings, after all.

He’d already sat down before she could think of anything, so instead she just remained sitting upon her throne. The scholars and guards quickly lost interest in the pair and returned to their conversations, Queen Chrysalis taking the opportunity to slide down into a lying position with her head resting on a forehoof.

‘A shame really,’ she thought with one of her hind hooves starting to idly bump against Foodbeast’s shoulder with a rhythmic beat even as she started to siphon energy off of him. ‘I’m actually starting to enjoy our dinner conversations.’

“Chrzzzrt.”

A strong nudge against the side of his head jolted Daniel awake from his nap, his back resting up against the cold black material of the Queen’s throne. Feeling like he had hardly gotten any rest at all, he yawned and looked out into the wider room.

“Chrzrzrt brrzrtz, bzzzrt trzzz.”

Chrysalis’ voice echoed around the throne room from behind him, the bug-horses all filing out through the main doors in an orderly and chittering mass. Some exited from the holes in the wall, and all of the streams of green energy cut out while they did so.

Except for one.

Daniel didn’t need to ask to know what the Queen expected from him, even the armed bug-horse guards following the rest of the chittering group out and shutting the doors behind them. Looking up and behind him, he was met with a pair of lime-coloured eyes and a smile.

“They’re gone,” the Queen stated, with a tone more suited for a forbidden tryst. Her hind hoof stopped bumping him on the head as she moved to sit up straight. Evidently it was all that she felt she needed to say, her rump shuffling over to make room for him on the raised throne.

Daniel grunted and stood up, cricking his back while he did so. Turning to face her, he glanced up at the solitary stream of magic heading up to the glowing crystal before looking back at the Queen’s gaze.

“Are you able to power that thing all by yourself?”

“Of course,” Chrysalis scoffed, a hoof going over her chest. “I’m Queen of the Changelings, powerful even when I’ve not been feasting on love.” She lowered the hoof, a glance going to the main doors. “My scholars do help a bit of course, but they lack my royal stamina and ability and so require a break and rest.” A pulse of extra energy surged through her horn to travel up to the crystal, the Queen’s smile widening at the boast. “Fear not, those moron Equestrians will fly right past us without a clue.”

Daniel shrugged. “Alright then, if you say so.” Clambering up to join her on the seat, he held back a wince as his knees sent a letter of complaint up through his nervous system. ‘I’m going to be sore in the morning.’ Managing to make it without too much issue, he sat back right as Chrysalis aimed a disapproving look at his dusty patchwork pants.

“You could have at least cleaned up before seeing me,” she snorted.

He rolled his eyes. “As I’ve already said, more important things on my mind.” Before she could retort, he followed up. “I didn’t think you were the prissy type, you’ll live.” Her stare remained, but Chrysalis quickly recovered with another snort and a flick of her head.

“Bah, I’m still above resting down on such a filthy Foodbeast.” Despite her words however, she still pressed up against his side and lazily flopped a hoof down on his thigh. Figuring out what she wanted, Daniel grabbed it in his fingers and half-heartedly started to rub. His current lack of enthusiasm didn’t seem to faze Chrysalis, the Queen’s wings briefly buzzing before she continued. “So, what should we talk about today? I recall that we were discussing those ‘computer’ things that you seem so fond of.”

“Actually,” he replied. “I’m still knackered from today and not feeling it.” He yawned again. “If it’s all right with you, I’d prefer to just have a quiet one and give it a while. Just rest for a bit.”

Chrysalis’ smile dropped, but didn’t devolve all the way into a frown.

“Oh, of course,” she answered, waving her free hoof in dismissal. “I suppose that I can allow that, as long as you continue to provide me with energy. If it’s quiet you want, then who am I to deny that?”

That was all that she said before turning her head away, Chrysalis focusing on the opposite doors with a steady expression on her face.

Normally, Daniel would have fallen for the Queen’s sulk and given in, but this time he was too sleepy and cranky to care. Shuffling back to rest up properly against the throne’s smooth back, he continued to rub her hoof regardless.

A few minutes later, and he didn’t even notice his movements slow and his eyes close as he drifted back off to sleep.

Daniel’s eyes opened up again to a warm fire burning in a stone fireplace, his drowsiness completely banished. He didn’t need to look around for very long to recognise where he was, the blue-banner adorned room in the white stone castle a place he’d visited a few times before.

‘Oh,’ he thought, looking around and seeing nothing on the four-poster bed. ‘Fucking fantastic, as if today wasn’t shitty enough.’

A loud throat clear from behind him prompted him to turn around, Daniel coming face to face with a blue alicorn armoured in an ornate suit of silver armour.

“Princess Luna,” he greeted with a defeated sigh, the tall horse furrowing her eyes at him in a frown. “I thought that you weren’t talking to me anymore?”

A silver-shoed hoof pawed at the expensive-looking rug on the floor, the Princess scoffing in return with a flick of her head.

“Well, fate has unfortunately forced my hoof in this matter,” Luna told him, before her frown increased. “My subjects are missing, and I require information as to the whereabouts of the Changeling Hive.” Her wings flicked. “Information that you will provide.”

Now, Daniel didn’t exactly mind Luna and could honestly understand why she would be a little miffed, but it was not the right time for a confrontation. So, instead of trying to reason with her, he instead snorted.

“Already told you that I don’t know,” he answered. Crossing his arms, he met her glare with a confrontational raise of his chin. “And this is just a dream, what are you even going to do? I’m waking up soon anyway.”

A moment of silence passed, Luna narrowing her eyes even further.

“Indeed, I am unable to stop you from waking up,” she nodded. Then, from outside the window, a crack of lightning flashed in the starry night sky. “However, I am the Princess of the Night, the Princess of Dreams and Nightmares, and more than capable of making the time before that extremely unpleasant...”

She let the threat hang in the air between them, another crack of lightning punctuating the moment. From outside, a long and drawn-out howl accompanied the thunderous storm that started up, Luna not taking her eyes off of him.

Daniel for his part shifted on his footing, arms still crossed at the challenge.

“Do your worst,” he shot back with a scoff, before his mouth curled with amusement. “Could be fun really, I like horror.” There was another crack of thunder and a throaty howl, Luna still maintaining her frown while raising her eye at him. “You ever seen Wolf Creek?”

Chrysalis sighed loudly while leaning on her hoof, her right foreleg propped up on her throne’s armrest. The human leaning up against her left side let out another snore, his only movement being the occasional shifting of his spot. His hand, having previously been massaging her hoof, was now dangerously flopped over her inner thigh and his head had fallen to lay across her shoulder.

All in all, she would have a lot of explaining to do if one of her subjects suddenly burst in with more news of the Equestrian movements.

“This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting,” she grumbled to herself. “Usually it’s the other way around.” Still, the energy was flowing and that was what really mattered.

Foodbeast shifted up against her again, his hair tickling the side of her face. Looking over to frown down at the sleeping creature, Chrysalis watched him snore again.

Sighing, she dropped the glare and shook her head.

“The things I do for my subjects,” muttered Chrysalis as she reached around the biped’s back with her spare foreleg and patted him on the shoulder with it. “If only they knew the sacrifices I make.”

I Come From a Land Down Under

by Dropbear

All Thanks to a Cosmic Blunder

Can You Hear, Can You Hear the Thunder?

You Better Run, You Better Take Cover

God Save the Queen

Pills and Thrills

Washed Up

Moving On

Unconsciousness for Everybody!

Them Fingers Be Salty

Come On In, The Water's Fine

Improving Relations

Head On A Stick