Forgotten Children

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Interlude One - The Cell
Chapter Four
Interlude Two - The Tour
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Interlude Three - Mara and Kishi
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Interlude Four - The Deal
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen

Prologue

The room thundered with applause, as each pony sitting at their assigned table looked up from their food and drinks and turned to the stage where a tall stallion took the podium and cleared his throat. His cream coat shone brightly under the spotlight, and he nervously adjusted his tie. As the applause died down, he spoke, “Well, this has been a wonderful evening, but let us all remember that this is a bittersweet occasion. We are here to both celebrate and say goodbye to own own special ‘Doc’ Alles.

“I remember his very early years with us here. I had spotted him on a sabbatical I had taken from the hospital. He was hauling a very rickety cart with ‘Medicine’ stenciled on either side. Bottles clinked and the cart squeaked and groaned as if it was to fall over at any moment.”

The stallion shot a sideways glance at Alles, who responded with a wry smile as the audience laughed. “But! He seemed well welcomed and there was no shortage of business for him. I admit it freely; I followed him like a spy to try and find out what his secret was. I thought it was a scam. Heal without magic? Unheard of!

“But lo and behold, he surprised me with his humility, his calm and gentle demeanor, and his rather impressive talent. We spoke on a few occasions, and I stayed longer than anticipated in that small town just to hear more from him.

“I think I’ll let him tell you more about himself, but I will say he was rightfully skeptical when I took the risk and offered him a full-time position at our hospital. He correctly guessed that very few ponies would put their faith in herbs and brews, but I saw the potential in what he had. Magic as a health remedy, as I’m sure you’re all aware, is taxing on on the caster. It requires great skill in many cases and often requires the subject to lie perfectly still. Not so easy when your patient is in pain, or worse, a scared foal in pain.”

The crowd nodded knowingly and started to chat amongst themselves. “But!” he continued, raising his hooves to quiet the crowd, “Alles’ holistic treatments were in fact quite effective and I knew that we’d have something no-pony else in Equestria could lay claim to. So with some coercion, I convinced him to come back with me.

“I found him a small home, and I introduced him to the hospital staff. Granted, I think some of you thought I went off the deep end. But I think we can all agree that what has transpired in the years since has been a great boon to us all, doubly so for all the foals and fillies he has treated with such care.”

The thunderous applause resumed, and try as he might, the stallion had to wait for it to die down on its own. “So with that, I will invite Doc to come up here…”

The elderly stallion at the far end of the stage slowly lifted himself out of his chair and moved up to the podium. Ponies cheered and applauded, but Alles kept calm as he carefully made his way to his colleague. Upon reaching the podium, the two embraced in a gentle hug, and Alles looked at the banner put up on the wall behind them with his name and picture.

“I must remark Dr. Life Light,” started Alles, “That you have yet again spelled my name incorrectly.” Life Light made a show of looking at the banner and acting surprised. “You spelled it as it sounds. Ales. But you’re missing an ‘l’.”

“Oh but Doc, how could I let this last chance to do so slip by? Don’t tell me you would rather retire in peace and dignity.”

“I had some hope before this evening started,” replied Alles wearily, hearing laughter from the crowd. Life Light took his seat nearby, and Alles addressed the crowd. “Many of you have been with me since I first began working here, but I doubt many of you know much from before that. I will regale you with a brief history of my life.

“My family has for many generations lived at the forest edge of the Smoky Mountains. We have lived a simple life of gardening, farming, and for me, venturing out into the wild forests to look for new plants. My dear sister remains there still, and I shall be visiting her to spend my final days.

“I found my skill in converting oft-useless and sometimes poisonous plants into useful brews and poultices. Fate can be kind of funny at times, and my cutie mark did not behoove me. If you have not seen it-” Alles moved to the side and lifted his coat to reveal a rather sickly-looking skull and crossbones. Some of the crowd nodded, others gasped. It was quite a shock against the brown coat and cream-turning-grey hair color of the retiring doctor. “I know how it looks, which is why many of you have not seen it. I didn’t believe it then, nor do I now, that it would instill calm and trust in my patients. So I keep it hidden.

“But apart from my love of the things that grow in the wilds, I also have always loved children. Their smiles when they are happy fill me with great joy. And so I wanted to spread my talent with the world, so that more children could be happy. It was not well accepted at first, but the pains I went through to spread my medicine were worth it each time a sickly child smiled as he or she began to feel better.”

The crowd ‘aww’d’ and some clapped, as Alles continued, “But I do agree with Dr. Life Light, that his trust in me had been for the best. And while I did not see to raise my own family, I consider my life to have been happily lived. I have taught what I can and left my knowledge in the hands of some brilliant ponies, but I sometimes fear my gift will be gone with me. But sadly, I am no longer fit to stay. My body grows old and frail, my strength leaves, and there is no remedy, magical or holistic, that will cure what ails me.”

The crowd sat in silence, the grim reminder of their own mortality a sobering thought. Alles picked up on that cue and said more brightly, “But I do not wish sadness on you all. As I said, I am happy. I will leave here happy tonight as I hope all of you do, and when I leave this world I shall also be at peace.” Alles stepped down and was met by Life Light’s arms, and applause so loud it seemed as if the convention hall itself might come crashing down. The two old friends clung tightly to one another, finally letting go when Alles almost lost his balance.

“I apologize my friend,” said Alles, “But I fear I have stayed too long. I must take my leave to return home. My sister has waited many years for me to come, and I do not want to disappoint her.”

Life Light nodded and helped Alles off the stage and out the back to his awaiting carriage. Bundling his friend into the back, he thought how much they both had grown since they first met. He closed the door with one last goodbye, and watched his friend leave one final time.

...

The carriage sped swiftly through the night, arriving at his family’s home amongst the trees just after daylight the next morning. The cabbie helped Alles out, but found the elder pony to be insistent that he make his own way to the door. The cabbie advised Alles that his bags would arrive the next day. Alles smiled, and bid the cabbie a safe return journey. He turned as the cabbie left, and stared at his childhood home.

The small home was built of wood and stone, and the thatched roof had seen better days. But it was still standing, surrounded by the trees which covered the small garden he knew was just around the back. Alles slowly made his way up the stone path he had trodden a million times before, his hooves making small noises against the aged stone. He stepped onto the porch and pushed the door open. It squeaked and groaned as if it, too, had reached the end of its days.

Sitting in a tattered rocking chair in the den was an equally old and frail mare. Her gardening smock hung neatly on the coat rack behind her, and she smiled as she rocked slowly back and forth. “I see you’ve finally come back to me Malt.”

Alles hung his coat on the empty hook that had always been his. “Yes, dear sister, I have returned. And I suppose you know that I shall only leave one more time. But I promised you that I would see you again, and here I am.”

Alles made his way into the den. He carefully looked his only sibling over, and smiled. “Your beautiful green coat grows as green and thick as the grass, as mother always said it would.”

“Yes, but my beautiful mane is as grey as yours.”

Alles looked at her as he sat, and she returned his gaze with a warm smile. “I have always worried over you Malt, going into the wide world, and not knowing what may have become of you. But you have brought peace and love to many, and I cannot fault you for leaving home to do so.”

“Green, your smile is as tender and loving as I day I left. Even if you hated me, I could never hate you. But I have to admit something to you. The next time I leave it will not be because I have passed.” Green looked inquisitively at her brother, who continued, “I have always planned to make one last trip to the Smoky Mountains, and be among the wild things as I have always enjoyed.”

Green’s smile faded. “Malt, you can’t be serious. there’s no guarantee that you’ll even make it. And I know you don’t intend to return. Please...stay here with me.” Green sighed, suddenly tired.

Malt Alles smiled back, but this was a knowing grin. “Sister, you look very tired. Before it is too late to do so, let me ask you something important. Do you remember when I was but a little foal of about five, and got lost in the woods?”

Green nodded slowly, her eyes struggling to stay open. “You...you got lost and father went to find you. He was gone for two days but both of you returned home alive. Why that...that never stopped you...from going back…” she trailed off, her breathing becoming shallow.

Alles stood from his chair and walked with the confidence of a young stallion to his fading sister. His eyes, blue and crisp as never before, locked to hers and she found she could no longer move. “Sister, I will return to the forest that is and always has been my true my home. On that day...Malt never did return.” The soft brown of his coat faded, and his eyes took on a deep emerald hue and Green watched in what horror she could muster as her brother - faithful, loved, humble and brilliant - shed his skin and the shiny black carapace of a changeling sprouted from underneath.

“I have kept all my promises,” Alles said, his voice cracking with guilt, “And while I cannot truly say that I ever loved you, you are correct that I brought love to many. And they in turn shared their love with me. Their love has kept me young beyond many years, and now the last of your love shall send me on my way. Just do one thing for me, sister.” The changeling’s eyes softened and it leaned in close as Green Alles struggled; her heart breaking, her mind spinning, and her life slipping away. She could feel cold growing inside of her heart as it passed all of her fond memories and her love to this creature.

Softly it whispered to her, “Go in peace…”

As the world faded and stars shone in her head, she passed from this world into the next.

...

“Malt” gently eased his sister’s limp body back into her chair. He folded her arms and closed her eyes. He made her look as peaceful as possible, and finishing that, took his coat from the hook along with the magical coat he had shed and tossed them into the glowing embers of the hearth. “Sister…” he said sullenly, “My bags will arrive tomorrow. But I will already be gone and you will not be telling of what transpired here. Your mother and father have passed long ago, but my Mother has not. I must see her for the first time I can recall. I have much to discuss and now seems the appropriate time. This phase of my life has passed and so too does the story of Malt ‘Doc’ Alles.”

He walked toward the back door, his eyes shimmering green and his carapace growing rough. The door opened in a slight magical aura and one by one four thorny feet stepped out. His green eyes glowed under the leaves, and the timberwolf stepped quietly through the garden, being careful not to step on a single plant, and into the dark forest as the door closed.

Chapter One

How many faces does one have to wear? How many lifetimes does one have to live? How many friends and neighbors, lovers and enemies, places and times, suns and moons does one have to witness? When will it finally be enough?

The timberwolf moved quietly through the thick underwood of the Smoky Mountain forest thinking these things. The damp forest floor was cool to his feet, but the claustrophobic wilderness created a stuffy, humid atmosphere. This was where he felt most comfortable. A place to hide, a place to hunt, and a place to think. Here, among the wild things, where he had plotted and planned many a lifetime.

These dense forests were as old and wild as the fabled forests of Everfree, but less known and hence, less explored. The Smoky Mountains themselves held many nooks and caves home to wild and fierce dragons, but down in the foothills the timberwolves were the primary threat. That is, threat to the weak and equine.

“Same thing,” he muttered to himself.

The forest was his quintessential being; dark, secretive, and dangerous. It allowed him to blend seamlessly into the background and be at one with the forest. Not so different than the world of the equines. There he still had to blend, and be invisible. But it was much more exasperating. The forest didn’t care how brutal you were. In many ways it required it. Further, the forest didn’t require you to have friends like those damn ponies did. Feh! Friends!

“Oh friends are magic!” he could hear the gossip in his head. “Didn’t you hear? There’s now a princess of friendship! Oh she’s so young, she’s so pretty, she’s so lucky!” Ponies were always so insistently, sickenly optimistic. They live in a pretty little rainbow world. The food never runs out, no one ever scorns them, they’re not chased and hunted and hated.

But oh! They are free to hate, of course. Hate those that are different. Hate those who don’t conform. And kill those they deem “harmful” to their little world and their fucking tyrant. Prove that you are useful to the all-powerful white bitch and stay in line, and you can squeak by on whatever freedom she might see fit to allow you. Raise a voice that maybe thinking is a good idea and see where that gets you.

The timberwolf stopped, and pondered that little experiment. One conversation to ponies he thought had been like-minded had almost been the death of him. Only his ability to blend and disappear into the shadows had kept him from a cold cell that night. And the outpouring of apologies to the community, to “his” princess, so sorry for having a fucking brain!

He slowly continued his trek, sniffing the air, carefully attentive for any signs that he was no longer alone.

The griffons were no better, narcissistic and militant. “Go Fuck Yourself” was practically their national motto. At least he enjoyed the violence, but their damned pride in their tiny little empire like they owned the world was just as bad as the fucking gumdrops and rainbows that showered over Equestria.

“Why does it have to be so hard?” he asked himself. “Griffons can fight each other to the death, the ponies can live in blissful ignorance under that power-hungry fraud they gave power to, and the changelings should be able to do as they please.”

Which, ironically, is not as dastardly as ponies believed.

The timberwolf had mused the “invasion” of Canterlot many times in his head. It seemed so odd - an outright show of force? Why not just maintain the covert operations like himself? It is possible another species had encroached far enough into changeling territory that She acted out of territoriality or anger, but it still made no sense. Now every species was talking about changelings. And how they needed to be discovered and wiped out or drove away. Mostly the former. But there are still dark places in the world to seek refuge in, and there is doubt that they will all be discovered.

A sharp crack of a breaking twig snapped him out of this thoughts and back into focus of his surroundings. He lowered himself nearer the ground to hide among the underbrush, his rear legs cocked under him to allow for that quick pounce if needed. The woods fell silent, and very softly a slow procession of footsteps could be heard as they landed on dry leaves. The timberwolf waited, his leafen ears at full alert to pick up on these most minute clues to who or what was coming towards him.

He peeked his snout out just enough for his changeling eyes to see past the bush in front of him. Being so low to the ground, he could only see further thickets and shrubs moving about as the thing approached. A familiar scent reached him: it smelled of earth and grass, of rot and meat. He knew that his family had come to meet him.

Baring his sharpened wooden teeth, he thrust his legs out from underneath him and pounced from the underbrush, landing directly in front of the encroaching timberwolf pack. He growled deeply and fiercely, standing tall and proud.

The other wolves, being not of this changeling ilk, immediately went into a fighting stance, haunches raised and heads lowered, their teeth dull in the dim light of the forest and sap saliva leaking from their mouths.

The changeling kept his high stance and let out three loud, sharp barks to the pack to remind them of exactly who they were facing. The oldest of the pack perked her ears up, and sniffed curiously. She approached the changeling carefully, and upon closer inspection discovered that her long-lost alpha had returned. She sat immediately, wagging her tail-branch. The rest of the pack reluctantly followed suit, save for one male and the younger cubs. The changeling recognized these as the offspring of this sire.

The changeling and the sire approached one another. The changeling did not back down, did not flinch. Natural timberwolves were but branches, twigs, and leaves held together by primal magic, but he was made of much stronger stuff. His natural shell was thick and tough, and the magical coat of branches he’d built around himself had been reinforced by real branches picked up while wandering the forests of the Smoky Mountain. Timberwolves were strong and fierce, but ultimately fragile.

Knowing this, before the sire could move in to start the fight, the changeling swept one of his long forelegs in a mighty blow to the wolf’s head. It was all that was required to send branches, twigs, leaves, and bits of wood scattering about. The sire’s body dropped like lead to the forest floor. The primal magic that kept them together had a very short refractory period, and so the changeling bent quickly and found a large piece of wood that was likely the sire’s upper jaw, and roughly jammed it in between his own shoulder branches as a trophy. He also took a single tooth spike and fitted it in between two of his own.

The natural timberwolves saw his move as an act of dominance and taking over the role of alpha of their pack, but to the changeling it was excruciating as his own real teeth bent and cracked as the rough piece of wood was jammed between them. He howled his agony to the pack, who submissively stepped back from his rage.

Shaking in pain and anger, the new alpha looked over his new family. Two females, one old and one young; 6 males all of median age, and two male pups. He carefully walked between them. They had been hunting for him, and would now need a strong leader to help them find food. He continued his inspection to the back of the pack. One pup rolled on his back as the changeling approached. The other did not. Looming large over the young wolf, the changeling bared his teeth to test the little one.

Foolishly, it bared its teeth right back.

A shattering crunch rang out as the changeling brought his weight down on the little one, smashing his small and fragile parts into many more pieces than they had been originally.

The young female whimpered as she lost one of her sons, but only looked away.

Satisfied, the new alpha turned and led his family deeper into the foreboding forest.

…

Timberwolves, while composed of loose branches and twigs, are surprisingly nimble and quite strong. They are actually manifestations of a dark and long-forgotten magic that exists in the uninhabited places of the world. While not truly “born”, they are created from one another. The strongest of the pack are imbued with a larger portion of this magic. In time, will become the alphas. Being that they have additional power, they can also afford to lose some. If an alpha male and an alpha female should meet, they can combine some of their shared excess magic into the creation of a new pup.

The changeling had learned all this from many years running with timberwolves. He had used that disguise off and on between the “lifetimes” he had lived among the other species of the world. More recently, he led the pack as their alpha. And when he felt confident in his return to polite society, he knew that his pack would always welcome him back. This time the welcome had been violent, but it was not always so.

Equines have relatively short lifespans and in their own ways can be very fragile. It had turned out to be surprisingly easy to set up a little “accident” whenever his assumed life was not going according to his plan. Then he would sneak back to the woods to be with his timberwolf family.

The changeling led his pack towards the mountains, but knew that they needed to eat what he did not. Unfortunately for him, he also needed sustenance that they were unable to provide. Years of experience guided him, and he knew the solution immediately. He turned his pack west and cut around the base of the mountain, leading them towards the sea.

The Alles family had kept their farm and homestead on the southern edge of the forest. But while he was there, the changeling knew of several other scattered farms along the western edge. But just like the Alles family, these farmers knew their location and the inherent dangers that came with it. They will be prepared for a timberwolf hunting party. “But where is the fun in that?” the changeling thought to himself.

He stopped and gathered his surroundings. The foothills of the mountains should contain any number of small caves he could use for a den. Searching carefully, he found one such opening. HIs pack paused as he tentatively made his way inside.

The cave was low and damp, but unoccupied. He scraped at the floor, finding a few bones scattered about. Judging by their size, they were likely rabbit or possibly squirrel. They had long since been chewed clean of any meat and discarded as trash. This hovel was once a den, but had not been occupied anytime recently.

Moving back toward the exit, he murred at his pack. His two females and their pup came trotting over, and he guided them into their new den. The females lay at the ground and he nuzzled each, letting them know he approved and would care for them. The pup found one of the old bones on the floor and, holding it lightly in his mouth, set it on the floor in front of the changeling timberwolf.

Looking down at the small offering, he bent and sniffed it but looked away. Manners are not just for equines. He appreciated the offer but was not interested in the gift, so the pup took the bone back and gnawed at it, trying to sharpen his teeth. They would be safe here under the protection of the older female. He had work to do.

He wiggled his way back out of the den’s tight opening, and addressed the rest of his pack. His barks would mean little to nothing to other species, but to his wolves the message was clear: follow me, we are going to hunt. The changeling led his pack westward, following game trails and spreading out as they went to find a scent.

It was not long before a distant bark piqued his attention. Stopping, he listened carefully. Somewhere in the forest, a scramble of leaves sounded as something large chased prey. More barks soon followed, as brothers joined in the hunt. Hopefully the pack had hit upon the trail of some large animal. So much excitement for a squirrel would be disappointing. Regardless, this provided him with an opportunity to start his own hunt.

The air started to lift as he neared the western edge of the forest, the cool ocean currents permeating the forest to some degree and that same fresh air lifting the musty scents of the forest. As calming and refreshing this would be to most, for his keen senses, it made detecting others far easier.

He closed his eyes and sniffed the air deeply, pulling in familiar smells that registered in his memories. Wet, damp, earthy; freshly tilled soil. Crisp, sharp, and bitter with a touch of sweetness; fresh herbs and vegetables. Sweat and musk; a worker in the fields.

Sounds accompanied with these smells to help him form a clearer picture of what lay beyond what his eyes could see. A heavy thudding as hooves trampled among the bare dirt of an unplanted field. A scraping, clinking sound meant a hoe digging rows into the field, moving small rocks out of the way for new seeds to be planted. A banging of a door swinging open and shut in the wind, and the soft ripple of water in a stream or pond.

Through closed eyes, the changeling saw all these things. But he did not yet see a target. That would have to wait until later. He backed slowly away, and towards his pack deeper in the woods. They were easy to find; a barking, chewing, snarling sound came from a low hollow. Standing on the top of the rise, he could see his pack had surrounded a doe, keeping it from escaping as they took swipes and bites at it. The doe danced around the the radius of the shrinking circle, bleating its terror.

As it hopped away from one attacker, another lunged in from behind and snapped its jaws around the deer’s hind leg, just above the knee. The doe cried in agony as the force ripped through her tough skin and blood flowed forth from the ragged wound. She kicked desperately at her aggressor, and the wolf released her. It would not be long before she tired from her exertions and collapsed. Blood loss would make her incoherent and groggy, and then the wolves could feed.

The changeling kept his position, sending out tendrils of this consciousness to see if there was anything to be had for him. All hooved animals were at least partially sentient, but this one had not in its heart but pain and fear. Tears welled in the doe’s eyes as the ground became red, but her instincts would not let her escape her fate, pushing her mind and body to continue to resist. He sighed and sat, waiting for it to be over.

Another snap of jaws at her back pushed her right into the waiting jaws of a wolf, who came down with shattering force on her shoulder. The deer tried to escape but the wolf held tight, pulling the deer’s front arm from its socket. She collapsed to the ground and writhed to escape the wolf’s jaws, but he still held fast, ripping her shoulder muscles in the process.

The doe jumped back up, escaping the wolf’s grasp, but as weight landed on her loose arm, she quickly fell again. Tears fell freely along her cheeks and were quickly dirtied in her thrashing about the ground. Her body now coming to the truth that her fate had been sealed, her struggles reduced in intensity and became less frequent.

Sensing the end, the changeling and the pack closed in on the wretched form laying on its side in a pool of its own blood. One male of the pack opened his jaws, sap saliva leaking out between their wooden teeth. He approached the rear of the deer, and it weakly kicked at him. He reared back in preparation for a mighty bite, but was interrupted by the changeling headbutting his side. The wolf yelped as his wooden parts went flying, and the changeling growled at the rest of the pack. He got to eat first and if he left anything for them they should be grateful.

The remaining wolves backed up as their brother’s parts slowly rearranged themselves back into his canine form. The changeling turned his attention to the deer, unable to move but still conscious. He targeted her damaged shoulder and stuffed his snout deep, taking hold of her tough sinewy shoulder muscles and sawing with his teeth to pull them free. Pulling the deer along the ground, he placed his front paw on the doe’s neck to stifle her groans and to help finish ripping the chunk of flesh free.

The changeling did not need to eat real food, but it did not harm him either. Despite that, he loathed raw meat. especially taken from a fresh victim such as this. The hot coppery blood did not overpower the strange feeling of skin and hide against his tongue. The hair mixed in with all of this would stick in his mouth for hours, despite his best attempts to remove it.

He dug in again, hitting bone his time and causing to doe beneath him to jerk and struggle anew. His pressed harder on its throat, and the restricted air flow caused her to become still one again. The changeling looked one last time for any thoughts of hers that he might be able to feed upon, but now fear and pain were replaced with overwhelming despair.

Swallowing hard and trying not to gag, he leaned down to the deer’s neck. Softly, so not to be heard by his pack, he whispered to it, “Thank you.” With that, he roughly tore at her throat, crushing her windpipe and breaking open her artery. The doe coughed up blood. Another rough cough and she was still.

The changeling motioned for his pack to feed and drag the carcass back to the den. He followed his ears towards a stream running through the wilds. Sticking his face repeatedly under the cold water, he could not wash the disgusting taste out of his mouth. He did not particularly enjoy what he had done, but he did it for both his own good and the good of the pack. As in all things, appearances were more important than how one felt about things. Appearances kept you safe. Kept you alive and off the radar. Today, it kept his pack fed. Tonight, it might keep him fed, too.

Chapter Two

The changeling sat on the edge of the forest as night fell. His targeted farm was small and quite run down, but not empty. He watched from afar as one large male earth pony tilled the fields all afternoon, only stopping as dusk fell. Though the changeling was too far away to see the cutie mark of the working pony, he could discern his dark brown coat and golden mane. Near sundown, two more earth ponies came from the lowly cottage. One female, with a white coat and silver mane, presumably the worker’s mate, and one small filly. She bounced and laughed in her youthful exuberance. “Ah,” mused the changeling to himself, “a child. Perfect.”

The cottage’s rough stone chimney puffed smoke and dim candlelight came through the dusty windows as the scent of fresh bread wafted in the air. The trio of ponies went inside and a low thud was heard as the door was shut and barred.

As night fully fell over the land, the changeling looked up to see a full moon in the sky. The presence of the moon would mean his pack would be in full alert. He had to move quickly and get back before his family came looking for him to join in their singing to the moon. He shifted about in the grass, twigs and branches falling off his back as his magical coat softened and fell from his black shell. He stretched, letting his purple-hued membrane wings catch the cool night air, and sighed deeply. He liked night better than any other time. It brought coolness from the heat of the sun and respite for his eyes, which always seemed to work better in the dimness of moonlight or starlight. A flight would be nice after the past several decades spent living as a unicorn, but that would have to wait until later. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and fine blue hair sprouted along his back. Feathers appeared and grew to cover his wings, and a long flowing mane and tail appeared from where none had been before. The wooden tooth he had jammed in his own mouth fell out, and shining white molars took its place.

The time was right.

He crept over the hills and glided over the fields leading to the farm. He paid special attention to the fresh tills and the soft earth; he could not afford to leave a single lasting impression of his visit there. Creeping about the thin dusty windows, he peered carefully in each one. Here, a kitchen; there, a dining room. Moving around back, the next window held a view to the bedroom. Carefully scanning the room, he saw all three ponies slept in the same room, albeit different beds. The changeling’s mouth turned to a scowl. He needed separate bedrooms to make his hunt easier.

He could easily go on for several more days without nourishing himself on the stolen love of others, but he found it was always best to look as often as possible and flee if the situation got too dangerous. That modus operandi had kept him alive, albeit sometimes hungry. But alive was most important. Better to try now and chance upon something, rather than wait and hope for something big down the line.

Pulling back from the window slowly, he let his consciousness drift into the quiet room. the first mind he touched upon was soft, caring. The mother. She slept peacefully, holding her husband tight to her. Her husband, however, had very little emotion - his mind was shut like a steel box. Strong. Powerful. But he carried the weight of his family’s survival on his shoulders, and so a sense of worry pervaded the ether around him.

Moving yet further, the changeling came upon the filly. Fitful sleep tonight. Her mind switching between curiosity and fear. She was dreaming.

Opening his eyes again, the changeling considered his next move. He needed a way to get one of them to express the emotion he needed. If there were separate bedrooms, he might have a chance. As it stood, getting the child out of that room was nearly impossible. The door was secured, and judging by the look of the rotting timbers that composed the cottage’s frame, the floorboards probably squeaked like hell.

A howl sounded in the distance. The pack had finished with the deer carcass and was now on the move. With time running out, the changeling looked back towards the forest where he’d left his timberwolf coat among the grass. If they found the branches he had left in the grass, they might assume he had been killed and would follow his scent right to the cottage. He simply could not afford to lose the timberwolves that he had so much time cultivating, and so took off in a sudden flight back to the forest.

The rush of air created by his wings rattled the old windows of the cottage in their frames, and the sleeping filly woke with a jerk from her dreams. Sweating from her nightmare, she carefully got out of her bed and approached the window to investigate the sound. Looking out into the moonlit night, she spied a dark alicorn moving away from her farm, carried by her feathered wings with her sparkling blue mane stretching out behind her. Her body relaxed, and she made her way back to bed. Smiling as she drifted back to sleep, she whispered, “Thank you Princess Luna.”

…

Flying swiftly, the changeling spied the spot in the grass where he’d left his timberwolf coat. As he tilted his flight towards the ground, a howl rang out nearby. The pack was in fact looking for him, and he needed to be fast. He started to soften his coat before even touching the ground, letting it slide off of him as he landed. Quickly grabbing his rough timberwolf coat and throwing it back over his shoulders like a cloak, he concentrated to make the “skin” re-absorb and re-harden. His warped hooves stretched back into claws, and he picked up the real branches that had fallen off and stuck them wherever they’d fit back in his coat. He stomped his foot down on the wooden tooth and ground it into the dirt, not wanting to re-live that excruciating experience anytime soon.

A volley of howls sounded nearby, and the changeling raised his own snout to the sky and let loose an answering howl. A few barks sounded and the pack closed in on his location. The changeling turned to his recently-shed coat and jumped on it, eating it as quickly as possible. While it really didn’t taste like anything, it was a fast and easy method of destroying the evidence, and he was able to recoup some of the energy he used in making it back into himself.

The oldest female was the first to come out of the trees, and seeing her alpha eating, she stayed back. The rest of the pack soon arrived. The changeling licked his lips and raised his head to the sky, letting out a triumphant howl. The pack joined in, their voices echoing across the land.

In the cottage, all ponies were now awake and looking out the front window. The male hugged his wife and daughter close. TImberwolves did sometimes hunt along the forest’s edge, but rarely came onto the farm proper, especially this time of year when prey was easily available in their natural habitat.

“Daddy, why do they sing on moonlit nights?” the young one asked, not looking away from the window.

“I remember asking that of my father too, darling,” he replied, stroking her soft mane reassuringly. “He told me that the wolves pay homage to their dark princess of the moon. He said that Nightmare Moon gave life to them before she was banished, and when the moon appears they sing to their lost mother.”

His wife shot him a glance that said, “That’s not true,” but kept any comment to herself.

“Daddy that’s so sad,” the young filly said. “Do they sing to Luna now that she has returned?” Her eyes brightened. “That’s it! I saw Luna tonight! They must be singing to her!”

Her father looked down at her. “When did you see Princess Luna?”

“Earlier tonight! I woke up from a bad dream and went to the window, and saw Luna flying against the moon. She was flying away from our house. I think...I think she was trying to help me in my dream?” the filly furrowed her brow as she tried to remember exactly what he had been dreaming about.

Her father turned back to the window, where the howls faded as the timberwolves retreated to their den. “I don’t know honey. Luna is not Nightmare Moon anymore. She protects us, not them.” He paused, wanting to end of the conversation before she could ask more questions he didn’t know the right answer to. “You need to go on back to bed.” Despite her protests, he gently pushed her back to their room, and his wife wrapped one arm around their daughter, leading her to her bed.

He looked back out the window again, this time scanning the sky. Seeing nothing, he too reluctantly returned to bed.

…

Morning came early this time of year to the forests in Equestria. The sun would not penetrate the thick canopy of the forest until well into the morning, but the temperature rose along with the sun. It was to his warm air that the changeling awoke surrounded by his pack. The females were curled up against him and the pup against them, and the rest of the pack further towards the den’s exit. Sore from sleeping next to a hard rock wall, he slowly brought himself to his feet, stretching as he did so. The others in the den roused with him, also stretching, and moving out the narrow exit and back into the forest. The changeling stopped the females, giving them a “Good Morning” nuzzle and making sure they stayed put and out of danger.

The changeling led his pack from the foothills towards the cliffs that marked the true edge of the tall and foreboding Smoky Mountains. The eastern and southern edges of the mountains have relatively moderate slopes, but the changeling led his pack around the northwestern side, where the sheer rock cliffs precluded any upward progress. The hunting was poorer here, but the changeling was not interested in the same thing as the rest of his pack. As before, his pack spread out to chase down what prey they could find, leaving him to his deliberate search of the caves on this side of the mountain.

The mountain was old beyond reckoning, and due to the slow movement of water, time, and earth, it had shifted to open new caves and craigs over the millennia. the caves nearest the top of the mountain had long ago been colonized by dragons, who contributed to this process by clawing out new sections over their long lifetimes.

The lower caves had been formed partly by tectonic activity, but mostly by the water that permeated into the mountain from snow and rain that dripped down its interior into the depths of the earth. These dark places is where he needed to go. A changeling hive would still need an exit - probably several - but he only needed to find one.

Stopping in the shade inside of one such opening, he sat and closed his eyes to send his thoughts into the dark. Never having met another of his own kind before, he was unsure if this would even work. His idea was to look for the telltale signs of love emanating from somewhere in the cave. Scanning deeper still, he detected nothing. The changeling opened his eyes and continued to walk around the cliffs looking for another opening.

As he walked, he wondered to himself why he was even doing this. Surely he had enough skill and knowledge on his own to just continue his operations in the world at large? But that thought brought him to a sudden stop in the forest. “I don’t want to do this anymore,” he said to himself.

That realization brought the weight of dozens of lifetimes down upon him. He lives he had lived, the things he had seen, the places he had visited and the lives of others that he had ruined. And for what? Just to go somewhere else and do it again? And hate it all over again?

Oh, sure, there had been some over the years that he had liked, but they were so few and far between to be basically irrelevant. He always kept himself at bay of would-be suitors and hopefuls. The families he had inserted himself into had often been kind, and he felt no ill-will to them personally. But the bulk of society fell squarely into the category of “Waste of Space” as far as he was concerned.

The changeling sighed long and deep. The honest answer was that he didn’t know how to do anything else. He had lived the life of an undercover agent for so long that exactly what other options might even be available to him were unfathomable. “Maybe its my destiny,” he said dejectedly, starting to move along the cliffs once again.

His search continued long into the day, and with each hour that passed he grew more tired from his exertions. He had not consumed for several days now and it was beginning to take a toll on him. He was not used to shifting forms so often and staying in the role of alpha was physically demanding. His pack had occasionally brought over something that they had caught but he refused all: a rabbit, a squirrel, another rabbit. He let them eat and take it back to the den. He could still taste blood in his mouth and the thought of any more sickened him.

The changeling happened upon a wide cave entrance and stopped there to rest for a moment when two of his pack trotted up, presumably to check on him. They approached carefully, tails wagging, and suddenly bared their teeth and stopped, staring straight into the blackness of the cave. The changeling followed their gaze down into the inky blackness and saw nothing.

He looked back to his pack members, and they had not moved nor averted their gaze. They were clearly not looking at him, but into the cave. Something was down there that they did not like. He encircled the cave entrance himself, growling and barking, but only heard faint echoes of his own sounds coming back. There was no animal in there, but it did appear to go down a long way.

The changeling knew from past experience that the timberwolves possessed a sense that he did not, and that if they were alert or on guard, he needed to be as well. He took one small step into the cave, and then another. His pack whined at him, not wanting their leader to go in but not willing to follow, either. They pawed at the ground and whined loudly as their leader who had brought them such good bounty over the past few days was now going where they were unable to follow.

The changeling paid no heed, knowing he had found what he was looking for, going deeper into the cave.

…

The darkness seemed to have an oppressive quality to it, restricting the air around him and stifling the sounds that he was so accustomed to in the open air. As he went out of view of his pack, the changeling had changed his form slightly to allow his twisted horn to poke through, allowing him to cast magical spells to light his way and mark the varying paths through the underground that he had taken. He retained his timberwolf coat however, in case he should need to beat a hasty retreat and blend back into his pack who no doubt were still awaiting him at the cave entrance.

He stopped every so often to feel for any signs of sentient life down here. At first he thought he detected something, but eventually he conceded it was just hunger pains. He never felt love himself, and had always assumed that as a changeling, he was incapable of producing it. If so, he should not expect any other changelings to be able to do so.

Stopping at yet another fork in the cave, the changeling stopped to gather up a bit of strength to cast another marker. Before doing so, he noticed a set of claw marks along the left path in the fork. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the pattern: three fingers and one thumb. Dragon claws. He swiveled about, looking back from where he came and down the path in front of him. If a dragon was calling these dark tunnels home it would explain why the pack was so reluctant to enter.

However, he had not seen any other marks to indicate recent occupation. He moved closer to the marks, to see if he might be able to determine their age. As his face came just inches from the marks, they faintly began to emit a green magical aura. The changeling lowered his horn and saw that the aura intensified.

“Not a dragon,” he whispered to himself. “Changeling magic. They marked the path to keep outsiders away and our kind on the correct path.” He followed the marked path, and the slope increased its downward slant, leading him deeper underground. The further down he went, the more the temperature seemed to rise. The floor became damp and slick, and every step became precarious. Caves were new to him, and he found that it was becoming hard to determine if he was traveling uphill or downhill. He panted, the exhaustion growing more and more unbearable. He needed to either find what he was looking for or turn back and try again some other day.

He sat against the wall, tired, hungry, and discouraged. He decided to turn back, he would need to fully replenish himself and then could come back to try again. Moving more slowly back toward the surface was even slower going, and as he reached one of his magical glowing markers he spied something moving in the near-darkness ahead.

Hunching low to the floor, he barked twice in rapid succession, attempting to flush whatever it was into the open so he could better assess his enemy. No more movement was to be seen, so he carefully made his way closer, scanning back and forth in the tunnel to pick up any more signs of movement.

He inched his way forward, ready to fight or flee should need be; not positive on what he saw if anything, but not wanting to risk the danger of being careless. As he approached his marker, he dimmed it so as not to blind himself and lose precious night vision. As he approached within a few feet of his marker, he could feel air brush against his face as something passed at high speed past him.

The spear missed his face by less than an inch, and the obsidian tip wedged itself far enough into the rock wall beside him to hold the wooden shaft of the spear horizontal. Looking to where the spear was thrown, a small changeling stood on the edge of the light cast by the marker. His eyes and horn still had remnants of a green aura from when he had used his magic to hurl the spear with immense force. The aura matched his wings in color which fluttered in anticipation of a fight.

A skittering from behind drew the timberwolf’s attention to his rear, where an identical changeling blocked the path back with a spear of his own. They closed on the larger timberwolf, intending to smash it and scatter its parts.

The changeling timberwolf whirled about, fueled by adrenaline. He reared back his legs and gave a powerful backward kick to the stuck spear, breaking its wooden shaft and leaving just the stone tip embedded in the wall. The loud noise in the tight confines of the cave was deafening, but intentional. The changeling softened his timberwolf coat and used his levitation magic to wrap it around the remaining spear, binding it and yanking it out of the grasp of his stunned attacker.

His disguise now on the floor, the changeling stood fully erect, his twisted horn almost touching the ceiling of the tunnel. The guards, on the other hand, stood several feet shorter, and their shock at the sudden attack turned to amazement. They recovered quickly however, and kept their defensive stances against the newcomer.

“I have come to see Mother,” the larger changeling stated flatly. “Take me to Her. I will not resist further.” He rotated his shoulders slightly, and his armoured shell making a muffled scraping noise as it rubbed against itself.

The guards inspected him. The one who had thrown his spear spoke first, his his voice colored with cruelty and mistrust. “No, purple wings, you are not one of us.”

His partner chimed in, “How do we know that you are not sent by an enemy hive to infiltrate us?”

“What do my markings have to do with any of this? You saw me change. Take me to Mother or I will continue on my own.” He made a show of turning about but hesitated, allowing the guards a chance to reconsider.

The guards looked at each other, and nodded. “Fine,” the first one said. “We will take you to Her. But know now that if She is unsatisfied by your answers, you will regret coming here.”

The larger changeling only nodded, and the guards led their “captive” down the fork he had not followed. One without a weapon walked in front, the other retrieved his spear and followed behind. The guards obviously knew the route well enough to continue without light, but the other changeling did not. “Can you at least provide me the ability to see where I am going?” he asked, tripping over unseen rocks in the dark.

The guard in front of him grumbled but lit his horn, allowing a faint green glow to illuminated the uneven terrain. They had not gone far when they reached a crack in the rock leading straight down. The leading guard motioned for his charge to go first. “Fly down gently. When you reach the bottom do not move, it is filled with traps and I would be oh so upset if you got killed before Mother has the opportunity to do so herself,” he said, sarcasm pervading every word.

The larger changeling let his purple wings unfurl, and the guards also noticed that they were tinged black at their tips. The second one narrowed his eyes but said nothing. They escorted their prisoner down into the depths. They gave an occasional jab with their spear to nudge his progress downward, but shortly they landed on soft earth at the bottom. Following the guards, they entered the Hive.

Author's Note

If you have questions, I promise they will be answered in the next chapter.

Chapter Three

The ground was soft, and damp. A departure from the stone above, this area seemed almost like tilled soil, but with no sunlight it would never bear anything but mushrooms and fungus. The changeling looked around as he was escorted, his eyes combing up the massive walls to a high ceiling lit with green pods. They cast an eerie glow down, Creating sharp edges of shadows against rocks where all manner of things could be hiding in wait. The area they landed in had been open; a mighty cathedral inside the mountain, and an imposing one at that.

Artful decors lined the cave walls. In the dim light they appeared to be depictions of past battles and eras, and great statues of changeling warriors in small alcoves, armored and armed with various weapons. A keen-eyed observer would note the glowing green eyes of these statues. But few outside the changeling realm would know that they were not statues, but the Hive guard, watching over their last city.

In front of them, stood a great wall chiseled out of bare rock. The wall went from floor to ceiling, and not a pit marred its glossy surface. This wall had not yet seen a battle, but its imposing nature and its outer defenses were built to make sure no army ever advanced that close. At the base of it lay a moat of a foul-smelling substance. The larger changeling peered down into it, curious.

The rear guard shoved him roughly to keep moving along the outer edge of the moat. “Don’t fall in there. That shit will melt your eyes and wings and you’ll become a part of it. Not to say you might not wind up at the bottom of it anyway.” He snickered, a wicked grin spreading over his face.

A sharp crack brought the large changeling’s attention to the wall, where seemingly solid rock split before his eyes, rolling back with a green glow to reveal a doorway. On the other side, two additional guards wearing massive plate armor and carrying broad shields stood side by side. The lead guard hopped the moat with a quiz buzz of his wings and said something to the guards. They nodded, and moved aside and the rear guard poked his captive over. The armored guards did not follow or even scowl, but just returned to their places behind the still open door. As it started to slide closed, two cave guards scrambled out to replace the station of the two who just entered with their charge.

Now inside the outer walls, a more functional and less decorative Hive was apparent. Looking up again, one would see high columns and walls with green lamps on the ceiling, but lining these walls were now single alcoves holding empty pods. Changeling workers skittered about the floor and within the alcoves, checking here and there and running off again. They passed deeper into the Hive, and row upon row of empty pods. Spiders and rats had take up residence in most of them, and filth from their activities lined the floors of the empty nests.

It was apparent that these pods had been empty a long time, but due to the sheer number of them, the changeling wondered why he saw so little activity. The trio walked for quite some time, and each row was just as abandoned as the last.

At last they came upon a more inhabited part of the Hive; A long, narrow bridge over a deep chasm with several guards both in front and along the causeway. Again, the lead guard approached, and they talked. They pointed back and forth, and the bridge guards sneered, but sent a messenger across.

“YOU!” the bridge guard thundered, looking at their purple-winged captive, “Mother Chrysalis will decide if she wants to see you. And you will walk carefully, we don’t take kindly to your kind in here.” The messenger came running back. “She will see you,” said the same bridge guard, and stepped to the side.

He sneered at the last part, and the purple winged changeling started to think there was a bigger story at play than just his markings. He walked slowly, carefully, onto the bridge and started to cross. Armored guards stood on either side, each holding a barbed spear at his chest as the passed, so there was always a tip at his heart. This configuration allowed only a very small amount of space for him to walk, and so he did so carefully but quickly, wanting to get to the other side as soon as possible. The chasm he walked over was not endless, he could see a faint glow coming the bottom. This glow was not green, but as red as fire, and seemed to shift about as if alive. The walls also contained many sharp spikes and craigs, which would easily rip his wings and prevent him from getting back out.

He looked away from the edge and found himself nearing the end of the bridge. Here, there was no hidden door, but the opening was barred with heavy iron rods both horizontally and vertically that seemed to be jutting out from the rock, across the doorway, and back into the rock. They were covered in small spikes themselves, and did not appear to be able to be moved. Beyond was just more inky blackness. As he approached the bars, they glowed with a familiar green aura, and with a mighty creak and groan, they stretched apart, until a small hole slightly bigger than his shoulders formed in between.

The changeling hesitated, not knowing if he would fit, but was kicked from behind, and slowly fit himself through the small gap. Twisting himself around so not to catch on any of the bars’ rough edges, he wiggled through and looked back as the bars formed themselves back into their original shape. Looking forward, the blackness remained, but he could hear a skittering, chittering sound.

He rose to his feet and took a small step forward. The blackness seemed to ebb a bit, so he stepped forward again. He sighed and steeled himself, taking more steps forward. He was dimly aware of something moving in front of him as he walked, and after a dozen steps, started to notice that the movement was everywhere. He looked down, and could see a dim green glow emanating from the cracks in the floor. “Not cracks,” he thought, “Shells. I’m walking on the missing hive.”

He peered forward, and could see dim reddish-orange light in the distance. As he moved, it became brighter as the hive moved around him, young changelings stepping to the side, allowing him just enough room to pass before they moved back into their living wall arrangement. The light grew brighter bit by bit, then suddenly bright as day as the changeling passed into the center chamber.

As his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, The room’s details came into view. He appeared to be standing inside a great dome, but inside of walls a swarming mass of changeling moved like churning water, all facing inward. Behind him the “wall” closed up and he saw the faces of the hive looking back with curiosity. Halfway to the center of the room were many magical fire pits, bathing the room in their orange light and puffing smoke up to the ceiling, where a small vent led to parts unknown.

In the center was a sunken area, filled with sheets and linens, pillows and throws. And in the middle of that, lay the one that he had come here to see: his Mother.

He approached respectfully, head bowed, until he was at the edge of the steps leading down to her bed. “Mother…” he spoke softly, not knowing quite what to say.

Queen Chrysalis looked over her visitor quickly, then more carefully. “I know why the Hive has been so reluctant to let you in here. You bear markings of a very old, very scorned changeling. Yet I sense you are here for a reason. Come, sit here with me.”

He obeyed, stepping down to her level, and onto the sheets. To his surprise, they were atop a great fluffy mass, and rivaled that of the most comfortable bed he had ever slept in in the equine world. He shifted about on his haunches, lifting a pillow nearby with his levitation and placed it behind his back as he sat. He looked up, and found his mother staring quite intently at him. “What is it that makes you react so?” he inquired. “Am I in the wrong HIve?”

“No, no…” Chrysalis cooed, “I can always recognize one of my own. You are most certainly mine. But I have many children,” she waved her arms, motioning to the living walls, “But I dare say I do not remember you specifically. Help me, child, what is your name?”

“I don’t have one,” he replied flatly.

“Yes, child, you do. All my children have names. We are not so uncivilized to have moved past individuality. Those that have come before, those that are still here, and those yet to come all have names. What is yours?” Chrysalis moved in closer, trying to look him over without being obvious about it.

“I do not have one,” he stated again. “Or, I don’t remember having one. I don’t remember you, nor do I remember having a father.”

“Child, your father has been dead for several hundred years. He-”

“And should I care?” he cut her off. “Let me tell you why I am here. I have lived and ‘died’, been ‘born’ and grown, been ‘killed’ and have killed, and done it more times than I care to talk to you about. And I no longer care to do it anymore. Nor do I remember why I was bidden to do it in the first place. Looking around, it seems I have come too late. This hive is dying, and those that remain already hate me. Let me leave.”

Chrysalis shook her head, and stretched out on her stomach, sinking slightly into her bed. “I can’t let you go just yet. But I will, eventually. I want to hear your stories. You must have valuable information.” She rolled over and looked at him upside down. “And I can feel that you are hungry. Would you even make it back above ground if you do not feed?”

He blinked once, slowly, but retained his empty stare past her. Chrysalis sighed and rolled back over. She crawled along the sheets to him until she was a few feet away. “Let me have a good look at you.” She inspected him closely. He was certainly taller than most changelings, and almost as tall as herself. She scooted closer, and gingerly took one of her hooves in her own. It was smooth, with no divots or holes where there should be. She frowned, and looked at him. “You are whole. How? All changelings share this trait.”

He moved his leg out of her grasp. He looked away and said nothing. Chrysalis brought her hoof to his face and moved it back around. “You are not on trial here. You are my child. I don’t hate you.”

“I know that,” he said softly. “I just didn’t think that you would have forgotten me.”

Chrysalis took his leg back in hers again. She leaned and kissed it softly. “I haven’t forgotten you. Do not be so quick to judge. We are your family, my dear, and you are a long-lost relative. I will tell you why you have encountered the worst in us, but first I need to know why you grew up to be the way you are. Please?”

He sighed, and looked her in the eyes. They were a deep emerald like his own, but they held a compassion and a love that he recognized as a mother’s concern. Enough years spent around equine foals and their families had taught him this expression well. “I don’t like what I look like,” he told her.

“Why?” she asked, “You are the only you. Why would you want to look like anything other than that?

“”I just...I just don’t like myself.” He looked down at the sheets, avoiding her eyes. “I don’t like what I do and I dislike myself for doing it anyway.” He shut his eyes as a wet spot appeared on the sheets where a tear fell off his cheek. “I don’t want to do it anymore but I don’t know how to do anything else.”

Chrysalis leaned on him, wrapping her forelegs around him and hugging him close. “Oh dearie…you can go anywhere and be anyone or anything. Why don’t you just start doing something you like?”

“Because its still a lie!” he shouted, sobs coming more frequently and tears flowing down his face. He tried half-heartedly to pull away but Chrysalis held him tight. “I have to pretend to be someone and something that I’m not, and in doing so I’ve come to hate myself.”

Chrysalis nuzzled him. His sobs hurt her heart, and she hugged him closer to try and take his pain. She loved all her children equally, but this one had never known it. She rubbed his back with her forehooves, trying to calm him. Her hooves ran down the hard shell of his back, and into something soft, then back to hard again. Chrysalis rubbed his back again, cooing softly. She rubbed the soft area, and found it sticky, almost wet. She brought her hoof up behind his head so that she could look and found a black mass akin to tar on it. “Why do you hide yourself from your own eyes?” she asked him, pushing him back so they were face to face. “Please show me the real you.” She held up her hoof so he could see what she meant.

“Its been a long time, “ he said, wiping his tears. The comforting, calming embrace of his mother was a powerful medicine that even he had never known. “I used magic to harden pitch around my body. I don’t know how to get it off.”

“I do,” Chrysalis said, standing and pulling him up with her. She led him off the sheets and towards the far end of the room from which he had entered. She addressed her living wall. “Go put hot water on for your brother.” The wall chittered and churned, sinking in and opening up to form a walkway. Chrysalis led him him down it, making small talk. “You may have noticed that I don’t have a throne. I prefer my chambers to be shared with my children. The guards outside are a necessary compromise, but if I thought I could bring them in here, that’s where we would be.

“You have much pain in your heart, my child. Let me help you wash it away.” They reached another room, with another dark stone floor and a small pool which bubbled away. Magical lamps around the tub cast a dim whitish light around the area. “There is a kiln I had built underneath it,” she explained, “I do enjoy a hot bath, and so my children keep this bath clean and ready for me whenever I should want to use it.”

She helped him up one side, and he sighed as he slid into the warm water. The stone at the bottom was clearly the source of the heat, and he shifted around to try and avoid touching it. The bath felt great otherwise. He had never been to a pony spa but heard enough about them that he imagined this is what it must be like. Chrysalis leaned in from the side of the tub and splashed water at him playfully. Despite his best efforts, he cracked a smile.

“Aha!” Chrysalis exclaimed, “So you do have something in you except pain and loss.” She fished around in the tub and brought up a well-used but clean brush. “Let me help you.” She gently scrubbed him as he lay in the tub. He let out a contented sigh as she scrubbed, letting his magic fade and allowing the pitch to soften and fall to the bottom of the tub.

Chrysalis smiled, and licked his cheek tenderly. She tongue picked up sweat, grime, earth, and a hint of blood. She continued to smile and began to hum a tune, to which he asked, “What is that? It sounds familiar…”

“When my children are growing in their pods, I always sing to them. I want your earliest memories to be fond ones. Even if all your later memories are hurtful, at least I gave you one good one.” She smiled and licked his cheek again. “I think we’ve gotten most of it. Sit and relax and come find me when you are ready.” She backed away from the tub and turned back toward her chambers, humming her tune and swishing her tail as she left.

He lay in the tub for several more minutes, enjoying the feeling of the warm water and regaining his strength by the minute. His mother had put out some strong emotions, of which he drank deeply. But sitting with his back to the tub wall was becoming uncomfortable, so he reluctantly climbed out and back towards the main chamber. Looking back at the vacated tub, he saw several of the changeling occupants descend from their places in the wall and start cleaning it out. Once came down next to him and said sweetly, “We’ll take care of this. Do you need a drying?”

He shook his head no, and the changeling retreated back from whence it came. He walked back down the tunnel, noticing that the others around him seemed a lot more interested and a lot less suspicious than before. They whispered to one another as he passed, and he glimpsed some smiling at him. Upon reaching the main chamber, he saw Chrysalis on her bed, rolling about with another small changeling. They laughed as she tickled its stomach. On seeing him approach, Chrysalis shooed it away, back into the swirling wall where it disappeared.

“Do you feel better now?” she asked brightly. He nodded and thanked her. Chrysalis moved up to the edge of her sprawling bed. Her horn glowed and the magical fires in the room increased in intensity. “Come here, I do want to really get a look at you now.”

Displayed in his raw form for the first time in recent memory, he walked up to her, standing tall over her. She craned up to see him. “Oooh! Aren’t you a fine specimen.” She lowered her gaze back down and started from his hooves, carefully tracing her hooves around his features. The pitch had come free of the lower parts of his legs and they were now pockmarked with small holes as she would expect. Above that on his upper legs, both front and back, was a thick chitin plate that covered him like metal armor would on a warrior. The plate had several small thorns coming off the sides, black near the base and purple at the tip.

His shoulders and haunches too had a chitin armor, this one segmented and overlapping each other. “Pick this hoof up for me, dear,” she asked. He did so, and she watched the plates slide against one another but freely allowed his movement. “You can put that back down.” He did as commanded.

Chrysalis felt underneath his stomach, and found the same chitin armor here, but only covering his chest. It was rough from years of growth and damage. She licked her lips and slid her hoof back toward his nether regions. He hissed and backed up from her touch.

“Sorry, dear, I meant no harm…” she gestured for him to come back. “I was just checking this armor of yours. Its so…” she searched for the right word, but unable to come up with one she just shrugged. “Come back, I won’t do it again…” He hesitated. She had been nothing but nice, so he stepped forward to let her continue.

Chrysalis felt over his shoulders and found the chitin plate she had touched earlier, Pulling herself up to a standing position, she stood beside him and looked it over in wonder. It extended from the back of his skull all the way down to his shoulders. It was one solid plate with small spines at its edge. It was also quite firmly attached, and in trying to move it she was moving him along with it.

“You do realize that its attached to me, right?” he asked cynically.

“I do,” she said, tapping her hooves along his segmented shell that extended over his back and haunches. “Its just rare to see these so well-developed. Even your ‘normal’ shell is tougher than that of other changelings. Its rough…almost like the hide of a lizard.” She moved forward to his head, inspecting it closely. “You’re built like a soldier. But most soldiers don’t live as long as you.” She cupped his jaws in her hooves, rolling his head around. “And what long teeth you have! Do you spend a lot of time eating food?”

He pulled his head away from her, stretching his neck. “While immersed in society, very rarely. Only when others expect me to. But I have been spending the years in between with the timberwolf pack and there I do eat a fair amount of raw meat. Disgusting stuff.” He gritted his teeth and shook his head in an attempt to clear the memory from it.

Chrysalis mused at that statement, looking at his four long canine teeth again. “Ah, perhaps your body is adapting. Changelings are not only visually adaptable, but over long enough time, you may change to fit your environment. Before you ask, your armor is hereditary. There’s no getting rid of that.”

“Do you have any pearls of wisdom regarding my horn or my wings?” he asked, exasperated with her constant explanations of things he really cared nothing about.

“Your wings are the color of your father’s. Your eyes are the color of mine. That’s unusual, sons typically retain all of their fathers’ traits and daughters that of their mother. You’re unique, but I don’t love you any less.” She bumped her nose against his and smiled. She moved back onto the bed, leading him behind her.

They sat down in the middle of the bed, and Chrysalis brought a pillow with her magic to put under her. Without looking at him, she said, “You have been very patient with me and my questions. Let me tell you a little bit of my past, yours, and bring you up to date and our Hive. If you have questions, please feel free to ask. Also, you will want to get comfortable. This might take a while.”

He settled himself in, laying on his stomach with his head propped up. He also noticed that the surrounding hive had become more still with all eyes on their mother. They apparently knew story time when it happened.

“I have lived a long time and seen all manner of species rise and fall. I have always been Queen, but several Kings have come and gone in that time. See…” she paused, collecting her thoughts. ”Your father, whose name I don’t care to speak out loud, had some very different ideas on how to grow our Hive than I did. He convinced me that we needed agents wholly removed from our ranks. He feared that if we were ever discovered, our enemies might find a way to track all of our children down. And as a failsafe, we should put those out that might carry on our legacy should something happen to us.

“I loved him deeply, and despite my better judgement, I agreed to this plan. We hatched a small clutch of our children, and had them sent away with learned changelings to hide in the world away from us. It caused me so much sorrow to see them go and not know what happened to them.

“You see, beloved child, you are the first and only of that clutch to ever return.” She leaned and kissed his cheek. She leaned back and looked down at the bed as she continued. “My despair grew over the years for my lost children, and resentment grew in my heart for my mate. But he refused to allow me to search for my lost children, insisting that I forget about them. I could not, and I could not forgive him for tricking me into this awful plan. I confronted him about it, and he raised his sons against me to take over the Hive.

He underestimated my power, and my daughters who came solely from my own eggs and I fought a great battle within our then Hive. It seemed for a time that he might prevail, but as the tide shifted in my favor he resorted to changing to my form to infiltrate and kill the weakest and youngest of my brood in the nursery. I cornered him there, and fought him myself. When I stuck him down, the remaining resistance fled. My Hive was destroyed, my children murdered, and I could no longer to stay in that place where I had so many terrible memories, and so we set out to cultivate a new Hive. And we have been here ever since.

“I believe you may have seen the walls outside the Hive entrance? They are depictions of that terrible time when our Hive divided against itself. More upsetting than the loss of my mate was the loss of over half of my children. Loved sons and daughters all. I grieve for their sacrifice, that they may have lived if not for one foolish mistake that I made.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and she wiped them away with the corner of one of her sheets. The Hive wall chittered and cooed for their mother.

“So I was telling the truth when I said I had not forgotten you. You are not a forgotten child. You are strong. I still weep for the lost ones that have not returned, but you you rekindled hope in my heart that I might yet find all the children I so foolishly abandoned.” She looked back at him, tears welling in her eyes and jumped upon him, embracing him tightly. “I love you…please don’t leave me again.”

He was taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor and show of affection. He hugged her back, but he felt empty inside. “Thank you Mother. It does bring me great comfort to know my reason for being, but I am unable to have these same feelings for you.”

“I know,” she replied, still holding him tight. “I am alone in my ability to love. It is the burden that I bear for all of my children. I must support you where you cannot support yourselves. I know you feel sad for me, but please try not to. I think that is a Mother’s condition: the sacrifice of herself for her children.”

He understood. He had seen and experienced it enough in his time that he knew she sincerely cared for him, for them. He kissed his mother softly on the forehead and felt her embrace tighten momentarily before letting him go. Softly, he heard her whisper to him, “You are strong, and you can help your family. Will you at least stay a while?”

He smiled. “Yes, I can stay a while. What would you have me teach you? You are surely more experienced than I.”

“I hear that you are quite accomplished when it comes to changing form.” Chrysalis moved back to the edge of the bed and onto the stone floor. “Move, please,” she said to the wall. “Make some space so all can see.” The changelings obeyed, and the room’s diameter expanded while keeping the floor level until a great amphitheatre was formed from their bodies. They looked on with excitement and spoke to each other in hushed tones.

Chrysalis walked out onto the space they created. “Let me go first, then you. Maybe a little competition by applause?” She smiled, and her horn started to glow. A ring of magic appeared around her and a wall of black swept up and over her head. When the magical wall fell, The shining white coat and flowing hair of Celestia stood in its place. Applause thundered from around the room. “I should tell you, my faithful student, that the only form you are forbidden from taking within my Hive is my own. For…previously mentioned reasons. How about you show us that timberwolf that you used, hmm?”

He knew that there would be no ‘winning’ here, but he closed his eyes and concentrated anyway. A slight shimmer rode over his body, and as if from nowhere, sticks and twigs surfaced and covered his plating, then the rest of this body. His teeth shrank out of view and sharp wooden pegs formed his wolfen teeth, and thorns grew from his hooves into sharp claws. His posture lowered from an upright equine stance to the low gait of a wolf. As he completed the transformation and opened his glowing eyes, he noticed two things: the silence that pervaded the room, and the intense stares from both Chrysalis and the other changelings.

He looked around curiously, and sat on his haunches. Drawing in a great breath, he raised his head and let loose a mighty howl, which echoed off the walls and through the Hive. Those working in the empty Hive, the guards on the bridge, and all in the queen’s chamber fixated on the alien sound, and as it died off a small applause started and grew in intensity. The wolf grinned and looked back at his mother, his wooden tail wagging against the floor.

“Hmmpf,” Chrysalis scoffed, her facade falling in a flash of green and black as the applause died away. “That is definitely different. It also takes more time and energy.”

“I suppose,” he replied, “But its the only way I know how. Besides, the rumors I hear are that changelings can’t maintain form when asleep or unconscious. I can keep this form indefinitely. And it has…other advantages as well.”

Chrysalis perked up an eye. “You are correct. Keeping form while unconscious is extremely difficult and takes great skill. What other advantages do you have?”

“Well…” he shook slightly, letting his hard coat become soft, translucent, and semi-soft. His gently shaking shook the coat off him and onto the floor. “I can now either use the coat again, or eat it, or throw it away, or just ditch it. It will dissolve within an hour or so on its own.”

“Eat it?” Chrysalis looked at him incredulously.

He bent and took the coat with his teeth, and using his hooves, stuffed it unceremoniously into his mouth. Swallowing quickly, it was gone in a matter of seconds. “It really doesn’t taste like anything,” he explained. Pausing, he added, “Depending on how long you’ve been wearing it.”

Chrysalis came up beside him and nuzzled his cheek. “You certainly are full of surprises.” She led him in an apparently random direction, but as she walked the Hive moved and shifted, forming a walkway for them. “Come, I want to show you something.”

They walked side by side as the Hive shifted around them, opening up new area in front and closing off the tunnel behind them. “I do have a question,” he asked.

“Yes?”

“You said that during the uprising that your daughters fought for you and the sons all fled. Are there any of them left?” He looked at her, awaiting a response.

She sighed. “Yes, you heard me correctly. All of the Hive, and the operatives that are currently out in the world, are female. My daughters, your sisters. Have you ever met another changeling, other than the one who raised you?”

“No. And I barely even knew him. It was such a long time ago. He taught me very little and one day, he was gone. Most of my formative years were spent in the forests by myself, learning to survive.” He thumped his armored chest. “I wish I would have had these back then. But I was young. And everything I’ve ever known about changelings - other than myself - has been all rumor and hearsay.”

“Ah, well then let me give you the talk.” She alternated looking at him and looking forward. “Queens are the producers of new changelings, as you know. I birth eggs which we put in pods while you develop. Simple, right? Well, with a King, I can birth offspring with his traits too, and make our Hive stronger. But moreover, without a mate, I can produce only females.”

He furrowed his brow, sensing that this conversation was going somewhere that he wasn’t going to like. “Do I sense that my being male is going to be a major point of why you want me here?”

Chrysalis only smiled. She continued to walk, leading him into another room, this one with its own rock walls, floor, and ceiling. There were rows with alcoves here as well, but they were all empty. The room was noticeably more hot and humid than the other areas of the Hive, but there was no smell of mold or rot. This area had been kept extremely clean.

“When we came here, this area was the first on my list, even before my own chambers.” Chrysalis looked around woefully, and continued, “This was to be the great nursery for my new brood. I had pods prepped and prepared, and workers ready to fill them with new children.” She stopped, and looked at him solemnly. “But something happened. Either due to the stress of losing my previous HIve or injuries sustained in the battle, or some other cause, the eggs I laid only produced malformed young.” She gritted her teeth and looked away. “The dead pods were taken out to the parts of the Hive I have not visited in some time.” She looked back at him, her eyes locking with his. “My bloodline is dying. All the eggs I lay either fail to develop or crack within minutes, killing the child inside. I need new material.”

Chrysalis approached him and rubbed her haunches against him seductively and licking at the side of his head. “Help me and your HIve…Come, show your Mother that you do love her…” She stepped past him and wiggled her butt at his face, her green slit coming into view inches away from his eyes. From such a close distance, he could see the moisture building on the edges of her entrance.

“No.”

Chrysalis stopped dead in her tracks. “What…did you say?”

“I said no.” He bared his teeth. “I should have known that you had some scheme in mind for me. I no longer wish to be a part of your plan, or anyone else’s plan. I came here, foolishly as it turns out, to try something different with my life. I am not your little fuck toy for you to do as you wish with.”

Chrysalis turned on him, frowning her disappointment. “And what? You would leave your mother and your family to die? To wither and rot, and be only a fading memory in the eyes of others? What kind of insolent little shit are you? You dare refuse me!?” As she grew more angry, chittering sounded around her, and the Hive closed in on the two of them.

“I have had nothing for hundreds of years!” He shouted at her, his eyes and horn glowing bright green. His entire body shook with rage, and the black of his skin shifted to a dull gray. “I came back to a ‘family’ that attacked me and distrusted me because of something I had no part in, and then I get told that my father is dead as if that should make me feel better!” The gray of his body expanded, growing his form and producing club hands and stub feet grew out of his hooves. His voice boomed across the walls as he rose above her height. “I am not and never have been one to be fucked with! You want my seed so bad, come and rip it from my body your-fucking-self.”

The stone golem towered over Chrysalis. Hissing, she pointed her Hive at him. “Take him down! Do not let him destroy our HIve!”

A swarming mass of changeling flew at him from all directions. He swung his right arm in a wide arc, knocking all in its path to the floor. Cracks and screams sounded as his arm shattered the shells of young changelings. Sneering, he reared back his left arm, knocking it against the walls of the empty alcoves. Rock shook loose and fell on him, adding to his bulk and armor.

Overhead, changelings in the ceiling cloaked themselves in a magical shield and sped downward, pelting him with their bodies. He picked up a small boulder from the floor and hurled it at the living wall. It hit with another sickening crunch, but stopped and rolled forward as the mass of changelings in front of it pushed back. It rolled along the floor, leaving prints of the green slime from crushed changelings upon the floor.

Changelings swarmed in greater numbers now, clinging to his body and biting anything that wasn’t rock. His legs weighed down with the weight of their combined mass, he curled himself into a ball and rolled about the floor to shake them loose. Hitting a column in the center of the nursery, he stood back upright, only to be pushed back by a great wall of angry changelings who had been waiting for him to stop. Together they reeled backward, breaking the column and landing on the floor. Great chunks of rock fell and the column broke into pieces, and cracks appeared in the stone ceiling where it had stood. They landed with a dull thud on the floor, pinning changeling and golem alike between them.

Armored guards from the out parts of the Hive arrived to enter the fight. Raising their barbed spears, they aimed at the center of the rocky mass where he struggled to free himself.

“Wait!” Chrysalis shouted as she moved in between her guards. “Don’t kill him! Strip that ugly mass off of him and take him down below. He is powerful, make sure he does not escape.” Her horn glowed again, and she cast a magic beam across his body, blasting his magical coat away from his shell.

His extra body mass gone, he quickly wiggled free of the stone and rose to his feet, spreading his wings and launching himself at Chrysalis. Guards instinctively lowered their spears to block his path.

“No!” Chrysalis pushed her guards to the side and caught the full force of his tackle, flying across the room into one of the alcoves from the force of the blow. The ceiling cracked, and dust fell on the two of them, lying in a crumpled heap. The armored guards approached, and saw Chrysalis rise up painfully, pushing her child off of her. Still lying on the floor he bared his teeth and hissed as he looked weakly up at her.

Chrysalis put one hoof on his chest plate and rolled him onto his back. Using her magic to pick up a chunk of rock nearby, she looked at him. “Why did you make me do this, child?” She struck his face with the piece of her broken home, and he felt blackness take him.

“Take him. Go.” She waved at her guards, and they roughly grabbed his rear legs and dragged him away. Her younger children approached, frightened, but she pushed them away. “Leave me alone!” she cried, striking one of them across its face. “Take care of your sisters. Just…just go away…” Chrysalis sniffled, sitting on the floor.

Her children moved away in silence to take their battered kin to be cared for. They solemnly picked up the bodies of the less fortunate and took them away into the darkness. And retreating away, they looked with great sorrow back upon their mother, sitting amongst the rubble.

When she thought they could no longer hear, Chrysalis’ despair broke through and she began to sob.

Interlude One - The Cell

Silence pervaded the Hive. No changeling dared to be the first to speak. Chrysalis stayed in her broken nursery for a long time. Her guards posted themselves back at their regular positions. The youngest cared for their sisters and took the dead to the funeral pyres. The only sound was a quiet shuffling as a changeling scurried about. That, and a faint clanging sound from the depths as their first and only prisoner hammered himself against his bars in protest.

“LET ME OUT!” He slammed his armored shoulder into the bars of his cell door for the hundredth time, hearing them clatter and seeing them shake slightly, but they were far too reinforced to be broken.

He had regained consciousness shortly after being dragged to his cell, and finding that he was now forcibly caged, gained new strength in his anger. “Come fight me again, you brainwashed coward fucks!” He backed up against a stone wall and kicked it, but the stone down here did not crack. It was obviously built to contain just about anything. He kicked again, and winced as he felt something crack.

Sitting, he inspected himself in the dim light. A faint reddish glow emanated from somewhere down the hallway outside his cell. It was not enough for a thorough inspection, so he used his horn to cast a dim green glow around. Not wanting to waste too much energy, he inspected himself quickly.

His right rear leg was seeping green from a small puncture halfway between his hoof and knee. He felt over himself, searching the undersides of his shell and over his back, and found a small amount of tar that had not washed away. Using his magic, he pressed it into his leg, smoothing it out around the edges. He kept compression on it for several minutes, and seeing it was no longer bleeding, let his magical glow fade.

Sitting back against the wall, he found it to be oddly warm and damp. Nothing in this information help him in his predicament, of course, but noting small details could often prove useful later. He sighed deeply and stretched carefully to see what else he may have broken. Nothing seemed to be anything more than sore, so he relaxed.

“Oh, what a great and fine fucking mess this is,” he said aloud to no-one in particular. “Living meat and hair in my teeth, oh no! I’m sooo far above that. Lets go see Mom, I said. I bet she’ll help me, I said. Did I think that was a bad idea? No! And why you ask? Because I’m fucking stupid.”

“I doubt this.” The caged changeling swiveled in the direction of the voice. Chrysalis walked very slowly into partial view, with just her head and part of her neck visible to him. “You have made some mistakes, but I don’t believe that you are in any way stupid.”

“You.” The words came from his mouth through bared teeth. He straightened and satirically said, “Oh, have to come to tempt me into fucking you again? I a bit of make-up sex? Oh just think of how hot it will be; me standing over you and everyone watching, why, as I hit your spot and plunge my-”

“I came to say I’m sorry.”

He stopped short. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” Chrysalis came further into view and sat in front of his cage. “Its been a very lonely, very hard time for me since your father died. I’ve been alone in my struggle to care for your sisters and I’ve made some very bad mistakes myself in trying to cope. Sometimes I think I’ve gone mad…other times…I’m not so sure.

“But I can’t solely blame myself. You have injured and killed your own kind. Your own family. You have proven yourself a traitor and I can’t abide by that.”

“So what then? You come down here, say you’re sorry and by the way, its off to the killing fields with you?” He waved her away with a hoof. “You tried to rape me, and when I said no you got angry. Oh, this is so totally my fault that I asked nicely to leave, you wouldn’t allow it, assaulted me, and then deem me a traitor for protecting my own life. What a disappointment I must be to you.”

“Why are you so mean to me?” Chrysalis sniffled, her eyes watering. “What have I done to you that’s so bad? You treat me with such disrespect and malice… Why don’t you love me the way I love you?”

He sighed and stood up, walking over to her. “Look. I don’t question that you love me. But what I question is how you think others should love you. This is not the love that I’m used to seeing. This is the first time I’ve ever been around you or my sisters, and it seems more like a cult than an family. You see…” he paused as he looked at her. She looked hurt. Emotionally so. “Do none of your children do this? Am I the first to question you?”

Chrysalis nodded but remained silent.

“See, this is what I’m talking about.” He tapped the bars. “I can see why no-one has done so if this is how you treat dissenters. In this secluded environment, you are the only source of knowledge and comfort and shelter and food they have ever known. Of course your daughters are going to love you unconditionally. I did not spend my formative years here and hence, I do not.

“As I told you, grew up in the wild. I don’t love you unconditionally because up until this point you’ve given me so little but asked so much. In the wild you have to prove your worth to get anything back. Sometimes not even then. Those damned equines are quite giving but their unbridled enthusiasm sickens me. Maybe I’m jaded. Maybe I’m crazy. But honestly as the years have passed I care less and less.

“You want to live in a pretty little world and be the underworld’s Celestia? Rule as you see fit and let no dissenters oppose you? You go right ahead. I do not want to be a part of it. So fuck you, fuck your Hive, let me go and I swear to you you’ll never see me again.”

Chrysalis shook her head no. “You have much anger in you and the more we talk the more I begin to understand why. You have lived a life that I would never wish upon any of my children and it has poisoned your heart. I did say that I can’t abide by traitors but you are the one who said anything about doing away with you. I fully intend to let you leave on the condition that you never return,” she narrowed her eyes and continued, “But in exchange for that, I require something from you.”

“And what you want, I am unwilling to give.” He held himself tall. “I do not claim to have any ‘morality’ the way most would describe it but impregnating my own mother, for whom I currently do not have any feelings for, is not pleasing to think about.”

“Have you not felt the pleasure from another warm body, my son?” Chrysalis inquired. “It can be quite exquisite.” She licked her lips and winked at him.

“Oh, I’m not so naive that I’ve never had sex. Many mares, colts, and griffons have lain in my bed over time. Most willingly. Some not. But again, fucking family seems like something one ought not to do.”

“See, this is a peculiar problem we ageless beings face,” she retorted from beyond his cell. “The short-lived species of this world can have many generations pass in just one of our lifetimes and eventually one will forget how he or she is related to another and so it becomes acceptable. Just because there are more generations in between the equines does not mean that they’re not fucking their relatives. We’re just more open about doing so.”

Noise from the hallway in the direction of the light source turned their attention away from each other and down the hall. Chrysalis backed up quickly and started to disappear into the shadows. “Think about what I said child. We will talk again…”

As she disappeared from his view fully, from the opposite direction came two armored changeling guards. They moved slowly, and as they approached his cell he could see that they sported wicked grins of malice. He backed up and sat against the furthest wall to feign as if he had been there for quite some time.

“Hey, traitor!” they yelled before even reaching his cell. “Fuckface! Come out here, lets have a little look at you. I’m sure no one will care if you wind up dead! Chrysalis obviously wants you for something but I bet your insides will stay hot for at least an hour after we rip them out of you!” They rounded appeared in the corner of his vision but he remained still, looking at the floor.

“Hey! We’re talking to you, you worthless cunt!” The other banged her spear against the bars.

“Hey, that’s a fitting name for this one,” said the first guard. “Worthless! He doesn’t have a name so lets give him one! Hey Worthless, we’re going to go upstairs and tell everyone that that’s what you want to be called. That cool with you?” She sneered as she talked. “Oh, also, we brought you something to eat.”

The second guard tossed something limp into his cell, where it landed in the middle of the floor. A foul stench immediately hit him, but he remained still.

“We found this dead rat in the caves. We remember you said something about eating meat. So we thought, ‘Hey, bet our little Worthless is getting hungry,’ so we picked it up and brought it here for you.”

Slowly, he rolled his head around to look at them. Looking back at them with his own toothy smile and vacant gaze, he said, “Oh, that does look enticing. But my, what is that on your face? Why don’t you just come a little closer?” He moved slowly, pulling himself along with just his front hooves. He opened his mouth and spittle fell to the floor.

The guards looked at each other, and back at the form crawling toward them on the smooth stone floor. “It looks so wonderously soft…mmm, delicious…” He licked his lips again and let his forked tongue roll out. As he passed by the rotting rat, he deftly moved over it and pulled it along with his hind hooves.

“This one ain’t right,” said one guard to the other. “No wonder he went ballistic. Lets just get out of here.”

“No, no, don’t leave...you can’t leave.” He stopped a short distance from the bars, outside the reach of their spears. “Please don’t leave...your face looks so good. Mmm, just think of how squishy your eyes would be. Pop ‘em in my mouth and enjoy that wonderful jelly rolling around on my tongue. Ooh, and the juicy inside…” He trailed off and looked past them, apparently lost in some memory.

“You’re fuckin’ crazy. Enjoy your rat, Worthless.” The guards went to leave, giving one last scowl as they turned away. Quickly, their captive picked up the dead rat and threw its corpse against the bars. Putrid liquid flew from the rat on impact, causing the guards to recoil. They looked on in confusion and anger as their prisoner rolled about on the floor, laughing maniacally.

In the shadows, Chrysalis shook her head and retreated back to her chambers to think.

Chapter Four

Days passed, then weeks. As time continued to march on into months Chrysalis would come to talk every few days, at which time he seemed calm. Often Chrysalis would then pretend to leave but would wait in the darkness out of his sight to watch him. The guards were coming by less and less frequently. When they did, he would put on a show of being psychotic until they left.

Chrysalis spent a great deal of time thinking about him. Despite his brash nature, he was extremely intelligent. Few other changelings had lived so long and seen so much besides herself. He was able to converse on her level and not be prey to her guiles or questioning.

He also had engaged her in deeper thought than any time in recent memory among her own children. But approaching without a barrier between them seemed a very dangerous idea. She continued to watch and wait, and with each visit and each psychotic outburst, she wondered more and more how much of it was fake.

Approaching his cell again one day, she heard him speaking. At first Chrysalis though he was talking to a guard. She stopped in the hallway and listened. She could just barely make out his words.

“...don’t really care.” He paused, and continued. “Stop! Just...just stop. I don’t...no, go away.” Another pause. “Well that’s a fine idea. Why don’t you just go ahead and explain how that’s going to work.”

Chrysalis nudged herself closer, trying to get close enough to see what guard he was speaking to.

“Just like that, huh? Fuck her and then everything becomes sunshine and rainbows, that’s your idea? And expect I’ll just waltz out skipping joyously all the way?”

Chrysalis smiled as she poked her head around a corner. “At least one of my children is trying to talk some sense into him,” she thought. But looking down the hallway to his cell, no guard was outside his bars. Chrysalis’ smile turned to a frown. The bars took the magical power of several changelings together to move them. One or even two guards would not be enough. She continued to creep forward to see what was going on.

“No no no no. No. I do have some standards in my life.” He sounded exasperated, like he had been whenever Chrysalis brought up the subject. “Well look, if I had some sort of guarantee like that I’d be more willing to consider it.”

Chrysalis had reached his cell. No guard was present anywhere she could see, so she swung her head around into view and demanded, “What sort of guarantee!?”

To her surprise, there was no one else in the cell. Her son was sitting on his haunches with his back to her looking at the wall. He leaned his head backward to look at her and said, “Oh fuck, look who it is.” He turned continued to lean backward until he fell over and said, “Yes? May I help you?”

With a confused look, she asked, “Who were to talking to?”

As if he didn’t hear, he continued, “So! We were having a little discussion and I was thinking maybe we could work out some sort of deal. Tell me what it is that you want again?”

Chrysalis couldn’t speak. Looking at him, lying on his back with his legs in the air, he was acting like he did with her guards. “Well?” He prompted.

“I…uh…I need…” Chrysalis paused, trying to collect her thoughts. “First I want to know who you were speaking to. Then we’ll get to working out a deal.”

“Oh, he comes and goes,” he stated vaguely.

Chrysalis decided to drop it. This conversation was going nowhere so she moved forward before he might consider refusing her again. “I need new genetic material, from you, to grow my Hive. I’ll also need to know the details of where you have been and what you’ve learned since you left the Hive. And if all that goes well, you will be allowed to leave and will not be allowed to return on pain of death.”

“So...let me get this right,” he replied, still lying on the floor. “You want me to squirt inside of you, babble like a retard, and then get the fuck out? At what point do I actually get something out of this?”

“You get to keep your life. That’s what you get,” she stated simply.

“Yeah, but at this point I think that’s not enough. I have something you need and that you haven’t come across in a long time. I think I should get something else.” He looked at the ceiling, away from her.

“You said earlier that you needed a guarantee. What guarantee do you need to make this more appealing to you? Your safety out of the Hive is easy. I’ll escort you to the exit myself.” Chrysalis leaned to one side, trying to see if he was even paying attention.

“No no, see, what I need is a guarantee about these new children of yours.” He rolled himself over on to his stomach to look at her. “I am somewhat perturbed that my treatment, and imprisonment seem to be an indirect result of you deciding to take a mate and have male children. I understand that you aren’t ‘taking’ me in the same way. But I’d really, really just feel better if you birthed no sons.”

Chrysalis’ mouth hung open. His display of concern for the future of the Hive was very out of character. “I- I can do that,” she stuttered. “When the pods develop, the temperature at which they incubate can change their sex. Lower for females, higher for males. But its tricky. I wouldn’t dare risk the life of my unborn children trying to make sure they were female.”

“And so your compassion is your downfall.” He stood up and started to walk away, still talking. “You’ll take the risk of repeating all your past mistakes because you don’t have the courage to stand up and accept the potential losses to ensure a more stable future. This is why I told him it wouldn’t work.” He stopped at the far side of his cell and sat down again, looking away from her.

His bluntness caused an epiphany in Chrysalis. She had been too kind. She clung so tightly to the children she had left that she was unwilling to lose even one should it mean that a hundred more would live. “You might be right,” she said, her voice cracking. “You think about anything else you might want and I’ll be back to talk that over with you.” She turned quickly to leave, but noticed he hadn’t fed off her love recently. Backing up, he called out to him where he sat facing the wall, “Aren’t you hungry?”

Without looking, he said in a quiet tone, “You’re not strong enough to satisfy me anymore.”

Chrysalis twitched as tears started in her eyes. She clenched her teeth and ran from him, pushing past her guards, and into the far places of her Hive where the broken pods lay rotting in their alcoves. She ran in amongst one of the pods, and curling up within the slime of its shell, sobbed her anger over her failure as a mother.

…

Back in his cell, the changeling paced back and forth. “You really are an ass, you know that? Well, be that as it may, I don’t want you here and yet to continue to annoy me. I don’t care what you have to say! Ok, so you had one or two good ideas. Ok, it worked well a few times...yes, she was hot. No, I don’t care that she died as a result. You- look, just leave me alone for a while, ok? I’ll do this one last thing and you and I are done, got it?”

He walked back to his bars and banged against them with his shell. “Mom! Mooooom! Mom, I’m ready! Mom! MOM! Mom mom mom mom mommy mommy mom! I give up, I’m ready! Mooooooom!” He bounced up and down, making as much noise as he could. “Hey! Mom! I’m ready here and where are you? Come on, I’m so randy! Oooh, hot for my mom! Mommy mommy!”

As the banging continued, guards at the far entrance to the dungeon began to gather. They looked at each other, unsure.

“You think his mind finally broke?” asked one.

“Does it matter if Mother gets what she wants?” retorted another.

“Send someone up for Mother. She’ll want to know of this development,” replied yet another guard.

“Not me. She didn’t look too happy when she ran past a little while ago. You go.” The first one motioned to the second.

“Oh no, I might be sick of sitting down here but I’m not taking the chance of Chrysalis being in a worse mood,” she said.

“Fine, I’ll go,” said the last changeling guard. “You two better not be gawking when we come back. And he better still be alive.”

As she left, the two remaining guards looked at each other. “We better go down there and make sure he doesn’t crack his skull open with all that banging,” said one.

“Good idea,” replied her sister. With that, they hurried on down the hall.

Upstairs, the guard moved quickly from chamber to chamber. Not seeing Chrysalis anywhere, she inquired to others about her whereabouts. Each one of her sisters pointed her in a different direction or somewhere she had already been. Finally, stopping at the bridge and the rows of changelings dutifully guarding the only entrance, she asked of them if they had seen Mother.

They advised they had seen Chrysalis run past and into the outer parts of the Hive, so the guard took off in that direction. She had not been out here in quite some time and admitted to herself that it was in fact quite spooky. The green glow emanating from the ceiling was nothing new, but the faint odor of the rotting pods and the cobwebs and rats skittering about did little to ease her mind.

The shadows seemed to breath in and out with the undulating light from above, but the utter silence and darkness in the corners of her vision made it seem all the more supernatural and scary. “Mother,” she called out quietly, “Are you there? Its me, Abelle. I bring important news of our prisoner.”

Abelle stopped and listened carefully. No sounds from nearby, so she fluttered her wings to move herself a few rows over. “Mother? If you are here, please say something. I have important news...please, you’re scaring me.” She thought she heard something from further out towards the walls, so using her wings again, flew that direction.

Standing in the intersection of several rows of alcoves, she listened again. This time, she heard a faint noise for sure. Walking slowly, she carefully tracked it down and in doing so began to recognize what she was hearing. Heavy breathing. Something slick or wet being slid around. Abelle tried to move as quietly as possible, but echoes from her hooves sounded across the walls and alcoves.

She tilted her head around to make sure she was headed in the right direction. Sure enough, noises were coming from in front of and slightly above her. Buzzing her wings again, she flew upwards slowly, looking left and right. Each alcove was empty save for a broken pod. Abelle remembered that this was the area where her sisters who did not survive were taken to. Thankfully, whoever had been in charge of that gruesome task had removed the bodies from the pods.

She shuddered despite her relief, this was still a grim reminder of where her Hive was and where it would ultimately end up if her mother did not get what she needed. She buzzed about more urgently, and in her haste zipped right past Chrysalis where she had curled up inside an old pod.

Starled, Chrysalis poked her head out of her hiding place and called out to her. “Child? What are you doing here?”

Abelle spun around, almost losing her bearings and crashing into a wall. “Mother! I’ve been looking for you!” She sped back to Chrysalis, hovering outside the alcove. “Quick! big, important news! You must come with me! You…!” Abelle looked more carefully at the scene in front of her. “Why are you curled up in an old pod?”

Chrysalis sighed and motioned for her to land. “What is your name, dear?”

“Abelle,” she said as she landed and tucked her wings back along her sides.

“Come here, love.” Chrysalis motioned for Abelle to sit with her, but she hesitated. “Its really not bad. Kind of comforting, I swear. Come here.” Chrysalis held out her front arms for a hug.

Abelle approached and hugged her mother. Sliding down next to her, she did indeed feel comforted. The pod had warmed up from her mother’s body heat and there was very little smell. Just a comforting wetness and the feeling of her mother pressed up against her.

“See, its pretty nice, isn’t it?” Chrysalis asked, to which Abelle nodded. “I’ve been really going through a lot lately. I appreciate all of your and your sisters’ support.” Chrysalis paused, then asked timidly, “Can...can I ask you a serious question? Like, I want you to really think about the answer.”

Abelle nuzzled Chrysalis where she lay pressed up against her in the pod. “Of course you can. I’ll answer any question you ask of me.”

Chrysalis sighed. She didn’t want to, but asked anyway. “Have I been a good mother?”

Abelle sat upright like she had been shocked. “What kind of a question is that? Of course you are! If you were bad, I wouldn’t be alive, now would I?”

Chrysalis nodded, but pushed for more. “I said I want you to really think hard. Just being here is not a sign of how well I have done in taking care of you. I look at all these pods and wonder what this place might be like had they bore live young. I wonder how any of my children would be going back and forth or just simply staying in the world above. I think I made some very poor choices and you and all of your siblings are suffering because of it.”

“Mom, I don’t what to think about that.” Abelle closed her eyes and leaned back into her mother’s embrace. “So what if things were different? What if you were made of chocolate? Would that mean that I’d be made of chocolate?”

Chrysalis giggled, Abelle was so sweet and innocent. She inhaled deeply and sighed. Maybe that was the problem. She needed stronger, wiser troops. Ones that could think and act on their own. Ones that would tell her if she was making bad decisions. “Abelle, what was the urgent matter than make you come all the way out here for?”

Her daughter again popped upright, having almost forgotten her mission in the loving embrace of Chrysalis. “Oh! Our prisoner is banging against his cell calling for you. Says he’s...ready? He seems a bit crazy though.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “Explain better what ‘a bit crazy’ means to you.”

“Oh, uh…” Abelle thought about it. “I’ve seen him a few times since he’s been down there. He does yell a lot. Last time he said he’d eat my insides using my empty skull as a bowl. I think his mind is going from being down there for so long. Just before I came up here he was banging himself against those bars and screaming ‘Mommy’ over and over.” Pausing, she added, “You think its safe to go in there with him? I mean, after last time...” she trailed off.

Chrysalis smiled. “If you were me, what would you do?”

Unused to being asked for her opinion, Abelle avoided the question. “Oh, uh, that’s not my place.”

Chrysalis nudged her with a hoof. “You said you’d answer any question I asked of you. So tell me, what would you do if you were me right now?”

“Eh...I suppose...I don’t know.” Abelle shrugged. “When you were first talking to him he seemed so strong, so wise. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was attracted to him the way I assume you were. In speaking to my sisters at the time, I think I was not alone. But none of them are willing to admit to that now, not after what he did in the nursery.” She looked at Chrysalis who motioned for her to continue. “He’s definitely a unique member of our family. He looks so exotic with that thorny plate. He acts like no one else I’ve ever met and he’s so mysterious, I wish he would just-” Abelle stopped suddenly and blushed.

“Oh, uh, sorry Mother. If uh, if I were you, I think I’d go down there and talk to him a bit. If he seemed calm enough I’d chain his legs and have him escorted out of there. His mind might come back around if he were to see something familiar.”

Chrysalis mused this last part. “Ooh, now that is a wonderful idea. I think I may be able to use that to my advantage.” Chrysalis scooted forward and out of the pod. Slime trailed from behind her. “Ew. I forgot how sticky this stuff is. Come child, we have preparations to start.”

Abelle hopped out of the pod and found that she too, was covered in slime. Unlike Chrysalis, she giggled as it stretched, spinning around and watching bits of it fly off of her. Chrysalis shook the excess off her wings and fluttered them to make sure she wasn’t going to fall. Satisfied, she and Abelle descended from the alcove and walked back towards her chambers.

“Abelle, I need your help to bring all of this together. Go and gather a few of your sisters that know the caves leading to the surface. Take a scout with you and go up to gather any flowers from the surface you can find. Also bring back a satchel of dirt.” Abelle looked confused but Chrysalis continued, “Bring these things to my chambers and wait for further instructions. Go, shoo, quickly!” Chrysalis pushed her from behind.

As Abelle took off in flight, Chrysalis turned towards the bridge. Reaching it, she asked aloud to her assembled guard, “Who here knows how to forge steel?”

Several armored changelings stepped forth. Chrysalis beckoned them closer and said, “I need you to forge for me chains to secure our guest. One for each leg two bands to hold his wings flat. Can you do this?”

They nodded, but one said, “Mother, we do not have enough raw material to make this much. We have plenty of stone that we could-”

“No,” Chrysalis cut her off. “Steel only. Use your own armor if you have to. Do it quickly but make sure its strong. When finished go into the caves and wait at the entrance.”

They nodded and hurried off themselves. Chrysalis walked back the way she came and down towards the entrance to the dungeon. She passed by more guards, the largest and strongest of which she gathered with her and briefly explained the plan. They did not appear to be enthused, but nodded and followed behind her.

Chrysalis and her entourage descended the long stone stairwell, and reaching the bottom she turned to her assembled group and said, “You hang back. When others arrive with chains, carefully, quietly ready them and come down to where I will be speaking with him. Make sure you stay out of sight and earshot until I call for you. No talking. Got it?” They nodded their understanding but did not talk.

Chrysalis drew in a deep breath, exhaled slowly and walked down the corridor to him. Turning familiar corners, she started to pick up sounds in the distance.

“....mommy…ma...mooootherrrrrr…” His desperate pleas echoed down the hall. “...oooooh, mmmmm, yeah…”

Chrysalis came down the last part of the hall and saw two guards standing there, looking in his cell. Without looking away from him, she could see one lean in and whisper something to the other. The second only nodded.

Coming closer, they noticed Chrysalis’ approach. They ran up to greet her. “Queen Chrysalis! The prisoner has been asking for you for hours. He-”

“Yes I know,” she replied, waving them off. You two are relieved from duty. Please make your way back to your normal posts.”

They looked at each other and back at Chrysalis. Their mother did not look but walked right past them on her way to his cell. Their eyes followed her briefly, but doing as commanded, they ran for the exit, happy to be out of there.

Chrysalis strode confidently in front of his cell, and found him rolling about on the floor, still yelling, albeit more weakly than just a few minutes earlier. Chrysalis cleared her throat to get his attention.

He flopped over at the noise. “Mommy! Mommy mommy mommy! I’m so ready for you now!” He rolled about, coming closer but not actually using his legs to move about. He rolled into the bars and bounced back. “Yay! You came for me! Ooh...came for me,” he chuckled mischievously.

Chrysalis looked down on him but didn’t move. “Pick yourself up. You’re an embarrassment. What are you, a fucking dog rolling about the floor?”

He stretched, still on the floor. With a grunt he sat up. Moving to a standing position he looked Chrysalis over. “Oh, well, I see you made yourself all pretty for your visit. What did you do, puke on yourself?”

Chrysalis looked down at herself. In her haste to get things ready she had forgotten to fully clean off the slime from the pod.

“Is...is that something you’re into?” He looked her up and down quickly, and brightened up. “Hey! I can puke on myself too! Where’s that dead rat from a while ago?” He began searching his cell, poking around corners and calling out, “Dead rat? Dead raaat! Hey! Where did you run off to?” He continued his search and as he passed by the bars again he stopped. “Oh, wait. I ate that months ago and puked it on that little fuckin’ bitch…” He started to laugh and continued, “You know the one...she was here earlier...oh she thought she was so tough and then...and then I puked right in her face!” He laughed harder. “Oh, she turned bitch real fast, running away sobbing! Oh boo hoo! That meanie puked in my eyes!” He collapsed on the floor, laughing hysterically.

Chrysalis stomped her hoof on the ground. “Enough! Stop this! I know you’re better than this. Why do you act in such a way?”

He wiped his tears from his eyes, his laughs fading. “Oh...oh, sorry, that was just so funny. You probably saw it, didn’t you? Those times when you pretend to leave?”

Chrysalis blinked, but tried not to show her surprise.

“Its exactly two hundred and fourteen steps to the end of the tunnel. Then there appears to be so stairs leading upward, I have counted at least one hundred and eighty two steps but I figure there are probably more. You think I’m dumb and crazy, but I’m not. Well, I’m not dumb.” He climbed back to his feet and walked over to her. “Have you come to make a deal with me, then? Are you willing to listen to what I say to say this time?”

Chrysalis looked directly in his eyes, and said, “Yes. You must remain calm, and no more outbursts. Show me this strength you wish me to have and we will negotiate.”

“Ah, you must have been doing some thinking.” He smiled at her. “Are you ready to make tough decisions for the betterment of all?”

“You will still give me what I want, or this cell will become your grave.” Chrysalis’ tone became deep, serious. “I think I’ll just leave your carcass in here. I’ll still come by occasionally and talk to you. And I don’t think you’ll have any smartass remarks then.”

He gave her a wide grin, showing off his sharp teeth. “Oh, you got some bite now, eh? This is much more entertaining. Do I have to continue to speak to you through these bars? Isn’t that why you brought so many of your children down here with you?”

“If you are willing to negotiate, then I’m willing to take you out of here.” Chrysalis motioned down the hall for her guards to come forward. “You’ll understand that I don’t trust you fully. I will have my guard escort you out, in chains, to a location of your choosing within the Hive. Once there, we will discuss what you need to be satisfied in our deal and what I need to be satisfied. And once that is complete, we will agree in what order those things will be taking place.”

She glanced back down the hall, and noted that her guards were drawing close, each one lugging a heavy chain over their shoulders. She looked back in the cell. He seemed much more calm and collected. “Do you agree to these preliminary terms?”

He nodded. “And I assume any more violence on my part will be met with immediate termination of our negotiations, yes?”

Still staring at him, Chrysalis replied, “Yes, but more than negotiations. Now any violence will be met with termination of your life.”

“This sounds fine to me.” He stretched again. “Let’s get this going, I was ready to leave months ago.”

The changeling guard arrived. Chrysalis turned to them and instructed, “You will open the bars. I will go in first and attach the chains and then you will be responsible for holding the other ends. And you-” she turned back to her son, “Back up the the middle of your cell. Keep standing but don’t move. The order to kill you should you try anything starts now.”

He shrugged and backed up. Standing there, he yawned. “Wow, tired all of a sudden. I’ll need a nap after this.” He continued to look forward, as the guards focused and the bars began to glow green from their magic. Slowly, they bent and stretched, not moving out of the wall but physically moving out of the way until Chrysalis ducked her head down and stepped through.

As soon as she entered, her guards posted themselves at the entrance in two rows. The first held the chains, the second row dropped their spears over the shoulders of the row in front of them, forming a spiked wall.

Without looking back, Chrysalis asked, “Bring me the body straps.”

One changeling brought two steel bands forward. She dropped them on the floor in front of Chrysalis, and backed up carefully back into the formation. Chrysalis picked them up and moved forward and around the side of her silent child. She fitted them around his back, covering his wings and secured them underneath his stomach with locks. She stepped back. “Try using your wings.”

He wiggled, but with both straps in place, was unable to slip his thin wings into a position where he could use them. Satisfied, Chrysalis asked for one leg chain. She hooked it around his right front hoof and, using her magic, tightened it through one of the holes in his leg. she tugged at the chain a few times to make sure it wasn’t going anywhere.

Satisfied, she repeated the process with all four legs and one around his neck. She formed extra links to hold the chains to each other, and soon he was bound in such a way as to greatly restrict movement. Chrysalis called her guards in, and five of them took up position. One on each leg, and one holding the chain attached to the band around his neck.

“This,” he said, “Is incredibly uncomfortable. Where are we going again?”

Chrysalis once again ducked down as she exited the cell. “Well, you get to decide that. Pick where you want to go and we’ll have our negotiations.”

He shuffled forward, trying not to trip over the myriad of chains binding him. “In this state? Somewhere nearby. Is there like, a meeting hall or something to I don’t have to try and cross the bridge like this?”

“No, we don’t have anything like that,” she said. “How about in the outer Hive before the wall? Would that work for you?”

He sighed. “Fine, whatever. Lets get moving.” He continued to shuffle forward, trailing several steps behind Chrysalis as he exited his cell and all of them moved down the hallway and out into the Hive.

…

Some time later they reached the outer parts of the Hive with its alcoves and empty pods. “Okay,” he said suddenly, “Just stop right here. I can’t walk in these damned chains another minute so stop, we’ll just do this here.” He looked around. “Fuck, spoke too soon. This place is fuckin’ spooky.”

Chrysalis turned around. “No, I think this is a very appropriate place to have our talk.” One by one she used her magic to take a chain away from one of the escorts and fuse the metal into the stone wall. She turned to her guards. “From now until I say otherwise, the Hive is on full alert. If you see him without me, kill on sight. Go and spread the word, but do not come back unless I call for you.”

They saluted and moved away. Chrysalis turned her attention back to her son, who was trying to find a comfortable way to sit. “Augh, this is terrible! Can I get like, one of those pillows or something? Every position I try to sit in has a cold metal chain between me and the floor.”

“In a bit, I’ll get you one.” Chrysalis sat on her haunches. “Let me tell you what I want. Then you tell me what you want, and we’ll go from there. I’ll go first. You are going to tell me about your life, what you saw, what you learned, so that your experiences are not lost. Then I need you in my chambers. We should probably clean up first and then I expect you know what to do from there. Then, I will fulfill your side of our deal and I will escort you from my Hive.”

He gave up trying to sit and continued to stand. “Well allow me to retort. I want out of these chains. I will tell you about my life and answer whatever questions you may have. Then I would like a tour of your Hive. Escorted, but unchained. Then we shall go to your chambers. You must promise to bear only daughters. And I will require the resources to start me on my way back into society above ground, as having been away this long will make that transition difficult.”

Chrysalis whistled into the darkness, and two changelings came flying in, spears ready. “Go and find Roddi and one of her assistants, then bring them and up here,” she told them. “Make sure she brings the book.” They flew off and Chrysalis turned her attention back to the negotiations. “How about this; I will let you out of those chains one at a time as I feel you are fulfilling your side of our agreement. You tell me and Roddi your life, and a chain is removed. You come back to my chambers and I’ll remove another one. Sound fair?”

He shook his head. “No, that is not sufficient. This story telling is going to take a while. At the end of it all my chains need to be off. I’m not going to ask who Roddi is because I assume she is one of your daughters.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Indeed. Roddi is my current archivist. She keeps the records of our Hive and the names and lives of all who have passed through. Your story will be recorded in our logs and kept for future generations.”

“An archive, you say?” He mused this new information. “OK, new offer. I will tell you and Roddi of my life. The chains will slowly come off until I am finished and the last one is removed. At that time, I would like my tour and to visit the archives. Learning more about changeling history is very appealing to me. Then, I will follow you to your chambers, and then I will take what things I need and leave.”

“What are these ‘things’ that you think you will need?” Chrysalis got up and circled around him, stepping over the steel chains lying on the floor. “What is your intention when you leave?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve always wanted something a little grander and I believe it’s entirely possible to set up shop in Canterlot.” He smiled at Chrysalis. “And to live in the shadow of Equestria’s oppressor, how much fun would that be?”

Chrysalis stared hard at him, trying to decide if he was being serious or not. “I can’t recommend that you go there. They have been ever vigilant since we were expelled. My scouts tell me they have an investigation team specifically set up to deal with changelings.”

He tried to point to her, but being bound he just put his hoof back down on the floor. “Changelings like you. Not like me. I operate differently, change differently, and look different. I can avoid them. And I can become rich. Then I can go wherever I choose to go and not have to start over each time in a new city.”

Chrysalis came in closer to him. “Tell more more about this plan of yours. If you can become rich, and you can fund some of our operations, I might be more willing to help you out.”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “If we get as far as after sex, then I’ll talk about that. I am only partially confident you’ll keep your end of the deal after you get what you want out of me.”

From the darkness came the sound of hooves beating on the floor. Both of them looked in the direction of the sound to see two small changelings run out. The one in front looked disheveled, and the one in the rear exhausted from the heavy book perched on her back. “We can as quick as we could, my Queen,” said the first as her companion dropped the book on the floor. “We moved in such a hurry that we- woah!” she jumped as her gaze moved over to the chained figure behind Chrysalis. “Scared me there, uh…guy.” She laughed nervously.

He looked over the new arrival. “You must be Roddi, I presume?”

She smiled nervously. “Yeah, hi, I’m Roddi. This over here is my assistant Audax.” The other changeling looked up but quickly looked back down at the book and started leafing through it. “I am currently in charge of the archives. But uh,” she looked back at Chrysalis, “What do you need us for?”

Chrysalis made her way back around at stood in front of Roddi and Audax. “Our guest is going to extoll us of his life and adventures. It will be your job to get the most useful information into the book.”

“Oh!” Roddi fluttered over to where the book lay on the floor. “A new chapter then! What is the name I shall put this under?”

Chrysalis and her son looked at each other. She raised an eyebrow and he just shrugged. Chrysalis looked at Roddi and told her, “Why don’t we file this one under ‘Lost Children’.”

“Okay…?” Roddi pushed for more information. “But what name am I putting this under?”

“Roddi,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes, “Just do what I tell you. Just…just leave a blank where you’d put his name, okay?”

Roddi’s horn glowed as she etched this information into the pages of the book. “Okay, I’m ready. Audax, take notes in your journal, in case I miss something I can add that in later, okay?” Roddi and Audax lay on the floor, getting comfortable.

He looked at Chrysalis. “May I be allowed to get comfortable too? Did we not agree to remove my chains?”

“No, we never reached an agreement. But I will take most of them off of you.” Chrysalis used her magic to unstrap the chains from his legs and torso, but left the one around his neck intact. “After you finish telling us your history, then we’ll take that last one off, ok?” She moved over towards Roddi and Audax and lay down herself.

He stretched a bit, but instead of sitting he began to pace back and forth, kicking the chains out of this way. “Very well. I will try to remember all of the important parts. As I told you previously, have no memory of this Hive or anyone in it. The older one who trained me in the wilds of Equestria never told me his name, and told me I never had one.

“He said that it was key to staying undercover. His ‘training’ to teach me to change form was simple; think about it and focus and it will happen. He taught me the very basics of stealing emotions. He taught me that I would be hated and hunted my entire life and to never let anyone see my true form.

“He led me to the edge of the forest so that I could see my first equine family. He led me onto the farm that night and I stole a little bit of love from one of the sleeping family on that farm. And then we retreated back to woods to sleep. In the morning he was gone.

“I never saw him again. Maybe I have, disguised and incognito. But he never tried to contact me again. I spent a lot of time in the wild, but my first experience in the so-called ‘civilized’ world-”

“Tell me more about the wilds,” Chrysalis interrupted.

He drew in a breath, paused, and exhaled it. He scanned the floor and seeing nothing that looked particularly pleasing to sit on, continued to pace back and forth. “I will try and arrange my experience in the wilds into categories. First, the timberwolves…”

…

He talked for a long time. Chrysalis listened intently as Roddi and Audax scribbled. Chrysalis asked questions occasionally and Audax got up twice to go find more books in which to continue writing. Audax also brought back pillows for everyone to sit on as the talk continued.

He re-created great scenes for them, and seemed to enjoy telling his story. He wept, he screamed, he growled and he smiled. But he also grew more and more tired.

And all the while, Roddi could only barely contain her fascination with him.

…

“...and I believe that brings us up to the point where you already know.” He yawned long and deep. “May I please take a nap?”

Chrysalis stretched out on her pillow. “Yes child, sleep.” She reached out with her magic and removed the chain from around his neck, throwing it to the side.

He smiled and laid his head on the oversized pillow Audax had brought him earlier. Getting comfortable took a backseat to falling asleep and he was out moments after his head hit the pillow.

Chrysalis looked at his sleeping form and back to Roddi, who was still scribbling in her book. Chrysalis leaned over to check her progress. Roddi had apparently finished her writing and was now making a sketch of him, highlighting various parts of his armor.

Chrysalis leaned in close to Roddi who had not noticed her yet and whispered, “You really like him, don’t you?”

Roddi squeaked in surprise. Chrysalis hushed her and pointed to her art model. “He’s sleeping,” she continued to whisper, “So don’t wake him up. What do you find so fascinating about him?”

Roddi blushed hard. “He tells a great story. He looks so foreign and speaks so compellingly. I want to hear him tell those stories over and over to me forever.”

“You always were in love with the stories in your books.” Chrysalis smiled at her. “That’s why I picked you as my archivist. Given the chance, would you like to spend more time with him?”

Roddi continued to blush, but managed to say, “I, uh, yes. I won’t, uh, won’t do anything, uh, inappropriate with him. I know you need him for uh, for that.”

Chrysalis leaned in and kissed Roddi’s cheek. “You’re sweet. Why don’t you send Audax back with that book so we can talk privately?”

Roddi nodded and turned to her assistant, who despite having heard their entire conversation, waited obediently for orders. “Audax, take our books back to the archives and put them away. Continue your duties there and I will be along later.”

Audax did as commanded, picking up the scattered books and carting them away. “So,” said Chrysalis as Audax disappeared into the darkness, “I have some things that I need to do. Why don’t you stay here with him. There are guards in the darkness, don’t worry. But I will let everyone know that he is now your charge.”

“But what am I supposed to do with him?” Roddi demanded.

“Well, I suppose I could let you use your imagination.” Chrysalis winked at her. “But he did say that he wanted a tour of the archives. When he wakes up why don’t you take him there and give him a short, I repeat, short tour and bring him back to my chambers.”

Roddi seemed unsure. “Mother, I do appreciate what you are doing for me, but I’m not sure if I should be in charge of him, I mean what if he, like last time…”

Chrysalis stood up and stretched. “He won’t. I’m quite sure of this. I think he’s going to become a most valuable asset to us. But just be yourself. I think he and you will have a lot to talk about.” With that, Chrysalis turned and walked back towards her chambers.

She smiled as she walked, humming a tune. As she passed by, she advised the hiding guards to follow Roddi and protect her, but that she herself approved it. Arriving back at her chambers she found Abelle waiting there with a sack of dirt and great piles of flowers.

“Mother!” Abelle ran up to Chrysalis and gave her a great hug. “The forest is so strange up there! But I did what you asked and we went and gathered the things that you asked for.”

Chrysalis thanked her. “Excellent. Please place those flowers in and around my bed. Tuck them under the pillows and spread the dirt around on the stone. I’m off to take a bath.”

Chrysalis walked in the direction of her bath but Abelle called out the her. “Mother? what would you like me to do after that?”

Still walking away, Chrysalis replied, “Clean up a bit and go and rejoin your sisters. This will be quite a show.” She made her way to her bath and sitting in the warm water, smiled. Speaking to no one in particular, she repeated, “This will be quite a show, indeed.”

Interlude Two - The Tour

As Chrysalis walked away, Roddi turned back to where where he was still sleeping on the pillow. Laying her head down on her own pillow, she stared across the floor at him. She smiled. He looked so peaceful, and that was good after the long and often sad story he had told. Roddi yawned herself and rubbed her eyes.

She began to daydream and fantasize that she was there with him, flying into battle with the gryphons. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, imagining him by her side, the gold armor glittering in the sunlight as he held the enemy back with his mighty spear. And after the battle, exhausted and bloody, they went together back to the castle keep.

Roddi rolled over on her back, and reached a hoof down to her crotch. She saw him in her mind, as she took off his armor and he held her head in his arms, whispering her name. Roddi…Roddi…

“Roddi!”

She opened her eyes in a flash and found herself staring in his emerald eyes. He had woken up and walked over to hover his head over hers.

“Roddi? You alive?” He queried her, “Where’s Chrysalis?”

Roddi could only manage an embarrassed squeak. She was unable to move, one hoof over her nethers and the other on her chest.

“Roddi? What are you doing anyway?” He looked her over. “Ah, I see. Been fantasizing about a certain someone, have we?” He raised an eye.

Roddi squeaked again.

He chuckled. “Its okay. I could see your interest earlier when I was talking. You’re quite the curious one, are you not?”

Roddi opened her mouth but nothing came out. She quickly closed it again and continued to stare into his eyes.

He sighed. “Roddi, stand up.” He backed away and allowed her to roll over and get to her feet. “I assume Chrysalis left me in your charge.” He noticed that she still seemed very nervous. “I understand why you fear me so. But I tell you what, you take me on a tour and I’ll be extra good, okay?” He made a show of bowing to her.

“I’m, uh, I’m not very good at uh, at social, uh, uh…things,” she stammered out. “But, uh, Mother did tell me to…to, uh, take you on a tour and then, uh, back to her.”

He stood back up and smiled warmly. “I enjoyed my nap. Lets leave the pillows here for someone else to take back to Chrysalis and you’ll walk me around and tell me more about the history of this place.”

Roddi, although standing, did not move nor speak.

He sighed again. “Look, you’re obviously young and inexperienced. That doesn’t bother me much because up until now very little has been asked of you. Is there something that I can do to help you out in becoming more comfortable in this situation?”

Roddi looked at him, then at the floor, then back to him. “Well uh, if I could, I mean, if you, uh…”

Now he was growing impatient with her constant stalling. “Spit it out, Roddi. Be confident!”

Taken off guard by his demanding tone, she blurted out, “Can I touch you?” As soon as the words left her mouth Roddi immediately snapped her jaws shut as if trying to catch the words mid-air. “Ah! Oh, oh, not, not like that, I meant your backside! No, shit! The plate on your back! I’ve never seen anything like it so…” she paused, but asked again, “So can I touch it?”

He grinned and walked over to her. “All you had to do was ask.”

Tentatively, she reached up a hoof and placed it on the plate on his back, and ran it up towards his head. Her hooves bounded over the spikes on the plate and she leaned in closer. “Its really rough, I wasn’t expecting that. How long did this take to grow?”

“A long time.” He looked her over while she was fixated on him, but Roddi did not appear to have any physical differences from the other changelings of this Hive. “I think it will continue to grow forever, I remember when it first started and I thought there was something wrong with me. But it continues to expand over time, although it’s not much thicker than it was a hundred years ago.”

Roddi knocked on it. Satisfied, she backed away from him. “Thank you. I’ve never seen one before. Can I write about it in my book?”

“I suppose, I don’t see harm in that.” He approached her. “May we get going? I have a feeling that we are working on a limited time frame.”

Roddi started to walk away and motioned for him to follow. They walked side by side and Roddi would point out things as they walked by. “So here is the outer parts of the Hive. I assume you came in this way. there are a number of entrances, and many more secret exits. Even I don’t know them all. I think Mom decided that if war ever comes here again, it would be better to flee and start anew than risk losing lives should things go sour.”

He nodded but stayed quiet as Roddi continued, “More than just tunnels to the surface, the underground is riddled with caves that lead all over Equestria. Chrysalis used them to get into Canterlot, but they connect far and wide to many different areas. We have some maps but the caves are largely unexplored and uncharted. They are many things lurking in the darkness that would love to gnaw on a changeling, or so I’m told.”

Walking beside her, he asked, “Do the caves that lead from here to Canterlot have safe passage?”

Roddi looked at him when she answered, “I think so, but I’m really not sure. We haven’t used them in a long time. And any matter of beasts may have taken up residence in them. Anyway, over here-” she took a sharp right and walked down a hallway he recognized. “Is the way to the bridge and the armory.”

Passing along the bridge and the line of guards, Roddi waved to them who did not wave back. They were focused on her companion. “Sorry,” she glanced back at him, “You’re still technically a prisoner.”

“Why do you not treat me like one?” he inquired. “Have I really made that much of an impression on you?”

Roddi pondered this as she led him around the far edge of the bridged chasm and down some steps, past additional guards. “We’ve never had a prisoner here. I suppose I don’t know what a prisoner is supposed to be like? Besides, I heard a lot of gossip while you were in the cell. I don’t pay much attention to it.

“But who I saw in the Hive today was not who I heard about in rumors. You are immensely complex and mysterious.” She blushed. “Oh, uh, no offense.”

He smiled at her. “You’ve been very nice. You’re naturally curious, which is good. Chrysalis was nice, then demanding, which is bad. Which is where we had our…disagreement. Don’t be like that.”

Roddi gulped. She just now realized that she was escorting a very powerful changeling who could probably kill her anytime he chose to. As they reached another set of doors, she motioned for him to go in. “Uh, you first.”

She followed him in and shut the door. Now inside the armory, he looked in awe at the armor hanging from hooks and the assortment of weapons gathering dust on racks. Looking among the rows he asked, “Does this stuff get used for anything besides decoration? It appears very old.”

She trotted up behind him. “Some of it is left over from bygone eras, and some of it belonged to changelings who are no longer with us.” She looked down, and more softly said, “We don’t have any new young to fill their positions.”

He understood what she meant and changed the subject. “This is all very well and good, but can you show me your archive? You appear to be very proud of it.”

She smiled, forgetting her concern for the moment. “I am! I have read every book in there several times. The name of every changeling to pass through our Hive is recorded, and any exploits of their life. Some are…unfortunately short.” She pulled him back the way they came.

Walking further away from the entrance to Chrysalis’ chambers, they reached the archives. “No guards here,” he said aloud.

“Oh there are,” she swiveled her head around. “You just can’t see them. But they’re only here because you are. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be. I like it because its quiet.” As if on cue, a loud noise and a scuffling sounded from inside the arches. She scowled and said to herself, “Audax, what are you doing in there?” She started to hurry in but stopped and pulled at him. “Come on, you gotta stay with me. I like you and don’t want you to get killed.”

He smiled again and followed her in. Inside was a library to rival the size and content of any he had seen before. Rows upon rows stacked with books, but in no particular order. However, the books were well kept and free from dust.

Roddi called out to her assistant. “Audax! What’s going on in here?” A voice sounded from somewhere along the stacks and so they went to investigate. Roddi in front, she first came upon Audax and her sister Fici sitting among some books.

Fici spoke first. “Roddi! You gotta check this out, says here that these males were particularly well known for their rather large-” she spied him behind Roddi. “Dammit! Tell me next time before you start bringing outsiders into the archives, okay?” She picked herself up and started to wind her way back through the archives. “Fucking hell, almost said that right in front of him!”

Roddi turned back to him. “That’s Fici. Another one of my, uh, assistants? She’s really preoccupied with, uh, a-anyway, so here were are!” She laughed nervously.

He chuckled and grinned toothily at Roddi. “This place is more interesting than I thought it would be. Are all the non-conformist changelings down here in the archives?”

“Basically,” mumbled Audax, who was still looking at her book.

“Audax, hush.” Roddi led him back towards the entrance. “Its a bit of a stigma that we who get assigned to the archives are peculiar in some way. Its not true, but I think its because the lack of structure allows us to develop very different personalities than the guard. And I’m sure you’ve noticed how deep they can be.” She rolled her eyes.

He continued to smile, and nudged her. “I like you Roddi. Hopefully later I can come back and talk to you again?”

Roddi looked away. “I thought…I thought you were leaving? You know, after you go see Mother.”

“Eh…” He shrugged. “I was going to, but there is such a wealth of information down here, and I’d like to see you again. And I think you might be able to help me with some, er, things.”

Roddi squeaked with excitement. “Yes! Oh, uh, of course you can come back. I’m always here. We actually set up our own sleeping quarters in the back, so come by anytime.”

Standing in the entryway of the archives, he winked at her and said, “I’ll remember that. But for now, I think we ought to go find Chrysalis.”

She nodded as they walked back up the stairs. “I’ll take you back up to the bridge. I’ll let you go from there on your own.”

He asked curiously, “You’re not coming in to watch? I get the feeling that this is supposed to be quite an event. I expect the whole Hive is going to cram in there.”

“And I expect you are going to put on a show.” She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to see a fake you. I want to see the real you. The more time I spend talking to you the more I want more. I’ll wait till you’re done with your show.” She smiled. “We’re here. Go, and promise to see me again?”

“I promise.” He gave her one last wink and moved past the wall of guards and back over the bridge, noting that he was being guarded just as closely as before. He stood in front of the steel bars as before, and watching them move and shift out of the way, he grinned wickedly.

“I think I will be able to get something out of this deal,” he thought. “Roddi will do anything for me. Too bad she wouldn’t come watch. Just get through this and we’re home free.”

He stepped through the opening in the bars and walked forward into Chrysalis’ chambers.

Chapter Five

Chrysalis, cleaned from her bath, had dried and rolled about in the dirt prior to getting in the bed. As she waited there for him to come back, she noticed how dirty the sheets were becoming. “No matter,” she thought to herself, “They will need to be washed later anyway.”

Chrysalis needed this very badly, both for herself and her Hive. She was on the bed trying out different seductive poses when the report came in that he and Roddi had left the archives on their way back to Chrysalis. Sighing, she straightened up and just sat normally.

A faint fluttering from across the room notified her that her guest was coming. Chrysalis inhaled deeply. She needed to make sure this went right. The wall of changelings across from her parted, and there he stood, proud and unafraid.

Chrysalis panted in anticipation. She had always been attracted to confident males, and even now with all that she had seen of him, it was no different for her. As he approached she lowered her eyes seductively and said, “Welcome back, love. Come here and take me.”

He looked at Chrysalis with a serious expression. He was thinking of something that might get him aroused, as the present situation was doing nothing for him. He walked slowly to her bed, trying to buy himself time. He had not anticipated that it would be this difficult to do something so natural.

Chrysalis rolled to her left as he approached, lying her head on the sheets but keeping her emerald eyes fixed upon him. She allowed her tongue to roll out of her mouth, and licked her lips, meaning to entice him to come yet closer.

Meanwhile, he had reached the edge of the bed, and took a few steps onto it. Instead of heading straight to Chrysalis, he walked slightly away from her, coming around her right side. Chrysalis remained on her side, drawing up the leg facing him and lifting her tail slightly. He walked around behind her, and looked between her legs.

There he could see her entrance, and it was obvious that she was already quite aroused and ready by the swollen look of her black lips, and the deep green color just inside. He looked up and over her haunches. Chrysalis was in fact quite thin, and past her in the corners of his vision, he could see that the swarming wall had become mostly still as they all watched.

He narrowed his eyes, continuing around the other side of the prone figure on the bed. He didn’t much appreciate the audience, and tried to forget about them, instead focusing on the black shell of the awaiting female below him. As he walked back around towards her head, Chrysalis rolled over onto her back, her legs in the air.

“Come dear, don’t keep me waiting,” she cooed softly to him. “You shouldn’t be such a tease. I’m ready for you now, you don’t need to get me any more excited.” She shook her rump slightly.

He noticed, from his vantage point over her, that the area she had rolled away from had a small damp spot on it. He also noticed a smell that, although faint, was familiar to him. He exhaled and walked directly over Chrysalis. He stood directly overtop of her, and leaned his head down between her legs.

Chrysalis sighed happily and spread her legs to allow him full access. She looked up underneath him, but lying under his shadow, wasn’t able to pick out any details. She slowly craned her neck upwards towards his body.

Meanwhile, he had lowered his snout and rested his nose just beyond her sex, and inhaled slow and deep. Chrysalis stopped the advance of her head and panted softly, waiting for him to exhale. He complied, and exhaled hot air back on her wet folds.

Chrysalis moaned and let her head fall back onto the sheets. She looked back up through half-closed eyes but did not see any change in his underside. Curious, she began to reach her head up again when hot breath once again washed over her sex.

He closed his eyes, trying to imagine this smell coming from someone, anyone else than the one he was presently in the room with. He had always been very keen on smells, and his mind wandered to the distant past.

There he saw a golden mane and a purple coat. Purple wings with whitish-pink tips were tucked neatly at her sides. The mare underneath the beautiful hair winked at him. She was on his bed, in his room. He saw the sun setting out the window, leaving a golden trail of light through the dusty glass and into the room.

The mare on the bed lay on her stomach, facing him. “Come here, my lover,” she spoke in a deep, lustful voice. “Tomorrow we may die, and tonight I want to live as I never have before.”

He inhaled again, the sweaty aroma of Chrysalis laced with the pollen from flowers and the earthy smell of the dirt bringing his vision more and more to life. “Why do you think that we may die,” he mumbled, lost in his memory, “When so far we have lived so long?”

Chrysalis was lost in pleasure, and paid no attention to him. He rolled her head back and forth on the sheets, pushing her hips up against him with every long inhale of his breath.

“One of these days,” the mare in his vision said, “Tomorrow will be the day that we die. Not knowing which tomorrow that it may be, I choose to live more than I have each previous day.”

He panted against Chrysalis, and his long forked tongue left his lips in a long lick across her, tasting that familiar scent and causing Chrysalis to twitch underneath him. He shifted his hind legs about, barely aware of a pressure in his groin. He licked again, and felt the pressure become more urgent. He grunted, and shifted more, feeling something stretch but not give way. Chrysalis noticed his uncomfortable movements, and looked more curiously up at his underside. She used her horn to cast a soft green glow, but did not immediately realize what was happening.

“Ow,” he sounded from between her legs, raising his head up as his vision started to fade. “Fucking pitch. Ah!”

Chrysalis cocked her head as she started to understand. She reached a hoof up and gently felt around his underside, until she felt something hard underneath his tough skin. Pulling gently at his skin, she found the cause of his discomfort; the pitch he had grafted to himself was stuck in the slit of skin that held his shaft back. Chrysalis chuckled slightly, and massaged the area to loosen the pitch.

The rubbing was not helping his discomfort and he hissed at her, “Careful! Don’t break that.”

Chrysalis was not making much progress and she could feel his shaft starting to soften from the discomfort. Chrysalis quickly used her magic to free the stubborn pitch from his body, and was rewarded with a purple tip that popped free of its cage beneath his skin.

He sighed in relief, but his memory was mostly gone. He inhaled, trying to get the image back when he felt a wet tongue lapping at his tip. He twitched involuntarily and felt a sudden surge in his member as it pushed more out of its sheath. Leaning his head back to savor the feeling, he dimly noticed that the living walls were moving again, but he closed his eyes to shut it out.

Chrysalis, meanwhile, used her tongue to massage his long shaft, licking from base to tip as it extended from his body and swelled in size. She licked happily at it despite a rather bitter taste. Chrysalis pulled her head back to try and take in the size of it. His member had stopped extending, and hung underneath his body in its full length. Chrysalis was impressed, but an irritated growl from him stopped her gaze and she quickly moved back to licking him.

He grunted his approval and bucked his hips forward. Chrysalis wrapped her front legs over his back and pulled her face up to his shaft, licking with quick strokes. He panted harder and a bit of fluid leaked from his tip from years of pent up release and landed on Chrysalis’ stomach.

Chrysalis pulled away from him, not knowing how long he might be able to hold out, but taking another moment to look over his shaft. Having become more used to the shadow, she could now tell that it was mostly black in color, with splotches of purple, the same as his wings, spread throughout. It was also tapered, graduating from its thick base to a small tip. She also noticed it appeared to excrete a lubricant of its own, but another growl from him forced her attention away yet again.

He stepped to the side and using his left foot, pushed at Chrysalis to make her roll over. She allowed him to do so, drool falling from her lips to the now disheveled sheets.

He turned around to face her backside, and again using his hoof to slide under her, yanked her rump up roughly. Chrysalis almost lost her balance from the sudden movement, but managed to keep her footing and stand up. She adjusted her feet, widening her stance. She could feel her own juices flow out of her, pulled by gravity, to run down her rear legs.

“Look at you,” he said from behind her, “Gushing like a mare in her first heat.”

Chrysalis looked back at him to see him sporting a smirk. “Just shut up and fuck me.” She leaned her hips back towards him and lowered her head. “Please…”

He placed one of his hooves on her rump, and pushed a bit to make sure she could hold his weight. Satisfied, his put his other hoof on her and scooted forward, his rough chest plate sliding over her back. He found his mark easily, and pushed past her outer lips and deeper inside.

Chrysalis opened her mouth in a loud moan, saliva falling from her lips to the sheets as she felt herself being penetrated. His narrow tip slid into her easily, and their combined secretions ensured no issues and he continued to scoot forward, until his hips rested against her backside. Chrysalis moaned again, feeling him bump up against something deep inside of her.

He put his hooves on her shoulders and pressed himself upward and forward, reaching a few inches deeper until he felt himself bump against something inside Chrysalis. Knowing this was his maximum depth, he pulled out halfway and slid back in, a squish sounding from between them as he against seated himself fully inside of her again.

He started to work up a rhythm, and Chrysalis pushed back needfully with each of his short thrusts. He grunted, but sighed softly. Chrysalis was obviously enjoying herself immensely, but he was not. He looked to his right, keeping his steady pace, and locked eyes with one of the changelings in the wall.

The changeling stared back and leaned back as if in some great reclining chair to show her own sex to him. Almost immediately, one of her sisters came up between her legs and licked at her exposed slit, eliciting a moan from the wall of changelings. He looked around briefly, and noticed a communal orgy happening everywhere around him. Nearly all changelings in the wall were pleasuring either themselves or each other, and constantly swapping partners.

This open display of sexuality did not entice him, but rather caused him to think about options he might want to consider. This line of thinking was also making him go slightly soft, so he snapped his head back to Chrysalis and wrapped an arm around her neck, slamming himself back into her harder than before.

“Ooh!” exclaimed Chrysalis, caught off guard by the sudden roughness. She clenched hard around him, expelling their combined juices from her already dripping cunt and onto him.

He needed to finish soon or risk losing his arousal completely. He picked up his pace, using short strokes again but much faster in pace. He panted from the exertion, and she panted from her lust.

Grunting, he shut his eyes tight and tried to retrieve his memory, just for long enough to finish. He heard grunts in his ears, but distant, as if they were far away and not his own. He tried desperately to recall that golden mane and the glittering blue eyes underneath. Her soft fur and scent. He could almost see her again…

The face of his long ago lover flashed in his mind and his whole body tightened. He felt his seed from years of solitude rush out of him, and the warm folds of Chrysalis became even hotter as he filled her.

Chrysalis cried out at the feeling, clenching as tight as she could around him to seal it all in. She focused so hard on trying to keep him inside of her that her composure faltered, and they fell together in a heap on the soft bed. Landing, she heard a squelch as some of his seed escaped her, and she redoubled her efforts to clamp down on him.

He continued to spurt into Chrysalis for several more seconds, his body eventually relaxing. He felt relief, but more psychologically than physically. He felt himself becoming soft and his member retreating back into his body. He continued to lay on top of Chrysalis even as he fully softened, feeling her, too, begin to relax.

He shifted off of her and unceremoniously wiped his sticky crotch on her sheets, leaving a smear of gooey white behind. He rolled over and sighed. Looking at the ceiling, he noticed that the changeling orgy had already concluded and the Hive was now staring lovingly down at him. Or at least, at their Mother.

“You do that very well,” Chrysalis spoke quietly from next to him. “I have not been this exhausted in a long time. I need…to rest…” She laid her head on the pillow and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

He looked back at the ceiling. “And now, you and I are done,” he said, his voice just above a whisper. “Our deal is complete. Get the fuck out of my head.”

…

While Chrysalis slept, he slowly, gently moved himself to the edge of the bed and moved to the wall. Inquiring one of the changelings there, he said, “Can you please point me in the direction of the bath?”

The wall collectively smiled and moved and shifted, opening up a tunnel to his left. He thanked them and walked the path they made for him, finding himself at the bathing chambers he first saw so many months ago. He walked over to the tub and finding it hot and clean as before, climbed in.

He reached around the tub but did not find the scrub brush from before. He looked upwards to the living ceiling to ask them if they knew where it might be and found a sea of green eyes staring quite intently back at him.

“Uh…” He looked quickly among them, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t be sure if their expression was due to excitement, awe, or horror. Looking back down, he muttered, “Okay then.”

He bathed himself the best he could, given that there was no soap or brush to be found. Climbing out of the tub, a changeling descended from the ceiling and just as before asked him, “Would you like a drying?”

Curious, he nodded. Other changelings descended around him and turning their back to him, buzzed their wings to create a powerful vortex. They stopped seconds later and he found himself almost completely dry. He thanked them and moved back the way he came. At the end of the formed tunnel he moved carefully back onto the bed and stretched himself out next to Chrysalis.

He rolled onto his back and took in the immensity of the living walls all around him. There were quite possibly thousands of changelings here. He waved up at the ceiling and a few up there waved back. He smiled. He had been quite surprised at Chrysalis’ submissiveness during sex. Now, he felt calm. It really was quite relaxing in here, surrounded by all these accepting faces.

A yawn from nearby alerted him that Chrysalis was waking up. He rolled over on his side to face her. Inches away, he waited and watched as her eyes fluttered open. A smile lit up her face as she fully awakened. He smiled back and asked, “Better now?”

She sighed happily and stretched. Rubbing her stomach, she said, “It won’t be long. Soon there will be many new faces in our Hive.”

“Our Hive?” He cocked an eye at her.

“Turn of phrase, my dear.” She rolled over again and sat up. “I suspect now that you’ll want to talk of other things.”

“Aye, I think that would be best.” He rolled onto his stomach and propped a pillow under his front legs. “You slept for quite a while and I expect if I don’t say something now you’ll probably kick me out of here.”

“I don’t know about that,” she replied. “Do you want to stay a while?”

“Maybe I do.” He shifted around a bit, having sat in a wet spot on the sheets. “Lets talk about a few things. I’ll tell you master plan, as it is, and I think it will work out for the both of us.

“I really do believe that Canterlot is the ideal location. It will take some funding and some training to get ready, but I’ll get there later. Here’s the short and fast; I set up a changeling-run operation to generate money within the walls of Celestia’s own city. Of course, for your participation in this matter, part of the funds collected will be transferred back to your Hive to do with as you see fit.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “What sort of operation? And how many changelings do you need to run it?”

He smiled at her. “A high-end, high-cost, underground prostitution ring. Catering only to the most wealthy of Canterlot citizenry.”

Chrysalis shook her head at him. “We’ve tried before. It always fails. Besides being illegal, it draws way too much attention and our operatives always get found out. Many changelings have died as the result of brothel ops. No, I can’t be a part of a doomed plan.”

“You haven’t listened to the explanation yet.” He sat back on his haunches and continued, “I gave you the really short version. Let me…let me paint you a picture of how I envision it, then I’ll tell you how we’re going to get there.

“I see a shop, tucked somewhere off the main street but not in the darkest part of the darkest alley. Affluent neighborhood, but not overly so. A magical soundproofing spell protects the inhabitants, namely, me and some more changelings. We’ll have day jobs. Something to feed ourselves but mostly benign. I will integrate in Canterlot high society to make contacts. And feed them whatever they desire in return for their love and coinage.”

“I don’t doubt that you can blend in in such a way,” Chrysalis retorted, “But I doubt that you can keep any of my children safe. The answer is still no.”

“Ah, but see, I don’t want any of your changelings.” He pointed to her stomach. “I want some of our daughters for this job. I’ll train them, here, if you like. I’ll teach them to change the way I do and I’ll teach them the skills they will need. I don’t trust any of yours to follow me without question. And in exchange, you still get to expand your Hive and your Treasury.”

Chrysalis leaned back slightly into the bed, thinking. “You do make a persuasive offer. What else do you want?”

“I’d like to name my daughters. I’ll need an area of the Hive in which to train and raise them. I need unrestricted access to the archives and the ability to head to the surface for training when they become old enough. And,” he paused, “I need everyone to stop treating me like some kind of fucking changeling reject.” He scowled at the last part.

“Dear, I can only do so much for you.” Chrysalis leaned in and gave him a soft but brief kiss. “I think the longer you stay the more accepted you’ll become. But I really need to re-iterate that I still won’t tolerate violence of any sort against any of your kin.”

Chrysalis stood up and made her way to the edge of the bed. “You may certainly name your daughters. I need to go start preparations for them. I’ll have someone find you a place to stay, if its not here. You may go visit the archives, but we’ll talk later about the training you'll be giving and how and when you may be allowed to travel to the surface.” She turned back to face him. “Where will you be going now?”

As he stood up he said, “For now, I will be heading back to the archives. I have some reading to do.”

Chrysalis nodded, and as he walked back towards the bridge exit she motioned to her living walls. “Make room. Prepare the nursery. We will have new changelings here soon that will need their own pods.”

…

Making his way back across the bridge and around the far side was easier than it had been the previous time, but he noticed that he was still often met with icy stares. He brushed it off and made his way down the steps into the archives. He opened his mouth to call out to Roddi, but thought the better of it and closed his mouth again.

Winding among the stacks and the piles of books on the floor, he casually looked as he passed to see if any of the books were numbered or categorized in some way. He furrowed his brow. The books lacked any identifying marks, either because the archivists and their descendants somehow knew what each one was, or any marks they may had had were simply worn away do to the progress of time.

He guessed the latter and picked a book up off the floor with his magic. Cracking it open to a random page, he found it was written in a language he didn’t understand, nor had ever even seen before. To him, it appeared as scratchings and dots. He closed the book and placed it back on the floor where he found it.

He found his way to the farthest wall but did not see the quarters that Roddi had told him about. Buzzing his wings, he flew to the top of the shelves and found a small opening in the wall there. It appeared to have been chiseled into the rock very hastily, or by someone very inexpierenced. He poked his head inside and found it to be more of a break between walls than an actual tunnel. On the far side was another room were a few rough bunks and a relatively low stone ceiling. It was the same height as the archives, but since the floor was higher it felt much smaller.

Seeing nothing but empty rack and stacks of yet more books, he called out in the dim light, “Roddi? Are you in here?” Silence answered him and he turned back the way he came.

Looking back out over the archives, he had a pretty good view, and stopped to scan his surroundings. His eyes picked up no movement and his ears heard no sound. It was in fact utterly still. “Odd,” he thought, and flew back down to the floor.

Picking up another book, this one was in a language he knew. He flipped through some of the pages, and found it to be a listing of names. He hesitated in putting it down, but eventually did so. He began to pick up random books, some of which he could read; others that he could not. gathering up a few of the former, he found a corner and sat down and began to read.

The first book was a short history of a hatch and included hundreds of names. He began to wonder how many daughters Chrysalis was about to have. Further in the book were the occupations/assignments each of the previously named had. He noted that most were undercover agents. And, having been given an assignment, most of those names did not appear in the book again. He took a mental note of some of those names and tried a second book. Mostly the same here but the names were all different.

After reading for quite some time, be became aware of movement around him. Setting the book down quietly, he waited. Presently, a changeling rounded the corner and spied his where he had been reading. She walked over.

“I see you’ve made yourself comfortable,” she said. “Why are you here again?”

Bowing his head slightly, he said, “I apologize in advance because you seem to be able to tell each other apart, but I can’t. What is your name?”

“I’m Thrax,” she replied. “I assume you’re looking for Roddi? She went off to see Chrysalis a while ago, but I expect her back anytime. Please don’t mess anything up while you’re waiting.” Thrax turned and flew up to the top of the shelves and into the sleeping quarters. As she disappeared more faces came around the corner, one of whom ran right up to him.

She skidded to a stop in front of him, saying repeatedly, “You came back!”

He stood up. “Hi Roddi. I was just-”

“I’m not Roddi, I’m Fici,” she said. “Can’t you tell us apart?”

He shook his head no. “I don’t know how you do it. You all look the same to me. Even your voices are similar.”

Fici shrugged. “Mistaking me her her might not be so bad.” She giggled and continued, “Roddi will be back in a bit. Are you going to be staying with us for a while?” Responding to his nod, she reached out a hoof to help him to his feet. “Come on. We’ll find you a bunk. Roddi has to report to Mother every so often, so that’s what she’s doing. Also, I expect Roddi will be preparing to write names in books.”

He followed Fici back up to the quarters. “Seems a bit…bare in here. Is this how most in the Hive sleep?”

“No, not usually,” she explained, “But we try to keep others out to keep our archives quiet. As a result, we make do with less. The soldiers have barracks to sleep in or the youngest usually curl up with one another in Mother’s room.”

Walking into the quarters, he stopped by a pile of old blankets heaped on the floor. “You seem to be oddly calm around me. May I ask why that is?”

Fici smiled knowingly at him. “Because I want you to fuck me.”

“That’s...really blunt. But thanks for being so?” He said with a confused look.

“Hey, first male in hundreds of years, I ain’t gonna wait.” Fici winked at him but did not approach, only continuing to walk further into the room. “But I ain’t gonna think you just will. I was watching you in there. You didn’t want to with Mother, I know that. But you will with us.”

He opened his mouth but she spoke first. “You can take this bed here. Its the best non-occupied spot.” The bed in question was a blanket on the floor. “Its not much, so if you get cold or lonely, you come find me, okay?” She winked at him. “And you can call me whatever name you want.”

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks Fici. For now I’ll head back down to the archives and continue reading, okay?” He turned to leave, but Fici held out an arm to stop him.

“Hey, you won’t be breaking my heart but don’t do that to Roddi. She really likes you.” Fici raised her eyes at him as he pulled away. “Show her a good time, yeah? Then come find me!”

He moved past her and walked back the way he came. Not looking back he could still feel her eyes on him. Reaching the exit he flew down to his spot and resumed reading.

Chapter Six

Roddi followed Chrysalis around her chambers, frantically making notes.

“...and I will need you to be present during the hatching, of course.” Chrysalis had been giving her instructions for nearly an hour. “You need to get all of your assistants on board and have a steady supply of new books to record them in.”

Roddi followed along with Chrysalis the best she could as her mind kept focusing on other things. Chrysalis seemed to notice and interrupted her instructions with: “Are you thinking about him, child?”

Roddi, not paying attention, repeated as she scrawled in her notes, “Keep thinking about him…okay, what else?” She looked at Chrysalis and back at her notes. She squeaked and frantically scribbled on top of her last note to obscure it. “Ack! No no no, um, no, I’m not thinking about, uh…sorry.” She looked down at the floor.

Chrysalis walked over to Roddi and lifted her chin. “Its okay. I suspect a lot of you will be thinking about him. He seems to have taken a liking to you. Why don’t you go ahead and return to the archives and send someone else back in your place, hmm? He actually left for the archives shortly before you arrived.” Seeing Roddi perk up at this, Chrysalis added, “And you have my permission to accompany him. Be his tour guide, yes? Make sure he’s happy. Whatever that might mean to you.” She gave Roddi a knowing smile.

Roddi blushed, but thanked her mother. “Do you have a preference who I send in my place?”

Chrysalis looked up for a second, thinking. “I would probably say not Fici. She was in here watching earlier and I think she’ll want to be around our guest. Thrax seems like she could use something to do.”

Roddi nodded, then paused before she left. “Mother, why do you think he won’t give us a name to call him by? It seems so odd not having a name to refer to him as.”

Chrysalis walked over to her and scooted her towards the exit, saying, “I believe that he has become disillusioned with the changeling lifestyle and after having had so many names is enjoying not needing one. But ask him yourself. He never gave me an answer but maybe he will for you.”

Roddi bounced in excitement and made her way out of Chrysalis’ chambers. After carefully walking across the bridge she ran down the halls to her archives. She burst through the entrance and almost ran right into Audax who was coming out.

“Woah! Sorry Audax.” Roddi started to run past her but whirled around and asked, “Have you seen Thrax around?” Roddi tapped her hoof impatiently.

“Uh, yeah,” Audax replied, “She’s up in her quarters. What’s got you in such a huff?”

She didn’t answer, instead tearing off in flight to the back of the archives. Audax simply shrugged and continued on her way. Roddi, who was already landing on the ground of the living quarters, took a moment to compose herself. Inhaling deeply, she held it for a few seconds and exhaled slowly. She took a few steps into the dimmer quarters and called out, “Thrax, come here, I have a task for you.”

A shuffling noise sounded in the darkness, followed by an exasperated moan. “Oh come on,” sounded Thrax’s reply. “I seriously just woke up.”

“Thrax, now,” Roddi demanded impatiently.

Shortly, Thrax’s figure emerged from the darkness. She was still rubbing her eyes. “Roddi, what do you want? Audax is on duty right now. Go find her for your task of dusting, or organizing, or whatever.”

Roddi uncharacteristically stomped her hoof on the floor. “Thrax, don’t question me. Go to Chrysalis. She is asking for you.”

Thrax stiffened and said. “Uh, ok, sorry Roddi…” Thrax shook her head to wake up and hurried out past Roddi and towards Chrysalis’ chambers.

With her gone, Roddi carefully inspected the quarters. Fici was sleeping in here, but it did not appear that any new bunks had been used. Sighing, Roddi moved back towards the exit and looked over her archives. She smiled, she had always taken a little bit of guilty pleasure in calling them “hers”. They really didn’t belong to anyone, instead being more like a communal resource.

She stood there for several minutes, just being happy about the events of the last two days. Chrysalis getting what she needed, new siblings on their way, and that interesting male that said he liked her! Roddi continued to smile, but eventually the smile faded as she realized she didn’t know where he was. Chrysalis had told her that he left for the archives, but that didn’t mean he was even here. She chided herself for not asking either Audax or Thrax, but remembered that Fici was sleeping back in her bed.

Deciding not to wake her, Roddi instead took off in a slow flight around the room, looking down between the stacks. Everything appeared to be in order. Well, such as it was. She flew front to back several times, but did not find what she was looking for. On an approach to the front, she did spy Audax coming back and descended to greet her.

“Hey, Audax!” She landed nearby, waving her sister over. “You seen uh, our male guest anywhere in here?”

Audax rolled her eyes. “You really are in love with him, aren’t you?”

Roddi looked toward the ceiling in exasperation. Still looking up, she said, “Audax, Chrysalis wants me to watch over him during his stay here.” She lowered her head back down and continued, “I’m just trying to find out where he ran off to. Mother said he came here, have you seen him or not?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him. He was reading back in the corner there. I saw him when I came by earlier. I heard Fici talking to him but I don’t know what about.” Audax pointed to a far corner Roddi had not checked yet.

Roddi put a hoof to her face. “Oh, I have an idea what Fici talked to him about. I’ll go find him. Thanks again.” She flew carefully between the stacks this time, not wanting to miss him but not wanting to crash into something either. Near the back where Audax had directed her, she found him amongst a pile of books.

Landing gently, she asked, “Have you been enjoying yourself? I’ve been looking for you.” Roddi tried to sound inviting, but wasn’t sure if it was working as he didn’t look up. She smiled a bit and moved in closer. “Hey, uh, Chrysalis wants me to be like, around if you need me, so, uh…” she trailed off, shuffling her feet.

Still not looking up from his book, he said, “I’ve asked twice now if someone else was Roddi and they both said no. Just start telling me your name when you come by and it’ll make my life easier, okay?”

“Oh, uh…” Roddi paused. “How about you tell me your name and I tell you mine?”

Her attempt to be coy was met with disinterest as he flipped a page in the book. She sighed. “I’m Roddi.”

He immediately put his book down and looked at her. “Ah, well why didn’t you say so earlier? I’ve been waiting for you to come back.” He got up and looking around, said, “I’m really impressed by the collection you have here. Mostly a genealogy, far as I can tell, but interesting nonetheless. I do want to ask, why are some books written in different languages? I can’t read them.”

“Oh, those books.” She looked away from him and towards other parts of the archives. “There are many eras of changeling history here. Those books are written in an ancient language that few can read and yet fewer can translate accurately.” She turned her gaze back to him and continued, “But fortunately for you, I am one of those who can. But its not much different in terms of information. What are you looking for, anyway?”

He stood up and stretched. “Eh, I don’t know. I was just curious. Maybe we can go somewhere? Take a tour of the places we didn’t get to before?”

She smiled and motioned for him to follow. She led him out of the archives and through some seemingly random hallways, talking all the while. “I’m so glad you kept your promise to come back, I’ve been wanting to spend more time with you. Are you uh, planning to go back to sleep with Mother?”

“No, I wasn’t planning on it,” he replied, “But looking at the sleeping arrangements in the archive has got me a little concerned. I’ve slept on a lot of floors but I did not think this would be one of them.”

“Well…” Roddi cocked her head to the side. “We have gone a long time without any bedding replacements but the replacements themselves are hard to come by these days. Usually surface agents bring things back for us, but there are so few left that we just don’t have that supply line anymore.”

He had fallen slightly behind, and hurried to keep up. Walking directly beside her, he asked, “Can you take me to the Hive treasury? Chrysalis told me about it and I’d like to see what funding options there are.”

Roddi shot a sideways glance at him. “Funding options? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, I forgot you weren’t watching Mother and I. So you would have missed that part,” he said apologetically. They turned a corner and he continued, “Chrysalis and I are setting up an operation above ground to funnel money through to the Hive. I’ll use some of her resources to get it going, and in return she’ll get more funding to help you down here.”

Roddi smiled. “So that means you’ll be coming back every so often?”

He shook his head. “No. One of our agreements was that I won’t be coming back at all.” Seeing her smile fade he poked her side. “I won’t be leaving for a while. Don’t get all pouty on me. There are a lot of preparations to make and I’ll be needing your help with some of them.”

She smiled shyly at him. “What will you be needing from me specifically?”

“Oh, many things. You know so much and I’ll be needing that knowledge. You can help with some of the planning, and some company.” He stepped to the side and bumped against her. “You can’t honestly tell me you’re against that, can you?”

“Well…given a choice I suppose I would like to be around you.” Roddi stopped and looked around. “Uh, I haven’t been down here in a while. I think we missed the turn a ways back.” She turned around and they started back the way they came. Shortly, another changeling guard came by. The guard nodded to the two of them but said nothing.

Roddi stopped the guard and said to her, “Hey, little lost down here. Can you point us toward the treasury?”

The guard scowled at Roddi, then at her purple-winged companion. The guard pointed down another hallway. Thanking her, they set off in that direction.

“Is it me that they don’t like,” he asked Roddi after walking away, “Or are you also somehow on a shit list around here?”

Roddi sighed. “That’s a longer story. As previously mentioned, archivists are seen as being odd. We don’t usually go wandering around the Hive like this. We are typically sequestered to the- ah, here we are.” He motioned for him to follow through several sets of doors. There were empty locks on all of the doors, and Roddi motioned to them, saying, “There isn’t much in here, which is why there’s low security. I come by every so often to take stock of what we have. Another one of my duties. Haven’t done it in a long time and no one has noticed yet, though.”

Passing through the final door, he beheld a great hall that was unfortunately empty. Spiderwebs hung in the corners. “Like I told you,” she said, “There isn’t much here. I’ve been told by the oldest among us that at one time this hall would have been filled with glittering jewels and gems, and gold bits stacked to the ceiling. Now…we have only a bit of old gold in one of the rooms over here.”

He looked at her in confusion. “Old? What do you mean, old?”

“Well, come here.” She led him over to a side room, and brushing away the cobwebs, pulled out a small chest. “These have been in here for a long as I can remember. Don’t know what good they might be to you.” She opened the box and reached in to pull out a small, tarnished gold coin.

He reached out and took the coin from her. Squinting, he looked closely at it. It was not round but had an octagonal shape. He searched about the room looking for something to rub the tarnish off. Not finding anything in the dark chambers, he brought it close to his eyes. He could barely make out a stamp of some kind, but unsure what it was he put it back in the box.

As Roddi closed the chest and put it back in its place, he remarked, “You’re right, I’m not sure what good this would do me. Its still interesting, so later I’ll get something to clean that off with so I can have a better look at it.”

They walked back into the main chamber. He looked up the walls, and noticed that there were several magical lamps not lit. “Hey, why is it so dark in here, anyway? Just unused?”

Roddi shrugged. “Not sure. Probably just to save magic power. No one comes by here and hence, little light is needed. Where do you want to go now?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. Are you going to be heading off soon for your official archivist duties?”

She giggled. “Nah, I got special permission to be with you. My assistants can handle it. I’m all yours!”

He raised an eye at her. “Oh, are you now? You sure that’s the way you want to phrase that? Very few have ever wanted to be around me for extended periods of time.” He lowered his voice and grumbled, “Especially around here…”

Roddi sat on the ground. “Why don’t we stay here and you tell me a story? I love your stories.”

“But I already told you them all,” he replied. “There are no more stories to tell you.”

She motioned him to come sit next to her. “Then just talk to me about whatever you want. Please?”

He came over and sat down. “I don’t know what to talk to you about,” he admitted.

Roddi smiled and scooted herself a little closer. She leaned into him but before she could speak they heard the sounds of someone coming through the doors. Roddi scooted her self back just as the doors swung open and several changeling guards entered, followed by Chrysalis.

Chrysalis smiled, seeing the two of them sitting together. “I’m glad you two are getting along so well,” she said, walking toward them. “I decided that since this room is so empty, you could have it for your training room.”

More changelings came in as she spoke, cleaning up the cobwebs and lighting the unused lamps. They brought in straw beds and a few rough blankets, which they placed in the various side rooms.

He stood and bowed. “Thank you Mother, this will do nicely indeed.”

She smirked. Turning to Roddi, she asked, “And how have you been, my dear? Enjoying your free time?”

Roddi blushed, but managed a quick yes.

Chrysalis turned back to him, and put an arm over his shoulders. She moved him away from Roddi and whispered, “You be good to her. Roddi can be very fragile. She’s not like you or I.”

He pushed her arm off of him. “No,” he said, “I don’t think you know who either of us really are.” He walked away from Chrysalis and back towards Roddi.

Chrysalis scowled and motioned to her assembled group that it was time to leave. Pausing at the door, Chrysalis smiled back at Roddi and said as she closed the door, “Now don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, dearies…”

As the door closed and the footsteps died away, Roddi turned back to him. “I suppose you have a place to sleep now…” she said, looking at the floor.

Her disappointment in this development was obvious to him, so he changed the subject. “Hey Roddi, why don’t you go grab one of those blankets so I can have a better look at some of those coins?” She nodded and walked off to get a blanket, and he went to retrieve one of the coins from its chest.

With the lamps now lit, a much brighter whitish-green glow came down from above and he could see the coin much better. Roddi came back with a bare-threaded blanket not much bigger than himself. He rubbed vigorously at the coin, checking every so often to see how much was coming off. Slowly, he began to see the details in the coin revealed.

He gasped. “Roddi, do you know what this is?” He looked at her and then apologized, “Sorry, no, of course you don’t. This is a lunar coin. Look, it has the moon on one side and the sun on the other. These are incredibly rare.”

“And how exactly do you know all of these things?” she asked, looking doubtful.

“Aye, remember I told you I once worked in a fine gem shop? The owner had a collection of rare coins. He told me about these. Even he, with all his money, could not afford one. These were minted before the Nightmare Moon incident and Luna’s banishment. They were melted down shortly afterwards and finding one is an exceptional rarity. Just one of these is worth a fortune to the right buyer.”

He and Roddi looked at each other, and simultaneously rushed to the chest in the storage room. Cracking it open, they looked in at its contents and back at each other.

“There are not many,” she said.

“Yes, and we can’t just spend them, it would raise too much suspicion,” he replied. “This will still take some work to find a reputable buyer and make the deal. But this will get me a long way.”

Her smile faded. “You said we, then me. Which is it?”

“We,” he said, drawing back a step, “Refers to me and my daughters. And ‘me’ refers to me. This is to fund my next operation. And then I’ll decide what I want to do after that.”

He dropped the coin back into the chest and turned to leave. As he approached the door, Roddi thought of something and frowned. “I thought I’d heard that you don’t want to run ops above ground anymore. What’s with this plan of yours?”

He sighed and slowed to a stop. He turned to face Roddi. “Its not something I want to be doing,” he told her, “But more a matter of what I have to do. I may not like the way my life is going, but what I’m good at is the only thing I know how to do. So I’ll just do that on my own terms.”

Roddi squinted at him. “That doesn’t make sense to me. What do you mean its what you have to do? Why do it at all then?”

He sighed again, slowly starting to walk towards here. “Roddi, I know you’ve never been outside the Hive, so please don’t take offense when I tell you that you don’t know enough to understand. You like what you do here and that’s great. But image you hate it and that’s the only option given to you. That’s where I’m at right now. I have no options available to me so I’ll just make the best of it. And honestly,” he paused and gave her a cold stare, “I don’t want to talk about it right now either.”

Roddi looked down. “Sorry…”

They left the room together and walked around the hall, inspecting the various rooms. “Roddi, why don’t you tell me about you? You speak about the old Hive like you were never there. But Chrysalis told me no children have been born here, so how is that possible?”

“I guess technically, I was there.” Roddi looked off into the distance while she spoke. “Did mother tell you of how she fought your…um, your father in uh…in her nursery?” He nodded, so she continued, “Well, there were precious few pods that he did not destroy. I was in one of them. My earliest memories are of great sorrow and sadness. Its was the battle and long migration to this Hive, as I learned later.

“I uh, I didn’t say so earlier, but I really like you because you remind me of myself. I heard a lot when I was young that I was different because of that experience. That I wasn’t ‘normal’ as a result. I understand how you may think our Hive is one big collective, but its not. We will even exclude ourselves.”

She walked about the empty room, looking around aimlessly. “I don’t think Mother really likes to think about it. It must be hard, watching your children grow up and sometimes away from you. But she puts on a strong face for all of us. I know she loves me. But I don’t really feel like I belong here either.”

When she turned back to look at him, he could see the tears in the corners of her eyes. He walked to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. “You give me hope Roddi.”

Her tears held back for the moment, she asked, “Why?”

He backed away a bit. “You give me hope for our race. I really thought for a long time that this Hive would waste away under its own damned arrogance. Changelings like you are the future of us.” He reached up a hoof and stroked her head.

Roddi took one timid step forward, then another. “No, I think you are the future here.” She paused, and meekly asked, “Please let me stay here with you. I…I want you…” She took another step forward, and suddenly planted a kiss on his lips.

He reached up with one leg and wrapped it around her head, pulling her close and kissing back. Beneath him, his slick purple member poked out of its slit. He growled, pulling her head away. “If you want to stay, then prove it to me.” He pulled her head down towards the floor. Simply, but firmly he stated, “Submit.”

Roddi complied and freely allowed him to move her around, kneeling to him. She was so captivated by him that she didn’t care what might happen next. Her ass still in the air, he released her head and walked around her, inspecting. Roddi trembled, waiting.

He looked her up and down. Her did not need or want an equal. He had considered previously that Roddi might make an excellent body to fill his bed. He continued his inspection, noting that her smooth black shell did not reflect the light around the room, but seemed to swallow it. Her thin greenish-blue membrane wings stayed flat against her sides, and he saw that her legs shook slightly. Raising his head as he continued to circle her, he asked, “Why do you tremble so? Do you not trust me?” When she did not answer right away, he barked, “Speak!”

Keeping her head down, Roddi winced. “I want this so badly. Tell me how to please you and I will do it.”

“It would please me that I know you apart from your sisters.” He moved around behind her, facing her backside to get a full view of what she had to offer him. Between her legs a sliver of green showed, the entrance to her awaiting sex. “How will I know you as mine?”

“Mark me as you wish,” she replied, keeping her head down and her eyes squeezed shut. A part of her mind cried out in protest at what she was saying, but continued, “Bite me. Rut me. Make me yours and I will wear it proudly. Take me here, and wherever, whenever you wish. I am yours.”

He grinned triumphantly. His member continued to grow, stretching from his body until it reached its full length and bobbed underneath him. Approaching her from behind, he lowered his muzzle to her sex and inhaled deeply.

The sudden air movement made her eyes shoot open in surprise, and she let out a needful moan as he exhaled hot air back onto her. Panting, she looked back underneath her and saw his throbbing purple and black-spotted member behind him. Roddi opened her jaws and licked her lips in anticipation.

He slowly mounted her, placing his front legs on her back, and moving himself forward. As his tip bumped against her backside, she instinctively clenched shut. He paused. Laying down on her back, he wrapped his legs around her chest. He whispered to her, “Are you sure you want this? I will allow you to leave me now, if you do not wish to choose this path.”

Still panting, she relaxed herself. Her mind screamed again for her to tell him to stop, and to flee. But she nodded vigorously. “Yes…do with me as you wish, if it means I can be with you.”

He opened his mighty jaws wide, and brought them down around her neck with one swift, gentle motion. The back of his long canines pressed uncomfortably against her throat. Roddi found it harder to breathe, and his hips pushed forward, penetrating her.

Roddi clenched again, but there was no escape to be had now. She was under his control, and she had chosen to be this way. He pulled back with his head, forcing her to comply by pushing her hips back against him. He pressed deeper into her, and Roddi’s eyes shot wide and she managed a muffled scream and he hilted himself in her, pushing far deeper than she expected him to go. A tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the floor.

Trembling with fear, she clenched again, eliciting a growl of pleasure from him. Her neck still in his mouth, he drooled, saliva running down her neck and past her face on its way to the floor. She panted, not in lust but in fear as he slowly, achingly pulled himself back. She knew what was coming and started to cry as he rammed himself back into her.

He pulled back slowly again, and she whimpered, “Please…you’re hurting me…”

He responded by tightening his jaws around her neck and pulling her back, burying himself into her again. She cried out again, and feeling his jaws move against her shell, he growled, “You wanted this.”

Roddi looked to the floor in shame. She had wanted this. She asked for it, twice. And now she was getting what she had asked for. Her body went limp with this realization but he held her up, thrusting with greater frequency. She cried freely, tears falling to the floor, forming a puddle with his saliva. She had asked him to do this of her own free will. Her body shaking, she let go and allowed him to use her.

“Better,” he said from around her neck. He tightened his embrace around her, pulling back and slamming home faster and faster, violently shaking her body with each thrust. Roddi looked vacantly at the floor, only barely noticing that her tears had stopped.

Drool pushing out from around his teeth in a froth, he ordered, “Clench that cunt of yours hard, bitch. Or I’ll clench down on your neck.”

Roddi complied, clenching herself around him as he pushed in in one last rough thrust, and felt herself being filled with a warmness that seemed to explode from somewhere deep inside her.

He stayed there for several minutes, lost in the bliss of releasing himself into her. He slowly released her neck from his jaws, and stood on his own legs. She fell to the floor in a heap, her ass still in the air, clenched around him.

Looking down, he smiled again. “You’ve done well, slut.” He could feel his member shrinking, and he leaned his head down to hers and licked the tears off her cheek. “The last mare I fucked like that died shortly afterwards. But you’re far too good to let die.” He stepped backward, and let her rear far to the floor with a smack. Cum leaked out of her, pooling on the floor around her abused body.

Using his magic, he picked her up and moved her to the sleeping quarters of the training area, setting her on the bed. He sat beside her and kissed her cheek.

Curling herself into a ball, Roddi started to sob into the rough bedding. Her life had gone horribly wrong, and she could only blame herself.

Grinning wide, he started to laugh. His laughter echoed across the walls as it grew, then died in intensity. He leaned and kissed her head. “I thought you wanted this, Roddi.”

She recoiled from his touch initially, but rolled back over to face him. “It was so much more than I expected…it hurt…”

He cooed and petted her head. “It does the first time. Next time will be easier. You’ll see.”

She sniffled. “Next…next time?”

He grinned. “I kept my promise to you to come back. You promised to be mine and wear my marks proudly. Do you intend to go back on that promise?” He leaned in close to her and whispered, “You can’t go back to the life you knew before, you know that. Why don’t you join me in being an outcast? I can enjoy it. You should as well.”

He pulled his head back and paced back and forth by the bed. “Tell them to go fuck themselves. Tell them you don’t care. And don’t. Your sisters have already proven that they don’t care for you. Why care for them?”

Roddi started to cry anew. “They…they don’t hate m-me…”

“Yes they do. And they will push you farther away now.” He approached her where she lay on her side, and lifted her chin to expose the marks where his teeth scraped against her shell. “Once they know why you have these marks, you will be in the same lot as me.” He paused, leaning over her, then said, “Do you still want to be mine?”

Roddi sniffled, wiping away her tears. In her mind she had no choice. She nodded to him. “I do…can you be more gentle this time?”

He smiled, climbing over her and positioning himself. “I will this time, but not every time.”

She reached up and hugged him tight to her as he slid into her again. Exhaling, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine happier things. As he slowly thrust in and out of her, she cried softly.

Chapter Seven

Time started to pass slowly for Roddi. She did not leave the bed, only moving when he came to use her again. Usually afterwards he would fall asleep and she would cry for a while. When he woke he would leave, often urging her to come with him, but she continued to lay in their shared bed. One day when she awoke, she found him missing.

Roddi leaned out of bed, and listened, but didn’t hear anything. She very slowly climbed out of bed and walked into the hall. It was empty and quiet. She stretched, and yawned loudly. She looked over herself briefly. She could not see the marks that she knew were on her neck, but she hunched over, instinctively trying to hide them.

Roddi paced around for a few minutes, deciding what to do. Afraid of what the guards might think, she settled on heading back to the archives. She very carefully made her way out the sets of doors, and carefully looked up and down the dim hallways outside. Seeing no-one, she followed the walls, trying to remain out of sight.

Each time Roddi approached a corner, she would carefully lean around it to make sure she was still alone. Winding her way back to more familiar territory, she began to play all the possible scenarios in her mind. She saw disgust on their faces. She imagined them shunning her. She saw elation, although that one was short lived and quickly descended into mistrust and fear.

Sooner than she expected, Roddi was back at the entrance to the archive. She ducked her head low and started inside, where she promptly ran headfirst into Fici.

Staggered from the collision, Fici exclaimed, “Ow! Watch where you’re...oh! Roddi, I was just coming to find you.”

Roddi barely lifted her gaze off the floor. Meekly, she asked, “What did you need?”

Fici narrowed her eyes. “Roddi, come here.” She motioned for Roddi to come closer, but when she did not, Fici walked the few steps to her. “You’ve been acting really strange and then you just up and disappeared. What’s wrong?” Fici sat in front of Roddi, concerned.

“Fici, I just...I really don’t know.” Fici noticed that Roddi appeared to be crying but didn’t interrupt. “Things have very suddenly changed and I don’t know what to do anymore. I always knew, now...now I don’t…” Roddi trailed off as tears came more freely.

Fici took Roddi’s head and leaned it against her shoulder. “Aww, don’t be like that. Aren’t you the one who always told me you wished something would happen?” She stroked Roddi’s head, and noticed the marks on her neck. Turning Roddi’s head to the side, she asked with deep concern in her voice, “Roddi, what happened? Did he do this to you?”

Roddi yanked her head back away from Fici and scrunched her neck down, trying to hide from Fici’s eyes. “Don’t worry about it,” she stammered, avoiding Fici’s stare. “Things got a little rough, but its okay. I’m okay.”

Fici leaned forward slightly. “Are you saying that to me, or to yourself? Look, if you’re trying to get away from him, you’re in the wrong place. He’s actually back in the stacks, reading. I was trying to translate some of the older books for him, and left to find you. He knew where you’d be. Why don’t you just ease on out of here and-” Fici stopped short when she noticed Roddi’s wide eyes staring past her.

The voice from behind her questioned, “And what?”

Fici turned slowly, afraid of what she might find. He stood a few feet behind her. She took a step backward, frightened. “And, uh...and…”

“You treat me with such disrespect so suddenly, Fici,” he said, stepping forward. “Were we not just having a lovely discussion about rites and traditions of the old Hive? What will you do, call the guards and have me killed, because you are frightened? You will shun that which you do not understand?”

Fici glanced around and not seeing anyone who might help her, drew in a great breath to scream when Roddi grabbed her from behind and closed her mouth.

“Fici, don’t,” Roddi said to her, her voice suddenly low and in charge. “We’re leaving. I’ll be back to talk to you later.” She released Fici from her grasp and motioned for him to follow. “Come on, lets go.”

He grinned and walked past the stunned Fici. Fici watched them ascend the stairs until they were out of sight.

Outside, she asked him as they walked, “What were you doing in the archives?”

He smiled. “I do have things to do. Apparently there are a number of changeling young that will be along soon. Chrysalis allowed me to name them, and rather than just make stuff up, I thought I might go through the archives and find names of great past changelings. Besides, I do find it interesting.

“Moreover, I’m glad you finally found the will to get out of that sack of hay. I was starting to get worried about you. That’s partly the reason I was sending Fici to find you. I thought she might be able to rouse you. Or… switch places?” He grinned at her.

Roddi stopped walking, and furrowed her brow at him. “What, you would replace me so easily? You just use me and toss me aside, is that it? Tell me!”

He turned briskly to face her. “Yes, if you can’t keep at my level, yes I would. I didn’t ask for you, you asked for me. You promised to be mine. You promised to wear my marks proudly. And yet I see you hiding them. You didn’t rouse from bed for days on end, what should I think? That it was a sign of strength? I think not. But every time I see you having to confront something, I do see strength. Why can’t you be like that all the time?”

Roddi looked down. “Look, I’m sorry. Things are changing so fast. I don’t know what to do.”

“Ah, but are you not a changeling? This should come natural to you. You must learn to harness your ability to change to fit the situation. Come on, I need your help carrying stuff.” He motioned for her to keep walking.

She resumed walking, but kept slightly behind. “What would you have me do? I’m not as strong as you are.”

“Maybe not physically, no,” he said, shaking his head. “But I really do believe you possess a great strength. We just need to figure out how to draw it out of you, Roddi. At the moment, we need to get some things out of the armory.”

They turned, and walked back down into the armory. Gathering a few pieces from the walls, Roddi used her magic to hold as much as she could on her back as she was able to. Spears, chains, and plate armor. He gathered up iron bars and broken pieces from the floor. “I need to find someone to teach me to mend iron the way Chrysalis or the guard do. For now, let’s head back home.”

Roddi followed him out. “Mending is a different process than forging. You mean, how to shape iron?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes. Do you know how?”

Roddi grunted under the weight going up the stairs but did not protest. “Yes and no. I know much about it but have never practiced. There is a book all about the subject. Later I’ll go and retrieve it for you.”

“Thank you Roddi. I’ll have to find some suitable reward for you.” He smiled back at her.

She shot him a grin right back. “Hell, I can get ‘that’ anytime I want it. A reward needs to be something special.”

“Oh?” He slowed down and allowed her to catch up. “And what might you consider a suitable reward?”

“I’ll think about it,” she said mischievously. “Lets get these damn heavy things off my back.”

…

Back in the treasury turned training rooms, they arranged the weapons and armor. Mostly stacked in a corner, he took a broken spear tip and turned it over in front of him. “I remember in the caves, the guard there had obsidian-tipped spears. Cruder than these.”

“These were instruments of war,” Roddi replied, taking it from him. “They were designed back before changelings had to hide underground. We used to have great empires...though not all the races felt we should.” She placed it back in the stack with the others. “The books speak of great battles. And great shame in our defeat.

“I think there is more shame in living the way we do now. We had allies. We fled. We hid. And now we are known by it.” Roddi turned and walked past him, rubbing her haunches against him. “You are so strong. Would you change it, if you could?”

“I’ve never been asked,” he replied, bending over to bite at her backside. She deftly stepped forward, causing him to miss. “I don’t know if I would. It seems an awful lot of work, bring a race back from myth and into the spotlight. I doubt that we would ever be accepted.”

“The races that live in the darkness might accept us.” Roddi wiggled her butt at him, teasing. “Have you ever met a bat pony?”

He followed along behind her. “Bat ponies are fiction. A story made to frighten the young into behaving, lest they be carried away in the night.”

“They were, at least at some point, very real. The monsters that haunt the dark places are always misconstrued to be more than they are, and possibly on purpose. I’ll read you the stories of them sometime.” Roddi stopped, wagging her butt at him again. “I want my reward.”

“And have you figured out what it is that you want to make it special?” He sniffed at her backside, giving it a lick.

Roddi sighed in pleasure. “I want it to be like the first time. Take me hard.”

He ceased his licking and climbed onto her back, wasting no time in fulfilling her wish.

…

Afterwards, she lay on the floor, licking his member clean. She whined as it retreated back into him and rolled over. Standing, she made to move to the exit, wobbling slightly. “Ooh, you do that well. Let me go retrieve some books for you.”

He stretched and moved up behind her. “Let me go with you.”

She bowed to him. “As you wish.”

They walked back out and to the archives, Roddi following slightly behind. Whenever he would slow to allow her to catch up, she would match his speed and maintain her position behind him.

“Is there a reason you are back there?” he questioned.

“I think it’s appropriate that the master leads. I’ll stay back here.” She bowed to him again and he smiled.

“Are you embracing your new life? You seem a lot more calm than earlier.” He glanced back and smiled at her.

“I think I’m learning to go with the flow, as you mentioned. I don’t need to change my appearance to fit in around you. I just need to act appropriately.” She smiled and continued, “And to me that means being submissive.”

Without looking back, he asked, “And do you enjoy it?”

“Its not as bad as I feared it might be. But yes, I do enjoy it. Letting someone else make my decisions has a certain appeal to it.”

Walking down the steps to the archive, he muttered, “At least someone feels that way…”

Near the entrance, Audax was sweeping the floor. She frowned at his approach, and more so seeing Roddi trail behind him like a captive. “Do you need something?”

He glanced back at Roddi, who stepped forward to Audax and said, “We’re here to borrow some books. You may continue your duties.”

He motioned for Roddi to go first. “Lead the way.”

Roddi held her head tall and walked past Audax. Audax looked at the scars Fici had told her about, but said nothing. After they passed into the archives, she took flight and with haste sped to Chrysalis’ room.

In the stacks, Roddi picked out a few books and stacked them on her back. “We have changeling history, war, and what else was I supposed to get?”

“Forging iron,” he reminded her.

“Ah! Yes, thank you for reminding me.” She wound her way to another part of the archives, and scanning the shelves, picked a book out. She used her magic to scan it briefly, and put it back. She repeated the process until she found the book she needed.

He shook his head at her. “How do you memorize all these books? I don’t understand how you can know exactly where to go and where to look.”

“Well, its not exact, as you can see.” She started to lead him out of the archives. “It takes time. And I’ve had a lot of time to learn it. You know many things too. Is it really so strange?”

“I suppose not,” he replied. Looking ahead, his eyes went wide as he saw a wall of changeling guard, spears ready, blocking the exit. “Roddi, stop!” He quickly moved in front of her to confront the wall. “What is the meaning of this? Why do you block my exit?”

Parting in the middle, Chrysalis stepped through. “Why do you hurt my daughters, I think is the better question.”

He scowled at Chrysalis. “We agreed no violence. and as you can see,” he motioned to Roddi without looking away, “She walks freely. Now move.”

“From where I stand, I think you lie.” Chrysalis looked past him at Roddi, and then back to him. “No scars have even been attained but through violence.”

He narrowed his eyes and hunched low. He knew there was little chance of escape, but he summoned strength to go out in the most brutal way possible. “Your true motives do come through, as I always knew they would. You’re here to remove your opposer rather than than tolerate him to live. Your promises are, and always have been hollow.”

Chrysalis motioned to her guards, who started to advance on him. “Don’t make a scene. Come quietly and I’ll make it as painless as possible for you.”

He growled deeply and his body started to shimmer when a book hurled past him at speed and into the head of one of the guard. Staggered from the force, the guard toppled sideways into her sisters.

Surprised, he shoot a look backward just in time to see Roddi run past him and stand in front, blocking him from the encroaching spears with her body.

“And what? Do I not get a say in this!?” Roddi shouted at Chrysalis as much as the guard, standing tall and firm. “Do you intend to pass judgement so easily? He only did what I asked of him. And for that he deserves death?”

Roddi shook with rage. “It takes so many of you, does it? Are you so weak that you show up in force for one changeling? Go get more, for now you stand against two!” Roddi snarled as her body was enveloped in a brilliant green flash. Falling away, the leathery wings and jagged teeth of a monstrosity the likes of which he had never seen stood between them.

Roddi’s form had become mottled and warped. Her wings flapped tentatively at her sides, but where matte black carapace had been before was now black fur, straggly and wild. From behind he could see her head had taken on a flatter shape, and rows upon rows of teeth revealed themselves as she opened her wide mouth to roar at the wall of guards.

Chrysalis pushed past her guards to confront the transformed Roddi. “Roddi, stand down. We are here to protect you.”

Roddi did not move back, but leaned forward to shout at her mother, “And when did I ask you to come protect me? Do I not appear to be capable of doing that for myself? Let us pass, and do not follow. If he should die, let it be by me.”

Chrysalis, taken aback, glanced back at him but Roddi blocked her gaze with one of her wings. “You deal with me first,” she stated firmly.

Chrysalis stepped back and told her guards to leave. Grudgingly, they obeyed, retreating backward without raising theirs spears.

“I do hope you’re making a wise choice,” Chrysalis told Roddi. “For now, consider yourself relieved of archivist duty. I’ll hold you as accountable as him for all of your, and his, actions.” Chrysalis turned and, unfurling her wings, took flight back to her chambers.

Roddi sighed and let her form fall in another flash of green. She picked up the thrown book from the floor and gathered the ones from behind her. “You need to leave,” she told him, thrusting the books at him. “I’ll be along shortly.”

He looked at her in shock and surprise. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find Fici and explain the price of ratting me out,” Roddi said in a rough and determined voice.

“I didn’t do it,” Fici spoke meekly, coming out from behind the stacks. “I told the others here because I was concerned. But I’ve been never left the archives since I last saw you.”

“Well, if it wasn’t you, then who?” Roddi swiveled her head around.

Thrax flew up to meet them from the rear of the archives. “Audax is missing,” she said simply.

Roddi looked around. “She was here sweeping up when we came in.” Roddi scowled, “She has no respect.” Looking back at Fici, she said, “Fici, you are in charge. Thrax, you’re second in command. If and when Audax returns, do as you will.”

Roddi motioned that it was time to leave, and carrying the books she had thrust upon him, he made his way out and started up the stairs.

Fici called out after him, “Hey! Can I still come visit sometime?”

He turned and put an arm around Roddi. “To continue our talk, yes. For anything else, no. I have all I need.” He planted a kiss on Roddi’s check and they turned together, walking away from the archives.

Back in their shared quarters, Roddi snuggled up against him in their bed. He reached an arm around her and hugged her close to him. “I’m really proud of what you did back there,” he told her. “I knew you had great strength. It appears we just needed the right stimuli to pull it forth.”

“Then why do I feel so bad? I stood up to Mother and I came away feeling like I was in the wrong. That doesn’t seem like strength to me.” Roddi sighed, but enjoyed the embrace.

“Being strong is not the same as being right. But I think you were in the right anyway.” He kissed the top of her head. “Are you going back to the archives?”

“No, not anytime soon,” she replied. “For now, I’m content to stay here with you. I have the books I needed. We’ll learn to mend and forge steel. I’ll read you some stories. We’ll get ready for your daughters. And, if you’ll have me, I’ll keep your bed warm for you.”

“There is nobody else I’d rather have right now.” He kissed the top of her head again and laid his head down.

Feeling him begin to fall asleep, Roddi cooed and said softly, “I love you.”

…

When he awoke, Roddi was still in his arms. He nuzzled her gently but found her still awake. “Trouble sleeping?”

“I’ve just been thinking, is all.” She pulled away from him and got out of bed. “What Chrysalis said. What I said. Do you think she’ll forgive me?”

“I think,” he said, following her out of bed, “That she’ll have no choice but to. You stood up for yourself and what you believed in. I think it’s going to become a trend around here pretty soon.”

A low creak alerted them that someone was coming in. The doors opened slightly, and Thrax came through. Roddi smiled. “Thrax, what brings you here?”

Thrax entered further into the room, saying, “Fici sent me. Audax, it seems, is not coming back to the archives. Not that we really care. We’ve been talking and we approve of you two. We hope that you two find happiness in one another.” She bowed to them.

“Thank you, Thrax.” He bowed back to her. “But I sense that is not the only reason you came by.”

Thrax shook her head. “No, its not. Chrysalis has already laid the first of our new sisters in their pods. It won’t be long. She tells us that within this day, they will be fully grown and ready to hatch. And at that time, she’ll need Fici, myself, and Roddi to come and write their names in the book.” Fici paused, and looked at him. “You’re also going to need to be attendance to give them names. I recommend that we leave soon.”

Roddi nodded. “Agreed. Has...Mother said anything about me?”

Thrax shrugged. “I’m going off what Fici told me. But Mother does not seem overly angry at what happened. Not that I can tell, anyway. But come, I’ll walk with you two.”

All three of them left the treasury room, Fici in front and Roddi trailing behind her master. They walked in silence, and Fici led them past the guards on the bridge and through the jagged bars.

Roddi, don’t let Chrysalis fool you. She still loves you. And you’re the best at what you do. I can’t hold a candle to your knowledge. Fici and I still need you, even if Chrysalis says she does not.”

“Thanks, Thrax, that means a lot to me.” Roddi paused, and changed the subject. “Are we heading straight to the nursery? Do you have all the materials?”

Thrax nodded. “We are nearly there. Put on a good face, this is an important time.”

The wall in front of them parted, and they stepped into the nursery. Much unlike before, it now bustled with activity. Changelings buzzed about, and the air was humid and fresh from their constant motions.

Thrax motioned for Roddi to follow her. “Fici is over here, with the book. Would you please direct us? You may not be head archivist but we default to your knowledge.”

Roddi nodded and went to follow Thrax. She took a few steps backward and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t make Mother angry, okay? Lets just smile and get through this and we can go back to bed.”

He smiled at her, and nodded. Looking past her, he said, “Thrax, do you know where I might find Chrysalis?”

Thrax looked around. “I do not, but I expect she’ll be along shortly. Just wait there and she’ll probably find you.”

He nodded again and moved to the side, out of the way, and sat. He watched the changeling workers buzz about, each preoccupied in her own task. He yawned, getting comfortable as best he could on the stone floor.

He sat there for several hours, and was pondering a nap when a changeling worker buzzed up to him. “Chrysalis will be here soon,” it said. The worker flew away briskly as the changeling wall next to him parted and Chrysalis stepped through.

He stood up as she approached him. Chrysalis waited to see if he was going to speak, but when he did not, she told him, “It is time. Come, lets go find the archivists and get this done.”

As they walked, Chrysalis told him, “I’m not pleased about what happened, but I’m willing to look past it. I did make you a promise and I intend to adhere to it. I don’t like you, so lets just be civil, okay?”

He nodded to her solemnly but kept his mouth closed. They found Fici, Thrax, and Roddi in the far corner, sitting amongst books and laughing with each other. Upon seeing their mother, all three straightened up and waited for orders.

“Fici,” asked Chrysalis, “What is Roddi doing here? I asked you to handle this.”

“She knows more than both Thrax and myself combined,” replied Fici. “I’ve asked her to help us. Just this once.”

Chrysalis scowled, but allowed it. She turned to the rows upon rows of pods, and moved between them. Looking back, she stated simply, “Come.”

He and Chrysalis walked among the pods, with Fici, Thrax, and Roddi following along behind with their books. Changeling workers waved at them to come over. As they approached, one of the workers said, “This pod is ready, and the others will be soon as well.”

Chrysalis looked at him and asked, “Do you have your names ready? There are a lot of your children here.”

He smiled warmly back at her. “I’ve been doing reading, and I think I have enough.”

A soft crack turned their attention to the pod in front of them. The workers gingerly pulled back the shell as a fully-grown changeling poked its head through and took its first breath of air. Chrysalis moved forward and picked it up out of the pod. She smiled and kissed it on the nose. She turned to hold it up for him to see. “Your first daughter! What is her name?”

He looked it over. It had a shiny black shell, and green wings. The newborn’s eyes were the same emerald green as his, and did not appear any different than any of the other changelings of this Hive. “Nix,” he said. He glanced behind him and saw Thrax and Fici writing in their book, and overseen by Roddi. He smiled at Roddi and she winked back, mouthing the word ‘later’ at him.

He turned back to face the front, where changeling workers were carting off his daughter to be cared for. Chrysalis motioned for him to continue down the row of pods, where new young were already hatching. “You need to be faster than that. This is going to take forever if you have to think about each one,” she told him, stopping in front of another pod.

He nooded, and as another newborn changeling was brought forth, he said, “Bolla.” Chrysalis nodded, and as she handed that daughter off she picked up another one. “Gallu,” he said.

They walked around the room, and he named each in turn. “Homa. Skrzak. Yuxa. Jaud.”

Time passed, and at some point a changeling was held up in front of him that looked different. This one had one green eye, but her left eye was milky white. He put his hoof in front of her eye, but she didn’t blink. “She’s blind in this eye,” he said.

Chrysalis sighed. “Unfortunate to lose one so early. Take her to-”

“Fext,” he interrupted.

Chrysalis stopped. “No, you can’t name her. She’ll be disposed of and-”

“Fext,” he said again, more firmly this time. “I want her, and if you don’t, then send her to my training room.”

Chrysalis looked at him but eventually shrugged. She turned to one of the workers, and instructed him where to take Fext. After he departed, Chrysalis turned back to him and said, “Are you sure about this? Fext won’t live a normal life.”

“Not under your care, she surely won’t,” he said, “I won’t have any of my daughters grow up under you with the chance they could become another outcast. No, I’ll take her.”

Chrysalis scowled but said nothing. They continued around the room, and he continued with his list of names; “Kapre. Obia. Valravn. Lauma. Moroi. Maero. Aitu. Víbria. Minka.” Pausing a second time, he leaned in to inspect one of his daughters a little closer, he noticed she had small thorns growing from the back of her neck, almost like the spines of a dragon. “You’re coming with me, Kishi,” he said to her. He kissed her on the nose and motioned for the worker to take her.

Every time he found a newborn with different traits, he sent it to his training room. The others he passed by with a quick naming. Roddi trailed along behind them and watched over her former assistants.

As he named off more and more of his daughters, a commotion sound from around the corner. Curious, he and Chrysalis went to investigate. They found several changeling workers trying to subdue a newborn, who was thrashing about wildly. Chrysalis knew what was coming and said to him, “No. You can’t take this one. She’s obviously got something seriously wrong with her.”

He didn’t respond, but instead reached out a hoof towards her, which she bit at. He chuckled, yanking his hoof back, and said, “Mara, you are quite the firecracker.”

“No,” Chrysalis stated firmly, “This one is not fit to stay with either you or me. What are you going to do, chain her to the walls?”

“Let me try something first, then we’ll see,” he said, sitting on the floor and closing his eyes. He focused hard and reached out to feel the emotions around him. Behind him he felt love and sorrow at the same time; Chrysalis, who loved her children but regretted seeing any not make it. In front he felt anger, and fear. He touched upon her mind, and found it not broken, just overwhelmed.

He opened his eyes again and stepped forward, taking Mara away from the other changelings. She hissed, trying to bite at his face. He deftly moved his head to the side and allowed her teeth to fall on his hard shoulder plates.

Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her holding her in a tight hug. Sitting on the floor with her bound in his arms, he whispered something to her low enough that only she could hear.

Undeterred, Mara continued to bite at his plate, her hissing becoming louder.

He cooed at her, still speaking softly, and after a few minutes, her arms slowed and her hissing quieted.

Chrysalis and all other changelings looked on in astonishment as he pulled his newborn (but fully grown) daughter away from him as Mara asked, “You promise?”

He smiled. “I’ll do all that and more, but you have to be good until then, okay?”

Mara nodded.

He let go and she stood on the floor on her own legs. “You have to go wait for me with your sisters,” he told her, pointing out of the room. “You be good and don’t hurt anyone, okay? Then I can get you what you want.” He leaned in and kissed her nose, to which she recoiled. He chuckled as she was led away.

Chrysalis walked up to him. “Okay, now I need to know, what did you promise her? How did you do that?”

“She’s definitely my child,” he responded. “She’s not all that much different than me. I promised to give her the opportunity to indulge her wildest desires, when she’s old enough.” He turned and looked at Chrysalis with a smile. “If she keeps her anger under control, she will rival even myself in ability.”

Chrysalis stood still, unsure of what to say next. She decided not to ask more questions as he had a bad habit of not answering them and instead said, “We’ve only a few left to name. How many of your daughters have you chosen thus far?”

He closed his eyes and named off each one as he thought about it. “First was Fext, then Kishi. Then Acheri and Lamia, and just now Mara. So five?” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Lets go have a look at these last few so I can get back to my room. They’ll be waiting for me.”

At the far wall, workers had already brought the newborns from their pods and paraded them in front of their mother and father.

Looking at each one as they passed, he called out, “Bies, Preta, Danava, Nav, Asag, Rompo…” He trailed off. The last alcove had a pod and a very sad-looking changing worker standing in front of it. He walked over solemnly and looked inside. His last daughter lay in her pod, breathing shallowly. She whined softly, and he reached in to pull her out.

The newborn winced noticeably, and he saw why; her rear legs were severely deformed, twisted and grotesque. He sighed deeply and kissed his daughter on the head, holding her tenderly. He looked past Chrysalis and said, “Roddi, come here.”

Roddi obeyed and came trotting over. He took the deformed changeling and put her on Roddi’s back, face down. “Roddi, very carefully, please carry Chakora back to our chambers and find her something soft to lay on. I’ll be along very shorty.”

Roddi nodded solemnly and very slowly made her way out of the room, cooing and looking back at her passenger every so often. Fici and Thrax closed their book and hauled it away, retreating back to the archives.

Chrysalis shook her head at him again. “I don’t understand exactly what you intend to do with them. I thought you’d be taking the biggest, strongest daughters. Why did you choose all the different ones?”

“I’ve noticed,” he said, starting to walk away, “That the ‘different’ ones here seem to be the most versatile and therefore the most suited to what I need them for. The ‘normal’ ones will make fine soldiers for you, I’m sure.”

“Hey!” Chrysalis called after him, running to catch up. “Don’t assume you know what my plans are. I will remind you, once you leave, you are not allowed back. And I’ll be coming by every day to let your daughters feed off of me until they can pick up on it from farther away. So don’t think you’re getting away from me that easily.”

“I remember,” he said, shrugging her off. “Trust me, I’ll be as happy as you when that day comes.” He walked away more quickly, tired of this conversation.

Chrysalis fell behind and let him exit the room on his own. Changeling workers were already clearing away the used pods and making ready for more. One of them gestured to her, saying, “Come, Mother. Your new daughters are being cared for. Let us help you get some rest.”

Chrysalis sighed and retreated back to her bed for a nap.

Chapter Eight

Back in his quarters, he moved from room to room, checking on his daughters. Roddi had placed Acheri, Fext, and Lamia in one room; Mara and Kishi in a second; and Chakora in their bed.

He had raised his eyes at her upon seeing poor Chakora in his bed, to which she exclaimed, “Its the softest thing in here!”

He sighed. “Then where are we going to sleep?”

Roddi shrugged. “When its next to you, I don’t really care.” She winked at him.

He pushed past her. “Roddi, not now. Come on, you’d better start interacting with them, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” He motioned for her to follow to the first room to the right of the entrance door. There, they looked together at Kishi sleeping peacefully in her bed. She was turned to the wall and was curled up in a threadbare blanket. He cooed and softly stroked her head.

Hearing a huff from behind him, he turned to see Mara leaning against a stone wall. She scoffed. “And why should I trust anything you have you say, anyway?”

“At this point, you have no choice but to, Mara,” he told her. “One day you may realize that I saved you from death. For that I at least expect you to give me a chance. Look, I’ll give you some space but I’ll still expect your attention when its important. You may feel safe and in charge here, but you have no idea what lies above ground. For now, you're going to trust me, and Roddi.”

Mara looked over at Roddi. “And who are you, huh?”

Roddi looked at Mara sternly. “I’m the only living one who can speak to his power. If you want any of it, you’d be best to listen.” Before Mara could answer, Roddi turned sharply and exited the room.

He patted the bed. “Lay down, Mara. We’ll talk later.”

Mara did not move so he left, following Roddi further down the central chamber to the second room on the right where Acheri, Lamia, and Fext had been placed. To his surprise, they had pushed their hay together into the center of the room and were all three curled up with one another in the middle of it.

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” said Roddi, smiling. “They look so peaceful.”

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again and looked out of the room towards the exit. “Do you sense that?”

Roddi cocked her head at him. “No, what? What do you feel?” She reached out with her own mind but his powerful aura blocked her ability to see much farther. She hesitated, and came back around to his aura. It was like a void, pulling in all other feelings from around it. Much like every other changeling of the Hive, but it seemed...denser to her.

His words shook her from her concentration. “Chrysalis was coming. Now, it seems she is retreating.”

“Hopefully she thought the better of it. Come, love, let’s go see the rest of your daughters.” Roddi tugged him towards their room in the far corner, furthest from the doors and the one holding Chakora.

He reluctantly followed her. Inside his room, they looked down at Chakora, who was lying on her back, breathing slowly in obvious pain. Roddi leaned her head against his shoulder plates. “Why did you take her, anyway? I think I understand what you were doing with the other five, but this one is suffering. Please...let her be at peace.”

“No, Roddi. Suffering is a part of life. Better to do it while you are young. Let us do what we can for her. They all will wake soon and we need to be here for them.” He sat on the floor next to his occupied bed. “Go get that iron shaping book and we’ll give it a read.”

Roddi smiled and trotted over to retrieve the requested book. Bringing it back to him, she placed it on the floor and bowed with a flourish. With a grin she said, “As you commanded, master.”

He sighed, opening the book. “While I do appreciate the title,” he said, “If you’re going to think of me as your master then you need to realize that I make the decisions. Now sit.”

Roddi immediately complied and sat in front of him. “Sorry…”

He motioned for her to come side beside him, saying, “Just pick which one you want to be, ok? Are you the meek archivist, the powerful changeling, or the submissive toy?”

Roddi leaned into him. “Can’t I be all of them? I like the third one best if I have to choose just one.”

Pointing down, he said, “Why don’t you be the archivist for now and teach me about the things in this book?”

Roddi smiled and flipped past several pages. “These first parts are about forging. Hot and dirty stuff. We already have iron, so I’ll just skip us over to the relevant parts, here.” She lifted the book up with her magic and began to read to him…

…

Some time later, after his head was full of magic spells and Roddi had long since fallen asleep, he sensed the faint and encroaching aura of Chrysalis. He stood up and moved to the entrance doors, waiting.

After a few minutes, the doors creaked, starting to open. He stepped forward and used his magic to pull it far enough for Chrysalis to walk through. She looked around puzzledly, spying him in the shadow of the door.

“I don’t understand how you do that,” she said, entering the room as he shut the doors behind her. "But nor do I enjoy your company enough to stay long enough to find out, either."

He snorted. "You sure seemed to enjoy my company while I was on top of you."

Continuing to walk to the back of the room, she sneered at him. "Let me tell you a little secret; you need love to survive but I actually do not. I absorb more to increase my own potential, but unlike you I won't die without it. I can also produce a limited amount for my children. While I can produce more than enough love for my present Hive, what I needed you for was to produce more children. I put on a show for you to get what I wanted." Chrysalis stopped and turned to him. "And before you get upset, its exactly what you do for what you need."

He waved her into his chambers, where Roddi and Chakora were still sleeping. "I never had any doubts that I was being used," he said. "Chakora and Roddi are sleeping. Please be quiet."

Chrysalis bent her head to get through the arched entry, and nudged Roddi where she had curled up on the floor near the door. Roddi murred, so Chrysalis nudged her again.

Roddi wiggled her butt, eyes still closed. "Mmmm, I've been dreaming about that shaft of yours, why don't you come here and-"

"Move, child," Chrysalis commanded.

Roddi's eyes shot open. She saw Chrysalis but looked past her at her master. He stared back, obviously annoyed. Roddi squeaked and scrambled backwards, propelled by his disapproving gaze to the far side of the room. She trembled, and stammered, "Sor...sorry...mas...uh, ma...mother." Roddi kept her submissive posture, rump against the cold wall and head on the floor as Chrysalis turned to Chakora.

Stroking her disfigured daughter, Chrysalis remarked, "Chakora still breathes? I did not expect her to live past the first hour or so." Chrysalis turned her head to face him. "She will live in pain, and likely die in pain. Why would you force that on any creature, especially your own daughter?"

"You asked me not to question your motives, I ask that you don't question mine." Chrysalis turned back to the wretched form of Chakora. He watched Chakora inhale deeply, and sensed a familiar emotion pass the ether in front of him. Chakora smacked her lips and purred softly. Despite his present company, he cracked a gentle, relieved smile.

Chrysalis, not noticing his expression, turned and started out the door. Roddi scooted forward as if to follow, but stopped when he turned his attention from Chakora to her and his loving smile became a snarl of malice.

"You stay right there and I'll deal with you later," he told her. Roddi looked at the floor in shame.

He left, giving one look back to make sure Roddi stayed put, and heard Chrysalis' laughter from the next room. He walked in to find Acheri, Lamia, and Fext rolling about in the hay and pawing at their mother.

"Ooh, aren't you three the cutest ones," Chrysalis cooed at them, pawing back and blowing kisses. She reached out to ruffle their heads when he walked up beside Chrysalis. His three daughters looked past their mother and to their father, where he stood over them.

Everyone paused, and Lamia crawled up to his leg, licking it gently. He smiled and leaned down, and kissed the top of her head. Acheri and Fext followed suit and scooted forward to get their kisses as well. He pulled his hoof away from Lamia, eliciting a whine from her. He smiled and beeped her nose. "Feed, darlings," he said simply. They turned their attention to their mother as he left to the last room, wanting to check on Mara before Chrysalis arrived.

Mara had moved, and was leaning over Kishi with an intent look on her face. Kishi, meanwhile, was still facing the wall. He was unsure if Kishi was still asleep. He walked up to Mara, and quietly, said, "Move back. Chrysalis has even less patience than I do. Try to not look creepy, okay?"

Mara blinked slowly, as if coming out of a trance. "What is 'creepy'?"

"Like you're intent on hurting your sisters," Chrysalis said from behind him.

He winced. "Mara, back up, now." He stared at Mara who didn't move. "Mara, I told you I expect your attention when its important. And right now its really fucking important. Back your ass up. Right. Fucking. Now."

Mara still did not move. She was testing him, and he knew that. But he also knew that if she could not be seen as controllable, then Chrysalis would surely take her. He sighed, and turned, walking out of the room.

Mara grinned in triumph, and Chrysalis furrowed her brow at him, turning to Mara. "Child, come with me. He has apparently changed his mind about you."

Mara turned up the corner of her mouth. "And why should I do anything either of you say? He just walked out and-”

A whoosh sounded as something rushed past Chrysalis. She ducked to the side and hit the wall, falling onto the floor. A scream sounded from Mara. By the time Chrysalis turned her head back from where she had stood just a moment before, Mara was already against the far wall, screaming and pawing helplessly where the iron spear had pierced her shoulder.

Seeming to happen in slow motion, Chrysalis could see a green slime start to leak from Mara's shoulder. The spear she recognized, old but not rusted, and surprisingly sharp after all these years. It was attached to a pole of wood, which had at some point splintered about halfway down the shaft.

Chrysalis turned her head and opened her mouth to call for the guards she had left in the hall. She felt as if each second had turned to an eternity, she barely had time to cry out when the armored changeling who had left only moments before rushed into the room, his shoulder down. Chrysalis, stunned, watched as he rammed his armored shoulder into the splintered wood, shattering it further up the hilt and driving the tip through Mara and into the stone wall behind her.

Mara began to scream anew, but was silenced momentarily when a heavy hoof came across her face. Chrysalis could only stare at the scene unfolding in front of her, second by agonizingly slow second.

Mara was sobbing, and he was screaming. Guards had just come through the entrance and were converging on the source of the noise. Chrysalis stumbled to her feet and threw herself though the opening. The guards, spears ready, were not far away, but they seemed to be frozen in place. Chrysalis shook her head to tell them to stop but there was malice in their eyes.

As the guard rushed past her, Chrysalis used her magic to form a pulsating green wall across the entrance to the room she had just exited just as the guard slammed into it. They turned to face her and as if waking from a dream, the world rushed back to normal speed.

Chrysalis’ eyes rolled skyward as she slumped to the floor.

…

Mara moaned, trying to move. Sharp pains told her that she was still pinned to the wall. She moved her head about, scanning the room. There appeared to be a green haze covering the door. Outside the haze, appeared to be several changeling guards holding spears towards the entrance.

Mara looked around the room. She spied Kishi in the corner, looking away from her. Both her bed and Kishi's bed were empty, and in the center of the room, her father stood with a look of deep concern on his face.

Mara scowled at him. She struggled a bit to show her anger, but he didn't respond right away. Mara spit, and hit him in the face.

He sighed, not bothering to wipe the spit away. "You've done a terrible thing, Mara. I knew how to save your life before but now I'm just not sure how to do it. We’re locked in here together and either you’re coming out on your feet obediently, or I’m dragging your lifeless body to the fires. So what are we going to do?”

Mara snarled at him. “You promised to give me what I want. I want off this wall and then out of here.”

“You can’t get those things, at least not yet.” He wiped away the spit from his face and sighed. “I told you you have to trust me and follow me. You’re not doing it. Chrysalis wants you dead. Those guards aren’t here for me, they’re here for you.”

Mara turned her head to look back out the entrance and studied what she saw more closely. The guards were indeed fixated on her. Their spears were pointed in her direction, and they did not flinch or falter in their focus on her where she stood pinned to the wall. “Why...why would mother want me dead?”

“You’re young, and you don’t know, so I will tell you,” he said. “Chrysalis has recently had...a change of heart, shall we say. She wants a strong Hive and she’s ready to remove those that don’t fit into her plan. I had convinced her to allow me to take a few of my choosing. I chose all of you because I otherwise you would have died for her cause.”

Kishi looked away from the wall where she had been sitting. “Why did you take us if we’re not strong?”

He turned and walked over to Kishi, putting his hooves on her shoulders. “You are strong, Kishi. You’re also different. Chrysalis wants everyone to be the same. She nearly killed me three or four times since I showed up about a year ago. She still wants to, I expect. Because I’m different. But I want to get out and I’m damn well going to take as many of you as possible to avoid a senseless waste of life.”

Kishi smiled at him, then frowned. “Are we safe here from her? Can you really get us out alive?”

He smiled and nuzzled her head. “I certainly can. Its going to be hard, and probably seem unfair at times, but I’m doing this for you. Just don’t tell anyone that, okay? I have a reputation as a brutal, uncaring monster to uphold.”

Kishi smiled. “I can do that, father.” She pushed back from him and looked at Mara. “Why can’t you do that Mara? Do you really want to die?”

Mara looked down, at least as much as he could in her predicament. “No...I don’t want to die...please let me down…”

Kishi looked back at her father. “Please let her down. She’ll be good, okay?”

He shook his head. “That’s not good enough.” He stood up and walked over to the spear that still protruded from Mara’s shoulder. “You really need to understand this, Mara. You face extermination and a gruesome death at the hands of the other races of this world. You need to be smart and quick. You need to think on your feet and adapt to any situation. You haven’t even learned how to change yet. You already face death. Can you do this?” He looked at her sternly.

Mara nodded. “Yes, I can do it. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe you,” he said, reaching out to the spear and twisting the handle.

Mara screamed in pain. “NO! I’m sorry! Please! Don’t hurt me any more!”

Kishi ran up to her father, tugging at him. “Stop it! You’re hurting her!”

“I know that, Kishi. She’s lying. I’m not dumb and I’m not leaving this room until I can be sure. Another incident like this and Chrysalis might decide to kill all of us. I’d rather deal with the pain of killing one of you rather than think about being responsible for the deaths of all of you.” He continued to twist and pull at the spear, grinding around Mara’s shoulder and opening her wound. “Show me that you really are sorry, Mara.”

Mara twisted her face around in an expression of agony and rage, and her eyes locked to his. “You hide behind that spear, let me down and let us fight for who is the strongest to lead, we’ll see who is sorry then!”

“No Mara,” he said calmly, “I’m already sorry. I’m sorry that I ever came here. I’m sorry for all those of my own kind I’ve killed. And I’m starting to feel sorry for trying to save you. But most of all, I’m sorry for what I have to do now.” He used his magic to pull the spear out of the wall and Mara, who promptly fell to the floor. He pulled it back, aimed at her head, and flung it forward.

The spear missed his mark, sticking into the stone wall slightly to the right of Mara’s head. He looked back at Kishi who had knocked him off balance at the last moment. “Kishi, please understand that I have to do this to save the lives of the rest of us.”

“No. father, please understand that I love Mara as I love you. Please, let me tend to her. She needs help.” Kishi walked over to Mara and cradled her in her arms. “She needs someone to care for her. Please?”

“We don’t have that kind of time, Kishi. Right now we need to bring this to a conclusion.” He looked back at the barrier and saw that Chrysalis had joined the guard and was also looking in at them. “We need to wrap it up fast.”

“Give me a few hours, please,” begged Kishi. “Let me try to save her. If I can’t do it by then...then…!” Kishi sobbed, thinking of what was to come.

He lowered his head. “Show me the strength that I chose you for, Kishi. I hope you can deal with this pain that you have taken on yourself. I can give you a few hours. Use them wisely.”

He picked up the spear and went to the wall, motioning to Chrysalis to let him out. She lowered the barrier just enough for him to throw the spear out and squeeze through. Chrysalis quickly closed up the hole in the barrier after he exited, and asked, “What happened in there? Why did you leave them in there?”

“Kishi seems to think she can reason with Mara better than I can.” He looked away from Chrysalis but also away from the room he just exited. His other daughters peeked around the corner of their room, concerned. “Give her a few hours. If nothing changes by then, let the guard in. I’m going to see my other daughters.”

He walked away, and Chrysalis called out after him, “And what should the guard do once they enter?” He gave no response, so Chrysalis shook her head and turned back to the barrier to watch what might happen.

He rounded the corner of the room holding Acheri, Lamia, and Fext, but also found Roddi sobbing in the corner. He walked past his daughters, nuzzling each of them briefly. Approaching Roddi, he asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”

Roddi continued to cry, but through her sobs she said with great despair, “I...thought...you were dead! And...and I can’t live without...without you… Please don’t scare me. My heart can’t...can’t take this…”

He sighed and sat down, pulling Roddi in with one arm. With the other, he motioned for his daughters to come in close. “Please Roddi, not around them. They’re scared enough already. I’ve done what I can. Our family is small enough as it is. Just...just come here and let us be together for a little while, okay?”

Fext came up first, nuzzling her father. She laid on the floor between him and Roddi, and Acheri and Lamia curled up on either side of him.

Fext licked at Roddi’s chest gently. “Please don’t cry Roddi.”

Roddi wiped her tears and kissed Fext on the head. She snuggled in close with all of them, still breathing irregularly from her despair. They lay there, silently, and waited for the gruesome sound that they all knew would be coming from the next room…

Interlude Three - Mara and Kishi

Kishi held Mara in her arms, and cried softly. “Mara, why did you do this? Father said he saved you once, why would you risk it over something so small?”

Mara struggled to a sitting position, leaning back against the wall to help support her. “I don’t know...I have, these thoughts. Visions? I don’t know what they are. I see...things. And they interest me. I want to see them for real.”

Kishi cocked her head to the side. “What kind of things to you see?”

Mara shifted suddenly to the side, and put out her injured arm to catch herself. Falling out it, she let out a small scream of pain and would have continued to the floor had Kishi not grabbed her and pulled her back upright. “Thank you, sister,” Mara said. “The things I see...they are hard to explain. Its usually dark…I don’t know what to make of them.”

Kishi gave her a confused look. “Then..I guess I don’t understand how that has any bearing on why you act the way you do.”

Mara looked at the floor. “I told you its hard to explain. Sorry If I kinda go blank on you sometimes. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Kishi reached out a hoof and lifted Mara’s chin to look her in the eyes. “Like father said, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just different. But I think we all have something that makes us that way. I think...I think father really does care for us. And I believe he can help us. Help us get out of here, anyway. Once we have that, then we can decide if we want to leave from there, okay?”

Mara smiled slightly. “You said we. Will you stay with me?”

Kishi kissed Mara’s cheek. “You’re my sister. I’ll stay with you as long as I can. But we have to agree to help each other, okay? We can’t be flying off the handle at anyone, especially mother or father.”

“Father, peh!” Mara spit the words. “There are whispers in the dark. They say he is not to be trusted. You’ve heard that too, haven’t you?”

Kishi sighed. “It seems I remember that from somewhere, but I do not recall from where exactly. Regardless, He seems the better ally than our mother. I do not wish to die, and I will take the steps to stay alive. Why won’t you?”

Mara shook her head. “Kishi, you are my sister and I love you like the others. But I cannot wrap my head around the forced servitude that we are currently facing. We do what he says, when he says.”

“But it’s to get us out alive,” Kishi interrupted, “And probably to keep us alive for a while. If father really means to get us out of here, then I would have to think he means to keep us alive for a while. Can we not at least see what his plan is? Learn a bit, see where it goes?” Kishi walked around in a circle, looking over the bare walls and out the haze covering the door before turning back to Mara. “This place, up until your little tantrum, seemed very safe. Now I feel like we have to be careful.”

Mara rotated her injured shoulder a bit and winced. “I have not yet felt safe. Lamia, Fext, and Acheri sit in the other room like we don’t even exist. And what is the other? what is her name?”

Kishi shrugged, and said, “I didn’t talk to them on the way over here. Our last sister brought in did not appear to be doing well. I hope she’s okay.”

Mara inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “Maybe he does want to help us. I don’t know why he would take the weak one.”

Kishi shook her head. “You’re thinking about it like mother. Strength is not in what you look like.”

“And what about you, huh?” Mara stared at Kishi, suddenly angry. “Why did he take you? You look normal enough to me.”

Kishi craned her neck downwards so Mara could see the thorns going down her spine. Kishi reached a hoof back and ran down the length of them, which extended all the way to the small of her back. “I think this is why. You don’t have them. I suspect I’m the only one. I don’t know why I do or what they’re for, but I’d still like to live long enough to find out.”

Mara grunted. Kishi had brought the conversation back around to something she didn’t want to talk about. “Kishi, look…” Mara trailed off. “Do I have any choice in this?”

Kishi shook her head. “I don’t think you do. I don’t think I do. But do you think those guards out there did? Do you think any of the changelings here had any choice about what brought them to their current circumstances?”

Mara shook her head no, so Kishi continued in a serious tone, “What I think we have that they don’t is a way out. We have to show that we’re capable enough to live on our own. Then we’ll have a choice. probably more than one. So I’ll ask you again, can you do this?”

Mara nodded.

“Good!” Kishi stood up, suddenly cheerful. “Let me try to tell mother that we’ve reached an agreement and that you’re not dead yet.” She walked to the wall and timidly waved at it. “Hello? can you hear me?” The guards made no response so she tried again.

Kishi waved out the door more urgently and Chrysalis stepped forward, her emerald eyes locking with her daughter’s. Chrysalis’ voice came through the haze, blurred and distorted; “What...have you decided?”

Kishi stood tall, or at least as tall as she was able to. Chrysalis stood far taller than she, and even taller than her father. Drawing in a short breath, Kishi said, “We have worked it out. We wish to live. We will obey.”

Chrysalis’ voice again came through the haze, “Let me hear her say it.”

Kishi turned back and walked quickly to Mara. Kishi leaned down and whispered, “Say it.”

Mara also drew in a breath and said in the most confident tone she could muster, “I will obey.”

Chrysalis looked at Mara closely, and waved her guards back, who backed out of the hall, two abreast. Chrysalis addressed them through narrowed eyes, “You will need to feed. But you two will have to wait. The barrier will drop in an hour. I’ll come back later to feed you.”

As Chrysalis backed away, Kishi turned her head to face Mara. “Wow,” she said, “That was tense. You gonna be okay?”

Mara brought her right hoof up to her injured shoulder. She touched it gingerly. “I think so,”she said, carefully prodding the area. “I’m not bleeding anymore. I don’t know how long its going to be until I can walk, though.”

Kishi smiled and kissed Mara’s cheek. “I’ll help you around until then. You you want to lay down?”

Mara thought about it for a second. “That might be good,” she said. “Will you help me over there?”

Kishi walked beside Mara’s injured shoulder and pulled Mara halfway onto her back. “Can you hold on there?”

Mara gripped as much as she could and the two of them slowly hobbled over to the other side of the room. Once there, Kishi gently helped Mara down onto the pile of hay on the floor.

Mara suddenly found herself very tired. “I’m...going to take a nap…”

Kishi smiled. “That’s okay sister, I’ll stay up and wait for father to come by. You sleep.” Kishi kissed Mara’s head as Mara quickly drifted off.

…

Unknown to either Mara or Kishi, Chrysalis had already stopped by and informed him of the proceedings. He had sat in the shared room with Roddi and his daughters for some time, without speaking.

Roddi stayed curled up with him, and seeing him lost in thought, chose not to interrupt. After much time had passed, Roddi felt him stir and move to get up. “Is it time?” she asked, unsure of what to do.

Standing and stretching, he replied, “It’s time for a few things. The barrier ought to be coming down shortly. I’ll need to go speak with those two. We need to figure out more permanent sleeping arrangements, and we need to set up a schedule.”

Still sitting on the floor, Roddi cocked her head to the side. “A schedule for what?”

“For our training, Roddi.” He motioned to her to get up, and continued, “We need to get this shit done and just as quick as possible. I’ll talk to the girls and work some things out. I need you to go back to the archives and get a number of reference materials for us.”

Roddi bounced at the request. “I’d love to! I haven’t seen Fici or Thrax in a while!” She paused. “And, uh, what do you need me to get?”

“We’re going to condense a lot of learning into a very short time frame. At least, short considering our life span. What do we already have?”

Roddi thought for a moment. “Forging iron, I know for sure. We read that a little while ago. I believe also some rudimentary history books about the changeling race? What do you want? I guarantee you we have it, but the further back we go, the less likely it will be that you can read it without me to translate.”

“Then let’s try and keep it easy. Do you want to make a list?” When Roddi shook her head no, he continued, “Then we need the most recent books on history you got. I want anything and everything that can give them an idea what they’re going to encounter up there. They don’t even know what the sun looks like!”

“Uh,” Roddi interrupted meekly, “I don’t know what it looks like, either.”

“Well then,” he replied, “I suppose you kind of know, since you’ve read all the books, what ponies look like, how they act? Lore, history, society, whatever you got. Reports from scouts, maybe? And the failed invasion of Canterlot, I bet you got a lot about that.”

“Yeah...about that…” Roddi looked conflicted. “Mother didn’t really want that to go in there but we did it anyway. We felt, or rather, I felt, that it was an important event in our ongoing history. So I can get that but we hid the book so I’ll have to be real careful when bringing it back.”

He nodded. “Understood. Can we maybe steal a shelf too so the books aren’t laying about the floor?”

Roddi winked at him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He turned to Fext, Acheri, and Lamia where they sat on their straw bed. “Come girls, we’re going to have a chat as a family.” He walked out of their room and into the center of the hall with the four of them following behind. He told Roddi, “Go get Chakora, please. You can stay for a minute too, before you head off.”

Roddi bowed. “As you command.” She trotted off to retrieve Chakora from their bed.

He didn’t respond, instead walking over to the magical barrier that Chrysalis had put up. It was already beginning to weaken, so he concentrated his own magic and in a flash the wall fell like a curtain, disappearing as soon as it hit.

Kishi looked out the entry in surprise. “Could you have done that any time you wanted to?”

“Dispelling magic is in fact very easy. I doubt Chrysalis would teach it to you, though.” He walked inside the opening, and saw Mara sleeping. To Kishi he said, “Get your sister up and around and both of you come out here. We’re going to lay down some rules and get this training room up and running. I want out of here more so now than ever.”

Kishi nudged Mara who rolled over, away from her injured side, snoring loudly. Kishi pushed her more firmly, and Mara rolled back the other way, starting to wake. “Mara, get up,” Kishi said to her in a hushed tone. “Father is asking for us.”

Mara blinked her eyes wearily and smacked her lips. “I’m hungry,” she said, only half-awake.

“I’m hungry too, sister, but remember what we said? We’re going to do what we’re told. Chrysalis will be back later to feed us.” Kishi pushed at Mara further, trying to rouse her fully.

He had not moved from the doorway and Kishi was obviously nervous at how long it was taking Mara to wake, so she stooped low and scooted Mara onto her back. “Come on dear sister,” Kishi said, “We need to go, like now.”

Kishi half carried, half dragged Mara out of bed. Her father backed up out of the room a few steps. “Bring her over here, Kishi,” he commanded. They walked together out to the center of the room, watched by their sisters and Roddi.

Reaching the center, he waited for Kishi and Mara to sit before starting. Drawing in a breath, he said to the assembled group: “Now that that mess is over with, we need to have a very serious talk. You all need to grow up fast. I’m going to give you more training than I ever got, but you need to take everything seriously. When I tell you its time to learn, I expect you all out here. Free time you can do what you like.

“We’ll be getting some books for both instruction and voluntary reading. I suggest you do both.” He scanned the assembled group and was pleased to see that all were quite attentive. “I’ll be teaching you a bit about us, and about the other races of the world. We’ll learn how to change, and what you can and cannot do.”

He started to pace back and forth. “I’ll tell you about the societies and the attitudes up there, above ground. I’ll tell you about my life and my opinions, but I expect you to form your own opinions. Do not be hesitant to ask questions.”

He stopped and ruffled Fext on the head. “You are all sisters.” He turned and went to each in turn, telling them, ”I am your father. Chrysalis is your mother. I want to see every one of you live long and happy. But first we have to get out of here. You are all special. You will be a force to be reckoned with. Get to know one another. Having someone to watch your back when things get rough is something I have not often had but wished I did.”

Roddi, already knowing where the speech was going, slowly and quietly back out of the circle and out of the room to get what was requested from the archives.

Not stopping as Roddi left, he continued, “Roddi is a fantastic source on changelings. I am a fantastic source on the above world. When Chrysalis comes by, you be on your best behavior.” He glowered at Mara who promptly looked away. “You say ‘thank you’ and leave it at that.”

He paused. His daughters were all listening, but he didn’t want them to be afraid. He dropped his stance a bit. “Look...just...just remember what happened today, okay? We need to stay together and work together, and we’ll all get out of here together. Everyone agree?”

Everyone in the room nodded their heads, including Mara and Kishi. He sighed, and said, “Also, we need to get some arrangements together. Chakora needs to be out of my room and with some of you. You can better look over her than just me.”

A low, faint voice turned their attention to Chakora. “I don’t need any help, father.”

He smiled and walked over to her. “Aww, that’s sweet dear, but you do. I’ll do whatever I can to help you get around but your sisters should help, too.” He kissed Chakora on the head.

Lamia walked up beside them. “Put her in with us, father. Acheri, Fext and I can look after her.”

He checked with the others. Fext and Lamia nodded, but Acheri looked down. “Acheri,” he said, “Why don’t you move next door with Mara and Kishi and give them some company? Mara will be walking on her own in a few days and you can help out until then.”

Mara started to frown but Kishi smiled and bumped against Mara. “That’s fine with us. Come, Acheri, lets get your bed set up.”

He waved them away. “Go ahead, you girls work out your arrangements while I wait for Roddi to come back. When she does, we’ll get started.”

Chapter Nine

Roddi was gone for a while, so he decided to take a nap. When he awoke, he walked back into the main hall to see Roddi arranging some books on a crude shelf.

“Ah,” she exclaimed upon seeing him, “You’re up! I saw Chrysalis coming back from here, I assume she fed everyone. Also, Thrax just left. She helped me get this stuff down here. I decided not to bring that..uh, particular book, as luck would have it. Its short, so I just gave it a read and I can teach it without having to risk Mother finding out.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he said, walking over to where she was arranging books. “What did you manage to bring back?”

“Well, besides what we already had, I found a number of volumes on pony history, species info, cultural traditions of the various species, geography, lots of stuff. Weapons, armor, battles, diseases, medicine, all kinds of stuff.” Roddi’s tail wagged as she talked.

He smirked and bit at her backside playfully.

Roddi jumped forward and looked back at him. “Oh, what some of this eh?”

He shrugged. “Your reactions are amusing. I can take you whenever I want.”

Roddi smiled. “Yes, yes you can. Is now going to be one of those times?”

“Meh.” He shrugged. “Not particularly feeling it right now. Lets go get the girls and bring them ‘round to see our collection, what say?”

“Aww,” Roddi said disappointedly. She shuffled off to the shared rooms to rouse everybody, telling them to meet in the central chamber.

Mara And Kishi were the first to arrive. Fext, Lamia, and Acheri with Chakora on her back came next. Gingerly setting Chakora to the floor, Acheri sat next to her. They all turned their attention as he began to speak.

“Okay, we’ve got some rules in place, now for the really fun part: learning.” They didn’t seem to get the joke so he continued, “Lets start real simple. Well, actually, first let’s explain what we have to work with. I’ve been living amongst the other species of this world for my entire life. Roddi has not, however, she knows all the information in these books. I expect you will doing a lot of listening to one of us talk, and a lot of reading. When you have questions, ask.

“We will be doing instruction and periodic exercise. Nothing will prepare you for everything you will encounter up there. And by ‘up there’, understand that we are living in a cave far underground right now. None of the other species of the world know where we are, and likely you’ll never see this place again after leaving. The above world is, mostly, open beyond your imagination. There is no ceiling. The ceiling is is the sky and the light comes not from torches but the sun and moon.” He noticed that some of them wanted to ask questions but he held up a hoof. “There are diagrams and drawings in the books. I’m going to just give some basics.

“The other races of this world, particularly those of the equine variety we look most similar to, distrust us the most. They are also the most populous and the easiest to deceive. We will be working with them. You all will need to become proficient at changing. Has anyone seen it yet or tried?”

Everyone (save Roddi, who was sitting near the back), shook their heads. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I was told. Focus in on your subject. Concentrate. It is your natural talent so it will come forth.” He looked among them. “Um, Fext. Why don’t you give it a try?”

All eyes turned to Fext, who stammered, “I, uh...I don’t know what a pony looks like.”

He chuckled. “Oh, right, I forgot. Roddi, come up here and change into a...I don’t know...how about a pegasus?”

Roddi walked to him obediently and in a brilliant flash changed her form to a stunning blue pegasus. Her wings took a feathery form but retained the same color as her wings. A soft pink mane fell around her shoulder.

“Yes, like that,” he said. “Fext, try to imagine yourself as what you see here. Close your eyes. See the picture in your mind. Imagine it growing from you to cover your body.”

Fext did as instructed and closed her eyes. “Okay...I see it. So the blue...just comes out?”

“Imagine it growing to cover your own skin,” he said, walking around Fext where she stood with her eyes closed. “See the feathers sprout and grow. feel the mane touch your shoulders.”

Fext concentrated hard. She breathed deeply, straining to keep the picture in her mind. She tried to keep focus, but a fierce giggling from around her caused her to open her eyes. Her sisters were all laughing. Even her father smiled.

“Not bad for a first try,” he said.

Fext looked at herself. A straggly pink mane and pink fur surrounded her. A few feathers sprouted in odd directions from otherwise bare wings. “Ack!” Fext turned in circles. “How do I get this off? Ew, its so...ew!” She shook herself from head to heel and the fur disappeared into thin air.

Acheri laughed, walking up to Fext. “Aww, I thought the color really suited you,” she said.

Fext hissed and jumped on Acheri. “You take that back!”

Acheri rolled about on the floor with Fext. “Never!”

Their father stepped forward. “Come on girls, pay attention.” As they grudgingly got up, he said to the both of them, “It will come with practice. The better you get at it, the easier it will be. You should also practice changing your voice. We changelings have a wide vocal range. I’ve been told that I’m a great singer more than once.

“Soon we’ll have flying lessons. Its super easy. Well, its super easy after a while. I can stay aloft for hours on end. But maneuvering...well, we’ll get there.” He paused. “What have I forgotten?”

Roddi let her disguise fall in a flash. “I believe,” she said, “That I should talk about our history for a while?”

He nodded. “That’s a good idea. Go ahead.” He sat on the outer rim of the circle.

“I’ll start as far back as I know,” Roddi said. “We weren’t always as we are now…”

…

Days turned into weeks and weeks to months. Every day he would run drills on changing, flying, and general mannerisms. He also taught them rudimentary magic, like levitation and how to manipulate objects with their magic. Roddi would stand in as his test dummy. And after, they would retreat back into their room while his daughters read or played.

One such time, as they lay in their shared bed, he said to Roddi, “You know, you should try practicing changing and whatnot. You’re not going to get very far relying on the meager skills you have.”

“Pssh,” she scoffed. “I don’t plan being anywhere but in your bed and between the floor and your stomach.”

He sighed. “I hope you’ll reconsider at least trying to take in some of what I’m trying to teach, Roddi. I’m trying hard to remember what you teach.”

“You’re more than I will ever be, my love,” she cooed, leaning into him. For what you have given me, a little knowledge and some stories are the little I can offer to you in return. And, of course, my body and soul. But you already take those a lot.”

“Tell me,” he said, laying his head down. “What was that...that thing that you became in the archives when you stared down Chrysalis?”

Roddi smiled. And even though he could not see it, he could hear the fascination in her voice. “Ah, that. Back in the day, when we had our own kingdoms, they were the fiercest predator that roamed the dark places of the world. The word for them is lost on me. There is no translation for it. But, apparently our ancestors scoured the deep caves that we now call home to kill the beasts. We hunted them almost to extinction.”

“Almost?” he asked. “Like, there might still be some out there?”

“Its hard to say. Up until recently, I believe most of the world thought that we were also gone for good.” Roddi rolled over to look him in the eye. “The hunt for the monster is what started our exploration of the caves in Equestria. That’s why we have the maps. That’s why no-one ever goes far from the Hive. Somewhere down in the depths, they may still be lurking.”

“Your stories do little to scare me,” he said, kissing Roddi’s nose. “I’ve faced death from a number of species, mostly recently my own. Why not just add another to that list?”

Roddi ground her hips forward against him. “Oh, I know. Your power is something I’ve grown quite accustomed to. And I don’t want it any other way.”

He grinned, showing off his teeth. Roddi made a show of being scared. “Oh, my!” she exclaimed. “This big powerful creature is going to have his way with me!” Roddi dropped the act and laughed.

A sound from their doorway turned their heads. “Um, Father? Roddi? Can I ask a question?”

They both looked over at Acheri where she stood, just inside their doorway. “I uh,” Acheri started, “I, uh...uh, I’ll leave you alone.”

He called out after her, “Acheri, come on in. You need not be embarrassed. What do you want to know?”

Acheri turned and entered their room, bringing a book along with her magic. “I have some questions about the things in these books. Ponies are so short-lived, and they are so fragile.”

“I think we are no less fragile, my dear,” he said with a soft, but serious tone.

“Yes,” Acheri replied, “But equines seem so prone to disease. Some of the things here, like this one-” she turned the book around so they could see a sketch of a great pile of dead bodies. “The book says it took one thousand equines in a single day. And yet we do not seem to be affected by it. It...it fascinates me.”

Roddi wrinkled her nose. “What about dead bodies fascinates-”

“I find it fascinating too, Acheri,” he interrupted. Roddi turned to look at him as he continued, “I think it's in the fundamental differences of our kind from them. We can be hurt, yes, just like they can. But in all my years around them, I’ve had to fake being sick a few times so not to raise suspicion. Read some more and come back later to tell me of what you’ve learned.”

Acheri nodded, and eagerly left the room to continue reading.

After she left, Roddi looked back at him. “Do you think it’s wise,” she asked, “To encourage such behavior?”

“I think that they will grow they way they want. I would rather they have their own intrests and specialities.” He shifted forward, pushing Roddi out of the bed. “I will encourage and support them as much as I can, and I only hope that it will not turn out to be in vain.” He climbed out after Roddi. “Wait here.”

Roddi sat on the floor as he exited the room. He came back briefly with some of the scrap iron that had been sitting in the far corner for some time. “Since I’m awake now,” he said, piling the metal on the floor, “Let’s see what we can do with this stuff.”

Roddi reached out with her magic, picking it up with a green glow. She clenched her teeth as she strained at it. “Nnnnngh! It’s like trying to stretch the wall. I can’t make it do anything!” She dropped it in a huff, obviously annoyed.

He smiled. “Remember the technique in the book. Its not as easily moved like a pillow, or a book. It can be bent, but only through great force of will, not great force of strength.”

“Ooh,” she cooed sarcastically. “Well why don’t you give it a try, then?”

He reached out with his own magic, and picked up a broken chestplate. Holding it with his own green aura, he concentrated hard, imagining the metal bending. He saw in his mind’s eye the metal flowing, smoothing, and fusing.

An awe of excitement sounded from Roddi. “You’re doing it!”

“Shh,” he scolded her, keeping his eyes closed. “I’m trying to concentrate.”

Roddi shut her mouth with a snap and continued to watch at the broken steel plate that he held aloft ever so slowly bent and stretched, the broken edges coming back together seamlessly. She also noticed that he was straining hard, and soon he opened his eyes to inspect his work.

“Whew!” he exclaimed, turning the plate over in front of him. “That’s not easy! Chrysalis made it look so nonchalant. Well, practice makes perfect.” He placed the plate against the wall near their bed. “Come on, lets gather the girls for some more training.”

They left the room together, Roddi heading to the far side to get Mara, Acheri, and Kishi, while he went to rouse Fext, Lamia, and Chakora. Gathering in the center, he smiled at them. “Welcome back. I want to go over another important part of changing, now that all of you have got the basics down. Now we’re going to go more advanced and talk about changing size.

“Going up in size is very easy. The same way you project a magical field around yourself to simulate the appearance of fur, hair, feathers, you just extend the reach of your field to greater ranges. Its still soft, nearly immaterial, but with practice can be very effective.”

“So I’ve heard,” Roddi said from the back.

He sighed. “In order not to raise alarm, I’m not going to be demonstrating the form I’ve used before. There is...a lot of pain associated with it.”

He paused, and continued, “So instead let’s talk about the more difficult process of decreasing your size. You can’t just make yourself appear smaller, as you can when you increase size. You actually have to get smaller.”

He waited, to see if anyone was going to ask how, but nobody did. “In this case, Roddi won’t be our test dummy. So I’ll show you.” He stood nearer the center of the semi-circle, and stood with his legs farther apart than normal. “You have to kind of...push. It will excrete fluid out of the holes around your legs...like so.” He made a show of scrunching up his face and gritting his teeth as a green slime started to seep around his legs and pool on the floor.

Chakora, who was closest to him, shrieked and scooted backwards. “Ew! No! Ew ew ew!” She winced as she leaned on her rear legs, but continued to slide backwards. “That’s nasty!”

Roddi stuck her tongue out as her master started to shrink in size. “Bleh. You better not be getting smaller everywhere,” she said.

He didn’t respond, instead grunting as his shell shifted, collapsing in on itself to match his diminutive new form. Panting, he opened his eyes. He shifted about, somewhat uncomfortably. “As you can see,” he told them, “I suffer a slight handicap in that my armor plate does not change size. Damn this thing is heavy...”

They looked on, dumbfounded. Lamia raised her hoof. “Can I try?”

He chuckled. “You are already kind of small. How much smaller do you want to be?” Seeing Lamia’s eyes widen and a pout start to form on her face, he smiled and waved her off. “Go right ahead, my dear.”

Lamia motioned for the others to move away from her. As they did she mimicked her father by closing her eyes and scrunching up her face. “Nnng! Come on, get smaller!”

Her father took two steps towards her to help but stopped as he noticed that slime had started to seep from around her legs. “You’re doing great Lamia,” he encouraged her. “You’ll feel yourself start to lose size. Just go a little further.”

Lamia, spurred on by the encouragement, strained a little harder. Her shell shrank as well, folding back in on itself, as her already smaller than normal form regressed in appearance of age. Lamia exhaled roughly, having held in her breath for so long. Opening her eyes, she inspected herself. “Ooh! Look how small I am!”

“Nice work sister,” Chakora complimented her.

Now her father took the steps to her and kissed her head. “Indeed. Now why don’t you also taking a pony form? You could pass for a foal.”

Lamia smiled. She lowered her head and hunched her shoulders as an off-white coat grew from her black shell. She folded her wings back as they were covered by her new fur, the frills on her head covered by a pink mane that fell in a wave halfway down to the floor. An identical pink tail flowed from her rump, and as she completed the transformation squeaked, “Daddy!” The tiny Lamia held up her arms, asking to be picked up.

“I don’t think I’m the right size to be your father, dear,” he said, a similar white coat growing over his plate. He too folded his wings back but a straight blond mane sprouted from his head and rump. “Maybe more like your older brother?”

Lamia nodded and embraced him in a hug. “Wait,” said Mara from the circle, “How do you get back to normal? All your...stuff...is on the floor.”

Lamia broke out of the embrace and rolled her eyes at Mara. “And why would I want to do that? This is way more fun.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Lamia. We’re going to be stuck like this for a while.” Her father walked back to the front of the group. “No free time until you’ve all managed to do it.” Hearing a collective groan, he folded his arms and sat on the floor. “I mean it. I’ll give you more time off, but no-one leaves until then.”

Fext stood up. “Fine, I’ll go next.”

…

His daughters sat in a circle around him in the center of the training room, with their eyes closed. "Reach out with your mind," he told them, "And tell me what you feel."

Acheri spoke first, "I feel a dark aura, all around, and especially in front...where you are?"

He nodded. "Yes, very good. We are able to sense emotions, as we depend on them for life. Changelings, as you can tell, are like a void of emotion. They pull in everything around them. With practice, you will be able to tell how far away the emotions, and hence the subjects, are from you.

"When your mother and I were having an...ah, disagreement, shall we say, I kept close track of when I could first feel her coming and count the footsteps. And sometimes, oftentimes, she would pretend to leave, but she didn't fool me.

“Do you feel at the corners of your mind, a warm, almost glowing sensation?" He paused, and cracked an eye at them. They were straining, so he asked, "Roddi, you feel it, don't you?" He closed his eyes again.

Roddi approached him from behind, walking slowly into his circle. She swayed her hips from side to side despite his closed eyes, mostly due to force of habit. "Of course I do, my master. It's mother and her continual waves of love she sends out for us to feed on." Roddi stopped in front of him, looking back to see if his eyes were still closed. They were.

Roddi backed up, slowly, quietly. She licked her lips, and addressed them, "Do you sense anything else? Roddi stopped her rump a few inches from his face, still wagging it abit to try to waft her scent to him.

He already discerned what she was doing, but stayed silent as Kishi said, "I feel something. It's dark, and swirling as before, but it feels different. It seems directed outward, not inward. And it feels...inviting, like, like...!"

Kishi trailed off as a moan of pleasure caused them all to open their eyes. Roddi was drooling as her eyes rolled back in pure pleasure. He had buried his snout into her and was licking earnestly. He pulled his snout back, trailing saliva, and bit at her backside.

Roddi squeaked, and pushed back at him. He bit at her again, harder, saying in a growl, "Go on, tell them what that aura is."

Roddi opened her mouth but lost her train of thought as his hot breath fell on her open folds. He growled slightly and brought his jaws down of the soft folds of flesh around and inside her slick green sex.

Roddi screamed in partial pain and partial pleasure. "Ahh! Lust....!" She dropped her head low to the floor. “Come, master, show them what pleasure really is by using me."

His member already bobbing beneath him, he stood behind Roddi as his daughters watched from all around him. Placing his hooves on her back and positioning himself, he smiled. He slowly met her dripping sex with his tip, but pushed Roddi away as she tried to back up onto him.

Roddi whined, and he asked his daughters, "Who does not feel what Kishi does? Who does not feel lust?"

They looked at each other, and Chakora spoke softly, "I don't feel it, father."

He nodded. "That's okay, Chakora. Will you watch carefully, please?"

They all nodded as he rammed himself forward into Roddi who screamed a second time. "Ah! Master, you're too hard! Don't break your toy!"

Mara and Kishi looked at each other and smirked. Acheri ground her own butt against the floor, feeling something stir watching the brutal but somehow enticing scene in front of her. She panted softly, a warmth spreading between her legs where Father was pushing his thing into Roddi.

He noticed Acheri's movements and slowed his pace, bumping against Roddi's backside, allowing her to catch her breath. "Do you know what we are doing, Acheri?"

Acheri shook her head, eliciting a laugh from Kishi. "They're fucking, Acheri," Kishi said, "How can you not know that?"

Acheri looked down, so he shifted on top of Roddi, grinding against her and causing the slime of their lovemaking to audibly fall to the floor, coating it with a slick sheen in the magical light. Roddi whined, clenching down on him, wanting more.

"If you know so much, Kishi," he said, looking over his shoulder at her, "Then you can tell us what happens next?"

Kishi glanced around the room, to find everyone staring at her. Except Roddi, who was staring blankly towards the far wall, drool coming from the corners of her mouth.

"Well then, this is the best part," he told them. "If you can learn to do this correctly, you can make any stallion give you love." He sank down, wrapping his front legs around Roddi's hips, and said to Roddi, "Beg for it. Tell me how much you want it."

Roddi craned her neck up and back towards him, her eyes blank. She moaned, "Yes, master, please fuck me with that big cock of yours! Please, fill me up! I'm your little fuck toy. Please! Don't make me wait!"

He did wait, letting silence fill the room for a few seconds as they all took it in:
Mara stared intently. He was obviously the one in control here but she assumed that could easily be flipped around on weaker minds;
Acheri moaned a bit herself, feeling the floor become wet underneath her;
Kishi and Fext were fixated on his member as he pulled slowly out of Roddi, despite her moans and pleas;
Chakora and Lamia looked at each other, and back at Roddi, then back at each other.

Becoming angry from the teasing, Roddi growled from beneath him, "Find a different teaching aid if you're going to be this slow. I want my fucking!"

He growled deeply, brown feathers sprouting from his back and wings, and talons growing from his hooves to dig into Roddi's shell. His snout hardened to a beak, and with his more agile griffon form he rammed himself back into her.

Roddi let out a snarl of her own, pushing back hard against him and begging anew. "Yes! Fuck me harder, please! Fill me up like never before, Give me that wonderful seed, Just FILL ME!" Roddi clenched hard, trapping him inside.

Grunting, he loosed himself into Roddi, the massive pressure she was exerting keeping every drop inside her. She purred happily, and as he started to slow and soften, relaxed her grip.

"What, ah," asked Fext, obviously confused, "What was the good part?"

Roddi smiled, letting him slip out and turning her rump toward Fext. His white seed contrasted against her black shell and green flesh. "That there is the most wonderful feeling when its in you. This is the best place but I'll also take it down my throat or even on my face or shell. But this is definitely the best.”

He panted, letting his griffon coat fall off his shoulders and onto the floor. "Its the best for me too. And its here where, if you can control the act of sex, that you will receive more love from a stallion than you have ever felt at one time."

Mara nodded solemnly but the others looked doubtful.

"Don't worry," he told them, "Soon we'll get you some test subjects that you can practice on."

Fext cocked her head. "Can't we practice with you?"

Roddi whirled around. "No! This one is mine!" She snarled, baring her teeth, to which Fext recoiled.

He walked beside Roddi. "Calm down. Lets remember who owns who here."

Roddi drooped her ears. "Sorry, master. It makes me scared to think of losing you."

He kissed her cheek. "Come, everyone, that's enough for now. Free time, we'll continue later."

The group disbanded, heading back to their separate rooms. Acheri helped Chakora onto her back carried her back to bed. Roddi wobbled slightly making her way back to his bed. She looked back to him, where he was arranging some things against the rear wall. "Are you coming, lover?"

"No, Roddi, I need to get some things ready for the next lesson. Take a nap and come find me when you're done. I'll need your help at some point."

Roddi nodded but something about his tone bothered her. She lay in the straw bed and tried to think of what it was.

…

When she woke up, Roddi stretched and wobbled her way back into the hall, where he was drawing some diagrams on the stone walls. They appeared to be physiological diagrams, of changelings in particular. He had a book open, from which he would glance and then re-create on the larger surface.

Roddi approached him slowly and asked, “A lesson on us? What good does that do?”

Not looking away from his work, he said, “Knowing how your body works is useful in knowing the limits of what you can and cannot do, at least physically. Magical limitations are much harder to quantify. And besides, this is also a learning experience for me. Do you have any medically trained changelings?”

Roddi hesitated. “Yes, a few. But I highly doubt that they’re going to be interested in coming down here to help you with much of anything. You might not have heard but since your, uh, rampage in the nursery, but they had to triage a lot of us and well...I don’t believe they are too happy with you.”

“Ah,” he mused, “I hadn’t thought of that. Oh well, can you assist me with putting some diagrams up here?”

Roddi approached and lifted the book away from him with her magic. She peered at the contents, flipping back and forth a few pages. “This, uh, this is kind of gruesome,” she said with a disgusted look. “These are, erm, internal diagrams.”

“I’m well aware of that, Roddi.” He pulled the book away from her as he continued, “But especially now, considering that we likely won’t get any sort of medical support, we might as well teach ourselves the basics in case someone gets hurt.”

Roddi stepped up to the wall where he had been putting the diagrams to inspect them. “Who would get hurt? And how?”

He gave Roddi a sideways glance and motioned to Mara’s room. Roddi rolled her eyes at him, and said, “I wasn’t referring to that. More like, I thought your plan was low-key? Are we going to be in any danger?”

He sighed, and put the book down. “Roddi, our entire race is in danger. All the other species of this world hate and fear us because they’ve been taught to. No-one cares to get to know any of us and would rather just remove the problem than try to fix it. One slip, one wrong word and any one of us might be staring down a spear, or a sword. I’d rather be prepared just in case rather than to just hope something won’t happen.”

“Then stay here,” she said, moving to nuzzle him. “I’ve never been as happy as I am now. Mother will let you stay, I’m sure. She’s let you have this much freedom, I can talk to her to see if we can-”

“No,” he interrupted. “I don’t want to stay here. It might be easier, but it doesn’t make me happy. Trust me, while the outside world can be scary, and is always dangerous, with practice it is easily kept at bay. And besides, I won’t have my family always breathing down my neck and telling me what to do.” He sighed, and looked up to the ceiling while closing his eyes. “Ah, how nice it will be to breathe fresh air again. To feel the soft grass and be able to stretch my wings and fly. I do not particularly like the sun, but you take the bad with the good...”

He trailed off so Roddi nudged him. “Hmm?” he asked, looking back down and at her. He blinked a few times. “Sorry, I must have gotten lost in a memory for a minute there.”

Roddi smiled softly. “You keep telling me you have no more stories, then you allude to things that you haven’t told me about. Why do you hold back from me?” Roddi swished her tail and kissed his cheek.

He kissed her back. “Trust is not an easy thing to come by, Roddi. While I do enjoy your company, my experience tells me not to fully trust anybody.”

Roodle leaned in and put her head on his chest. “I understand why you say that,” she cooed, “But just so you know, I trust you completely.”

He put his head on hers. “I know that. Thank you.” He straightened up. “Come on, I think I’m about finished. Go gather up everyone and bring them back out here.”

Roddi smiled sweetly. “As you command, master.” She bowed to him and trotted off.

He turned back to his book and finished marking up the diagrams as his daughters started to gather around in their familiar arrangement. He closed his book and turned around in time to see Acheri carrying Chakora out to their circle.

As they sat, he addressed them, “Welcome back girls. This time we’re going to talk about ourselves. What’s inside us. how our bodies work. And why that’s important.” He paused and paced back and forth a bit as he talked. “I can tell you a lot about myself and how I grew, but each of you are a little bit different, and I suspect your growth is going to be likewise different.

“Your body is pretty straightforward on the outside. Wings, horn, shell, skin. But what’s inside is what makes us really different than the other species of the world. Take a look here-” he turned to the wall and picked up a spearhead from nearby to use as a pointer. “This is the internal diagram of the standard earth pony. Brain here, internal organs take up the most of the interior space here. Other races follow this same format on the inside. Notice also that there isn’t a lot of empty space. In contrast to us over here-” he moved the pointer over to his other diagram, “Where you can see we’re kind of empty inside.”

“So we’re...missing parts?” Fext asked.

“No,” he replied, not looking away from the diagram, “I’d say we have the right amount for what we need. Notice over here on the earth pony they have a stomach, and intestines. It really takes up a lot of space, because this is how they get energy; they eat food to survive. We have kind of a pouch instead. Our body breaks down material food to replenish our internal fluid. That means, if you don’t eat after changing size, it’ll take a very long time to get back to your normal size.”

Lamia asked from the back, “And this is the fluid that we can excrete, correct? To take the form of a foal?”

He turned to face them. “Yes, quite correct Lamia. It can also be used, as I understand it, to create the pods that you develop in. In my experience, it does not appear to matter what you eat to regain size.”

“Hey yea!” Lamia said, “How did you regain your size faster than the rest of us? It took me forever to grow back to this size. You were back to normal in a few days! What gives?”

He grimaced. “I did it by eating some of the hay in my bed. Now, moving on. Your shell covers this membrane layer-”

“You missed my favorite part,” Roddi interjected.

He looked at Roddi, who winked back. He looked up in exasperation. “Roddi, can you keep your mind on the task at hand for more than one minute? This is teaching time. Didn’t you get a good enough fucking last time?”

“It’s never enough,” she whined. “I need more!”

He sighed, looking back down. “Right, whatever. Dick goes in the female here, comes out of here on a male, what-the-fuck-ever. Moving on…” he paused but Roddi didn’t say anything, so he continued, “Your skin and shell covers your organs. My shell has developed over time into this hard plate. But underneath is a softer, more pliable skin. All of you have this softer skin because you are young. But Kishi,” he turned to face her, “May grow a hard plate. Your thorns look similar to the way my shell looked way back when my plate first started to expand. But yours is starting much, much earlier. Yours might be huge!”

Kishi rolled her eyes. “How long did yours take to grow?”

“To get this big, several hundred years,” he told them. “But it didn’t start until I was at least a hundred. It’s been a long time, I’m not positive on the details. But since it will change along with you, its very handy to have.

“Your shell is also self-healing. If damaged, over time it will stitch itself back together. But you have to be careful, if it gets severely damaged and you don’t set it in place, it will heal crooked. And the only way to fix that is to re-break it. Trust me, its very painful and you don’t want to force that on yourself just to heal it all over again.

“You’ll also notice that our wings are very thin and fragile, compared to other species. Gryphons and pegasi have muscular, feathered wings and dragons have leathery wings that can tear, but not as easily as ours. Practice your flying, an injured wing can take you down fast and for a long time.”

“How long do those take to heal?” asked Acheri. “I like my wings. Will they still be the same?”

“I don’t know, Acheri. I was fortunate enough not to ever tear a wing.” He picked up the book from which he had copied the diagrams, flipping through the pages. “There is not much information in here about that particular topic. I’d say just be extra careful. We can be killed, and just as easily as other species. Our talent is to blend and adapt. Not to fight.”

Acheri sighed, so he assured her, “Your wings are beautiful. I thought my purple wings looked good but the black coloration on the tip of yours is way better.”

Acheri smiled a little. “Thank you, father.”

He turned to the rest of the group. “Anyone else have questions?”

Fext raised a hoof. “So these, erm, internal parts. I assume we cannot live without them, right? Ponies too?”

He nodded. “Very much so. The removal of your internal organs does not cause immediate death, but can be, ah, very painful. I don’t know from experience but have had the chance to see..things.” He struggled to explain it. “Its not something that I enjoyed. It was valuable from a purely academic standpoint, but too gruesome for me. It was...unnecessary, to say the least.”

Fext looked at him quizzically. “Can you explain more? What happened? To whom? And how were you involved?”

“I don’t really want to, Fext.” Seeing her ears drop, he sighed. “Look, the gryphons have a reputation for being brutal. Not just to each other, but also to their captives. They had a method of obtaining information from a subject that involved a very slow process of removing their organs. The subject in question...he screamed for a long time.”

After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence as they all took it in. Fext however, maintained her quizzical look. “Did it work?” she asked.

He squinted. “What?”

“Did the method work?” Fext repeated. “Just, uh...just curious.”

He gave Fext an irritated look. “How about you do some reading, eh? And stop asking me questions about things that I don’t want to talk about.”

Fext looked down, disappointed. “Okay…”

He waved them off. “Free time, girls. Take a look at the book here, ask questions if they are a little less morbid, okay?”

Fext grumbled and walked away. She talked with Chakora briefly but continued on to their room.

Chakora scooted along the floor, saying, “Father? Can I speak with you?”

“Hmm?” He turned and walked to her. “What do you need, dear?”

Chakora looked unsure. “I, uh, I have an idea.”

Author's Note

FYI, this story is completely self-edited, so I probably should apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. Enjoy anyway!

Chapter Ten

“It’s too risky, Chakora. I won’t allow it.”

He sat on the floor in his room, looking at Chakora where she sat across from him, leaning away from her deformed rear legs. “I appreciate that you’re using your brain to come up with alternate solutions, but this isn’t one that I can endorse.”

“But you really haven’t explained why its bad,” Chakora protested. “I say ‘I have an idea on how to fix my legs,’ and you jump right to a no answer.”

He looked at Chakora sternly and told her, “Your plan is untested, likely not to work, and excruciatingly painful to boot. What needs explaining?” He was getting irritated and knew it. He sighed and walked over to Chakora, putting an arm around her. “Look, you are very brave for facing the world every day with the limitations you have. You have kept a cheerful and determined attitude and I commend you for that. But we need to work within your limitations.”

Chakora pushed his arm away. “But I don’t want to be limited!” Tears welled in her eyes. “Why won’t you help me!?”

From the other side of the room, Roddi replied flatly, “That’s a good question, I think. Do I not remember you telling me that suffering when you are young is preferable?”

“I no longer consider any of you to be young,” he retorted. “And I consider each of your lives precious. So would someone please make a good argument as to why I should voluntarily put any of your lives at risk so you can feel better about the way you look?”

Chakora looked at the floor. “Appearances are everything, you said so yourself. Our life is one of deception. And yet I cannot change fully, like everyone else can. I cannot walk, I cannot do much of anything for myself.” A tear ran down Chakora’s cheek so she raised a hoof to wipe it away. “I don’t understand why you’d want me around. I don’t know why anyone would want me around.”

Roddi stood up to console her but Chakora pushed her back. “I don’t want your pity. I want to be able to fend for myself. And if I can’t do that I’ll save you all the trouble of having to wait for me to die.”

Chakora fluttered her wings and picked herself up off the floor. Both her father and Roddi stared in disbelief. “When did you learn how to do that?” they said in unison.

“When you weren’t watching, which is often,” Chakora said dejectedly. She turned in mid-air and steered herself toward the door.

He stood quickly and pursued Chakora out into the hall. “Whoa whoa, wait a minute here! Come back inside.” He motioned her to back inside his room. “I may have been too hasty. You’re obviously full of surprises and talent, we’ll talk about your idea again.”

Chakora stopped moving but did not turn to face him. “I don’t want to talk, I want to do it.”

He nodded, and said, “Okay, but we need a plan. Let’s come up with a plan so we can get the best results possible, okay?” He motioned her to come back before her sisters started to ask questions.

Chakora turned slowly. She looked pitiful, hovering there with her head down and her useless and malformed rear legs hanging just above the floor. “Okay...if you promise.”

“I don’t break my promises,” he told her confidently. “I promise that we’ll do everything, or, I’ll do everything, to help you walk.”

Chakora brightened a bit, raising her head. She flew back inside the door and again sat on the floor.

“Actually,” he said, “If you could hover a bit longer I’d like to take a closer look at your legs.” Chakora complied and he walked around her rear, inspecting. “The shell over your legs have done a decent job of hardening since you hatched,” he commented, poking at them gently. “There is some hope that we could straighten them out, but my new concern is that they’re not wide enough, and hence strong enough, to support you.”

He stepped away and Chakora settled down on the floor, obviously tired from the exertion. “I’ve thought of that, father, and that’s why I thought we could use these.” She picked up one of the pieces of iron that he had been practicing on and brought in front of him.

“Iron?” he asked, “How is that going to help?”

“Well…” Chakora trailed off. “Lets start with what we know, yes? A incorrectly set break heals crooked. You said it could be re-broken and re-set.”

“With excruciating pain,” he interrupted.

“Yes, with a lot of pain.” Chakora looked at him solemnly. “Do not think that I don’t live in a world of pain already. Some more to lessen that in the future is an agreeable trade to me. So, re-set my legs, and while still soft, use the iron to brace them.”

He nodded. “Ah, I see what you mean now. And, although framing your legs with iron would provide the needed strength, you won’t be able to change its appearance. I don’t know how much that will really accomplish.”

Chakora shook her head. “No, no on the outside. On the inside.”

He blinked in confusion. “On the...what?”

Chakora turned over to Roddi. “Roddi, please go get the book on changeling history, part two, yes?” As Roddi trotted out the door Chakora continued, “There is an illustration in there, it’ll explain better.”

Roddi came back shortly and gave the book to Chakora, who flipped it open and to a specific page. “There,” she said, laying the book on the floor so he could see. “Look here. It says that after returning home wounded, this changeling had metal rods inserted in his legs to stabilize them.”

He picked up the book and flipped through the pages after the one in question. “But it does not say whether it worked or how long he lived. Chakora...really, I want to help you. But this seems more like an experiment with your life.”

Chakora lifted up her hoof to drag the book away from his face. “I’d rather be remembered for my bravery than be forgotten as the one child of yours who did not make it.” Chakora smiled and leaned toward him. “Please?”

Something he had said a long time ago came back in a flash. He smiled and leaned in to hug her. “I understand. We’ll do it. But we need to get some things, er...set up first.” As Chakora’s smile faded he quickly added, “Because we probably will have just one shot, so we need to have everything ready. We’ll need a table, the iron cut and shaped, and both you and I will need to be full and well rested.”

He leaned back from Chakora and said to Roddi, “Please go and find Fici and Thrax and get the sturdiest table you can back here. Take some of the other girls if need be.” Roddi nodded and he continued, “Also get as many sheets as you can find. Steal them if you have to. And…” he paused. “And find something for Chakora to bite down on. A brush or and old book, maybe?”

Roddi didn’t agree with his plan, but she had already convinced herself that it wasn’t her place to question him so she bowed. “As you wish.” She trotted out the door without another word.

“Chakora,” he asked, “I need you to lay on the floor so I can take some measurements. I’ll try to be careful, okay?”

Chakora nodded but used her magic to slide the open book back over to him. “There are some empty pages in the back. Maybe you could, ah, document? Like, what we do so maybe it can help someone else?”

He took the book and flipped to the end, where two blank pages lay. He used his magic to start scribbling in it, and turned his attention back to Chakora. “This is going to hurt more than you think it will, but I’m still doing it for you.”

…

After Roddi returned with a table (of which he would not have described as sturdy), he made preparations in their room as Chakora waited in her room for Chrysalis to come by. They had agreed not to let anyone else in on to the plan, but Chakora felt compelled to tell Acheri.

“I don’t like this,” Acheri said worriedly. “I love your dearly sister, why would you risk something like this?”

Chakora smiled. “Acheri, you have been very kind and I consider us to be closer than I am with any of the others, but understand that I can’t let you keep the burden of taking care of me. I have been considering options for a long time, and this is my best option.” Acheri’s mood did not improve, so Chakora continued, “Its actually a better option, since before I wasn’t sure if my legs would heal again. Hearing father talk about it made the decision pretty simple.”

Acheri shook her head. “Yes, but-”

“But nothing, sister.” Chakora, while normally meek, looked back at her sister with great determination in her eyes. “I need you to know so you won’t be afraid. And I need you to know so that I won’t have to worry about you.”

Acheri looked at the floor and then back at Chakora. “Why...why would you worry about me?”

Chakora’s eyes softened from their determined glare. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that my life is going to be much shorter than yours. You need to know that if I die, then I won’t be sad. I won’t be in pain anymore and I don’t want you to be sad for me, either, okay?”

Acheri shook her head. “ I can’t promise you that I won’t be sad, because I will be.”

Chakora fluttered over to Acheri and hugged her close. “Then get all your sad out now, ok?”

Acheri hugged back but didn’t say anything. From her vantage point she saw their father come into the room. He looked at both and simply said, “Chrysalis will be here soon. Act normal, okay?” He stared at Acheri and getting the hint, she nodded. “And please,” he continued, “The sooner you can start picking up love from her from farther away the less likely this is going to continue to be an issue.”

They both nodded as Chakora started to flutter back out to the main hall but Acheri stopped her, asking, “Can I carry you one last time?”

Chakora smiled. “I’d like that, sister.”

…

After Chrysalis had come and gone, he gathered Roddi and Chakora in their room, along with the things he thought they would need. He patted the table, which Chakora flew up to sit on. “I’m going to seal the door for a while,” he told Chakora. “We can’t be having any interruptions, from either Chrysalis and her followers or from your sisters.”

Chakora nodded. “I know...will you take care of Acheri should something go wrong?”

He sighed. “While I do this for you, Chakora, understand Acheri might blame me and nothing I could say will change that. Are you sure that you still want to do this?

Chakora nodded and laid down. “I do. Don’t stop, no matter what.”

He smiled and leaned to kiss her on the head. “I won’t. But I’m also sorry for doing this to you.” He looked back at Roddi. “Are you ready as well?”

Roddi stepped forward. “What are you going to need me for?”

“You will be doing whatever I tell you, that’s what,” he quipped. “Do we have iron, a bite block, and the book in here?”

Roddi nodded. “Yes. Plenty of iron, in fact. I found this but I don’t know if its going to work.” Roddi used her magic to hold up a carved piece of wood. “I found it in the archives a long time ago. I have no idea what it was for. I also have the book.”

He took the piece of wood from Roddi and walked back over to Chakora. As he did so he examined the carving. It was roughly cylindrical, and the carvings were far less intricate than things he had seen before. He motioned for Chakora to open up and placed it in her mouth. “Bite down as hard as you need to, it’ll help.” As Chakora did so, he noticed that her teeth seemed to fall into familiar grooves on the wood and it occurred to him that it might not actually be carved for decoration.

He turned to the door and cast a spell on it, blockading the entrance with a wall similar to that of Chrysalis’ but not actually translucent. The wall shifted as he finished, taking the form of natural stone. He looked at Roddi who had a confused expression. “Its great for hiding in caves,” he explained.

“Okay…” he sighed, looking down at Chakora. He took a piece of metal from the floor and shaped it into a cuff, affixing it to Chakora’s front hoof and down into the greyed wood of table.

Chakora looked around in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“You’re going to thrash around a lot, and that won’t help anybody,” he said, securing a second cuff around Chakora’s other front leg. “You’re going to have to lie still while I work.” He wrapped a larger band around her waist, and again down into the wood of the table. Chakora struggled a bit but found she was bound quite firmly. “Yes, yes,” he said, apparently not noticing Chakora’s discomfort, “That will do fine.”

“Father, I…” Chakora stopped. “No, nevermind. I still want this,” she mumbled around the wood block in her mouth.

He nodded. Turning to Roddi, he said, “I want you to stay there until I call for you. You’ll need to-” he spun quickly back to Chakora and slammed his right hoof down on her twisted rear legs, shattering them.

Chakora dropped the wood block from her mouth as she let out an ear shattering scream of pain. Her whole body strained against the straps in a instinctive effort to repel the source of her pain. Her father grabbed the wood block from the floor and jammed it back into her mouth to muffle her. “Bite down!” he commanded.

Chakora did so, tears streaming down her eyes and the sides of her face. “I’m sorry,” he said, wiping her tears away. “But I had to do it quick. Bad news is, I missed one of your legs.”

Chakora began to struggle anew as he he moved away from her and brought his weight down on her other leg, shattering it as well.

…

Outside, Acheri paced back and forth in the hall. Hearing the screams from inside made her want to run in to see Chakora but Fext and Lamia held her back.

“Chakora wanted this,” Fext said, standing in front of a straining Acheri. “She asked for this and we need to be able to support her when they’re done. If we’re all tired that’s not going to work well, is it?”

Acheri growled, but Fext held firm in front of her. “Besides which, how are you going to get in there?”

“I’ll find a way,” Acheri growled between clenched teeth. “If he is the death of her I swear I’ll-”

From across the room Mara looked up from the book she had been reading to interject, “You’ll what? Turn him in so Chrysalis can kill us all?” Mara closed her book and walked towards the others calmly. Acheri stopped struggling so Fext took the opportunity to catch her breath.

“You’re concerned, which I understand,” Mara said as she approached. “But we are help to help each other. Father might not be helping Chakora in the way you want, but that’s what he’s trying to do.”

Acheri shook her head. “He should know better. For all he professes to be skilled at, surgery was never one of them.”

Mara shrugged. “Maybe. But why don’t you turn that hatred towards the outside world? They were the ones that injured Chrysalis so that some of her children were hatched malformed, they are the ones who painted us as monsters, they were the ones that forced us to hide.” Mara lowered her gaze to the floor. “I’d love to have some time with a few of them. Find out what they say after a few hours…” Mara looked back up with a blank look on her face. “In the dark, only a changeling sees…”

Kishi ran up and nudged Mara. She whispered to her, “Sister, you’re doing it again. Snap out of it.”

Mara shook her head briskly. “Sorry.”

The combined eyes on Mara moved back to the door as Fext said, “Hey, Chakora stopped screaming. Maybe they’re almost done? Are you going to be alright Mara?”

Mara nodded, so Fext turned to Acheri. “And what about you?”

Acheri sighed. “I’ll be okay. I just hope Chakora will be, too…” She sat on the floor and stared blankly at the shield covering the door in front of her.

Fext reached forward with a hoof and opened her mouth to say something, but not knowing what would be best closed her mouth again. Mara had returned back to her book, and Lamia had sat next to Acheri, so Fext followed Mara for some reading.

Acheri continued to sit, and eventually laid on the floor, still looking at the wall. Hours passed, but Acheri refused to move from her spot. Fext had come over once but finding Acheri unresponsive, left her alone. Bored, Fext walked into her sisters’ room and found Kishi and Lamia there.

They nodded at Fext’s approach, and Lamia continued her conversation, “I think I know what I want to be. What about you?”

“I dunno,” replied Kishi, “But I know sex needs to be a big part of it. It seems like the easiest damn way to make sure I get fed.”

“Are you thinking of what profession you want to go into?” Fext queried them.

“Yeah,” Lamia replied, “I’m thinking of taking a filly’s form and enrolling in a school. Seems like that’s a decent way to get a bit of love from teachers. And I can learn more about equine society at the same time.” Lamia paused. “What do you want to do, Fext?”

Fext shrugged. “Eh, I dunno. I’ll have to think more about that.”

“Hey by the way,” Kishi asked, “Did you figure out a way to make your eye change? I remember you having some difficulty with that.”

Fext shook her head. “No, it appears that’s a part of me. Father said not to be surprised if I couldn’t do it, and it seems that I cannot. I suppose I should spend more time thinking about what role I’m going to take, as there can’t be too many ‘blind-in-the-left-eye’ equines walking around one place at the same time.”

“Or you could wear a hat!” Lamia chimed in excitedly. When Kishi and Fext gave her incredulous looks, Lamia added, “Or change your mane to cover your eye.”

Fext thought about it. “Yeah, I suppose that could work. I’m going to head back out and check on Acheri again. She hasn’t moved in hours. Anyone interested in coming with me?”

Kishi and Lamia both became suddenly interested in the floor, so Fext sighed. “Fine, Whatever. But when father and Roddi finish whatever they’re doing, Chakora will probably be glad to see you.”

Walking back outside, Fext noticed that not only was Acheri not in her spot and that the barricade had dissolved from the doorway. Poking her head inside the room carefully, she saw Acheri and Father standing over a table on one side of the room, and Roddi leaning against the wall opposite them.

Roddi walked over to Fext. “Come in dear, but please be quiet. Chakora is sleeping.” Roddi led Fext over to the bed where Chakora lay on her back.

Fext drew in a sharp breath but her eyes stayed locked on what lay in front of her. Chakora looked even more mangled than normal. Her rear legs looked like crushed stone roughly reassembled to look like legs. Green seeped from everywhere and coated the table, with a small puddle on the floor. Fext leaned in a little closer, and saw that there were narrow bands of steel, apparently under Chakora’s shell as well as small metal rivets poking out of her skin.

Fext gently nudged her father. “Are those...uh, metal things going to come out?”

He shook his head, and said in a whisper, “No, they are going to hold the steel rods in place as her legs heal. Hopefully, they will be barely noticeable once Chakora fully recovers. But its going to be a while before that happens.” He turned to Acheri. “Am I to assume you’ll be staying in here to watch over her?”

He turned to Roddi and put an arm around her, leading them out the door. “Come with me, I’m very tired and I need a pillow. We can crash in their room.”

Fext turned from Acheri and squeaked, “Hey! That’s my room!”

Acheri turned her head and hissed, “Quiet!”

Fext nodded a quick apology and ran out of the room and back to hers where Roddi and her father were already laying down. Fext approached slowly, and asked, “Where am I supposed to sleep?”

He patted the straw next to him. “You can stay with us, unless you’re scared.”

Fext thought about it momentarily before settling down and snuggling up next to them. Her father was laying his head on Roddi’s stomach, and he reached out an arm to bring Fext in close as he fell asleep.

Back in the other room, Chakora had woken up and stared into the smiling face of Acheri. Chakora managed a weak smile of her own but little else.

Acheri sighed, reaching out a hoof to pet Chakora’s head. She smiled and said softly, “I’m so glad you made it, sister. Don’t scare me like that again.”

…

Chakora stayed in bed for several days. Acheri barely left Chakora’s side, moving only to stretch and to let Father inspect Chakora and make small adjustments to her legs. Chrysalis had been coming by less and less as their abilities grew and they did not need her in such close proximity.

Chakora, meanwhile, spent most of her time sleeping and occasionally reading from a book that Acheri would bring. She had been forbidden to practice changing or flying for fear it might disrupt the healing process, but keeping Chakora lying flat and still was becoming increasingly difficult as time went on.

When everyone (save Acheri, of course) had left or gone to sleep, Chakora would sneak out of bed and put a little weight on her legs. At first the pain was too much but as time progressed into weeks she was getting better and better. Acheri constantly praised her for her efforts, but few else would come and visit.

Trying to change one day, Father walked in on both of them. Chakora stared blankly at him. “Oh, uh….hi?”

He smirked. “I knew I couldn’t keep you down forever. Lets see how you’re doing, eh? How’s the pain?”

Chakora walked around the room, albeit somewhat stiffly. “Hardly any,” she said confidently.

He nodded. “Uh-huh, and how about running?”

“Ooh, I have not tried that,” Chakora responded. “But I’m getting better at flying, even with the extra weight.” She fluttered her wings and buzzed about the room for a minute before settling back down.

He nodded again. “So lets see how well you change.”

Chakora closed her eyes and focused. Just like his own method, purple fur sprouted from her body and covered her shell. a bright green mane burst forth from the top of her head and spilled down her shoulders.

He smiled. “Not bad at all. The pins in your leg are barely noticeable. Although, its good habit to always pop in a cutie mark when you do equine forms. Not having one as an adult is a dead giveaway and worse, attracts attention to yourself.”

“Yes, of course Father,” Chakora said, letting her disguise fall away. “I’ve also been getting better at picking up on emotions from farther away. Mother no longer needs to be in the room.”

He smiled again and walked over to Chakora. “I’m very proud of you. You have come so far in such a short time.” He leaned and kissed her head. “Speaking of Chrysalis, I have to go see her.”

Acheri cocked her head to the side. “Why don’t you just wait for her to come to us?”

“A couple of reasons, actually,” he said, starting to walk away from them. “As Chakora pointed out, Chrysalis is coming by less and less often, and additionally I think it would show Chrysalis that we are still very much here and active. And that we need to be given the opportunity to leave.”

Reaching the door, he paused for a moment, looking back at them. “Don’t worry girls. I’ll be back soon.”

With that he opened the doors to their hall, walked through, and shut them firmly behind him.

Interlude Four - The Deal

Walking back to Chrysalis’ chambers for the first time in many months, he practiced what he wanted to say. Muttering to himself, he soon realized that he was at the bridge. Looking around, he noticed far fewer guards than previous. Still quite a few, but not the shoulder-to-shoulder amount that he had become accustomed to.

He asked a guard if he could go in and they just waved him past. Walking across a relatively unguarded bridge he quickly made his way to Chrysalis’ private chambers. Entering through the living wall, he noticed that the young changelings did not seem to pay him any special notice, neither positive or negative. “I’m becoming normal,” he mused sarcastically to himself.

Stepping into the central chamber, he looked around and saw Chrysalis lying on her bed, but nothing else of note. He walked to the edge of the bed, and hesitated before stepping onto it. Chrysalis waved him forward.

As he walked closer, Chrysalis, who had not spoken up until now, said to him, “I suspect you’ve come to talk about leaving.”

He nodded at her and sat down a few feet away. “I am. But, I was curious, there seems to be a lot less security. Is something happening that I’m not aware of?”

“Aye, there is,” Chrysalis said, giving him a smile. “Many guards are in other places, teaching your daughters how to survive in the world above, much the way you are. I’ve also been sending scouts on runs to the surface much more often. With the new additions to our numbers and the countless more that I can now produce, we’re starting a new period of exploration and colonization.”

“Well, good,” he shrugged, not knowing what else to say. “I was going to request that we be allowed to go up to the surface one evening, soon, so that I might show my girls how we do things in the equine world. Get a bit of practice, you see?”

“Oh, I understand,” Chrysalis replied. She also looked at him much more seriously as she continued, “But what is interesting to me is how you refer to them as ‘my’ girls. You are turning out to be quite the leader.”

He scowled. “I’m taking care of them until they can take care of themselves. I’m not their leader.”

Chrysalis shrugged. “If you say so.” Quickly changing the subject, she said with a cheerful smile, “So! I’ll have one of my scouts go up and find you a nice little place you can go. You want a house to be included so they can steal love too?”

He nodded again. “Please.”

Chrysalis made a show of being shocked. “Oh! Please! Such manners!”

He sighed. “Will your scout come to us or do I have to come back down here?”

Chrysalis dropped her act but kept the sarcasm as she replied, “As much as I love to have you visit me, I’ll send Mali down to your area once she finds a suitable location.” Chrysalis shifted about on her bed and continued, “I’ll also have her escort you up there as well as wait for your return. If you don’t return in one day I’ll assume you’re not coming back.”

He stood up. “Fair enough. I’ll wait for her to come by, then. For now, I’m going to go over some last minute details and important points before we go.” He walked away from Chrysalis and was pleased that she didn’t call out to him with any last-second conditions.

…

Arriving back at his training room, he gathered his daughters in the central room. “Okay girls, this is important,” he said sternly. “I’ve spoken with Chrysalis and she’s approved us for our first real training run on the surface. Any time now I expect her scout, Mali I think her name was, to come by and give us a quick briefing on our target.” He paused to collect his thoughts, and continued, “But don’t be too excited, we need to be serious. Usually you’ll have zero data on situations you walk into. I expect that we’ll formulate a quick plan, and then all of us are heading to the surface.”

There was a collective ‘ooh’ of elation, but he was quick to squash it. “Now, its going to be different than anything you’ve experienced down here. You need to keep your eyes, ears, and senses on alert. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to follow instructions immediately. So, until then, we’re going to go over some drills.”

A collective groan now sounded. “Father,” protested Fext, “What are we going to learn that we haven’t already?”

“You’re going to learn what the outside world is like with your own eyes,” he snapped.

“No,” Fext shook her head. “I mean, what are we going to learn before we leave?”

“Well,” he said, walking up to her, “It would be good to learn to do what I tell you instead of asking dumb questions!”

Fext cowered from the larger figure in front of her. “Sorry, yes, what do you want me to do?”

“Change, quickly,” he commanded.

“Into what?” Fext asked, before a hoof came across her face. “Ow!” When Fext turned her head back around from the blow, a large and irritated timberwolf stared back at her.

“What did I just say about asking dumb questions!?” it barked at her.

Fext blinked once, but seeing her father’s hoof-turned-claw raise up to strike her again, closed her eyes and turned her form to a timberwolf as well. He turned his attention away from Fext and back to the others. Kishi and Mara had already taken timberwolf forms, so he commanded the rest to do the same. They complied quickly.

“Good, good,” he said as he walked around inspecting them. “Your eyes are supposed to be green,” he said to one. “You need to lower your gait in the back,” he told another. When she did not comply, he growled. “I told you to lower your gait!” He brought his thorny paw up and smacked her across the face.

She squeaked, and replied tearily, “The metal rods don’t bend!”

“Oh,” he said, lowering his foot back on the ground. “I didn’t realize it was you, Chakora. You’re really getting good at changing.” He kissed her head. “Sorry about that.”

Chakora squeaked again, quieter this time.

“Ok, now everyone shed your coats and change to an equine form,” he instructed, watching as everyone shook their coats loose and grew new fur, wings, horns. “Better,” he told them. Swiveling around to a blue-haired mare, he shoved himself in her face and asked angrily, “Who are you, huh? I haven’t seen you before!”

Hidden behind her disguise, Acheri said, “My name is Summer Rain, sir. I’m just traveling through your town.”

He shook off his timberwolf coat and continued to question her, “Traveling through to where? And where are you from?”

Acheri shifted about a bit and answered, “Just taking a tour of the country, sir. Sorry if I offended you. Its very beautiful here.”

He looked around at the walls and ceilings. “And just what, pray tell, is so fucking beautiful about this damp cave, hmm?”

Acheri swiveled her head around, not sure if it was still a test. “Uhh, I...its so...uhh, damp?”

He kept his icy glare at her for a few more seconds before breaking into a wide grin. “Oh, shit, I couldn’t hold it! The look on your face was so priceless!” He looked at the floor as he started to laugh. “Nice job!” He shifted instantly to a serious face and walked up to the diminutive Lamia and demanded, “And where are your parents!?”

Lamia sniffled and covered her head with her hooves. “I don’t know! We were out walking and I turned around and they were gone!” Lamia started to cry. “I don’t...I don’t know what to do! Please help me mister!” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Will you help me find my parents?”

He grimaced. “You’re getting too damn good at that, Lamia. Its getting kind of creepy how you can just turn that on and off.”

Lamia wiped her eyes and gave him a sadistic grin. “That just means I’ll never go hungry.”

He shook himself from head to tail as he walked to the other side of the room, black fur growing from seemingly nowhere to envelop himself. “So,” he asked, stretching his new wings as he walked, “Are we feeling pretty confident about this?”

They all nodded and replied in the affirmative. “Good,” he said, “So someone tell me who’s approaching our door?”

Their heads all turned in that direction. Chakora’s quiet voice spoke first. “I don’t sense anything, Father.”

“Me neither,” said several of her sisters in unison.

“Listen carefully, and try again,” he instructed.

They all waited, patiently, quietly, as the sound of hoofbeats sounded from outside their doorway. “Its a changeling,” Fext said to no-one in particular. “Not Chrysalis. I can feel the void in front of the glow from mother.”

“Our scout, I suspect,” he said, moving to the door without bothering to drop his disguise. Just as he approached, they creaked open and a changeling without distinction stepped forth.

The new arrival stopped quickly. “Sir! Scout Mali.” She saluted him.

He grinned at her. “Such formality! Whoever did you learn that from?”

His daughters came up behind him, some still in disguise and others not, but Mali continued to look into his emerald eyes. “Until I’m told otherwise, I still treat my parents with respect, sir!” Mali saluted him again.

He raised his eyes at her. “Well, I appreciate that, Mali. Come in and tell us what you know.” He turned and motioned for Mali to follow.

Mali did so, and at the far wall she continued to stand as the others sat around her. “I’ve been told by Chrysalis to scout you a location for a training run. I’ve located a farm a some distance from the north entrance of the Hive. Medium size operation. Mother and father earth pony, two mature sons and one younger daughter.”

He nodded. “How far from the edge of the forest is the farm?”

Mali looked at him. “A few fields distance. Best I could find.”

He nodded again. “We’ll leave shortly. Chrysalis told me you’d be escorting us out?”

Now it was Mali’s turn to nod, but in quick, short motions. “I’ll take you through one of the nearby exits. please do not fall behind, I move fast.”

He looked at his girls. “Shed your coats. Siphon love from your mother and gather at the door. We leave now.”

As they did as he instructed, Roddi approached him. “May I come too, Master?”

He regarded Roddi for a moment, before smiling gently. “Of course you may. I expect you to do as instructed too but I don’t think I have to tell you.” Roddi smiled and went to move away but he grabbed her and pulled her back. “But,” he whispered to her, “You need to keep your libido under wraps. No distractions. Got it?”

Roddi shook her head in affirmative. “Yes, Master!”

He released her to gather with his daughters. Turning back to Mali, he asked, “If you have come back from the surface, what time of day is it?”

Mali, still standing rigid, answered, “Its been a bit of a hike back down, but when I started it was mid-morning.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Mali. Let’s go. Lead the way?”

Mali took the lead but paused at the doors. “Is everyone ready?” She glanced about the assembled group of eight changelings, only one of which reminded her of herself. Hearing no objections, Mali turned sharply, and led them out of their hall and down ever-darker hallways towards one of the Hive’s many exits.

Chapter Eleven

The climb to the surface was harder than he was expecting, and especially hard on both Lamia and Chakora. Lamia being smaller was having a harder time climbing and Chakora was alternating between flying and being carried as her limited mobility allowed little else. They had first started talking excitedly, then more sparingly, and then not all as they grew tired from the exertion. He was thinking that Mali had seriously under-reported the difficulty and length of the climb, when she turned to face them suddenly.

“Quiet!” she hissed. “We’re close to the exit. Step quietly and don’t make a sound.”

They all complied, walking carefully as the ground flattened out and the faint glow of twilight could be seen around the last corner of the cave. Mali stopped just short of it and turned to them again. “I’ll be waiting here for you. You must have no disguise when you round the corner or I’ll be as likely to leave you as anything. Chrysalis gives you one day. In this case, one night and one day. I will leave when the moon rises tomorrow.” She stomped her hoof to accentuate the point.

He walked past her, and said, “Thank you Mali. We’ll be back on time.”

Mali looked at him, and broke her rigid posture. “Be careful, Father.” She smiled for the briefest of moments and locked herself back to her firm stance.

He smiled as rough wood covered himself. “Everyone,” he whispered, “Match my form and fall in behind me. “It's later than I anticipated, and we need to move quick and quiet. Darkness is our friend.”

As the pack of timberwolves made their way out of the cave and into the dense jungle, Mara stopped for a moment to look at the moon in awe. She realized that the descriptions in books were grossly inadequate to describe something as simple as the moon, and turned to follow her sisters as she wondered what else might be missing from the information she thought she knew so well.

Their pack leader wound through the forest without so much as a misstep or a broken twig. His eyes and nose filled themselves with the familiarity of the forest. And though he could not remember ever being here before, it felt to him the most natural thing in the world after spending so many years in that damned underground prison.

He glanced back and counted quickly. They were all following, with Roddi bringing up the rear, pushing a stumbling timberwolf that he assumed was Chakora. He whistled to her, urging them both to pick up the pace.

They moved through the forest faster than he had anticipated given the exertion of the climb. The fresh air was apparently doing them some good as they soon came to the farthest edge of it the forest. He motioned for everyone to come in tight. “Okay,” he whispered. “A few things. Who remembers the way back?”

All eyes widened at the question. He laughed quietly. “Heh! You didn’t pay attention at all, did you? I marked trees as I went by. I’ll get us back there. For now, lets make a quick plan.” Turning, he said, “Fext? Find us a heading by sensing the emotions of our target.”

Fext sat a little distance away from them, sniffing the air and turning in circles as she honed in on the distant farming equines.

“Okay,” he continued quietly, “Now who wants to offer an opinion on how all eight of us should disguise ourselves to get close to the farm without raising too much suspicion?”

Mara poked her head forward. “I don’t see why a pack of timberwolves won’t work.”

He raised his paw. “Quiet! Farm ponies typically keep dogs. They’ll sense us before we even get close and raise the alarm. So, who else has an idea?”

Before anyone else could answer, Fext came up behind them. “Father,” she said, “I’ve got a heading.”

He nodded. “Good, Fext. How would you approach?”

Fext blinked several times as if it was the stupidest question she’d ever heard. “From the air,” she replied flatly. “Get a view of the area, buildings, find a place to land and hide.”

“Good,” he prodded, “But what form will you be taking?”

Fext shook herself and let her timberwolf coat fall away. She scooped it up and very quickly stuffed it in her mouth. Finishing, she licked her lips. “I’d go as a bat pony. Anyone who even catches a glimpse will probably think they were dreaming.”

He smiled at her ingenuity. “I like that idea. Everyone, follow Fext’s lead and shed, consume, then change to bat pony. Grey and dark blue colors only. Wings can be black.” He followed suit as well, and flapped his leathery wings tentatively. “Ooh, haven’t done this one in a while. Feels weird.”

He shook himself to get the coat to fit more comfortably, mostly out of force of habit. Looking around, all of his daughters and Roddi had taken similar forms, almost too similar as he could not tell them apart, especially in the darkness. Reasoning that it didn’t matter, he motioned for them to get airborne, and as they one by one flew above him, he scanned the area one last time and joined them in the sky.

“Higher,” he hissed, “We need to look like we belong here.” He led them upwards, and out away from the edge of the forest. The cool air and fresh breeze would have in any other situation been of great comfort to him, but right now he was too focused on keeping everyone in line to enjoy it.

They soared over the sky, flitting between clouds on a swift but silent approach to their target. Below, the fields passed silently, with gentle waves from the breeze causing the leaves of the plants to bend and flow in unison, much like waves upon the ocean.

He looked left and right, noting that there was no light in any direction. No major town or settlement, this was the furthest back country of the northern empire. He smiled, and looked back. Speaking directly at his company so that the wind would carry the words to them, he said, “We are close. We'll make two turns around and head directly back towards the forest.”

They nodded, and followed him as the barn came into sight. It was rather large, but given the size of the fields the capacity was definitely needed. Nearby, several small sheds held the various farming equipment and across from those sat the multi-level farmhouse. Lights were out and he spied at the ground, looking for wandering animals.

Seeing none, he lowered his right shoulder as he banked around the far edge of the main area, coming back for another pass. He again glanced back and was pleased to see everyone looking down, or around the farm. He slowed his flight speed as he came around the farmhouse again, and glanced inside as he flew past. No lights were on inside either, and no doghouse outside. He tilted to his left, shifting their flight path around the far side of the silent barn. The doors were closed tight and no movement could be seen below.

Turning away from the barn and back to the fields, he led them a few fields away, but not quite all the way back to the forest. Landing in a small patch of grass in what appeared to be an old field, he waited until they all settled next to him.

“So,” he asked, “What did we notice?”

Mara, who had moved to the front of the pack during flight, spoke first. “Its dark. No movement, no dogs.”

“What if the dogs are inside?” he queried her.

“Doesn’t seem all that important,” she responded, “Seeing as how we’re not going inside.”

“Oh?” he looked puzzled. “Then how are you going to get love off of them?”

Fext moved up alongside Mara to ask, “Can’t we just stay outside and feed off their sleeping emotions? Why would we want to go inside?”

“Well you’re assuming that they’re going to be having loving dreams. Or dreams at all. Let me tell you, most equine dreams are not so nice. Their fears and emotions come forth at night, if they dream of anything at all. So I tell you what; we’ll camp outside for a bit and see what we see, hmm? Break into teams, we’ll locate all five family members and try to get what we can from them.”

They nodded, some more tentatively than others, as he took off again. Although he noticed some hesitation among them, they followed regardless. He smiled, feeling good in the knowledge that they were following orders quite well. He led them in a low arc up to the moonlit sky and back down towards the house. He scanned around again, but still seeing nothing he pointed to have the group split off to cover all sides of the house.

The girls split into groups of two: Mara and Kishi; Fext and Lamia; Acheri and Chakora. He and Roddi stayed together near the back of the house. Under the pale moonlight, they went from window to window, peering inside.

Mara and Kishi had started downstairs, and the window they first looked through appeared to be the family room. The wooden floors were polished, but not from wear. This was quite obviously the social area for the house, reserved for visiting guests and family. Pictures adorned the walls of family generations, and various knick knacks sat on shelves. The seating in the room looked near pristine, if a little faded.

Seeing nothing, they moved around the side of the house, below where Fext and Lamia had taken up a hovering position above them. Fext whistled softly at them to get Mara and Kishi’s attention. Fext motioned with her hooves: a double fist bump, two; she flexed her arms in a show of force, males.

Kishi went to take her first look at a real, living equine while Mara kept turned her attention back inside the lower window. Inside was the kitchen, the stove fire down to glowing embers after the last supper, and dishes and glasses having been put neatly away. Nothing here either, so Mara moved under her sisters and towards the back of the house.

Above, Kishi, Fext, and Lamia stared in awe through the window at the sleeping males that lay before them. In a bunk bed in far corner of the room, they slept peacefully, unaware of the hungry eyes moving over their bodies, watching and soaking in their features. Kishi looked especially hungry but Fext shook her head. “No dreams,” Fext whispered. “Lets move on.”

Around back, Acheri and Chakora peered in one of the back windows. A single bed was in this small room, and a young filly was curled up under the blankets, facing away from the window. Only her light pink mane and a bit of her ears showed from the vantage point beyond the window.

Acheri closed her eyes in concentration and strained to sense anything. “She’s dreaming,” Acheri said though her closed eyes, “But of what I’m not sure. Its...its not anything that we can use.” Acheri opened her eyes only to discover that Chakora had already flown away, and down to the window where their father was hovering with Roddi.

Moving silently down to them, Acheri peered in around the frame of the window. There was a wide double bed against the far wall, with the foot of it closest to the window. two pillows sat against the headboard but only one equine lay in it.

Acheri scrunched up her face. “Where is the father?” she whispered.

Her own father shrugged. He waved Fext over. “We’re missing a male,” he whispered to her. “Find him.” He pushed her away, but Fext didn’t need any encouragement as she smiled and flew off.

Kishi came up beside Acheri and looked through the window at the sleeping mare. The light yellow fur of the equine stood pale in the dim moonlight. Her hair was a light brown, and she shifted a bit in her sleep. KIshi looked disgusted. “There’s nothing here for us,” she whispered to no-one in particular.

Her father pushed both Acheri and Kishi back away from the window. “Did you find the others? What did you see?”

Kishi motioned to the upstairs window where Lamia was still flitting about. In a hushed tone, she said, “Both sons are asleep, no dreams. The youngest appears to be dreaming but nothing that will benefit us.”

Her father nodded. “We need to be going then. There is too much risk in us staying out here much longer. If there were less of them, I might have us sneak in, but…”

He was interrupted by and excited Fext flying up. “I found him!” she said gleefully.

Acheri snapped her head to look at Fext and hissed, “Quiet!”

Fext mumbled a quick apology and continued in a quieter tone, “The father is in the barn, dead asleep. I think he may have collapsed there after working - he still has his yoke on.”

“Lets go have a look, then,” he said. He whistled at Lamia, who reluctantly left her vantage point and the assembled group flew around the barn and out of sight of the house, to a door on the far side that Fext had left cracked open.

Upon reaching the door, loud snoring could be heard emanating from inside. He poked his head in carefully, and spied the male in question sleeping on some hay a short distance from the door. Pulling his head back outside, he motioned for Kishi to come closer.

“Kishi, you’re up,” he whispered into her ear. “You want sex? Go in there and make him give it to you.”

Kishi looked unsure for a moment but then broke into a smile. “Watch me,” she told him confidently, as her bat pony disguise melted away to reveal pale yellow fur and brown hair in the exact shade of the sleeping equine just a building away. She went to make her way inside when she felt her father poke her haunches.

Looking backward, she realized why; she had forgotten to add a cutie mark. Kishi thought for a moment, and also realized that she was unsure of what the real pony’s mark might be. Shrugging, Kishi improvised and added a pink apron mark to both sides and crept in the barn door without a word.

Kishi walked through the door quietly, swaying her hips side to side without even thinking, such was the amount she had practiced it. She licked her lips approaching the sleeping stallion. Her steps muted by the scattered hay lying about the dirt floor, she made quick progress to his side.

The male was of quite large build; His dark brown coat contrasted against the yellow straw he had fallen backwards into, and this long black mane was draped haphazardly over his face. At some point he had rolled onto his left side, obstructing the view Kishi had hoped to enjoy.

Kishi slowed near him, and pouted a bit. Kishi leaned side to side, looking him over as she crept in, until her head was just above his flank. “Honey...” she called seductively.

The stallion murmured in his sleep but did not rouse, so Kishi reached out a hoof and pushed lightly on his haunches, causing him to grunt but not wake up. Kishi pushed again, and he obliged by rolling over on his back, displaying what Kishi wanted; his long sheath that clung close to his body and the heavy sack below it that lay flat against his body.

Kishi drew in a short breath, and leaned her head down to the prize, giving a short lick from the base of the shaft and up a few inches before quickly drawing her head away.

The stallion again mumbled in his sleep, and Kishi considered the flavor; musty, thick, and undoubtedly sweaty. Deciding it wasn’t too bad, Kishi leaned her head down for a more substantial lick, this time trailing her tongue from the base most of the way to the tip. She was rewarded with a sudden expansion and a satisfied grunt from the stallion. Kishi smiled and wagged her butt in anticipation, and repeated her last move.

The stallion’s member stiffened more and his head rolled to the side as his eyes fluttered open. His member now almost fully erect, he saw his beautiful wife, lit by moonlight let in by cracks in the barn’s walls licking this cock.

He smiled and moaned in pleasure. “Mmm, this is new,” he said softly.

Kishi, who had moved up to the head of his cock, briefly pulled her lips away, a trail of saliva extending from her lips to his tip. “I just couldn’t stand leaving you in the barn all night, love,” she cooed as she went back to work sucking at his massive head.

The stallion moaned again, arching his head back. “I thought you were mad,” he said, “Which is why I was sleeping in the barn. What...ah, what made you change your mind?”

Kishi swallowed hard around his cock, scrambling for an answer. Her instinctive response was met with an even louder moan. Kishi swallowed again, and took her lips away from him a second time. “I remembered that for all your shortcomings, there is one part of you that isn’t short, and thought I should enjoy that part of you as often as possible.” Kishi opened wide and took more of him into her warm mouth.

The stallion was about to reply when he felt the sudden warmness envelope him, causing him to lose his train of thought, so instead he reached down to push on his wife’s head, causing her to gag a little as his cock hit the back of her throat.

Kishi was surprised by his sudden display of control, but she let him do as he wished, as she had already started to siphon the love radiating from the ether around him.

The stallion grunted, pushing harder on Kishi’s head, wanting her to take even more of him. Kishi, never having tried before, was having a hard time accommodating any more of him. She instead employed a trick she had read about; she reached up underneath herself and groped for his sack at the base of his cock. Finding it, she rolled them about gently, earning even more satisfied grunts from her subject.

“Uh!” the stallion grunted, “Oh Celestia, that feels so good.” He bucked his hips forward needfully. It had been a long time since he was treated to a blowjob.

Kishi was becoming more accustomed to his girth in her mouth, and tried swallowing again. This time it felt as though she had just eaten something - she swallowed again to make sure, and she could certainly feel something sliding down her throat. Far past her tongue, the stallion was spurting cum directly into the back of her throat.

He released the tight grip on the back of her head, allowing Kishi to move her head back and off his cock. A spurt of cum gushed forth as she did so, and it filled her mouth with its bitter and sweaty taste, some of it landing on her nose as she withdrew. Kishi’s eyes locked onto his member as it throbbed again, sending a jet of white just past her vision only to get caught in her brown mane. Kishi smiled and licked her lips. She wanted more, and intended on getting it.

Kishi turned around and backed up the the male, her flank bumping against his swaying member. “Come on honey, fuck me good,” she teased.

The stallion lifted his head up drearily. Seeing the backside of the mare caused his dick to twitch. A blowjob and a fuck! He thought this surely was a dream, but thinking better not to waste it lest he wake up, rolled forward and planted his forehooves on his wife’s shoulders. He shifted his hips around, trying to find the right spot.

KIshi struggled to hold him up, she had not expected him to stand on her! She shifted about a bit in discomfort but stopped suddenly as his head hit his target. Feeling that hot member rub up against her, Kishi pushed back hard, and felt his head pop inside her opening.

The stallion grinned in satisfaction and lowered himself until his arms were around Kishi’s body, and thrust forward mightily.

Kishi gasped and mewled as she was very suddenly very full. His girth had seemed large in her mouth, but now even more of him was being stuffed inside her, and she loved it. She clenched down hard around him. “Oh yeah, fuck me!” she shouted.

He grunted, thrusting forward once more, trying to seat himself fully in her. “You want it bad, don’t you?” he asked, biting at her neck. He bucked again and was rewarded with a slap as his hips met hers, fully bottoming out inside of his wife. He withdrew somewhat, eliciting a whine from Kishi. Smiling, he drove himself back forward, his hips smacking against hers once again.

KIshi grunted and groaned, lost in the wondrous feelings coming from the male both above and inside of her. She understood instantly why Roddi gave herself to her father and even begged for it at every opportunity. Heat and love seemed to radiate from inside of her and Kishi soaked it up, hungry for even more.

Fortunately for Kishi, as she didn’t need to ask, nor do much than just lean backwards, as the stallion picked up a fast rhythm, hammering his hard cock in and out of her. The stallion would have marveled at how tight his wife seemed if he had not been completely taken over with his own lust.

Feeling his orgasm start to build, he let go of his wife’s chest and move to pull away when she stopped him. Her eyes seemed to glow with a golden light as she pleaded, “No! Fill me up!”

Her face and a sudden clench around his dick was just enough to send him over the edge, seed spilling from him once again, spurt after spurt filling Kishi’s insides, causing her to let out a moan of satisfaction. Kishi clamped down around him again, pulling even more of his hot cum into her.

Outside, the others drank deeply, the love and lust that the male exuded was as copious as the warm fluid currently filling Kishi. They all let out a little sigh, never having tasted the raw emotion of an equine before.

Acheri licked her lips and glanced over at her sisters. Fext was doing the same and Chakora seemed to be lost in bliss. So lost in fact, that she began to fall over backward.

Seeing this, Acheri’s eyes went wide. She threw caution to the wind as she sprung forward to catch Chakora before she fell into the assorted farm implements behind her, shouting to try and raise her sister from her trance.

All heads turned as the sudden shout and the accompanying crash sounded from where Chakora’s metal legs banged against the heavy steel plow resting behind her. Acheri arrived to Chakora’s side too late, and in her haste could not stop in time to avoid crushing her sister between herself and the metal plow.

The iron reinforcements in Chakora’s rear legs held fast, but her unprotected front legs did not. A series of snaps and cracks sounded as the weight and velocity of Acheri crushed Chakora’s legs and she howled in pain.

Acheri quickly clamped her hooves around her screaming sister’s mouth, and looked around the corner of the barn towards the house. Acheri’s eyes locked with two sets peering out a window on the second floor. They held their stare with each other for several long seconds until another crash sounded, this time to Acheri’s rear, and the two brothers disappeared from view.

Acheri could not move, nor even blink. Her surprise and shock kept her fixed in place until a timberwolf’s paw landed on her shoulder. Acheri spun her head and looked into glowing yellow eyes. “They’re c-coming,” Acheri stammered.

The timberwolf pulled her up. “Get in the barn! Father broke down the door and wants us all inside.” Acheri didn’t respond, so Mara (under her disguise) grabbed ahold of Acheri. “Now!”

Acheri found herself but unable and unwilling to move. Her mind saw the lights come on in the house as the brothers rushed to her location; she heard a growling and ripping sound come from inside as her father and the eldest male struggled; and she saw her broken and crying sister below her, whose side she would not leave.

Unfortunately, Mara overpowered Acheri and dragged her from Chakora and into the barn. Acheri struggled some but Mara held her mouth tightly closed. Mara dragged her mostly comatose sister into a corner away from the door. “Stay quiet,” Mara growled. “We can’t help Chakora until the threat is dealt with.”

Acheri’s eyes strayed across the scene in front of her. Broken pieces of wood lay just inside of the opening where her father had come through the door, breaking it in the process. At some point he and the others had taken up familiar timberwolf forms, as they all now backed away from the bloody scene in the hay. The eldest male was still twitching as blowed flowed from the gashes in his neck and face, and the ground under him was already soaked with blood.

Outside, the two brothers bolted out through their front door. One had picked up a bat and the other lifted a splitting axe from near the door as the headed around the corner of the barn. They walked quickly, knowing the layout even in the near darkness. Looking around the edge of the barn, they both stopped suddenly at the sight of Chakora, bleeding but alive and still wearing her bat pony disguise beneath their plow.

One nodded to the other and they both pounced on the helpless Chakora, One bringing his bat down with a sickening crunch against her chest and the other’s axe falling on her shoulder. Chakora mewled weakly and slumped over, falling silent.

From inside the barn, their father gurgled, hearing the noise outside. One of the brothers called out, “Pa? You a’right?” Hearing no reply they headed into the barn. They entered tentatively, the fist holding the axe at the ready, and his twin backing him up. They swiveled around, looking frantically for their father.

A shadow shifted near the one with the bat, causing him to swing wildly. “Stay back!” he screamed.

His brother’s hoof landed on his shoulder, turning him around. “Quick, over here!” he said. “Pa’s hurt!”

They both rushed towards their father. The axe-wielding equine arrived first, and dropped his weapon on the ground to scoop up his father’s limp body. “Pa, no!”

His eyes welled in sorrow for his father, but his eyes dried instantly as he turned to his brother. His brother took short, gasped breaths and blinked rapidly, his whole body shaking from where the timberwolf’s teeth had bitten into his neck, severing his spine.

“I...I can’t…” he panted, “I...can’t...move...help me…”

Hastily dropping his father’s corpse on the dirt floor, the first turned to reach for his weapon, only to find two more timberwolves, one of which had placed its thorn-laden paw across the handle of his axe, pinning it to the ground.

Sucking in a huge amount of air to scream, he toppled backwards as both timberwolves lunged forward at him, biting and slashing at his face and neck. His attempted scream turned into a gurgle as blood flowed down his face and snout and into his open mouth.

His brother, watching helplessly, felt himself falling as the timberwolf holding him released his jaws. “N..no…” he cried weakly.

The timberwolf stepped over him, and to his surprise, said to the others, “That’s enough. Kill this other one too.”

The others heeded his command and stepped over to the paralyzed pony. “What do we do with him?” it asked.

“Do whatever you want,” he said, “Chakora needs us.” Dropping his timberwolf disguise, he ran outside and inspected his daughter closely, carefully. He pulled at her gently and rolled her onto her back. Her eyes fluttered and she coughed weakly.

“Fuck, she’s still alive!” he exclaimed. “Acheri! Mara! Lamia! Fext! Get the fuck over here!” A ruckus from inside the barn quieted as they came running, and he motioned to have Acheri take over next to Chakora. “Talk to her. Let her know we’re going to help. Keep her awake.”

Acheri bent down to console Chokara, and her father turned to the rest. “Enter the house. Kill the mother and daughter but be fast. We need to grab some things before we go.” He pushed past them on the way to the house, but was soon overtaken by Mara, followed by Fext and Lamia.

“I get the child!” Lamia shouted.

“If you can get to her before I finish with the mother!” Mara shouted back.

Mara shed her disguise and entered the house first, with Lamia and Fext squeezing through the door together soon after. Their father entered last and headed for the kitchen. Upstairs, a pounding of hoofbeats ended in an ear-shattering scream. He winced at the sound, the scream going on for several long seconds before suddenly cutting out.

He looked about quickly, but not finding what he wanted turned and kicked his back legs as hard as he was able against the stove in the kitchen. It creaked and groaned but did not fall over. He kicked again, and the stove leaned to the side before settling back into place.

“They built this fucking thing to last,” he muttered, and kicked again. The stove finally toppled over, the doors swinging open and embers falling onto the wooden floor. He ripped a curtain off a nearby window and flung it over the coals as he headed upstairs himself. At the top of the stairs he bumped into a bloodied Mara coming from the master bedroom. He glanced inside and the entire room was almost painted red.

“Fuck,” he said, “Went a little overboard on the ‘killing’ part of that.” Mara gave him a grin that showed off bit of flesh in her teeth. He grimaced. “Wipe yourself off,” he told her, “And grab any blankets you can find, we’re going to need them.”

Mara’s smile faltered and she looked back into the gore she’d created. “Uhhh...it's kind of..uh, bloody-”

“I don’t give a damn what you think!” He shouted. “Get in there! Get blankets! And get the fuck out!”

Mara slunk backwards into the master bedroom, pushing the dead mare off the bed and to the floor with a splat. She hastily pulled the covers off the bed, heaping them onto her back. When Mara turned back to the door she expected to be greeted by the glaring eyes of her father, but he was already gone. Mara glanced out into the hallway but not seeing him there either, turned and hurried down the stairs and back outside.

After Mara had gone to get the sheets, her father went down to the next room where Fext and Lamia huddled around the bed of a foal, who was lying flat on her small bed, rigid as a board with her eyes staring upwards towards the ceiling. Lamia slowly stroked her mane.

As he approached them, Fext looked over her shoulder at him. “I think she died of fright,” Fext said dejectedly. “I wanted to see her die.”

“If you two don’t hurry up you’ll get to see Chakora die,” he said in a huff. He pushed Fext to the side and pulled at the sheets, causing them and the dead foal to fall to the floor.

“Hey!” Lamia protested. “I was playing with that!”

Her father leveled a stare at Lamia that might have caused Lamia to die of fright had she not been raised by him. He pushed the heaped sheets in Fext’s direction and instructed them both to get back outside.

Smelling smoke, the ran into the room of the two brothers, and grabbed the blankets off of their beds as well. He went to go back down the stairs but a thick cloud of smoke near the bottom of the stairs made him change his mind. Throwing the blankets over his back, he jumped through the bedroom window’s glass. Temporarily forgetting that he was on the second floor, he fell to the ground in a heap, unable to get his wings out from under the piled sheets.

His daughters had gathered near the barn and all looked over at the noise. He looked back to the house and was pleased to see it already starting to spew flames from some of the lower windows. He gathered himself up, the blankets having somewhat cushioned his fall, and made his way back to the group.

Acheri and Roddi were already using the blankets to make tourniquets and to bundle up Chakora. He addressed the rest of them: “We need to erase our presence before we leave. The house is taken care of, someone figure out how to set the barn on fire, and when we move Chakora we’ll need to make sure this area is sterile as well.”

Kishi, who had still been in the barn recovering from her exertions, had joined the group at some point and talked in hushed tones with the others to find out what was going on. Hearing her father, she piped up, “There’s an oil lamp in the barn. We could use that.”

He nodded and Kishi dashed back to the barn to set it alight. He then knelt in front of Chakora, who was still just barely alive. Her green innards held in by the makeshift bandages, she looked up at her father weakly. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “Be strong a little while longer, we’ve got to get you home.” Chakora opened her mouth to speak but he hushed her.

Turning back to the others, he commanded, “We’re moving fast. I marked the trail back on the ground, so I’ll be following it that way. Fext, you have the best sensing ability so I want you out in front, following along behind me and guiding the others by air.” He looked between them quickly. “You all got that?”

They quickly nodded in agreement. “Okay, then lets get all of you back in bat pony form. Try and keep Chakora flat, and if you see anyone else out there, just head up into the clouds and out of sight. Go. Now!”

His daughters and Roddi quickly gained altitude as he ran across the fields, growing his covering coat instinctually. He sniffed air as he ran, trying to pick up on familiar scents while absentmindedly crushing the delicate plants of the field under his feet. His mind raced to devise a plan. Having not just years but centuries of experience, his feet guided him effortlessly to his destination while his mind saw other things.

He knew that Mali would have to take them back down. But while she had seemed very sure of her footing on the way up, he and the others had not. Worst case scenario, he’d leave some of the others back above ground and have Mali come back for them later.

Once back in the Hive, what then? Roddi had already made it clear that any medics wouldn’t be helping them, but the books she had smuggled into the training room did have a number of chapters about basic medical techniques. What he had read wasn’t coming to him at the moment, but if he could get back he might be able to figure it out soon enough to save Chakora’s life.

His feet had carried him to the forest’s edge. Circling once, then twice, he picked up his own scent. And that of Roddi too. In other circumstances, he might have found it humorous that he’d become that accustomed to her and her smell, but as he headed into the forest his mind came to an ugly possibility: Chakora may very well not make it.

He shook his head hard and almost ran right into a tree in his momentary lapse of concentration. Picking up his trail again, he tried to push the thought out of his head. Unfortunately, the suffering that Chakora had already endured as a result of his own convictions to try and save her kept breaking through his concentration. He gritted his teeth and ran yet faster through the forest, eyes squinted to see in the darkness.

Behind and above him, Fext had taken on the leadership role to help everyone keep up with her father’s fast movement. Her eyes scanned the ground below, and while she was able to keep a good eye on her father as he sped across the open fields, her eyes lost him the moment he entered the thick forest. Fortunately, her extensive training and natural ability in sensing allowed her to keep track of him easily, even without being able to see him.

Her sisters had been able to keep Chakora aloft easily, and seeing the approaching mountains, Fext knew that they were fast approaching the cave. She motioned them lower in the sky, and from her left side noticed that the horizon had started to glow a soft red. The sun was coming up.

Down in the forest, the lone changeling bounded around trees, and could see the snow-capped mountains from gaps in the trees. He pushed himself to go yet faster but came to a skidding halt as he nearly ran into a large outcropping of rock. He leapt on top of it, looking around. It was one of the boulders that made up the mountain’s base. Looking back for the first time since he left the farm, he could just pick out the white bundle that was Chakora descending against the brightening sky.

He circled around the rock, and picked up his own scent in the distance, he followed it to a dark cave opening. He looked back again to make sure that Fext was close; indeed the whole group was coming in for a landing. He shook off his coat and tossed it just inside the opening, not bothering to eat it and instead opting to let it dissolve on its own.

In his natural skin, he crept around the corner. “Mali?” he inquired.

“Where are the rest?” came a female voice from the rear of the cave.

“Right behind me,” he answered. “I need you to guide us swiftly, Chakora’s been hurt and we need to go now.”

As if on cue, his daughters and Roddi came around the corner, all having shed their skins, and some carrying Chakora, others carrying the heaped blankets they had stolen from the farmhouse.

Mali took one look at Chakora, who was breathing shallowly, and turned to the rear of the cave. “Come on,” she told them.

…

The climb down had fortunately gone quickly, and once they reached the Hive proper he bolted past Mali, who ran along behind, struggling to keep up. Galloping down the dim hallways of the Hive, he broke away and ahead of the pack behind him, and lowered his shoulder to ram through the heavy doors of the once-armory. Shaking with each impact, he ignored the pain and instead tried to focus on what he needed: the book.

He skidded to a stop at the far side of the room and frantically began flipping through books with his magic. “Where is it? Where is it!” He scowled and threw a book to the other side of the room. “Where the fuck is the book!? It was here…!”

“Master…” came a soft voice from behind him. He spun around to see Roddi there.

“Roddi! Find the book on medical techniques!” He went to grab for her but Roddi only backed up a step.

Roddi looked down. “I think its too late for that.” She looked back at him solemnly. “You should come say goodbye.”

His eye twitched involuntarily. “What?” Looking past Roddi, his daughters had gathered around the bundled form of Chakora. His eyes easily picked up on the copious amounts of green that had soaked the sheets she was wrapped in. His mouth hung agape. “No!”

He bolted towards Chakora and slid on his stomach to her. Her eyes were closed but she rolled her head towards him. “No, Chakora, you have to hold on,” he begged.

Chakora drew in a shallow breath. “I…” she coughed, as green leaked from the corner of her mouth.

He put his arms under her head. “No,” he said softly, tears welling. “No, Chakora, don’t go. Be strong and fight it. You are the strongest of all of us. You must...please…”

Chakora coughed again, and more green flowed from her mouth. She moved her lips, but no sound came out. He leaned down to her as she moved her mouth again. Chakora exhaled, and all waited for her to inhale again.

When she did not, her father hugged her tightly. “Please no, Chakora. Come back to us.” He rocked slightly, hugging his daughter tightly.

Roddi stepped forward to comfort him but halted as a trickle of electricity leapt through the muscles of her face. It happened a second time and Roddi took a step backward. She noticed that everyone, including Mali, seemed to be backing away. From the center of their circle, her master and their father inhaled deeply and rapidly.

The energy around them intensified as his breathing seemed to grow louder and louder with each new wave of magical energy that passed by. He lowered Chakora to the floor gently but when he rose he seemed to stand larger in height then Roddi remembered. He was still looking down at Chakora but Roddi could see he was sporting a grimace of malice and hate the likes of which she had never seen from him before.

Another blast of energy passed by and pushed against the walls. The air seemed to tighten around them and Roddi thought for the second time since she’d known him that there may have been a reason that Chrysalis had been so cautious around him.

He opened his mouth and spat, “No!” To accentuate the point, he brought his hoof up only inches from the floor and stamped it back down with enough force to cause a crack to appear in the worn stone.

He raised his head out to the ceiling and let out a cry of anguish that echoed across the room and even out into the halls of the Hive, down the empty corridors of his prison turned home. With his howl came a new and yet more powerful surge that rattled the magical lamps, causing one of them to fall with a crash to the floor and the very stone of the walls to push back ever so slightly until they in turn began to crack.

Roddi looked around wildly, fearful for her life for the first time that she could remember. The mountain shuddered around her, and Lamia who had been sitting nearby crawled to Roddi and curled up next to her.

His howl seeming to go on endlessly, Roddi looked away from Lamia and saw Mara, who was just walking through the door of her room, her head hung low, seemingly unaware of the chaos and din that surrounded her.

Acheri had run up to Chakora’s body on the floor, and she hugged it tightly, crying out along with her father as his scream slowly faded off, and the air seemed to still as did his cry. He snorted, and turned to the door.

Acheri was on her feet in a moment. She stood in front of him with fire in her eyes. “You!” she growled through clenched teeth. “You did this to her. You were the one who took her out when she wasn’t ready. And now she’s dead!”

He snarled back at Acheri, teeth bared. “You think you know loss, whelp?” He stepped forward, his hoofbeats coming down with the sound of cannonfire, as he approached the adamant Acheri. “Just an hour ago you were imagining that dick in your sopping cunt and suddenly you think that your petty feelings of grief are enough to justify hatred of me? When I’m the one who tried to do the right thing and save her from Chrysalis?”

Acheri blinked and took a step back but her father kept his gaze and took another pounding step forward. “And you think that I so hastily went though with a plan that nearly killed Chakora once just to give her a better chance at living because I’m some sort of uncaring fuck? You explain how that makes sense, you insolent… little… whore!”

Acheri took another step backward and glanced quickly from side to side. Her father kept her in his sight, not even blinking. “And you think I’m such a worthless piece of shit because I came all the way back down here just to save her only to fail at the last moment?”

Acheri hit the door of the hall with her haunches. “Father I-”

“Keep your wagging tongue inside your whore mouth!” he screamed. His horn lit bright green as he used his magic to rip one of the sides of the massive door off its hinges. He grunted and sent it crashing against a wall. “If you want to hate, then hate them,” he spat. “Hate those that force us to live hiding underground like fucking worms.”

Acheri lifted her head from where she had cowered below his impressive stature, as if waking from a dream.

“Hate those two stallion fucks who so mercilessly beat and tortured poor Chakora,” he continued. “Did you see mercy in their eyes? They meant to kill. And they succeeded in killing what I could only hope would have been the shining example of what changelings should be; kind, curious, and honest.

“But this is why I raised you to be the way you are. Because to survive, you must never trust them. For all they paint us as the monster, the invader, and the savage, it is them that are the enemy of all beings.” He moved past Acheri and out the exit. A crash sounded and splinters of the ancient wood flew where he ripped yet another door asunder. From the hallway, he called back, “Mali! Come here!”

Mali, who had backed up near a corner, stumbled to her feet and quickly ran out to him. She was relieved to see that he had lost some of the malice he exhibited earlier. “Yes?”

He turned, leading them both down the hall and towards the more active parts of the Hive. “I need you to help me in arranging a funeral.”

Back inside Acheri stared blankly into space. Kishi approached her timidly. “Are you going be be okay, Acheri?” she asked.

Acheri continued to stare blankly. “A pox,” she muttered.

Kishi looked confused. “A what?”

“A pox.” Acheri’s eyes seemed to light up with glee as a wicked smile crossed her face. “A pox! From the book!” Acheri bounded across the room past where Fext was attempting to right the broken lamp and crashed haphazardly into the bookshelf. Picking herself up, she snatched a book from the debris. “Here! A pox, a disease to torment those who have no mercy, no remorse for the lives they take and the lives they ruin!”

Acheri whirled around and hugged the book to her chest as she did so, still sporting her wicked grin. She stopped her dancing to stare intently at the book. Her grin faded to a soft smile as she said, “I will ruin them for what they have done. I swear it on the life of my beloved sister.”

…

The flames of the pyre glowed with their supernatural green. Atop them, Chakora lay after having been cleaned and prepped, and made to look as if she lay sleeping, one last time.

Acheri, Lamia, Fext, Mara, and Kishi stood behind their father, all facing the pyre. As the flames licked around Chakora, Chrysalis stepped in from the doorway.

Roddi, who had been standing near the rear of the room, gasped. She never liked funerals but seeing Chrysalis for the first time in so long, and especially at a time like this, concerned her greatly.

Chrysalis, to her credit, understood loss all too well. She slowly walked up to his side and waited.

Out of respect, he waited until the fire had run its course and the ashes of Chakora had been carried on the hot air currents up and out of the room to places unknown. Without looking at her, he asked, “Why have you come?”

Chrysalis gave him a knowing smile. “I know you don’t know our traditions well, if at all, but it is customary for the King and Queen to say goodbye to their children.”

“I’m not your King,” he retorted.

Chrysalis nodded. “But you’re their King. And now I hope you may begin to understand why I made the choices I did. You are responsible for them. I hope you lead them on long and happy lives.” Chrysalis turned and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I won’t stay. But you should say something.”

Chrysalis stepped backwards and out of the room before he could reply. He sighed. Turning, he addressed his daughters. “At this early time in your life you may think that with time your memory will fade and Chakora will be forgotten. I tell you she will not be, as long as you hold in your hearts the lessons she taught us. She taught us mercy and kindness in her innocence, but her strength and her will taught us perseverance.”

He stopped for a moment to breathe. “Her death taught us grief and anger, and somewhere in between all these things, you must find a reason to remember. But along with that memory you must remember what we are and also why we are different.

"You also need to remember that we aren’t one of them, even though going forward we’re going to have to pretend to be one. I want all of you to think very hard about who and what you want to be. We’re not going to falter. We have a lot to learn. But let us adopt some of their tactics.”

He paused, and nobody said anything. “Back to our rooms, all of you. Let’s get some rest and get ready for our next outing. I have plans that I think you’ll like.”

His daughters walked out single file, but even in the near-darkness he could tell at least Mara and Acheri were smiling wickedly.

After they had left he turned back to the stacked pyre, watching until it was only embers, thinking of why he had been brought to such circumstances. Eventually he turned to leave, but Roddi stopped him at the door. “May I ask you something, Master?”

He sniffed, the darkness hiding the tears he had been holding in until everyone else had left. “What is it, Roddi?”

Roddi leaned in close. “Chakora said something to you. Will you tell me what it was that caused you such pain as to nearly tear down the very mountain?”

He exhaled slowly and brought his arm up to wipe away an unseen tear. “She told me she loved me.”

Author's Note

I am back from my hiatus! I figure with the show taking a break, then I ought to get back to it. Hopefully ya'll don't hate me.

Chapter Twelve

Roddi helped him back to the training room. While she and the others had had some time between their return and the funeral, he apparently had not and the exertion was showing. She guided him along the halls and over the debris that used to be the room’s doors.

“Don’t throw that out,” he mumbled. “We’re… gonna need it.”

Roddi cooed and kissed his head. “I don’t do anything without your say so. Come on, let’s get you into bed.” She pulled him along, and upon reaching their room laid him carefully down in the straw bed. He almost immediately fell into a deep sleep, so Roddi left him alone and went back into the main hall.

She looked around and sighed deeply. Everything was is such disarray. She walked over to the toppled bookshelf and after clearing out the scattered books around its base, set it back upright. Picking up the books with her magic, Roddi put them back on the shelf. She was shortly finished, and turned back towards the center of the room.

Stretching her wings, Roddi flew up towards the hanging lamps, one of which had lost its magical flame. Roddi inspected it quickly to make sure it was still sturdy, and focused as her horn glowed in the darkness, fire jumping from it to the lamp, which burned a brilliant green before dying away into a familiar pattern.

She flitted about, checking the other lamps. One of them still lay on the floor, cracked and broken. Fext had not attempted to hang it again, and Roddi didn’t think that she alone had the strength to put it back up on the wall anyway. Instead, Roddi landed outside of Mara and Kishi’s room and peeked her head inside. They both appeared to be sleeping, so Roddi backed up and poked her head inside the next room.

Inside, Fext and Lamia had curled up together but Acheri was nowhere to be seen. Roddi furrowed her brow but said nothing, again backing out slowly as not to disturb them. Near their door were the mass of sheets that they had brought back down. Roddi picked up the first, and folded it up before setting it back down. She repeated with the other sheets down to the last one. Picking it up, it was caked with a green substance that permeated its fibers. Roddi looked curiously for a moment before realizing what she was looking at.

She winced. “Oh, Chakora, I’m sorry dear,” she said aloud to no-one. Roddi tried to pull the sheets apart but the dried blood held them together. Roddi settled for folding it best she could and placing it next to the rest.

From behind her, a voice answered, “It’s not your fault, Roddi.”

Roddi turned to see Fext there. Roddi nodded, saying, “I know that, Fext, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling sorry about what happened. He might not show it a lot, but your father really cares for all of us.”

Fext nodded slightly, and Roddi inquired, “Have you seen Acheri? I don’t know where she got off to.”

“Aye,” Fext said, “When we got back she said she was ‘going for a walk’. I don’t know to where or when she’ll come back, and none of us felt it right to question her on it. I just kind of assumed she’d go somewhere to cry for a bit.”

Roddi walked up beside Fext. “She’s like you father in that way, bottling up her emotions.” Roddi took a step back. “Are you feeling okay? Feel like helping me?”

Fext bent her head to the side. “Doing what?”

Roddi led her towards the broken door frame. “Master told me to keep this stuff. I don’t know what he wants it for, but maybe we can clear up the entrance a bit and stack it so he doesn’t have to when he gets up?”

Fext shrugged. “If you say so.” As they struggled to lift the first piece of wooden door, Fext asked, “Why do you call him ‘Master’ anyhow? Is it the sex?”

Roddi grunted. “It’s a hard thing to explain. I didn’t understand why I did it at first either. It just kind of…happened. I guess its just calming to me to have someone else stand up for me, to take care of me.” Roddi paused. “And the sex is also excellent.”

Fext panted as they set the first piece against the wall. “Give me a second. These things are damn heavy.”

Roddi raised an eye at her. “Already? That’s just the first one.” Fext sat down, so Roddi shrugged and sat down next to her. “Does sex interest you, Fext?”

Fext furrowed her brow for a few seconds. “I guess? It seems like it’d be nice to try, especially seeing how much you and Kishi like it. But I’d like to see other...things.”

Roddi put an arm around Fext. “You don’t need to hold back from me. We all have things that we’re ashamed of.”

“Well…” Fext looked unsure.

“I’ll tell you what,” Roddi told her, “I’ll tell you what I’m ashamed of and then you tell me whatever it is has got you all wound up, okay?”

Fext didn’t respond, so Roddi tool her arm off from her and moved Fext’s head around to look at her. “See these marks, here?” Roddi bent her head down, stretching out her neck to reveal deep scrapes in her shell around her neck.

“I was once very ashamed of these. But they’re not what makes me ashamed anymore.” Roddi traced a hoof around them. “What really makes me ashamed is how weak I am. These marks show me, remind me that I can’t do things on my own, that I need someone to do it for me.”

Fext widened her eyes at Roddi, who continued, “I needed Chrysalis to raise me. I needed her to shield me from taking on other duties because I wasn’t fit for them. Then I needed your father because I couldn’t stop myself from falling for him.” Roddi paused again. “I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I lost him.”

Fext kissed Roddi’s cheek. “I think you’re strong, Roddi,” she said. “I just feel abnormal. My eye makes me different. Its a handicap and I’m afraid that I’ll end up like Chakora. Dead and gone because someone else needs to protect me.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Roddi said softly. “Your broken eye has provided you with a way to scan beyond the range of any of us. It’s a gift in disguise.” Roddi prodded Fext in the side. “You said you wanted to see other things. What is it you want to see?”

“I...I can’t really describe it,” Fext stammered. “I don’t know why, but death...intrigues me.”

“Ah, well, we can help you with that,” her father said confidently from behind them.

Fext and Roddi spun around. “Master! Uh, how long have you been there?”

“I just arrived,” he said, walking up to them. “I finished my nap and feel much improved. Where is everyone else?”

“Most everyone else is sleeping,” Roddi replied. “Acheri seems to have left some time ago and has not yet returned.”

He mused over the last part. “Someone will have to go find her, eventually. Do you know where Mali went?”

Fext cocked her head. “The scout? What do you need her for?”

“Well, we’ll need her later,” he said, walking away from them and changing the subject. “We need to do a little… setting up, first.”

Fext trotted after him. “Okay, now I’m curious. what is it that you have planned?”

He smirked at Fext, still walking. “I want to have a little fun, is all. Blow off a little steam.”

“Isn’t that what you use Roddi for?” Fext asked dryly.

Roddi, who had stayed back to move another piece of broken wood, shouted, “Hey!”

“Eh,” he shrugged, “Sometimes. But sometimes I need something more cathartic.” He stopped suddenly and spun around to face Fext. “And you want to kill a pony.”

Fext gritted her teeth and looked away.

“Fext,” he cooed, “Let’s not lie to each other. Tell me what you want. Young? Old? Female, I suspect?” He leaned in, and Fext turned her eyes back to his. “Tell me what you want.”

Fext’s eye trembled. “I… I want to take them apart. See what’s inside.”

Her father leaned back, smiling. “And so you shall. But we’ll need a place for that.” He motioned to the two empty rooms at the rear of the hall. “We’ll make cells. We’ll fashion a… workbench for you. Sound good?”

Fext thought about it for a second. “But we’ll need subjects, yes? Where will we get them?”

"Well, we’re going to need Mali to show us back to the surface. Then, we’re going to need your sister's help. I think Mara would be into it, don’t you?”

Fext broke into an evil grin. “What do you need me to do?”

He put an arm around her. “I’d like to know what your sisters want. Maybe you can pry it out of them? When they’re all awake get them out here.”

Fext slipped out from him embrace and went to go to her room, but turned back to face him. “Thank you, Father.” She smiled again and turned away to find her siblings.

He waved her off. He turned to back to where Roddi was still struggling with the broken doors. “Hey, pick it up, you worthless slut!” he hollered. “I need iron!”

Roddi started to make an obscene gesture at him, but seeing his cold eyes staring back from across the room, thought the better of it and instead replied meekly, “Yes, my Master.”

…

Fext wasted no time in talking to her sisters, one by one, and they all seemed to respond positively to the idea of being allowed to do one thing they wanted. Some hours had gone by and seeing everyone in reasonably good spirits, Fext asked them to come to the main hall.

“What are you, the boss now?” Mara asked incredulously.

“Well, I suppose you could stay in your room and pout while we have all the fun,” Fext taunted.

Mara scoffed. “Fine, whatever.” She pushed past Fext on her way out of her room.

Fext followed them, and was momentarily panicked that she’d done wrong that her father was nowhere in sight but he shortly emerged from one of the rooms, which now had a heavy wood and iron door covering its entrance.

“Ah,” he greeted them. Glad to see we’re all… wait.” He paused. “Where’s Acheri?”

Everyone looked around. Fext shrugged at her father.

“Well, Fext, I asked you to get everyone, so it looks like you’re going to have to go find Acheri.” He waved Fext off.

“But…!” Fext protested.

“Ah bup bup bup!” he interrupted. “The sooner you get back the sooner we can go. Oh, and find Mali, too, okay?”

Fext grumbled and walked away, silently cursing herself for forgetting about Acheri in her rush to get things rolling.

He turned back to everyone else. “Now!” he said excitedly, “Fext was going to talk with you all! What horrors do we have planned for our soon-to-be captives?”

Mara spoke first. “I want to beat one of them to a bloody pulp! Slowly… make them feel what was was done to Chakora!”

“Mmmm,” Kishi moaned. “I want more cock. We need a big strong stallion to give me more!”

Lamia rolled her eyes. “I just want them to think I’m one of them. Play with their emotions.”

Their father chuckled. “We can do all of that. But we need to go retrieve them first. So, anyone care to postulate on where we’re going to find these equines, and how the fuck we’re going to get them all the way back down here?”

“That farm seemed good enough to me,” Mara said. “Why not just find another one? Knock them on the head and drag them back down?”

He raised an eye at Mara. “Oh? And when it took four of you to carry Chakora back down you’re already strong enough to carry a full-grown male all the way back down here, eh?”

Mara huffed. “Fine, so how would you do it, then?”

He smiled. “Coercion. Find a smaller family. Husband and wife, one child. Hold the child captive, bind them all and march them back down. Equines have a weakness for foals. Even more so for their own family.”

“Don’t you feel the same way about us, father?” Lamia asked meekly.

He smiled softly and walked over to Lamia. “Aye, but unlike them, who raise their children under protection and care, I raised you to be independant. I’ll still help you, but I also trust you to be able to take care of yourself.” He leaned down and kissed Lamia’s head. “If all else fails, blend in and when able, sneak back to us.”

He stood back up. “Until Acheri and Fext return, we can’t really do much. How about we divvy up the sheets?”

“Ooh!” Lamia jumped to her feet. “I want one!” She bounded across the room. “How many do we have?”

Lamia shuffled through the sheets as the others walked over. “It looks like five,” Lamia said, not looking at them. “But one is, uh…” she trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence.

“I’ll take that one, plus one more,” he father said, stepping in to whisk one clean, and the only bloody sheet away. Mara, why don’t you and Kishi take one each for your beds, and Acheri, Lamia, and Fext can share the other two? Seeing as how they sleep together anyway?”

Kishi looked at Lamia. “You all sleep together?”

Lamia looked back adamantly. “It’s comfy!”

Kishi rolled her eyes and picked up her sheet, carrying it off to her room.

Mara followed suit and Lamia struggled to get the other two sheets onto her back. “Will you help me, father?” she asked.

“No, Lamia, you got this,” he replied. “I’ve got a few more things to do. Just do one at a time. And come find me when Fext and Acheri get back.”

Lamia shuffled off with one of the sheets, and her father threw the clean one inside his room, taking the other back to the makeshift prison cells. Opening the door, he stepped back inside and dropped the bloody sheet in the corner. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the intentionally-dim interior.

“You figure out that soundproofing spell like I told you, slut?” he said into the darkness.

A muffled sound came back to him. “Ah, right,” he mused. He took a few steps forward to where he had left Roddi bound and gagged to the table, her front legs attached to shackles on the table and her rear legs on the floor past the other end of the table. He inspected her. “It looks like this will work fine.”

Roddi mumbled around the gag in her mouth as he walked past her. “What’s that, slut?” he said mockingly. “You want to get fucked again?”

Roddi mumbled around the gag again. It wasn’t particularly comfortable the first time, and she wasn’t restrained that time. Her stomach hurt from banging against the rough table he had fashioned from a piece of the door, and would much prefer to do it back in their bed. Or on the floor. Or anywhere but here.

He walked around behind Roddi and placed a hoof on her rear, pushing it away to reveal her green sex, still puffy and leaking a bit of white. He chuckled, pushing against Roddi’s flank. This only served to make Roddi squirm around to try and relieve the pressure, but his length popped free of his sheath as well.

“Mmmm,” he growled lustily, “I love it when you act like you don’t want it. I kind of miss those first few times when you were so tight and so timid.” He lowered his face to her opening and lapped at it, tasting not just her but also himself.

Despite her uncomfort, Roddi let out a low moan of pleasure around the wooden gag stuffed in her mouth. Her body pushed back toward him, which was met with a firm smack against her rump. Roddi whimpered and tried to look back, but her vision was obscured by his massive stomach plate floating above her head.

He straddled the bound Roddi, and opened his jaws to place around her neck. “Time to give you another mark,” he growled.

Roddi’s eyes shot wide open and she started to struggle a bit as his teeth came down around her neck, his slick tip bumping against her simultaneously. Her muffled shouts only encouraged him to be even rougher once his pointed tip found the right spot and he rammed himself home.

Roddi cried out in pain against the wooden block in her mouth, her insides being forced to move and her whole body aching from her earlier abuse on the same table. His teeth scraped new grooves into her skin, but at least for the moment that was the least of her concerns.

The sturdy table shook and rattled as he rammed in and out of her, and Roddi started to think it might either crumble or fall to the floor in pieces, but the iron he had woven through it and into the stone floor kept it firm, and Roddi was forced to bear his abuse of her body.

He seemed to notice that she had given up, at least for the time being and pulled out, stepping off of her and releasing her neck from his jaws. As he stepped around her left side, he used his magic to release the shackles around her head and pull the wooden gag from her mouth.

Roddi panted, gasping for air.

“So, tell me, then,” he whispered, leveling his head with hers just above the table. “Sometimes you beg for it, sometimes you don’t want it. And sometimes, like now, I wonder if you even want me at all anymore.”

Roddi whipped her eyes to meet with his, holding her breath. His words hurt, hurt more than her neck, or any other part of her body. He raised his eyes at her, and when she didn’t respond, he lifted his head away.

“Hmm,” he mused insultingly, “I suppose this is it, then? You’re finally done with me?” He started to walk around the front of her and towards the door. “Shall I take you back to the archives? Find myself another slut and let you live the rest of your life away from me?”

He turned from Roddi to open the door and leave, but her sobbing cry made him pause. “No! Don’t go!”

He waited, one arm still outstretched towards the barred door. “Oh?” he asked, not moving or looking back. “And why should I believe you? How am I to be sure you’re worth my time and attention? Or how would I know you’re not just using me for sex?”

“I…” Roddi struggled to find the words that would bring him back. “I can’t do this without you. You… you protect me and care for me in a way no one else ever has.” Roddi laid her head back down on the table. “But I’m not worth your time. I’m worthless… which is why… I don’t fight it.” Roddi sniffled. “I’m only good for being used.”

He put his hoof back on the floor. “A worthless one such as yourself made the right decision to submit to one such as me. However,” he turned and slowly walked back to the shackled Roddi, “You need to understand that doing what I tell you is your responsibility, no matter how much it hurts.”

Roddi, still sniffling nodded her head as much as her restrained posture would allow. “Yes, please Master, I’ll do what you tell me. Please.. use my body, that’s the only thing it’s good for.”

He shook his head. “I’m no longer in the mood.” He used his magic to loosen her shackles, and she fell to the floor at once. “Clean yourself up, and when you’re presentable, come join the rest of us.” He moved swiftly to the exit, not bothering to help Roddi up and walked out the door without another word.

Outside, he found Lamia sitting on the floor patiently. He looked surprised, so she said, “It sounded like you two were having an important conversation so I didn’t interrupt.”

He moved to Lamia. “How much did you hear, my dear?” he asked

Lamia shook her head. “Nothing of substance. there was a lot of grunting, which means private time. Then there was some yelling, so I just waited. I really couldn’t hear much of anything at all.”

He nodded. The soundproofing spell had worked quite well and he’d need to learn it himself. He patted Lamia on the head. “Did Fext and Acheri return?”

Lamia stood up and nodded. “Mali too! Are we ready?”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Almost. Go get them and we’ll have a family meeting.”

Lamia scampered off and within minutes everybody was gathering into the center hall. “Ah!” he exclaimed, “Welcome back Acheri. Did any of your sisters tell you about what we’re doing?”

Acheri had her head hung low, and she didn’t look up when she responded. “Yeah. And I know what I want. but let’s make some plans first and make sure no-one dies before we get that far.”

He sighed. “Yes, good point.” A bang sounded from his side as Roddi let the door swing shut behind her. “Okay, so we’re all here. Let us talk for a bit…”

…

Sitting in the middle of the hall, everyone discussed and memorized their assignments. He stood watch over them and when he felt they had enough time, he said, “Okay, so everyone tell me what the plan is. Uh, Mara, Acheri, Kishi. You go first.” He motioned at them to speak.

Mara nodded. “Right. So we're responsible for at least one male. A family if we can get it but one male.”

“And how?” he prompted.

“Acheri and I are still going over that,” Mara said, glancing back at her sister, “But we figure since we can’t use coercion we might drug him using one of your recipes to make him more...susceptible.”

Her father nodded. “Good idea. Are you comfortable enough in finding the ingredients?”

Mara looked unsure but Acheri was quick to speak up. “I am. I’ve been studying the guides you wrote down and am quite confident. Something quick and dirty, just enough to get the job done.”

Kishi walked up beside them. “I think we’ll head to a local bar and slip it in a drink. Or maybe just sex up the target a bit and get him to ingest it some other way.”

“Okay,” he said, nodding again. “Fext and Lamia, you two are coming with Roddi and me. We’re after a family target. If possible, are you two capable of drawing the child, whoever it may be, away from the family and taking care of it without getting too distracted?”

Fext nodded solemnly. “Now we work, later I can play. We’ll take care of it.”

He turned to Mali, standing in a far corner. “Okay. Mali, you’re just going to lead us up and back, as last time.”

Mali saluted him but said nothing.

Turning back to the group, he said, “And everybody remember to be on the lookout for food. We don’t need it but equines do, and to keep them for any reasonable amount of time we’ll need something to feed them. If any of you could find a cart that would be helpful too.”

“Okay!” He motioned for them to all stand up. “Let’s not waste time. Mali, what time is it?”

From the far corner, Mali thought for a minute, and said, “I’d say noonish. So we should be getting up there around late afternoon. Earlier, if you all can be faster this time.”

Acheri scowled and shot a look at Mali, who got the point and changed the subject. “Anyhow,” Mali continued, “We need to be on our way. We’ll be taking a different route, there’s a number of small towns to the southeast of the Smokey Mountains that have sprung up around the logging operations taking place there.”

Mali led them out the now doorless entry to their room, and right, down a number of dark hallways. Walking along, Roddi took note of how much more activity could be heard in other parts of the Hive. Chrysalis was obviously working on something. But her Master had instructed her to stay quiet and follow his orders, so she looked away and back towards Mali, not wanting to fall behind.

…

This climb up was actually much easier due to the relatively flat ground, but it took just as long as the tunnel wound back and forth, seeming to bend back on itself several times. All were panting with exertion as they reached the exit.

Mali stepped to the side and nodded to them. “One day,” she repeated, and tucked herself in an alcove, nearly disappearing from view.

“Change, everyone,” he commanded. “No need to use code-names for a quick op like this. But make sure your forms fit your assignment.” His form changed only slightly, with black fur and a dagger cutie mark flowing forth, and his green eyes shifted to a dark purple. Dark purple hair, matching the color of his eyes came forth but stopped just inches off his head, well below his purple-tinged horn.

Roddi followed suit, her fur black with a noose cutie mark. She retained her natural green eyes and formed a blue mane cropped short.

Fext and Lamia were next, both taking a similar black mane. Fext’s cutie mark, should it even be called as such was a skull and crossbones, and her hair came out in a milky white, matching her blind eye. It reached past her shoulders but Fext was quick pull it back up just slightly to hang loosely around her neck.

Lamia in her shorter posture forwent the cutie mark and instead let her mane come out a splotched red and orange.

Kishi smirked. “I’m glad we got the assignment we did, at least I can have more fun with my look.” The fur Kishi sprouted was a light red, not quite pink. A pair of red lips sprouted on her haunches and a beautiful blonde mane fell down her shoulders in a braid. “What stallion could resist someone as beautiful as me?”

Mara chuckled quietly. “This isn’t some fancy society we’re walking into, sister. They’re going to want someone a little more down to earth.” Mara’s skin shimmered and a light brown coat sprung forth, with dirty blond hair rising from her head to form a short bob. She turned her haunches towards Kishi, were a potted plant appeared from nowhere. “Like this.”

Kishi scowled but Acheri pushed past the both of them, not taking too much time to form her light blue coat, lighter blue mane and scissor cutie mark. “Stop your bickering and let’s focus on the task at hand, eh?” Acheri continued to walk toward the forest, where even from this distance a soft glow could be seen coming from one of the logging encampments.

Their father took one more minute to assure everyone, “You’ll all do fine. Just remember the way back. If anything goes wrong, blend in and get back here at midnight. If anyone does not return, I’ll come up to the entrance every night to wait for you.”

Acheri had nearly disappeared into the trees, so he hurried Mara and Kishi off to meet up with their sister. He motioned for the other three to follow him along the ridge of the mountain to the north. “We’ve got to find ourselves a road, and a farm. Come on.”

Chapter Thirteen

Winding through the trees, Kishi swayed her hips back and forth, seemingly in love with her own movements. Mara shot her a look, to which Kishi just batted her eyes seductively. Acheri was still in front, but as the glow from the encampment grew brighter, and the noise of the tavern louder, she slowed as she searched the ground.

Mara caught up to Acheri first. “Can’t find the plant, sister?” she asked.

Acheri scowled. “No, and it’ll shoot our plan to hell if I can’t.”

Mara shrugged. “Why don’t we get the mark drunk? I’m willing to bet that stuff will barely affect us. More so if we ‘share’ the drink amongst the three of us.”

Acheri shook her head. “I suppose that’s what we’re doing, because I can’t find shit in this stupid forest.”

Kishi sauntered by the two of them, giving a wink. “Come, girls, let’s find a handsome one. With a big cock!” Kishi licked her lips for emphasis.

Acheri rolled her eyes but she and Mara followed Kishi anyway. Within a few short minutes, the tavern and the rest of the hastily-built town came into view. Stepping onto the muddy road and out of the trees, Mara glanced around. “No-one on the streets,” she said. “They must all be in the tavern.”

“Let’s stay close together,” Acheri said to both of her sisters, looking from one to the other. “We’re far stronger and more skilled than they are, but we can’t let on to that fact.”

“Oh, come onnnn,” Kishi begged. “I want to get at them boys!”

“You’re a fucking slut, Kishi,” Acheri said sternly, pointing a hoof at her sister. “You better not blow this.”

Mara sighed and pushed both of them towards the town. “Just tell the truth that we’re sisters and there’ll be no doubt that that is true,” she snarked. “Kishi, try not to blow anything until we’ve got our Mark back underground, and Acheri, try not to be too much of a bitch to scare him off. Come on, let’s go have a drink.”

Up ahead, the tavern was easy to spot for its loud music, bright indoor lights, and not least for the fact it was at least twice the size of any other building in sight. All three sisters pushed thru the swinging door at the same time, all three wanting that attention that they knew would come.

The locals did not disappoint. It wasn’t a second after the hinges squeaked at all eyes in the tavern were fixed on the trio and they moseyed up to the bar, laughing and looking at each other, seemingly unaware of the attention they were receiving.

The bartender, a gruff older equine, raised an eye at them. “And what will you ladies be having tonight?”

Mara looked at the stallion, as if surprised. “Oh!” she said in a drawl, “Well sugah, I don’t know, what is the favorite ‘round these parts?”

“Cider,” the barkeep replied flatly.

“I s’pose that’ll have to do, hun,” Mara smiled back. When the barkeep walked away to fetch her drink, Mara leaned over to her sisters, who had already turned around to lean back against the bar. Mara followed their gaze to a dark brown earth pony, caked in sweat and sawdust who was milling towards them.

Behind her, the bartender set down the mug. “Two bits,” he said. Mara panicked internally for a moment, as she didn’t have any ‘bits’, whatever those were. Her attention was drawn back to the brown stallion as he began to speak, his eyes traveling down then up the form of Kishi.

“Hey beautiful, I think I would have noticed you before. Where’d you come from?” He leaned in a little closer to them. “And who’d you bring with you?”

“Two bits,” the bartender repeated from behind them, more firmly this time.

The stallion reached back into a coin purse and threw two golden coins at the bartender. “Here old man, leave these ladies alone.”

The bartender huffed but walked away. The stallion, meanwhile, had leaned in even closer. “Ladies like you shouldn’t be drinking this stuff,” he chuckled, “Unless you’ve been out in the field all day, which I can tell you three have not. Where you been hidin’ all this time, eh?” He smiled, and reached between Kishi and Mara to grab the mug, not taking his eyes off Kishi for even a moment.

Mara scowled internally that she wasn’t getting so much as a passing glance. “Well, hun,” she told the stallion in her sweetest voice, “We have been cooped up an awful long time. I suppose our father is a bit...protective of us.”

The stallion took a long sip off the mug of cider and wiped his chin. “But I’d reckon someone around would have seen you three, or at least one of you, before.” His eyes narrowed. “So where are ya’ll from, again?”

Mara started to panic internally again, when Acheri reached out into Mara’s field of vision and turned the stallion’s head to face her own. “I’ll tell you a secret, hun,” Acheri whispered to the stallion. “We snuck out and walked through the woods to get here and I doubt it’ll be easy finding our way back. At least, in the dark.” Acheri used her forehoof to trace down the stallion’s muscular chest. “Now, I think my sisters and I would be much more comfortable having someone keep us safe and out of trouble on our way back.”

The stallion moved around a bit, nervously. “Ah, I don’t know where you’d be going...maybe, it’d be better for y'all to come spend the night back at my place and head out in the morning? Come on now, let's get you someplace safe and warm.”

Kishi looked crestfallen. “Oh, but we just got here. Father’s not going to let us out of his sight for a long time after this, we need to make our time worth it.”

The stallion couldn’t resist the purposeful line Kishi had given him and replied smugly, “I can make your night one to remember, darlin’. They don't call me 'Big Brown' for nuthin!”

Kishi slid out of her chair and stood in front of him. “Well, if you can show all three of us a good time, I bet we’d all be willing to repay the favor and show you a good time, too.” She winked and pulled back one step from him. “What do ya say?”

The stallion smiled, motioning them them to follow him over to a table. “Come, ladies….what are your names, now?”

…

Several hours later, one drunk, staggering, brown earth pony left the bar, accompanied by three beautiful young mares. They took turns holding him up and, laughing all the while, guided him into the forest.

“Hey now,” he said sloppily, his words running together, “This isn’t my way home but it’s for the other way...I mean, uh, it’s the other way road.”

Acheri laughed and consoled him. “But we’d like to get back to our house. Don’t worry we might stop on the way and have some fun…” as she trailed off she leaned in and bit at his ear gently.

The stallion smiled and attempted to lean in for more, but ended up stumbling over his own feet and falling on Acheri.

Acheri was quick to push him back onto his feet. “You’re so big, I don’t know how I’d feel about you being on top of me,” she giggled.

The stallion, caught up in his own lust and drunkenness, failed to notice that the relatively small Acheri was easily keeping him upright, while Kishi and Mara motioned to each other slightly behind him. Mara, looking at Kishi, waved a hoof as if to say, “How are we going to get him underground?”

Kishi shrugged.

Mara rolled her eyes and trotted up to her sister Acheri. She made the same motion, but a bit more vague.

Acheri just smiled. Turning to the stallion, Acheri teased him. “Big Brown, I can’t wait till we get home...I need some of you now!”

He smiled back. “Sure thang sugah…” she stumbled and almost fell again. He carefully stood himself upright, and, looking very pleased with himself, let out a long belch.

Mara wrinkled her nose at the smell of it, glad that they had not partaken in whatever that foul brew had been. “Such a class act,” she muttered.

The stallion wobbled a bit. “I told you I’d show you a good-” and with that he was out, falling in a lump on the grass.

Kishi and Mara ran up, perplexed. “The hell did you do, Acheri?” Kishi demanded.

Acheri shrugged. “I was gonna fuck him until he passed out. I guess he was closer than any of us realized.”

Mara stepped forward and kicked at the sleeping stallion, drool coming out of his mouth. “Now how are we supposed to get him down underground!?”

Acheri hunched down and slid him up onto her back. “He’s not that heavy. If we take turns it’ll be super easy.” She glanced from Mara to Kishi. “Well, if I’m the only one to carry him back down, then I’m gonna be the only one who gets to play with him, I’ll make sure of that.”

Kishi’s jaw dropped. “Hey...no fair!” Her lips formed into a pout. “Fine, I’ll help.”

“Me too,” Mara added reluctantly. “Let’s get him back to the cave and see who else has made it back.”

The trio and their comatose captive wound their way through the woods. It had been early evening when they first arrived, and now the night had fully sunk in. None of them being as adept at tracking as either their father or Fext, when they reached the mountains steppes, it was not the correct location.

Acheri sighed. Shaking the stallion off herself and to to ground, she also shed her disguise onto the sparse grass. “What direction do you think it is?” she asked her sisters.

Mara paused, looking back towards the town, which by now had fallen silent. She concentrated, trying to feel out any emotion and get her bearings. Acheri only looked up and down the rock wall.

After a few moments, Mara opened her eyes and let her disguise fall to the ground as well. “This way,” she said, pointing to her left. “I remember the town being to our left when we left the entrance, and it's to our right now. Just follow this around and we should be there in no time.”

Acheri nudged Kishi. “Your turn to carry him. You’ll probably like being under any stallion, awake, asleep, probably even dead.”

Kishi tried to shoot her sister a dirty look as she scooped up the stallion, but Acheri had already started to walk away. Huffing, Kishi hustled to keep up with them.

They walked in silence around boulders and over the uneven ground. Kishi kept peeking behind her, to make sure nothing had followed them. She reminded herself that they weren’t very far from town, and if they weren't careful, their tracks could be followed right back to their home.

Kishi looked back again and brought her head back to front just in time to bump into the back of Mara. Kishi stumbled, and shouted, “Hey, why’d you stop?”

Mara whirled around and hushed her sister. “We’re here. Drop the mark and your coat, I’m going forward to talk to Mali.”

Kishi scoffed and threw both her passenger and coat off. The stallion hit the rocky ground hard and moaned in his sleep.

Acheri, having watched this, shoved Kishi, saying, “Careful! Don’t crack his head open before we get to have fun with him!” She knelt and checked on the earth pony. Finding no injuries, rolled him over to his other side to check that too. Satisfied that he was going to live, Acheri stood up and cast another look at Kishi, who just yawned in mock boredom.

Acheri moved in close to Kishi. “I told you,” Acheri said softly, “That you better not screw this up. First you’re reckless in your rush to hop on a dick then you’re careless with the only dick we’ve got. Sort your shit out or you’re going to get one of us killed. And I am not going through that again.”

Kishi sighed. While she had never been particularly close with Chakora, she had always gotten along with Acheri well. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I need to be better at turning it on and off.”

Acheri kissed her sister’s cheek. “I don’t want to lose you, either. I’ll help you however I can. We can….wait, here comes Mara.”

Mara trotted up to the two of them. “Father and the others are already back. They’ve got a whole farm family and they’re not knocked out like ours. Put on a serious face, we’re marching them back down like prisoners. Father says if anyone makes a break for it, we have to kill them, no hesitations.”

Acheri and Kishi raised their eyebrows at this, while Mara continued, “I’ll carry Big Brown over there back down, it’s my turn unless one of you wants to do it. Nobody said anything, So Mara stooped over and rolled the unconscious pony onto her back.

They slowly approached the cave entrance, and as their eyes adjusted to the light, beheld the rest of their family, along with a trio of farm ponies: the largest, a male, muddy yellow, not quite brown coat and obviously trying his best not to look scared; his wife, a soft red coat and a single rose on her haunches, looking more concerned for her daughter than anything else; and the little one, a soft and pale pink, too young to have yet gotten her cutie mark, her light blue mane stuck to her face from tears.

They all were obviously frightened but did not seem bothered by the darkness too much as they had not been blindfolded. Mara realized suddenly that it wasn’t really necessary to have their lumberjack passenger be unconscious - none of them were coming back to the surface anyway.

Their father huffed and stomped his foot impatiently. Mali slowly appeared from the darkness, and motioned them forward in silence. Not wanting to be responsible for chasing down a possible escaping enemy with the actually rather heavy earth pony on her back, Mara pushed forward and followed Mali.

Fext growled and poked at the father farm pony, coaxing him downward. He fought the urge to move, so Fext turned her eyes to the child. “Oh, so tender and fragile,” Fext said slowly, deliberately.

The male lurched at Fext but Acheri was quick to step in to protect her sister, baring her sharp teeth. She growled at him, “Do what we say and you’ll stay together. Just move. Or I break your neck and make you watch what I do to her.”

The male huffed, but a sobbing call from his wife made him back off.

“Please!” she wailed, “Let my daughter go! We’ll go with you, just let her go! She’s a child, please!”

A crack sounded as a black, pockmarked leg came crashing against her face. She looked up slowly, blood just starting to trickle from her nose. “Puh-puh-please…she’s a child…”

Fext’s father tapped the sobbing mare on the shoulder to get her attention. He knelt down slowly and looked her in the eyes. The mare’s pupils went wide, taking in the foreign sight of the face in front of her. His features were so alien to her she couldn’t help but look.

“This isn’t going to work,” he told her in a soft, almost caring voice. “We’ll have to kill you if you don't move.” She started to pull in breath to either say something or scream, but he hushed her, and calmly continued, “So either decide right now whether you’re going to march forward or if you want to see what your family’s insides look like when I decorate the trees with them.”

The red mare’s eyes twitched back and forth, evidently confused at the calm tone and the very specific, graphic threat. She decided that the better option was to hug her daughter tight and scoot back to her husband, “Let’s go,” she whispered softly.

Slowly, reluctantly, they all started to descend into the cave; Mali, then Mara and the passenger on her back, the stallion, his wife and daughter close behind, and the remaining changelings clustered together.

They moved slowly at first but with constant prodding from behind, picked up pace. The ground was fairly soft at first, where the weather had slowly moved in dirt over the ages and where mosses and grasses had taken hold, but soon the floor gave way to fairly even rock slabs, sometimes stepping down, other times stepping up, but unmistakably leading into the earth and away from the protective light and familiarity of the world above.

The dark yellow stallion in the front, running on mostly adrenaline from the desire to protect his family had no issue keeping the pace, and the mother somewhat less so, but the foal was having an increasingly hard time keeping up. Now well into the wee hours of the morning, and having spent all day in the market with her family selling the farm’s produce, she was exhausted and showing it.

The rough granite walls started to give way to a smooth obsidian as they moved deeper, causing the cave to grow ever more oppressively dark. For the equines, it was all they could do to see the tail of the one in front of them. Everything else was noise in the dark.

As they walked, the foal, near complete exhaustion, stumbled and was met with a snapping jaw against her flank. She yelped and shot forward, bumping into her mother, who just cooed and whispered, “Hush my Spring Rain, we’re almost there,” despite not having any actual idea of how close they were, but the stress and exertion of the day and night were wearing down her will to fight.

The foal stumbled again, and fell face first against the rocks. A sharp crack sounded as she impacted, and her mother turned, suddenly terrified. “Spring! Where are you!? Are you hurt?” She stumbled around in the dark, trying to catch sight of her only child.

A dark face appeared, snarling and baring its teeth. “Move!” the changeling commanded.

“”My daughter!” she cried, apparently not noticing the order. “Where is she? Spring!”

A small cry sound from nearby. “Ow...mommy! I...I...I fell, it hurts!” The foal bumped into her mother, who scooped her up and onto her back.

“Shh, stay there dear, I’ll carry you,” she cooed.

The dark face came back, even less pleased at the delay. “I said move, you dumb bitch!”

The mare shuffled back around and continued down, keeping her foal from slipping off her back. “I’m going, I got her, please, don’t hurt her,” she continued to plead.

As they continued down, Acheri quietly stopped to scrape the brains off her hoof on a rock, having gotten them stuck to the bottom of her foot when she stomped the foal’s head into the stone. Meanwhile, on her new mother’s back, Lamia settled in for a nap.

…

At the bottom of the tunnel, The changelings took flight to buzz around their captives, guiding them quickly and silently to their makeshift prison block. The father, mother, and child went into one of three cells, and the drunken and snoring stallion into a second.

Shutting and bolting the door, the assembled changelings gathered for a meeting. “Well we got ‘em,” Mara said quietly.

“No need to be quiet,” her father corrected, “The soundproofing spell will not only keep the noise they make to a minimum, but as long as we’re not shouting, they shouldn’t hear anything from us.” Everyone nodded so he continued, “Unfortunately, we had to leave their cart back at the surface, along with its contents; the food we’ll need to bring back to keep them alive for any length of time.”

“Just how long to do we plan on keeping them alive, exactly?” Fext interjected. Met with blank stares, she inquired, “Perhaps we should figure out who gets who? Because we’re going to have to share.”

“I worked hard to get that male down here,” Kishi stated adamantly, “And I intend to get some good fucking out of this.”

Mara stepped forward. “Lamia’s already getting what she wants, so I’ll take that lumberjack when you’re finished, Kishi.”

“I’ll go back up and get the cart,” Acheri offered. “I need to take a better look for plants.” She looked at her father. “Will you come with? Daytime would be better.”

He nodded. “Of course. Seeing things in the full sun would be good for you, anyway.” Before we divide up and get some rest, let us take a minute and see what you can feel coming from those rooms over there.”

As his daughters and Roddi sat and started their focus, Mali walked up behind him. “I’m going to go, Father. I have other duties.”

He thanked Mali and sent her on her way, smiling at her courtesy. Turning back to the group, he reached out with his own mind. He touched upon the sleeping stallion, and then to the other room and its occupants. “So,” he said aloud to no-one in particular, “What do you feel?”

“There is no love in there, I’ll tell you that,” Kishi replied flatly. “I would have thought that dumb bitch would hold on to it for her daughter. Or, who she believes is her daughter.”

“Just wait,” he replied, “Her love will burn yet brighter. For now, what do you feel?” He was met with silence, so he tried again. “Great poets throughout the ages have ascribed colors to emotions. They see anger as red, sadness as blue. Do you ‘see’ any color?”

Fext shuffled about a bit on the ground. She opened her mouth, paused, and started again. “Blue would be a good description. But its light...vague, fleeting. don’t know how else to describe it.”

“I see it too,” Acheri chimed in. “But I see...black interspersed with blue. What are we feeling?”

“It is something that you should be very careful around,” he told them. “This is fear, terror, and desperation. A caged, cornered animal is the most dangerous animal. When you sense terror, you must run. But here, we have the advantage. We’ll need the food. We can take our time in getting it, because we’ll starve ‘em a bit first. In fact,” he paused and looked at them. “I think everyone should go without feeding for a little while. I can’t force you but it’ll be good to know how to handle yourself and conserve energy should you ever get into that situation.”

His suggestion was met with groans all around but he waved them off. “As you will, but I suggest you try it, starting now. Otherwise, everyone go get some rest.”

Everyone started to leave the circle, expect curious Fext who was still sitting with her eyes closed, sensing. Walking up behind her, he said, “You sense something else, don’t you?”

Fext nodded, her eyes still closed. “A faint light. Pure and white, if I had to give it a color. Right at the core of the mother’s being. What am I seeing? It’s not love. I...I can’t take it from her.” Fext opened her eyes and looked back at her father for an answer.

He smiled. “That’s hope you feel. If I had to give equines credit for something, it would be to have the ability to hold onto that little glimmer of hope that things will turn out okay.”

Fext turned back to face the steel and wooden prison they had created. Her face broke into a wicked smile. “I’ll make sure there’s none of that left.”

Author's Note

Well it took forever but I got it done. We're about to go down a dark path so whoever is still here, steel yourselves for the next few short updates. We're also nearing the end.