An Affliction of the Heart: Chitin's Story

Chapters

The Start of Something New
Something new
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Changeling's Buffet: Part One

The Start of Something New

Dazzling Gleam gave a long shudder, his horn glowing brightly for a moment. The large unicorn was panting faintly, watching the front window of the jewellery store with a rather unfocused gaze. Ponies passed the door, but the ‘out for 5 minutes’ sign on it deterred them. Thankfully, none of them were looking in the front window to see the owner getting a blowjob in the middle of business hours.

The soft muzzle around his throbbing cock was slowly bobbing back and forth, almost teasing him with the intense sensations, coaxing him even stiffer and harder. Forehooves grasped at the counter as the larger unicorn resisted the urge, with difficulty, to not just grasp the female’s head and fuck her muzzle.

The pony under the counter smirked up at him, watching his reactions intently, giving a muffled giggle as she slowly swirled her tongue along the underside of the thick, throbbing pony cock spreading her jaws. Her mane, carefully styled, covered one of her vibrant green eyes.

Dazzling Gleam was momentarily lost in the eyes of the mare, slowly rocking back and forth into the soft mouth, giving a soft little whimper of delight.

Slowly, the mare pulled back, panting softly, licking her lips carefully and then nudging her nose against the tip of the pulsing, bobbing cock in front of her. With a smirk, she rose, turning around slowly and pushing her rump upwards, tail curling to the side as she peered back over her shoulder. “I’m prepared to earn my ‘employee of the year’ plaque, Dazzling,” she husked, even as she reached back a hoof to spread herself, revealing a sliver of bright, seductive pink between the soft lips of her exposed cunt.

Mouth going dry, Dazzling Gleam climbed up behind her, his forehooves grasping around her middle and tugging her back a few inches until his stiffed length kissed right up against her spread entrance. “I-I can’t believe I’m going to do this…” he whispered, licking his lips nervously.

“It’s too late to reconsider now, Dazzling,” the mare purred, rocking her hips back and forth slowly, translating the motion into a delicate rubbing of her impossibly soft outer lips against the tip of the stiff rod.

“F-fuck…” Dazzling Gleam whimpered, grasping her tighter and then shoving forwards, burying himself inside her with one swift thrust, spreading her lewdly around his solid cock.

The mare gave a shudder with the power thrust, chest pushing against the counter, her hooves lifting to rest on the edge of the counter for balance.

The male gave her no chance to catch her breath, leaning over her heavily, putting his entire weight on her form as he held her close and started to hump into her in earnest.

Arching underneath the stallion, the mare offered up encouragement in the form of faint, wanton groans and soft whimpered words. “Yesss… d-deeper!”

The unicorn was more than eager to comply, rocking the mare back and forth with his eager motions, his hips grinding against her harder and harder with each passing moment, fighting against her tightness to try and get deeper. Soft, hot flesh clenched around him tightly, squeezing and almost milking around his stiff, thrusting cock, driving him wild. His thrusts pushed her into the counter roughly as he redoubled his speed, urgently fucking her with wild, eager humps.

The mare shuddered, panting and whimpering back over her shoulder, one brilliant green eye watching him, a smirk spreading across her muzzle. “Y-yess… inside, do it!” she panted, eye narrowing up at him. “Breed me,” she growled heatedly.

Dazzling Gleam gave a shudder, his motions growing jerky, his ears warming at her words, even as he grasped her hips even tighter and buried himself deep inside, biting down on her maneon reflex as a flood of hot pony spunk started to fire into her in fitful bursts.

The mare gave a low groan, biting her bottom lip and shuddering as she was filled, a hoof pushing down to rub at her belly over the spot where she could feel the warm bursts coating across her insides.

The stallion shuddered, grasping her firmly with his forehooves, giving a few jerky, intent humps as he spilled himself deep inside her squeezing cunny. He gave a heavy groan, slowly relaxing.

The mare licked her lips breathlessly, slipping her hoof back further to rub slowly at the base of her thoroughly-used, now-dripping cunt, feeling a dribble of warm, thick liquid drooling free to coat her hoof even as the stallion slid back, out of her.

A shiver passed over the mare’s form, followed by a flash of green flames. In an instant, a changeling was standing there with her rump raised, blue, used cunt drooling the stallion’s spunk, spilling down over her hoof. She drew her hoof back in front of herself, peering down at it bemusedly. “You made quite a mess. Do you have a towel?”

Dazzling Gleam gave a shaky nod, swallowing thickly and watching the changeling for a long moment, his eyes lingering on the dribble of white spilling from between used blue folds. “I-I’ll get one…” he murmured breathlessly, even as the changeling idly began to lick her hoof clean.

“You’re making a mess!” Dazzling Gleam complained, his ears warming again as he stepped carefully around the trail of his own spunk mixed with changeling liquids that led a clear trail to where the changeling was standing, inspecting a line of jewellery.

“What do these all mean?” the changeling asked, pointing at the display. “What do they represent?”

Dazzling Gleam swallowed nervously, passing the towel to the changeling. She casually pushed it up between her hindlegs, slowly rubbing it against herself. “It means… Uh… these are ancient. Hieroglyphs. That one is health, this one is power,” he said, pointing to each in turn. “This is ‘life’, and the eye-looking one is devoted to a demon that lived in ancient times. The ‘Eye of Horus’.”

“They’re pretty,” the changeling said, passing the towel back to the unicorn.

Dazzling Gleam carefully held the towel by the very corner, nose wrinkling, carrying it away to the back of the shop again, before returning.

“I like this one,” the changeling said, pointing with a hoof at a specific jewel. It was the golden ankh, the symbol for ‘life’. “May I have it?”

“Yes, definitely!” Dazzling Gleam said with a breathless smile. “Let me just box them up for you.”

“Them?” the changeling asked blankly.

“Them,” Dazzling Gleam said, slightly bewildered. “They come in a pair.”

“I only want one,” the changeling said bluntly. “I will not be roped into a scam for more sex. Our agreement was: one romp, one piece of jewellery.”

Dazzling Gleam gave the changeling a long stare, blinking once. “Um… I’m not trying to scam you. The jewellery comes as a pair. One for each ear. One… er… ‘payment’ will pay for both.”

“Oh,” the changeling said, giving a single blink. “Very well, then, Mr Gleam. I will take this one.”

“Good, good,” Dazzling Gleam said, reaching behind the counter and coming up with a jewellery box. He opened it up, and then carefully insert the two golden ankhs into the box, closing it and offering it to the changeling. “It was very nice doing business with you.”

The changeling smiled, taking the box. “I found it enjoyable.”

“If you ever need any more jewellery…” Dazzling Gleam trailed off with a nervous smile.

The changeling smirked in response, licking her lips innocently. “Oh, I’ll definitely keep your name in mind, Dazzling… ‘Gleam’.”

Dazzling Gleam gave a beaming smile at that, nodding. “I’ll be waiting for your return visit.”

The changeling fiddled with her ear, frowning deeply as she attempted to hook the little band over her ear. It wouldn’t work, though. There was something she was missing.

She paused in front of a pet store, nose wrinkling at the powerful scent of fresh paint. The front of the building had a shiny new coat of paint, as did the interior. The beginning of a new room had even been built onto the side, the basic framework complete and the roof beginning to be erected.

The changeling stepped into the building, squinting at the eye-searing scent of the fresh paint. All of the pets were gone, and only the manager remained.

She walked right up the counter, where the manager was reading a magazine, and tapped the counter lightly for attention. “Excuse me, sir. I seem to be in a bit of a… bind. I need to know how this works.”

The pet store owner lowering his magazine. “You uh, need to have a hole in your ear.”

“Oh,” the changeling said, blinking once. “Do I need to give you anything for this information?”

“Uh... “ the store owner looked around, and then gave a faint smile, shaking his head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said, bowing slightly and turning around.

As she stepped away, she reached up to her ear, nose scrunching up in concentration as she made a tiny hole appear that she then slotted her single earring through.

“Chitin,” she said firmly, nodding to herself slowly. “I like Chitin.”

“Very well, you will be henceforth known as ‘Chitin’,” Queen Kuno said, waving a hoof with finality. “Welcome to Equestria, Chitin.”

Chitin nodded, her wings giving a tiny, anxious buzz. She scratched at one of her ears with a hoof nervously. “What… what do I do now?”

“Whatever you want to do,” Kuno said with a warm smile. “Your future is your own.”

Chitin nodded, stepping aside.

“You, with the brooch, and you with the collar, step forwards.”

Chitin broke away from the group, moving away into the courtyard of the Changeling Consortium Mansion. She picked a quiet spot: A gap in the hedges overlooking Ponyville in the distance.

Sitting down, Chitin looked out over Ponyville, her wings continuing to give anxious little buzzes, her head tilting to the left and ears pinning back against her skull.

“Bit for your thoughts?” a pony asked.

Chitin jumped, clenching her teeth in surprise, her wings fluttering and buzzing. She looked back over her shoulder, finding a brown earth pony with a green mane standing behind her.

“I’m sorry?” Chitin asked, confused.

“It’s an expression,” the earth pony said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not… really good with the whole pony thing yet, are you?”

Chitin shook her head slowly. “Chrysalis made us forget. I… I don’t remember how to be a pony. Not as a changeling.”

“That… that’s one of the most confusing sentences I’ve ever heard,” the pony responded with a faint laugh. “I’m Green Hoof. I figured it best to introduce myself before we all get started together. I heard Warden and Kuno talking. They want you all to grow aurora.”

“Aurora?” Chitin asked, looking back over her shoulder again. “I am ‘Chitin’... I think. For now.”

“Well, hi, Chitin. It’s nice to meet you. And yes, aurora. You’re a changeling, I guess you pick up skills quickly?” Green Hoof asked earnestly.

“We… do,” Chitin admitted. “It’s… easier if we’re pretending to be a pony.”

“Well that’s good enough. I sure hope you don’t put me out of a job,” Green Hoof said after a moment, frowning deeply.

Chitin baulked. “I would not wish to endanger your livelihood!”

Green Hoof gave a laugh at that, shaking her head. “Not to worry, Chitin. My husband takes care of all my needs. I work because I… well I’ve never not worked!”

“You cannot break your routine?” Chitin asked.

Green Hoof shook her head. “Get bored too easy, I guess. Look, can you uh… do me a favour?”

Chitin nodded once. “So long as it does not violate the laws.”

“Nothing so onerous,” Green Hoof responded with a slight giggle. “Just… tell Warden I wanna talk to him, okay? We need to discuss what’s going on with you and the rest of you. I don’t want to admit… but it’s a might bit scary walking up to such a big group of you. All fangs and wings.”

“We’re harmless,” Chitin said blankly. “The laws would prohibit us from harming you.”

“I know, I know,” Green Hoof said, even though it was obvious she didn’t. “But still…”

Chitin nodded once. “I will let him know.”

Chitin stared into the mirror, frowning slightly, turning her head from one side, to the other, and then back again. The golden ankh in her ear really did look quite pretty against her blue-black carapace, but having one in either ear just looked too… proper.

Frowning, Chitin reached up and tugged the second earring free, just staring into the mirror with only one earring in, before smiling slightly. She slipped the first earring back into the jewellery box, and then frowned down at it for several long, long moments.

She turned on her hooves, heading back out of the mansion.

Kuno was still standing, talking to the changelings, helping them to choose their names. Fang. Eagle. Plough. Their names were almost meaningless, but each of them accepted their new names with a kind of purpose. It was a spark, a glimmer. Chitin could see it in their eyes as they sat down. They had names now. Individuality. No longer were they just ‘drones’, or ‘soldiers’. They were changelings.

Chitin waited for a pause in the proceedings, before approaching Kuno.

“My Q… Kuno,” she corrected, grinding her teeth slightly at the odd sensation of wilfully ignoring her instinct to defer entirely to the one she knew as Queen. “What do I do with this?” she asked, holding up her jewellery box.

Kuno arched an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“It is my jewellery box. It has my other earring in it. But… I prefer to only wear one. What do I do with the other?”

“Keep it,” Kuno said with a slight shrug. “Or sell it… or even give it to somepony as a gift.”

“But… where do I put it? I can’t just… carry it around all the time,” Chitin said awkwardly. “Where do you keep your belongings?”

Kuno facehoofed quietly. “Wow, Chrysalis really did a number on you guys. “You are a member of the Changeling Consortium now, and that comes with certain perks. Like your own room!”

“I… have a room?” Chitin asked blankly.

Kuno nodded enthusiastically. “Since you’re ‘developing’ so fast, you can be the first to pick what room you want, kay?”

Chitin blinked once, looking back over her shoulder. “In the city? Or in the mansion?”

“In the mansion, of course,” Kuno corrected, waving a hoof. “Now, go pick one. We’ll have to make some signs up to denote who owns which room. But for now, just…” Kuno trailed off, chewing on her bottom lip. “Ummm… Just put up something, so that the other’s know that it’s your room.”

Chitin nodded, and then turned away again, looking up at the mansion. She had to choose a room?

Chitin walked down hallway after hallway. Some of the rooms she peeked into still had furniture inside, covered in dusty sheets. Some of them were entirely bare, save for cobwebs decorating the rooftops and the tops of the walls. Dust was everywhere.

Eventually, Chitin settled on the very best room in all of the mansion: The front-left tower. Each corner of the building was built like a fortification, and the corners of these fortifications were all topped with towers that looked to be archer platforms, designed to give a good view down onto the front of the building and the surrounding gardens for archers to pick off anyone assaulting the front ‘gate’. Little comforts had been added over the years, like the balcony, but Chitin could, with a little imagination, see the room being very lavish. It was out of the way, had a good view, was tucked up against the mountain so it received a lot of shadow, had windows for lighting and was far enough away from most of the rest of the building to be insulated from noise.

It was perfect.

Chitin paused at the door, and then hung her spare golden ankh over a hook at the front, proclaiming the room as her own.

The soft ringing of a bell awoke Chitin, and she jerked upwards off the floor, blinking rapidly. She had been sleeping with her head on her hooves, and a spare sheet thrown over her shoulders and wings for warmth, in lieu of a bed. None of the changeling had a bed yet, or pillows, or any furniture, really. There was one lucky changeling that had ended up in a room with a velvet couch, and he would sleep very well as the jealous changelings had discussed around dinner.

Chitin yawned heavily, and got to her hooves, tossing off the sheet before stepping over to the window to look out over the yard.

The bell was a general ‘attention’ bell, ordering the changelings to assemble for whatever reason. Without the hive mind, the bell was the only way to summon them.

Chitin had barely slept the previous night, as the silence without the whisper of the hive mind in the background had been deafening.

In the yard was a veritable train of ponies. Unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi, all forming an orderly line stretching all the way back to front gate. There had to be a hundred, at least.

Chitin stared, blinking once or twice, confused. The bell rang again, and she shook herself mentally, climbing up onto the balcony and then launching off it. She landed lightly on the grass with a buzz of her insectile wings, and then slipped in through an open ground-floor window of the estate, heading for the courtyard where the bell was gonging repeatedly.

Chitin took her place near the front of the crowd of changelings. They were no longer as cohesive in their spacing. There were no rows, no ordered columns of equal numbers with a defined place to walk. Now it was messy and disordered, a chaos of wings and hooves, with changelings just sitting wherever took their fancy. Several of them were discussing how they had slept, and it leant a strange air to their group. Under Chrysalis, and within the hive mid, idle gossip was never needed nor encouraged.

Kuno was standing at the front of the crowd, along with Princess Celestia. Kuno looked slightly diminished in the presence of the sun goddess, far less imposing and authoritative.

“Attention!” Kuno called, tapping a hoof against the ground. A quiet spread across the crowd, and all eyes turned towards her.

Kuno looked to Celestia. Celestia nodded.

Kuno cleared her throat. “Princess Celestia has organized a…” she paused a moment, chewing on her tongue. “A job fair. Out in the front of the estate, employers of various have gathered so that you can query them and decide for yourselves what area of the workforce you would enjoy most.”

A confused buzz of conversation rose from the amassed changelings.

“You do not need to choose this morning, or today… but it would be wise to weigh your options. The Consortium will go nowhere without funds, and we can only tolerate so many free agents. Just as with ponies, if you do not work, you cannot live in luxury.”

Celestia stepped forwards, and Kuno took a step back, giving the ‘podium’ to the princess.

“Equestria is committed to welcoming our new members to the fold. To that end, I have struck a… deal of sorts with the woodworkers and clothmakers of Canterlot. We have the raw materials, and now we just need volunteers to complete the work on a furnished bed piece for each and every changeling here.”

Kuno stepped forwards again, giving Celestia a querying look.

Celestia nodded.

Kuno cleared her throat. “We’re going to need twenty volunteers for wookworking, and ten more for the seammaking. You will be learning a trade, and proving that changelings can work alongside ponies. If you are willing to volunteer for the woodworking, please, come form a line at the front of the courtyard.”

Chitin immediately rose to her hooves, stepping forwards. No less than thirty changelings followed her.

“I see we won’t be short of volunteers,” Celestia said, a certain sparkle in her eye.

Chitin frowned down at the saw in her hooves, working it back and forth slowly across the log. It was awkward moving things with her hooves, and she wasn’t quite certain if she liked it yet.

“Get in there, you need to saw faster,” Thorny Bramble said enthusiastically. He was a big, strapping earth pony, with a freshly-sawn log as a cutie mark. And he was teaching all twenty of the changelings how to saw logs for lumber. A mark had been made with a measuring stick, and then she had been commanded to saw it in half.

“The stroke forwards is the one that removes most of the sawdust, and the stroke backwards is the one that actually cuts properly into the log. You need to set to a proper rhythm. Without the right rhythm and motion, you’re going to be just moving sawdust back and forth.”

“It’s hard,” Chitin admitted blankly, frowning.

Bramble slapped her on the shoulder with a hoof, grinning. “‘Course it’s hard. Nothing worth doing is easy. Now get in there, the more steady your rhythm, the faster it’ll cut!”

Chitin nodded quietly, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to set up a rhythm. She experimented a little bit, eventually settling on a rhythm and motion that was chewing steadily away at the wood.

“Good, good, you’re learning,” Bramble said, smiling and making a motion with a hoof. “Make sure to keep straight. Don’t twist the handle or you’ll cut off to the side and jam the saw.”

Chitin nodded again, panting already, blue tongue dipping out from between her fangs. She looked up at Bramble for a long moment, one of her ears perking. “Would you consider a physical relationship with a changeling?”

Thorny Bramble blinked slowly at that, losing his composure. “I… I never considered it, honestly. But I’ll give anything a go once, I guess. Why do you ask?”

“No specific reason, idle curiosity,” Chitin said with a smile, returning to her sawing.

Chitin looked down at the bed, frowning slightly, head canting to the left slightly and wings buzzing. “It looks… uneven.”

Thorny Bramble gave a helpless shrug. “It was your first time.”

“I had wished for my first time to be… not as flawed,” Chitin admitted, wiping some sweat from her brow. “It is uneven and looks as though it would not take much weight.”

“The slats were a right bitch to bang in, too,” Thorny Bramble admitted, before giving a sideways smile at the changeling. “I heard that your kind were always perfect in their imitations. Could it be that you’ve never had to… learn a skill?’

“Are you teasing me?” Chitin asked plaintively.

“I’m ribbing you,” Bramble said with a shake of his head. “This is something a lot of earth ponies do to eachother. It’s a kind of friendly teasing.”

“Well… I… I have learned much today,” Chitin admitted. “I realise I must… practise. When I transform into a pony, these things are… simple. They come naturally. As a changeling, they are… much more difficult.”

“So you can just turn into anypony you want and do whatever?” Bramble asked, curious.

Chitin nodded. “Were I to want to build a bed, I would simply transform into you. I would have your skills, your abilities, you nature. It would come to me as easily as… well, as easily as it comes to you,” she said with a toothy smile.

“That’s bizarre!” Bramble admitted with a smile. “So… you’re… female, right?”

“I identify as female, yes,” Chitin said with a single nod.

Bramble made a motion with a hoof. “I kinda figured that. You sound like a mare. But… do you even have… the parts of a mare? Or is it some kind of egg sack or…?”

Chitin giggled at that, and turned on the spot, until she was facing away, leaning down and lifting her rump, swaying her tail aside as she grasped her rump with a hoof to spread herself open, revealing a sliver of blue flesh between the smooth black lips of her very female cunny.

Bramble was momentarily stunned, eyes wide, making a strange sound with his mouth like a fish gasping for air.

“I trust you can tell for yourself, now?” Chitin asked with a faint giggle, turning back around to face him.

By the rapid pulse of his heart and the delectable scent he was putting off, the earth pony had quite liked what he saw.

“I… uhm… yes…” Bramble admitted, his tone sounding slightly strangled. “Y-yes. Very female. T-thank you for sho-telling me.”

“Curious about anything else?” Chitin queried.

“So… all of your flesh is blue like that?” Bramble asked, his ears pinkening visibly.

Chitin nodded, extending her tongue playfully. “It is natural for us.”

“It’s weird,” Bramble responded. “Unnatural.”

“And yet everything I know about ponies tells me that you enjoyed what you saw,” Chitin said, licking her lips innocently.

Bramble flushed a little bit further, stammering slightly. “W-well that’s n-neither here nor there!”

Chitin giggled again, shaking her head. “Thank you for showing me how to make the bed, Bramble. I will consider woodworking as my ‘job’.”

Bramble nodded once. “It was nice meeting you, Chitin. You’re… uh… very pretty.”

“Thank you,” Chitin said, inclining her head towards the earth pony respectfully.

Chitin walked down the hallways of the manor, exploring. Now that she wasn’t directed by the hivemind, the architecture of the old building interested her. Her experience with the woodworking for the meagre few hours gave her a new appreciation of just how hard it must have been to build such ornate fittings.

There was a feast on, and very few changelings remained in the manor itself. They were all outside, enjoying the food, that had been cooked by a dual pony/changeling team. Many of the ponies that had turned up had stayed, and were eating, somewhat cautiously and hesitantly, with the changelings. But the initial wariness and suspicion was starting to relax slightly, allowing a certain kind of discourse between them all.

The manor was not deserted, however. Chitin had passed many occupied rooms. The first she had seen was a young pegasus watching, dumbstruck, as a pair of female changelings went down on eachother. Blue tongues and blue flesh had met quite eagerly in a mutual exploration. Chitin was sure that the pegasus wouldn’t have been watching for much longer, and would have become an active participant.

In another room, a changeling had been exploring her body seemingly for the first time, opening rubbing and toying with her drooling cunny while staring into a mirror.

Somehow, Chitin thought that while ponies were present, such activities should be conducted behind closed doors.

And then, further down, as Chitin inspected the baths, she came across her Queen and her husband.

They were laying in the bath, quite visibly mid-coitus.

Kuno was in Warden’s lap, forehooves resting on the bath above his shoulders as she bounced slowly, sensually in his lap. She was kissing him sensually as she moved atop him, grinding her hips down against his own over and over again.

Chitin could feel a tingle in her loins at the sight, and froze, sitting down and watching with wide eyes as her queen fucked her husband right in front of her, oblivious to the presence of her audience.

“Mnnnf… I’ve waited so long for this,” Kuno whispered heatedly, biting at her husband’s neck and chin heatedly, giving a firmer grind against him.

Wardren grunted faintly, paws grasping her smooth black hips under the water, his wings fluttering weakly against the tub. “K-Kuno… slow down… I’m g-gonna…”

Kuno gave a lustful growl at that, and began to bounce harder and faster, eagerly shoving her hips down over him, staring down into his eyes and kissing him with a fiery, eager passion. Each firm thud of her hips was answered with a soft groan and shudder from her husband, even as he tensed and quivered under her, quite visibly trembling in orgasm.

“Yessss….” Kuno’s sibilant hiss of delight echoed throughout the bathroom as she clenched firmly around her husband’s throbbing cock, milking it for his gooey spunk , her wings buzzing intently as she shuddered through a minor orgasm of her own.

After a few long moments of bliss, both pony and changeling queen came down from their high.

“Ugh… I barely lasted a minute,” Warden opined.

Kuno giggled breathlessly, lightly nuzzling into his neck. She slowly lifted her hips, until they cleared the water, the length of the pegasus’ used cock slipping free of her used cunny, following by a visible trail of white mess. She slowly slithered down, capturing the tip of his cock in her fanged muzzle, closing lips over it and swirling her tongue eagerly against the crown, cleaning up their mingled mess.

“I’ve been thinking, recently… maybe with this new form, I could get all of this crammed down my throat…” Kuno purred lustfully, licking slowly at the front of his once-again stiffening cock.

Chitin whimpered faintly to herself, becoming vaguely aware that she had been masturbating. Her hoof was stuffed up between her own thighs, and was wet with her own drooling liquids.

Panting faintly, she withdrew, leaving the married couple to their fun.

Thorny Bramble looked up from his drink, blinking once.

Chitin gave a him a smile, head tilting slightly to the left. “Hi.”

“Well hi there… is that you, Chitin?”

Chitin nodded once.

“Kinda hard to tell you guys apart,” Thorny Bramble admitted. “Though, you seem more fun than the others.”

“Yeah, about that,” Chitin said, suddenly nervous. She had no idea how to go about this when she wasn’t a pony. “I… huh… Well. My bed. You see. When they put it in my room they didn’t test if it was… sturdy enough.”

“You’re afraid it’s not made properly?” Thorny Bramble asked, confused, not quite cottoning on just yet.

Chitin nodded enthusiastically. “I was… hoping that you could help me test it.”

Thorny Bramble mulled that over for a few moments, before his eyes widened slowly. “You mean…”

Chitin nodded once, licking her lips eagerly.

Heated groaned of delight left both changeling and earth pony as Thorny Bramble fucked Chitin into the bed hard and fast. Powerful hooves, strengthened from long days at the saw mill, held her firmly in place, barely allowing Chitin room to move as he took her with urgent thrusts.

Chitin whimpered heavily, face buried in the sheets that had been made for her just that morning, the bed she had built with her own hooves rocking back and forth, banging against the wall with each heavy, deep thrust into her eager, clenching blue cunt. Her slick liquids drooled around the earth pony’s cock, lubricating it, helping it to sink deeper into her, not that any help was needed with the powerful shoves of the firm hips from the eager earth pony.

“Fuck, you’re tight!” Thorny Bramble growled, biting down on one of her ears, tugging at it as he shoved himself deep inside her over and over again.

The bite to her ear was strange, just like his weight over her, and the sensation of the friction deep within her untouched depths. But Chitin was quickly growing to love the sensations, especially that spike of pleasure that grew higher and higher each time the powerful earth pony bottomed out deep inside her.

“Coming, coming!” Thorny Bramble warned, snarling and baring his teeth, holding her hips tightly with his hooves. It had seemed a warning, an attempt to let her pull away, but his dominant hold on her never lessened nearly enough for the hungry changeling to be able to get away, even if she wanted.

The thick, stiff cock spread her wide, the flaring tip pushing right up against her deepest barrier, making her snarl in surprise and delight. Sudden hot bursts of pony spunk poured deep inside her, spreading splatters of slick warmth across her very deepest reaches. Her depths clenched and milked around it on reflex, and she could feel splatters of warmth beginning to dribble from around the throbbing cock even before the earth pony had finished pumping his seed deep inside her.

With a low groan, Thorny Bramble slowly drew back, sliding out of her. The flared tip of his cock tugged free, following by a slick rush of his mess, drooling over the stone floor, dripping messily from her thoroughly-fucked blue cunny.

“Oh wow… that was definitely worth a try…” Thorny Bramble murmured as he weakly splayed across one end of her bed.

Chitin nodded quietly, panting and licking her lips. She was… disappointed somehow. She hadn’t orgasmed. Kuno had seemed to enjoy her orgasm quite a lot.

“That was… quite enjoyable,” Chitin said with a nod, crawling up onto the bed properly and resting her head on her forehooves, careful not to drool any of Thorny Bramble onto her new bedsheets.

An awkward silence befell Chitin, until she heard the unmistakable snores of the earth pony. She smiled slightly, idly tracing a hoof against his broad chest.

It had been a fun little romp. And at the very least, she had gotten a solid meal from the exuberant earth pony.

Something new

Chitin gave a low hum around her mouthful, carefully dragging her tongue across the rim of Thorny Bramble’s throbbing, jerking cock. She peered up at him with a sly smile dancing in her blue eyes, her equally blue tongue slowly swivelling across the tip of his swollen, eager length.

“O-Oh b-buck, Chitin, s-stop teasing!” Bramble whimpered, a hoof pushing against the back of her head almost urgently, trying to hump up into her muzzle.

Chitin rumbled around her mouthful, giggling, her wings buzzing slightly as she resisted his motions. “But it’s so cute, the way you squirm and gasp!” she purred, lightly kissing at the tip of his wanton erection, letting her lips brush against him with each word.

“Just let me f-finish!” Bramble whined, both hooves trying to push her muzzle down over him this time.

Chitin gave a lustful growl, arching her back slightly and leaning forwards, letting the thick stallion cock shove deep into her muzzle, and then her throat, the smaller changeling pushing down and down and down.

Bramble whimpered in delight, hips humping up towards her face urgently as she gave a series of firm bobs, her tongue grinding against his tip every time she came up, splayed along his underside each time she pushed down. He stared down at her, his cock stiffening and jerking wantonly as he watched the way his eager cock disappeared between her fangs and into the lovely blue muzzle.

A dull buzzing echoed throughout the compound, and Chitin pause, brow furrowing deeply, her nose resting somewhere past the halfway point of Bramble’s aching cock.

“No, no!” Bramble whimpered, hooves clutching at her head urgently. “Don’t stop! Keep going!”

Chitin tried to say something around her mouthful, only ending up making a few muffled gurgling sounds before Bramble began to forcibly move her head up and down his stiff, spasming cock.

The changeling harrumphed around her mouthful, before leaning forwards and setting to work with a rapid, urgent pace. Both forehooves came up, grasping around the base of his cock and starting to jerk it off with a rapid, determined motion, even as she tugged back and began to wash the flared tip of the throbbing length with rapid flicks of her smooth, eager tongue.

Thorny Bramble arched underneath her attention, going rigid and jerking several times before rapid bursts of stallion spunk started to burst from the tip of his cock.

Chitin gave an eager growl, latching onto the flared, spurting tip, soft blue tongue grinding up against the sourced of the musky volleys of cum that were rapidly filling her mouth, tasting her first ever load of stallion spunk.

A soft rumble left the changeling as she swallowed over and over again, mouthful after thick mouthful of stallion jism being pumped into her mouth, coating over her tongue and the inside of her muzzle, only to be swallowed down by the eager changeling.

After several long moments of delight, Bramble came down from his orgasm, giving a shudder and going completely limp.

Chitin came up for air, gasping, tongue hanging out, white with Bramble’s spunk, soft little splatters of it visible on her chin. “You taste good,” she growled heatedly, leaning in to drag her tongue up the front of his cock, “But I need to go.” She leaned back, licking her lips and then rubbing her hooves over her muzzle, and then licking them clean as well.

Bramble was snoring before she even rushed out the door.

Chitin stared.

There was blood everywhere.

It really was quite surprising how much blood a pony could hold.

Carefully, she looked up at Warden, where he stood in stunned silence with his wife. Did he really have that much blood inside him? Did all ponies? That was insane!

“Who did this?” Kuno asked, her tone entirely devoid of any warmth.

Chitin shivered slightly, resisting the urge to take a step backwards. But nobody took a step forwards.

“If any of you did this, step forwards now. Your Queen orders it,” Kuno hissed. The stamp of her hoof smashing against the flagstone beneath in an angry punctuation made several ponies and changeling twitch and jump in surprise.

But still, nobody stepped forwards.

“Did anyone see anything?” Kuno asked, her tone growing more urgent and plaintive. “Someone must know something. There’s a hundred of you!”

“I cannot speak for all, but I was was… otherwise indisposed,” one of the changelings said, giving a significant glance towards a large stallion lurking in the back of the crowd.

Chitin was about to confirm her own ‘indisposed’ state, but was cut off by Kuno almost yelling, “One day. ONE DAY! One fucking day and somepony is murdered! This will not go unsolved! And if one of you are lying about this, I will personally strangle the life from you.”

Chitin was suddenly glad that she was not the murderer. Kuno was pissed.

A guard stepped forwards, saying something to Kuno that Chitin didn’t quite hear.

“Nobody is going anywhere,” Kuno hissed, her tone filled with suppressed rage.

With that, Kuno turned, stepping away from the body and towards the guards, talking to them in a low, sad tone.

Chitin just sat, awkwardly rubbing a hoof with the opposite hoof, ears splayed back and wings buzzing fitfully. Half of her wanted to comfort her queen, to help solve the problem. But the other half of her, the half closest to that place between her hindlegs, wanted to return to Thorny Bramble and enjoy the veritable banquet of love and intimacy.

With a long-suffering sigh, Chitin decided to stay, watching Kuno with narrowed eyes.

“Chitin?”

Chitin almost jumped into the air when her name was spoken. She had been trailing after Kuno, trying to divine what was going on. The dead pony, the one that Chitin had spoken to not even that long ago, was apparently a friend of Kuno and her husband. And her husband, Warden, was off to tell the husband of the dead pony what had happened.

Chitin had been trying her best to keep quiet and unobtrusive, but Kuno had evidently noticed her.

“Y-yes, my Q… Kuno?” Chitin said, trying to regain her composure.

“Follow him, make sure he comes back safe,” Kuno ordered.

Chitin nodded firmly. “Yes, Kuno.”

Warden was already halfway down the road when Chitin started after him. A pair of royal guards were already standing guard at the front gates, watching the skies for any pony or changeling that might try to leave.

Chitin wrinkled her nose, focusing intently for a moment. A flash of green consumed her, and when it faded, she was a pegasus royal guard. She galloped down the drive heading for the front gate. Her new shining blonde mane rippled in the wind, and powerful muscles worked under her new shining white coat. She skidded to a halt in front of the two guards, panting faintly.

“Warden? Where did he go?!” Chitin demanded, injecting authority into her voice.

One of the guards pointed lamely, watching her with interest.

“Celestia damn it!” Chitin growled, whirling on her hooves and spreading her wings. “Don’t you dare let anypony else leave!” Without another word, she threw herself into the air, spreading her wings.

One of the guards turned to the other, eyebrows raising. “Did we… do you recognize her?”

“Nope,” the other guard said, obviously a little bit smitten. “But holy buck that rump!”

“I hope she gets put on our shift more often,” the other guard said, watching the receding shape of the guardpony.

Chitin allowed herself a thin smile of victory as she flew after Warden, quickly gaining on the pegasus.

Warden had sat in front of the door of the little cottage for the longest time. Chitin was already growing bored, laying on her stomach in her natural form with her chin on her hooves, wreathed in shadows where she wouldn’t be seen.

She could feel the pain rolling off Warden in waves, and it was quite a strange sensation to feel from such a close range.

After a few more minutes, Warden managed to scrape together the confidence to knock on the door. A crystal pony stallion Chitin had never seen before opened the door, and Warden dropped the bomb. There was a terse conversation, and then the door was closed and Warden retreated.

Chitin watched the cottage with mild interest. There was a pause of a few moments while the father spoke to the son, and then went to his room. The foal continued to eat his breakfast in mild confusion, more perturbed than actually sad. But the stallion…

Chitin could feel waves of grief rolling off him. Cautiously, she crept towards the cottage, sneaking up to the window of the bedroom and peering in. The stallion was staring at the wall, unblinking. It really was an unsettling image.

With a trembling hoof, he reached for the dresser, pulling down a pink perfume bottle. He sprayed some of it on his hoof, and then held it up to his nose, inhaling deeply, before beginning to sob quietly into his hoof.

The most intense surge of pain and loss poured from the stallion, and Chitin reeled, taking a step back from the window, overwhelmed. Her wings buzzed anxiously, and she staggered a few steps away before likewise retreating, fleeing from the intense emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her senses.

“You! Changeling!” one of the guards called as Chitin strode towards them confidently.

Chitin, back in her pegasus guard form, faltered slightly but she straightened her wings and lifted her chin, tossing her blonde mane. “Are you making a formal accusation, recruit?”

“Drop the act,” the guard said, lowering his spear to point at her.

Chitin’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she snorted once. A puff of green flames consumed her, and Chitin, in her natural form, strode out of them, pushing the spear aside calmly. “I was under orders from Queen Kuno, feel free to take it up with her.”

The guard growled slightly, considering something, before pointing up at the mansion. “If you try to leave again, I’ll have you detained and I will personally see to it that you are as miserable as possible. And by the way,” he added as Chitin started walking up the drive. “Next time you’re going to pretend to be somepony, pick somepony that isn’t as ridiculously attractive. Do you know anything about blending in?”

Chitin arched an eyebrow, before giving a smirk. “Either that, or I’ll just bribe you with sex.”

The guard’s cheeks pinkened, and Chitin noticed that his heart-rate increased quite a lot.

“Gotcha,” she murmured triumphantly as she continued up the drive.

“Kuno?” Chitin asked carefully.

Kuno looked up from a thick book with scribbled writing all over the pages, giving a long sigh and putting down her quill. “Yes, Chitin?”

“I followed your husband. I… lost track of him though,” Chitin admitted, rubbing her hoof with the opposite. “I apologize.”

“It’s fine, he found his way back. Did the guards bother you much?” Kuno asked wearily.

“I told them to come bother you if it was a problem,” Chitin said with a wry grin.

Kuno sighed, placing her chin on the table. “Just what I needed, more chores.”

“Are you okay, Kuno?” Chitin asked carefully.

“I’m drained… tired. I want to curl up and sleep but everypony keeps bothering me. And I’m still waiting to know who murdered my friend. I wish to return the favour,” Kuno said darkly.

“Kill their friends?” Chitin asked blankly.

“Kill them,” Kuno corrected, her eyes flashing dangerously. “Celestia is sending one of their best investigators over from the castle. He’ll find out who did it. More chores, more bother.”

“Let me help,” Chitin said, taking a step forwards, straightening. “I was second in command for Chrysalis. I can handle it.”

“Can you?” Kuno asked plaintively, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “I need someone to help the investigator. Somepony I trust.”

“Do you trust me?” Chitin asked, uncertain.

Kuno nodded. “I already confirmed your alibi with Thorny Bramble.”

Chitin gave a smug smile.

“You didn’t waste any time finding a partner, did you?” Kuno asked with a wry smile.

“He… satisfies me,” Chitin said candidly.

“I can see why,” Kuno said with a faint giggle. “Look, there is something you can do. I need somepony to help with the investigation. They’re sending over their best investigator, and I need a changeling to partner with him.”

“You want me to…?” Chitin asked carefully.

“WORK with him!” Kuno said with a facehoof. “As in, conduct the investigation along side him. I am not whoring you out.”

“Oh, well,” Chitin said with a slight wave of a hoof.

“I’d do it myself, but I already have too much on my plate,” Kuno admitted with a deep frown. “I can’t devote half my time to that and getting this place running. There’s not enough of me to go around.”

“Warden would agree,” Chitin said with a smug smile.

“Was that… was that a dirty joke?” Kuno asked carefully.

Chitin nodded awkwardly. “It was. Shouldn’t I have?”

“No, it’s fine,” Kuno said with a slight smile. “I’m just pleased that you’re developing so fast. You guys were all clones the day before last.”

“I had some personality humped into me,” Chitin said with a naughty grin.

Kuno rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you did. Look, the investigator will be here in an hour or so. I’ll introduce you, and then you can take your cues from him.”

“Yes, Kuno,” Chitin said with a salute. “Though I do… I have a question.”

“Yes?” Kuno asked.

“Is it… hard to fall in love?” Chitin asked curiously.

“It’s the easiest thing in the world,” Kuno said with a slight smile. “Why do you ask?”

“That pony that Warden went to visit… he was in pain. A lot of pain. I could feel it. I don’t ever want to feel that pain,” Chitin said candidly. “So I’m just hoping that I won’t accidentally fall in love.”

“Accidentally fall in love,” Kuno said with a soft laugh. “I like that. Though I don’t like your chances.”

“What do you mean?” Chitin asked warily.

Kuno shrugged slightly. “You’ll see. You’ll find somepony, and fall in love with them, whether you want to or not.”

“That sounds horrific,” Chitin admitted, frowning deeply.

“It’s the best thing you’ll ever have happen to you,” Kuno assured, waving a hoof towards the door. “Now leave, I have to continue looking through his bucking list of bucking ponies that came to the bucking afterparty.”

“You seem upset,” Chitin said, taking a step backwards.

Kuno opened the book again, and didn’t even look up as she said: “I am.”

Chitin gave a nervous laugh, turning on her hooves and retreating.

Chitin gave an eager growl, grinding her hips down over Thorny Bramble again and again. the entire length of his stiff cock was coated in her liquids, spreading open the blue flesh of her eager, clenching cunny. Her hips shoved down on him again and again, forcing him right to the base in her tight body with each eager motion, even as she kissed him almost urgently.

“This is so hot,” Chitin growled, squeezing him with her hooves, even as she began to bounce with more power and urgency.

“I agree!” Thorny Bramble gasped, pushing her hips down on himself again and again with a hoof on her rump, the other hoof helping to hold her steady. “G-gonna fill you.”

“Yessss... do it!” Chitin hissed heatedly, bouncing her hips up and down on him with a fervent eagerness. “Fill me!”

The thick tip of Thorny Bramble’s cock flared inside her, spreading her deepest reaches, right before hot bursts of gooey spunk started to pump up into her, splashing almost directly against her deepest barrier.

Chitin whined in delight, her motions growing jerky as her body milked around him intently, squeezing and clenching with each firm shove of her hips. Every time she came down, she forced a fresh gush of the stallion’s gooey spunk to drool from around their snug union, making a mess of the base of his throbbing cock.

After several long moments of delight, both pony and changeling came down from their mutual orgasm.

“Your love is so bucking tasty,” Chitin whispered, licking eagerly along the side of Thorny Bramble’s neck.

“Oh sweet Celestia, you are the best,” Bramble murmured weakly, stroking hooves down over her wings with a faint laugh.

“I don’t think you have an adequate sample size, but I’ll take the compliment,” Chitin said with a giggle, biting lightly at the side of his neck. “I still have half an hour before I have to go meet this investigator…” she said, gently wiggling her hips, making the stallion tense up and groan faintly with the sensation of tight changeling flesh gyrating around his used cock. “Do you think you could go again?”

Thorny Bramble stared up at her, before grinning and lipping at the side of her neck. “Tell you what… you clean me up with that cute little muzzle, and I’ll do my very best to try.”

Chitin gave a lustful growl, sliding up and off him, a thick trickle of the stallion’s essence drooling from the blue slit of her thoroughly-used cunny, before she sank down his form, staring up at him. She held eye contact as she lifted his cock with a hoof, beginning to slowly swirl her tongue around the tip with a naughty giggle.

Thorny Bramble gave a low growl of delight, head tipping back slightly as he held her gaze, watching with wide eyes and giving a breathless little whimper.

“Maybe I’ll actually get to savour my meal this time,” Chitin said with a mischievous giggle, as she started to sink her muzzle down over his used cock.

Thorny Bramble gave a low groan, grasping one of her ears with a hoof. “You are insatiable and I love it.”

Chitin just purred around her mouthful of stallion, beginning to bob her head back and forth with intent. After all, she only had half an hour to enjoy her stallion before she had to go meet this investigator.

And she fully intended to enjoy him.

Alibi

Chitin stretched slowly, giving the faintest of yawns and shaking her forehooves one after the other to get any kinks out of them. Her entire body ached just a little, from the furious rutting that Thorny Bramble had basically forced upon her before she had left the room. Already, she was trying to think of where to get a new bed, as her current bed had (finally) succumbed to the rigors of a horny changeling and earth pony, and broken.

Not that that had stopped Thorny Bramble for more than a second or two to make sure she was okay.

Chitin licked her lips as she let her mind wander, blue tongue swirling over pointed fangs eagerly, before she straightened up and shook her head to clear it. She had a meeting to attend to.

The door, unoiled for many years, creaked open slowly, and Chitin poked her nose through the gap created. “Hello?”

“Come in,” a batpony said, sitting behind an old oak desk, a thick sheaf of papers sitting on the pad in front of him, steam still wafting off a cup of tea.

Chitin nosed her way through the doorway, and stepped uncertainly towards the desk. “Are you who I have to meet?”

“You are Chitin, I assume?” the batpony asked, arching an eyebrow.

Chitin nodded once, looking the batpony up and down curiously. He was pretty standard, at least as far as she knew. Golden, slit-pupil eyes, pointed fangs, pointy ears, purple pointy wings, pointy personality and a grey-blue body. His mane was a deep blue bordering on ‘dark’ blue, with a streak of lighter colour, and done up in a spiked fashion to differentiate himself a tiny bit from every other batpony. A pair of silver-rimmed glasses with clear, slightly-purple frames completed his look.

“I am Chitin, yes,” she vocalised, realising that a nod might not be all the answer needed. “I’m supposed to meet an investigator in here. Kuno was supposed to be here, too, but apparently, she’s asleep now.”

“I was warned about possibly dismemberment if I attempted to wake her,” the batpony said with a slightly annoyed sniff. “Overall, entirely disorganized.”

Chitin frowned at his tone. “So… who are you?”

“I am the investigator,” the batpony said with a wave of a hoof.

“No, what is your name?” Chitin furthered.

The batpony lifted a single ear at her. “I am Spectre.”

“Bullied in school much?” Chitin asked with a slight giggle.

Spectre’s eyes narrowed slowly. “No, I was not. After I beat up the first pony who tried, I was never bothered again.”

“That’s excessive,” Chitin said simply, chewing on her tongue. “So… why am I here?”

“You are to talk to your species in my stead. You are more likely to be told the truth that someone they are unfamiliar with. But first, we await your… uh… partner,” Spectre said flatly. There was so much venom in the word that Chitin began to think maybe he was in a relationship with Bramble.

“Is… is Bramble close to you?” Chitin asked carefully.

Spectre gave her a confused stare. “I have never met the colt.”

“He’s a stallion,” Chitin corrected with another frown. “And you said ‘partner’ like I’d been fucking your lover or something.”

“For a species that relies on an emotion for sustenance you are amusingly awful at judging them,” Spectre said with a shake of his head.

“Then what? Why are you acting like this?” Chitin asked plaintively.

“I am not acting like anything,” Spectre said flatly. “I advise you to learn more about pony and batpony sociology before asking dumb questions.”

“Fine,” Chitin glowered, grinding her teeth together in annoyance, wings giving an angry little buzz.

Spectre said nothing more, returning to looking through the papers on the desk, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

There was a firm knock on the door, and Spectre looked up, straightening his glasses. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Thorny Bramble stepped inside, neatly closing it after himself and sidling up to the table. “You wanted me here?”

“Indeed I did,” Spectre said, giving Thorny Bramble a long, level stare. “I understand that you are Chitin’s alibi for the night of the murder?”

Thorny Bramble nodded once. “Aye. I was with her the night of.”

“Was there any chance that she slipped away without you noticing?” Spectre asked seriously.

“Sure,” Thorny Bramble said sincerely. “But when I woke up to use the toilet, she was fast asleep next to me. And I uh…” he trailed off, clearing his throat. “I would have noticed if she left.”

“Why is that?” Spectre asked simply.

“Because she was uh… quite messy,” Thorny Bramble said, clearing his throat in embarrassment. “I am quite a productive stallion.”

“Very productive,” Chitin reassured, pondering for a long moment. “Three… no, four mouthfuls at least.”

“How positively stomach-churning,” Spectre said dryly. “I shall put ‘genetic material’ under her ‘alibi’ heading,” he added, scribbling down a note on the page. He turned towards Chitin next, “Your identifying item is the ankh earring, yes?”

Chitin nodded. “Yes.”

“As of this point forth, you are not allowed in public without your identifier in place,” Spectre said simply.

“What, why?” Chitin asked, ears splaying.

“You are capable of turning into any pony you please. It is no point having an identifier if you are permitted to remove it at any time you please. Furthermore, if you are found to be in public without your identifier, punitive action will be taken,” Spectre explained simply.

Chitin blinked once, before nodding. “I understand.”

“You do?” Spectre asked with a slightly smug smile. “It is nice that you are so reasonable.”

“You ponies are scared of us because you know we could take over the place if we wanted,” Chitin said quietly.

“No, no you couldn’t,” Spectre said bluntly. “Mainly because we are putting in safeguards to halt any transformation mischief before it can take root.”

Chitin stared at him, holding his gaze unblinkingly, head tilting slowly to the left. She snorted once, and then gave the softest of laughs. “Well, at least you believe what you say.”

Spectre’s eyes narrowed a little, but he didn’t respond, instead turning back to his page. “Either way, you will wear your identifier any time you are in public. This is, of course, relaxed when you are on these grounds or within your home, should you take residence in Ponyville or Canterlot or somesuch. If you are accused of a crime, then you will not be permitted to remove your identifier until the trial and punishment are decided.”

Chitin frowned deeply, but nodded. “That makes sense, I guess.”

Spectre turned back to Thorny Bramble, who was watching them with a guarded expression. “What is your darkest secret that your family members would be aware of?”

“What?” Bramble asked, blinking once, ears flattering. “Why would you want to know that?”

“I need to confirm your identity with your family members, in case you are currently a changeling. and knowing a personal secret of yours that your family can corroborate, that a changeling would not know, is the easiest way,” Spectre said simply. “So, embarrassing, preferably.”

Thorny Bramble cleared his throat nervously, pawing at the floor lightly. “I… I don’t have anything.”

“Yes, yes you do,” Spectre pressed. “Just say it. I’m not going to spread it around. I just have to make absolutely certain that the alibi for the changeling I am to work with it airtight.”

The stallion looked away, biting his bottom lip, before giving a long sigh. “Well… Ahh… Mah sis walked in on me one time…”

“That is hardly unique,” Spectre said dryly.

“W-well… No. I was… uhhh…” Thorny Bramble trailed off, chewing on his tongue. “I was experimenting.”

“Experimenting? How? Details are important,” Spectre said, observing him with a carefully blank expression.

Thorny Bramble’s cheeks warmed a little bit further. “I-I’d just uh… I’d just blown a load in my own mouth, okay?” he mumbled in a rush, ears burning with embarrassment.

Chitin’s ears perked forwards at that, and she licked her fangs.

“I see, that is… unique enough. Your sister saw this?” Spectre asked blankly.

Thorny Bramble nodded once.

“That is all I need,” Spectre said, laying down his quill. “You may leave. Though I will be confirming your secret with your sister tomorrow. If you are going to spend any more time in the complex, I suggest you create a special word or phrase with your family or a neutral third party for future security purposes.”

Thorny Bramble nodded, mumbling an affirmative.

“How long am I going to be here?” Chitin asked clearly, staring at Thorny Bramble.

“The rest of the day, I would expect,” Spectre said simply.

“Bramble… are you free tonight?” Chitin asked, holding his gaze with a hungry stare.

Thorny Bramble shrugged his shoulders. “I kind of need to go back home sooner or later.”

“Well… if you want to show up at my room tonight at any time…” Chitin trailed off, licking her lips.

Thorny Bramble gave a faint smile at that, and a nod. “I’ll consider it.”

“When you two are quite done,” Spectre interjected, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “You’re free to leave.”

Thorny Bramble gave a nod at that, and turned on his hooves, exiting the room with the push of the door with his shoulder.

“Next!” Spectre called, and a pair of royal guards escorted in a changeling. He was a little smaller than Chitin, and had a prominent spike piercing in his lower lip. He looked between the two of them, chewing anxiously at his piercing.

“Name?” Spectre asked, lifting his quill.

“I uh, I am named Needlepoint,” the changeling said.

“Your identifier?” Spectre asked next.

Needlepoint released his piercing from between his fangs, and then pointed at it lamely with a hoof. “This. The piercing.”

“Very well. You are henceforth not allowed to remove your identifier while in public. Being in public without your identifier will attract punitive action. Do you understand?”

Needlepoint nodded slowly.

“Now, the night of the murder, where were you?” Spectre asked simply.

Needlepoint looked back and forth between Spectre and Chitin. “I was… around.”

“Did anyone witness you ‘around’?” Spectre asked in a clipped tone, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

Needlepoint’s ears lowered slightly, and he shrugged. “I… don’t know?”

Chitin lifted a hoof for attention. “Needlepoint, were you alone that night? Did you sleep alone?”

Needlepoint turned to focus on Chitin. “I slept in my bed. I share my room with Titan. He came to bed late. He smelled like a mare.”

“Do you know roughly what time he returned?” Chitin asked gently.

“Sometime just before midnight?” Needlepoint offered plaintively.

Spectre nodded to himself, scribbling down notes. “Very well, you may leave. Next!”

Needlepoint was escorted out of the room, and another changeling was shown in.

“Name,” Spectre said, lifting his quill again.

Chitin gave a low groan, shaking out each of her hooves one-by-one as she stalked down the hallway. The sun had already set, and candles were lit all around the mansion, casting flickering glows on the walls. A huge group of changelings had been confined to the main dining hall until they could be interviewed.

Spectre had retired to a bedroom for the night, taking his notes with him to pour over.

Chitin paused in front of a window looking down on the dining hall. Some changelings were already sleeping, curled up in the corners and under the tables in haphazard nests of blankets and pillows. Other changelings had formed orderly groups and were quietly chatting with each other over candlelit dinner settings sparingly laid out with tasty snackfoods.

Chitin watched them for a few moments, before continuing down the hallway. As she walked, she reflected on the fact that she had chosen one of the furthest-away structures as her bedroom. Her tower was a good two minute walk from the centre of the mansion.

An eager changeling pushed open the door to the tower, and she pushed her nose in, grinning toothily. “I’m here!” she called out.

Silence greeted her.

Chitin’s face fell as she realised that Thorny Bramble wasn’t waiting for her. With a faint harrumph, she waited a full ten seconds in case he was hiding under the bed or in the cupboard, before turning around again and leaving.

Spectre gave a long groan of annoyance at the knock on his door, rolling out of bed and picking up his glasses, deftly sliding them into place on his nose. He pulled the door open, squinting out. “Yes?”

“Uh, good evening!” Chitin said with an attempt at a winning smile.

“Yes, good evening,” Spectre said with clipped tones. “What do you want?”

Chitin gave an awkward glance back and forth at that, licking her fangs anxiously. “I’m really horrible at this kind of thing. But I’d like to seduce you, if it isn’t too much of a problem?”

Spectre gave her a long, blank stare. “What.”

“Seduce you,” Chitin repeated, making a motion with a hoof. “I assure you, I’m quite good at sex. I’m just… really bad at getting to that point.”

“No,” Spectre said flatly.

Chitin’s face fell, and her ears lowered. “Oh… okay. May I ask why?”

“Firstly: gross. You’re at least half-bug. I am not attracted to insects. Secondly: I have a marefriend!” Spectre protested, scowling.

“Would it help if she joined in?” Chitin asked with a hopeful smile.

“No!” Spectre said, slamming the door in her face.

Chitin blinked once, scratching the side of her neck with a hoof. She frowned a little bit, slowly working her fangs against each other. With a soft snort, she turned on her hooves, heading for the front of the mansion.

As she walked, a flare of green light rose up her form.

Chitin stretched out her new form as she walked. It was the same ‘guard’ form from the previous day. Pure, creamy white fur, two-tone golden-blonde mane, and a cutie mark that was a gleaming silver shield with a deflected golden star bouncing off it. Piercing blue eyes regarded the pair of guards at the front gates of the mansion.

Pegasus-Chitin sautered up to them. The guard who had seen through her disguise previously, turned and scowled at her. “You’re not supposed to impersonate guards.”

“Nopony told me that,” Chitin said with a sly smile, giving a languid stretch of her wings and looking back and forth between the two guards.

“What do you want?” the guard asked, watching her with narrowed eyes.

Chitin licked her lips innocently, thoughtfully tracing a figure-eight into the ground with a forehoof. She smiled at the two guards, eyes narrowing slowly. “I was just wondering if you two could find somepony to cover for you for…” she trailed off, rubbing a hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “Half an hour?”

“Is that… are you…?” the guard asked, voice squeaking slightly.

Chitin nodded slowly.

The guard exchanged a glance with the other guard. The second guard made a motion with his head. “Wait here. I’ll find us a replacement.”

Chitin gave a triumphant smile, eyes glowing for a moment as the guard walked with an excited gait back towards the mansion.

Changeling's Buffet: Part One

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