Illuminating Aegis: Tales of the Changeling King

Phillip shook himself for what felt like the tenth time in the past five minutes, getting the last of the water from his shower out of his simulated chestnut coat. Jade had been kind enough to keep the changelings' secret for now but she did press the issue about having them at least speak with the mayor to introduce the two races...

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Jade made frowned a little as the small group sat at the kitchen table, well, as she and Namiro sat at the table. Crimson was making some pancakes for the emerald mare while whistling a small tune. "You really should find a way to get the mare to introduce your race... Ponies around here respect the mare, if you guys can get her to vouch for you then it may not be too long before the rest of the town accepts you."

The Royal Changeling leaned a little in his chair, taking a small sip of the shot glass filled with recently-collected lust. "I... I understand that, what worries me though is that I've heard from Crimson about what happens to changelings who've been found out."

Jade waved a hand. "What? Those rumors about changelings being taken prisoner and then used to detect other changelings? The princesses wouldn't let something like that happen, Princess Celestia is one of the most benevolent rulers on the planet. She goes out of her way to keep a garden of endangered species just so that she can make sure that they do still exist on the planet, so she wouldn't just use a sentient race like changelings as tools."

Namiro took a large breath as he felt a nice buzz settle in the pit of his stomach. "I just... I don't want to put the Queen's hive at risk if it should go wrong..."

"I get ya..." Jade replied. "If you want to go that route though, reveal yourself as a solo-changeling seeking safety and refuge... probably in a more pony-sized form... but don't reveal any other changelings that may be in the area." She stretched to bring her hands behind her head while her tail flicked back and forth a little. "I'm telling you, introducing the town a little bit at a time to changelings would be a lot better than just doing something stupid like bringing half a swarm to town to introduce to the townsfolk."

"It's not like I was planning to just waltz down the street undisguised, Jade... I know a bit of tact is needed for this." Namiro replied as he rolled his eyes. "I just..."

Jade interrupted him with a smile. "You're worried about your new 'family'...?"

"Yeah..." the changeling admitted. "I don't want them getting hurt."

"We're a pretty understanding town as long as someone is willing to vouch for you... if you can convince the Mayor then you'll have a pretty strong point to rally around."

Namiro nodded. "I'll go talk to her... If we're lucky, this will be a way to get peace talks with the princesses started."

Jade smiled and leaned forward as Crimson brought over a plate of pancakes. "See, you gotta start small... when it seems like a huge task, take it in chunks and you'll be doing a lot of big stuff in no time!"

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Namiro gulped a little as he hesitated outside of the door to town hall, if everything went well then his next stop would be the local blacksmith to look into the price of a hundred-ninety ball bearings and nineteen candlesticks so that he could find out how much he would have to work towards. Swallowing the small lump in his throat he slowly pushed the door open, revealing a small, likely-air conditioned, lobby that had a magenta earth pony stallion sitting at the desk as a secretary due to his fairly formal attire. He was wearing a white suit, although the arms had been trimmed off of the jacket and undershirt to give it as much breathing room as possible.

As he approached the desk the magenta stallion looked up. "Hello! How may I help you?" He asks with a cheery smile.

Namiro gave a small smile in return. "I'd like to speak with the Mayor, I'm a bit new in town so I was hoping to have a chance to speak with the mayor about some rumors that I've heard in the area."

"I'd be happy to check if you can speak with the mare, give me just a moment." The magenta stallion replies before he starts shuffling through a few nearby papers. After almost a minute he turns to the Chestnut earth pony. "The Mayor's schedule is clear until five so you can go right on in."

"Thank you very much, I hope not to take up too much of the Mayor's time." Namiro replied before making his way to the back office where he noticed a tan-colored mare with a grey mane sitting behind the desk.

"Hello sir!" She starts with a similar cheery smile. "How are you doing this lovely day?"

He takes a seat in front of the desk and smiles back. "I'm doing fairly well, I'd like to discuss a few rumors that have begun to sprout up..."

"Oh?" The mare asks. "What kind of rumors?" She hesitates only for a second before getting a dawning realization on her face. "Oh! you're probably referring to the rumors that we have changelings living in town!" the mare explained with a growing smile as she saw Namiro's growing shocked expression. "Don't worry, they're true and we have several members of the local guard out keeping an eye on the ponies we believe are changelings just to be sure they don't cause any trouble."

Namiro had been stunned, how had they been found out that easily? When had they been found out? He slowly shook his head and got his mind ready for speaking. "Well... Uh... who do you suspect is a changeling?"

"Well, the two that many in town believe are changelings would be Ivory Relief and Crimson Hunter." The tan mare explained with a small smile.

"How are you sure it is them?"

"That's an easy one..." the mare explained as she got up. "Ever since those two came to town the first emotion that seems to have been disappearing was fear, the first fears to be absent were fears about changelings sneaking into town and replacing the townsfolk."

That had thrown the Royal changeling for another loop, and all this time he had thought that they were being subtle.

"After that they've just been downright helpful around town and willing to do just about any job, with a fondness for construction. We're fine with them being here as long as they don't cause any trouble, those two have made this town the happiest it's been in years." She finished with a broad smile before looking back to the Chestnut stallion. "I don't doubt that you are one as well, as I know that those two specifically went out to retrieve you from the badlands against any sort of scheduled train dropoff." She smirked a bit wider at the changeling's stunned look that re-emerged with double the force. "We may be happy and naive, but we are not stupid. As long as the changelings that are here don't cause trouble and continue making our town a happy little town we have no need to report them to the Princesses. We'd rather not have a full military force coming through our town on the rumor that several ponies may be changelings."

Namiro blinked a few more times, trying to formulate any kind of response. The mare chuckled as she finished her route around half the desk to stand next to him. "Now... what brings you to my office... Mr. Armor?"

"I... Well... You've honestly caught me off guard here... I was expecting this to go... slightly differently." He stuttered as he shifts in his seat, keeping his eyes from being drawn to the mare's very full, round hips. "I... I was hoping to make an arrangement that could... help this town... and my race..." Despite his fairly adept will, his eyes still drift across her hips as she leans up against the desk in front of him. A well placed hand motions for him to look up and he obliged as the Mayor began to speak.

"Let's hear it, we might be able to get something... mutually beneficial... out of the deal." She giggled a little. "I believe we could even use this as a learning experience..."

Namiro nodded a little as his mouth felt a bit dry. Throughout his entire life as a human he had only had one woman he had ever been intimate with, and they had broken off their relationship to still be gaming buddies... what was happening to him now as a changeling? He had gotten into a relationship with another Royal Caste changeling who, admittedly, was fairly open about relationships, he made love to a changeling of the hive AND 'his' marefriend, and now... he was possibly being seduced by a mare that could possibly qualify to be his mother. He could only really think of one thing as he felt himself a bit entranced by the older mare. "...Life as a changeling is weird..."

He took a small breath to get his senses back. "I would like to propose moving some more changelings into town... not a lot... but a few more to help continue collecting the love needed to feed my hive as well as quell fear that changelings are some sort of soul-eating pony-bug."

The Mayor nodded. "That is a nice idea, perhaps we can arrange something like that." She gets her smirk back. "If you'd like... we could meet up later to relieve some stress, Celestia knows I have a fairly stressful time in office trying to keep things running smoothly here."

Without realizing it Namiro found himself nodding to her request almost eagerly as she leaned forward. She moaned as her lips connected with his, prompting him to moan as well as his hands fumbled to reach for her body. With practiced ease the tan mare took his wrists gently and guided his hands up to her breasts that were making a fairly modest bulge in her shirt. The moment she let go though she shivered as his hands quickly slid down her sides all the way to her hips, gently squeezing them like a lover would. She began to ease herself into his lap, rubbing the front of her tight business pants against his loose training tunic pants, letting her hands brace against his shoulders while she pressed her chest to his.

Then they broke the kiss, panting with the arousal in the air. The Mayor smirked, "I get off work at six... care to wait for me?" She asked playfully, causing the VERY aroused changeling to groan a little.

"I... Yes... but... What's your name?" He asks quickly, blinking away the pink haze that began to build up in his eyes.

The tan mare leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Orchid Gem... What about you?"

"N-Namiro..." He began. "But... I also go by... Aegis... Armor..."

The mare gives a giggle. "I like the latter... and be sure to come by in this form... you look so handsome as an earth pony." She quickly gets up, making Aegis reach weakly out to her as she moves back to her seat behind the desk. "So, I'll have the plans drawn up and I'll speak with you later to finalize them, after having some time to relax of course." She explains with a smile at the dazed changeling.

With a sigh Namiro stood up and gave a small bow. "T-thank you for... thinking about my proposal..." He eventually managed to say as he cleared the pink haze from his eyes. It was a few seconds before he stumbled over to the door, taking a deep breath to compose himself before opening the door.

The magenta stallion was smirking as Namiro left, chuckling a little to himself as he went back to work.

Namiro stood out in the seemingly-blistering daylight of outside once more and finally rid himself of his arousal, trying to get his mind back on what he was supposed to do.

...Orchid...

"Shut up brain!" He grit his teeth as it seemed that his entire arousal hadn't passed but alas, he moved on and began making his way to the blacksmith's shop, looking to get a price on the ball bearings that he needed. He put a hand to his head as he tried to get his thoughts off of the mare. "Is every pony in this world obsessed with sex like that?" he began to wonder with growing horror. "What if the Princesses make that a requirement to simply take a look at the peace treaty?"

Each thought that went through his mind got progressively more Freudian until finally another voice chimed in. "Namiro..." Patina's voice replied in his head. "As funny and entertaining as that last one was... I really doubt that the princesses would have you submit them to bondage and teasing in order to approve of a peace treaty between our races."

That response halted him mid-step. "...I forgot that I was connected to the hive still..."

"Yeah, that can happen after a while if you don't actively focus on your links, I've had drones bring me strange things simply because I forgot I was connected to them all."

"... please don't laugh..." He pleaded, knowing that either she would ignore the request or at least act like she wasn't going to.

"too late for the request, although you have given me an idea to try when you get back..."

"Which one?"

"You'll find out when you get back." He could practically hear the fact that she was likely already toying with one of the many ideas that he proposed in his mind, he began to get a tad worried.

"...Am I going to regret giving you the idea?"

"...Maybe..." she teased.

His sense of dread came back two-fold as he started making his way quicker to the blacksmith's shop.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Namiro was very unamused, the slight frown on his face said so as he watched the very muscled, and quite strangely-covered, earth pony mare with her back to him hammering out something on an anvil. Even without speaking up or having her turn around somehow he could already tell that her bra size was an E-cup and that her hips would fit absolutely perfectly into his in his undisguised form. His eye twitched in anger as his arousal flared up again, letting him praise The Force that he wasn't wearing tight pants.

"Really brain? Is sex all you're going to think about today?" He took a slow and deliberate breath as he mused waiting for a response.

Yes...

At that very moment he nearly lost his composure as he could've basically heard his own mind talking back to him but he quickly put on a smile as the accurately-estimated mare turned around to notice him with a slightly-fanged smile. The mare's piercing, catlike yellow eyes rooted him to the spot. "Well, Hiya! What's up?" she asks in an accent that Namiro could've sworn had a British undertone to it.

"I'm doing well, I was hoping to get a price estimation on some steel ball bearings..."

The mare smiled as she undid her apron, which covered her front and back, before unfolding a pair of leathery wings from her back. "Some ball bearings? Give me a sec to pull up the list and I'll get you the full monty on the price." She replied as she began to search through some metal cabinets.

"I... I hope you don't find this rude but... What kind of pony are you?" Namiro asked, not sure whether to wince or not as the mare slowed her search.

"Thestral... what's it to ya?" She explained with a slight edge to the question.

"Oh, nothing... I'm just curious, I've never seen a pony much like you before... I've only ever encountered earth ponies, pegusai and unicorns."

"Not surprised... After the fall of the Lunar Diarch most thestrals got the hell out of dodge since most ponies are absolutely gormless when it comes to deducing what's good and what's bad." The midnight-blue mare explained as she curled her wings back up, pulling out a small folder from the cabinet. "When the princess of the moon came back it was a big 'ol celebration for our race since it meant we might be able to come out of hiding without getting popped for looking like we do."

There was just something about the accent she was oh so subtly adding to her explanation that made the changeling lean to the side a little to get a nice view of the side of her hips, he felt another shiver run down his spine before she spoke up again.

"Oi! Dinner first, then if you can really impress, you might get some... till then we're talking business." The smith stated in a slightly-louder-than-normal tone. Namiro yelped a little as he realized he had been caught staring.

"Sorry... I... I don't know why I keep staring." He stuttered as a blush crossed his muzzle.

"Perhaps we should start with names then." The mare replied with a slightly amused smirk. "Name's Midnight Steel."

"N-... Astral Armor." He replied after a second of hesitation.

She looked him over and let her tongue stick out a little on the left side of her smirk. "Well, if you were a Thestral I'd probably be quick to jump ya, as you are though, it might take a bit of convincing."

"Perhaps tomorrow at a place of your choosing?" He replied quickly, not thinking about what he was saying.

She smirked a bit wider. "Sure, I'll stop by your place, I'm buying." the mare explained, stunning the changeling once more at how gender roles seemed to be quite a bit different in this world where being female was a better opportunity. "Now, 'bout them bearings?"

He stuttered for a few seconds before he finally found his voice. "I-... I need one hundred and ninety."

The mare blinked with a slightly surprised expression, although her pose didn't change. "One-ninety? Are ya sure?" At his nod she twisted her face in thought. After a few moments she finally looked back up at him. "It's gonna cost seven hundred sixty bits for the bearings, less if steel was plentiful round here... but it's not so it's a bit more expensive to get the materials to make 'em."

Namiro sighed as he heard the number, nonetheless he nodded. "Alright... I'm staying with Crimson Hunter and Ivory Relief... so... I'll be there."

The Thestral mare nodded before giving him a wink. "See ya there luv, Pick ya up at five." With a blush the disguised changeling quickly left the shop feeling more and more embarrassed as the day dragged on. He leaned up against the wall of Crimson's home once he finally reached the place before he slid down the wall and held a hand to his head. "...Oh... what did I do to deserve this?" He groaned with an exhausted sigh.