Chapters In an unnamed village right outside the badlands of Equestria, the townsponies peacefully lived their lives. The whole town knew each other well and loved one another, they lived just like a big family. There were only minimal problems in the small village and the occasional huge problem that got solved quickly by the ponies. There was a small school, a hospital, a Town Hall, the homes themselves, and even a hoofball field.
The sun was high in the sky, beaming down on the townsponies with heat. Beautiful clouds filled the blue sky with some pegasi flying around doing their own things.
In the town streets, ponies worked, played, talked, and so on. It was about lunch time, and most ponies were already eating their food. One pony, however, was in a rush running down one of the pathways in the small park in the center of the village.
Pure Soul, a white unicorn stallion rushed down the street in a hurry. He sometimes waved at a known friend across the road and shouted some kind words along with it.
Very soon, Pure reached a restaurant called "Finest Dines" and stopped his sprint. He breathed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to steady himself.
Once he gained his composure, he blew one sigh and walked inside of the restaurant.
It was a bakery, serving delicious but unhealthy foods. The place itself smelled like the sweet goodness of dessert.
As soon as Pure Soul stepped inside be was blasted with a wave of sweetness. He sniffed the blessed air and trotted over to the front counter. "Two chocolate dipped doughnuts please." He ordered.
The brown stallion cashier nodded silently and reached down with his hoof to grab the two freshly made rings. He threw them into a bag and placed the bag down on the counter. The cashier picked up the bits left by the buyer and tossed them into the cash register.
Pure nodded once. "Thank you." He picked up the bag and held it in his mouth. He looked around the restaurant for empty seats, quickly finding a spot right beside a window.
The stallion walked over to the table and set the bag down. He then sat at one of the two seats to wait for somepony else.
He waited excitedly but patiently for the pony he was meeting with, looking at the clock on the wall every other second. It wasn't long until the front door opened and a sky blue mare walked inside.
"There you are, Beauty Heart!" He waved at her.
She smiled. "Pure Soul!" The mare walked up to the table and sat in front of the stallion.
"For me?" She asked with a smile when Pure offered her one of the doughnuts. "Thanks." She said after giggling.
"How was your trip?" Pure Soul asked. "Did you have fun in Canterlot?"
"It was fun, yes, but very busy and crowded. Thanks for asking."
"I see." Pure took a bite out of his doughnut.
"I just feel relieved that I'm home. It's much more relaxing here in the village. How was your time while I was gone?"
Pure Soul slouched on his chair with a frown growing on his face. "It's been pretty boring honestly. Nothing to really exciting happens here as you know."
"What about today?"
This made Pure get up with a smile. "Actually, today is getting really exciting by the second!"
"Really?" With a grin, Beauty raised an eyebrow. "How come?"
"Well..." Pure rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "It's a secret... for the next couple of minutes."
This response made Beauty curious. "Alright, if you say so."
The two ate in silence, the only noise being the other ponies around them and the door opening and closing.
After a minute, Pure Soul got up and excused himself to go to the washroom. He headed inside one of the stalls and in a flash of his green magic, two pretty diamond rings appeared in the air.
Pure Soul was getting nervous by the second. Asking himself what would happen if she said no, or if she slapped him on the spot right there in front of the other ponies. Eventually, he breathed in and out calmly before stepping out of the bathroom. He tucked the rings behind him in his magic as he approached Beauty Heart.
The blue mare noticed him. "I wanna hurry up and finish so we can catch up on things, like- oh!" She was pulled up by Pure Soul's right hoof, making her giggle soon after. She stared at Pure Soul as he spoke to her.
"Beauty Heart, we've been friends for, like, forever! You've always been there for me and I wish to do the same for you. You're the world to me, I care about you so much that nothing would stop me from being with you, not even Celestia herself!"
Beauty gasped and choked out a sob with happy tears when Pure Soul kneeled in front of her. She clasped her hooves to her mouth and watched her best friend as he proposed.
"You're the most beautiful mare I know. You're smart, funny, and it makes me happy when you're happy."
Now there was a crowd around them.
"I know I already gave you a good ol' chocolate ring today... but would you accept this from me?" He pulled out the two diamond rings. "Beauty heart? Will you marry me?"
She let the waterfall of happy tears fall down her face as she yelled, "Yes! Oh, Celestia, yes!" She pounced on Pure Soul and gave him a tight hug.
This was indeed the happiest day of Pure Soul's life.
Sixteen Months Later
Pure Soul ran straight towards the hospital with a worried expression in his eyes. He ran past many ponies who looked at him with worry but he didn't care. He had to get to the hospital to see his wife.
He slammed the front doors to the building open and went straight to the front desk, where an office mare sat at.
"I-"
"Your wife is in room twelve Mr. Soul." She interrupted kindly.
"Thank you!" Pure said before sprinting towards his wife's room.
Pure quickly noticed the room and opened the door, a bit more gentle this time. He peeked into the room and saw his wife on the bed rubbing her swollen belly.
"I always thought how painful having a baby was." He said, catching his wife's attention.
"Pure Soul! You're here!"
"How are you doing sweetums?" Pure asked as he got a stool and placed it beside his wife's bed.
"It's still," She groaned. "...Uncomfortable. But other than that I'm doing fine."
"Well, that's good... Because I think it's time I finally tell you..." Pure Soul put on a serious face and looked down in thought.
Beauty Heart grew concerned. "Honey... What's wrong?"
Pure sighed. "There's... Something I never told you dear. I've been keeping this secret ever since we met."
"W-what are you talking about? D-do... you not love me-"
"No! My heart was always true. It's just..." It was very hard to tell his wife about his true self.
"Go on..."
"It's just... I'm not who you think I am..."
"Pure, are you a coltcuddler?"
"No!" He sighed loudly. "Let me finish!"
"Alright. So you're not who I think you are?"
"Yes, I'm... Not a pony..." Pure Soul looked up to see his wife... giggling?
She laughed. "You're not a pony? Ha ha! That's a good one." She looked into Pure's eyes and saw that he was dead serious. "P-Pure?"
Pure spoke. "I think I should explain before showing you. I don't want you to go into shock with a baby... our baby aboard."
Beauty nodded, a bit shocked.
Pure sighed again. "I am not a pony as I told you. I never truly was."
Beauty listened and let him talk.
"I am from a different species... One that I doubt anypony in this village even knows about. I'm something called a... Changeling."
"Change...ling?"
"Yes. Our species survive by changing into a difference form to trick our predators and prey. I am currently changed into the form before you right now."
"Y-you're lying right...?"
Pure shook his head slowly. He silently walked over to the closed door and locked it. He also shut the curtains and soon after headed back to his wife on the bed.
"Please remain calm dear. I don't want to hurt our baby." He looked at her with sad eyes. "I understand if you look at my true form and you don't want to be married or even associated with me anymore."
"Honey..." She calmed herself. "To me... As much as I may regret this... I think, that even if you are something other than a pony. If you're the same man I married... I don't care. I just want to live with the man I married, and not an illusion."
"Alright. How about I show you what... I really am." Pure moved to stand in the middle of the room. Soon after green flames surrounded him in a circle. Beauty Heart watched as his soft white coat turned into a black hard carapace, his hooves having holes in them. His white horn turned into a sharp black one. There were now insect-like wings on his back and he didn't have pupils any longer. Instead, now he had pure blue eyes with no pupils at all.
Beauty Heart stared at his form in shock. "You look... just like a pony. Just a bit more... creepy. Wait..." She glared at his new form. "If you can just change forms. How do I know you're just not tricking me and you replaced my real husband."
"I thought you would say that." Pure looked down. "The first day we met, we were both drunk as teenagers. We didn't even notice we were talking to each other. The next day, half the town were sleeping on the streets, and you and me we sleeping inside the dry fountain in the middle of the village. We both promised not to tell what we said that night."
"Which was...?"
Pure smiled. "We were both embarrassed at the time, but we both said that we loved each other."
Beauty's eyes widened. "So it really is you... Unless you took my real husband's memories."
Pure reeled back in shock. "Wha-what? No! I would never do such a thing!"
Beauty giggled. "That's how Pure Soul would react. So I guess I'll believe you."
Pure chuckled with a blush.
"One question, though."
"Yes, honey?"
"Why did you keep this a secret? Are you afraid that ponies would be afraid of you?"
"Kind of..." Pure rubbed the back of his head. "It's kind of rare for a changeling to reveal themselves to the public. All of them are scared more than half the time and only the queen would be brave enough."
"Queen?"
"Us changelings have a queen of the hive. Kind of like Princess Celestia for us."
"Oh, alright then."
It was awkwardly quiet.
"So...can you transform into the ponies we know?"
"Of course."
"That's so cool. Transform intoooo... into the mayor!"
In a flash of green, Pure was now the orange mayor of the village.
"That's pretty cool."
"Uh-huh." Pure changed back into his white pony form. "But there's just one problem."
Beauty was visibly worried. "Which is..."
"Since I'm a changeling and you're a pony... our child will be half changeling and half pony."
"...Will our foal be able to change like you?"
"Should be able to. Unless our child is much more of you than me."
"That's... awesome!"
"Yeah I kno- wait what?"
"He 's going to have so much fun with that- oops..." She covered her mouth with her hooves.
"So my little one's going to be a colt huh? I'd love that."
Beauty smiled. "Me too. Though a filly would be great too."
"Of course."
Right there, somepony knocked on the door to the room. "Hello? The door is locked."
"One second!" Pure trotted over to the door and unlocked it, letting the doctor come in. "Sorry. I wanted to talk with my wife in private." Pure winked at his wife which made her smile.
"It's quite alright sir."
"So... when is the baby due?"
"Anytime tonight. It could come in an hour, two, or-"
Suddenly, Beauty started to moan and groan in her bed, gently clutching her swollen belly.
"Or right now." The doctor said before rushing out and fetching a nurse.
Pure walked up to Beauty and held her hoof. "Be strong dear."
"What..." She gasped. "...Do you think our little colt will look like?"
"Honestly... I don't know. Maybe he could look like insect-me. Or he could look like a pony like you."
"To be honest..." Another gasp. "I don't really care either way. I just want to love and care for you both."
Pure smiled brightly.
Pure sat outside in the waiting room. He waited patiently for the wonderful outcome that was about to happen.
However...
Pure listened and heard screaming in the room. There were three different screams except that Beauty's wasn't one of them.
Pure's heart stopped as he thought of the possibilities. He immediately got up and ran into the room, taking in the sight before him.
In a smiling Beauty's hold, a changeling colt slept quietly. Pure looked to his right to see the nurse looking shocked in the corner.
The doctor was standing right next to beauty in shock. "I've never seen a condition like this..." He gulped. "Why is he so hard? There are holes in his hooves and his eyes are pure blue! At least his mane is still light blue like his mother."
"Doctor," Pure started. "I know how to cure this condition."
"You do? How?!"
Pure walked up to him. "Like this." His horn flashed green and the doctor fell to the floor. Before the nurse could run and scream Pure did the same to her.
Beauty gasped. "What did you do?!"
Pure smiled at her. "It's alright, I just used a spell I learned in changeling school. It makes them lose their memories in the past hour and puts them asleep. Completely harmless."
Beauty stared at the sleeping forms. "We should I least put them somewhere comfortable..."
"I suppose so." Pure used his magic and lifted the two bodies. "I'll be right back." He left with the bodies and returned a minute later. "How about we get you two home."
Pure Soul and Beauty Heart entered their cottage home. They now sat in the living room to look at their baby.
"What should we call him?" Beauty asked.
"I don't know. Changelings really don't do names."
"Hm..." Beauty thought for a second then beamed. "He's going to change forms a lot right? How about Changer?"
"Changer... that's a perfect name."
"Changer it is then-"
*Flash*
Pure and Beauty looked down at Changer, who was now a blue pony colt.
"Wow! He's already changing! You hear that little guy? Your name is perfect." She said to Changer who was snoring quietly.
"Something's not right here."
Beauty looked at Pure with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Changeling newborns don't change forms. They start learning after a couple of years after birth."
"Oh," She looked down at her child. "Well, maybe our little one is special. Or maybe he can change because we named him Changer?" She cooed to the foal.
Beauty may have made light in the situation, but Pure was confused and concerned for his son.
Something else that also came to mind made his heart break.
"Sweetie?"
She looked up once again. "Yes, Honey?"
Pure sighed and hugged his wife tightly, getting a laugh from her.
"There's something else I must do to protect Changer. Something we both have to do."
Beauty's smile shortened, if only by a little. "What's that dear?"
"This is something very hard to do... but we must." He sighed again. "Changer can't control his changeling powers. He's in danger. If anypony catches him the family will be in danger."
"So what should we do?"
"Honey, I know this is hard. But... I have to take Changer back to the hive."
Pure immediately regretted saying that. Beauty changed from the happiest mare in the world to the most depressed one. Her ears dropped and she looked down in depression. "Oh..."
"I know you may be very sad and angry right now. I know, it hurts me as much too, because I will have to leave you."
Beauty looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"We have to do this for Changer. I don't want him to live a life of danger."
His wife slowly nodded.
"I promise as soon as Changer masters his abilities to change and blend in properly I'll bring him back."
"What? So you can just gloat about how he's grown?"
That was unexpected from Beauty, Pure thought.
"You're going to get to see him grow up to be a big stallion and I won't be around to even see his first steps! You're going to see him develop likes and dislikes. You're going to see him-" She sobbed and hugged her husband and colt tightly.
Pure thought deeply. "Perhaps... you could come with me?"
"C-... Could I?"
"It would put you in danger. Ponies are basically our prey. And if any of the changelings catch we'll both be in trouble."
"I could learn to transform with magic. I could transform into a changeling!"
"It's more difficult for a pony to do. Hm... and even if you do manage to change you still wouldn't be a part of the hivemind."
"Hivemind?"
"Long story short, it's like a mass walkie talkie for a changeling hive," Pure explained. "But... I haven't been in the hive for years! If I could somehow convince the hive that you and I were once a part of it, then we could probably stay there no problem."
"That's great!"
"But... are you sure you want to do this? It's really dangerous for you."
"I want to be apart of my colt's life Pure. Even if it puts me in danger."
"Then it's settled. I'll go pack our things and we'll leave tomorrow night." Pure stopped hugging his wife and began to walk out, but before he did, he heard some giggles, and they weren't coming from his wife.
Pure turned and smiled as he and his wife looked their son. Their son was happily sucking on Beauty's hoof. Pure walked over and nuzzled his son before walking out to pack their things.
Author's Note
Hey, all! Just wanted to say thanks for checking out this story. Really means a lot!
Now I don't do this regularly, but I'm going to have one question per chapter... if I can come up with one each time.
Question Of the Chapter: How do you like my OCs so far? Were they cringe material or alright? Great? Perfect OCs?
Pure Soul and Beauty Heart trotted down a gravel trail through a forest, with little Changer in his changeling form on Pure's back and Beauty eyeing a book about spells, reading it carefully while holding it with her magic.
"Find it yet, sweetums?" Pure asked his wife.
"Not yet. This spell book I picked up at the book shop is so huge! And I don't know if it's under transformation or changing spells..." Beauty said.
"Try transformation." Pure recommended.
"Okay. We both know I'm not good with magic. It will probably take some time for me to learn."
"You will eventually don't worry."
Changer babbled on Pure's back after changing to that same blue pony form, sucking on a binky that his parents bought at their local store before they all left.
"See, even Changer thinks so. Even if it isn't changeling magic you're using you should still be able to transform."
"I guess..."
After some more time walking and trying to find the proper spell, Pure Soul decided it was a good time to take a break for a couple of minutes.
They sat down on some fallen tree trunks that was not far up ahead. Pure looked over their saddle bags while Beauty continued to read with Changer sitting in her lap.
"I know we're not, but... I feel like we're missing something." Pure said as he moved stuff around their saddle bags.
"Do you want to go back and check if we forgot something?" Beauty asked after looking up from her book.
"No... we have enough pony food, water... I think it's just nothing."
"..." Beauty looked a little hesitant before she spoke. "Y-you think we should have stayed a little? At least for another day? I feel like our goodbye to the town was too quick."
Pure looked up. "I understand that." Then he looked at his son. "But that would also put Changer in danger."
"I know, but he looked like a pony the whole time." She sighed. "I'll miss that town..."
"Me too..." Pure gave Beauty a sad smile. "But life is about moving on. It's about change."
"I suppose so."
Changer giggled in Beauty's lap which made her smile. "How far are we Pure?" She asked.
"Let's see..." Pure got up and looked at the distance. "We're not far from the badlands, and in there is my hive." He turned to his wife. "It'll be dangerous once we step into the badlands, by then you must be ready to change." He told her.
Beauty took Pure's words in and looked back down to read her book, full of determination, but when she did it was shocking to see that Changer drooled all over the pages making them soaking wet.
She gasped with the eyes the size of sewing pins. "Changer! No!" She raised one leg which Changer held onto while giggling. She watched as the book she was holding fell apart page by page, all soaked with baby drool.
"What happened?" Pure got up and walked over to Beauty. "Oh no..." They both looked at Changer who looked up at them innocently.
Pure sighed. "It's not his fault." He grabbed some napkins from one of their saddle bags and wiped off the drool from Changer's face.
"I know..." Beauty sighed as well and picked up some of the pages. She found out that some of them weren't ruined so she stacked them together and was about to put them away, however, she read one title that said...
She gasped. "Here it is! Transformation spells for beginners!" She held it up for Pure to read.
"That's great! Great job, Changer!" Pure said as he messed with his son's mane.
*Flash!*
"Aww..." Beauty cuddled with Changer who was now in his changeling form.
Pure looked at his son with curiosity. "At such a young age..."
"Do you think we'll get to your, um... hive before sundown?" Beauty asked, snapping Pure out of his thoughts.
"Most likely. And even if we don't get there before dark we could always camp out otherwise. We did bring some blankets at least right?"
His wife nodded. "Um..." She began. "We should get going."
"Of course." Pure Soul held his leg out to let his wife pull herself up. "Let's get going." He looked around the area before taking the lead towards their next destination. However, after taking some steps forward, his eye caught something blue to his right. He made his way towards a pair of bushes and carefully walked through them, revealing a big lake in the middle of this forest.
He gasped. "Honey, look!"
Pure's wife approached from behind. "Wow, what a beautiful lake!"
Changer babbled on her back.
"Do you know what this lake is?!" Pure asked. When she shook her head, he continued. "This isn't any ordinary lake." He told.
"It isn't?"
"No." Pure looked at the lake with a glint in his eyes as he said, "This magical lake can cure diseases, heal wounds, and purify you. It's called, Lake Purity." Beauty listened closely with much interest as he spoke. "From what I've heard from other changelings, the lake moves through the forest, even if no one has actually seen it move..." He looked back at his wife and his son.
Beauty watched as Pure took Changer in his magic hold and levitated him towards the lake. He slowly started to drop Changer inside until only his head was peeking out of the water.
The two looked at Changer as he floated in the lake assisted by Pure's magic, then they saw some water dripping from his eyes.
...
...
"Oh! Nonono don't cr-"
Beauty and Pure flinched at the sudden cry of Changer. Pure immediately lifted him up out of the water and hugged him. "Shhh I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know you wouldn't like that..."
"Why did you do that?!" Beauty cried. "You don't think he's infected or anything do you?"
"N-no! But they say it's good luck, and it's best to be sure." He lied. "Maybe that will help with that random changing he's doing now and then." He thought.
Before a minute passed, Changer's cry died down and he fell asleep, much to the relief of his parent's ears.
The path to the badlands didn't seem far for the changeling and pony, for they had some good conversations going. Mostly about Beauty asking questions about changelings.
Before they entered, however, Pure warned Beauty that it would be very dangerous beyond this point and she should put away her spell book to pay attention for any creatures that may harm them.
"But I didn't finish reading the spell. I didn't even practice enough."
"Hm..." Pure put a hoof to his chin and pondered. "I'll think of something, but for now, we need to be a safe as possible. I couldn't imagine what would happen to you and Changer if something bad happened."
Beauty took in Pure's words and decided to trust him with leaving to learn the transformation spell aside for another time.
The three entered the badlands, a massive flat desert terrain with some rocky mountains. They walked in silence, the only thing making noise was the sandy winds and Changer's quiet snoring on his mother's back.
Pure heard his son's quiet noises and got out a blanket from his saddle bag, which he wrapped a silent Changer with to shield him from the sand. After a nod to his wife they kept going.
But something stopped them in their tracks.
Up ahead, there were a couple of shadowy figures behind the sandy winds. Pure shushed his wife and quickly guided her to some nearby rocks for cover. The two bent down and hid behind the rocks as Pure took in some of the sounds he heard as talking.
Pure lifted himself and peeked out to see two intimidating griffons eyeing the area. He swiftly took cover again as one was about to look his way.
"What is it?" His wife asked.
"Two griffons. They look strong." He looked down in thought. "They are blocking the way and they don't look friendly..."
"Let's go around them then." Beauty said.
"No point. We'll just find others that would be trouble. Our best bet is to get a distraction of some kind."
"Hm... are griffons scared of anything."
"Everyone's scared of something. Why dear?"
"Maybe you could transform into it and scare them off." She told.
"I could but... what could I transform into..."
***
"We've been searching for him for hours! I say we just go home." One griffon said.
The other grunted. "You're probably right. We're never going to find him ." As they were about to turn and go home, the first griffon saw something in the distance.
"Hey... What's wrong?" The second one asked. He looked in the same direction as his partner and grew pale. "I-is that...?" Behind the sandy winds were two glowing giant green eyes.
*ROAR!*
"It's a dragon! Ahhhhh!" The first griffon flew as fast as his wings took him in the opposite direction of the dragon.
The second griffon looked at his partner and frowned. "Hey! Don't run! Stay and protect your... honor..." He looked in front of him mid-sentence and gulped when the dragon's head was hovering over him. With one snarl from the dragon, the second griffon ran away after his friend.
After the two griffons ran far enough, Pure changed back into his regular changeling form.
"Honey..." He panted due to the massive amount of magic he used. "It's safe to come out now!" He dropped to his haunches and breathed hard.
"Pure?" Beauty's head peeked out from the rock she was hiding behind. She gasped when she saw her husband's condition. "Are you alright?!" She ran up to him with Changer on her back.
"Yeah..." He was still panting. "I never tried changing into something as big as a dragon before, but..." He made a gasp of air. "It took a lot of magic..."
"Here, let me help you." Beauty supported Pure with her shoulder so he could stand.
Pure looked around the area. "We should head straight."
"Are you sure? You're really weak right now." Beauty said with concern.
"I'm sure. The hive is not that far away, and I can rest there. Besides, it's safer there than here at the moment- Ah! "
Something slammed into Pure's head and knocked him out of his wife's hold.
"Pure!" Beauty screamed before she looked at what was the cause of this. She gasped when she saw an older looking griffon with scars on his body smirking at them.
"What's a fine pony and changeling doing out here?" He said in a deep cracky voice.
Beauty was too scared to move.
"And a child?" He chuckled. "Lady, you don't have any idea what you've just gotten yourself into."
Beauty started to step back as the griffon was nearing her slowly.
Pure on the other hoof was straining to get himself up to help his wife and child.
"Halt!"
This voice echoed around the four.
The old griffon looked around the area. "Drat! I've been found out."
Beauty clutched Changer to her chest and also looked around.
Suddenly, five other changelings entered through the sandy winds, all wearing black armor.
The old griffon grunted and flew off quickly, not wanting to pick a fight against the odds.
A couple of the changelings were about to fly after him, but the one in the front stopped them.
"He must be the leader." Beauty thought.
The one Beauty claimed as the leader walked up to her and stood in front of her. He took notice of the changeling nymph in her hoofs which made his eyes widened. Then he looked to his left to see another changeling on the ground with much weakness.
"It surprises me to see a pony in the badlands," He begun. "Furthermore, you seem to have kept this child safe from that griffon, which I must honor you for."
Beauty smiled but it was short lived when she heard his next sentence.
"However, I do not decide your fate. Since you now know that we, the changelings, exist, that power of deciding it belongs to the queen."
He looked back at Pure. "Help that one to his hooves, we're heading back to the hive."
Author's Note
Note: This is not edited... yet.
I know this is bad as a writer but I'm too lazy at the moment. Still hope you all enjoy the chapter!
Enter The Hive
Two changelings of the five picked up Pure and supported him with their shoulders.
Pure moaned.
"You'll be fine. We'll get you back to the hive." The leader replied to his cough. He then looked at Beauty with Changer in her hooves. "You," He pointed to one of the others beside him. "Take that child away from her and check if there's anything wrong with it."
"Sir!" The changeling quickly trotted up to Beauty, who in which stepped back away from him.
"W-wait.." Pure tried to say, weakness clearly in his voice. The changeling who stalked towards Beauty didn't hear or just ignored him. Pure shouted again, a little louder this time. "Wait!" Though he still had a strain in his voice.
The changeling stopped and the leader looked at him in confusion.
Pure shook off most of the pain that the griffon from before inflicted on him. He then started to perform one of his greatest talents, acting. Pure made himself look worried and signaled the leader to come to him. The leader came up to him and he then signaled that he wanted to whisper to him with a hoof.
"What is it?" He whispered to Pure.
"Look, that baby is actually that mare's child." He whispered. "She has a condition which makes her change into a single form. She's my wife..." Pure now started to act sad. "I love her. So please don't bring it up to make her sad."
The acting seems to work as the leader turns his head to inspect Beauty. He soon turns his head back to Pure with sympathy. "That must suck. Apologies for my bad order."
Pure put on a sad smile. "Thank you."
The leader turned to the one he ordered to take Changer. "Sorry 2944, you don't need to take the child."
"B-but sir. She's a pon-"
"I'll explain later 2944!" He said. "And that's an order!"
The changeling saluted and gave Beauty her space.
The leader walked up to Beauty with a kind smile. "I am 6351, Scarred." He looked down at Changer. "Sorry for what just happened. We'll take you, your husband and your child back to the hive." He signaled the two helping Pure to start walking in the direction which was presumably towards the hive.
Beauty was confused. She would have to talk to Pure about this later. Whatever he did, it worked somehow.
It didn't take long for them to reach the hive. During most of the walk, no word was said between the seven changelings and pony. Beauty and even the injured Pure noticed that some of the changelings eyed Beauty with caution. When their leader noticed, he told them to calm down and that he would speak to the queen about it.
"We're here." Scarred told them.
The hive was a tall mountain with a series of tunnels and caves all around. Beauty watched as dozens of busy changelings flew in and out of these tunnels in a hurry. There were also some changelings wearing armor flying above and standing near the top of the tall mountain surveying the area for any danger that may come. There were also some changelings out of the many who shouted orders at groups. Beauty deemed these as the captains like Scarred.
Pure, who started to walk by himself a couple minutes ago, leaned towards his wife and said, "The hive goes deep underground too."
A shocked and amazed Beauty Heart stared at the hive and took in her husband's words.
Less than a minute later the two, along with their escorts, arrived at what seemed as the main entrance. This tunnel was the biggest out of all the others and two guards stood at each side of the entrance.
The guards grew wide-eyed and blocked the entrance when they noticed Beauty, but one chat from Scarred changed their faces to concern.
The guards stepped out of the way apologizing to Beauty much to her confusion. They let the group move on into the hive.
Once inside, Beauty looked at the hive and what it actually looked like. Black and lime green substances covered the walls and floor. After walking on the lime green ground for a couple of seconds, Beauty found that it was a hard rock of some kind.
"Honey we have to keep up with the others." Her husband said.
Beauty looked onwards and saw that they were about to be left behind. She made sure Changer was sitting safely on her back before picking up her pace. Once she did, she thought she had the right to know where they were being taken to. "Um... Scarred? Where are you taking us?"
Scarred looked back at her. "Well I don't know how your hive works but when we find a new changeling that's not connected to our hive mind, we take them to the Queen for inspection. We don't want any spies or attacks."
"I-I see..."
"After the Queen is done with you, we will go to put you, your husband and your child into our databases."
Beauty nodded.
Pure noticed his wife was a little scared. "Don't be nervous honey. The Queen will be nice."
"He's right. As long as you're not a traitor or enemy, the Queen will care for any changeling, even those out of the hive. She works hard for all of us and our lives."
"Kind of like my Princ- Queen." Beauty smiled a bit, which made Scarred smile as well.
After some pacing, Scarred stopped suddenly and told three of the other four changelings that they could take the rest of the day off. The one changeling that was let was the one that Scarred ordered to take Changer back outside.
"This is 2944, Nuc. He's my second in command. I'll have him bring you three to the Queen while I go and do some other important things." He turns to Nuc. "If they pass the examination from Queen Chrysalis and are let into the hive, bring them with you to the Hub." And then he flew off.
The word 'if' made Beauty even more nervous, and even Pure had to admit that he was a little nervous as well.
Soon they came to a fork in the cave with two tunnels. The left one had a huge set of spiral stairs going up and the right one had a spiral staircase went down.
Nuc pointed to the left stairway and signaled Pure and Beauty to follow him.
As they climbed the stairs, they passed many floors one by one.
"Are we going to the top?" Beauty whispered to herself.
Nuc heard her and said, "The top floor is the Queen's private quarters. No changelings allowed. We're going to the second highest floor, which is where the Queen's throne is placed."
"Oh."
Nuc continued while they ascended the stairs. "Like Scarred, I don't know how your Hive works. Our Hive has four main sections called Sectors. Sector 1 is at the bottom slightly underground. The lowest floor in the Sector 1 is the dungeons, where we, of course, keep the prisoners for their own reasons. All the floors above is where we store love energy and work with it to provide to the other changelings. In Sector 2 above Sector 1, which is called the Hub, is the largest and main Sector of the hive. It's where most of the work gets done."
"What work?"
"A vast majority. Like for example, when you two are done with the Queen you will be taken to the Hive's registration pod to put yourselves into our databases like Scarred told you."
Beauty nodded at this.
"Like I was saying, Sector 3, which of course is above Sector 2, is where the changelings have their home pods. You'll most likely need a bigger one since there's 3 of you. Sector three is also the place where we watch hatch the changeling eggs because the temperature there is perfect for them."
Some sunlight could be seen ahead up the spiral staircase.
"The last Sector, number 4, is at the highest point in the hive and is the royal area of the hive. It's like the castle in a city you could say. This is where most of the guards stay in the hive. And it's the Sector we're going to right now..."
The spiral staircase ended and they were finally on flat hive ground and they were now in a large hallway with the same black and lime green hard material as the walls.
Pure and Beauty looked up and around as they took in the large area. Beauty saw how some of the black ceiling was missing letting the sunlight bright up the hallway from outside.
"Follow." Nuc started his way forward and they obeyed his orders by following close behind.
He led them to the end of the hallway which had two giant doors covering the next room.
Nuc moved to the side and looked at Pure Soul and Beauty Heart. They knew that he meant that they should enter first whether or not he will follow.
Beauty turned and stared at Pure, who stared back at his wife with a smile.
"It's going to be okay," Pure told. "Just remember to bow and give your respect and show loyalty... Just like how you would act towards your Queen." Pure winked at her.
After listening to his words, Beauty smiled back and took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's go."
Pure nodded, and stepped forward to open the door.
Beauty checked her back to see a snoring Changer napping happily before following Pure inside the room.
When inside, the sight was amazing to the two as they both saw it for the first time. The walls and floor were not partially green anymore, but now all black as a changeling's carapace. The ceiling, which still had holes for sunlight, had long wooden branches that covered almost half of the ceiling. The wooden branches were all connected to a large wooden throne. And sitting on that throne, was none other than the tall Changeling Queen herself.
Pure trotted up and bowed before her.
"I was expecting you." She said in her echoed voice.
Beauty quickly followed suit and bowed beside her husband.
Queen Chrysalis got up from her throne and flew towards the three, stopping in front of them. "Rise." She said.
Pure and Beauty do as instructed and look up at Chrysalis.
"Now then..." She walked around the three like a predator circling its prey, waiting to pounce at any time. "Where are you from and how did you get here?" She asks.
Pure stood firmly. "My queen, I was born in this hive twenty-three years ago given the Drone Number 1010. I've been on the field with the Code Name Parc ever since I passed the age of ten and about four years ago I fell in love with this changeling I found that suffers from a disability."
Beauty was about to say something but kept quiet when Pure sneaked a wink to her.
"Yes. 6351 told me about this disability. You poor thing." Chrysalis stops for a second and says, "That last time I've seen anything like this was hundreds of years ago. Very rare indeed. But don't worry about it, we'll have it in the hive mind and databases in no time." She flashes a quick smile to Beauty which made her ease a bit. "Yes, 1010 you were saying...?"
"Yes." Pure continued. "As you could see on my wife's back we had a baby, and we thought it would be best to bring it back to the hive for safety."
"I see..." Chrysalis used her magic and picked up the sleeping Changer off of Beauty's back.
Beauty flinched slightly and grew nervous every second Changer was being held in the air.
Chrysalis brought Changer to her face and inspected him. She found no signs of anything wrong but one flash of green later and she raised an eyebrow.
"My queen, I know it's not normal for a child to change before it's half grown. Do you know if this is a sickness of some sort?"
"Hm..." She eyed Changer's blue pony form. "Perhaps this one is gifted. I did sense more magic in him than usual." After thinking to herself she gently placed Changer back on Beauty's back. "And which hive are you from?" Chrysalis asked Beauty.
Beauty was visibly shaking. "I-I um..."
"Is there something wrong?" Chrysalis asked.
"I think she's a bit intimidated by you, my Queen, Pure said.
"There's no need to be afraid. I take care of all my changelings... even those with disabilities." Chrysalis then starts to walk back to her throne.
"So... are we allowed in the hive?" Pure asks.
"Yes." She sits. "You may get back your original Code Number and status, and I'll get someling to help your wife and son as well."
Pure bows. "Thank you, my Queen."
"But know this..."
Pure looks up to see a dark look on Chrysalis's face.
"If I figure out anything relating to you two betraying me and this hive. I will deal with you personally." The Queen says darkly.
"Y-yes, Queen Chrysalis." Pure bows again, which makes Beauty bow as well.
"Now off with you, and leave me to my own company."
Pure takes his wife's hoof and trots out of the throne room, the door slamming shut with a loud bang.
Pure Soul and Beauty Heart trotted out of the throne room, the huge doors slamming shut behind them with a loud bang that slightly shook the area around them.
Beauty looked at her husband. "So...?"
"We're apart of the hive now honey!" He said with glee.
"Not officially." Came a voice from across the hallway.
The two looked over to see Nuc staring at them without showing any emotions towards their success.
"I see that you have succeeded in joining the hive," Nuc says as he stares at the both of them. "Now follow me. I'll lead you to the hub so it will be official." Nuc started to walk back to the huge spiral staircase that brought them all up here.
Pure and Beauty followed.
"You have some options now. Since she," He pointed to Beauty. "...is new to this hive, she doesn't have to link with the hive mind nor does your son. And you," Nuc points to Pure. "Since you have been far away from the hive and Queen for some time now, you have disconnected the link of the hive mind within you. So you'll have the choice whether or not you will want to link again."
Pure looked at his wife then back to Nuc. "We'll... think about it. If my wife isn't comfortable with linking then we won't."
This seemed to draw no suspicion from Nuc because he nods and continues to lead their walk.
He led them to the hub, which was, stated by Nuc, the biggest part of the hive. Changelings could be seen left and right buzzing and hurrying about, busy doing their own important things. Too busy in fact that they didn't even notice a pony with two changelings standing in the center of it all. They were currently in the main area, which led to all the other Hub pods. It looked like what pony would call a 'gigantic lobby'.
"So this is the hub.." Beauty said, quite amazed.
"The tunnels lead to other pods in Sector 2, which all have their own purpose," Nuc said while Beauty looked over dozens, maybe hundreds of tunnel openings high and low. "And they are all very important to the hive, big or small."
"So where are we supposed to go, Nuc?" Pure asked while his wife was still staring at the scene with amazement.
Nuc didn't have the chance to reply as they heard a voice shouting out to them from above. "Hey, you made it!" It was Scarred. He flew down beside Nuc and smiled. "I was kind of hoping for these two not to pass. I was going to ask if you wanted to go out and get a drink. Uh... no hard feelings you two." He said that last part sheepishly.
"We could still go later if you like. I'm not busy after my shift is over." Nuc replied.
"Alright then. I'll take it from here Nuc, I'll meet you in your pod later."
"Are you sure, sir?"
Scarred chuckled. "It's not like I'm going to fight the datalings. Besides, you deserve a little rest."
Nuc sighed. "Very well then. We will meet up later." With a salute, Nuc flew away and into one of the many tunnels.
Scarred watched his friend fly off for a couple of seconds before turning back to Pure and Beauty. "Let's get you three in, shall we?" He started to trot off in a certain direction, to which Pure Soul and Beauty Heart started to follow after a quick glance to their giggling son on Beauty's back.
As they walked under the black clouds of flying changelings, Pure looked over to his wife to see her with a frown and a raised eyebrow pointed at him. He mouthed a "What?" at her, but only got a shake of her head as a reply. He would have to talk to her later about whatever she was thinking about.
There was a wide tunnel entrance on the ground at the opposite side of the front of where they originally entered the hive. It held a long counter with what looked like an office behind it. Many changelings were hard at work doing... something with large green glowing oval balls.
"These are the datalings," Scarred said. "They have the very important role of organizing the hive and keeping the hive in order."
"They are like the brain of the hive." Pure whispered to Beauty.
"If there are any problems within the hive the datalings will act upon it and fix it as fast as possible. It is required that we are all hard working and fast paced, so we can't let anything slow us down." Scarred walked over and stopped in front of one of the datalings that were behind the front desk. "Hey there, I need to get these three behind me in the identity databanks of the hive please." He pointed to Pure and Beauty.
"Three?" The office worker asked with a female voice. "And is that a-"
Scarred shut her mouth with a hoof and started to whisper in her ear.
Beauty looked at Pure with another frown to which he just gave a sheepish toothy smile. Beauty then walked up to show her adorable son Changer.
"Oh, alright." The office female changeling eventually said. She told all of them to wait for her to come back before she went off to the back of the office room through a door. Earlier than a minute later, she peeked her head out of the door and shook her hoof to signal them to follow her inside.
Pure and Beauty, with Changer on her back, stepped inside, but using her two hooves the female changeling stopped Scarred dead in his tracks. "Only they are required. You can wait in the front office if you'd like."
"I'll do just that, thank you, um..."
"Clire."
He nods at her then looks at Pure and Beauty. "Good luck with... whatever you're doing in there."
Clire chuckled. "They'll be fine."
Scarred nods at her again before turning to go and wait in the front.
It didn't take as long as they thought it would. The two parents were put into separate huge cocoons that looked like those glowing green oval things that they saw earlier. These cocoons were about half a meter in the air and were supported by long strands of the same lime glowing green substance connected on the walls and ceiling. They put the holder asleep, then takes in the thoughts from a changeling's, or pony's in this case, mind, and puts it into the hive mind. Beauty recognized this as some kind of sign-up page like those on the web, but much more intricate.
The only problem they came across was that Beauty was a little hesitant to enter the creepy looking cocoons which surprised Clire, and Pure solved that mentioning about 'Bad memories' which seemed to work.
Clire sat nearby cradling Changer in her hooves while she waited for them to be done.
After about thirty minutes passed, the cocoons made a weird noise then popped open from one side, releasing Pure and Beauty. Green goo that spurted out of the cocoons cushioned both of them when they fell down to the floor. Not a second later did they groggily get up and shook their heads.
"You're finally done." Clire put Changer on her back and walked to them. "Now it is in our hive mind. 1010 A.K.A Kram, we already have history from you, and your wife's drone number is now 1011 with her codename as Beauty." She said to the both of them.
"I do remember choosing the number 1011... It was recommended because it was closest to Pure's." Beauty whispered to herself.
"Now you two have the choice if you want to link up with the hive mind. We won't force it on you if it's too overwhelming of course. By the way, your little guy is just the cutest !"
Pure looked over to his wife who took Changer from Clire with her magic and set him down on her own back. He then looked back at Clire and said, "I think we're fine. We only needed a safe place to live anyways, we're not planning on staying to tell you the truth."
Clire smiled at him warmly. "Like I said, we're not forcing you to do anything you don't want to. With the exception of the requirement to put you in our databases, you are now free to do whatever you like."
Pure nodded with a smile. "Thanks."
"If you'd like, I can also get you three your own Home pod so you can have your private space."
"Why thank you so much!" Pure thanked.
Clire giggled. "Follow me."
Scarred, Pure and Beauty along with Changer ascended the huge spiral staircase they were on earlier, and Scarred mentioned that he named this set of stairs 'Omega'. They walked up for minutes until finally arriving at Sector 2's main entrance, littered with tunnel holes coming from above and below.
Beauty noticed immediately after trotting through for some time that it was much quieter than the Hub. There were only three pairs of wings buzzing at most which were tender to her ears, and only about ten changelings walking on the ground as far as she could see.
They first walked up a straight set of stairs to a large door, not quite the size of the throne room's, but large none the less. They went through the doorway and Beauty recognized this as the living area of the hive. The Home pods.
Left and right were many big and small pods made out of black material. Some were occupied but most was empty seeing that the hive was hard at work.
"The pod number Clire gave me was 5197. That means we're on the fifth floor." Pure and Beauty followed Scarred for some more steps, until...
"More bucking stairs?!"
Five minutes later and the four could be seen walking down a pathway with Home pods surrounding them. Only this time, the pods were a lot bigger than the ones below. Scarred explained that these ones are used for the ones with a big family or a child, and the ones below are the ones with their busy jobs. He also explained that the sixth and last floor of this Sector was where the things a child needed while growing up was.
It took them a couple more minutes until they finally reached their home.
"Here it is, number 5197! Your own pod for you and your colt."
"I couldn't thank you enough Scarred. It surprised me to see someling take their time away for someling like us."
"Please, call me Doyl." He said as he stuck his hoof out to shake with Pure's. "Scarred is just the codename I use to sound intimidating. And as for my reason helping you all..." He looked down and started to feel a little depressed to the shock of Pure and Beauty. "My... girlfriend had this disease that... made her chitin grow weirdly with this sticky feel to it because of her magic. It wasn't a problem to me, though! I loved her! But soon, a week before our marriage was scheduled, the disease spread to her head, and soon to her brain..." He sniffled a little. "Her coma is almost passing half a year! And there's nothing I can do to help her." He looked at Pure in the eyes with a determined face and said. "When you told me about you wife's disability, I couldn't dare stop myself from helping you two! And I won't stop helping those in need. Not until my girlfri-... my wife , wakes up." A tearing up Doyl didn't have a chance to say anything as he was enveloped in a warm hug from both Pure and Beauty.
All was silent as the three stood there, Doyl in the parent's embrace. Even little Changer's smile faded when he looked at Doyl.
"Thank you..." Doyl sputtered out after a minute of hugging.
"I hope your wife gets better soon." Beauty said. "And I hope her loving bug will be there when she does." She winked at him.
Doyl smiled and nodded. "I... have to go. I'll meet you three again sometime soon." Without a word, Doyl buzzingly flew away, leaving Pure, Beauty, and their son.
"Well," Pure began. "Let's get settled in." He was about to start his way towards their pod's front door but was stopped by a hoof poking his chest. It was Beauty's. "What is it dear?"
She just stares with a frown.
Pure looked around the area for any changelings that could hear them. After seeing that there wasn't, he began, "Is there something wrong? Do you not like how the hive looks? Or are you grossed out by the changelings?"
Still only stares.
"Ah, I know! You're still scared of the Queen. She's really-" Another hoof made him stop talking.
His wife finally spoke. "The hive is... interesting. Not bad just... interesting. The changelings we've met so far are all very nice, and I have a little cute one on my back as we speak. For the queen... she's much more intimidating than Princess Celestia, but her heart is in the right place." Beauty prepared her next sentence by clearing her throat. Loud enough for Pure to hear.
"What I want to know is why every...ling is looking at me with sympathy in their eyes and saying I have this 'disability'!" She whisper-yelled,
"Oh! That! W-well that was my excuse for you 'not being able to transform' ."
"I see... hmph!" She turned around, facing their pod, suddenly shaking Changer on her back who was now giggling due to the ride. "You're just lucky I don't take my pride as seriously as you stallions do." She smirked back at him. "But next time, tell me beforehoof please?" And then she walked off, barely hearing the sigh of relief coming from her husband.