Life as a Secret Changeling Prince

Odonata was curled up next to Burnt Oak, still wallowing in the pleasant afterglow of their... earlier activity. He should’ve been happy, for his genuine relationship, he wasn’t working as a prostitute anymore, he was going to be a father for Gods sake.

But no, there was one thing that kept him from being truly happy. That thing was his father, the old guy was the one who raised him, woke him up with kisses and breakfast every morning when he was little, told him that he was going to do big things one day once he left the village... that clearly didn’t work out.

He thought his father had been right, he believed that he was going to be noticed, that he had something special in him. Nope, once he got to Flygon, he was instantly mistaken for a hooker by a female soldier (that ended up in a mediocre loss of his virginity after being promised a handsome reward).

Odonata was very well aware that he was a disappointment, he tried his best to hide his job from his dad whenever he visited his birth village. He wanted to make him proud, wanted to hear him say, ‘you did well, my son,’ instead of the last thing he was told by him:

‘I raised you better than this, instead of using your blessings from Sophia, you decided to whore yourself out to those disgusting pigs!’

He hadn’t spoken to him since, and that was maybe four or five months ago. Now he knew he could never tell him about his relationship, he wouldn’t understand because he’s so stuck in their outdated traditions and norms!

Burnt told him of what it was like to live in Equestria, you can choose who you want to be with, he could get a job instead of just sitting at home all day, he’ll be seen as an equal!

What a lovely dream that is, and it was going to become his reality was this war was over. Hopefully he’ll still go even if they lose, the chance they had at winning was slim. Gods forbid the village Changelings turned against the Equestrians, the city would fall once that happened.

If only he knew what the outcome of this war would be...

“Sugar, you’re tense,” Burnt mumbled, startling him out of his thoughts.

Odonata blushed, “s-sorry... I have a lot on my mind right now.” His lover smiled softly, “you wanna talk about it?”

He shrugged, making Burnt frown in concern, “is something wrong?”

“Not really, just thinking about... my father,” he sleepily admitted, nuzzling his face into Burnt’s neck.

“Is that what’s been bothering you lately?” The stallion guessed, being answered with a nod.

“Oh hun’, if you want to talk to him you can, I don’t know why you’re so against it.”

“You don’t understand, you ponies are all so happy-go-lucky. Our culture is different from yours, as well as the way parents see their children,” Odonata replied with a scowl.

He sat up, stretching his arms and wings as he did so. Then he looked over at their eggs, which were wrapped in warm blankets just feet away from their shared bed. Their soft green glow illuminated the room, making everything look a little nicer than it actually was.

He then mumbled, “I don’t know what he would think about us, or even our future nymphs...” he touched his chest, feeling it begin to ache.

“Exactly, you don’t know,” Burnt said as he rubbed Odonata’s shoulders, “for all you know, he’ll soften up a little at the idea of being a grandfather.”

“They’re bastards though...” Odonata uttered, hating to say it but it was true, “just for that reason alone, he’ll disown and possibly even shame me in public for it!”

He felt a bit better when he was kissed on the cheek, being told, “it’s always worse in your head than in reality, I’m certain it won’t go as badly as you think.”

“I hope your right,” his horn began to glow softly, and the eggs started to levitate towards their direction, being placed in his arms.

“Although, I don’t see how he could possibly hate such adorable wittle eggs, which will hatch into the most darling grubs,” he cooed towards the eggs, unintentionally making his voice go high pitched.

Burnt Oak snorted from amusement, “darlin’, I don’t think you’re ever gonna give the poor things space once they hatch.”

Then he realized something else, “by the way, what do you think they’ll look like. They’re half pony, after all.” Odonata seemed to freeze at this question, clicking his tongue in thought before answering, “that’s a good question.”

“Has something like this happened before?”

“Not to my knowledge, however... I’d be surprised if none of the prostitutes get pregnant, that’d be concerning.”

Burnt looked down at the eggs, “I just... hope that they’ll be able to develop alright, I’ve never seen a hybrid in my life.”

“Let’s not think about the negatives, let’s think of something else!” Odonata suggested, smiling as he said, “we could start thinking of names, we only have two months left before they hatch.”

“Oh right... names. James brought up how that is in your culture, you have ‘birth’ names and ‘second’ names,” the stallion recalled, remembering how James introduced himself as ‘Jung-ho Park’.

The Changeling nodded, “yep, it’s like that in every kingdom, even I have my birth name.” Burnt, without thinking much, asked, “what is your birth name, anyways?”

Odonata flushed bright green as he stuttered out, “th-that’s very personal information!” His lover looked confused, “... hun’, we’re having kids together, we’ve been personal.”

“R-right... it’s just very... intimate to share such private information. I’m surprised that James even shared it with you guys, then again you ponies wouldn’t understand how important it is,” Odonata explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

He gulped, whispering, “Kim Van Ly, that’s my birth name...”

“Kim Van Ly?” Burnt repeated, making his lover blush before looking away, “that’s what flusters you? For Celestia’s sake Kim, you’re a strange one.”

The Changeling used one hoof to cover his face, the other occupied with holding his eggs, “I told you that you wouldn’t understand!” Burnt chuckled softly before saying, “alright, alright hun’, I’m sorry.”

Then he added, “I’m still gonna call you Kim in private—“

“Don’t you dare!” Kim hissed, his whole face was a bright green color, only making it more humorous for Burnt Oak.

“At least your dad gave you a pretty cute name,” Burnt teased, pecking Kim’s lips.

Kim rolled his eyes, “Silverfish could’ve at least given me a more masculine sounding name! Like my brothers, Giang, Hanh, or even Sinh. I got stuck with the dumb name Kim, it doesn’t even suit me.”

“Yes it does, sweetheart. Oh and about Silverfish, I actually recognize that name.”

“Wait, really?” Kim questioned, looking surprised. “Yeah, he’s from the first village we ever visited, what was it called again?”

“Sơn Mỹ.”

Burnt Oak smiled, “that’s right, I haven’t been there in awhile, no reason to but...” he leaned forward, wrapping a hoof around Kim’s neck, “I’ll gladly accompany you there once you speak to your father.”

“You really don’t have to—“

“I want to be there, for the both of us.”

There was a moment of silence between them, it was rather pleasant, only being broken by a soft, “thank you...”

“It’s really nothing, sugar.”

“I love you!” Kim blurted out, not knowing how else to respond to the sweet sentiment.

The stallion could only laugh, pulling his lover into a sweetly tender kiss, relaxing him instantly. He pulled away only to say, “I love you too, now let’s get some shuteye.”

The Changeling giggled, agreeing as he put the eggs back into their place.

Kim knew that as he was pulled back into Burnt’s embrace, no matter how his father reacted to them, he’d have someone to come home to. And he was more than happy that his special someone would stick by his side, no matter what happens after this whole war is over.

Maybe he wouldn’t be left behind after all...

The door was slammed open, scaring both of them into waking up, Burnt swore loudly while Kim instinctively covered himself with the sheets. They were both prepared to yell at whoever burst into the home before they saw the look of absolute horror on Bright Mac’s face.

“Mac?” Burnt worriedly said.

Kim tilted his head in confusion, but gasped when he saw the bit of blood that was splattered on Bright Mac’s uniform, “a-are you alright?!” He exclaimed, getting off the bed to check on the stallion.

Bright Mac slowly shook his head, uttering, “f-follow me...” then he turned around and walked out of the home.

The lovers looked at each other in concern, silently agreeing to do as their friend said. Kim whispered a prayer to Sol, praying that it wouldn’t be as horrible as he believed.

As they ran to follow Bright Mac, Kim tried his hardest to believe his lover’s words just hours before: “it’s always worse in your head than in reality.”

Words couldn’t even begin to describe the carnage they could see, and they weren’t even that close to the village.

Homes were burned to the ground, screams and pleads for mercy were piercing the air, loud gunfire was heard and the blood... oh Gods the blood.

Kim couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing, it was the village he came from.

“Father!” He cried out, suddenly remembering him as he ran in the direction of his destroyed home.

He ignored the protest from his lover and friend, only having one Changeling on his mind.

He shape-shifted into a bird, in order to be ignored by whoever was attacking and to get there faster. He tried his absolute hardest to ignore the corpses that were on the ground, male Changelings, Nymphs, and maybe even a few grubs.

Finally, he found his family’s home, being terrified of what he saw. It had been burned to the ground just as every other home, but he saw his old father stuck underneath some debris, struggling to move.

He landed next to him, transforming back into himself as he uttered, “p-papa!” His father looked up in horror as he cracked out, obviously in pain, “K-Kim... wh-what are you doing here?! R-run!”

Kim shook his head, desperately trying to help his father out from the debris, but he wasn’t strong enough. Silverfish pleaded for him to leave, to hide at least! But he refused to abandon him, so he ducked whenever he believed he saw someone.

“What’s happening?!” He asked.

“Th-they’ve betrayed us!” Silverfish answered, looking devastated.

Kim was even more confused, “who?!” His father’s eyes were filling with tears, only making him more afraid.

“Those Equestrian scum!”

“What?!”

Another voice yelled out, sounding familiar, “Odonata, look out!” Before Kim could even turn around, an indescribable pain shot through his side.

His vision blurred, and he stumbled to the ground, the last thing he could clearly hear was his father sobbing out, “Kim!”

James watched in horror as his friend crumbled to the ground, being too far away to see if he was still moving. He couldn’t go near him, he was just barely safe being on the Equestrian’s side but even he couldn’t know if he’d get shot.

“Please stop!” He yelled at the soldiers, they ignored him.

“They didn’t do anything, they’re defenseless!” He shouted, but alas, no one listened.

Having no other way to help the villagers, he decided to go towards his unconscious friend. Odonata was laying on his side, having been shot on the opposite side.

James went down next to him, checking his pulse, thank the Gods he felt it. His moment of relief was short lived as he continued to hear the screams of innocent Changelings around him, he squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn’t understand why this was happening, no not why, how? He knew that it had to be because of one reason, the message they received from Chrysalis.

How in the hell did they get ahold of it, both him and General Fig swore to not speak of it.

“James, please!” Silverfish whimpered, appearing to be barely alive, “get him out of here, tell him I love him, just forget about me!” He pleaded.

James almost considered trying to save the Elder as well, but changed his mind as soon as he heard a loud explosion not too far away. “Alright, may Nex have mercy on you,” he replied as he managed to get Odonata onto his back.

He did his best to run with his friend on his back, trying to avoid any soldier that was around, no longer trusting his fellow soldiers.

He really believed that it couldn’t possibly get worse, that was until someone landed right in front of him. It was an extremely tall and lanky female, with large holes in her legs, a long cobwebby blue mane, and a tiny black tiara on her head.

He realized in horror who she was, the very being who made him sick just at the thought of her.

‘Queen’ Chrysalis.

Her expression showed nothing but disappointment and disgust, she looked around the village before ordering for Changelings that were in the air to: “Save every survivor and kill any Equestrian you spot!”

Then she looked down at James, who was trembling in fear. He always pictured himself being victorious over her, wanting to defeat her himself but now... he felt nothing other than fear and dread, he might die today.

She smiled tightly at him, leaning forward to say, “looks like I was correct in my message, history repeats itself.”

Then without warning, she reared her hoof back and struck him across the face, knocking him out instantly.