Queen Culicidae was tired, and even as her council argued and bickered she kept her eyes closed in a futile attempt to get some rest. All of their captured ponies had been liberated, and they were forced to ration their remaining Love in storage. She hadn't spoken to her daughter Chrysalis about it yet, but she was sure the pony princesses had caught on to her plans in some capacity. She couldn't think of any other reason as to how they could have been so flat-footed after decades of consistent, if tense peace. She wouldn't have agreed in the first place, but she wanted her youngest royal daughter to see the ponies outside of their cocoons, so she would maybe push past some of her empathy.

Only now Carina was missing, in part because of her own ill-thought out orders, and Chrysalis was incensed at her for pulling her back. The fact that the hive had active invaders only mollified her somewhat, and Culicidae did not look forward to the shouting match to come after the hive was re-secured. She idly turned her attention to her cabinet of changelings, to hear what they were shouting about now.

"We cannot just let this go! This a direct insult to the hive!"

"We have no choice! It is beyond compromised! We need to evacuate!"

"How do you propose we do that! Whenever we do anything other than feed ourselves we find our preparations destroyed and mangled as if a storm had pulled through! We don't have the reserves of Love available to enact a mass exodus, and we are being herded into our chambers like cattle at every turn!"

"If we were to choose the more important among us, we would have enough love to last us years!" Okay, she had let them speak enough. She was going to nip that one in the bud immediately.

"Absolutely not. If I hear anyone suggest lording Love to themselves again, they will find themselves banished from the hive without an ounce to their name. Am I understood?" Silence. The Queen felt her eyes tighten in anger. "I said am I understood!" When no one spoke up to grovel to her, she growled and opened her eyes to glare at her cowardly children, only to gasp in surprise. All of the council members were gone.

In their place floated a creature she had never seen before. As tall as her, with teal fur covering nearly every inch and ears that doubled as wings extended to the sides at an intimidatingly large wingspan. And its eyes, rings of purples and blues as it held her gaze, unflinching. Belatedly, she recalled that this must be Elfilis, the creature Chrysalis had reported to be a guest of the Equestrian crown. They stood in a tense silence. Culicidae was positive now, that the being in front of her was responsible for all her recent roubles, her trapped changelings and missing concubines alike. She glared harder, she would make him regret showing himself to her.

"You have a lot of nerve showing yourself to me, beast." Snarling she couldn't help but notice that he did not even blink in response. "Well? Anything to say for yourself before I have you turned into food?" It continued to just look, but she tensed as his eyes narrowed at her. And then he spoke.

"We both have something the other needs. Will you hear me out, will you let us negotiate?" That wasn't what she was expecting, but she doubted this was truly a benign offer for trade. This was an attempt at subjugation.

"Speak your tongue, so that I may enjoy it even more as I tear it from your throat!" He said nothing, he merely lifted his right hand out to her, as if he were to hand her something. A portal opened above it, in the shape of a star, as a perfect heart shape slowly fell out and into his palm. The portal closed, and he slowly levitated the heart to the foot of her throne.

"A sample. Of what I'm offering you." Queen Culicidae kept her attention on Elfilis as she picked up the heart in her own magic, and brought it to eye level. She was preparing to dispel any number of traps as she scanned it, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was completely open to her. And then she felt the Love, and she gasped. It wasn't a large amount, but it was pure and undiluted. No tinge of fear or uncertainty. It was completely unconditional. She glared at it's creator.

"Is that how it is? Starve my hive so you may come in and be our 'savior'? What could my hive possibly have to offer a guest of Equestrian Royalty that he does not already have?" She was not going to let him pretend that he wasn't responsible for their current desperation. What did he need that was so important that he needed to go through such lengths?

"Not what the hive has to offer. What you have to offer." She was being personally targeted? "If you must know, your current state is because I took offense to your daughter's planned invasion of Canterlot," Shit, "But my current offer is being made because you know something that I need to know now." She snarled, cocky bastard.

"And what, exactly, could you possibly need to know that you could not learn anywhere else?"

"Changelings Biology." Did he think she was stupid!? As if she would divulge such information to the enemy! She couldn't get a word out before he interrupted. "Why, exactly, do you punish changeling so harshly for having sex?" And now, now she was on the backfoot. She didn't know what he knew, but he could not be allowed to learn more.

"They are all siblings. It is not proper-" He interrupted her, frustratingly enough.

"Don't bullshit me. They have no other options, and you have been known to take partners quite often, changeling son and pony prisoner both. But your children, your daughters specifically are harshly punished for trying to emulate you. Do you truly mean to convince me you are merely trying to teach your princesses and drones the value of pony culture?" That was it, this charade was over.

Queen Culicidae ate all the Love of the heart in her grasp and focused it all into her horn. A blast of sizzling pink plasma shot towards Elfilis, but a portal obscured him from sight and ate the blast before it could strike. She barely noticed that he was gone as the portal disappeared, when she suddenly felt pain and numbness as stars swam across the room. When they cleared, she could finally feel the pressure of her horn being pinned against the back of her throne as he held her down, suddenly close enough that she could see and smell the sex on him. She snarled and bucked her legs at him, but stopped as spectral swords appeared all around him, all pointed at her throat.

They stood like that for many a minute, Elfilis waiting for her answer and Queen Culicidae unwilling to admit defeat, before she finally gave up. He had her.

"Why do you need to know? It has no bearing on you..." He just stared down at her with his unnatural eyes, patiently awaiting her answer. She sighed. She would never know how he knew what questions to ask to uncover her greatest secret. She took a deep breath, scrunching her nose at the smell of sweat and fluids, and told her captor what he wanted to know.

"Changeling are all the same, there is no difference between me and any of my daughters, but my body grows and develops further and stronger because I give it the signal that I am ready to be a queen..." His eyes widened in understanding.

"You outlawed sex so no other female can grow to be your equal. It isn't what I was expecting, I'll admit, but it certainly seems in character for you. Does that mean that you force yourself on others so often because if you were to stop, your body would stop creating what it needs to maintain its current form?" She glared at him over her muzzle defiantly, knowing that her silence would answer her question all the same. "Hhmph. Figures." Her world spun as he threw her from her throne and onto the chitinous floor.

"Now what? You kill me? What is the point of all this?" She had thought he already suspected the truth when he asked. To learn that the truth was not what he thought it would be was a blow to her pride. She flinched as another heart was thrown at her. She looked at it in confusion. "What...?"

"A mile south of here, you'll find a stockpile of these lightly hidden under a natural rock formation. Your changelings will be safe provided they make a direct path to it. They will be attacked if they try to deviate even the slightest amount. Any questions?"

"... You have Carina, don't you?"

"... And if I do?" The Queen saw red, and she snarled and spit from her place on the floor.

"If you did to her what I think you did there will not be anywhere on Equis where I will not find you, and I will geld you myself!" She had tried to ignore it, but she recognized those pheromones. This creature, this beast, however, just chuckled from his belly.

"Well, that's one thing you and her have in common I suppose. As surprised as I am to find that you seem to care so much, beyond fearing that she will dethrone you, I suppose I can assuage your fears a little bit. She is safe, and happy, and completely free to do whatever it is she wishes. Our relationship was her doing." And then his pupils shrank as his eyelids peeled back, staring into her SOUL with a promise. "I came to you because I care, because I find that I Love her in a way that I cannot put into words. So if it turns out that you did in fact lie to me, that you hurt Carina with false information, I will be the one chasing you down, and you will find out just how much your daughter means to me post-mortem."

And then he was gone, and he took his magic weapons with him. Muttering filled the room as the councilors reappeared, scared and confused. Queen Culicidae shakily made her way to her throne and attempted to regain her composure. As shaken as she was, she never noticed her eldest just outside the throne room doors, leaving for her personal quarters with a wicked grin on her face.

I made my way back to the bed, Carina still soundly asleep on top. She was growing. We hadn't just taken another step in our relationship, we had pushed her towards her next evolution. Her body finally recognized her as an adult and was taking the steps necessary to make her a Queen. There was much I didn't know still, but I could ask about fertility and number of young when Carina woke up. Even if she didn't know she was on a path towards power, she likely knew just how efficient her mother was in replenishing numbers. I didn't know what to tell her. She had a right to know, but how do I even approach this with her?

I had attacked her mother, personally this time, and interrogated her on her sex life. There was no way that wasn't going to come up. I sighed and put my antlers against hers. I was disappointed in myself. I saw Culicidae on the throne and just felt anger bubbling up to the surface. How dare she hurt Carina the way she did, how dare she force Carina to be anyone other than who she wanted to be? It didn't excuse it though, I had even gone so far as to summon weapons against her, a power I had been unwilling to touch until then. It was harder to hold them still then it was to let them skewer her to her throne.

Carina moaned and nuzzled my neck, and I let myself sink into her fur. Later, I thought, I would deal with this all later.

At least Toby wasn't here, I don't know what he would think of the whole situation.

"Button Mash! Have you seen Toby!"

"Uh, no?"

"Well, help me find him! His caretaker is supposed to be here in the morning and I can't have just lost her kid!" Button Mash only half-heartedly helped her look. He didn't want to admit that he had helped Toby get to the cookies on the top shelf in return for some of the spoils. He would wait till Toby was done before 'finding' him so that neither of them were caught with their hooves in the cookie jar.

"Elifilis?" I blearily opened my eyes and yawned before looking at Carina. She was glaring at me.

"... Yes?"

"Do you want to explain why you smell like my mother?" Welp, starting early today.

"I do want to explain that actually. Breakfast?"

"... Fine."

Author's Note

Culicidae is the scientific name for Mosquitos. Such a pretty word too, oh well.