H0p3

The changeling took a step back and tilted her head to the side. She looked at the mere human that stood before her, the wad of cash it offered still in its hand held out to her. This was easy right? This was not her problem. This had nothing to do with her. She had two choices, right? Feed off him or leave. She looked at the money, about to speak before looking into his eyes, tears on his cheeks, trembling. "I..." she started, then she stopped, unable to look into his eyes anymore, she lowered her head, "No." the word sounded alien to her as it slid from her tongue.

"Please, take the money, my dad won't accept me unless you make me a man." He said almost too soft to hear.

Slowly she reached out her hand, this was an easy choice for any changeling, wasn't it? Slowly, she pushed the hand with the money against his chest. "Oh sweetie." She started. "You are already a man. You don't need anyone to make or prove it." She gently hugged him, stroking the back of his hair. "Especially not me."

Reflexively he hugged her back whimpering softly at first before starting to cry.

“Shhh, there, there, sweetie.” She crooned softly as he trembled in her arms. For a long time, she held him as he sniffled and sobbed. Finally he pulled away.

“Thank you.” He croaked before again offering her the money.

“Why? Whatever for?”

“You earned it. I took up your time, just like any professional, your time costs money.”

She sighed as she pushed the hand with the crumpled up bills back down. “No, I’m off the clock, as it were.” She looked into his face. “That is your money, sweetie, your father paid me for much more time than you actually used.” She tilted her head. “What is your name?”

“Tyler.”

"Well Tyler, we did find out what kind of a man your father is. He cares more about money and prestige than family." Tilting her head to the side she thought for a moment. "Tell me, a person like that, do you really think that fucking me would have any effect on his opinion? Would that change his mind or views? Would giving up who you are to make him feel better really work?"

He scrubbed his sleeve over his eyes. “I don’t know.” He mumbled, "Maybe? I've got to do something."

"I doubt it, I think it’s about control. He wants to control your life, your choices. To decide for you what your morals, your essence.... should be." She took a deep breath, "Maybe you should go back to him and..."

“I can’t go back to him.” He said vehemently. “If he would kick me out for something like that, he has money flowing out of his ears. It wasn’t about the money.” He looked down. “I’m not a man in his eyes. I’m a child, and weak.”

She tskd. “That was not a child that stood up to my best effort at seduction.” She reached out a finger and lifted his chin. “Stand straight, stand tall. You are a man in all the right ways. You stood up for yourself, I could tell your body wanted to. And you were able to tell it no, that something was more important to you than momentary pleasure. And that is something that a lot of men are unable to do.” She smiled. “If they could, I wouldn’t be in business.”

He looked thoughtful for a long moment before stuffing the cash into his jeans. “I guess, I’ll go.” He shuffled off past her, walking slowly. He made it about five doors before she caught up with him.

She placed her hand on his elbow, drawing him to a stop. “Wait.” She murmured.

He turned back to her. “What? I’m just getting out of your hair.”

She shook her head, why was she feeling this way? She didn’t need this. But did she want this? “Don’t be so hasty.” She offered him a smile. “I’m done with my day. I wouldn’t mind company tonight?” She saw the look on his face. “No, not sex. Just…companionship.” The butterflies in her stomach were agitated.

He took a step back. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You aren’t.” Those butterflies had magnified in size. She was terrified, yet she stood firm.

He looked troubled, but he started walking back towards her working room. Only to stop when she tugged on his elbow. “I have two rooms. I don’t sleep where I do my business.” She turned and walked towards her other room. She could hear his heavier footfalls on the carpet behind her. She waved the key in front of the door lock and the little light flashed green, allowing her to open the door. She looked around, it was only seconds before Bagheera made his appearance. She glanced back at the human before she let fire wash over her form, changing her into a unicorn mare. She lit her horn, telekinesis was similar between ponies and her kind, so she fussed around feeding the cat while she set down her day bag on the counter.

“What a beautiful cat.” She heard from behind her.

“Yes, Bagheera is a beautiful boy.” She crooned as she stroked the cat with a hoof.

“Ummm, can I ask you something?” She turned back to look at him, ensuring to keep her tail covering herself.

“Of course.”

“Is this what you look like? I assumed when you changed form before me, that you were a unicorn.”

She glanced up at her horn before smiling at him coquettishly. “Still thinking of playing with a pony?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I’m just curious. All I know is you are Equestrian.”

She nodded. “I am not a unicorn, an alicorn, nor am I a Pegasus or earth pony.” She picked up Bagheera and his food in a cloud of magic. “But I am quite tired. You can take the couch. I will sleep in the bed.” Without further words. She trotted into the bedroom and used her magic to close the door and lock it. She looked at her bed as she set the cat down on the floor. One last time, fire enveloped her form, leaving her in her natural state. With that pressure off of her magic, she sighed happily. She could feel the buzz of his emotions from the other room. This…Tyler…was stretching out on the couch, letting his mind get fuzzy. She floated her phone onto the bedside table and plugged it in before crawling into bed. It wasn’t long before Bagheera hopped up on the bed and settled into lying on top of her. She reached out a hoof and scratched him behind the ears. His eyes were half closed as he kneaded her blankets and purred very loudly. It wasn’t very long before sleep claimed her.

***

The changeling’s eyes opened, blinking owlishly, she looked around. “Oh, baggy boy, it’s breakfast time, isn’t it?”

A loud miaw was her answer. She lit her horn and threw off her covers and rolled herself to stand on the floor. Assuming the unicorn form she unlocked and opened her door. A quick glance at the couch had her stopping in her tracks. Tyler was gone, the blanket and spare pillow from the drawer under the television was folded neatly and sat on the edge of the couch. So, he decided to go back to his dad. She sighed softly as she turned to give the cat his food. Soon, Bagheera was happily eating his food and she floated her phone close to her. Her magic pushed the power button and she entered in the pin code. She swept down from the top to look at her notifications.

“Good morning.” A cheerful voice almost had her dropping her phone as she jerked her head towards the entrance to her suite. Tyler was smiling, holding out a paper bag, in his other hand was a drink carrier. “I know you ponies are vegetarian, so I just got you egg and biscuit. But most importantly.” He brandished the drink carrier with two insulated cups on it. “Coffee.”

“I’m good.”

He frowned. “You’ve been in your bedroom all night, you’ve got to be famished.”

She blinked. She was feeling quite well. She finally offered a smile. “Oh, I don’t eat. Well, what you call food, that is. Bagheera would probably like the eggs and cheese.”

He took a step back, brow furrowing. “Huh?” He set down the food on the counter. “Okay, I think I need an explanation. You said you weren’t a pony. What are you?”

She looked down, taking a step backwards. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

She scratched one foreleg with the other before taking another step back. “I think I need to work.”

He tilted his head to the side. “You know, you don’t have to open up to me. But, I would really appreciate it if you did.”

She looked at him for a long moment, her mind swirling. “Do you really want to know? Most humans haven’t heard of what I am. Any of my kind that make it through the portal are sent right back. I’m pretty sure your governments don’t want us around.”

“Okay, I’ve got to see this.” He said with a bright smile. “Something that most humans haven’t seen.”

“Well…” She sniffed. “Here goes nothing.”

Once again, violet flames washed across her form as she assumed her natural shape. Her carapace was black, with violet coloring along her back, around her waist was a purple streak. Her mane and tail were purple with violet eyes. Her jagged horn was quite a bit longer than the norm for a changeling. She took another step back, cringing. “I’m a bug pony.”

Tyler, for his part, has also taken a step back in alarm. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he looked at her. After a moment he leaned forward, inspecting her. “Wow.”

She lifted a hoof, showing off the holes through the legs. “I’m a changeling.” She looked down. “Though, to be honest, I don’t know all that much more about my kind. Though I do know I’m different than my broodmates.”

“Broodmates? How many are there that look like you?”

“I’m the only one, that I know of. We don’t exactly keep track of each other. Though I’ve never met one of my kind after…” Memories flooded through her mind. “My childhood, if you could call it that.”

He blinked. “Okay. Is it okay if I sit down?” At her nod, he sat down on the couch. “Okay, you need to start at the beginning.”

“It’s a long story.” She whimpered.

He spread his hands. “We’ve got all day. I don’t have classes today. And you can work whenever you feel like. So, you aren’t actually committed to anything, right?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not.” She lit her horn, her phone flew up near her. She muted the ringer and sat it down on the coffee table before sitting on her haunches. She looked at him for a long moment before sighing. “Well, I might as well start at the beginning.” Her horn stayed lit, one of Bagheera’s toys floating from her bag and dancing around the cat. Getting his attention.

Tyler crossed his legs on the couch and looked at her attentively. Gesturing with a hand to go on.

“Okay, here we go. I don’t know where I came from, exactly. My earliest memories were of white, I barely remember hatching from my egg. I remember hunger, biting, aching, hunger. I did learn later some things. I was in the third batch of eggs hatched. The first two, the changelings died, from not being fed.” She looked down and to the side. “And other reasons.”

“Wait, you just said you don’t eat.”

“I don’t eat physical food. I feed on emotions, strong emotions, the best is love, but lust works very well.”

His eyes widen. “So, your clients don’t just give you money?”

“They give me my food, yes.”

“So, you were going to feed on me, too?”

She nodded, for some reason she actually felt a bit embarrassed as she did. “I did feed on you, a little bit. Do you remember how you felt when you left the room last night? You felt tired, as though you’ve exercised a lot?” She looked down. “That was me.” She blinked. “But as grubs, we didn’t know how to cause emotions in others, our queen, after she lays us, gives us a supply of love, and enough love allows us to hatch.” She looked up at him.

“Perhaps I should tell you what I have learned about changelings in Equestria before I go more into my grubhood.” She paused for a moment, taking a big breath. “Ponies fear us, because we are predators for them. We would kidnap them, or their loved ones, then use our magic to change our shape. Feeding off the love they had for their loved ones. We were dangerous, we didn’t live in the kingdom of Equestria, but on its outer edges. Princess Twilight Sparkle was chasing after a Queen and she somehow made it to this world. The Queen escaped to this world through the portal. While she was here, she dropped a clutch of eggs, numbering over a hundred. In a small town in Minnesota. Princess Twilight couldn’t find her initially, and after the Queen unwittingly caused a car crash before escaping again. Twilight talked to the first responders there, who called in the military. Apparently, the following day, the Queen was in the town, disguised as a dog, when another dog chased her, causing her to reveal herself and end up being captured. Well, Twilight was true to her word. After securing the Changeling Queen, she came back, and formally met your President at the time. Well, she didn’t know about the eggs. And a few days later, we were found. The military was called to our nest, and gathered up the eggs, sending them to a contractor for experimentation.”

“Wait a moment, experimentation?”

She nodded. “The first group that they figured out how to hatch, I think it was about twenty eggs, but I don’t know for certain. But the contractor worked for some part of the government. I don’t know what part. But we weren’t in the US, I do know that for certain. But they didn’t know how to feed the grubs. They knew what little they had been told by Princess Sparkle. The second group, they figured out how to get emotions into them to hatch them too, I believe it was another twenty eggs. But grubs, we needed an almost constant amount of love to grow.” She looks down. “After one of the workers was killed by a grub sucking on their emotions too hard. The entire group were destroyed.”

“They killed your brothers and sisters?”

“Well, we have very few males. The vast majority are female. I don’t know if there were any males in my batch. But, yeah, they were killed.”

“That’s horrible.”

She sighed, watching her cat as he chased the feather in her magic. Suppressing a giggle at his antics. “I know, it was. Well, apparently they waited a year or two. Then they hatched my group. I remember hatching, being brought from the room where I was hatched, and then I and my hatchmates were put in a room with a bunch of cats and rabbits and other small animals. We didn’t know enough, I know several animals were killed, but we found we could get our needs met with lower animals.”

His eyes were wide and he looked at Bagheera, who had tired of jumping after the feather, as he sauntered over to the changeling, starting to rub his body against her, she lifted a hoof to pet him as he loved on her. She enjoyed the feeling of love from the cat. “Is he food?”

She blinked, looking down at the cat. “I guess, you could call him that. But most of all, he’s my cat. I’d never kill him!”

He furrowed his brow. “If he’s not food, then why have him?”

She picked Bagheera up in her magic and deposited him in her forelegs. She nuzzled her cat for a long moment before looking up at Tyler. “Because, he’s amusing to have around, he offers his love freely, and he’s cute. Aren’t you baggy boy?” She nuzzled the cat, holding him tightly. The large cat purred under her attention, kneading against her hard foreleg.

He smiled at her affection for her cat. “So, do all changelings look like you?”

She shook her head. “Oh, no. I look a lot different from the rest. But when I was a grub, and a youngling, I looked exactly like them. I was much smaller.” She let the flames wash across her form, having her looking how she did as a young changeling. “This is how I looked. She shifted a bit, showing him her right flank. “This was the only difference.” On her flank was what almost looked like a pony’s cutie mark, a violet heart. She reverted back to her natural form. “But after I escaped, I started to grow, I got taller, my eyes changed, not only in nature, getting a visible pupil but the color changed too.” She blinked her violet eyes at him.

“But why?”

She looked down. “I’m not entirely certain. We are born with some knowledge, we know how to feed, we know how to control our magic, how to change forms. But not much more than that. We were taught your language, them always keeping small animals around us to feed on. Humans only getting close to us when we stopped killing the animals.”

“That’s pretty messed up.”

She tilted her head. “Huh? Messed up?”

“They fed you puppies and kittens.”

“No, not dogs.” She sighed. “Dogs don’t like us very much. They get aggressive with us, even disguised.”

“Really? A dog can smell you?”

"We don’t know for certain. But there’s something about changelings that makes dogs go absolutely nuts. But it took us a while until we learned how to take a little emotion without actually harming our victims. And after we were taught your language, we were taught how to look like humans.” She set down her cat and stood up, flames washing over her form, showing a tall black man that was a former US President, flames and again she looked like another American President. She changed again, another human. Before changing back to her natural form.

“Wow, politicians.” His eyes widened. “Wait a moment.” He snapped his finger a few times, thinking. “I remember pictures from my political science class… that last one…isn’t he the President of Belarus?”

She shrugged. “They didn’t tell us much, we were just shown pictures and videos. I think so.”

“Wonder why they were teaching you that.”

She shrugged. “I think I know, but not for certain. We were a product for them. They wanted us for some reason.”

He frowned. “Okay, you were in some place, a lab?” At her nod, he continued. “And taught to look like foreign politicians. And US ones too.” He furrowed his brow. “What did they want you for?”

“I think they wanted us for what we can do. Nearly perfectly replace someone and maybe do things that they wanted. We had implants.” She pointed at her neck. “Well, I’ve molted since I was able to remove it, otherwise I’d have a scar. But the implant would shock us if we didn’t do as we were supposed to.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, fuck, really? So, you were supposed to disguise yourself as world leaders, then you’d be loyal to them, and do what they wanted. What were they? CIA?”

She shrugged. “I think so. But I never saw any documents or anything that told me that for certain. I was in laboratory rooms the whole time, except when we were allowed to sleep, and even our sleep was monitored by the humans. The best among us were trained harder.”

“Were you one of them?”

She nodded.

He frowned. “But…how are you free now? Aren’t they looking for you?”

She sighed. “I escaped just over ten years ago. Given enough love, we mature rapidly. But I was being trained, I was taught other languages, and how to emulate more than just the looks of other politicians. As to how I’m free now. I remember that day perfectly. They had taught us some of our magic. They had to have at least one Equestrian involved in learning about magic so they could teach us. Though I never saw any ponies at the lab. Though, between each of us changelings, we learned other spells. Once one of us figured out teleportation, we all figured out the spell, but only within sight distance, so we couldn’t escape with that. Then they brought in something that apparently was Equestrian in nature. It required power and created a teleportation dampening ward around where we were. But this day, we were allowed outside into a small courtyard. It was a reward for a few of us as we had been working hard. I think they were getting us ready to go out and do what they wanted. We were being trained on com gear, to be able to talk to them through machines. To get our orders. But I was outside, enjoying the feel of the sun on my shell. Then there was an explosion, I saw men in military gear along with ponies also in some sort of armor. They were attacking the compound. I could feel the teleportation ward drop. I saw ponies approaching and capturing my siblings. I panicked, and I teleported away, absolutely blindly. I had a really good read of the compound itself, but I could easily have teleported into a tree, or even into the ground. But I ended up in a jungle. I just kept teleporting in steps until I found a human town. I turned into a human, and was able to blend in and escape.”

His eyes were wide. “Wow.”

She smiled. “Well, I had to learn a lot more. Then I found the best way to get love also got me money to afford nice things. I started out walking the streets, in New York, offering a handjob for twenty dollars, a blowjob for fifty, and more. But I learned, I learned a lot from the other girls. I got more money changing forms for the clients. And then I could charge more. Then I got an apartment, found a way to advertise. And now I’m where I am now.”

“What about a pimp?” He asked. “I don’t know much about your trade, but girls usually have a pimp who gets them into the trade, usually hooking them on drugs. I’ve seen enough documentaries.”

She smiled. “Oh, sweetie, yes, some girls are hooked on nasty stuff they put in their bodies. But a lot of girls have pimps for protection, from other girls, someone to fall back on if you have a run in with the police. Many got into this business because of those men. Most pimps are evil creatures that domineer their girls and take what they make. I don’t need that. I’ve been arrested before. I changed my appearance and escaped. Can you imagine you put a woman into a cell, walk away, and the next time you check on them, a dog is sitting there? They get confused, open the door to search for a way that I escaped, and I run away. And sometimes even just teleport away. Though that is really hard if I don’t have a good magical read of the area. I don’t teleport all that much.” She sighed. “I really don’t know all that much magic, more than my ability to change form.”

“So, you don’t have to turn into a gelatinous goo every twenty-four hours?”

She blinked. “What? No. It’s easiest on my magic to stay as close to the size and weight of what I am naturally. I can get a lot bigger, and a lot smaller.” She looked down. “But I haven’t really tested those boundaries.”

“So, only living things?”

She shook her head. “Oh, I can be anything. I could be a jumbo shampoo dispenser. I could turn into a car. But the farther away I am from my natural form, the more magic I use. I can even hold what I am holding when I transform inside me with my magic. Like if I have my phone on me and I turn into a rock. The phone is still there, inside me. But it’s taxing.”

“Taxing your magic? What do you mean?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I can feel my supply of love within me. Everything I do with my magic depletes that store. I’m a big girl, I have plenty of stores, each by taking a little from each of my clients. Without feeding, I could last for a couple of months if I don’t use too much magic or change forms often. I’ve been tired of grinding to feed myself and earn money before. And I think I took three months off before I was really hungry.” Her eyes flashed. “I was very hungry then. I nearly killed my first client from losing control while feeding from him.” She shuddered. “I left him in a coma. I refuse to do that again. I’d rather keep my reserves high, keep my body fed, and only feed a little at a time than risk killing a human or a pony.”

“You’ve killed?”

She blinked, remembering the previous day. “Yes.” She said simply.

He gulped and paled a bit. For some reason this distressed her. She reached out a hoof and touched his knee. “Oh, but I have no desire to kill. The last time I killed…” She remembered the look on that man’s face as the bullets entered his chest before blinking and shaking her head. “He wanted to kill me. I have no compunction about defending myself.”

“So if I threatened you?”

She smirked. “Do you honestly think you would?”

He frowned. “Well, no.”

“I don’t kill wantonly. And I won’t kill because I’m hungry. I’m just like any pony or human in that respect. I will defend my life. But killing for any other reason? I don’t see that being necessary.”

He leaned back, looking down. “So…I don’t think I’ve ever caught your name.”

“That’s because I haven’t tossed it.”

That got a bark of a laugh. “Okay, you got me there.”

She smiled at him before looking troubled. “I don’t…have one.”

“What?”

“In the lab, I had a designation. But I don’t have a name. Nopony named me.”

“Well, we are going to have to fix that.” He tilted his head, leaning closer. “What was your designation?”

She blinked at him a few times, trying to process. Finally she spoke. “H zero pee three.”

He smiled. “I kinda like it. Just think about it for a second. Hope.”

“Hope?” She rolled the word around in her mouth. “Hope.”

“It’s got more than one meaning. You are the hope for your people, the bug ponies. You refuse to kill unnecessarily. You are a good pony. And it fits with how your name is spelled. You can spell it the same way as your designation is. But you can be called, Hope.”

She smiled a big smile at him, his eyes widened at the look of her fangs. “I think that works! I am Hope!”

He nods. To his surprise, she leaped at him, transforming in the air into human shape before landing on his lap. She had neglected to make any clothes in her transformation. His face reddened as she hugged him tightly. After a moment, she cupped the side of his face. “You know, you can, anytime.” She crooned into his ear.

He hugged her. “Don’t make it weird.”

She laughed as she stood up, reverting back to her natural form. “I am serious, though. I think I could make your first time the absolute best first time of all first times.” She tilted her head and smiled at him.

He shifted a bit, his face red. The changeling could feel lust rising in him. Even in her natural form, which surprised her. She reached out a hoof to touch his cheek again. “You are cute.” At his sputtering she turned away with a laugh.

“So, what exactly is Hope the changeling?”

“I am me! I am a changeling. I feed on love, and earn my pay. I am a whore.”

He shook his head. “No, you are a high priced call girl, able to be exactly what your client desires. You are far more than simply a whore. Now I understand why you answer the phone the way you do.”

She smiled. “Yeah. I am a fantasy. I am whatever the client wants. I am the perfect call girl.” She leaned forward. Again transforming back to human as she put a hand on his knee, letting her breasts dangle and jiggle. Enjoying the hitch in his breathing as he watched her. “And I’m worth every penny.”

He nodded. “Definitely.” He looked down. “So, what are you going to do now?”

She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“So, what are you going to do? Just feeding and making money? You’ve got to have a pile by now, based on what you charge.”

She smiled. “I’ve gotten a money manager, I’m pretty wealthy.” She stopped, frowning. “But it’s not about the money. It’s nice, for certain. But what’s wrong with making more?”

“You are just going to do that? Make gobs of money, feeding off the love of your clients?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

He tilted his head. “Don’t you want more?”

“More?”

He stood up. “You said you grew bigger than normal changelings. You have plenty of magic. Doesn’t it seem boring? Just doing the same thing over and over again?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know. I feel…” She stopped, thinking furiously. Finally she looked up at him. “I need more. I’m not a regular changeling. I’m not a drone.”

He snapped his fingers. “I have an idea. Let me get a tourist visa to Equestria. I can learn about changelings there.”

“But what about classes? You are a student, right?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve got easy classes this semester, I don’t have to show up all that often.” He leaned forward, touching her horn gently. “Let me help you, help you learn about your kind.” He chuckled. “I always wanted to learn about the ponies, visiting Equestria just might be fun.”

She stopped, thinking. After a long moment, she smiled at him. “Okay.”