Blue Fang, Reignited

Chapters

Prologue I: Blood Brothers
Prologue II: Ballad of the Broken Wings
Chapter 1: Love at First Fight
Chapter 2: The Duelist

Prologue I: Blood Brothers

Blue Fang

By MlpHero

March 17th, 33 H.E.

Good morning journal! Today is supposed to be important. Or so I think…

Mother Chrysalis is gathering me, Hive, and Phar to the nursery. Fortuna is also coming, probably to make sure Phar behaves, she’s the only one he listens to. Midnight and Nightbite have decided to join too (well, Midnight anyway, Nightbite probably doesn’t want to come and is being dragged along). Mother Chrysalis hasn’t said why we’re going to the nursery, but it’s probably important. So I better be ready.

—Red Fang

The young changeling’s eyes left the soft pages of his journal at last, turning to the rough walls of his den. The older changeling workers had attempted to smooth over the jagged edges of the walls, but there was only so much they could do. Besides the craggy walls, a small cluster of luminescent plants hung over the small area, basking the room in a dim, green glow. However, dingy, low quality air filtered through the walls, and it was constantly freezing. Not that the young changeling could feel it, as his blood had long since adjusted to keep him warm.

On the walls themselves, there hung several objects of varying types, from weapons to propaganda posters. The floor was littered with books, some open to their last read page while others were stacked in piles in various places. On his desk was a sewing machine, with a single spool of thread sitting at the ready – not that Red had much to sew with most days.

Returning his mind back to his current task, Red set the pencil down and laid back. He turned to face his mirror, a thin sheet of reflective silver that hung adjacent from his bed. His red fangs greeted him, as did his right wing, same as always. Sighing softly, Red glanced down at his carapace. It didn’t take a genius to see that Red Fang was a permanently grounded bug, the lack of his left wing was enough of an indicator. It wasn’t by choice either – the appendage had bent in the egg, and when he’d hatched, it was surgically removed.

Problem was, ever since Red had learned how to form complex thoughts, he’d always longed to fly, and it showed. His favorite division of the changeling military was the Raging Hornets, for one thing. Propaganda posters for the airborne division hung on every wall of his room, he had an ace helmet on one of his shelves, and most of his small wooden soldier toys were modled after Hornets. Tartarus, a good chunk of the books currently littering the floor were storybooks detailing overly-exaggerated adventures of the Raging Hornets of the past. But, because of his lack of a left wing, Red Fang would never be able to join up when he was older and fulfill his dream of flying. Sure, there were plenty of other divisions to join, but… he wasn’t particularly interested in any of them.

The Water Striders worked… well, on the water. Red wasn’t into boats though, they rocked around too much, looked far too unstable. And besides, sailing just seemed boring to the nymph, especially considering that he’d been exposed to several war stories that may or may not have exaggerated the fast paced action of true battles. Why sit on a ship miles away from the fight when you could be on—or well, over—the battlefield itself?

The Scorpion Battalion also fell out of favor quite quickly for the youngling. The armored wagons looked cool enough, but Red wasn’t particularly keen on piloting such a slow, giant target. It seemed like an easy way to get killed. And he’d heard the most deaths came from Scorpion Tanks getting blown up, only confirming his thoughts. No thank you.

The Wasp Division was just what he was looking for. It promised great adventures for all who joined. A chance to try experimental technology firsthoof and be placed in the middle of the battles. The problem? They only allowed Elites to join. Red huffed at that notion – what good was barring bugs via their castes? They’d just keep good fighters of lower class from fulfilling their full potential (like him, probably, when he got older). Stupid upperclassers flaunting their rank.

That left him with one option left: the Devil Horns. The Queen’s Finest, or so the posters claimed. Red did not agree, the Devil Horns were bare minimum to him when compared to any of the other divisions. They were mere cannon fodder, and they didn’t even have any cool tricks, only there to provide bodies to hold the line while the better divisions won the battles. They were simply infantry… but… they promised what he wanted. The ‘Horns were always right at the front, spearheading the charge into combat.

Red sighed, looking around at the posters gracing his walls. The pictures of the white suited changelings saluting the sky caught his gaze. The words “Fly High!” and “Aim High, Aim True.” greeted him with big bold letters. Yeah, sure, he’ll aim high. Then fall right back down.

Before he could sink too far into that rabbit hole of thoughts, however, there was a knock at the door. The noise snapped the bug out of his trance, and he looked over.

“Red! You in there?”

“Yeah! He rolled out of bed, landing with a thud onto the ground. “Ow! Oof… Comin’! Gimme a sec!’

~~~

While Red composed himself, standing outside his door was a familiar older changeling with a pink carapace, pink wings, pink eyes, and a pink bandana round her neck. This was Midnight, and beside her stood her younger friend, Nightbite. Midnight was a wonderful changeling, despite her borderline unhealthy obsession with the color pink – with a preference for some shade called ‘fuchsia’. Despite being only six, she’d already developed what some would call a ‘posh’ attitude. Prim and perfect at all times, but the other changelings knew better than to mock her for it – Midnight could become a proper ‘brute’ if the mood struck her.

Nightbite on the other hoof, was quite different. A bit younger than Red, and a very rowdy bug to say the least. Wasn’t exactly amiable, either, his only close friend was the pink changeling currently at his side. Midnight tried her best to teach the young bug to get along with others, but there was only so much she could do.

Nightbite was squirming at Midnight’s side, clearly not wanting to be there at all judging by his whines. “Middyyyyy! You promised we’d go see the arena skirmishes!”

Midnight smiled with all the patience of someone who remembered acting the same way. “Yes, I know, and we will. But this is important.”

“But I don't wanna go to the nursery! It's fulla babies!”

“Then you’ll fit right in.” Midnight chuckled a bit as she rubbed his head.

“I’m not a baby!”

“You kinda are, you’re three,” Midnight teased with a laugh. “Besides, the skirmishes go on all day. There will be plenty of interesting things to see later too.”

Nightbite rolled his eyes despite the reassurances, trying to pull his companion away from Red’s door. Midnight sighed and stood her ground, rolling her eyes.

“Honestly Nighty, you sometimes make me wish I blew up in a wagon.”

Finally, Red opened the door, stopping Nightbite from continuing his whining. “Hi guys!”

Red lived in one of the main catacombs, which boasted easy access to basically everything in the Hive. The Academy, the school that taught young nymphs the basics of reading, math, and writing. Later years would see them being trained in things they would need for serving in the military or R&D Department. (Red personally was going for military teaching).

Away from that was the main canteen, a nice little place, nothing to complain about. It was usually freezing, even by hive ventilation standards. Finally, there was the arena. A large colosseum where changelings could watch other changelings kill each other and cheer on the winners. It’s barbaric, yes, but dueling, skirmishing, fighting, and warring? It’s in their blood. No shame in following one's instincts.

Midnight smiled at the small changeling, snapping him from his thoughts once more. “Hey there Red. You ready?”

“Yeah!”

It’d been a long while since he was in the nursery, it was such a sacred place. The last time he was there, it had been when he was lucky enough to form a bond with Chrysalis, with the Queen. Or at least had impressed her enough that she had allowed him to have his own den.

Unlike Red, Nightbite was more apprehensive about the thought. “But why are we going to the nursery?”

Midnight shrugged. “I’m not sure. That’s why we’re going, and we’ll be late unless we leave now, come on.”

Red nodded and followed behind as Midnight set off, Nightbite being dragged along. It wasn’t a good idea to keep Chrysalis waiting.

~~~

Hivehunter chuckled as he pinned Pharynx to the wall of the youngling’s room.

“Haha! Gotcha, lil’ bro!” Hivehunter declared, his wings buzzing in victory.

Pharynx wasn’t easily deterred, however. He was a fierce youngling, and did not like to lose, especially not to his brother. Thinking quickly, he kicked at his opponent’s leg, causing the older nymph to lose his balance, promptly tackling and pinning him to the floor.

“Ow! Dangit Phar, that’s cheating!”

“There is no cheating! This is war!” Pharynx replied, raising his forehooves in victory.

Hive rolled his eyes, before pushing himself off the ground and lifting Pharynx up, displaying the not so subtle height difference between the two. Despite still being a nymph, Hive was impressively tall for his age, not to mention strong.

Pharynx squirmed, trying to break free of Hive’s grip with a pout. “Hey! No fair!”

“There is no fair in war, Phar,” Hive snarkily replied, before throwing Pharynx back onto the nymph’s bed. Pharynx grunted in response, before sitting up and continuing to pout.

“Boys, play nice,” A female voice said cut in.

Fortuna had been watching the two as they scuffled, an amused smile on her face. But although she was enjoying it, she had started to notice they may have been taking it too seriously for a play fight.

“Pharynx, no biting frills.”

“But mooooom! We’re just playing!” Pharynx complained, despite being mere inches away from Hive’s frill. The other youngling yelped and turned to glare at him as he backed away with a sheepish smile.

“Phary, you can’t just bite someone’s frill. That’s a coward’s path to victory.” Fortuna stepped over, peeling the two apart, holding Pharynx up by the hoof. “Besides, it was far smarter to try and kick him in the legs or lower body to knock him off balance, like you did earlier. Especially considering the fact that he’s bigger than you.”

“Are you calling me short?!”

“No, Phary. I’m saying for a bigger opponent, you’ve got to use every advantage you have.”

Pharynx stared at the older changeling, shooting her a glare that, in his mind, surely struck fear into her heart. He instead wound up looking more like an upset puppy who had missed treat time.

Hive stared at Phar, grinning. “Yeah, she’s calling you short. Also, that glare makes you look like an angry foal.”

“Hive, no, I meant… ugh…” Fortuna sighed, before yelping as Pharynx managed to squirm free.

Pharynx was just about to lunge again when Midnight stepped into the room, coming between him and Hive. “Ah, ah. Not so fast, bugger.”

Pharynx pouted. “Hey! Midnight, I was about to get him!”

“Well not now you’re not.” Midnight looked up at Fortuna. “I thought you were getting them ready?”

“Errr… I was, but…”

Midnight rolled her eyes, Nightbite and Red walking over to join the other nymphs. “Seriously Tuna, you have to be responsible. You could’ve at least straightened Phar’s neck fin, it’s all bent.”

Fortuna huffed. “I was trying to, but you know how he is. Too much energy, too little body. And stop calling me Tuna! I’m not a fish!”

“No, but you do smell awful, and your mane is filthy. That will not do, we’re about to meet with the Queen.” Midnight grabbed Fortuna and dragged her into the washroom part of the den, slamming the door.

The nymphs looked at the door, before looking back at each other. They all bore the same look of boredom and confusion.

“This is dumb.” Nightbite complained. “I wanted to see the gladiators!”

Hive nodded. “Yeah… who’s fighting today?”

“I think… Zesper and Lycore,” Pharynx joined in. “Something about Lycore trying to kiss Zesper’s girlfriend or something.”

“Ew,” Red said, sticking his tongue out. “That’s a gross reason to fight. Worse than that stew we had yesterday.”

“Who puts moss in chicken stew anyway?” Nightbite agreed. “It’s chicken stew, not moss stew!”

“Don’t worry guys!” Hive butted in. “When I’m king, I’ll make all the meals better.”

The nymph held his head up proudly, certain he was going to fulfill that promise someday. Red just smiled and shook his head. Hive was the most narcissistic of the group.

Pharynx looked over, doubt written across his face. “What makes you think you’ll be king?”

“Cause Mama Chrysalis said so!” Hive replied.

“I dunno Hivey, she’s been on the throne for like… a thousand years! No way she’d give it up any time soon!” Red commented. “Besides, what about Phar? What would he be?”

It was a quite complex question, as Pharynx was the blood bug of Chrysalis, whilst Hive was simply adopted into the royal family. Therefore, it was hard to say who’d truly be king. Nonetheless, Hive gave Red an answer.

“I dunno? A prince?”

“Oh! He’ll be ‘Shortest Prince Ever’,” Night suddenly blurted out.

“Night, I swear to the Hivemother, I will—”

But before Pharynx could finish his threat, the nymphs’ little debate was interrupted by a loud crash, followed by shouting from the washroom. The nymphs looked over, wondering what could possibly be happening as they heard another sound – a loud splash, and an alarmed shriek.

A few minutes later, Midnight stepped out with a smile. “Alright boys, we’re ready.”

From behind her, Fortuna emerged, now soaked in water, soap, and shampoo. The nymphs stared at her, before collapsing to the ground in fits of laughter. Fortuna huffed, clearly annoyed, before trudging off out of the room. Midnight snickered, but set about corraling the nymphs and quickly followed behind.

~~~

It didn’t take long to arrive at the nursery once the changelings had finally set out properly. They stepped through the entrance that opened for them, and Midnight swiftly led the group over to the area one of the nurselings used as a form of reception desk. Ponies did have some good ideas as to how things should be run – and with things as sensitive as medical/nymph caretaking, it was often wise to steal tactics from the enemy.

“Pardon me,” Midnight spoke up to get the nurseling’s attention. “We have an appointment with Her Majesty in the hatchery.”

The nurse nodded, before leading them into a hidden hallway off to the side, one that went deeper down into the catacombs. The hatchery was perhaps the nicest room in all of the Hive, despite its underground location. In fact, the setting provided it with natural warmth and protection from the elements. The glowlamps hanging from the ceiling ensured the perfect amount of light (dim, for young ones first opening their eyes), and there was easy access to food and water. All so the many egg clusters laid in the area would develop as perfectly as they could.

The nurse allowed them in before vanishing, leaving the group to locate the Queen on their own. It didn’t take long before they found Chrysalis, spotting her tending to a small cluster of eggs. The group walked over, joining the Queen in silence, as was customary. As their Queen, she outranked them all, and thus it was her who was to initiate conversation first, no one else.

“You’re late.”

“Apologies, Fortuna held us up.”

“I did not!”

“Yes you did!”

“Quiet, please,” Chrysalis silenced them two females, who obeyed and didn’t argue further.

Chrysalis promptly stood from her spot by the egg cluster, and with a wave of her hoof, led the group down past the many other clusters surrounding them. The young ones looked around, taking note of the nurselings who were monitoring the eggs with an innocent curiosity. Chrysalis nodded to each nurse they passed, carefully stepping over some of the eggs that had managed to roll out of their clusters. Red paused each time they passed one and bent down to scoop up the lost eggs and placing them back in their original clusters.

“Red Fang! Let’s go!” Chrysalis called out when she noticed him lagging behind. The nymph was quick to catch up with the group without protest.

When he reached them, he noticed the changelings had spread out around a small cleared area. Hive and Pharynx were standing a few paces apart from each other, watching over an egg each. According to Chrysalis, these were to be their new siblings, both seeming almost ready to hatch. Red smiled faintly at the sight, before seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, and looking up. Chrysalis approached with a gentle smile, holding a third egg.

“This one is your new sibling, Red Fang.” She gently passed the egg to the nymph, who cradled it gently.

She then stepped away, monitoring another group of eggs with Midnight and Night. Hive scooped up the egg that was his soon-to-be sibling, examining it. Pharynx, meanwhile rolled his eyes as he looked down at the other egg.

Chrysalis glanced around at all three nymphs, clearly waiting to see if they were ready for… something. Red wasn’t sure what it was she was looking for, but apparently she found it, because the Queen promptly closed her eyes and began humming softly. As she did, the eggs surrounding the group of changelings suddenly started to wiggle – and crack slightly. The nymphs all paused to stare in innocent amazement at the phenomenon before them.

Chrysalis chuckled softly, reopening her eyes to observe. She’d seen this type of childlike innocence many, many times before. She always bet with herself as to how long it’d last before it was drained, and whether it would happen forcibly, all at once, or over years of experience.

Slowly, one by one, the cracks in the eggs widened, and each one split open to reveal hundreds of baby changelings, who almost immediately started to crawl towards Chrysalis. Though she was not their mother, each one still felt an instinctive urge deep inside. It was a powerful pheromone of sorts that a Queen emitted, to tell each new addition to the Hive that Chrysalis was someone of great authority, someone to be trusted.

Hive looked down when he felt the egg in his own hooves cracking. He watched in stunned surprise as a small changeling with light pink eyes emerged from the shell. Hive stared silently for a moment, but he quickly smiled.

“Heheh… hi there…” Hive held the baby up, and it giggled, babbling excitedly.

Pharynx huffed, looking pointedly away from the pair. The egg cracked, and the nymph watched as a glorious warrior crawled out…

…Of an egg about five steps to his right.

From his sibling’s egg, there instead emerged a changeling larvae who looked absolutely terrified at its new surroundings. Pharynx blinked. “This is my sibling?”

The larvae looked around, then promptly cowered, retreating back into its egg. Pharynx sighed, leaning down and scooping it out of its egg.

“Hi there… I guess…”

The tiny nymph wiggled a bit in his hooves, before looking up at Pharynx. It seemed to recognize him as someone it could trust, and began cooing excitedly. Pharynx blinked in surprise and leaned down to get a better look. That was when he felt the grub’s tiny hoof poke his nose, chittering eagerly. Pharynx’s muzzle scrunched in response, and he groaned. Already this youngling was proving to be an exact opposite of him.

Red chuckled as he watched his friends meet their new siblings, before looking down at the egg he was holding. He felt the egg twitch, and held it gently, watching as it split at last, and out emerged his new sibling. He smiled, letting the little larvae crawl up his leg with a giggle.

“Heheh… Hey there little fell- ow!” Red flinched, looking down as the baby began nibbling at his foreleg, burying tiny little blue fangs into his chitin. “Heh… you’re a feisty little bugger, aren’t you?” Red smiled, lifting the baby, who cooed happily in response.

“It seems he likes you, huh?” Hive teased.

Red rolled his eyes and just held the bug up. “Hiya buddy… you’re gonna grow up to be a great warrior.”

“Every great warrior needs a name, Reddy,” Pharynx stated as he struggled to keep his little sibling from continuing to mush his face around. “What’re you naming it?”

Red pondered. He could tell this little one was a boy – Pharynx’s sibling was too, by the looks of it, while Hive’s seemed to be a girl. So what would be a good name? In his infinite, five year old wisdom, he came to his conclusion.

“…I’m gonna name him Blue Fang.”

Midnight blinked. “Blue… Fang? That’s not a very creative na–”

Fortuna promptly whacked the pink-schemed bug on the back of the head with a hissed “Shut up!”

Red hadn’t noticed the exchange between the two older females, more focused on holding his little sibling up. “Blue Fang… yeah. That’s a good name.”

Blue cooed happily in his hooves, his tiny azure fangs gleaming in the soft light of the nursery.

Prologue II: Ballad of the Broken Wings

Red Fang felt a sharp pain in his right leg, and he shot up from his bed, looking around. He then sighed, looking down.

“Ugh… Bluey…” Red leaned down, picking up the nymph. Or well, he tried to. Attempting to move the nymph shot a bit of a sting down his leg. He winced, sighing. Blue had been teething for a few days—Not that Red knew that—and he seemed very content with using his brother as his chosen teething object.

Red examined his brother’s fangs. Sure enough, dabs of green blood were on his little blue fangs. Looking down at the source of his pain, he noticed two small holes in his leg. Blue had somehow managed to break through his chitin. Red carefully set Blue down, before heading towards his desk. No bandages, or really anything to put on the bite mark.

Blue watched his brother, before attempting to follow him. Unfortunately, he came across his biggest obstacle yet. Getting off the bed.

Changeling larvae weren’t particularly stupid. Unlike their Equestrian counterparts, they at least knew basic self-preservation skills. In other words, maybe throwing themselves off an elevated position isn’t exactly an efficient way to get attention. So, in their infinite, baby wisdom, they’d do the one thing that can signal their caretaker.

“…WAHHHHHHH!”

Red jumped slightly, turning to look at Blue. The larvae cried, reaching its small foreleg out. Red shook his head, stepping over. “I’m here, I’m here! Calm down!” he whispered, scooping the baby up. “Shh… shh…” he nuzzled the little nymph, who soothed. “There you go… you oka—”

Red suddenly found Blue’s fangs buried in his muzzle. He recoiled, shaking his head. “Owowowowowowow!” He scrunched his muzzle, before looking back at Blue, who simply stared, seemingly confused. Red rubbed his muzzle, before sighing. “Let’s uh… let’s just go get breakfast…”

~~~

Red carried Blue into the cafeteria. It was still early in the morning, and most bugs weren’t up. Well, minus the military. Red soon found himself watching as the Devil Horns went marching by, with their armor and large bolt-throwers on their sides. They had just finished eating by the looks of it and were being marched out to training

As they marched, their voices echoed off the walls of the cafeteria. Red watched, almost mesmerized. His head bobbed side to side as their in-sync marching created an almost drumming-like effect. Their booming voices and click-clacking equipment only made them seem bigger than they were.

Blue Fang began to fuss. The loud “singing” wasn’t exactly calming to the larvae as they were to Red. The older changeling looked down. “Oh, sorry Bluey!” He stroked his brother’s head gently, shushing gently. “We’re getting breakfast now.”

Red walked over to the counter, looking over. One of the cookbugs looked over, smiling at the two brothers. “Hey Red, hold on.” She started making a plate. “Hey Grubber! Your friend’s here!” she called out.

A small nymph peeked over the counter. “Reddy Bear, hey!” he said, smiling. “Hold on, I’ll get your usual and meet you at table uh…” he checked a list, carefully reading down. “Ah, four!” He then disappeared behind the counter.

Red giggled, before heading towards table four. It wasn’t much a singular table, but a line of tables, much like a school cafeteria. Table four wasn’t too crowded, but it sat right in the middle of the cafeteria, thus it was still quite loud. Blue began fussing again.

Red smiled, nuzzling him. “Shh… it’s okay. We’re getting food.”

Blue looked up, before wiggling free of Red’s grasp and climbing on his shoulder. Red squeaked, looking over. “Hey!” he giggled, trying to grab his brother, who then crawled onto his back, and then onto his head. “Hmph…”

Soon, the small nymph walked over to the table, smiling at the two. On his back set a plate of food, one Red had ordered several times before. Squirrel with rock salt. Setting the plate on the table, Grubber sighed. “Consider yourself lucky, Reddy Bear. Meat itself is already hard to come by. But squirrels?”

“I know, I know.” Red smiled. “But it’s really good!” he argued.

“I hope so…” Grubber rolled his eyes, taking Blue Fang off Red’s head. “How’s this little one doing?”

“He’s biting stuff again…” Red returned dejectedly. “And not just his toys. He’s biting me!” Red stated, pointing to his new leg bite mark.

Grubbed rubbed Blue’s chin carefully, though immediately retracted his hoof when Blue attempted to put even more holes into the young bug’s foreleg. Grubber merely stared, a bit surprised. “Goddess above, is he hungry?”

“I uh… I don’t know…” Red shrugged, taking Blue off his head, and placing him on the stone table, where he immediately tried nibbling at the table, though failed due to basic table geometry, also known as it was a flat surface that couldn’t be easily bit into. “Even after I gave him his bottle, he still likes to bite me.”

“He must be fanging,” Grubber stated. “I think momma has something for him to nibble on.” Grubber stood, gently lifting and placing Blue on his back.

Blue, for the most part, was more confused if anything. He had seen Grubber nearly every day, so he knew he could trust him. But at the same time, he didn’t want to leave his brother. Thus, he began to whimper.

Red nuzzled his brother gently, careful to avoid his maw. “Shh… it’s okay.”

Blue quieted, looking at the back of Grubber’s head. Grubber chuckled. “Come on, let’s go see momma.”

With that, the two left, Blue Fang surprisingly not crying. Red smiled, before sighing. As much as he loved his brother, little Blue was a hoof-full. He continued to eat the cooked squirrel, looking around. He soon noticed something. He was alone.

Well, not alone. There were other bugs happily… moderately eating their food. However, they were all sitting in groups, conversing. Red, as far as he could tell, was the only one sitting alone. And he was saddened by it. He was never one for conversing. The only friends he had were Grubber, Nightbite, Pharynx, and Hivehunter, and even then, those were more or less friends Chrysalis pushed him to make, with Pharynx and Hivehunter themselves being Elites. Thus, he was only able to make friends due to Chrysalis.

Speaking of Chrysalis, Red looked up to be greeted by the mighty changeling Queen herself. She gave him a small smile as she sat in front of him, peering down at his plate. “Squirrel meat. That’s a rare dish you’ve got.”

Red nodded. “Yeah… I still feel strangely… empty.” He looked up. “Like… I’m still hungry, even though I ate.”

“You haven’t had any love. That’s why.” She sighed, a rare hint of remorse gleaming in her eyes. “Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do right now. Our scouts can’t find any good towns to raid.”

Red huffed again. “Why can’t we just… feed off of each other? Like… can’t we love each other and have a constant supply?”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to respond but paused. She’d considered the idea many times before, and it sure seemed like a hell of an idea. But, she always brushed it off as a stupid one. They were changelings, born and bred for war and conquering. If they needed love, by the Goddess, her sister above, they’d take it by force. She was often a stickler for the old ways and hated when either times had changed, or her way of thinking was challenged.

With a remorseful shake of her head, she answered. “It just won’t work that way, little one. I’ve tried many times.”

She lied.

Red finished the squirrel, sighing. “I guess… I still feel a bit hungry… and kinda lonely…”

Chrysalis nodded and began to think. She’d remembered that members of the lower caste occasionally held a sort of gathering every so often, usually used to let changelings mingle amongst each other. Thus, she had an idea. “Hm… there’s a little meetup planned near the nursery. A lotta hatchlings are gonna be there. Maybe you can bring little Blue there?”

Red’s face almost lit up like the first light of June. Chrysalis would’ve probably been blinded if his face was made of light. “Okay!”

Chrysalis chuckled. “Speaking of which. Where is Blue Fang?”

“Oh uh… Grubber’s ma is getting something for Blue to chew on because he keeps biting me,” Red replied.

“Ah. Well, alright.” Chrysalis was all too familiar with fanging. Not unnatural, but was mildly annoying. And painful. But alas, with that conversation done, Chrysalis stood up, having to leave due to work. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to supervise a training exercise. The Devil Horns are shooting each other with paint-slingers later.”

Red’s eyes suddenly glowed with excitement. “Can I come watch?”

Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile in amusement. “Sorry Red, but you’ll have to stay with Blue at the meetup. Besides, I don’t want you or Blue to get struck by a stray bolt.”

Red Fang sighed. “Alright…”

Chrysalis nodded, stepping out of the cafeteria, leaving Red to his thoughts.

~~~

Red carried Blue down the hallway, toward where the meetup was said to be. On his head, sat Blue, who was nibbling on a bit of sugarcane. Grubber’s mom has thankfully given Red a few sticks of sugarcane because Blue was probably going to go through them unnecessarily fast.

The two rounded a corner, noticing a large crowd of changelings. Red pulled Blue close, walking into the crowd. There were two areas, one for the nymphs and one for adults. Red smiled, setting Blue down with the grubs.

Blue looked around, seemingly confused by all the new activity. He crawled around, sniffing at the other nymphs. The other nymphs watched him with mild confusion and annoyance. Some of them even snapped at him, growling at him. Blue, however, was persistent, continuing to sniff around the nymphs.

Red watched his brother wander around. Blue was always curious about the other changeling. From behind, Pharynx, Hive, and Nightbite approached, Pharynx holding Thorax and Hive holding Kydra.

“Hey Red,” Hive greeted, setting Kydra down.

“Hi guys, what’s up?” Red returned, smiling at his friends.

“Well, they’re letting the nymphs go play with the others,” Nightbite bit back. “This is dumb, why can’t we go play war games with the other nymphs?”

Pharynx rolled his eyes, setting down Thorax. “Night, can you pull your tail outta your mouth for a bit?”

“Why should I be forced to hang out with a buncha babies?” he whined, letting out an annoyingly long sigh.

“Well you’re not… you’re hanging out with us,” Hive retorted. “And last I check, we’re not babies.”

Nightbite simply pouted again, clearly not enjoying the fact that he was essentially forced to be here.

Meanwhile, Blue was still on his little adventure. He was looking for… something. He wasn’t exactly sure, but he continued looking. He soon crawled towards a smaller larvae, one with larger fangs. Must have been an early bloomer. Blue moved over, nuzzling against him. The smaller changeling looked over, sniffing at Blue.

Blue Fang. Dagger.

Blue chittered happily, nuzzling against Dagger, to which Dagger chittered back happily. Thus, they began to crawl around together. Whereas Blue was a bit more naturally cautious, Dagger seemed a bit more hot-headed, ready to take risks wherever possible.

As they crawled around, they soon found another changeling, one that appeared to be a little blind, as he was squinting. The two larvae crawled over, nuzzling against him. The other larvae were surprised by their sudden appearance, squinting at them, before chittering happily.

Blue Fang, Dagger. Mantis.

Mantis nuzzled against the two larvae, before attempting to lead them on. Though, considering his lack of eyesight, Blue Fang decided to lead, with Mantis behind him, and Dagger behind Mantis to keep the bug from accidentally wandering off.

The three bugs continued crawling around, before finding themselves at a group of doctors. The doctors were talking about something. However, on the table beside them was another larva, one with a non-curved horn that resembled a bee stinger, and his wings seemed to be blooming earlier than the others.

The three larvae crawled over, chittering up at him. He chittered back, before attempting to get down.

“Woah woah, hey buddy!” one of the adults yelped, quickly picking up the larvae. “You wanna play with the others?” they asked, to which the larvae chittered. The adult smiled, placing him down, before turning back to the conversation.

The three larvae again, nuzzled against the new larvae.

Blue Fang, Dagger, Mantis. Stinger.

Stinger chittered happily, before crawling with them. Their little group happily crawled around, simply exploring. They soon rounded back to the older changelings. There, the group met two new changelings. One with pink accents, Kydra; and one who looked ready to jump out of his silk wrappings, Thorax. They nuzzled against each other, introducing each other. However, Blue nuzzled against Kydra a bit gentler than he usually did. Actually, he nuzzled her a bit longer.

The larvae themselves were rarely exposed to the opposite gender of the same age. Blue especially, as he and Red never really took time to play with others. To Blue, Kydra was sort of a half-mystery. Up until now, the only females he’d seen were older, like Chrysalis or Grubber’s mother.

The older group watched Blue’s little display of affection, with Night chuckling a tad bit. “Aww, he’s in looooove~” he teased, leaning towards Hive and Pharynx.

Hive and Pharynx huffed, not exactly amused by Blue’s gesture to their younger sister. In fact, they seemed to take offense to it, murmuring something under their breaths. Red seemingly noticed, picking up his little brother, who whined as he was taken from his new friends. Red rubbed his head gently.

“You can play with them later…” Red soothed, silently insulting Hive and Pharynx under his breath. Best not to let the little ones hear it, he thought. “I’ll uh… I’m gonna take Blue back to our den really quick.”

“You sure?” Nightbite asked caringly, which was strangely out of character for the annoyingly whiny nymph. “Blue seems to be enjoying the company.”

“I just have to run home. I’ll be back.”

“Errrr… right.”

Red sighed, carrying Blue ahead. “Come on Blue…” he murmured, placing Blue back on his head. He then carried his brother back to his room.

~~~

“Those annoying… No good… Sons of…” Red murmured, pacing his room.

On the bed, little Blue watched his elder brother pace the room. Of course, the little larvae hadn’t a clue as to what his brother was upset about. Then again, he hadn’t a clue about most things. Except food. And maybe nibbling on things that shouldn’t be nibbled on. Like rocks.

Red looked over at Blue, who was silently staring in confusion. The older changeling sighed, stepping over to his younger brother, who babbled excitedly. Sitting down beside him, he picked him up and placed him atop his head carefully. Blue let out a few squeaks, before grasping onto his brother’s horn with his tiny forelegs. Red chuckled a bit, before standing. He then started prancing around carefully, causing Blue Fang to babble excitedly.

“Heh… you like that?” Red asked, smiling happily.

Blue gave an excited babble that turned to a raspberry in response. Red chuckled, continuing for a few rounds.

To little Blue, it seemed like he was atop the world, and nothing could take him down. He continued his tiny babbles, simply happy to be alive.

As the two played, there was a knock on the door. Red halted carefully to not fling Blue off his head. Red stepped over to the door, lazily sweeping toys out of the path. As he opened the door, he found himself greeted by Chrysalis and Kydra.

Red smiled, staring at the two. “Hi, Mother Chrysalis!”

“Hello there Red Fang. I came to check up on you.” She stepped in, looking around the room. “And I will say… maybe it’s a good idea to clean up this den.” Her horn illuminated the room, her magic lifting the toys off the ground and placing them along the shelves and in boxes.

Red and Blue watched in awe as the objects lifted off the ground and magically placed back in their proper places. Red sat on the bed, letting Blue crawl off his head and land on the bed.

Chrysalis chuckled, also sitting down on the bed, and placing Kydra down beside Blue. As Red Fang and Chrysalis talked, Blue Fang crawled over to the royal larvae.

Kydra herself gave off a… Well, Blue wasn’t entirely sure. She gave off a feeling akin to Chrysalis, someone who was meant to be respected, holding great power. Despite this, Kydra didn’t seem to act high and mighty.

Blue had seen Elites before. They lived at the very tippy top of the hive, and thus were at the top of the caste, barring Chrysalis herself. And most Elites were simply that, bugs at the top, most of whom had little to no care for the regular bugs. They were mostly high-ranked officers, highly trained doctors, heads of Research and Development, political figures, descendants of changeling heroes, families of the aforementioned, and most just got spots because they had extra space.

Being top of the chart more or less bred a “holier than thou” mentality amongst the Elites, most of whom had no real compassion for the lower members of the hive. In fact, most were often offended if the lower caste tried to interact with them. Even the larvae were often rude to lower caste members.

Despite this, Blue didn’t sense any of that about Kydra, who sniffed at him curiously.

Kydra herself hadn’t rightfully seen a lower caste changeling. Today was her first true exposure to a bug lower on the chain, both in status and floor. Being dubbed the Princess of the Changelings, many changelings, including the Elites, held great respect and even fear for the baby bug, especially since she was being raised by Chrysalis herself, and everybug feared Chrysalis. This was because Chrysalis was pretty ruthless, even to the changelings. Behind that grace and beauty, Chrysalis was essentially a tyrant. Even the Elites weren’t safe, as Chrysalis, despite how vain she was, didn’t discriminate.

In the face of this, however, Kydra found herself not really wanting special treatment. Most changelings would’ve killed to get her position, and yet she didn’t find herself liking her royal title. She cared more for the few friends she had than she did attempting to boss others around.

Of course, her friends were all Elites, so interacting with this blue-fanged bug was more than just foreign, it was completely alien to her. She raised her forelegs up, babbling while making movements of slipping a ring on her hoof with her tiny legs. “Riches?” She then brushed her hoof backward against her head. “Vanity?”

Blue shook his head, crawling to the edge of the bed, pointing down at the toy chest. Kydra crawled over, examining the box. It wasn’t too large, nor was it fancy. It was just a simple box that held the changelings’ toys, which included blocks, wooden soldiers, models of weapons, amongst other things. Kydra was a bit confused. Her toys were made of more expensive materials, metals, plastic, fabrics, those sorts of things. She’d never seen wooden or stone toys like these. However, she found herself intrigued by the artifacts.

Blue sensed her curiosity and wanted to show the regal larva the toys. He looked around, before noticing the nearby soft feather pillow. Suddenly, his brain had some kind of thought, as if a candle was suddenly lit. He crawled over to the pillow, biting down into it. He then began dragging the pillow back to the edge of the bed, though with some visible effort. After some time, Blue managed to push the pillow off the bed, the pillow landing on the floor with a “pomph!”

Blue looked down at the pillow, then looked up at Kydra, then down at the pillow, then right back at Kydra.

Then he threw himself off the bed.

~~~

Red looked up at Chrysalis, who stared merely down with a curious gaze. She was, to most changelings, a goddess alive. She’d been around for thousands of years, she’d seen kingdoms come and go, seen wars tear through the lands.

If anyone wanted to learn anything about everything, Chrysalis surely had the answer.

In this case, however, the Queen herself had a question for the young Red Fang. With a soft, curious voice, she asked, “why do you want to fly?”

Red’s mind went a bit blank. He hadn’t actually thought about why he wanted to fly, he just knew he really wanted to touch the skies. He reached deep into his brain, trying to figure out why he wanted to fly. Eventually, he found a sort of valid reason. “I suppose… I just want to see the world from above… y’know, touch the clouds and such.”

“But do you think that would bring you joy?” she asked, looking down at Red. “What if you could fly? What then?” she straightened out her posture. “I mean… there’s got to be more to life than just a short-term goal.”

Red looked around, a bit saddened. Despite his age, he sensed a sort of… truthfulness in her voice. But of course, he wasn’t quite sure how to answer. He had to think a bit.

Before he could think up his answer, there was a thud, causing the two changelings to jump a bit. They turned to see Kydra on the edge of the bed, but no Blue Fang. Kydra stared at them, a bit confused. After a bit, she pointed a forehoof down to the floor. The two older changelings’ gazes slowly slid over to the floor, noticing a pillow that had been squished inward. They then noticed Blue attempting to climb up the toy box, his tiny hooves scritching and scratching at the stone box.

Chrysalis stared in mild amusement, whilst Red stared in shock. He immediately got up, running over and picking up the little larvae, who whined as he was taken away from his toys. “Bluey, you can’t throw yourself off the bed like that! You could’a hurt yourself!”

“And yet he didn’t…” Chrysalis chuckled a bit, rubbing the little ling’s head. “Bravery can carry one far… But he’ll still need guidance, Red. That’s why you’re here,” she stated, her face baying a sense of seriousness.

Red looked down at Blue, who chittered in annoyance as he tried to wriggle free. He could see it as well as Chrysalis could. Blue had the spirit, but was more of a raging torrent with little control “Yeah… I know, but how can I help him when I can’t fly?”

Chrysalis shook her head, placing a hoof on his shoulder. Though mildly annoyed at Red’s constant nagging want of wings, she managed to calm herself just enough. As vain as she was, she still had a little love in her heart, though strained it may be. Alas, she managed to utter, “You can still guide someone, regardless of if you have a shattered horn or a pair of broken wings, Red.”

Red thought for a bit, his little brother still wriggling around, getting ever so annoyed at his “genius” plan failing. Then, it hit Red, much like an oncoming train. He looked up at Chrysalis, a bit of gleam in his eyes. Without missing a beat, he asked, “Mother Chrysalis? Can I change my name?”

Chrysalis tilted her head, a small smile forming on her face. This was a surprise, not many bugs had ever asked to change their names. The process was difficult, with lots of hoops to jump through, and most times it would be with a rope tied around your legs. But alas, she nodded. “I can try to, but why?”

“I think… I think I wanna change it to something that helps me remember why I’m watching Bluey…” he smiled down at the now very angry bug, who was hissing like a snake, though Red hadn’t noticed. After a while, Red came up with his new, very creative name. “How about Brokenwing? Y’know, because I only have one wing?”

Chrysalis’ smile simply grew, and she merely stared at him in amusement. Rarely had someone changed their name, let alone to match their injury. “Well, I could probably work something out. But uh… are you sure you want to change your name?” she asked. “It’s hard enough as is, and if I do, I probably won’t be able to change it back.”

He nodded happily. “Yeah!” he smiled, holding his brother. “You hear that? I’m gonna get a new na—” Blue suddenly bit down on the newly named Brokenwing’s hoof, causing him to yelp out in pain, as the now angry Blue sank his fangs into his hoof.

Chrysalis stifled a chuckle, watching the very one-sided fight. Heh… These two are gonna be just fine…

Chapter 1: Love at First Fight

In most cases, young changeling nymphs were often violent, willing to lash out at very miniscule issues. Being raised to be natural-born soldiers, it was only an instinct. However, there was the occasional shade of white amongst the sea of black. Though they were natural killing machines, they still had emotions, individuality, things that stood one bug out from another. Some liked to read, some liked to fight, some liked to create, some liked to destroy. And of course, despite looking mostly the same, with the occasional bug having some form of mutation, defect, or self-made appearance, each bug was unique to a degree, and there were—at least in theory—No two bugs that were truly alike.

For Blue Fang, now sixteen, his difference was distinct; his blue fangs. Though they weren’t anything special, as stated, genetic mutations weren’t uncommon, Blue was very proud of his blue mouth daggers.

Blue, along with his friends, Mantis, Stinger, and Dagger, sat in class alongside a few other changelings. As usual, Academy time was a bore. Hours of their day spent learning about their militarized lives, it was mostly stuff they wouldn’t need or use outside of the Academy. But alas, they were here, so they’d might as well make the most of their time. Not like they had a choice.

Blue was absorbed in a Devil Horns manual, as was about eighty percent of the class. Along the blue-fanged bug’s gray uniform was a collection of Devil Horn-related pins, mostly related to his academic lessons. The section of the manual he was currently reading was over uniform regulations, not something he needed, but since boredom hit, there wasn’t much else he could do. Leaning back, he plopped the manual back down, looking over to Dagger. The short ball of energy couldn’t hold himself still. His body bounced impatiently, his legs tapped and trotted swiftly, his forehooves clippity-cloppped across his desk, and his eyes darted around the room as if he’d eaten a mountain of sugar. The bug hadn’t changed much.

“Hey Shortstack! Cut it out!” Mantis whispered over to Dagger, referring to the fact that the only thing that grew was his personality.

“I’m not even that short, Mant!” Dagger retorted, his muzzle flaring in mild offense, his hooves tapping a bit more aggressively. Mantis rolled his eyes.

“Stop tapping your hooves, Dag! It’s getting annoying…”

“Ah shaddup…”

Blue couldn’t help but chuckle a bit, mildly amused at the twos’ squabble. He looked over to Stinger, who as usual, was buried in schoolwork. And lots of it. The lime-eyed bug had a lighter gray uniform, one decorated with medical-related ribbons. His muzzle was buried in a medical textbook, his eyes bearing very little reaction to the horrors within. He seemed mildly annoyed at the interruption not too far behind him.

Blue leaned back, careful not to annoy Stinger further. He then turned to another bug, one who sat in front of him. “Hey, Var, where's Ampth at?” he asked, leaning forward.

Var, a younger-looking bug with a larger frill, looked over. “I dunno… But uh…” He leaned back towards Blue, though looked over at the door, fearful that the instructor would walk in. Each time he turned to face Blue, he turned back to make sure Ampth hadn’t walked in. After several seconds of turning between the door and Blue, he finally spoke. “Me and Visral overheard Ampth talking with Scarab…” he looked back at the door again, then back at Blue. “We’re getting some kinda… important lesson… A more hooves on one.”

Blue’s ears perked excitedly, and he nodded, leaning back to pass the message back onward. The class was soon whispering about the lesson, and what it might pertain to. Soon, the entire class minus one were chatting about the lesson. Stinger was still more focused on his work, his eyes merely tracing the pages of his manual.

Despite Stinger’s soulless existence, the others were still more than happy and hopeful that the lesson wouldn’t be boring.

Eventually, the door opened, and in stepped their instructor, Ampth. Average build, a chip on his shoulder, and the personality of a powder keg sitting by a campfire. Beside him, General Scarab, General of the Devil Horns. He was a taller bug with darker blue eyes. He had a heart of gold, maybe with coal sprinkled along it. He was dressed in perhaps the most prestigious uniform in the room, hell, maybe the hive. It was a dark bluish-gray uniform, with several medals and ribbons along it, the one that stood out the most being the golden Devil Horn insignia, a mighty stag beetle climbing a hill.

The classroom went silent.

Blue had been around Scarab a few times, mostly due to Brokenwing. Scarab was nicer than the warm spots of the hive, almost fatherlike, and yet Blue couldn’t help but feel a tad frightened around Scarab. Something about either his booming command voice or the fact that even when resting, he always looked ready to engage in mutual combat.

Despite these conflicting emotions, he sat silently, watching as Scarab walked in, a weird-looking box bouncing on his back.

Ampth turned to face the class, a hint of annoyance on his face. “Y’all waiting on an invite? Stand up!” he snapped, causing the class to suddenly stand up, raising their right hooves to their foreheads, just at the base of their horns, in a desperate attempt at saluting.

After a tense silence, Ampth’s face relaxed. “At ease and take seats… And don't let it happen again.”

The class sat down, looking up at Scarab, who placed the box down on the desk at the front. Blue peered over at the strangely long box. It looked weird and thin, yet very long. Despite that, you wouldn’t be able to fit a lot inside. The side facing the class had what looked like a handle, which sat in between two latches. Before Blue could wonder about the contents of the box, Scarab turned to Ampth, clearly ready to start. “Thank you, Serzhant Ampth, you may be dismissed till I finish the lesson.”

“Yes, General.” He saluted, before leaving the classroom.

Scarab then turned to the class. “Good morning, Kadety,” he said, addressing the class.

“Morning General,” the cadets replied, staring up at him excitedly.

Scarab couldn’t help but smile, chuckling. He sat on the desk, careful not to bruise his uniform. “So, I’ve looked over your progress as a class, and I’ve decided that you all need a more personal lesson,” he stated, his tone somewhere between proud and serious, something that both confused and frightened the class. Sure, they'd dealt with Ampth's occasional tantrum, but at the end of they day, the worse he did was a exercises or flogging. But Scarab was a General-Divizii, one of only four in the Hive, and the General of the Devil Horns no less. He could have them court martialed at the drop of the hat. And yet, he was as kind and merciful as an angel. They appreciated it.

Climbing down, Scarab turned to the box. The class heard two loud clicks as the latches popped open, and then the box creaked open. When the seal was finally broken, Scarab finally stepped back, letting the class view the contents.

Before them was a… Well, they weren’t sure what it was. It was certainly a machine of sorts, yet it seemed like a bunch of metal and wood junk scrambled together with a long tube on the end and what appeared to be a lever near the end of it. Though, it wasn’t too unfamiliar to the cadets, as they’d seen the actual soldiers lug them around. Scarab picked it up, pointing the tube towards the floor and keeping his hoof behind the lever.

“Now, this class is the Eciton Model Five, the standard issue bolt-thrower for the Devil Horns.” He sat down on the desk, pulling back on what looked like a lever on the side, sliding open a top compartment. When the bar was pulled back far enough, he released his grip, the bar staying in place. Scarab then reached over into the strange box, pulling out a piece of slightly curved metal that held red darts, though the class couldn’t tell what material they were made of. Scarab ignored them, before holding the piece outward. “The Eciton fires a seven-centimeter-long-by-fifteen-millimeter-wide bolt, loaded from a small metal bar, called a clip,” he explained, before positioning the strip atop the opening. When the strip was in position, he pressed down on the red darts, loading them into the bolt-thrower, then removing the strip and haphazardly tossing it aside, a light ding ringing out from the corner the strip was tossed in.

The class watched with a mix of awe and slight worry. Despite this, most of them were more than excited to get their hooves on one. Stinger was the outlier. As he gazed upon the weapon, he clutched his medical book, a rare hint of emotional distress on his face; though none noticed.

Scarab noticed, but alas, had to continue with the lesson. But he kept a mental note to check up on the green-eyed shifter. He took a breath, before continuing. “Now, this bolt-thrower is classified as a ‘longthrower,’ and is called such for its mix of actual length and its long-ranged capabilities.” He then pulled the side lever back, a click sounding out. He then released it and the bar flew forward, the top-fed compartment snapping shut with it. “Before we continue, I’d like to say that this is a training bolt-thrower, and no one’s in any danger. Despite that, I’ll be treating this as if it were real,” he said, before reaching back and grabbing a tool from the box. “While I’m here, let me tell you the parts…” he pointed the tool at the middle part, which looked like a metal box. “This is the receiver, basically the skeleton of the weapon. It holds everything from the trigger,” he pointed at the bottom lever. “The magazine,” he pointed at a strange box that seemed welded into the bottom. “The barrel,” he motioned towards the tube near the end. “The stock,” he pointed at the very rear of the weapon, to a triangular-shaped part that stuck out of the end. It looked like a metal frame and was about as flimsy as a wet twig. “And most important, the magi-gen.” He reached back into the case, pulling out a glass box that glowed a bright green. “This is installed into the bolt-thrower, as is what allows it to fire,” he explained, whilst unscrewing something on the receiver.

Mantis watched carefully, trying to not miss a detail. He looked down at his notepad, scribbling down notes on the lesson, believing they’d be useful in the future. He looked up, listing down the parts.

When Scarab had gotten the compartment open, he displayed the empty opening to the class. Or well, empty plus the bolts. So maybe not so empty.

“This is where most of the internals will go. I’d highly recommend those of you wishing to become Leaf Cutters take notes when we start the actual bolt-thrower training next week,” Scarab spoke, turning to gaze at Mantis, who merely nodded, before continuing to take notes. Scarab couldn’t help but smile a bit, before he of course straightened himself out. “Now, that should be all for today. I've moved your bolt-thrower up, since you've all been showing a lot of promise” he stated, pulling the box over and placing the bolt-thrower back in. “Blue Fang, Stinger, I need to see you two before you head out. Dismissed.”

The class stood up heading out. Blue and Stinger sat, awaiting Scarab’s orders.

Scarab turned to them. “Okay, firstly, Blue. Princess Kydra has requested your presence. Head up to the top floor, please. I’ve already let General Yellowjacket know, the Wasps will let you pass.”

Blue Fang nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Dismissed, kadet.”

Blue stood up and stepped out of the class, shooting a glance at Stinger, who shrugged. Blue nodded silently, before walking out. Now it was just Scarab and Stinger. Scarab took a breath, staring down at the young bug. “Stinger. You’re training to be a Honeybee, right?”

Stinger nodded, shutting his notebook. “Yes, General.”

Scarab chuckled a bit. “Please Stinger, rank is a formality. We’re friends.”

Stinger merely nodded again. “Yes sir, Scarab.”

Scarab gave a soft smile. “What's bothering you, kid?” he asked, his face bearing worry. “You’re usually the most uh…” he thought for a bit, looking down at the younger bug. “I guess… the most emotionally silent of your little friend group.”

Stinger shrugged. “I uh… I enjoyed the lesson, sir… it’s just…” the young nymph looked around the room, a rare hint of emotion flashing yet again. “I’unno, maybe it’s because I’m a medic bug at heart, sir. I was raised by the doctors and nurses, I cain’t bring myself to hurt others…” he shrugged. “It’s just not in my blood, sir.”

Scarab chuckled. “I understand… Believe me, no one here truly wants to kill,” he replied. “And I won’t force you to kill either. But I still have to teach you to fight, it's part of the job," he replied, sighing a bit. His ears twitched at Stinger's radiating sadness, which ran bitter along his taste buds. He looked over, a small smile appearing on his face. "But, I’m always here to talk with you. Besides, you got a whole class of friends too. You'll turn out great,” he reassured, patting Stinger’s shoulder.

“Sir?” Stinger looked up. “Are you sure? I mean… aren’t you not allowed to… uh…”

“Socialize?”

“Y-Yeah, that. Aren’t you not allowed to have bonds with us?” Stinger asked, looking up at the towering bug. "I mean, from most of the stories I've read, the most high rankers would've just let us die."

Scarab chuckled. “Yeah, but who the Tartarus is gonna tell me to stop being different?”

Stinger returned the chuckle. “Fair enough sir.”

“Good. Now! Go get some food in your stomach. I got business to attend to,” Scarab said, grabbing the box, lifting it off the table.

Stinger saluted. “Yes sir!” He then turned, leaving the room, followed by Scarab, who shut off the classroom’s lights.

~~~

Blue stood in front of two slightly larger than usual double doors. They were made of oak wood, a rare material. It was strange to the juvenile changeling. He’d never actually seen real wood. At most, he’s only seen the green vines and stems from most of the fauna around the Hive, along with the lantern plants, fungi, and moss that spread like serpents.

He lifted his hole-infested hoof and knocked four times. On the fourth, he kept his hoof on the door, slightly confused. From the pictures of trees he’d seen, wood always looked like spiky rocks. Rough, ridgid. Something you wouldn’t want to rub against. The door, however, felt… smooth. More like polished granite or something. It even had a bit of gloss to it, as his glowing ocelli reflected at him slightly.

After a while of awkwardly handling the door, it opened, causing him to snap back to position awkwardly.

A changeling dressed in obsidian armor peaked out. He stared down at Blue, blinking. “Name and business.”

“Uh… Blue Fang, I was requested by Her Majesty, Princess Kydra?”

The changelings peeked back into the room. After a bit of talking, he peeked out again. “Alright. Just need some info. Rank?”

“Uh… Kadet.” He felt his heart thump.

“Good. Age?”

“Sixteen.” His heart began to jump,

“Good. And your ID number?”

“Uh… Three-five-seven-four-four.” His heart started to collapse like a dying star.

“Alright, good. Welcome in, Blue Fang.” The guard stepped back, opening the door.

Though nervous, Blue breathed a sigh of relief, his chest cooling down. He stepped in, looking around. The throne room was large. Spacious, open, lots of constantly shifting entrances. The throne itself sat atop a spiky structure. He stepped closer, wanting to get a closer look at the throne. As he approached, he felt a dark aura wrap around his spine like a frozen cobra. Something about the throne felt… off. As he got closer, he felt dissociated from the rest of the world. So much power, all kept in one rock…

“Blue!”

The nymph’s eyes fluttered as the ground seemed to return to normal. Turning away from the throne, he turned to face a pink-accented changeling with a long frill. She watched him curiously.

“What are you doing?”

Blue shrugged, carefully stepping past the jagged floor decor. “Nothin’… I’ve just never been in the throne room. And I’ve never seen the throne…” Blue said, staring back at the throne.

“Wouldn’t those both correlate together though?”

Blue turned back. “Corra… corrawhat?” he asked, staring at her. “Ky, you gotta speak common, I don’t understand them fancy words.”

Kydra blushed, clearly a bit embarrassed. “Sorry… mother instructs me to project opinions properly so the Regulars can’t comprehend our conversations.”

“…You could’ve just called me stupid.”

~~~

Blue sat beside Kyrdra, feeling the strangely comfortable bed they were atop. He’d never sat on something so… soft. He couldn’t explain it if he wanted, but it was so… bouncy? Like someone had filled a ball of moss with water or something. He barely focused on the room itself, more content with simply bouncing up and down on the bed. He glanced up at Ky, almost amazed. Though, he’d never admit it, being around Ky made him feel all… fluffy inside. Like, a flock of butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. Angry butterflies, but butterflies nonetheless.

“Ky, what is this made of? It’s so… squishy?”

Kydra shrugged. “Mother said they’re made of cotton and wool… apparently, it comes from sheep.”

“The heck is a sheep?” Blue asked, now even more confused.

“Uh… think of a cow? But smaller and fluffy? They look like walking clouds…”

“Cows? Clouds? Now you’re just makin’ up words!” Blue huffed, crossing his hooves.

“I am not! You want me to prove it?”

“What? That these “cows” and “clouds” are real?”

Kydra nodded. “Yeah! I’ll prove cows and clouds are real things!”

Blue rolled his eyes, rolling off the bed, flopping onto the equally soft floor. “Yeah right! Besides, you’ve never even been outside!” Blue bit back, his ears flaring defensively. “I bet you don’t even know what grass feels like!”

“Well neither do you!” she argued back, stomping on her bed.

“‘Least I’m honest about it!” he cried back. “Besides, I will see grass in like… I think two years! So ha!” he gave a triumphant smirk, proudly stepping up onto her bed. “And when I do see grass, I’ll send it back to ya in a box! Then we’ll see who’s smart.”

“Still me, Bluey.”

“Stop calling me that!” Blue snapped, huffing. “I’m not Bluey. I’m Blue. Big difference!”

Kydra giggled, lying on her stomach. “Sure you are~” she teased, giving a slight smirk.

Blue sighed, looking around Kydra’s room. It was much larger than Blue and Brokenwing’s room. Spacious, covered in décor that wasn’t just propaganda posters, furniture, and all forms of entertainment from toys to books. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere, the sheets were cleaner than the clearest of marble, and the floor had a weird, sort of blanket. It felt sort and mossy, and very itchy.

To tell the truth, Blue was a little jealous. His room wasn’t nearly as nice as Kydra’s. He looked back at the princess, both jealous and curious. “Are all Elite dens this… uh… fancy?”

She tilted her head. “Your den isn’t big?”

“Nope. In fact, it’s basically a box…” he thought for a bit, thinking back to the size of his room. “Just enough room for me and my brother’s beds and maaaaaaybe a few places to play games. But that’s what we got,” he shrugged, staring at Kydra.

Kydra couldn’t find the words to respond. “Goddess above, that sounds like a prison!” she suddenly exclaimed.

“Eh, it’s alright, reall—”

“No Blue, it ain’t.” She suddenly stood up on the bed. “And I swear to you, as future Queen of the Changelings, I’ll fix the Regulars' bedrooms!”

Blue stared up at Kydra, a small blush appearing on his face. “Kydra, you don’t gotta…”

“But I will!” she beamed, hopping down. “And I’ll uh… shit, Blue what are some other problems you Regulars have?”

Blue shrugged. “Iunno… It’s a pretty simple life, Ky,” he said, thinking. “We wake, eat, train, rec, sleep, repeat.” He sat on the edge of her bed. “Not a lotta complaints. Besides, we get first rations during a food or water shortage.”

“I suppose, but I still think that it’s my duty as the next royal up for the throne, to fix your problems!” Kydra huffed, stepping back up.

Blue rolled his eyes, sitting back. “Yeah, yeah.”

“You don’t believe me, do ya?” she asked, hopping off the bed, landing on the soft floor. Her pink eyes fluttered, and she adjusted her stance to a more neutral one.

“Iunno. I just…” Blue shrugged. “Not much has changed really. I guess there’s nothing really to expect.”

Kydra rolled her eyes, stepping over. “Well, there will be change! Trust me!”

Blue chuckled, adjusting himself on her bed. He opened his mouth to speak, only for a loud knock on the door echoed into the room, causing the two to jump. Kydra looked over, confused. “Enter!” she called out, rolling her eyes.

The door cracked open, and a pair of red eyes crawled into the room. After a few seconds, the full figure of a larger changeling was soon revealed to the two, his two ruby eyes piercing through the shadows of the room.

Kydra rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Hive?”

Hivehunter stepped in, looking around the room. “Well, usually you’re as quiet as a dead rat…” he then turned to Blue, his eyes narrowing. “I didn’t know you had a guest over.”

Blue shivered a bit, looking at Ky, herself looking more annoyed. “Hive, I’m perfectly capable of having a friend in my room,” she stated, stomping a hoof in rebellion. “Besides, it’s just Blue, we’ve known each other since we were larvae! I trust him as much as I trust you.”

“I see…” Hive let out a small snarl, before walking over. Kydra was going to protest, but she was simply pushed back by Hive’s hoof. He then stepped up to Blue, narrowing his eyes in disgust. “You better not hurt Ky.”

Blue’s ears flattened and his eyes narrowed. “You trust me so little? I haven’t messed up so far.”

“Don’t back talk to me, Blue,” Hive snapped quietly. “Your brother may be older than me, but I’m still the prince,” he murmured, placing a hoof on Blue’s chest.

Blue looked down, a slight anger rising in his body. With little forethought, or really... any thought at all, Blue swatted Hive’s hoof off his chest. Hive let out a roar, before suddenly lunging at the younger changeling, the two crashing into a wall. Blue let out a wince, feeling his back hit the wall first, followed by Hive’s additional weight.

Kydra let out a yell. “Hey! Stop that!” she called out, walking over to try and stop the two from fighting. Hivehunter looked over, and again, pushed her away.

Blue growled, swinging his hoof into the side of Hivehunter’s face. Hive let out a grunt, before grabbing Blue’s shoulders tightly, swinging him around, and tossing him to the ground beside Ky’s bed. Hive shook his head, regaining his composure, before attempting to rush Blue, who quickly scrambled out of the way, landing beside Ky’s nightstand. He pulled himself up as Hivehunter readied to charge again.

Blue felt his hoof land on something metal, and he looked down. A tray. He looked up, just as Hive rushed him again. With little time to weigh his options, he grabbed the tray and swung it hard, catching the older bug’s face and sending him sprawling to the floor. He flopped over, laying still. Blue dropped the tray, the clanging echoing throughout the room.

Blue sighed, stepping away from the downed bug, his eyes glued to his downed opponent. He took a breath, before turning to see Ky, equally, if not more, angry.

“Uh… In my defense, it was self-defense.”

“You trashed my room!” she snapped suddenly. "You couldn't have just stepped outside?!"

Blue’s ears folded back. “Hey! Listen, maybe if your brother wasn’t trying to kill me, we wouldn’t be here!”
As the two argued, said brother got back up. Blue felt a sudden pressure wrap around his neck, before he crashed to the ground, a sharp pain shooting through his back. He felt a heavy weight land on him, followed by several hits to his face. He tasted and smelt an unfamiliar metallic flavor, with each punch blacking out his vision.

Suddenly, the punches stopped, and he was able to look up at Hivehunter, who took a second to catch his breath. He looked down, snarling as their eyes met. He raised his hoof, ready to strike again. Suddenly, his hoof was grabbed.

Hive's eyes widened, seemingly surprised by the strength of whoever grabbed his hoof. He tried to turn and see who it was that. “Hey, what the fu—”

Suddenly, another hoof sent Hive to the ground, this time unconscious. To Blue’s surprise, above him stood Kydra, still very pissed about her room. Blue stood, legs wobbling. He shooks his head. He looked over at Ky, a small smile forming. “Heh… thanks Ky, I—”

~~~

Brokenwing sat in his chair, reading a book he’d found in the Archives. Nothing too fancy, it was a book about the Changeling-Pony War, some old conflict that happened some thousand years ago. He’d probably read this one a hundred times over. Thus, he was pretty bored.

His ears twitched. He looked over to the door, walking over. He stared at it a bit, before opening it. There, a changeling guard stood, along with a large chest. He looked at her rank, a Kapral.

“Uh… Can I help you, Kapral?” Broken asked,

The Kapral nodded, her eyes looking up to meet his. “Sorry to bother you, Kapitan. But her majesty’s daughter has sent you a gift,” she spoke, waving to the chest.

Broken nodded, though a bit confused. “Alright. Dismissed, soldat.”

The changeling nodded, before walking off, leaving Broken and the chest in front of his den. He sighed, grabbing it and pulling it over. It was surprisingly heavy, but he managed to pull it into his room, setting it down beside Blue’s bed. As he let go, he noticed a piece of paper taped to it. Curious, he picked it up, reading it.

‘Dear Brokenwing,
I’m glad you allowed your brother to come see me today! He’s a sweetie, really. That being said, I’d say it’s best to teach him a few house rules, he can get very playful. He’s made a small mess of my room, but it’s no trouble, really. I still think it would be good to teach him to respect others’ rooms in the future though.

Her majesty, Kydra.

P.S. Open the box please, I left Blue a gift.’

Broken rolled his eyes, chuckling a bit. Kids would be kids, he supposed. Setting the paper down, he walked over expecting some form of import, exclusive for Blue only. But when he cracked open the box, he was met by… well, Blue. Beaten and bruised like a used punching bag.

“Uh… Blue, you good?”

“Owwww…”

Chapter 2: The Duelist

“I’m telling you, Cornalis! That bug’s up to no good!”

Hivehunter huffed, lifting an angered hoof which struck one of the equine shaped targets, forcing it to the floor, the sound of paper ripping resounding as it crashed into the rocky outcast beneath. The target itself was lazily painted gray, with little blue rocks paste equally along the mouth, the same effort in them as the color. The dummy was beaten to little recognition, with more rips and tears along it than the new wound had created. Puffs of fluffy cotton bled from the dummy, which the changeling seemed more than pleased with.

Beside the angered changeling were four other bugs, watching with both mild amusement and mild fear. The air in the room was heavy, with no one able to really break through the weight of the atmosphere. To the four comrades, their friend’s horrible, evil wrath seemed more like a coping mechanism rather than actual venting. Truth be told, that fear they had was more directed at the blood veins their friend might burst.

The one Hive had called out, Cornalis, tilted his head. Though a close friend, the bug felt, no, knew he’d have to choose his words right. Probably wasn’t a good idea to piss off the Queen’s son. With a heavy breath, he spoke as carefully as his lavender accented chitin. “Uh… L-Leytenant, don’t you think you’re overreacting?” he asked, flinching slightly, expecting Hive to punch him. Or worse. But he kept talking. “I mean, they’re sixteen now, it’s normal for’em to start making lovey eyes or whatever.”

“Y-Yeah,” another one, Wirax, spoke bravely, though his bones were rattling like beans in a maraca. His copper chitin gleamed against the green light of the lantern pod plants that were sprouting from the walls. He shifted to a more comfortable position on the rock he was sat on, azure eyes illuminating the angered bug. “I mean, you and Snapdragon have been together since you were both what? Fifteen?”

Hivehunter rolled his eyes, turning to face his friends, eye twitching. The group flinched again, Wirax nearly taking a tumble off his rock. Hive didn’t notice, simply shaking his head, stumbling over his words. “Wha-huh-tha-that has little to do with this! I at least know Snap!” he whisper-shouted, stomping a hoof angrily. Right. Royal tantrum. Son of the Queen, everybug!

“Sir, this is still a flawed argument,” Cornalis argued, now a little braver—and annoyed at this teenage temper-tantrum—stepping up to meet Hive. “I mean, haven’t they known each other since they were hatchlings?”

Hive shot a glare at the bug, clearly not happy with his admittedly solid argument. How does one respond to facts and logic? “Listen, the point is, I don’t like him.” He rolled his eyes, lifting up the dummy. “How would you like it if some stranger randomly started dating someone you barely know?”

Ah yes, dodging the argument all together. Truly a royal indeed.

Cornalis flinched a bit, a pang of hurt stabbing through his shell. “Uh… I wouldn’t know…” he spoke softly, stepping back a few paces. “I don’t have any siblings, sir…” he admitted, his face relaxing into a frown. He plopped down on the cold floor, lazily kicking a rock into a nearby corner, his gaze shifting into the floor.

Hive halted, his anger subsiding as he watched someone he considered a brother sink into the earth. He sighed, the urge to punch himself growing large. This was his friend after all, they all were. And yet, he couldn’t think of his younger sister like this. He took a breath, turning to his friends. “Fine, you win. But I think you’ll all agree with me when I say that she shouldn’t be dating a Regular.”

The group sat silently, looking up at their friend, before the gaze drifted from Hivehunter slowly towards one of their own, who sat quietly beside them, their dark blue chitin quietly shining. Hivehunter turned, uncomfortable by the silence, only to see their friend looking down, a gray cloud now strung over their head.

“Oh shit… uh… sorry Iris…” he apologized. “Nothing against you, you’re an Elite now.”

Iris looked up, feigning a smile. “It’s fine, Leytenant, no harm done…”

In reality, Hive had basically brought down a castle spire onto Iris, whose family was originally considered Regulars, but thanks to a few open spots, were allowed to the top. Still, the changeling worked hard to prove himself worthy of his new Elite status, as the wall of scars that danced across his body showed.

The princebug sighed, reaching over to rub Iris’ shoulder. With an admittedly compassionate smile, he tried his best to apologize. “Alright, listen… I’m sorry, alright? I’m just mad…” he sat down.

Wirax stood up, his horn, which split into two points, casting a small shadow over the two, his silver eyes casting a hint of doubt at how genuine Hive was being… and yet understanding the protectiveness over his younger sister. “Leytenant, listen,” he spoke. “I know it’s a bit… weird. But relax. It’s normal for kids to fall for each other, it ain’t nothing personal.”

“Still! I feel like this can only end badly…” Hive replied as he stood up, stretching. “You know how Regulars can be… For all the good they do, they act like dogs!”

Again, Iris flinched slightly.

“Might your opinion of Regies be coming from stereotypes and classist tendencies instead of actual encounters,” the last of the group, Chronicle, finally interjected, his posh accent contrasting with the others as he daintily bounced into the exchange. “Besides sir, your best friends are Regulars, aren’t they?” he asked, straightening his frill.

“Who? Brokenwing and Night? Yeah, but they’re actually cool. Blue is a… well, a brat!” Hive snapped. “Besides, what has Blue done to deserve to date my sister? He has no life accomplishments.”

“Well, he’s certainly humble,” Wirax mumbled.

“Not to mention he’s Broken’s little brother,” Cornalis followed up. “I mean, he’s gotta have some of that politeness etched into his brain.”

“He’s got a mouth, that’s for sure,” Hive rebutted, his nostrils flaring as his face bore a look of anger.

The conversion began to slowly die down into silence, giving way for two more changelings to run over. One had a pair of red wings with a black carapace. The other was a more common patterned changeling, gray chitin and blue shell.

“Yetzal, Helix! What’s happening?” Wirax greeted, smiling at the two.

The red-winged changeling, Yetzal, smirked back. The group was slightly prepared for the eager bug to say something either completely insane, a lie, bad idea… or rarely, an actual piece of interesting news. He bounced over, the group preparing for the worst. “Listen, y’alls know how them arena fights is coming up this weekend?”

“Yes, what of it?” Chronicle joined, his proper demeanor dropping in favor of whatever Yetzal had to say.

“Well, this month they’s letting us Elites join in the fights!” Yetzal cheered, clearly excited.

At first, they hadn’t believed him. Elites were considered too valuable to let fight in the arena, after all, they were the smartest and strongest of the Hive. But an affirming nod from Helix turned them into believers real fast.

“Ooh! I get to legally kick someone’s ass?!” Wirax asked, hopping off his rock, excited to jump into the pit.

“Yeah!” Yetzal nodded. He then turned to the quiet bug in the corner. “Hey Scar, you’s wanna join? You’s a good fighter, ya’know that!”

Iris looked up, ears perking as his nickname was called. “Oh uh… I could try. But I—”

“Oh good! You should join too, Hive!” Yetzal chirped, his teasing smirk peering at the bug.

Hive rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to jump into the arena. We get the best training around.”

“I think ya missed the part of ‘legally kicking someone’s ass,’” Yetzal interjected, nudging Hive a bit.

Hive looked back at the torn up dummy, gazing at it haphazardly. The longer he stared at it, the wider his smirk grew. “Hm… alright. I’ll join.”

“Sweet! Follow me, I’ll take y’all to the registration!” Yetzal turned, leading the group towards the arena.

~~~

Blue laid on his stomach, shifting to get a bit more comfortable. In his grasp, a bolt-thrower, the Eciton. He was just one in a small line of changelings recruits laying on a firing line. They were set up in a long corridor, with their targets at the end of the large room.

He clutched the weapon, aiming at a target with a crudely drawn pony on it. He took a breath, squeezing down on the trigger. There was a loud pop and the longthrower kicked into his shoulder. He winced as he felt it dig into his leg, his hoof flinching as he brushed the trigger again. As he shot, the rest of the bolt-throwers sang out, sounds of rock shattering echoing back at them.

“Remember! Count your shots!” Ampth called out. “You only get ten shots per clip! If you get caught with an empty weapon, it’s on you!”

Blue rolled his eyes, before peering down the sights. Three more rapid fire offs. “Six left…” he muttered, continuing to fire. His ears twitched as he heard the sound of an empty bolt-thrower click. Someone fired their longthrower on empty. He didn’t turn to watch, but he heard Ampth’s angry hoofsteps. Blue sighed, a hint of pity as his comrade was viciously torn to shreds by Ampth’s voice.

Blue winced, and along with the other trainees, waited for Ampth to finish his shouting fit. After which, the Serzhant turned to face the rest of the trainees. “What are you green bloods waiting for?! Keep firing!”

The changelings went back to firing their weapons.

Blue was now down to the last shot, which he squeezed off, watching as the paper jumped and buckled. He watched as the slide locked back, as he reached into his bag, pulling out the strip of metal that held the bolts. Aligning the clip with the chamber, be pressed down, loading the bolts down. Then, he released the slide, watching as the strip of metal was launched off, landing beside him with a soft jangle. He then continued firing.

Ampth leaned back, watching the trainees fire into the targets. As he observed, waiting for another empty click, his ears twitched as he heard the sound of hoofsteps. Half-annoyed, lowered onto his hooves, turning to see a few changelings trotting down towards them. Two of them were in dark gray uniforms, Wasps. The other was a random Elite. Ampth didn’t visualize it, his tongue ran with venom, a soft snarled lowly.

They stepped over to Ampth, eyes casting doubt upon him. He met their gaze, immediately ordering the trainees to stop firing so he could hear. They stood, their eyes wandering over at the Elites.

“Serzhant Ampth?” the Elite asked, staring at Ampth judgingly.

“That’s me.” Ampth stood firm. “How can I be of service?”

The Elite cleared his throat, unrolling a scroll. “Kadet Blue Fang, I.D. number three-fifty-seven-forty-four, his majesty, Prince Hivehunter, challenges your hoof to combat within the colosseum. You are to appear for your trial by combat tomorrow.” He then rolled the scroll up, before turning to Ampth, saluting. “As you were, Serzhant,” he spoke, before walking off, his escorts beside him.

Ampth stared for a bit, before turning to face the bugs who were still prone on the firing line. With a veil of silence, the soldiers began shooting again. Underneath the fire, Blue ducked his head down, praying not to be seen.

~~~

Broken sighed, looking at Blue, who kind of just stared at the floor. Though his younger brother getting into a life or death fight with the literal Prince of the Hive wasn’t on his yearly bucket list, it was here to stay. With a sigh, he pinched his mind for a brief second, before breathing through his teeth.

“Alright… no panic,” he said, visibly twitching. “The good thing is you get to choose the weapon, since you’re the one being challenged.”

Blue nodded, a hint of fear catching in his throat. “Yeah? But I’ve never really fought… I mean, I guess me and Hive had that tussle, but uh…” he shrugged. “Never really had an actual fight.”

“Well, you’re gonna learn.”

The two had gathered in one of the Hive’s training areas, where lay sparring mats and melee weapons. Broken walked over to a wall, where sat some melee. He reached over, grabbing two sets of dueling swords. They had very thin blades with a wide guard.

“This will be your weapon,” Broken stated, handing one to Blue.

The sword wasn’t too heavy. Comfortable in fact.

Broken turned. “This is a rapier. Lighter than a saber, good for dueling,” he spoke, raising up on his hind legs. He twirled the dull blade, staring his brother down.

Blue stepped closer, taking the rapier. Gently lifting it. It was gentle, almost elegant. Light with a flick of the hoof motion settling in. Looking up at his brother, Blue stepped back.

Broken nodded, raising up on his hind legs. “I’m sure you know how to balance yourself, no?” the eldest asked, expertly balancing himself.

“Yeah, of course!” Blue bit back, raising to mimic his brother’s stance, albeit with more wobble than wonder. His legs shook as he stood, but he steeled himself, raising the blade. “I ain’t that stupid!”

“Blue, you picked a fight with a fucking royal,” Broken stated flatly, his back straightening as he stood.

Blue huffed, his posture limp. He sucked in through his teeth, his hooves tightening. He hadn’t heard his brother curse often, and when he did, it wasn’t targeted at him, he felt ever so slightly hurt. Actually, he felt… angered. His face scrunched, and he looked up, before suddenly pushing off the ground, attempting to rush down his brother. As he passed his older kin, he felt himself go airborne, hooves around him, before suddenly slamming backfirst into the ground, air rushing out of his lungs as his eyes blurred. He groaned, rolling over onto his side, hooves attempting to hold his back.

“That’s your first lesson, don’t get all pissy.” Broken reprimanded, stepping over his brother. “And second lesson? Don’t get in grappling range of your opponent.”

“Got it…” Blue weakly replied, rolling onto his stomach, pushing himself up. “And Broken?”

“Hm?”

“Kiss my nonexistent ass…”

~~~

Some time had passed, and it showed. Blue was dressed in bandages and bruises from each whip, thwack, and pop that he received from Broken’s sword. His movement was disjointed, each step causing him a stinging burn and a flinch. His eyes darted up at the click of his brother’s hooves, and he watched his brother carefully, waiting for his older kin to make a move. Broken’s brow raised, watching as his brother lowered his guard. A feint, maybe? Broken wasn’t sure, but he knew his brother was gonna try something stupidly genius. Or just stupid, both were equally on the table.

Blue then thrusted the blade forward, parried by a flick from Broken. Blue parried the parry, before then shifting his weight into his shoulder, launching himself at his brother. Broken hadn’t expected this, and met Blue’s force head on, flailing to the ground beneath Blue. The younger then stood, attempting to pin his elder. What he had forgotten was that the older bug was still stronger.

Now, to Blue’s credit, Broken considered it a good idea. Had Blue maybe gone for his sword instead of the pin, he could’ve won this duel. But, along with that, he also exposed his belly. Broken lifted his rear legs, kicking hard, sending Blue off and onto the floor. Blue wheezed as he hit the floor, gagging as he felt the force in his stomach.

Broken stood, stretching slightly. “Damn Blue, you gotta stop throwing yourself at bugs, it ain’t working,” he teased.

The only reply he got has an anguished whine as Blue curled in on himself.

Broken”s gaze softened, and he stepped over. “Hey Blue…?” he started, planting a hoof softly in front of the younger. “You okay…?” he bade, gently nudging his younger sibling. Blue merely groaned again, clutching his stomach before rolling onto his back.

Ah damnit, Broken sighed, reaching down to help the younger to his hooves. I really hurt him this time. He raised up on his hinds, letting Blue lean on him for support. He noticed that Blue was surprisingly light; though that was probably a result of the adrenaline rather than Blue’s actual weight. He looked over, noticing a sparkling reflect in his eyes; water. Broken flinched, before helping his brother out of the door.

Broken carried Blue outside, into the halls. He looked around, noticing a few changelings staring at them. He ignored them, aiding Blue towards one of the Hive hospitals.

~~~

“Well sir, he’s alright.”

Brokenwing’s gaze turned from the white marble walls of the clinic. He hadn’t thought much of it, but seeing the clinic’s burning white walls as opposed to the usual gray and black rock almost… hurt. Their lanterns, more fancy oil lamps they’d probably stolen, produced an orange warmth Broken hadn’t felt in his life. He never noticed how cold the Hive was, his bones now rattling as he distanced himself from the lamps. The room they were in was at the mouth of the cave, with other beds lined up parallel and adjacent to theirs. In the corner, there were rudimentary sinks, connected to what few outside ponds they had. He now looked at the young medic. Stinger was appointed to help with less serious injuries, in this case Blue’s twisted stomach. The older bug sighed, lifting himself up onto the bed his sibling was sat on. “So… What’s up?”

“Well sir, you kicked him in the damn stomach,” Stinger jabbed. “All due respect, sir.”

“It’s alright Stinger…”

Stinger walked over to a cabinet, pulling it open. His lime-green eyes reflected against a pinkish glow that radiated from the cabinet. The two looked over, watching as Stinger pulled a vile of pink liquid from the container, trotting over carefully. Stepping past Broken, the younger medic bug twisted the cap off, handing it to Blue. “Don’t come knocking for more, these are patient rations.”

Blue nodded, sipping the juice from the vile. His cheeks flushed as he drank down the extract, turning a fuzzy green as he blushed. It was sweet, like honey or sugarcane, but somehow more tasty. He couldn’t place the taste, but it practically melted his tongue, causing him to shudder slightly. He lowered the empty vile, which Stinger took, gently placing it in the sink.

“Just rest for a bit, you should be better by tomorrow,” Stinger explained. “I’ll have another ration for you tomorrow.”

Blue nodded, standing weakly. “T-Thanks Stinger…”

The medic nodded, walking the two to the exit. As they left, Stinger gripped Broken’s shoulder with surprising strength. “Sir, next time, try not to put another bug in the infirmary,” he ordered coldly. Broken nodded, and though he didn’t show it, felt a slight hint of fear as the words left his comrade’s mouth.

~~~

The gentle sound of hooves against ground echoed through the halls, a signal to the many low-class changelings to clear the walkway and bow. Stepping past her subjects, Chrysalis feigned a smile at them, watching as they lowered their heads to her. Beside her, two of her personal guards marched in step, silent as the stones that built their walls. Chrysalis cocked her head, spotting some of the younger changelings staring in awe at her. Such a deserved audience, she thought, pride running as hot as her blood.

She rounded a corner, finding the door she needed. Opening the door, she stepped in, finding two of her favorite changelings. Broken was reading a book, whilst Blue was lain on his bed, playing with a few wooden soldiers. The regal bug stepped into the den, smiling as the two looked over.

“Mother Chrysalis? What brings you to our den?” Broken asked, lowering his book as he turned to meet her.

“Well, when I heard that my son wanted to challenge your brother, I couldn’t help but root for the lower class,” she answered, walking over to them, lowering herself to match Broken’s height. “And I just love an underdog story,” she poked, her voice sing-songing in sick glee.

Blue sat up, looking over at Chrysalis. “T-Thanks your majesty, but I really don’t deserve the fanfare at all.”

Chrysalis’ neck near snapped as she twisted her gaze to the younger. “Nonsense! All changelings should strive for glory, especially glory recognized by me.” She stood, walking daintily towards the injured. Where others would see predatory, Blue saw stars. The Queen, their Goddess, placing her faith in him! She lowered down, grinning ear to ear. “Besides…” she started, gently lifting him by the chin. “What would my daughter think of you if she saw you? Sure, watching her brother lose might dent something, but seeing her dearest friend claim victory in the arena? That would surely impress me,” she purred softly, venom lacing her sweet words.

Blue’s eyes practically gleamed, mouth hanging as his heart skipped a few beats. His mind bounced, balancing between Kydra, the glory, and the aftermath. He smiled cheerfully, struggling to respond.

Chrysalis straightened. “No matter!” she suddenly injected, releasing Blue as she stood. “I have brought my most expensive tea to celebrate your battle tomorrow.” She clicked her hooves, and one of her guards stepped in with two cups. One was wrapped in tape, which was promptly given to Blue. The other, non-taped cup, was brought to Brokenwing. Chrysalis chittered, head cocking as her mouth twisted into a smile as she looked over to Blue. “Sorry for the cup, little one. Unlike our weapons, cups aren’t exactly high priority.”

“It’s okay, your majesty,” he replied, lifting it to sip the tea, cheeks turning green as the sweet taste washed over his tongue. But there was a hint of something… bits of leaves, or maybe roots followed the liquid. He looked up at the Queen, who was smiling at him with kindness. “Your majesty, is it normal for tea to have… bits in it?”

Broken answered. “It’s normal, Bluey. The herbs sometimes leave little bits of themselves in the tea.” His voice was matter-of-factly, which made sense. A high ranking officer like him, he probably had tea hundreds of times.

“Oh, okay!” Blue smiled, reassured by his older brother. He lifted the cup, sipping the tea.

As the young bug drank, Chrysalis watched in almost clinical fascination. Her smile turned to that of glee as she watched the changeling down the tea, a proud smile gleaming against her.

Broken smiled, sipping his tea. He sighed, looking up at Chrysalis. “Thanks Mother,” he spoke kindly, snapping her attention back.

“Of course.” She held her head high, clearly enjoying the attention. “Now, Kaptian,” she addressed the elder brother. “I need you to oversee more shooting drills. Our army can’t sustain itself if it can’t hit its target.”

“Yes ma’am,” he obeyed, finishing his tea before standing. He walked over to Blue, sighing softly. “Rest up Blue. Tomorrow’s a big day.”

“Yes brother…” He replied in a mumble, straightening himself as he rolled onto the bed. He let out a soft cough, before rolling over.

Broken chuckled, trotting back to the regent. “Let’s go, mother.”

~~~

“Your majesty, I can’t stress that this is a completely idiotic idea!”

Chrysalis’ head cocked down, her gaze falling upon one of the scientists, the one who had boldly spoken out against her. The changeling, dressed in clinically cleaned white leathers stood before her, brow cocked in minor annoyance. Borax, his name was. Head scientist of the Research and Development team, known as the Pillbugs, he was a surprisingly built bug, his body bigger than most others. His horn was snapped, with it’s top half being replaced by a wooden prosthetic. His voice was as clinical as his attire, happiness nowhere near his known vocabulary.

They stood in one of the testing rooms, half of it divided by a reinforced glass wall. On their side, tables, chairs, and shelves were lined equally within the room, with typewriters, beakers, measurement tools, and other equipment laid along the tables.

Borax glared down the Queen, as if she’d committed treason against her own. He stomped over, a hiss catching in his throat. “Your majesty, I’d follow you to the gates of Tartarus, but by the Hivemother, what were you thinking?!”

Chrysalis chuckled, meeting him halfway. “What? You said the sample was stable, correct? Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“It is! But we haven’t tested it on bug DNA, let alone changeling DNA!” he snapped, his outfit flaring as his words flew. “We are bugs, my liege! This could be the death of our already strained species!” He sighed, halting himself and his tirade. He took a breath, stepping toward the end of the room. “I apologize, my Queen… But you saw what the sample did to the… other subjects…” he motioned to a large clump in the corner of the actual test chamber, shrouded in darkness, but they both knew. Borax smiled with a hint of glee, his ears perking as twisted thoughts played in his mind, staring at the mound of dead. “Ponies, griffons… all so fragile.”

“Keep it between your legs, Borax,” she reprimanded, stepping over.

“Apologizes.” He turned to her. “But my point stands, the modified cordyceps doesn’t play well with other creatures. What makes you think this changeling will be any different? Or safe?” His gaze unmoving, he spoke again, “You wiped out that forsaken fungus for good reason. You know aside from the Equestrian pesticides, ceps is the biggest killer of changeling hives! And that strand was our last sample. This fails, and it’s all for nothing. Or worse, that strand turns the kid into a walking corpse and kills us all.”

She looked over to the tray she’d walked in with, two mugs sat on it, one lined with tape. Her gaze softened, silently praying the sample hadn’t lost potency thanks to the tea. She shook her head, looking down at Borax. “Well Borax, I know Blue. He’s stupid, but he isn’t a quitter,” she spoke, eyes peering back over. “Besides, we’ll get a live test tomorrow in the arena.”

“I suppose you have a point… But what about Hivehunter?” he poked, still staring into the chamber. “He’s your son, no? Aren’t you afraid that the sample is effective, that Blue might kill him?”

Chrysalis thought for a bit. Her son, her true son. Her own flesh and blood. Truth be told, she cared for her young, and the prospect of one of them dying was something she hoped to never face. She’d seen thousands, maybe millions of her kind die in the past eons she’d been alive. And yet, this… the sight of her son in a coffin? It clawed at her mind, bouncing around annoyingly.

She halted, eyes twitching as the thought lingered. She sighed, attempting to repress her feelings, her ego ramming what little love she could have down her throat. She then turned, headed for the door. As she reached the door, she halted. “Well, he better not die,” she spoke coldly, turning to changeling. Her tone was flat, eyes tired. “Have Almexa bring today’s reports in. And please, dispose of those bodies. you’re going to stain my floors.”

Borax nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

With that, she closed the door.