Aculeate returned to the waking world with delay. Raw, instinctive sensation came first. Warmth most amongst them, a hearty and filling cinnamon-spiced heat that quivered through the hollow tubes of her insectile system.

On the outside, she looked like any ordinary pony, the only thing off about her perhaps the sheer gravid size of her ruby-colored rump. Itching between her legs, she moved with deliberate caution. Down the faint pudge of her belly she slid a hand, pawing for the moistened cleft between silky equine thighs.

"Mmm." Lost momentarily, her head and soul alike swam in post-coital bliss. The heat radiating off the pile of breathing bodies around her pressed in, their weight and mass reminding her of great banquets in the hive. Parades of glistening, chitinous forms would press themselves together, grinding, kissing, slurping, sharing in the captured love of many a hard-earned harvest. All in preparation for their brief stints of hibernation, and to ready the broodbugs for their imminent implanting.

Every creature, it seemed, performed similar acts. Perhaps not for the same precise reasons, but orgies were universal as far as she knew. Ponies, however, liked them most of all.

Recently, they liked them even more.

Satisfied with rubbing her cunt, Aculeate wriggled her way free of the tangled bodies. It took effort, but didn't make a scratch in the great store of love and lust she'd acquired. For the past weeks she had stuffed herself with them, burgeoning her carapace to its fullest until she could bare no more. A balance was needed, after all. Too much love, and she might grow soft - in more ways than one. Too much lust, and she could lose herself to hot pink fever until she'd fucked it all away.

Personally, she liked to hold a little more of the latter than the former. It wasn't quite so nourishing as the wholesome, unsullied taste of divine romance. Lust, however. Oh. Oh.

How did that pony saying go again? 'Sugar, spice, and everything nice'. That summed up her feelings on the matter well. Love just made her fat and happy. Lust made her phat and horny, and by the Queen did she love being horny.

It gave her great stonking tits, too.

Slipping out of the sleeping pile, she stood on wobbly legs. The paunch of her gut had grown substantially, abdomen bloated with food for the hive. She placed a palm against the paunch and smiled, imagining her Queen would be pleased at her enemies' latest developments, presuming she didn't already know.

Mph. She needed something more, though. Swollen the way she was now, it would be a challenge of wobbling and bumbling her way back.

Humming, she rubbed one more orgasm out for the road. With a stifled cry of bliss and free of watchers, she let a bit of her disguise fall, fangs sliding out and forked tongue flicking the humid air. How sweet it tasted. Burning incense, salty spunk, honeysuckle cunnyjuice.

Gazing down, she rehid her attributes. Her lovers, a multi-colored mess of mares, stallions, and all things between, dozed in blissful ignorance. Little did they know it was her, the blonde-maned mare with the pear-shaped curves who ultimately led them here.

Maybe they'd have come together without her help - Equestria had taken some fascinating turns lately - but her stolen kisses, venom-laced drinks, and whispered sweet nothings had sealed the circumstance. It certainly helped the bartender was in on the game, though he would not be following her home. His place was here, lining up the young and mature up for easy feed.

Tottering out the door, she grabbed her clothes along the way. Slipping into them down the hall - white shirt, skinny jeans, belt and necklace, she already missed the blissful, natural state of nudeness. Something about cloth against her skin repulsed her in a way she couldn't quite place. She couldn't wait until she left civilization, and ditched the nasty things for the tender grasp of mornings' breeze.

A passing kiss to the barkeep and shot of stolen vodka later, she walked out to the street. Ponies strolled past, ignorant to the liar in their midst, selling goods and pulling carts. She found a cute wooden bench to sit on and watched them for a while, hands in her lap and leg mindfully crossed.

Some changelings had to learn getting comfortable with Equestria's kind. Not Aculeate. The instinct of ponywatching came to her naturally. She enjoyed seeing how they lived, familiar in some ways to her people but in countless others utterly alien.

When she had enough, she got up to begin her journey. The trek would be long and grueling, until she found a connective network. From there, it was an easier path home. The closer she came, the more palpable her link to the hive. Like the loving embrace of a foolish pony, the eternal, esoteric hum of the hivemind would welcome her with comforting slime.

At the safest opportunity, she dropped her disguise for good and stripped. Deliberately rendering herself vulnerable wasn't the smartest idea, strictly speaking, but pony fur made her itch. Other changelings reveled in their costume. She preferred to exist the way she was hatched.

Daylight's sun glimmered across her near black green chitin, reflecting with an emerald sheen. Her eyes and flesh, from the buds of her breasts and the hole between her legs, glowed a soft jade. Her wings, like gossamer, shone with a whole spectra of color.

It all felt so right, so perfect. Sighing, she stopped briefly to feel her own body, basking in its divine, natural form. Nothing, not even the taste of love and lust mixed together, could hope to beat the sensation of cool smooth changeling skin beneath her fingers.

It took days of travel. Sometimes she flew, most times she marched. Even out in the wilds, the silhouette of an airborn changeling was unmistakeable, and she'd skirt close enough to towns and villages to prove a risk she wouldn't take.

Past woods, hills, and valleys she dragged herself. As she went, spending her stores for energy conversion, she lost a bit of her greater mass. While it made mobility simpler, she was sad to see those beautiful gains go.

Aculeate liked to think of it a different way. It might be hard to part with such hard-earned, sexy gains, but only for a moment. Once she delivered her bounty, she could get back on the outside and slurping another.

As the moon and sun changed places in the sky, the landscape around her transformed. Gradually at first, but each hike she saw less trees, sparser grassland, harsher terrain. Mountains jut from the earth like broken shards, dry and arid. Before too long a spot inside her abdomen chittered, a familiar tickling ping that told her more changelings were nearby. They seemed to be close, likely a small group.

Heading east, she noticed a cone-like mound rising from the earth. Small and packed tight with coarse dirt, the holes that covered its size looked just large enough for an ordinary insect to squeeze through.

Aculeate sneered. Shrugging, she burst into a wall of green flame, reappearing as little more than a fly-sized version of herself. She understood the security of managing the tunnels this way, but it didn't make accommodating them any less humiliating.

Flying through the network, eventually the tunnels widened out, until they were large enough to fit her whole body and more. Through small perforations and cracks in the ceiling, sunlight seeped through in thin little fingers, painting the darkness with dim yellow light.

Ahead, she spied the eerie bluish-green glow of changeling fire, and around it three others from the swarm. Sensing each other at the same time, they turned their heads as one to get a view of her.

Smiling, she sauntered her way to the trio. Like her, they wore no clothes. Also like her, they each seemed to bear the signs of a considerable feast, healthy abdomens and plentiful assets.

"Well then," Aculeate hummed. "It seems I'm not the only one who's met success of late."

The tallest of them, an androgynous, bulky-looking fellow, gazed down with lavender eyes and shrugged.. Their broad build and musculature suggested a low-ranking defense drone, a soldier to protect a party. A shorter girl beside them seemed to confirm the notion, hiding her spectacularly top-heavy self behind the wall of chitin. In comparison to Aculeate's jade, her carapace shimmered with a moving iridescence. She was a pretty thing, delicious with a cute belly pouch, slender legs, and magenta eyes. The most notable feature of hers came in the form of that behemoth bust, hanging down to her belly button, with glowing pink heart-shaped nipples, leaking a constant thin stream of matchingly luminescent milk.

Standing beside them, a waifish, slender thing with no chest to speak of chuckled. His eyes glowed fuschia, and when he smiled his long fangs dripped with venom the same color, nearly as copious as the pre liberally spilling from his long, glowing pink cock. "Indeed." He tilted his head. "You look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

"Possibly." Thrusting out her chest, Aculeate rest her hands on her egglaying hips, chin tilted up. "I am Aculeate, among the highest ranking of the Harvesters. You seem not far below me."

Batting his eyes, the boy cocked a hip. "If that is true, I would be one rank below you, yes. If you managed to gather that much food in one outing by yourself, certainly, you deserve the placement. My name is Clavus. The large one there, Endrin. They don't talk much. And this-"

He reached out, snagging the iridescent one by her waist. She eeped and tottered over, pendulous breasts slapping together as she stumbled.

"Is Acylurea. She doesn't talk much either, until you get her going that is. Then you just can't make her shut up. Isn't that right, Allie?" He beamed, tugging one of her teats to draw a fresh gout of nutrients.

'Allie' glanced away, folding her arms under her meaty shelf of rackflesh. "H-hmph."

Nodding, Aculeate took her seat at one end of the wall. Legs crossed, arms behind her, she observed the trio with one open eye. "All of you strike me as well fed. Have you..." She tapped her chin, buzzing in thought. How should she put it... "Noticed anything different about the Equestrians on your mission?"

Endrin shrugged. Acylurea Clavus nodded.

"They are... unusually rapacious," the titted one mumbled.

"Rapacious? Alli, hon. They couldn't keep their eyes off you! Or their hands. Not like I'm much better." As if to emphasize, he took a bosom in each palm, groping them with full force. Her knees knocked together, and between her whimpering and the gush of honey between her thighs, she looked ready to collapse right then and there.

"You two almost make me wish I didn't go alone. Does that one ever join in on the fun?" She thumbed the direction of Endrin.

"They sure do!" Wings flitting, Clavus gently pushed Acylurea to the ground. She didn't resist in the slightest. Once her back lay flat, she willingly opened herself to him, parting her legs and pussy lips with her fingers. "We're still a bit high on our lust. Perhaps you'd like to join in on burning some off?"

Aculeate smirked, rising back to her hooves. "Perhaps I would. Endrin, dear. I know you're the silent type, but would you be willing to put that tongue to work?"

Pressing her pudgy front to the toned soldier, she flicked one of their powder gray nipples with a thumb. With the other hand she reached down, finding the seeping slit between their strong legs, and dipping two digits inside the heated honeypot.

Endrin snorted, and before she knew what was happening her back was on the ground, their snout in her cunt to plumb its depths with their long, flexible tongue.

The four of them fucked for what must have been hours. After close to a week of no real action, Aculeate welcomed the orgy with wild enthusiasm. She drank deep of Acylurea's xdairy wells, throated and rode Clavus' productive rod, gargled his heavy nuts, and managed to, at least one time, make Endrin moan. Like most else about them, she couldn't hope to distinguish the gender of their voice if she tried.

Most curious was the case of Acylurea's position. She seemed submissive on the surface, and that she definitely was. More than that existed to her dimensions, however, and her teasing touch prying pleas from Clavus' soft lips was not one Aculeate would soon forget.

Luckily, Acylurea knew better than to try her hand at dominating her. Aculeate didn't often take those attempts well.

When they woke the following afternoon, satisfied and coated in fluids, it was a short walk to the hive. They returned by nightfall, and Aculeate directed them not towards the feeding grounds, but the Queen's chamber.

"Is there a reason in particular?" Clavus tilted his head at her, flaccid shaft swinging and dripping before him.

She laughed as they passed uner a mossy arch, glowing goo and flickering bio-pods hanging overhead. Endrin was forced to duck.

"Of course, and that is why I'm the highest rank. Something has changed in Equestria. I do not know what or why, but there is a reason. I ate as much love and lust in half a month as it would've taken me two in the past. That information will be pertinent for the Queen to learn, and our bodies serve as living proof."

Acylurea chirped, "What if she already knows? I doubt we're the first ones to come back from their harvest."

"On the contrary," Clavus said, swaggering to keep up with Aculeate. The sense of inferiority he felt around her was endearing. "Neither I nor Aculeate encountered any returning harvesters on our way back, besides ourselves. Even if others have come, they may not have gathered or witnessed what we did, let alone brought that to the Queen."

"Mm." Nodding, Acylurea fell silent, and they continued on their way.

Down and down into the hive they went, a descent through slick caverns, slimy holes, and mossy tunnels. The air, in contrast to the surface above, simmered with a certain moisture, wet but neither warm nor cold.

The Queen's chamber towered around them, a massive thing, the single largest room save the nursery. Glowing green pods hung from the ceiling, and a throne of anti-magic, self-healing stone perched at its center. There, sat like a royal, her rightful ruler nursed a dark emerald wine. From past experience, Aculeate felt she was half prepared to choke out the diminutive drone in front of her.

Approaching, Clavus parted his lips. Aculeate began before he could steal the show. "My Queen. I bring you important news."

Not hiding her annoyance, the perfected form of Queen Chrysalis' glory raised her chin off her wrist, meeting her gaze with daggers. "Yes? I hope for your sake it is."

"Believe me," Clavus added. "It will be."

Mph. Fine. You, go. Deal with the wargrubs yourself. It's not my role to fix your mistake." She shooed the smaller drone off, straightening as Aculeate made her way to the front. "You four seem quite full. Are you from the harvesters?"

"We are." Aculeate bowed, and the rest followed with her. She kept her head down as she spoke. "And we have returned with information you shall want to hear."

"Stand, stand. I'm not in the mood for ceremony today." Waving them back up, the Queen pulled from her clear obsidian glass. Setting it down with a clink, she stretched out. Languid like a cat, she openly emphasized every crafted curve of her gifted, voluptuous body. "Tell me, quickly. I want to hear from each of you."

And thus she did. They all gave their own tale, save Endrin who simply nodded affirmations. With each passing description, Her Majesty leaned further forwards, genuine interest and thought turning behind her eyes.

"So. The ponies have become more... 'amorous'. Intriguing." Coming up from her throne, the staggering height of her figure became clear, lording over them with a dominant shadow. Out of fear and respect alike, Aculeate's two hearts hammered. Beside her, she felt the nerves of her companions' rise as well. "I would like to sample from what you have gathered."

Knowing what she meant, they each went to the floor. Hands and knees, flat on their chests, or supine they offered themselves. From pussy or prick the Queen's lips touched them, sipping, swallowing, tasting. A contented groan followed every gulp, and Aculeate swore her radiant aura shone brighter as she retook her place on the throne.

"Yes. Yes, that is certainly interesting. I am pleased with this delivery. Rest assured, this development will be investigated, and I will see about rewarding you for bringing such prudent word to my ears. I have no more need for you now, however. You may leave, and return to your duties."

As one, they bowed and turned. Just as they rounded the corner, the voice of Queen Chrysalis entered Aculeate's head.

"I am not done with you quite yet. Come."

Lying, she told the group her overseer had summoned her. It was not fully dishonest, she supposed. Not that she had qualms with deceit, all things considered, but doing so to her own kind was often considered in poor taste.

Rounding back, she supplicated herself at the throne. "My Queen?"

"Your name." Once more, Chrysalis sipped her wine. Aculeate could watch her do so for hours.

"Aculeate, Your Majesty. What should you have of me?"

"I believe I should have a spymaster."

"What?" Aculeate blurted the question before she could think better to stop herself. Blinking rapidly, her jaw fell open and moved, unknowing what to speak.

"You were not of that group. Despite your... activities yesterday, the pheromones of your bond make that abundantly clear. For other reasons I shall not say, I know it is you that has brought this to me. As any good ruler, I like to reward duty and loyalty, and I do not miss taking opportunities when I see them."

Aculeate blinked again.

"And so, you will be appointed spymaster. I will send you out with a small team, and you among the others will be responsible for infiltrating Ponyville, Canterlot, and the Crystal Empire. You will discover everything you can. You will learn what has caused this change. You will bring your findings back to me, and we as a hive shall move from there. Am I understood?"

Enraptured, speechless, Aculeate gazed up into the eyes of her Queen.

"Yes, my Queen. This one shall serve."

Author's Note

And that brings us to the end of (this installment) for All's Flare in Love and War. More to come Soon™.

Want more to read now? Swing over to the new All's Flare Anthology! The next chapter will be out in two weeks.

This was a story written for Spamotron. Enjoyed the read? Consider getting a commission!