Rune 

Sorting mail wasn’t usually the high point of a person’s life. Sure, sometimes there’s a happy surprise, but mostly it was just a mix of banality and ads. The same should have been true for Rune Chisel as he got through his mail. But things will be going into an entirely different direction for the teal earth pony; for him and plenty of other ponies all over Equestria. It all began with a strange unmarked letter. Rune whipped his green mane aside as he stared at it. He had a suspicion that it was just an advert, but decided to check it out anyway. All he found inside was a brochure, full of pictures of changeling of all kinds and what looked like the interior of a changeling hive. Next to it was a rather short letter:

Congratulations!!!

Dear Rune Chisel,

We are pleased to announce to you that the Changeling swarms of Equestria have decided to host a second Gorbfest this year. But this one isn’t a regular one, no, it’s done in the spirit of cooperation between the hives. It will be a casual time with all changeling beings welcome. A time where we all can focus on what is truly important in life: eating ponies.

This leads us to you, Rune Chisel.
In short, congratulations! You are one of the ponies randomly chosen to take the role of being food at our event. We will have plenty of changeling guts eager to host you, you are bound to end up in one! Whichever lucky bug gets you, we assure that they will make good use of you. Maybe they keep you as a pet? Or you will be one of the many that just get digested and forgotten? Or maybe, they even digest your very soul. Imagine the honor, your entire being getting to be nourishment for changelingkind. Whatever it will be, we will be glad to have you.

PS: Don’t worry about your family and friends, one of our agents will take your place and make sure they are taken care of. One after the other.

PPS: Knockout spell to the head. 

Rune stared flabbergasted at the piece of paper. “What in Celestia’s name is-” But was quickly cut off when a bolt of magic hit the back of his head. He was out in a second. Casually, two changelings approached his body. They had work to do.

Change

Change didn’t really know what was going on. He understood the basics, that this was supposed to be some kind of diplomatic event between swarms, but that’s all. His grasp on the local language was still tenuous at best. Most of the time he only understood half of what was said. So he steeled himself, desperately preparing to somehow be able to properly represent his own hive. Or at least not cause a reason for embarrassment. He was feeling a bit out of place, being a head taller than most of the others around him. His blue hair, slitted pupils, and tufted dragon-like tail didn’t help things either, even if the rest of him looked indeed like the changeling standard.

Weirdly to Change, after a short, serious speech by the officials, the gathered changelings lost all their formalities and spread out among the various chambers prepared for the event. Change’s bewilderment only grew when several panicked ponies were released into the area. It didn’t take long till they started to be snatched up, many changelings just scarfing them down on the spot or dragging them off into another room through a shifting wall for a less ravenous consumption. Before long, there were changeling with full bellies everywhere, happily churning away their catch. It dawned on Change that he might have had the wrong idea about all this. Maybe he should try asking someone? He should be able to find a familiar face.

This proved to be a bit difficult. Most of the full changelings had bunched together in small groups, resting gut to gut to each other, making identifying individuals rather challenging. Steadily, further ponies were released and hunted, only adding to the visual clutter. But luckily for him, despite all this, a changeling behemoth stood out. A large size, a bulky armored frame,  and a long, solid tail with frills along it, hard to miss. He instantly recognized the dark lavender chitin of Dinastina and wasted no time approaching her. From the look of things, she had already participated in the feast, quite heavily in fact. She was lying on her side, gut sprawled out and almost as big as herself. Through the semi-translucent skin of the belly, he could see about a dozen struggling ponies melting away. Among them, the ghostly shapes of pony souls, likewise melting just like the still living ponies. Ravenous as always, the behemoth wasn’t giving a second thought to digesting everything of her meals.

Once Change got closer, he noticed another familiar face. Leaning against Dinastina was Mimesis! Despite looking just like a regular-sized changeling, he shared Dinastina’s never-ending hunger and sported quite a sizable belly of his own, big enough to comfortably rest on it. And likewise quite busy churning away all its occupants; body, and soul. “Mimesis, Dina! Good that I found you. I’m confused and have some questions.” 

-buuuarp- a krass belch escaped Mimesis’ maw when he tried to speak, so Dinastina was the one to respond first. “Ah, Change, sure sure just ask away.”

“Well, you see, I was told this would be...” He had to pause for a moment, trying to remember what the word for ‘conference’ was. In the end, he just gave up. “Some form of swarm diplomacy. But now everyone is just eating ponies. I am not complaining, but I’m afraid I missed something.”

Finally, Mimesis had his throat clear again. “Not really, it’s indeed just pony eating.”

Dinastina quickly chimed in. “No! Uhm, I mean kind of? It’s not an official event, rather a casual gathering to promote kinship between the swarms.” Based on the slightly desperate expression on Change’s face, it was clear to Dinastina that he had barely understood her, so perhaps rephrasing with more common words was in order. “It’s basically a party to improve the friendship between the hives.”

“Or just an excuse to have a second Gorbfest this year. No need to overthink it, just dig in.” Mimesis belly was starting to get quite active, the churning and groans increasing in intensity as the still living ponies redoubled their efforts, frequently one could see a hoof stretching out the gut.

Not that Change bothered watching it close, his mind was elsewhere. Finally, he was sure he understood what was going on. Gorbfest and friendship, it was just a feast to bring the swarms together, nothing serious. “Ahh, thank you, I think I get it!” He had been worried about nothing. Although he should definitely start partaking of the ponies too. He wouldn’t want the voraciousness of his swarm to be questioned!  “Time for me to find a few ponies for myself. I have to show the other changelings how many one of my swarm can fit.” He gave the two bugs a thankful nod and moved on. Hunting time.

“Oh, make sure you churn up their souls too, show then that you won’t think twice about claiming your prey entirely.” Mimesis yelled after Change.

A sentiment that was shared by Dinastina “Yes yes, it’s also more filling, you basically digest each pony twice.“ Her gut had already rounded out greatly by now, the features of the ponies in it disappearing as they melted away and another soul was trapped. But even many of the glowing souls had already dimmed and some even disappeared, broken down by the behemoth’s merciless digestion. She was already scanning the area for more prey.

While Change was already too far away to properly respond, he certainly would take those things into consideration.

Rune 

A swift cut was all that was needed to rip the cocoon open. Changeling horns were made for this after all. Of course, the situation was less pleasant for Rune Chisel, who unceremoniously dropped out of the cocoon in question. At least the floor proved to be a soft landing spot, almost bouncy even, some form of green solidified gel. The room he found himself in was particularly strange and alien. Rows upon rows of green cocoons lined its walls, most harboring a pony trapped in a deed sleep. Although a good number of them were empty and torn open just like the one he came out of. But he had barely any time to take this all him before a pair of legs grabbed him and pulled him to his hooves. “Yeah, you look awake enough. Now stop wasting our time and get out of here.” A female voice spoke to him in an almost bored tone.

“Wha-whats going on?” He stammered as he took sight of the speaker. In front of him was a changeling, looking mostly like one of the old drones of Chrysalis if it weren’t for the fact that her belly and backplate were pink instead of green. And of course, the fact that she had a huge gut hanging under her. The skin of it was slightly translucent and through it, he could see a bat pony mare, desperately struggling and trying to get out. Parts of her were already starting to melt off.

“What is going on? Jeez, another one asking questions, I knew the brochures those reformed fools send wouldn’t cut it. You see, we’re having a feast, and you...” But finally, Rune overcame his shock and turned around, running for his life and leaving the cocoon room in an instant, leaving behind the changeling mare with a flabbergasted expression on her face. “... and you are the food. Well that was rude.” She shrugged. “Anyway, time to wake up the next one.”

As it turned out, leaving the room only made things worse for Rune. The large chamber he was now in was full to the brim with changelings. Most were resting, already full with one or more ponies but plenty were still on the prowl. All over the hive, he saw ponies getting pounced on and dragged away. And that was only if they weren’t eaten in the spot. So far no bug had spotted him in particular, but that was bound to change. He had to get out of here.

The chamber he was in had a multitude of small openings at its sides, leading to tunnels and small rooms, just like the one he had just come out of. He had no idea where the other ones lead, true, but It would certainly be a better option than staying here. Picking one of the smaller ones, he began running again. Hopefully, he was still unnoticed. 

He entered and hurried along a tight tunnel. He could barely fight through it without scraping along its walls. A faint feeling of optimism descended upon him, this one seemed unused, at the very least he should find some sort of hiding place. After a sharp bend, the tunnel eventually let into a round room. The walls were embedded with holes, arranged in a way that created several rows of shelves. And indeed, they were filled with all manner of items and resources. Some sort of storeroom, he presumed. And a dead end. It might have made a suitable hiding spot if we’re alone in here. But as it stood, the presence of a changeling and unicorn, both stallions, were putting a damper on that.

He almost turned around and fled on the spot, but something about these two intrigued him. They were just talking, not the whole ‘hunting and fleeing’ that was going on in the main hall. The unicorn has blue fur and plum colored hair. And a cutie mark of a gyroscope of all things. He was the first to react to his presence. Quite rudely at that. “Hey, what are you doing here, earth pony? We are busy here and you aren’t needed. Now scram before you cause him to find us.”

The changeling quickly intervened “Nono, it’s fine Gyro. I am certain I can manage to smuggle out two.” The bug now walked towards Rune. Quite interestingly, he had a dark blue mane and tail almost like a pony instead of the frills like the other changelings. Aside from his backplate being orange, the rest of him was looking like a regular bug.  “Let me just explain things quickly before you blow the whole operation or something stupid like that. My name is Xodious and I don’t really agree with the whole ‘pony eating’ business. By myself, I can’t manage anything big, but I can pull out aside and smuggle out the occasional pony. Like Gyro Tech here, a rather brutish changeling claimed him as a ‘pet’ some time ago and brought him to this feast to ‘finish him off in style’. Luckily he was rather distracted by hunting another pony, so I managed to intervene. And now you are here too, whatever your name is. I think I should manage a double haul. ”

Rune was...less convinced by all this. It seemed awfully convenient. “Rune Chisel.” He spat out, while still making sure to keep his distance from the advancing bug.

Though this reaction didn’t seem to bother Xodious that much. He just stopped and rolled his green eyes. “Fine, be like that. Just having to manage one would be easier anyway. If you need any convincing, consider this: Nothing stops me from just casting two quick stunning spells at you two and gobble you up. If I honestly was planning to eat you I would have done so already. Sure that might seem like a flimsy reason to trust me, but I am your only hope.”

This got Rune to stop retreating, and slowly he walked closer again. But still, he couldn’t bring himself to fully trust the bug. Something was off. “Alright, I’ll at least see what this is about. So, what is your plan? A secret tunnel or something?”

“Ah yes, that is the problematic part. All entrances are guarded all the time. This is a changeling hive, after all, we know how to do this properly. So there is no way we could get you out unseen. That leaves us with trickery.” Xodious let out a short chuckle. “So, this is the part where you must truly trust me. I can get you out right in front of their eyes. It’s simple, actually. I just need to swallow you both and tell the guard some hogwash about wanting to digest in peace. As soon as we are out of sight I can spit you out safely and unharmed and you have your freedom. So who wants to enter first?” Xodious opened his maw and presented it to the ponies. A free view onto salvia coated green flesh. A long serpentine tongue sliding out and becoming them closer.

Of course, both sort of recoiled at that, this was just too much. Especially Gyro, who went so far as to seek cover behind Rune’s back. “Y-you go first. You are an earth pony, it’s your duty to test these kinds of things.” Despite the obvious danger in front of them, this comment caused Rune to turn around and stare at Gyro with a disappointed, flat expression.

With an annoyed groan, Xodious closed his maw again “We don’t have all day, someone is bound to come here eventually. Let me put it like this. I am not sure if I can truly fit both of you and still walk. So it might be that only the first one in gets saved and the other gets left behind.” And again the bug’s maw was open and eagerly awaited the ponies’ response.

It didn’t have to wait long. As soon as he heard that statement Gyro pushed Rune to the side and rushed towards Xodious. The stallion basically jumped into Xodious maw. The changeling didn’t seem to mind, though, and wasted no time swallowing the unicorn down. Lunging gulps soon pulled in more of his meal, Gyro’s shoulders were soon conquered, and Xodious began working on claiming the rest. The changeling’s horn ignited and a telekinetic took hold of Rune’s front hooves. Roughly, the earth pony was pulled forwards and soon he found his front hooves firmly planted onto Gyro’s rump.

The demanding expression on Xodious face told Rune exactly what the bug wanted from him. He still was not certain of Xodious’ true intentions, but Gyro really hadn’t given him any reason to make any attempt to stop him. So he might as well oblige the changeling and start pushing. Progress was instant, with squelching, wet sounds most of the stallion’s body just slid down Xodious throat. The bug didn’t even bother swallowing anymore, just moaning in pleasure and letting Rune do all the work. 

A few harder shoves were necessary to fully force Gyro’s rump down the gullet until it finally yielded. Rune almost went along with it, Xodious greedy trying to swallow his forelegs along with the rest of Gyro. But the stallion managed to rip himself free at the last moment and stumbled backward. Without any care in the world, Xodius slurped his meal’s hindlegs down. Soon Gyro was just a bulge hanging under the bug, who let out a satisfied belch...and burst into laughter.

“Buhahaha, I can’t keep that charade up any longer. He got down totally willingly, thinking that would save him. Only ponies can be that dumb.” Now that the truth was revealed, Rune tried running off but again a magic field took hold of him, his time enveloping his whole body. He could no longer move. Muffled screaming filled the room as Gyro desperately tried escaping his confines. He certainly didn’t agree with Xodious’s change of plans. The changeling’s gut shook and stretched out whenever Gyro pushed his hooves against its walls. But it was to no avail, at best he managed to imbalance Xodious a bit, but that was it. “Hmmm, I will make sure to digest you two slowly, such mindless prey deserved that at least. Now come here.”

The telekinesis simply lifted Rune Chisel into the air and slowed levitated him towards the hungry bug. “Wait wait, you said you can only fit one, right? Even if not just let me go, m-maybe I can even gather a few more ponies for you to eat later? More food for you.” This was getting dire for Rune, he should just have left while Xodious was busy with Gyro. Desperately he tried breaking out of the magic holding him, but progress was minimal at best.

This offer left Xodious wholly unimpressed. “Pah I can easily fit you too, just walking will be a tad awkward while I break you down. And catching more prey? I just managed to get two ponies to believe I was gonna save their lives by eating them. Believe me, with that kind of skill I will be fine on my own. I’m an apex predator, even among the changeling. The absolute top, the others can just watch from their worthless places below me as they witness a master at their craft. All of them are just pathetic losers compared to me.” 

“Is that so?” A raspy voice sounded from the room’s entrance, and a rather dangerous looking changeling stallion casually strolled into the room. While his general look might have been the closest to the regular changeling appearance of all the changelings Rune had seen today, a few details stood out. Multiple rings were pierced into the frill on his head and a green scar crossed over his lips, just behind the long teeth. And to add to that, he was just a bit bigger than Xodious.

The change in Xodious’ demeanor was instant. The magic holding Rune in the air was quickly dispersed as the bug gave the newcomer his full attention. This time there was no gel present to cushion the earth ponies fall. “E-Evening Breeze. What are you doing here?”

Said changeling kept up his carefree gait as he approached Xodious, his voice cold and stern. “

I saw a pony running into a dead end and decided to follow it, maybe that was my pet had ended up hiding. Of course, I took my sweet time getting here. Thought this was just another bust, I almost considered just breaking his one,” one of his hooves pointed at Rune, “In as a replacement and call my search off. But lo and behold here you are, eating my property and even daring to shit-talk me behind my back. Maybe I should have hurried instead. Well, it doesn’t matter, really, in the end, I will get to eat my little pet anyway” Slowly and carefully, Rune moved towards the exit. If the bugs keep each other busy, that could be his chance to escape.

“J-Just wait a minute. In the queen’s name, how should I have known that this was your pet? And I wasn’t talking about you, I was just taunting the pony, you know? In fact I-arg.” Xodious’s protests were abruptly cut off when Evening Breeze’s hoof lashed out and pulled his head into Evening’s maw. Panicking, Xodious arms started flailing, punching his opponent’s exoskeleton as hard as he could. Evening Breeze didn’t seem to notice and just carried on with the swallowing. He was making fast progress, doing so with a power and ferocity Xodious’s earlier meal just didn’t have. He wasn’t even slowed down once he reached his meal’s full belly, easily consuming the swollen orb along with its owner.

Rune took this as a good moment to start running again, that tactic at least hadn’t failed him so far.

Change

Change had just started his hunting trip when something else caught his eyes. A chubby female changeling with a violet backplate and belly who looked rather dejected. It just stuck out, with so much prey available, every changeling should be pretty upbeat. And this changeling certainly got lucky already, her belly was hanging heavily under her, containing a pink dragony angrily struggling away. Change was feeling quite envious to be completely honest, draconic prey was very much the top spot on his list of favorites.
 
Well, his curiosity was piqued and he approached the bug. “HI, I’m Change. You look rather...sad. Is something wrong?”

At first, the changeling just rolled her eyes and looked away, but ultimately she decided to respond. “Name’s Geotrupida. Nothing much really. I usually just eat normal food and love, but today I thought I’d make an exception. The event and all, you know?” She gave her belly a firm slap, shaking the dragony in it around. “Well, I caught myself a rare specimen, so it seemed to be working out fine. But, well, he kept yelling about being indigestible and I thought it was obviously just a trick. Yet, now I’m sitting here for who knows how long and he is not digesting. I feel like an idiot now.”

Hmm, indigestible prey? That was a new one. And if he understood things right, she only wanted to eat one today and now everything is ruined. But he knew just the solution for that! While he never had a problem digesting his meals, sometimes he just chooses to not do it and let his meal go. After all, he knew just the right spell to make this kind of experience enjoyable. “Let me try something.” He moved his head closer to Geotrupida’s gut and ignited his horn. The feisty expression on the dragony’s face slowly calmed down as the magic forced its way into his mind. Soon, it was an expression of pure bliss and all signs of struggle ceased. Geotrupida let out a delightful moan as her belly filled with a bountiful amount of pure love. “See? Just use a bit of...” Change tried finding the word for mind control but drew a blank, “hypnosis and your prey will be full of love. No need to digest, just let their love nourish you. A belly pet.”

“Hmm, oh my this is nice. You are right, I really should keep him as a pet. I can let him feed me, and whenever I’m in the mood he gets to stay in my gut.” Geotrupida gave a change a quick thankful nuzzle. “Thanks for helping me out there, are there… any other enjoyable ideas you might have?”

Completely oblivious to the true meaning of this sentence, Change just shook his head. “No. Not right now, I still have to catch a few meals for myself. But I’m glad I could be of help.” He gave her a last wave and trotted off, resuming his search.

Rune 

Again Rune had to traverse the main hall and again he would have to try one of the tunnel entrances. With fortune on his side, he would find the one that let out of here. Sadly fate’s answer consisted of a changeling’s telekinetic grip gripping around his body and ending his mad dash through the hive. A strong pull yanked him through the air and ended with him crashing face-first into a changeling’s soft, dark green belly. 

There, held in place like that, he had no choice up to stare directly into said changeling gut and onto the pony within. Although calling it a pony might be a stretch, all that was left was the ghostly shape of one, a bat pony judging by the wings, and even that was already starting to melt away. Skull and a few bones were all that was left of that pony’s body, swimming inside the acids alongside the soul. Rune remembered reading something about changelings digesting souls in that letter, but he didn’t think much about it until so far. But now it was happening right in front of him. A cold shiver went down his spine as he realized that he likely was next on line to be churned into non-existence.

Trying to get a good view of whoever his captor was, he switched his view upwards, only  to be greeted by a fang-filled, taunting grin. The changeling stallion, currently sitting with his back pressed against a wall and his legs sprawled out was looking quite special. For starters, he had a mane like Xodious had, albeit in a slightly brighter shade of green and kept in a rather curious hairstyle, straight on one side and messy on the other. Furthermore, his blue eyes possessed slitted pupils, lending him a rather piercing, intimidating gaze. “Good, you understand what I have in store for you. You are in line to take this one’s spot after I’m finished with him. Poor thing, didn’t even catch his name.”

Rune opened his mouth, frantically trying to think of anything to say to convince this bug to not do this. But before he could get out a single word, the magic grip tightened around his throat. “Oh no, I wasn’t finished talking. You seem to be an obedient one, so take care to not squander that by speaking out of turn. After all, there might be one way out for you, I wouldn’t want people to think that Eco Stigma is completely merciless.” He shifted his position somewhat, pushing his hips forward until he was leaning back. That move pulled his full belly up and completely revealed the hard sizable cock he had hidden under it. “You see, destroying a soul always gets me all hot and bothered. I certainly wouldn’t mind having a little slut like you take care of that and suck me off. No pressure though, it’s just your very existence that depends on it.” With that, Eco simply released his hold onto Rune.

Well, that was quite a turn of events. Rune had a way out. While he certainly didn’t like the idea of pleasing this bug, he had done that sort of thing before and it was a small price to pay. Carefully, he got closer to Eco’s shaft, in a few ways it was similar to that of a pony stallion. Although that made the differences only stand out more. Chiefly among them the color, a dark green that slowly shifted into a bright green as it moved towards the tip. Along its sides, there were a couple of ridges, little soft barbs, likely intended for just a little more pleasure during the act. “You know, glad you enjoy the sight, but you sucking me off wasn’t a request.” Eco impatiently grumbled and one of his hooves went on top of Rune’s head and pushed down.

Without much time to prepare himself, Rune was thrust upon the rod. It entered his mouth and even went into this throat. When Eco was done pressing and gave Rune control again he was almost two thirds down the cock. “Better, now get to work.” Eco’s belly was resting heavily onto Rune’s head and he could hear it work, loudly grumbling and groaning as it processed its load. That was all the motivation he needed. He was quite thankful for his earth pony endurance, allowing him to recover relatively swiftly from his sudden descent. Still, he started it rather calmly, not moving at all and instead focussing his attention on his throat, moving and shifting his muscle to give the cock a good workout. At the same time, he utilized his tongue, gently caressing the shaft. A satisfied moan from Eco showed him that he was on the right track. Now it was time to begin moving his head, Gently Rune lifted it up, letting more and more of the shaft slide out of his throat, just to dive down again.  
 
Soon he found a rhythm, steadily increasing pace and range of movement. Quite to Eco’s liking, judging by the bug’s reaction. The double treatment of having his cock served and digestion of a soul was getting to him. Loud moans and lustful grunt filled the air. But they were hard to make out under the sounds of his belly. The sound of it slowly got wetter, soon it was more of a sloshing than the earlier groaning. With its weight resting on his head Rune could feel it shrinking in size. A few times, when he lifted his head particularly high, he could see the state of the soul. Not much of it left, most melted off end even its glow had dissipated somewhat. Of course, Eco always pushed him back down whenever he did that.

After a while, Eco finally let out a moan deeper than any before, accompanied by a loud tumult from within his gut. Again he pressed down onto Rune’s head this time deeper than he ever had before. With a lurch, Rune descended down to Eco’s balls. A moment later, Eco came, his entire shaft pulsing as load after load was deposited right into his throat. It was a curious feeling. A warm feeling swelled in Rune’s stomach as hot cum flooded it. Not wanting to disappoint after coming so far, he slid out his tongue and gave Eco’s bally a bit of attention, feeling them twitch as they emptied themselves into him. 

As soon as it started, Eco’s orgasm stopped with a last few spurts and he released the pressure onto Rune. Yearning to breathe freely again, Rune hastily pulled his head free again, until with a loud plop the softening cock finally vacated his body. Finally filling his lungs with fresh air, he noticed that the soul in Eco’s stomach was completely gone, the bug had reached his high point just in the moment the soul was completely finished off.

Eco was noticing Rune stare too. “Well look at that, just when you finished your job a new vacancy appeared. Thought I must say you are a dutiful little slut, consider me fully satisfied. A shame I am going to erase you now. Don’t worry, I will probably have forgotten about you in a day or so.” Eco’s green magic took hold onto Rune and dragged him towards his maw. Slowly the changeling opened it right in front of him, his gut grumbling eagerly in anticipation of its next victim.

“Wh-What? But you say you would let me go if I please you.” Rune yelled as he desperately struggled against the magical pull.

That comment actually got Eco to pause and close his maw again. Sadly it was just to start snickering in glee. “Of course, I did. But I don’t care that much, so I am going to eat you anyway. I’ve got a reputation to uphold, you know? Under any other circumstances I would just keep your soul as a permanent trophy.” He tapped a few times again the glowing crystal we wore around his neck. ”Either to play with you or even just to finish you at a later date. But here among so many other changelings? No, gotta show them I mean business, a real pred uncaringly digesting soul after soul or they are too sentimental to do it! So, yeah, that’s it for you”

Eco’s hold was still firmly latching onto him, but Rune was able to move his head a bit and see something interesting. This gaze fell directly onto Mimesis and Dinastina, who still had swollen bellies full of churning ponies and souls. They were actually still eating, and Dinastina in particular had a blue-furred earth pony in her magical hold, letting dim dangle right over her wide open maw. “Uhm, you might want to overthink that? These two seem not at all bothered by this. In fact, they are digesting far more souls than you.”

“Huh?” Eco shifted his gaze toward the two and let out a dismissive grunt. “Pah those two. They are just mindless gluttons, they don’t count. As a matter of fact…Wait a second.” His gaze turned to the stallion currently let in the air, “Swift?” Suddenly Eco Stigma, just let go of Rune and sprang up. Wing abuzz he took to the air and flew at full speed towards said earth pony and yelled at the top of his lungs. “Nonono! That is mine! You do not get to do that to him!”

Rune was kind of confused about what in Celestia’s name was going on over there, but he had no intention to stay here and find out. Yet again he started running.

Change
 
So far Change’s hunt was fruitless. Although he knew he had only himself to blame, he wasted so much time looking at the other changelings that his hunting efforts were rather lacking. Most pones just got snatched up by other less distracted bugs. But how could he do otherwise? He knew there were some strange swarms out there, and this was the first time he was seeing spiderlings, wasplings, and many more. He didn’t stop for small talk this time, just content to observe them do their thing.

But eventually, he noticed something that warranted closer inspection. A reformed changeling lying on his back with lavender chitin with a rose backplate. And, of course, a pony melting away in his indigo belly. But the interesting thing was the deer, a doe wearing a green scarf, currently rubbing and massaging the gut. From the serene smile on her face and the swirl of color moving in her eyes, it was obvious that she was under the changeling’s mind control, properly hypnotized even. Change himself often liked to use a bit of mind control on his victims, but that usually just stupefied them and forced them to be full of love. Makes them tasty and easy to catch. Yet the effect the deer was under was certainly more than that.

“Your meals seem to be very obedient to you. That’s not how the magic usually works. How did you do that?” Change took a closer look at the stallion stewing away in the changeling’s gut, a dark gray unicorn with green hair. And indeed he had the same swirling colors in his eyes as the doe, moaning happily as he enjoyed the experiences the changeling’s stomach gave him. Not caring at all that most of his legs had already melted away and the rest of his body was flowing away in front of Change’s eyes. The massage of the deer only sped up the process. That stallion didn’t have much time left in the world. 

“Oh, yes, that is indeed not the crude mind control most changelings do. You can’t achieve this just by forcing your influence into their minds. Instead, you gotta be crafty, carefully bringing them under your sway and gently twisting their mindset. Appeal to their prey instinct, you know? Soon they will know exactly where they belong and fully accept it. Just like our dear Epoch here.” One of the changeling’s hooves pointed to the doe, who happily nodded.

“I’m nothing but food, just prey to be consumed. Master Maxilla finally helped me realize that fact. It’s my only purpose to feed a predator. And there is no predator superior to a changeling. I’m soo thankful that he has agreed to be the one to claim me, it’s the greatest honor a mere prey like me can receive.”

This...was certainly interesting to see. “Hmm, how does one learn that? Might be fun to try that one day. I bet ponies are full of love when they are like this.” Even if he didn’t plan to make this a regular thing, it was always a joy for Change to learn about how other hives did things. Maybe he could even hypnotize a pony and turn it into a permanent belly-rubber. 

Maxilla just did a quick shrug “Oh, that takes a bit of explaining and demonstrating. Not too long, but certainly a few days of training. And longer to become good at it.” The bug thought for a bit. “You know, whenever you feel up for it just come to the badlands hive and ask for Maxilla. I am certain I can teach you enough. Oh, and indeed they are so full of love when you do it. Just look at our Azure Slash here.” Maxilla gave his belly a little shake, which turned out to be the final straw for the unicorn. With a loud gluckering and sloshing his body was reduced to nothing more than a goopy soup. “Oh, whoops.”

Before long, the ghostly shape of a pony’s soul appeared in the gut, obviously trapped by the changeling. Nothing new for change to see, he had plenty of experience with that kind of thing. But something was different, instead of melting, the soul seemed to change, to transform. Before long it started to move into Maxilla’s body, seemingly getting absorbed by the stomach walls. That certainly was new. Another question that needed an answer “Hmm, you are not digesting it?”.

“Nonono, of course not! That would be just barbaric. True, I won’t fault other ‘lings who prefer that kind of thing, but I have a much better method. I just keep them, store them in my own soul. Forever existing in a state of beautiful bliss. I have gathered hundreds so far, wouldn’t surprise me if they have their own little world by now. You should consider doing it too, it’s very much worth it. For the pred and for the prey alike. Speaking of that, Epoch, it’s your turn now.” Maxilla turned his head towards the doe, opening his maw wide and giving her a free view down his gullet. Strong throat muscles pulsing eagerly in anticipation.

With a gleeful squee, Epoch rushed headfirst into the maw, with enough force that her head and shoulders were already firmly logged into the throat. Maxilla took a moment to recover from this surprise, but eventually, he recovered and began swallowing her down eagerly, his long tongue sliding out and wrapping around Epoch’s midsection as he pulled more and more of her in. Change chuckled gently, this might be a good moment to move on. “Well, I guess your throat is rather busy now. I’ll be heading off then, and I might come back to your offer eventually.” Waves were exchanged and Change moved on. Maybe he should return to Dinastina and Mimesis, they always ended up with loads of ponies.
 
Rune and Change
 
In his effort to both find another promising side tunnel and keep up his full running speed, Rune neglected one thing: Looking at what was right in front of him. So it was no surprise that he eventually collided with someone. Rune barely managed to stay on his own hooves, yet the impact didn’t seem to faze the other one at all. No wonder, considering Change was a head taller than Rune. With a panicked expression, Rune looked at Change already ready to bolt again. “Whew, I didn’t expect my first catch to happen this way. But I will not complain.” That was it. Rune spun around and took off again. But before he managed even ten steps, a dense fog stalled over his mind and brought him to a full stop.

Change casually followed after the pony, steadily keeping his spell going. He had to be a bit more generous with his mind control, this pony’s mind was rather frazzled. Panic, worry, and fear were all present. But his spell would take care of that, slowly numbing all those negative emotions and making sure his prey was full of love and pleasure. While he fully agreed that ponies were destined to be changeling food and could be utilized however the lucky bug that caught them pleased, he still wanted them to fully enjoy the entire process. Soon, he caught up to the stallion and placed himself right in front of him. “Just let me, I have escaped enough bugs already, I don’t need you to try too.” Rune said in a rather slurry voice. Yet despite his protests, a blush was creeping over his face, the spell was a full success.

It was harder and harder for Rune to focus. By now it was becoming clear that the changeling used some sort of mind control on him. It felt nice actually, all his worries just disappeared. But he couldn’t let that be the end of him. “I don’t need to try. You are mine now. Now come here, time to bring you to your proper place.” This wasn’t the first changeling maw Rune had been today, but it dawned on him that it would be the last. Wet flesh hugged the sides of his head as it descended over it. Change’s tongue slid out and gently caressed Rune’s fur, the bug happily moaning at the taste. Then a single gulp pulled his head into Change’s throat and it began. Strong throat muscles claimed upon his body, moving rhythmically in an attempt to pull him deeper. With every pulse of force flowing over him, more of his body entered the changeling’s maw, the bug was making fast progress. Rune wanted to fight it, but he was still trapped in this mental stupor, his movements were sluggish and weak. At least he was feeling oh so nice, a calm state of bliss. In fact, the massage the throat was giving him started to feel awfully nice.

It felt so good for Change to finally have a pony inside of him. Already he felt the love the pony was feeling coursing through him. Every bit of pleasure Rune was feeling was amplified and rewarded Change with another burst of love. The changeling tongue was constantly moving forwards, tasting and exploring the ponies body as more and more was consumed, And Change certainly didn’t hesitate to play a bit with the pony’s balls and hardening cock. After all, it just resulted in even more love for him. But even if he took some extra time for this, his stomach yearned to be filled and so he soon continued, Rune’s throbbing shaft was simply swallowed down with the rest of him. Finally, he got Rune’s entire rump in his jaws and decided to end this part. With a truly massive -gulp- he managed to swallow down the entire thing in a single go and a sizable bulge traveled down this throat.  He didn’t even have to bother with swallowing the hind legs, they were simply dragged along and slurped down. Soon his belly swelled under him as it accepted its guest.

Rune was pressed through a tight sphincter and started to swell out Change’s belly. After the tight throat, it was almost a relief to be in the more roomy gut. -buuuuuaaaaarrrp- A very satisfied sounding belch echoed through the gut, strong enough to make Change’s stomach walls vibrate. That bugger certainly enjoyed his meal. And to be honest, Rune did so too. The haze he was in had gotten better and better, soon almost all he felt was enveloped in pure bliss. The warm flesh hugging his form, the faint tight pressure from the stretching gut, and even the occasional shift of muscles, all just beautiful to experience. And he had a feeling it would even become better when the digestion started. This line of thought gave Rune a pause, was he going to accept churning away just like that? No. Even if he was wrecked with bliss he still had to try to escape. With that in mind, He started struggling at his earnest. Pounding again the stomach walls and pressing into them at full force.

With a happy murmur on his lips, Change stared at his gut, constantly it stretched out with the pony’s movements, the shape a hoof becoming visible just to sink into it again. It was too kind of this pony to give him such a fine internal massage. He didn’t regret at all that he hadn’t started digesting Rune yet. Though he certainly should come to a decision about what to do with his pony. Digest him, body and soul, for maximal nutrients? Or maybe it would be better to keep the soul. Or forgo soul stuff altogether and just churn the pony up regularly. That being said, not digesting and just keeping the pony as a pleasant servant was starting to have its appeal too. Change just could decide, all options sounded good. With another look at his belly, he finally came to the decision to postpone the decision. After all, his belly wasn’t touching the floor yet, he could still walk and hunt more. Maybe once he could rest on a properly filled up belly bed he would have made up his mind. Yeah, that sounded good. With a happy nod, Change resumed his trip, his gut gently swaying under him.