nngh
you wake up to the feeling of a hoof jabbing against your side
you swat at it, still half asleep
a pair of fangs digging into your hand is your reward
your eyes snap open at the pain, yanking your hand (and with it the body of the changeling who bit you) up to your chest
the drone lets go and jumps back off of you
"Owowowow... the fuck? What?!"
he flits his wings in annoyance and turns his head, sputtering from the taste of your blood
"Ugh... disgusting. The Queen demands your presence in her chambers."
you shake your head, rolling off of the pile of rags as you do so
"It's... shit, I wish I had a room that faces outside. Isn't it late?... Or early?"
the drone's eyes narrow as he stands, watching you climb to your feet
"Immediately."
is his only elaboration
you're seriously beginning to regret the deal you made for Canterlot's sake
your servitude to Chrysalis as her love-generator in exchange for the safety of the kingdom seemed okay at the time
you should have known that the Queen would be a hard-hearted, unloving bitch without the ability to even comprehend kindness and mutual respect
but months of living in sunshine-rainbow-lollipop land had clouded your judgement
'Of course she's capable of giving love' you told yourself, 'she just needs to be given some first!'
yeah right
when you aren't busy fawning over her every action and catering to her every whim, she has you writing her sonnets and odes and shit
figures, the one situation where being an English major would've been helpful, and you decided to study physics
so hear you are at fucked-o'-clock in the morning, trying to get your sleep-addled brain to fit "chitin" into an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme
you trudge wearily towards the throne room, the changeling leading the way pausing at his post by the door
"...What, not going to guard me while I swoon and fawn over her?"
"My Queen demanded that none but you enter."
you open the door a crack and try to slide in quietly
okay, time to find something to praise her on, she always like to be greeted with a compliment
"Greetings, My Most Beauteous Queen, how may I--"
NNYEEEEEAGH
you turn your head to one corner and see her snarling face almost nose-to-nose with you
she's half-hunched and looks ready to pounce, black carapace glinting in the green, artificial light
her wings flared and hair matted straight down in little tendrils against either side of her face
she's exceptionally ugly like this
she also has no eyes
...
in the time it takes for you to register all this and stifle the yelp rising in your throat, she hasn't moved
cautiously, you let out an unsteady breath
her entire body rocks back from the force of your sigh
then tilts over and clatters to the floor with a hollow 'plunk' like an empty bottle
experimentally, you give the object a nudge with your foot, a gentle shove
"...erm..."
you hear a soft sound, like the coo of a dove
you turn around fast and see a small Who
wait, no
wrong story
you see the queen's cocoon, a rather large and luxurious version of the hardened ichor-filled bulbs most of the drones seem to sleep in
from the opening, you can see a pair of green eyes watching you curiously
"Chr-- uh, My Queen?"
she always gets snippy when you forget her honorifics
except this time, apparently
you can see the eyes bounce up and down silently; you'll go ahead and interpret this as a nod
"Er..."
normally by now you've been given an order
"...you sent for me?"
the eyes widen as she realizes what you're waiting on
"Oh, right! Sorry, yes, I just... I could really use some company right now. Could you come a bit closer?"
this is worrisome
it feels like a trap
commands are so common, you practically forgot what a request sounds like
and you weren't aware that "please" was even in her vocabulary
still, it'll be twice as much trouble if you don't oblige
so you walk over to the enormous container standing at attention next to it
"Uh... you can sit down,"
she suggests
you scramble to plop down outside the entrance to her little hidey-hole
the changeling queen seems a little put out at your choice of seating spot
"Maybe... a little closer, please?"
you do an awkward waddle so you can see her emerald eyes again
that seems to put her at ease
"Thank you. I just feel better when I can see who I'm talking to, you see. So..."
this is the weirdest trap you've ever had to fall for
she sits there with you in awkward silence for almost a minute
"So...?"
you can hear a little scuffle, like she's trying to move something inside the cocoon
"I... I guess I just wanted to ask how you're liking it here?"
the fuck kind of question is that
she just woke you up to ask whether you're having a good time as her goddamn peon?
you shrug, trying to be as honest as a courtesan walking on eggshells is allowed to be
"It's not the worst thing I've ever experienced,"
technically true, this is slightly better than that night you got dumped, wasted, and broke three fingers in a brawl
slightly
"though being woken at such odd hours, I worry I might not be in top form to praise your majestic visage."
wow, almost no sarcasm in that last bit
you've gotten good at this
"Oh? Oh! I didn't realize, I've been in here for a while. I didn't mean to wake you,"
you feel a clammy squelching on your arm
you look down
a milky white hoof is patting you sympathetically, leaving behind a thin sheen of slime
you stifle another yelp of surprise
she doesn't
"Eep!"
the hoof withdraws quickly and you hear her scuffling again
her eyes back up deep into the cocoon
"Sorry, sorry!"
you begin to stand up, but that just prompts another frantic shuffle and two holed forelegs shoot out, grabbing onto your shin
"No, please! Don't go, I just, I need..."
slowly, her head snakes out of the darkness as well
her face is pale, and blond tendrils of hair droop across it
is she blushing?
can changelings blush?
"I just need someone to guard me right now,"
she explains, as you step back towards the cocoon and she withdraws back inside it
you sit back down, dumbfounded at the audacity of that statement
if you were any sort of a warrior or soldier or fighter, admitting that would have been a death sentence
which makes her either smart enough to know you're not any of those
or dumb enough to trust you despite the danger
"...and maybe someone to talk to..."
second one it is
eh, you're already up, and she did ask nicely
(that's never going to stop sounding weird, the idea of the Queen of a hive that devours love asking nicely)
you're starting to get the impression that there's something else going on here though
so you take a calculated gamble
"Alright Chrysalis, I'm here, what do you want to talk about?"
one second, two, three...
no green bolts of arcane light to the face
all that comes floating out of the cocoon is an anxious sigh
"Just, I don't know, anything. I can't talk to my brood, and this is the first time I've ever molted with someone around who wasn't mind-bent and or cocooned or stuffed full of eggs."
you arch an eyebrow at her
"Molted?"
her eyes do that little bobbing thing again
"When I feed on enough love, I have to molt to keep growing. It leaves me, well... like this."
she waves a hoof out in demonstration
but the way she said it, you get the impression she wasn't just referring to her skin
"Can... can I see it?"
those big green eyes blink once
"I mean, if not, that's cool, I get it, it just sounds really neat is all. I've never seen you like this."
"Nopony has,"
she replies
but that's not a no
and after a few seconds, she crawls through the slightly too-small entrance, her body squeaking like latex as she squeezes out and climbs to all fours
towering over you when you're sitting, she's actually very pretty
her wings are whole again, and her mane is much curlier than the straight green seaweed-like mess she usually has
"So..."
cautiously, you reach out and touch a hand to her face, feeling the texture of it
it's soft, but slick and kind of rubbery
not entirely like a hard-boiled egg
the contact makes her blush again as she leans slightly into your hand
for the first time in weeks since she took ownership of you, you let out a real, heartfelt smile at how goddamn cute that is
"Truly beautiful,"
you compliment her offhandedly, and she lets out an embarrassed chuckle
"You're just saying that."
the one time you're not, and she doesn't believe you
the irony is palpable
she gives a little shiver that runs down her neck to her whole body, and she stands there trembling as you take in her delicate features
"You okay?"
she nods silently as though it were no big deal, but it's obvious she's freezing
heck, it's a little chilly even for you this far underground, and you actually HAVE your skin
and clothes
and occasionally something to cover yourself with
"Well, you don't look too comfortable. Thank you for showing me yourself like this, Chrysalis. I'm honored, really, but if you want to crawl back in and warm up, you should."
oh my god she does this cute little dance at your words like it's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to her
as she crawls back into her cozy cocoon, you get a good look at that full, ivory plot
the blond curls of her tail are woefully inadequate to cover all of it
she gets most of the way inside before it actually gets a little bit stuck
you can hear her trying to keep her struggle quiet
but little "nnfs" and mutters reach your ears nonetheless
as discretely as you can, you scoot closer
and give her ass a gentle push, just enough to squeeze past the very entrance
you see her eyes whip back around as she turns within the changeling bed, wide at first but slowly calming back down as she realizes what you did
"...thnkyu..."
you can barely hear her from inside her little safe spot
"For what?"
you reply innocently, acting confused
the two of you sit in silence a little longer before you clear your throat
"So, how long does a molting last? Does this happen very often?"
she pokes her head out, resting it on your knee as you sit right near the entrance
she looks up at you through that curly mane and sighs as you stroke it idly while you listen
"As I said, it's whenever I get enough love to grow out of my old skin. This is the first time in... two years? Maybe a little longer."
a pale, mint-green magic envelops a brush on her nightstand, floating it over to you as you run a hand through her mane again
you take it and start combing, stopping to unto any knots you find as you brush
"Once I manage to finally get out of my old skin, the new one usually hardens in about 36 hours. Less than that if I have a source of love to drain, though..."
she winces as the brush hits another snag, and you try to pull the strands apart
"And what do you do with that?"
you nod in the direction of her fallen exoskeleton
even tipped on its side and empty, it's frightening
actually, probably more frightening with it empty
"That? Usually it's broken down for materials for the hive. Why, do you like it? You can have it if you want."
you shudder at the prospect of keeping a life-size Chrysalis skin replica in your room
that's some serial killer level shit right there
"Mmm..."
she giggles at the face you make
"No?"
not as is
maybe you could find something to do with it though
you shrug your shoulders noncommittally
"How about this: I'll think on it, but if the hive needs it for something, don't save it on my account."
she nods, closing her eyes as you brush her mane again
you ask a few more questions about the molting process, like whether drones do it too, whether it hurts, where the color comes from, things like that
she's more than willing to explain, occasionally asking her own questions about your world
eventually, her mane is immaculate and you can see her eyes drooping
you give her cheek a gentle stroke, smiling down at her
"You need sleep. The hive doesn't exactly stop running just because you have to shed, right?"
she shakes her head
"Well, it does, actually. I'm just that important. No drone does anything without my consent, so until I'm back to normal, they can all sod off."
her face has turned a slightly dull grey from its pearl whiteness before
her skin's already starting to harden up again
you give her a gentle nudge, and she grumbles sleepily
this is going to be rough if you're not allowed to move from this spot until she wakes up
...
idea
you nudge her again as you hear the start of a snore coming from her muzzle
her eyes flutter open and look up at you again
"Hey. You said this whole molting thing goes faster when you have someone loving on you, right?"
she nods, nuzzling her cheek against your abdomen in an effort to get comfy again
"And you need to get through it quick to get the hive back on its feet, yeah?"
she nods again, cracking one eye and looking up at you inquisitively
"So..."
you lean down, to keep your voice low in case the guards outside are listening
"...is there room in the cocoon for two?"
the blush is much fainter now that her skin's started to darken, but she still manages a lovely shade of crimson
she pokes her head back inside, just like before, so only her eyes can be seen, and seems to look around the space inside
shit, ya blew it
"...Not comfortably. I'd probably have to sleep right on top of you."
one eye closes briefly in a wink, and then a slate-colored hoof with pits in it reaches out
and gives you a "come hither" wave
it's a tight fit, but you manage to squeeze yourself in, the tender Queen accommodating you as you try to find a comfortable spot
once you do, she does her best to take up as little space as possible as she lays down beside you
now now, none of that
you pull her into a warm hug as the two of you spoon
your warmth flowing radiating into her
your nose buried in her silken hair
smells like the woods after a rain
she lets out a contented sigh as your love rolls off you and she absorbs it
"Good night, My Marvelous Queen."
she scoots herself as much against you as she can
"Good night, Anonymous."
you're just on the edge of a powerful sleep when you hear her whisper something
it sounds a lot like
"L'vy'u"
and you don't even pay attention, as you let sleep take you, to what you say back
but it sounds an awful lot like
"L'vy'utoo"
 
...
 
nngh
you wake up to the feeling of a hoof jabbing against your side
you swat it, still half asleep
a pair of fangs digging into your hand is your reward
"Owowowowow, god DAMMIT you need to stop that!"
you glare at the guard whose fangs are still lodged in your hand, snatching it away from him and back into the cocoon you'd fallen asleep in
he narrows his eyes at you and turns to spit the taste of your skin out of his mouth
"You require a bath, disgusting creature. And then the Queen demands your presence in the Throne Room."
a bath
in this place
you grimace, but pull yourself from the now-empty cocoon, trudging wearily to the bathroom adjacent to the queen's private quarters
you don't understand how plumbing in this place works, and you don't want to
as you approach a green-tinted mirror (everything in this place is fucking green or black), you notice a piece of parchment stuck to it with a glob of (of course) green goo
 
Anonymous,
 
You have the next 15 minutes to compose a ballad detailing the exploits of my hive and the unparalleled greatness of its flawless Queen. Should you fail me, look forward to a week of incubating my spawn in your worthless belly and half-rations until they are born. May whatever god you pray to grant you mercy if there are no flutes. And shower, you unwashed disgusting ape.
 
Your Ravishing, Unparalleled Queen.
 
you almost miss the heart above the i in ravishing
and at the bottom is a P.S.
 
Thanks for last night.