The two of us stood in the room staring at the other, a stand-off of glances was being made and we both were inspecting the other, our bodies tense as neither side knew if the other was hostile or not. While I stared at the bug pony standing before me I spared fleeting glances around my room, seeing if this intruder hadn't stolen anything, moved anything or went snooping while I was occupied with the funeral.

At a glance nothing looked out of place or out of the ordinary, although the only thing that didn't look right was that there was a slight indentation on my bed as if someone had recently laid down on top of it.

And as for the bug pony, it saw that I was in a defensive stance, hand on the dagger’s handle, ready to strike or throw at a moment's notice, but I was holding back for now. It also knew that I was a leader of sorts since I had my own room seeing how the others all slept in barracks and that I had nicer clothes and didn’t smell as bad as the rest of the pack of savage beasts.

“Who are you and how did you get passed the guards?” I said as I kept a firm grip on my weapon, not wanting to be overpowered by an insect pony so easily.

The bug pony looked at my stance then turning their gaze to the dagger before returning to look at my face, “Our name is not so easily rehearsed but for the sake of speaking in this common tongue of you surface-dwellers, you may call this mouthpiece Lichen, and as for how we got passed your ‘guards’, we simply walked passed them.”, the now named insect pony said as it blinked owlishly at me, the pupil less eyes staring into my soul.

It was a tad unnerving to be perfectly honest.

“My guards would have stopped you, so you didn’t just simply ‘walk’ past them. Did you camouflage yourself to blend into the rocks or were you invisible and simply strode by without any issues?” I asked as I kept a hand on my blade, there was fear evident in my eyes because if this was an assassin coming to try their luck then I am now worried that someone wants me dead and has the balls to hire a killer to do the deed.

“No, we simply walked on the ceiling.” And to prove their point they placed their charcoal hooves on the wall and after a second, they climbed up and over before stopping right above me.

“Your dogs never looked up.” The tried-and-true question of the ages back home, dogs can't look up.

I let out a sigh before facepalming, I can already tell that this breach of security will be brought up in the coming future.

If I survive this.

“Now that we have answered your question, you shall be answering our own.” Lichen said as they climbed off the wall and stopped right before me, the tip of their own was at eye level and I can tell now that this one has wings, just cleverly concealed under their natural body armor.

“I would suggest that we trade questions, you ask a question, I will answer it possibly, then I will ask you a question, you will answer it possibly, and we go on from there until both parties are satisfied.” I said as I took a step away from the bug pony, as they landed in front of me.

"That is acceptable, you started with your twin questions than we shall ask our own pair." the bug pony said as they sat down on the floor and motioned for me to have a seat as well.

"Then ask your questions." I said as I sat down, keeping my guard up still in case this is just a ruse for me to lower my guard.

“To whom are we addressing?” Lich said as they gave the motion to begin the questioning of a lifetime.

“I am Ian, alpha of Halistro.” I answered in return, taking some pride that I am now head honcho of a group of people.

Grandpa would have been so proud of me, probably would have bought me a burger for that achievement.

“We see, we’ll then, Ian, it is a pleasure to meet you. As we have said before we are Lichen, now we may begin in earnest.”

"Why are you diamond dogs here this deep in griffon territory?" Lichen asked me they used a hoof to point at me.

"My diamond dogs are here within the northern frontier because I have asked permission from the mayor of Talon's End for locations to give these dogs a new home and this was one such location." I said with honesty cause after all, honesty is the best policy, and I would rather have some more friends than enemies.

Friends means more people to get together and share jokes and memes...or in this case share stories and juicy tales.

And also can serve as meat shields or witnesses to certain war crimes.

"We see, but why is this clan so far from its mountain range? The diamond dogs have never ventured this far west in nearly seven hundred years since their last great king, so why are you all here?"

"I am here because I am in service to the King Guto of Griffonia, honorable knight and agent of the griffonian crown. I was sent to Talon's End to complete a task for the crown. The diamond dogs are here because they were chasing down a cadre of minotaurs who were encroaching and stealing their lands out from under their noses with false documents and lies, and unfortunately for Talon's End those taurs thought that they could hide in safety in a griffon village and think that the diamond dogs wouldn't attack it. The bulls were wrong and soon the dogs laid siege to the griffon village, the end result being several dead griffonian citizens, a multitude of dead diamond dogs."

"And the minotaurs?"

"I do believe it is my turn to ask you a question." I said as the bug pony as they lifted an eyebrow ever so slightly before conceding with a nod.

"What exactly are you? I have seen ponies before from the humble and easygoing earth ponies, honorable yet brash pegasi, and the patient yet arrogant unicorns, along with apparently the ever-elusive thestrals that serve under Princess Luna of Equestria. But you? You look like a pony and yet you are far from being a relative of them if the insectoid appearance is of any indication." I said as I gestured at Lichen who kept that raised eyebrow before letting out a sigh as they did the pony-equivalent of a facepalm.

The bug pony before stood up and started to trot around the room, almost starting to form a rut in the stonework as I heard them mumble to themselves for a minute before finally coming to a stop before me as they sat back down. Their face as a flat expression as I heard their wings buzz ever so slightly and saw them twitch a bit before glancing further back and saw that their tail was twitching as well.

"Ian, normally we would have enforced the Masquerade Protocol on not only you but on the diamond dogs that have entered our hive and have seen where it is located, but because of...numerous circumstances, we are suspending such protocol until we have come to the conclusion of this intellectual engagement and determine whether or not your clan is a threat to our continued existence. What we say here will never leave this chamber, am I understood." I gave a nod and Lichen continued where they left off.

"We are changelings, we are masters of deception and infiltration, and we have the combined essence of the three pony tribes but in diminished capacity. Our appearance is because of what was done to us in the past several millennia ago and there is nothing that can be done to rectify it and our new 'diet' doesn't help either in regard to those we come into contact with. It is because of our 'unnatural' appearance that has made it almost impossible for us to have relations with those on the surface world thus rendering our race into permanent exile beneath it." Lichen said as I listened to with absolute quietness, my attention is undivided and is resetting solely on the bug pony sitting before me.

"I see... well, that is very... enlightening to say the least. But now I must ask what is your diet? It surely isn't the flesh and blood of others, right? Cause that is the only thing that I can think of that will spurn relations with foreign nations. That and eating babies." I said as I rubbed my chin after giving it some thought.

"As you have said earlier, it is my turn to ask. Now, back to my question before you interrupted us, what was done to the minotaurs that you have in your captivity?"

"I executed all but two of them. One of them was a porter that I sent back to Minos with a sack full of horns." I said as I glanced over at the door, noticing that it is now cracked open just a tad before returning my gaze to the bug pony in front of me.

"And the other?"

"The other minotaur is someone of importance, you do not need to know their name or who they are. Just know that in the coming months when the world conference happens that you may or may not see them." I said, blocking that question as I was not about to lay out top information to a random bug pony, this secret will die with me until it gets revealed in the coming months.

"We see..." the bug pony said as they rubbed their chin with a holey hoof, I was staring at said hoof before my eyes started to look them over, noticing that there were more holes all over their legs along with a few holes in their head frill. I didn't cast my gaze lower than necessary because I really didn't need to see bug horse junk, I get enough sight of schlong and snatch from the dogs, griffons and ponies anyway, don't really need to add bug horse dong to that list.

"What is a changeling's diet?" The moment I asked this I watched as the changeling before me twitched ever so slightly, clearly wasn't expecting or ready for this question to be asked by me.

Another thing I started to notice that I was hearing other sounds happening within the room, the barest hints of breathing from the corners in the room and from the direction of my bed, the sounds of extra pairs of insectoid wings twitching and finally the barest creaking of a wooden frame having to deal with weight distribution.

The two of us aren't the only people in this room.

"It... it is the emotions of those that are not us." Lichen said in a flat tone, clearly not happy that they have to be divulging this information. They straightened themselves out as they coughed into a holey hoof, which by the way made some rather raunchy thoughts cross my mind as I started to think of how many dicks have probably gone through those holes.

"How did you get the diamond dogs to follow you? Last we recall they only follow orders from their alpha and you do not smell like one of them, your scent is off." the bug pony asked as I once again get ready to dodge that question.

"They are following me because they see me as one of their own, I fought their previous alpha and I won."

"How do obtain these emotions? Do you hold them against their will and drain it out of them like a leech on a living body or do you just be near them and absorb it passively?" This earned another sigh from Lichen as I watched them brought a hoof to their muzzle, clearly not liking my line of questions at all since I am forcing them to divulge crucial information about their race, this may end with me having to kill them if they try to attack me.

"We obtain the emotions we need to survive by selecting an individual among the population that has friends, family or a mate and we then watch them carefully to find out what their routine is. Once we have learned enough about our target, we then come in at the dead of night to pacify and capture before replacing them with a harvester to continue what the target normally does. While the harvester is collecting the emotions and love around them, we take our captured prey and place them within a pod to then extract as much emotion as we can without causing permanent harm." Lichen calmly said as they revealed more and more about their whole operation. My guess is that they are starting to not see me as a threat or are so sure of themselves that they can easily take me on to ensure that this never gets out.

Probably the latter and not the former.

I wonder what it's like being podded, is it like being put on ice and you don't know how long it's been since going in, or is the occupant aware of what is happening around them and knows that days or weeks are passing by?

"So, if I were to defeat you, they would your clan follow me?" the bug pony asked, tilting their head with a somewhat confused look on their face.

"No, they only follow their own, and they see me as of their own." And like that the changeling attempt at usurping my clan for themselves was put down before it can even take off. That or just delayed for the time being.

"Okay, back to the harvesting question, once you are done harvesting them are they alright or are they nothing more than a shell of their former selves?" A question that needs answering cause depending on the answer this may or may not go into my report to the king regarding our apparently hidden neighbors.

"For most we simply harvest enough love and other emotions to remove the memory that they have noticed us just by being near them, but for others who have actively hunted us down or are a credible threat we intern them into a pod until they die." Lichen casually said this as they looked me in the eyes. Wow, not even a shred of remorse is in those orange eyes of theirs, looks like they take their secrecy very serious.

Apparently talking about death is something that is so easily and readily done, makes me wonder how often they have to either deal with being caught or how often they have to kill to remain hidden.

"Hmm, at least you return those that only accidentally notice you, and as for those that hurt or kill you for being what you are, I'd say that they deserve their fate."

"You agree with our methods?" Lichen said this with surprise in their voice, caught completely off-guard by my agreement with their actions.

I guess I am the first non-changeling to ever agree with them on anything while not being coerced or threatened.

"Yeah, I do. I cannot blame you for having to do what you have to do to survive. You have to act like a parasite just to see the next day and it would be unfair and also uncalled for me to judge you in such a fashion. But I am wondering if there is not another way to get emotions? Can you not just... I don't know, just simply acquire it just by being in proximity to others?" I asked as I just thought of this idea and in all honesty, I don't even know if it would even work in the long term or the short term.

"What do you mean by passive harvesting?" Lichen simply tilted their head ever so slightly, apparently never even thinking that they can do this passively without exposing themselves or harming their food source.

"What I mean is that you just send your harvesters out and have them hang out and around the griffons, ponies, diamond dogs and whatever race is near and just be near them. Get them to be friends with the locals, be nice, show kindness, and just absorb what is freely given because they think you are one of them." And here is hoping that it even remotely works because I have no true idea on how their emotion harvesting methods work or function on a biological scale.

Cause come on, how often does one find an emotionvore out there in the wild?

"We see... we shall attempt this approach in the future. Now back to our topic at hoof." Lichen said after lowering his gaze and stared at the ground for a few seconds and returned to looking at me, my guess is that because they are more akin to bugs than ponies so they probably have a hive-mind of sorts or are just telepathic with their kin who may or may not be nearby.

Now I am starting to get paranoid with these changelings, first they sneak by my guards by walking on the roof, they can easily capture people and place them in pods before replacing them, my guess is that since they have horns and are like the ponies that they have access to magic. Access to magic means they can use illusions; illusions means that more are hiding and if they are hiding... than there are more in this very room, and I just haven't noticed them yet.

I am not going to be sleeping very good tonight... or any other night for that matter while here.

"This question comes from a consensus from the hive, how did you find us? We made sure to bury all entrances in and out of the hive city when the cataclysm happened and yet you somehow managed to find us. Was it a defector that told you of our location? Or was it a rival hive in disguise that hired your clan to exterminate us?" The bug pony got up from the floor and started to walk towards me, with their small statue and slightly unintimidating form I wasn't very phased as they slowly trotted up to me as Lichen started to poke my leg with a hoof.

Catching the hoof poking my leg with my left hand I lean down and look them into the eyes, “We didn’t even know any of even you existed until we found your dead all amassed at the first gatehouse. We were simply exploring the abandoned mine that the griffons gave to us when we found a mummified hand with a note clutched tightly in its hand that simply said ‘run’, after that we simply went spelunking.” And what spelunking it was, discovered a dead city, found heaps of dead bodies, found riches beyond compare, was attacked by beasts out of a tabletop game and lost a dog to them, I swear this shit is gonna be the death of me some day.

It took the bug pony a few moments to process the information that I dumped on them and once they had finished processing it, they looked down at my hand then at me.

"So, you weren't sent by another hive to kill us?" Lichen said as they tilted their head, confusion clearly written on their face.

"No, it is as exactly what I just said, we didn't even know any of you existed until we found your dead lying in the streets. Hell, we arrived at this mine not even a few days ago because we had to leave Talon's End to avoid potential civil unrest." I said as the changeling just blinked at me, clearly wasn't expecting that answer as they looked up at us and tilted their head, making them look like an adorable dog looking up at their owner.

Looking down at this absolutely adorable display I couldn't help but snicker at it all.

It's like watching your kids put on your clothes and watching them act out being adults and you just can't help but be amused by their actions.

Watching Lichen's ear flicker at the sound of my barely concealed snicker, I watched as the little bug pony tilt their head again, "Please do tell us how you find us to be amusing?"

"Well," I started as I kept trying to reign in the laughter, but I was never good at it, "First off, it's your size. Because you are smaller than me, I immediately find you adorable, it's like talking to a pet but the pet can talk back. Secondly there is your eyes, those large, glossy eyes that remind of me stuffed toys from back home when I was younger when I was afraid of the dark. And lastly there is you trying to be intimidating but failing because of how cute and adorable you look." I said as the bug pony stood up and approached me.

"You find us adorable?"

"Uh...yeah?" I said all the while smirking at the little changeling, truth be told that one of the reasons I find changelings, and by proxy ponies and griffons so adorable is that they all roughly three feet tall at the withers or shoulders, unicorns only being slightly taller by an extra three-to-five inches cause of the horn, and because of that height difference they are akin to large dogs so I just wanna hug the shit out of them and give them head pats.

"Why? Why are you not afraid of us? Almost every single race on the planet is afraid of us." Lichen said, confusion clearly evident on their face as they say this.

"And why would I be afraid of you? You guys look adorable, almost as adorable as the ponies and griffons themselves and while they got the cuddly softness to them, you got that 'please hug me' look going for you." and that was the truth of it, during the many days I spent in Talon's End, I have interacted with the few ponies that lived within the village, including the foals, and when they came to give me a hug cause I was working hard (still don't know why they must always be so touchy-feelie) I learned firsthand that they are ungodly soft and cuddly, like hugging a massive fucking teddy bear, but a pony, with wings, or horns, or neither but still fold me like an omelet, but that is beside the point.

Ponies are soft and probably make the best pillows if in a sleeping pile, and as for the bug pony before me, they are the same and while they don't look as soft nor as cuddly, they still look adorable in my eyes. Like a pleather stuffed toy with glass eyes that you sometimes get from the claw machine in stores.

The bug pony stood there for a hot minute, mulling this information all the while giving me a scrutinizing stare before finally giving me a nod.

"You find us adorable?" Lichen finally said in a low tone, seemingly unsure on how to proceed for the first time since we started this conversation.

"Yeah." Wow, this conversation just got sad and depressing all of a sudden. To see a changeling feel sad cause their entire existence is to be a parasite to those around them and to finally find someone that isn't afraid of them, that's pretty fucked to be honest.

"Then... can we have a hug?" the changeling asked as they gave me a sheepish smile, trying to not look creepy or needy while asking that request.

"Uhh sure? I guess? A bit out of nowhere but okay. Just no biting or clawing." I said and as soon as Lichen nodded at me I leaned down and grabbed the changeling under their front legs and brought them onto my lap, and luckily for me I didn't see anything 'male' on this changeling so I didn't have to worry about pony balls resting on my lap as I brought the bug pony closer for a hug.

Once they were situated on my lap I then proceeded to wrap my arms around them, making sure not to accidentally crush their wings since they looked brittle and as I hugged them I felt their head rest beside mine and for a moment all was calm until I then felt them start to snuggle closer just as their head started to rub against my own but I ignored it since it was probably how equines did their hugs.

While we sat their hugging I kept quiet in the event that Liche doesn't want me speaking during this hug so I simply kept my mouth shut and listened to the world around me, primarily the sounds of us two breathing and the occasional sounds of their bug wings twitching or their tail flicking back and forth in a happy tail wag.

After about a minute of hugging I felt the changeling twitch for a second before letting out one of the sickest belches I have ever heard in my life before they recoiled from it and was blushing an orangish hue on their cheeks in embarrassment.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the belch that Lichen unleashed but that only made the changeling blush even more and in turn more adorable.

"Stop laughing! It isn't funny!" Lichen shouted as they hit me with their hooves, but I barely felt the impacts as I was snickering to myself before finally stopping to look down at the thoroughly embarrassed bug pony on my lap.

"Why are you embarrassed? It's just a loud burp, not like you shat yourself in front of parents after bringing home a date." I said as I eyed the changeling, wondering why they got all upset over a mouth fart.

"But you don't do that in polite company!" Lichen somewhat shouted at me in pointblank range, making me wince a bit as my ears started to ring ever so slightly.

"Polite company? You do know that it is just you and me in the room right now, right?"

Lichen didn't say a word as they pouted and looked away from me, crossing their legs over their chest as they became silent and didn't elaborate further on what they just said.

"Lichen, is there something you wish to share with me?" I asked the changeling on my lap as I started to notice things in the room that wasn't matching up to how I left it. The bed having a weight on it, the gate leading to the storage room was slightly ajar, three pairs of black hooves sticking out slightly from underneath my bed and lastly the lamp that is resting on my table is a different color than from what it originally was.

"No..." the changeling on my lap said in a low tone, clearly not wanting to answer me as I knew something was wrong.

"Lichen, don't play coy or dumb with me. I know that we aren't the only ones in here at this moment." and as soon as I said that the changeling in my lap got stiff and didn't move a muscle nor breath as they just realized that the jig was up and that they are in a rather precarious position at the moment.

A moment passed.

Then another moment passed.

Finally, after realizing that their cover was blown I watched as three changelings come crawling out from under my bed, one of them had my underwear on their horn that was acting like a flag of sorts and was trying to remove it by shaking their head but it was stuck there, a changeling jumping off the table as they were disguised as a lamp, a fairly large hulking changeling comes stomping out of the treasury room and a flash of brilliant amber light a fairly tall, slender, and majestic changeling revealed themself laying on my bed.

Staring at the motley crew of changelings that have assembled themselves within my bedchamber I can only sit in the chair and stare at them all as they stood their ground and stared at me with their unblinking eyes.

It was like a mexican standoff except there are no mexicans and neither of us have a gun nor a sombrero.

The first one to speak was the tall changeling laying on my bed, not even bothering to get up as those around them did when they revealed themselves, my guess is that this one is a leader of sorts, perhaps an officer or high ranking official.

"I do believe congratulations are in order. You are the first non-changeling to notice us and not react in a violent manner in over five hundred years, you have my gratitude and I do believe an applause is in order, except you Bulwark, you would alert the warren if you showed any appreciation." the tall changeling said as a smile graced their face, looking at them now I can tell that there is a feminine shape to it what with the slender muzzle, dainty pouty lips, actual eyelashes, a royal crown that looks like it is made of solidified honey or amber, and the fact that I can see teats as they are laying on their side.

The assembled changelings all started to clap quietly and slowly by stamping their hooves on the floor, my guess is that this is their version of the applause which just so happens to be the exact opposite of the loud and rambunctious applause that ponies do, and not a single changeling was smiling or saying anything, they were simply giving me an expressionless stare of cold indifference.

"And what kind of host would I be for intruding upon one's home and not introduce myself." I watched as the tall changeling slowly rolled over and stood up, making a surefire effort to show off her body to me as I noticed the numerous holes lining her legs, wings and horn and before long the changeling mare was standing tall and proud on my bed before walking off and slowly trots over to me, subtly shaking her hips as she approached me.

"It has been so long since I last graced my divine presence to an outsider, let alone an outsider that has discovered my home and has made themselves known as one who is not afraid of our very nature and our presence."

"I." The tall changeling started as their horn glowed a transparent orange color as they lifted Lichen from my lap and placed them next to the rest of the changelings beside her.

"Am." the rest of the changelings all fanned out and surrounded me, not in a threatening manner mind you but one that says 'there is no escape' so I was a tad nervous about this.

"Ambrosia, Queen of the Amber Swarm." the now titled changeling monarch said with glee in her voice as her wings spread out to their fullest extension as she stood on her hind legs and standing tall and proud over me and her minions.

"And you kind sir, are coming with me!" and with her horn still glowing I watched as the air around us all started to vibrate and hum before everything snapped to blackness for the fraction of a second before my eyes finally regained purchase of what just happened.

I was no longer sitting in safety of my room as I fell on my ass and landed on polished stone tile as the buzzing of an infinite swarm of insects buzz around me.

I was in the heart of the changeling swarm, and my dogs don't even know that I am gone.

"Oh...shit."

"Oh shit indeed, my tall bipedal friend."

Next Chapter: The Amber Swarm Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 57 Minutes