You yawned as you wormed your way out of your bed, always enjoying how incredibly tight it felt. It was always so confusing how that made you comfortable, but it made you think back to a time that was so much simpler, so much easier on you.

Casting the thought of the past out of your head, you struggled to walk, your legs always a bit shaky after you had just woken. You needed to wash up, and you'd just finally gotten a bowl of water to start your day off. It really did surprise you how much it took to get that, but you were just happy to have it. As you moved, you chanted your morning mantra.

"You are Apocrita. You are an individual. You are an elite."

A few other Changelings cracked their eyes open, looking at you in irritation, but quickly stopped when they recognized who you were. They had gotten used to your routine for the most part... or at least, had learned that messing with you was a bad idea. Stemmata learned that when your kick knocked one of his eyes out. Now he can't blink without remembering not to fuck with you... Fuck? Damn Anon and his world's curses were getting in your head now.

Sighing, you stopped at the bowl of water, leaning forward to dip your face into it, the cool liquid helping to wake you up. You hold your breath for a moment, just enjoying it a bit longer, before letting it all out, bubbles flowing back up into your face, tickling your exoskeleton.

Pulling away, you let the water drip off your face, disrupting the water until it finally came to a stop. Seeing your reflection, you gave a slight frown. You were always proud of your violet eyes, the way they helped separate you from the others. It was part of the reason you had a morning mantra, to remind yourself that you were more than just a part of the hive. That you were an entity that was defined more than your species. Yes, you cared for your people and were proud to be an elite for them, but you had your own separate thoughts and feelings.

But your reflection was different. The Changeling you saw was... still you. There was no denying that. But you were different. You'd noticed it over the past couple of days. Your fin had started taking color of its own, now starting to become violet like your eyes. You'd only seen Pharynx have a fin that wasn't just black. And going back to your eyes, they weren't just violet. They were shimmering, like gems in the light. Ugh, you hated that, it sounded so corny, but it was true.

"Yes, your physical changes are a true anomaly," you heard, making you spin around, fangs bared while growling at the entity that dared to try and sneak up on you. Only, you found it was Chitin, staring at you without even the slightest hint of fear. Thank the hive he hadn't been sent out on any missions, because he was totally lacking in survival instincts.

"Chitin, don't sneak up on me like that. I could have snapped your neck with a double kick to your jaw," you chide the awkward Changeling, relaxing your stance, wings flickering before settling.

"I'm aware," Chitin replied, not at all intimidated by the statement. "However, in all of my previous instances of approaching you without announcing my presence, you've taken notice of me every single time. I believe your intense focus regarding the physical change you've been undergoing lately is the reason for this," Chitin stated, walking forward to better inspect you.

Sighing, you looked at him with irritation, but didn't stop him from his inspection. Actually, you were sort of glad that he was here. Yesterday, before the horrors of the Game Night, you had stopped by Chitin when Anon was busy getting into a fight with one of lesser guards for looking at him funny. You knew the guard, he actually admired Anon immensely and just didn't know how to say it. Anon thought he was being mocked and demanded a fist fight. The concept of fists was beyond the poor guard, and so it basically just ended up with Anon body slamming the poor guy. It continued into a-

Dammit! Even when you didn't have to deal with him, Anon was fucking with your train of thought. You'd gone to Chitin asking him about the changes in your body. You'd already undergone the miracle, and horror, of metamorphosis during your adolescence. He did some quick tests, then said he'd get back to you with the answers.

"It really is quite astounding. The changes are minimal, nothing really affecting your body's functionality for the good or bad," he observed, poking a hoof to your fin, making it twitch.

"Well that's a relief, I suppose," you snort, eyes rolling before focusing on him. "Can you tell me what the cause of it is? If I need to stop it, I'd like to know why."

Humming, almost ignoring your words, Chitin leaned in till you could feel his breath. Your legs tensed, ready to strike him, but stopped when he said "I believe it's dietary. Physical changes in Changelings not brought about by their own magic usual do."

"Yeah, well, I have been eating better since Queen Chrysalis let me eat with her and Anon," you admitted, giving a shrug.

Stopping in his observations, Chitin gave you an almost irritated look, the most emotion you really ever got from him. "Do me a favor Apocrita, if you're going to lie to me about your diet... well, just don't. It's unbecoming and absolutely going to fail, seeing as I am the closest thing to a medical professional this hive ever has and ever will produce."

"Wow, you almost sounded as bad as Anon for a moment there," you state, the ego on this guy proving surprisingly big. Made you wonder... Dammit! You weren't going to think about that!

Once more ignoring your words, Chitin stated "Most Changelings will notice holes in their legs and wings filling as a result of love they eat. Of course, the holes will return once they are malnourished enough. However, it appears that you're getting a taste of something different. What sort of love have you been eating lately?"

"There are different kinds of love?" you asked, legitimately surprised by this.

"As my observations show, yes," Chitin answered, sitting down and clearing his throat like he was going to start a lecture. "There are seven different types of love. Passionate, friendly, familial, universal, uncommitted, romantic, and self-love. Starting with passionate, it's more a-"

Shoving your hoof to Chitin's mouth, with enough force that was just short of harming him, you cut him off. "I don't need to know all of that. I'm pretty sure I'm just eating friendly love."

Pulling away from your hoof, Chitin harumphed. "Very well then. Friendly love is surprising though, not usually the sort of nutritional value that you need for such a change, but perhaps you simply have an adaptive biology... or, it could be that human love, even in friendly form, is especially nutritious," Chitin pondered, rubbing a hoof to his chin in wonder.

"How are you so sure it's Anon's love?" you asked, keeping a stern look at him.

"He is literally the only being capable of showing affection in this hive outside of the Love Shack... plus, you're constantly by his side," Chitin pointed out.

"That's where you're wrong. Anon is incapable of showing emotions outside of anger, sorrow, and undeserved pride. In fact, after last night, I'm under the impression Anon may be his world's version of a Changeling, or worse," you explain.

Frowning at your words, Chitin got up and started to walk off. "Say what you want, but I'm rarely wrong about this, Apocrita. I do encourage you continue feeding from him though. While it may not be pointing one way or another yet, I think this will produce remarkable results."

You glared at Chitin as he walked off, but then let up as you realized of all Changelings, he would care the least. By the queen, it must have been great to go through life without giving any fucks...

... which reminded you, there was another asshole that you needed to interact with.

"Put it out, put it out, put it out, put it out!"

"I can't! You need to stop moving so much!"

You watched, partly amused, but mostly irritated. You had to stop by Queen Chrysalis before getting to Anon, so another guard had to watch him for a short moment. He was truly little more than a baby in terms of personal responsibility... and apparently, so were your fellow Changelings.

Somehow, Anon had set himself on fire. The shirt he had come here with was blazing, almost burning to his skin. And the guard, who should have prevented this, was repeatedly striking the flame with Anon's sheets to try and put it out, only serving to spread the fire to them.

Sighing, you stepped forward, kicking a hoof out into the back of Anon's knee, dropping him to the floor. Before he could even cry out in pain, you opened your mouth and expelled a thick green slime onto the flames, quickly putting the fire out.

Panting in exertion, Anon looked back to you, still a bit scared from his ordeal. Upon seeing you though, he opened his mouth and said "WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU!? I almost died just now! Seriously Ap, totally irresponsible of you to send a substitute to look after me! I mean, look at this guy, he's a total amateur!"

You looked over to the guard, who was now trying to put out the sheets by smacking them against the floor, then back to Anon. "... how did this even happen?" you ask, ignoring the needs of your fellow Changeling.

"You'd be surprised how flammable potato chips are," Anon answered, looking over to a few leftover bags in the corner of the room. "It's the grease you know. Totally unhealthy... totally addictive. Just like those beautiful flames," Anon stated, the flames reflecting in his eyes. When he started to reach for it, you slapped his hand away.

"Stop that. In fact, lets get out of here, before you set yourself on fire again," you order, walking around behind him and pushing Anon out of the room, leaving the guard to handle the fire on his own.

"Fine, fine. I'm sure Chrysalis wants to-"

"The queen doesn't want to see you today," you quickly interrupt. When you feel resistance as Anon digs his heels in, you sigh and stop pushing. Looking up at him, you say "She has important business to take care of, so she said that unless you plan on using your command on her, she needs time to herself."

"I see... she's totally devastated by my overwhelming victory last night. Total shame, but understandable," Anon stated. To the hive, his ego was huge after- NO! Stop that! He's like a fucking virus with that train of thought! Ego was supposed to mean ego, not his dick!

Growling low, you struck him in the side of his leg. "No, you idiot. You don't... you don't even understand that Chrysalis used you last night, do you?" you try to explain to him.

"Well, yeah, she's always trying to use me. Curse my devilish charm and amazing body," Anon complained, although he clearly was happy with it.

Taking a breath so you wouldn't hit him again, you say "No, that's not what I'm talking about. Queen Chrysalis had everything to lose and nothing to win from that game."

"Clearly she could have won a night with me," Anon scoffed, overriding your will and earning him a strike to the back of his knee once more, making him collapse forward. "Gah! Bitch shot!"

"You're an idiot!" you hiss in his face. "If she had won, I doubt she'd have wasted it on one chance to fuck you! You may not be aware of this, but we're bugs!"

"I'm super aware of that," Anon cut in, only to earn your hoof in his mouth.

"That means we're highly sensitive to pheromones! Every time your dick got hard because of Chrysalis in the past, we've known! We know your resolve is breaking down, it's only a matter of time you moron! A victory for her likely meant bigger plans, but even more than that, a victory for you could mean the end of it!" you declare, your words making Anon's eyes go wide. Removing your hoof, you continue "You can use her command to have her bring you back to Canterlot, grant you your freedom, or worse. And the fact that she clearly wasn't playing to win, but to flirt with you the entire time, means she had no intentions of winning in the first place."

Anon stared at you for a good moment, your words clearly hitting him harder than you realized. Good, he needed to realize how serious this was. He goofed off too much. Tartarus, if he was a Changeling, you'd have already put him in line.

"You didn't add a 'Queen' before Chrysalis' name," Anon stated.

"What? No, of course I-" you start to argue, only to pause, thinking back on it... you didn't, did you? That was considered heresy! If anypony had heard you say that, you'd be executed for it.

"Haha, bad girl Ap," Anon simply laughed, placing a hand on the top of your head and ruffling it, rubbing against your fin. Part of you wanted to relax. To purr and nuzzle into the hand, which was such an amazing thing that you'd never experienced before, but if you let Anon know how amazing his hands were, he'd never let you hear the end of it. Realizing he'd probably still mock you, you snapped to bite, but found he had already moved his hand.

"Don't do that. Don't say anything. Take what I'm telling you seriously!" you demand of him, even though part of you wondered why you cared. Sure, whatever love you were getting out of him tasted delicious, but was it really worth the headache?

Rising to his feet, his legs still a bit shaky, Anon took a few steps forward. "Yeah, I know all of that already," he stated, almost falling forward, only stopping because you bit the back of his shirt to keep him up. "That's why I didn't use my command on her already. I know it'd be easy to wish for my freedom, a ride back to Canterlot, or even her handing complete control of the hive to me by naming me the Grand Poobah of Changelings. A horny as that chick is for me, she wants something and I'm not so stupid to admit that she's probably five steps ahead."

Anon ended up falling forward when your jaw dropped open, landing on his face with a grunt. "You've... really thought this over, haven't you? And here I thought you a complete and utter moron," you complimented... sorta.

Peeling his face from the floor, Anon replied "Well I have to imagine Chrysalis as realistically as possible when I fantasize about locking her in a full-nelson and buttfucking her on her own throne. Surprisingly enough, even when I'm in charge, she always seems to rattle off about evil plans."

"You're a very disturbed AND disturbing individual," you comment, shaking your head and moving past him, hoping to put this behind you literally and figuratively.

"Maybe, but it came from her mouth. Although the idea of having me breed the princesses to create legitimate heirs that would then usurp the thrones of Equestria seems like a collaborative effort," Anon admitted, the deviousness of his mind unsettling at times.

"Too much information," you nearly gag. "Just get up and tell me where you want to go for the day."

Rising up, Anon grunted and looked at you. "I dunno, you tell me."

Pausing, you turned to face him. "Really? No big plans? Not going to give me your command reward or have us track down Pharynx to issue his?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Anon said "Well, you did just save me from burning alive, even if it is totally your fault I was in that position to start with, I figure I can throw you a bone. Especially since I totally destroyed you in that game last night... also, happy to know you totally love me."

"Not hating somepony and loving them are two totally different things," you growl out, but it dies off quickly since Anon gave you a chance to relax the way you wanted. "But... if you're serious, I do have an idea."

"So wait, you're saying he drinks blood from people, looks like them but isn't a human, and tends to mesmerize people into being his slaves?... are you sure your world doesn't have Changelings?" you asked, looking up at him from the bowl of grubs before you. They were mostly untouched, still squirming around as you liked them to be, but you just didn't feel that hungry for them right now.

"Maybe, the hell if I know. Dracula and vampires and shit are just stories where I come from," Anon stated with a shrug, clinking his spoon against the bottom of his bowl, searching for more of the sugary cereal that had been stolen just for him, only to find it was already empty.

"Well, while I'm sure you messed some things up, but the story still sounded like a truly interesting. This Bram Stoker knew how to create a good plot," you acknowledged, still playing over the events of the story in your mind. It felt... familiar? You didn't know why. You knew it was supposed to be a horror story, but something about it also felt comfortably like home.

"You liked it, huh? Well next time, I'll tell you the story of Frankenstein. Something tells me that'll be further up your alley," Anon stated, proceeding to lift the bowl up and slurp down the milk. He made a mess, but considering the shirt was going in the trash once his new clothes came in, you doubted it mattered.

Lifting a brow, you inquired "And how do you see that?"

"I'd tell you, but there'd be spoilers. And people that give spoilers deserve iron rods shoved up their urethra," Anon quickly stated, the bowl clattering as he dropped it to issue the statement.

You winced at the statement, but couldn't help smiling. "You're so fucked up Anon." There it was again, that use of his words. You'd gotten less bothered by it, which was a bad sign. But moments like this, where he wasn't being a complete asshole, instead opting to just be mostly an asshole, you didn't mind it. In all... you didn't mind him, and that was what really scared you.

"Wakey, wakey," Anon stated, tapping a finger to your head.

"Hm?"

"You spaced out, like when I think about a fine ass. Was that what you were thinking about? Or maybe a huge cock?... were you thinking about Vlad the Impaler?" Anon inquired, a stupid grin on his face. You could see something working behind his words, a real shitty thought.

"No, I was not thinking about your penis. Such a weird name for it anyways," you groan, rolling your eyes at him.

"Well... fun fact, Dracula is based off a real man known as Vlad Tepes or Vlad Dracula, but many knew him as-"

You quickly silenced him with a hoof to the mouth. "Please, please do not ruin Dracula for me, I'm begging you," you pleaded, giving him a stern look. Slowly, you removed your hoof from his mouth, and he just sat there, his lips puckered, but slowly curling into a wide grin. "Don't. Don't you da-"

"Vlad the Impaler!"

Author's Notes:

Suggested by 37212513. Ended up being a little shorter than I expected, but it's Anon's story after all.