Thiemo couldn’t help but be astonished by the hundreds of changelings emptying the shelves of the gigantic library. The room was lit by the same green moss he had found in the darker tunnels. The shelves, which contained the self-bound books, seemed to be carved into the walls. It was the same with the seats: stones in which holes were carved to fit one’s behind. Naturally, only to fit the hard chitin-covered backs of the changelings.

“That is a lot of books,” Thiemo said in amazement as he temporarily forgot what danger he was actually in. “Are all of these written by changelings?” He took a book from a passing drone’s pile. It showed him an unknown language with countless diagrams as well as illustrations.

“No, our people collected them over thousands of years during their crusades. We gather the knowledge and teach our young only what they need to adapt to every existing culture.” The book flew out of his hand back to the changeling who had already been waiting for it at the exit. Amaryllis was still in her changed shape, but all the changelings who encountered her seemed to recognize her immediately.

“Is it normal to run around in a different shape?” For a race which did so to survive, that was possibly courteous, although he hadn’t seen anyone else like that. Then again, they were all busy moving stuff around since they were about to move. It served as a reminder that he should quickly find a way out of this miserable situation.

“Oh,” Amaryllis said and again was devoured by green fire. Once more, it burnt hot enough that he covered himself with his hands.

“Please be careful; that looks like it could hurt.” The princess blinked at him a few times and giggled. Then she stepped towards him and put her hoof on his shoulder. Shortly after, it was covered in flames again. Thiemo screamed in fear and shook off the hoof while he jumped back.

“Our magical flames may look harmful but are no threat. They are mostly for deterrence. Although changelings have sharp teeth and hard shells, we are neither carnivores nor very persistent.” The princess had to be very confident. Even when her subjects and soldiers were all around, giving out obvious weak spots seemed unwise. The green fire was, until now, the only reason he wouldn’t use physical force against them. Now, as soon as he could get his hands on a weapon or a gem, he could fight his way out. Only Aura was a concern now, and they hadn’t even mentioned her yet. It was a sign that they knew she was the only one who held him at bay.

“So just intimidation?” Amaryllis nodded again.

“Don’t think, though, that we can’t defend ourselves.” This time she had a smirk on her face, revealing her teeth while she leaned towards him. “If we want, we can bite.”

“Are you hitting on me?” Thiemo asked confusedly, now that he had recovered from the shock from not being burned alive.

“Did it work? Mother says stallions are into that. It’s called foreplay.” He blinked, she blinked, and then he blinked again.

“How old are you?” he asked with a stern look. It was a justified question since she reached to about his chin, and when adding the horn, she was as tall as he.

“Ten," she answered and grinned proudly. “I turn eleven this year.” Thiemo rubbed his forehead to fight the slowly coming headache.

“So just to clarify that," he started and faced her with a serious look on his face, “you are ten years old? Basically a half foal?”

Amaryllis calculated. “And fifty additional days to be exact. But I’m not a foal anymore. Our species is mature at the age of eight. From that age, drones set off to gather love, and soldiers fight intruders who could threaten the lair.” Slowly, Thiemo started to understand that these creatures were as similar to insects as to ponies. Quickly growing drones and workers were necessary to build up a hive and an army. Something many insects did. Ants in particular jumped to his mind. “If it interests you, I’ll show you more.”

Thiemo shrugged his shoulder. On the one side, he really didn't want to see any more, but then again, it was his only opportunity to have a look around. “Sure, why not?” They left the library and walked past legions of changelings who carried books and walked in single file. Again, they reminded him of ants that strictly followed a set path.

Amaryllis lit the tunnel ahead, and they walked side by side through the cavernous corridors. This time, it seemed to lead toward the center. Only a few other changelings were around. "This is the school." She pointed at multiple large doors they passed. "Here our nymphs get taught everything they need for life, depending on their predetermined role they have to fulfill." Thiemo couldn't exactly imagine a bulk of these cheesy creatures going to school every morning like well-behaved kids, but this world surprised him every day. Furthermore, if they had as much in common with ponies as it seemed, it was very well possible. At least they only stole love, with the casual exception of a conquest, which had to be some kind of magic. Chrysalis mentioned that she had tried it multiple times during the conversation. So they didn't need to ram their teeth into someone's throat for that.

"How exactly does that work, the draining of love? It just doesn't make sense to me that you can feed off of emotions." They came to yet another crossroad and took the way deeper into the lair. Slowly, he began to feel like the whole lair was just a spiral which drilled deeper into the ground, as he felt the grade of the path the entire time.

Amaryllis stopped in front of another door. "Maybe it's better if I show you." She used her horn and the door retracted. They entered a massive room which contained multiple changelings and what seemed to be the aforementioned nymphs. The older ones were dipping the younger ones into a green liquid. "These are the nurses. They care for the nymphs and feed them." As she spoke, the changelings bowed down before scurrying back to their respective duties. One of the nymphs, who sat in a hole filled with the strange liquid, struggled, and some of the liquid touched the ground. It made a sizzling noise as the liquid burnt into the stone.

"Is that acid?" Thiemo asked while already backing off towards door.

"A harmless one, at least for us. We clean our shells with it." This was some kind of baby bath station, just with acid. "But look." Amaryllis pointed at a nurse on the other side of the cave. She bowed over a young changeling, and her horn projected a constant green ray which connected with the other changeling. This lasted for about ten seconds before it faded, and they proceeded with the bathing. "All emotions create energy, but none more than love. We live on that energy. Even your food has some of it, but it's not efficient. A normal changeling would have to eat thousands of apples to cover his daily dose. And that's what we did until our predecessors discovered that this energy could be syphoned from others. It allowed us to settle instead of scavenging." Ants were maybe not that precise, so maybe locusts? Maybe a mixture of all insects.

"Do your victims suffer?" Amaryllis trembled visibly.

"We don't call them victims. It's true that we are parasitic, but we often also give. We take the place of the recently deceased and stay with the family without them noticing. We let them think they never went away. When the lives of their family end, we return to the lair and share the collected love with our brothers and sisters."

"Shouldn't changelings, then, live much longer than ponies?" He assumed that most had a rather short lifespan considering they were adult within eight years.

Amaryllis opened the door, and the two continued their tour. "Indeed, a changeling is immortal as long as he has energy." Thiemo gulped as he thought of what that would mean. These creatures were so tightly connected to their magic that it affected their lifespan. It could be a curse or a blessing.

"But you still didn't answer my question. Does it hurt the.... donors?" Well, aside from the trauma of the family if they found out that their loved one had been dead and replaced by a bug for who knew how many years.

Amaryllis didn't look at him, nor did she say anything. Finally, as they merged into a side tunnel which was much smaller than the main corridor, she sighed. "It depends…" again silence “… on the changeling. If he forcibly takes emotions, then yes it is harmful, and it kills the host. Slow but steady. It is something that is against our nature though. The longer the pony lives, the longer we feast off their emotions, right?" Thiemo nodded only when she looked around at him. "Normally we don't have to do that because the emotions are directed towards us or rather our imitations of the ponies whose shape we acquired." Here he saw his chance for a start.

"Are you going to do that with the other prisoners?" Honestly, he didn't care for them. He didn't know them, and in Trixie's case, he felt like a long stay in prison wouldn't hurt her character. Quite frankly, she deserved it.

The door at the end of the corridor came closer and opened as soon as they were in reach. This room was significantly bigger - Thiemo only noticed because he couldn't see the wall at the other side. Carefully, he stepped inside and saw what had to be the brood chamber. The moss covered nearly every inch of the chamber. Everywhere, changelings flew through the air, and hundreds of green eggs lay on the ground, embedded softly in the moss. The wings of the changelings made near to no sound, as if they were trying to be quiet. The room itself was a big round chamber, different than the others. It had probably formed naturally and was once filled with water.

One of the nurses came over to the two and eyed them. The princess spoke to her, "No danger, broodmother. I am only showing the new prisoner of the queen around the lair." The changeling nodded and flew off. "She is the supervisor, the mightiest after me and my mother. She commands the nurses and ensures that the eggs are not harmed." Amaryllis walked over the moss through the eggs and put her cheek against the first pod. "Come here and feel the life." Thiemo was too fascinated to resist, so he followed her. For a moment, he nearly slipped but caught himself on the back of Amaryllis. Only then did he realize how much his leg was hurting. It had actually slipped his mind most of the time until now. Amaryllis didn't seem bothered by the contact and kept her cheek against the egg. Carefully, he reached out his hand and turned it on the other side. It pulsed. It was as if the slim shell would expand and contract, although he couldn't see any movement. It was warm and a bit moist, covered with a small film which didn't leave the egg as he pulled back his hand. Some sort of natural incubator, he guessed.

Amaryllis lifted her head and inspected the dozens of eggs. "These are the last mother could lay. As soon as they've hatched, we will set off and build a new lair far away from Equestria. With your help, mother will lay new eggs and our family will get even bigger." She said it in the same tone as her mother but, at the same time, didn't sound as happy as Chrysalis. Thiemo let go of her back and fell down immediately into the soft moss. "Is everything alright?" Amaryllis asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, only afraid for my second and third leg...." he mumbled as he rubbed the aching spot.

She looked at him confusedly. "Third leg? Mother told me that humans have only two legs and two...." she thought a bit "… arms, yes that's the word." On the one hand, he was happy she didn't get the innuendo; on the other side, he could only laugh at her innocence. She was like a doll princess. Nice to look at but locked in her innocence, secluded from the world. All her knowledge seemed to be from books or what Chrysalis told her, and he saw his chance in her naivety.

"Oh look, one's hatching!" She pointed at an egg right next to Thiemo which moved slightly this time and then cracked. It split more and more, and finally rolled around in the moss. Over their heads, nurses watched the act, but no one tried to help the nymph. Even Amaryllis just stood there and watched how it fought for its birth. Thus Thiemo picked up the egg, laid it in his lap, and flexed his index finger. Without watching the reactions of the others, he used his other hand as a hammer and pierced through the shell with his finger. The surprise and outrage of the others was heard as the shell cracked, a white liquid ran down his trousers, and only a small black thing stayed.

The nymph freed her wings, which stuck to her soft shell, and shook in its small hooves. She was not much larger than a newborn whelp of a dog, and although Thiemo knew what that thing would become one day, he couldn't help but find it adorable, an effect babies have on adults, no matter the race. With a finger, he stroked carefully over the head of the young. The chitin was similarly soft to the rest of the body, like the head of a newborn human. He was afraid of applying too much pressure and hurting it.

"Would someone please take it?" Expectantly, he looked around, but no one moved a muscle. "I don't want to hurt it." Still everyone looked at him in shock. "What? Have I got some of the slime on my trousers?" Said trouser was completely drenched by the strange smelling stuff.

"Princess! You said he wouldn't be any danger!" The broodmother looked at the two angrily and at the nymph Thiemo held like a cat. "Why didn't you stop it?"

"I didn't think he'd interfere." Amaryllis was visibly unsure, while Thiemo still didn't understand why they were angry.

"Have I done something wrong?" The looks the broodmother and the other nurses shot him, he felt both his own trembling and that of the nymph in his arms.

Amaryllis turned back to him and lifted the young one out of his arms. "It is tradition that the nymphs face the light of the world by themselves. It tests their strength and will. Due your interference, we have no other choice but to banish it since it wouldn't be recognized by the others." She levitated he nymph to the broodmother, but before it reached her, Thiemo grabbed it abruptly out of the air. Scared and a little bit hurt, it squeaked as he took it into his iron grasp.

Normally, he didn't care for others, and especially not for their fate. It was not of his concern what became of them, and they wouldn't care for him either, but this was his fault. If he hadn't acted so rashly, a baby, or nymph, wouldn't be condemned to certain death. He had seen many beings die in his journey and never cared. They were adults that had lived a life, but children were different. Their destinies were important for him, no matter how hard he tried to block it out. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be travelling with Aura today.

"I wouldn't relinquish it if the devil himself told me to hand it over. How can you talk of solidarity and family, and at the same time abandon one of your own so easily?" The whole tour was to show that they were a family, so why were they like that?

"It's the best for her." A sentence Thiemo had heard often enough in his life, mostly from his parents. They had always thought they knew what was best for him. Sadly, they mostly came out right, but here it was about a still innocent life. Even if he was only acting out of responsibility.

He took the little one in his arms, but again it was encased in the pink aura of Amaryllis and slowly escaped his grasp. Thiemo strengthened his grip by crossing his fingers behind the back of the nymph, but it was of no use. Without his staff, he had no chance against magic, and she finally slipped away. The broodmother immediately took it off Amaryllis and disappeared with some other nursemaids in the hind sections of the room.

"Do you really think it's best for a life to be destroyed?" he spat at her as he lowered himself into the moss. He had to fight the tears as he heard the nymph squeak in panic. It got more and more quiet, hooves trotting on stone audible, and then it got dead silent.

Even Amaryllis winced at the noise. "No, but those are our rules. Only the strongest survive. Isn't it like that everywhere?" She had a point. Humans had held back their own evolution by letting the weak survive. Still, they reached a point where nature was not needed to carry on. However, this way the question would stay, whether he was guilty of this child's death. Would the nymph have been able to hatch alone or not? Thiemo hated questions which he'd never get an answer. It was against his nature. His life's dedication had been finding answers to his questions since they were the reason behind his journey after all.

"I want to return to my cell," he said tonelessly, wiping his face of any emotion and tried to stand up. Amaryllis nodded but didn't help him, even when a small twitch signalled that she wanted to. Thiemo saw that she was a good soul, but the rules of her folk had her indoctrinated. Together, they walked up to the door again and left the brood chamber. As they reached the tunnel, Thiemo noticed how stifling the air had been. The cold air was a welcome change.

Neither of the two said or asked anything as they walked back the way they came. Thiemo had lost the lust for knowledge, and Amaryllis didn't put the incident with the nymph away that well either. She seemed lost in her thoughts.

They kept up the silence until they reached the cells where the two guards were waiting for them. "Is everything alright, Princess?" asked the changeling without visible injury. The other one had a small crack in his natural shell around his snout. Maybe he could tell the others he ran into a wall.

Amaryllis nodded. "Everything is fine. Guide our guest back into his cell." With that, she turned around and disappeared into the corridor.

The two guards eyed each other, and then pointed the spears at him. "You heard the order, get going." Thiemo obeyed and walked slowly down the cell block to the fortified door behind which Trixie waited for him. At least his mood couldn't get worse now. The door opened, and Thiemo and one of the soldiers stepped inside. Trixie laid on the repaired bed and watched, bored, as he was brought back. The soldier stepped outside again and locked the door. Quickly, Thiemo turned around.

"That's useless. Not even the magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie can do anything against these doors," she said, her voice in a monotone. But Thiemo wasn't planning on opening the door with sheer force. He had seen how hard this chitin was and how it could even resist acid. But luckily, he had learned to engrave diamonds with other diamonds. All other gems too, but that didn't work in this case. The knowledge of his shaman training was what would get him out of here.

"Be quiet, Trixie, and I may just take you with me if I'm forgiving." He counted the seconds until she'd destroy his offer.

"As if Trixie has to accept the help of a human." He was surprised - a full three seconds.

"Then rot in here," he growled. Thiemo pressed his ear against the chitin and heard as the guards walked off through the moss, which splashed with every step as if it was a fully soaked sponge. When he couldn't hear them anymore, he looked around. As he found what he was looking for, he walked over to Trixie and broke off the bed post once again.

The bed lost its stability, and Trixie rolled down. "Hey! How dare you destroy the Great and Powerful Trixie's bed! Do I have to teach you a lesson again?" Thiemo didn't even look at her and walked back to the door.

"If I recall correctly, I won the first fight back then, and we couldn't even begin the second one since we got interrupted." One of four bedposts missed, and it wasn't like Trixie had much room to dodge. He could be in her face before she could even think of a spell. At least if his leg would stop hurting.

Trixie said nothing and sulked on the ground. Happy that he made her mute for the moment, he turned back to his plan. In the door was a small slit caused by the eggshell he hid in his pockets. Carefully, he split the bedpost into two and started using the arm. Without too much effort, the door opened, and he slid through. Thiemo looked back and saw Trixie gazing at him with an open mouth.

"Careful, otherwise you might catch yourself some flies." Just as she stood up and was about to follow him, he let go, and the door closed. A dull thud told him that Trixie had ran straight into it. Happy, but with the severe pain in his leg to offset it, he set off to find Aura and his staff.

Author's Notes:

As always thanks to faktopus for proofreading.
A second time edited by JBL. Thanks buddy!

I hope you enjoyed.

tio aka truekry