Creating A Hive

Rainbow Falls

Raspberry turned another page in her folder. She used her magic to dangle a cat toy. Cookie reached for it again, swiping at it with her claws. Dark Justice was trying to read a comic book, pointedly ignoring his two sisters. Dynamite kept trying to throw Cookie off by throwing another toy.

Thorax caught the toy before it could make an impact. He sat beside Raspberry, beaming. "What did I miss?"

Raspberry hummed. She kept scribbling on her papers.

"Starry?" Thorax prompted.

She kept scribbling.

Thorax turned to Dark Justice. "What did I miss?"

Dark Justice ignored him to read the book.

Thorax turned to the girls- his good family, who surely would be the ones to answer his question. "What did I miss?"

Cookie had caught the toy. She was chewing on it now, trying to reach the small bell inside. Dynamite rolled her eyes. "Nothing, Dad. We've just been sitting around."

He relaxed. He moved to sit closer to Raspberry. His body changed into a puppy dog. He curled into Raspberry's side. She used her wing to hold his back. She kept working on the papers.

"Have you seen Thor-" A blue changeling walked up. They squeaked, clapping their hooves over their mouth.

The kids looked up. They all gawked at the changeling. They hadn't met any changelings before, not since they all changed.

"Wow!" Cookie buzzed over to the embarrassed changeling. "A new changeling!"

Dynamite leaned in. "What's it like to not have chitin anymore?"

Dark Justice lowered his book. He didn't see much reason to ask questions. He kept reading, but kept an ear out to their conversation.

"Do really eat friendship now? Or- or are there other things you eat?" Dynamite asked.

Cookie buzzed around the changeling. They ducked to avoid the griffin's curious claws. "Like Daddy! He eats other food all the time. Like he eats cookies and cake and pancakes and one time he ate hay nuggets!" She stopped herself, perching on the divider on the seats. She whispered in the way all children did. "But don't tell Mommy. She thinks I eated them."

The changeling squeaked again.

Thorax sat up from Raspberry's wing. He shifted back to his changeling form. "Sorry Ziggy! You don't have to answer that." He lifted Cookie off the divider. The griffin giggled. "Everything okay?"

The changeling nervously glanced at the gathered family. "Uhh...just wanted to say...thanks for joining our relay time." They shifted on their hooves. "It- Uh- really means a lot."

"Oh no worries!" Thorax beamed. "Queen Thorne offered me any part in the Olympics and, well, considering how few changelings signed on at first I volunteered for the flag and for a sport. After our first meeting a lot more signed on, you know? But Queen Thorne still wanted me to be in an event."

Beside him, Raspberry scribbled on her papers. She turned the page, reading it with the same intensity of a heart surgeon.

"She said I would be great in the relay, so that's what I signed for!" Thorax cheered. "Who else is on our team?"

"Waffle." Ziggy stuttered. They glanced around at Raspberry again. "But...but she was- um- just-"

"Yeah?" Thorax prompted, curious.

Ziggy swallowed. "I- gotta get back to our carriage. Bye!" They rushed back towards the exit door. They practically slammed it shut, they were in such a hurry.