-
>It's been a month since you were banished from the home of the thrice damned princess'
-
>Undone by the very thing that you needed to sustain yourself and your brood
-
>And now you wandered the wastes with your few remaining children, the ones that lived after a month of no emotions to feed on but hate
-
>But hate had never gone too far for you, except to sustain your will to fight
-
>You are starving, but your children suffer more for their sympathetic link to you
-
>You are tired, but all your hate for who put you here and killed nearly all your children is the only thing that keeps you trudging on
-
>You are Chrysalis, the queen of what remains of your brood, your children
-
>You are their ruler, but in the same breath you are their mother
-
>You are willing to sacrifice them as a means to an end, but their memories will still haunt you
-
>You lift your head and look up at the horizon
-
>The sun is descending, taking its baleful heat with it
-
>The desert stretches ever onward, though, and you know you and your children are in for a cold night
-
>But as the moon rises, you see a glow in the distance
-
>A glow not unlike that of a setting sun
-
>Fires
-
>Your children perk up as your hope floods their connection to you
-
>Maybe you've just found your next meal
-
------------------------------------------------------------
-
"Arista."
-
>A rather small changeling comes forward when you call his name
-
>An oddity in your brood, he is smaller than many of your children, and far leaner as well
-
>"Yes, my queen?"
-
>You frown at the way he addresses you, like a ruler instead of as a mother
-
>But you can't lose focus on why you called him forward
-
>It seems, as an adaptation for being scrawnier than most of his brothers and sisters, he was far more adept at shapeshifting
-
>Not only that, but he could even blend with his surroundings, much like a chameleon
-
"I need you to go and scout those fires on the horizon. We need to know if it is a potential feeding ground, or a threat to be avoided."
-
>Your child nods
-
>"Of course, my queen. I will return as soon as I can."
-
>With that, he slinked away into the darkness, his carapace already shifting colours to blend with the dust and scrub of the desert
-
>And once again, you are alone in the dry land
-
>You give the rest of your hatch the order to relax and doze
-
>It gave you some time to think
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>You look up at the stars
-
>It had been a long time since you had looked up at them without thinking about how they came to show in the sky
-
>You think back to when you were just a child, like your own here, learning under the previous queen, your mother
-
>Queen Thoraxia had taught you how to care for her brood, soon to be yours
-
>But you hadn't laid your first clutch yet
-
>She told you about the bond you would share with your offspring when you produced them
-
>You had never even thought seriously about rearing a hive, yet
-
>But most important was the lesson she had imprinted on you every day, without missing a beat
-
>That you must do everything you possible can to protect, to feed, to care for your children
-
>Then she had passed on
-
>You still remember how you had found her
-
>That day, when you awoke, you felt a strange absence of your mothers presence in your mind
-
>You noticed, on your walk to her chambers to find out the reason behind it, the subdued nature of the swarm
-
>Most slunk around, wings low and loose instead of folded, looking depressed
-
>When you reached the queens chambers, you knocked as you had been taught
-
>There was no answer
-
>You knocked again, perhaps your mother was sleeping very deeply
-
>Once again, only silence answered you
-
>You pushed open the door to the room, fearful of what you would find on the other side
-
>The smell was the first thing to hit you
-
>You had breathed this scent numerous times before, of course
-
>Drones died on occasion, in accidents, battles, or sometimes just from time
-
>But in any case, they always released that pheromone
-
>The same one that you detected as soon as you entered the room
-
>It was then that the reality of the situation hit you
-
>Your mother was dead
-
------------------------------------------------
-
>You approached the nest of your late parent
-
>Her eyes were closed, her face and body relaxed
-
>She had died peacefully, as she slept
-
>And even though you were a grown queen in your own right, you couldn't hold back the reaction to seeing your mother like this
-
>You held her body and wept for hours, and the entire hive ached in concert
-
>When you had finally regained control of yourself, you had a new sense of purpose
-
>Your mother wouldn't want you to weep over her body, or to be broken by loss
-
>She would expect you to take care of her children, and rear your own hatchlings
-
>And so you did
-
>You consolidated your rule over the hive
-
>You established your connection within the hive to include all of the changelings
-
>You bred your own clutches of eggs, and raised your own children to maturity
-
>They took after their mother, as they well should have
-
>They were smaller than Queen Thoraxia's broodlings, and took longer to pupate
-
>But they were also more clever, and far more adept at changing shape than their grandmother and her children
-
>And slowly, gradually, they took their place as the dominant kind in the hive
-
>The brood of your mother slowly faded away, replaced by your own
-
>But you never allowed them to forget about her
-
>Many years passed, numberless hatchlings grew to maturity and eventually died
-
>You expanded the tunnels of your hive, as your children also had longevity far surpassing the norm
-
>The ponies built a village above the tunnels of your hive, providing a near limitless food source
-
>Your feeders, specially bred changelings for long-term shapeshifting, intermingled with the species above your home
-
>They fed on the love they garnered on the surface, and sequestered away much of the excess to later bring back to the hive
-
>Eventually, the village grew into a city, and the city into the metropolis known as Canterlot
-
>Your hive flourished under increased intake of emotion
-
>The feeders only needed to take to the surface when you were swollen with eggs and needed the extra nutrition
-
>Such was the strength of the ponies love that you could feed on it even here in these caverns
-
>But never can such golden times last forever, and neither did this one
-
---------------------------------------------------------------
-
>You are brought back to the present by a pressure on your underbelly
-
>You look down and see the youngest of your remaining children nuzzling your belly
-
>Nygma had taken the longest to pupate out of his brothers, and just happened to be a runt as well
-
>And yet, somehow, he was one of only two remaining from his entire clutch
-
>Arista was the other
-
>Nygma curls against your belly and you nuzzle him with a great deal of affection
-
>You had grown much since your first contact with the ponies
-
>You lower your wings over the slumbering drone as you remember that fateful time
-
>There had been an increase in the number of cave-ins over the past few months
-
>Your tunnelers had stopped making new passages and had focused on shoring up the current ones
-
>This most recent one was particularly horrifying, however
-
>A birthing chamber with three nests of eggs had collapsed, crushing all of the unbirthed children
-
>This impacted heavily on you and you personally oversaw the clearing of the rubble, helping as much as you could
-
>A breeze carrying a strange smell came down from the top of the collapsed wall
-
>You took two of your warriors and went to investigate
-
>Clearing the rubble from the top of the chamber, you had found a breach into another tunnel
-
>This was odd, given that the egg chambers were always placed at the top of the hive, in the unlikely event of an emergency exodus, so that they would be taken on the way out without risking the lives of too many drones
-
>You followed the breeze from the tunnel further along
-
>There were strange metal and wood structures laid along the ground here
-
>Rails, that's what they were
-
>You remember one of your feeders relaying the information that the ponies were building a massive structure like it across their entire domain
-
>You hadn't cared at the time, whatever those ponies did on the surface didn't matter, so long as they didn't interfere with your children
-
>A righteous fury had begun building in your chest
-
>You would make whatever was responsible for this tragedy pay dearly for causing it
-
>You could hear voices coming up from further along the tunnel
-
>And they were getting closer
-
--------------------------------------------------------
-
>Your guards shifted into the form of two different ponies on pure instinct
-
>You, however, controlled yourself and kept true to your body
-
>It was time to show the Equestrians that they weren't the first inhabitants of this land
-
>A large group of equines came racing down the tunnel
-
>They nearly ran into you, since your dark chitin blended well with the rocks of your home, as it should
-
>When they saw you, however, they froze
-
>You could not say whether it was in fear or surprise, but it didn't matter to you
-
"You, ponies. You are trespassing on the tunnels of Hive Gaster. Your burrowing has caused the collapse of a birthing chamber containing three nests of my eggs. Do you understand the enormity of your crime?"
-
>One of the ponies, a unicorn, stepped forward
-
>He had a ruddy coat and a pickaxe symbol, a cutie mark she remembered off hand, on his flank
-
>You guessed that he was their leader, or took on the role at least
-
>"W-we apologize for the damage and will help you repair. But these tunnels are the mines of Canterlot. This is sovereign pony territory."
-
>He gulped as your eyes narrowed at him
-
>"We could h-help you relocate, if need be. I'm sure Princess Celestia wi--."
-
>His speaking was cut off as you used your magic to turn his brain into liquid that leaked out his ears and stained the floor
-
>You step over the corpse and stare down the other equines, spreading your wings and making yourself appear larger
-
"You will speak to me with respect, mules! You have killed many of my brood with your reckless tunneling, and for that there will be retribution. Who among you will take me to this 'princess' of yours?"
-
>A pink coated pegasus raised a hoof as she prostrated herself
-
>"I-I can bring you to the princess."
-
>You look down at the pony with practiced distate
-
"Fine. You will bring me there immediately. The rest of you will stay here under guard, just in case something happens on the surface."
-
>You send a pulse in the hive mind for several more guards and a behemoth to come to keep the remainder under guard.
-
>Ah, the behemoth. Such a rare strain of changeling
-
>You only had a few, rearing such clutches took copious amounts of food to bring to adulthood
-
>But the result was always spectacular
-
>They were massive, easily four times larger than you, and they were extremely powerful
-
>And you figured that a little bit of intimidation was worth the price of showing them off
-
>An hour later, you were on the surface
-
>While it wasn't your first time seeing it for yourself, it had been a long time since you had personally visited
-
>Though near the bottom of the city, the mines still offered a view of the surrounding countryside
-
"You ponies spread like a disease and marr this land with your structures. How can you live with yourselves?"
-
>The pegasus leading you says nothing, but her shaking increases noticeably
-
>"S-so you c-c-can fly right? F-follow me, I'll take you r-right to the princess."
-
>You spread your wings as your escort does and follow her flight into the sky
-
>You had forgotten how good it was to fly, to simply twirl in the sky to your hearts content
-
>But the joy of being airborne was soured by the reason you had come
-
>A battlement loomed ahead of you
-
>The pegasus dipped and landed in front of a portcullis, but you flew over the wall instead
-
>The guards, a mixture of unicorns and pegasi, were too shocked by your appearence to do anything
-
>You spied a minaret that towered over the other spires of the castle
-
>That would be it, the royal chambers
-
>You swooped in and landed on the balcony, folding your wings to your side
-
"Where are you, princess? Come forward and answer for your crimes!"
-
>A pony, much larger than any of her other subjects, rose from a sizeable bed
-
>She was almost larger than yourself, and combined the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasi
-
>She was stark white with a rainbow mane that flowed without a breeze
-
>On her flank was the symbol of a sun
-
>This was, without a doubt, the 'Princess Celestia' the foreman had mentioned before he had been executed
-
"You are the princess I was told of?"
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>The hybrid pony stood taller and spread her wings, in the same way Chrysalis would to cow a rival
-
>"I am. Why have you invaded my home."
-
>You were shocked by the audacity of this equine
-
>Royalty or no, no being should be addressed in such an abrupt manner, unless it was deserved
-
>Your own wings spread in an answer to her challenging tone
-
"I, an invader? Fool, you have collapsed areas of my hive that have lain within this mountain before this city ever came to rest on it!"
-
>Your body shook with barely contained anger, your wings twitching sympathetically
-
"Hundreds of my children have been murdered because of the greed of your kind, and you dare call me an INVADER?"
-
>You slammed a hoof into a pillar next to the balcony, causing a series of cracks to spread throughout its structure
-
>You advanced on the royal mare, your horn glowing in baleful green
-
"Do not take me for a weakling that will bend a knee to you, murderess. You will bring every pony that toiled in the mines since their beginning to my tunnels within day and a night. Afterwards you will seal the mines, never to be opened under pain of death."
-
>You hold your head high, setting the banners portraying Celestia's heraldry alight in emerald fire
-
>You hold the stare of the equine princess, letting the absolute hatred shine through your gaze
-
"You will do these things, or we shall have a war. And on the blood of my mother, and the blood of my children, I will exterminate this entire city."
-
>As you turn to the balcony, the alicorn speaks up
-
>"You understand that I cannot do any of the things you ask."
-
>You chuckle coldly, tossing your mane over your withers
-
"I know. You have a day to prepare, weakling. Then your city will burn."
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>Nygma shifts at your midsection and makes a chittering coo
-
>He curls into a tight ball, pushing up tighter to his mother
-
>You nuzzle the hatchling gently, he hadn't even undergone his first molt yet
-
>And at the rate of your journey, he may never reach it
-
>No, you can't give into despair
-
>Your mother wouldn't and neither will you
-
>The ponies may have bested you all those years ago, and even just a month ago
-
>But you would come back
-
>You always had
-
>That fateful day, all that time past, you had walked back to the tunnels
-
>No pony dared to try and stop you
-
>When you reached the mouth of the mines, you found a heavy guard of Celestia's own
-
>They parted before you, as water does for land
-
>When you reached the team of ponies, now nineteen from their original 20
-
>That foolish foreman, had he been more respectful you might have spared him
-
>Oh well, hindsight was always perfect
-
>You turned to the warrior brood, addressing the senior changeling among them
-
"Bring the ponies to our hive. They may provide food in the coming weeks. And rouse our behemoths and leviathans."
-
>The leviathans, your own personal creation, just as the behemoths had been from your mother
-
>A breed made to tunnel through rock with ease, and they could carry warriors as well, making them doubly useful
-
>You hadn't used them since the Great Expansion a century ago
-
>Your lead warrior looked concerned at the order to rouse the great beasts
-
>"My queen, how many shall we bring to wakefulness?"
-
>You gave him a look that was half pity, and half condescension
-
"Why all of them, warrior. Rouse every last one of them."
-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>The hive was a flurry of activity
-
>Hundreds of drones, warriors, and other varieties of your children bustled to and fro, preparing for war
-
>And you waded through them, ensuring everything went smoothly
-
>The mining ponies were cocooned in a feeding chamber for exploitation, should it come down to a seige
-
>But you knew it would never come to that
-
>You were far better prepared for this than that snobbish 'princess' on the surface
-
>And so, when the allotted hour had passed by, the war was on
-
>You held you forces back though, waiting for your enemy to make the first move
-
>And predictably, she obliged you
-
>A platoon of guardsmen ventured into the mines
-
>They were pathfinders, elite among their peers and second to none in their training
-
>They reached the area where the mining ponies had been captured and brought to your hive
-
>They found the body of the unicorn that had challenged you and paid for his insolence
-
>And ten seconds later, they were all dead
-
>A leviathan tore through the tunnel they were in and collapsed it on top of them
-
>The ones that weren't torn apart by the beasts massive claws were crushed under the earth
-
>And just like that, you made your move
-
>A dozen leviathans, each carrying numerous warriors burrowed into the city, under streets, through walls, into houses
-
>The warriors were released and the leviathans stayed where they were, ready to whisk them back into the hive, should there be need
-
>And, like a good leader, you were at the front of your forces
-
>The leviathan that had carried you brought your personal guard and a pair of behemoths with it
-
>You had deployed in the heart of the city, and immediately started towards the castle
-
>There was no way that any guards could stop you
-
>You would have your vengeance
-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>The city was burning around you
-
>Ponies were fleeing into the streets from their homes only to be crushed by behemoths or cut down by warriors
-
>The guard was putting up a valiant defence, but they were no battle ready force
-
>They may have been fighting for their home, but your brood was fighting for their mother
-
>Where the guards broke and ran, your forces only retreated to spring traps
-
>The walls to the great castle were torn apart, and you walked over the rubble
-
>Your guard was bruised and battered from the heavy fighting, but they all still lived
-
>Another squad had joined you as you had requested
-
>They were drones especially adept at changing shape, and were used as spies, or assassins
-
>The perfect distraction when you would be fighting the alicorn princess
-
>Your group, minus the behemoths, took flight to the balcony
-
>You knew their ruler would be here, sequestered away from the fighting
-
>Your meeting had given you no doubt to that
-
>And so, there she was, standing above a large layout of the city with several elderly pegasi and unicorns
-
>Commanders, you figured
-
>It did not matter, your elite group made short work of them
-
>But they left the princess alone
-
>She was yours to end
-
>After the commanders were all dead, you squared yourself off against their ruler
-
"A pity you didn't accept my generous terms at our meeting, princess. All this bloodshed could have been avoided if you'd just given up the guilty."
-
>You laughed coldly, but Celestia weathered your mockery without so much as a twitch
-
>"I could not order my subject to their deaths. They meant you no harm. We could have paid you reparations for the lives of your subjects that were killed."
-
>Your lip curled in untold hatred, revealing your predatory fangs, your eyes glowing an eldritch green
-
"Do not speak of them as though they were just lackeys or servants! These 'subjects' of mine are my children! You dare suggest that any amount of money could replace their lost lives?"
-
>Celestia bowed her head to you and turned towards a jeweled orrey
-
>"I did not mean to suggest such a thing, merely that we could have sought a peaceful solution, instead of seeking blood."
-
>The jewels, six in all, were lifted up by Celetia's magic and they formed a floating circle that spun ever faster
-
>"I cannot allow you to harm any more of my subjects. For the little that it is worth, I am sorry it had to come to this."
-
>You cackled at the haughtiness of the alicorn
-
"What can your trinkets possibly do to harm me? You have lost, pony, and I will have my retri--"
-
>You were cut off as a massive blast of energy threw you from the room
-
>You flew through a wall and off into the distance
-
>Canterlot shrank behind you, the fires growing dim, the plumes of smoke turning to threads
-
>At the time, you didn't know it, but she had used the Elements of Harmony against you and blasted you and your guard far away
-
>You gathered later, during your second invasion of the city, after slowly sneaking forces in over decades, your remaining children had seemed to lose sense after you were banished
-
>The Elements had effectively cut you off from them, and they were aimless from the sudden disconnect
-
>And they were slaughtered entirely
-
>Afterwards, the ponies had gone into the hive and killed all the guard remaining, along with the eggs, pupae, and unmolted
-
>It was genocide
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>You shudder at the memory of the massacre
-
>The images you had pulled from a number of guards that had participated in the horrendus act
-
>They had been, of course, dealt with severely
-
>But it didn't ease your pain
-
>And it certainly didn't quench the furnace of hatred that burned where your heart should have been
-
>But again you had failed, again you were cast out with only a few of your children left
-
>A number that was shrinking all the time
-
>Nygma twitched in his sleep, from a dream or just a spasm
-
>You nuzzle him, grateful for the distraction from your brooding
-
>There was no need for hatred anymore
-
>Nor for emptiness from loss
-
>All you had left was your children, nothing else mattered
-
>The mountains to the East were beginning to glow red from the forthcoming dawn
-
>You hadn't yet slept, but it did not matter
-
>Arista wasn't back yet, focus on that
-
>You roused your hive with a thought
-
>It was time to go to wherever you had sent your son, and retrieve him
-
>Whatever the cost
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>An hour later, with the sun now full risen, you come within sight of the source of the fires
-
>Strange conical tents, each with a smoke rising from a hole in the top, sit arranged in a rough circle
-
>Their occupants go to and from different tents at regular intervals
-
>Massive, shaggy beasts with a pair of horns on the top of their heads
-
>Not unicorn-like horns though, more like cattle
-
>And some wear strange headdresses, looking quite ceremonial
-
>You decide there isn't a moment to waste, these creatures look quite savage
-
>You give the order through your antenna, and your brood forms up behind you
-
>And then you walk into the camp as though you own the place
-
>A smallish beast catches sight of you and runs into the largest of the structures
-
>When she comes out, she is in the company of a gigantic bull
-
>He's nearly the size of one of your behemoths
-
>But there's a strangely noble feeling about him, and he moves towards you calmly
-
>"Changeling. The princess sent word of your kind moving through our lands. If you leave in peace, we will not visit harm on you or your kin."
-
>His voice is an odd combination of regal and animalistic, and deep as a canyon
-
>You meet his stare and square up against him
-
"One of my children came here last night. We will not leave without him."
-
>The leader of the creatures bows his head to you
-
>"Of course. We would expect no less from a hive mother. Please, your child is this way."
-
>With that, he starts walking towards a tent at the outermost part of the circle.
-
>The chieftan speaks as he walks
-
>"Please understand, he was an intruder in our home. And though we tried to do him no harm, even the best intentions sometimes go awry."
-
>Your stomach turns at the statement
-
>As you reach the front of the tent, the bull steps aside to allow you entry
-
>With a touch of apprehension, you pull aside the flap and enter the small structure
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>Arista is tied to a crosspost at the center of the tent
-
>He looks up at you with pleading eyes
-
>One of which is nearly swollen shut
-
>He is battered, bruised marring his otherwise glistening carapace
-
>One of his wings is missing a third of its length
-
>Two teeth are missing and the left fang is snapped off near the base
-
>And he has a large number of scabbed over cuts
-
>But he is alive
-
>Your magic tears the ropes into shreds and you rush forward to catch your collapsing child
-
>You cradle him in your forelimbs, nuzzling his broken body
-
>He chitters contentedly and falls into a deep sleep, partially from his injuries, partly from your magic
-
>You levitate him onto your back and retreat from the tent
-
>You stop before the chieftan and glare at him
-
"Who of your warriors is responsible for this?"
-
>The chieftan meets your gaze evenly
-
>"My best warrior, Shatterhorn and..."
-
>He trails off and turns from your gaze
-
"And?"
-
>He sighs, his honour overcoming his aprehension
-
>"My son, Desert Wind."
-
>You nod, sympathizing with him
-
"Bring them before me."
-
>He whirls on you, anger written over his features
-
>"You DARE demand me submit my own son to you, changeling?"
-
>You maintain your wits, your lip curling ever so slightly to show your fangs
-
>You turn your body so that the bison has a clear view of Arista
-
"Your people injured my child without provocation. They must be punished. I swear on my brood that they will not be killed."
-
>The chieftan sighs and he slumps before you
-
>"We have heard tell of what you did to the ponies many winters ago, when their mining accidentaly collapsed parts of your hive and killed many of your children."
-
>He looks towards his tent, eyes distant
-
>"I know I would demand the same of anyone that dared harm a member of my tribe, much less my child. I will do as you say."
-
>You bow your head to him
-
>You certainly hadn't expected compliance from this beast
-
>Perhaps, just maybe, creatures besides you and your brood, knew honour
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>You had moved on when the sun was setting
-
>The chieftan hadn't exactly welcomed you after what you did to his son and the warrior that had beaten Arista
-
>You'd heldtrue to your word that you wouldn't kill them, of course
-
>You weren't a monster, after all
-
>You had taken careful accrument of the wounds and injuries on your child
-
>You had then divided them into two even group
-
>After that, you did precisely what the pair of bison had done to Arista
-
>Down to the depth of the cuts, the force behind the bruises, and the relevant anatomical area
-
>Both would recover
-
>And much faster than Arista, given his lack of nutrition, and the severity of his injuries
-
>So you carried him away, when it was time to go
-
>Now, the moon had risen, the desert heat had given way to a bitter cold
-
>And still you and your family walked onwards
-
>It made more sense for you to travel at night, than in the day
-
>You wouldn't get dehydrated as quickly, and your vision at night was better than other desert inhabitants
-
>Unfortunately, your focus was not near good enough to maintain constant awareness of your surroundings
-
>Not eating for weeks on end did that to your body
-
>Any love you harvested immediately went to your children
-
>They needed it more than you
-
>The sun was near rising, just barely lighting the horizon, when one of your brood collapsed
-
>It was Mentum, a birthing nest attendant
-
>You immediately stopped the march and ran over to him
-
>He was already struggling to his feet when you reached him
-
>Besides being a little dusty he was alright
-
>His exoskeleton flexed in a way that could only be interpreted as embaressment
-
>You told the others to rest with a signal though the hive mind
-
>And you glared pointedly at Mentum
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"You need to let me know when you need rest, Mentum."
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>His ears pressed against his skull
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>"I did not want to slow our march, my queen."
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>You sighed and your shoulders sank
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"Two things, my child. First I would rather slow or stop a march than have any one of you die. Second, stop refering to me as your queen. We have no kingdom anymore. I am just your mother."
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>He raises a leg and hides a half of his face
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>"Y-yes, I understand...mother."
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>You stroke his cheek with a forelimb and smile
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"Don't worry, my son. We'll be fine. I will make sure of it."
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>He nods and slinks away to join the rest of his brothers
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>A piercing shriek brought you out of your fitful slumber
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>"The changelings! The changelings are here!"
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>But this was a ghost town, who in Tartarus was screaming?
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>Your eyes snapped open and you saw a yellow earth pony in a ridiculous looking cowboy hat and vest
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>He appeared to be holding back a large crowd of other ponies from charging at you
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>You stand slowly, retaining what little regality your gaunt form had left
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>Two of your warriors stand between you and the massive crowd of ponies
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>You push them aside and approach the yellow one
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>He seemed to be some kind of leader, or at least someone influential, if he was managing to hold back all of his kin
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>In the crowd behind him, you saw the ponies' eyes grow wide and several fell over
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>You ignore them and stare into the eyes of the vested pony in front of you
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"You are the leader of this town?"
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>The pony in question stood on all fours as best he could, pulling himself up to appear taller
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>He still barely reached your withers
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>"Y-yes ah am. Mah name's Braeburn. This is our town, called Appleloosa. Yer not gonna, d-drain us of our love an' life there. We don't got much else 'sides that in this desert here."
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>You scoff at the statement
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"Of course not. We haven't drained an entire city since our war with Hive Tymbal in the time of Queen Siphon. That was over a thousand years ago, for you short-lived ponies."
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>This didn't seem to calm Braeburn at all
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>If anything, his shaking and stuttering got worse, quite an annoying attribute
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>"W-well, y'all ain't welcome in this here town. We don't want nothin' ta do with no changeling hives!"
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>You sigh and send the signal to prepare to leave to your brood
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"Then we will leave. Come, my children, it seems that no species will welcome us. Perhaps we can find sustenance in another land."
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>You lead your children in a procession through the town
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>On your way, ponies shouted obscenities at you, some even throwing rotted fruit at you
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>Several of the items hit you, which you didn't mind
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>But then a pony threw a stone from a window of one of the buildings
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>It hit Nygma in the eye, and the changeling runt fell over, unconscious
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>You whipped your head around to where the stone had come from and fired a blast of magic at it
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>The building in question burst into brilliant emerald flame, the wood catching like tinder after so long in the desert sun
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>The occupants screamed as their home burned around them
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>But after lifting Nygma onto your back, you carried on as though it had never happened
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>No one threw anything after that
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>Eventually, you reached the hills overlooking the town
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>You look back at the desert town, now bathed in the glow of the setting sun
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>Deep in your heart you felt you would never be accepted by any species in any land
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>There was a time when changelings had ruled much of the earth that the ponies and other creatures laid claim to
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>But then the creature the ponies called Discord had come
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>The ponies, of course, thought themselves the only victims, as they were wont to do
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>But the changelings hadn't always had holes in their legs
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>And there had been dozens of different hives across the land
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>Now, as far as you knew, yours was the only one left
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>What a strange feeling, to know that your species was soon to be gone from the face of Equestria
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>So you paused at the top of that hill, staring back at the town that had pushed you out, just like the rest
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>The building you had set alight had long since burned to the ground
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>As for its dwellers, you didn't know what had become of them
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>Then again, you didn't care
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>"Y'know, you'd make more friends if ya didn't kill ponies and destroy their things."
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>You whirl to face whatever was speaking to you, and your warriors lept in front of you, baring their fangs
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>The old unicorn, owner of that voice, chuckled with a dusty hack
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>"Oh come now, you don't need to worry about one old pony. I doubt I could threaten you even if that is what I wanted to do."
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>You place a hoof on one of your warriors to calm him
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>You approach the elderly unicorn, noting some things that marked him out from the rest of ponydom
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>He wore a strange collar-like thing about his neck, black with a white square in the center of it
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>He had a pair of spectacles perched on the end of his nose, though he didn't seem to need them, instead staring directly into your eyes
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>And his horn
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>His horn was broken, two thirds of it missing
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>He laughs again, that same dry cackle
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>"You see? I could hardly threaten you or your hive, Queen Chrysalis."
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>You narrow your eyes at him
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"And just how do you know who I am, unicorn?"
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>The old pony smiles at you and replies in a tone devoid of any malice, more playful sounding than anything
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>"I just listen, hive mother. It's something so few ponies do these days."
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>Well, the elderly equine didn't seem to be a threat at least
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>It couldn't hurt to entertain this kind of courtesy, especially from a pony after all
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"What is your name, colt?"
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>He inclines his head to you as a show of respect
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>"I have the pleasure to be named Sigurd, Queen Chrysalis."
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"Well, Sigurd, as you can see, my children are...ill at ease with your presence. If you would please move, we'll be on our way and not cause anymore trouble in this area."
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>Sigurd places a hoof on your forelimb to stop you
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>You can't believe the audacity of this unicorn, he dared to touch you
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>Your guards evidently had a similar mindset and hissed at the old pony
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>"I must insist that you wait. You and your children are starving, are you not? Please, come to my home. I shall feed you. And I'm certain you'll find my abode a sight more comfortable than the open flats."
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>You look back at your emaciated children and sigh
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"I accept your offer of hospitality. Lead the way."
-
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6124 34.51 KB 471
by Clarissa
by Clarissa
by Clarissa
by Clarissa
by Clarissa