GREEN
206
0
2193 12.65 KB 185
2193 12.65 KB 185
Welcome to the Hive (Part I) by Ice
By splishsplashCreated: 2022-01-05 17:18:15
Updated: 2022-03-11 15:19:24
Expiry: Never
-
1.
Welcome to the Hive (Part I) by Ice
-
2.
(Chrysalis / Twilight)
-
3.
-
4.
(08/01/2019)
-
5.
- 6.
-
7.
-
8.
---
-
9.
-
10.
>Creeping through the dense vegetation, Twilight Sparkle could feel her heart pounding in her throat
-
11.
>No problem, she thought to herself
-
12.
>You’ve been in worse situations than this
-
13.
>Right?
-
14.
>Look, this isn’t the first time that the fate of all Equestria lay in your hooves
-
15.
>Nor the first time that you had to do this without Princess Celestia
-
16.
>But still…
-
17.
>This felt pretty darn bad
-
18.
>With Celestia, Cadance, and her own brother all locked up in the caves below Canterlot
-
19.
>And Chrysalis calling herself queen of Equestria
-
20.
>Everything rest with Princess Luna and the final legion of the Equestrian army in the north
-
21.
>And this ragtag bunch of rebels in this jungle
-
22.
>This awful, miserable jungle
-
23.
>Slicing through vines with her deft magic, Twilight tried to move as silently as possible
-
24.
>The constant cacophony of the local wildlife did wonders to throw off changeling scouts
-
25.
>Even if that same wildlife was downright hideous
-
26.
>Ugh, where was Fluttershy when you needed her?
-
27.
>No problem, remember
-
28.
>Get it together, Twilight
-
29.
>Get. It. Together!
-
30.
>Just as she got her breathing to approach a normal rhythm
-
31.
>Something let out a long hiss to her right
-
32.
>Nope
-
33.
>She bolted, crashing through ferns and branches in her haste to get away
-
34.
>There was no way in Equestria that she was letting a snake get anywhere near her
-
35.
>No matter what the alternative was
-
36.
>But after a scant few seconds of all-out panic, she started to think a little more rationally about that alternative
-
37.
>Okay
-
38.
>Calm down
-
39.
>Slowing to a trot, she ducked under a fallen log lying in her path
-
40.
>And peering out from under it, she saw it with a quick gasp
-
41.
>Her target
-
42.
>The reason she was out here in the first place, so far from base camp
-
43.
>The old station the Equestrian military had built during the early phase of the war
-
44.
>At that time, they had gone up all across the nation, to monitor each region and provide enhanced communications for the vast majority of ponies without extremely powerful magic or dragon sidekicks
-
45.
>Surveying it quickly, she smiled to see that the magical-crystal communications array appeared intact
-
46.
>Darting across the overgrown courtyard, she breathed a quick prayer to Celestia that no changelings were around to have heard her panicked dash of a moment ago
-
47.
>Inside, the halls and rooms were filled with banks of strange machines, magical energy conduits, and control panels studded with switches and dials
-
48.
>Everything had already begun to succumb to the force of entropy, with rust taking hold in the weak spots of the equipment and vines creeping into broken windows
-
49.
>Entering an inner room, she shuddered at the darkness even as the tip of her horn ignited in a soft white light
-
50.
>She had to get downstairs, to the boilers and steam engines that would power the station
-
51.
>When suddenly she heard a crashing sound as the main doors were slammed open
-
52.
>Heavy, careless hoofsteps filled the entryway
-
53.
>It sounded like dozens of ponies
-
54.
>Buzzing, panting, snarling ponies
-
55.
>Her eyes went wide with terror
-
56.
>This was bad
-
57.
>She pressed herself into a corner of the dark room and extinguished her light, trying to make herself as small as possible
-
58.
>The crashing moved closer as the changelings smashed machinery in one room after another
-
59.
>Twilight grabbed a small, globe-shaped bottle off her belt
-
60.
>Time to try out this potion, a little ahead of schedule
-
61.
>Oh how she hoped Zecora knew what she was doing
-
62.
>She gulped down the blue liquid in an instant
-
63.
>Okay, this would work
-
64.
>Although she really didn’t feel any different
-
65.
>But this had to work
-
66.
>Because if it didn’t…
-
67.
>No time to think about that!
-
68.
>The door burst open and several large changelings charged into the room, scanning with vicious glares of their glowing, darkness-adapted eyes
-
69.
>Twilight held her breath until her head felt like it would explode, when the nearest beast looked directly at her
-
70.
>And continued its sweep of the room
-
71.
>She exhaled with the greatest caution imaginable as a whole herd of the creatures poured into the room, changelings spreading out in all directions through the building
-
72.
>Zecora really did manage to brew up something that threw off the beasts’ strange senses, or maybe made a pony look just like a changeling to them
-
73.
>Twilight wasn’t really sure how it worked
-
74.
>Only that it did
-
75.
>Of course, she hadn’t doubted Zecora for an instant
-
76.
>Not an instant
-
77.
>This was perfect
-
78.
>Well, except for the fact that this station was now changeling property
-
79.
>They would have to devise some other way to coordinate with Luna and her forces
-
80.
>But at least Twilight was home free
-
81.
>She would just trot right through this horde and creep her way back to base
-
82.
>She began to sidle towards the door, changelings all around her
-
83.
>When she sensed a shift in the atmosphere
-
84.
>She could barely see in the darkness
-
85.
>Just wicked eyes flashing green here and there
-
86.
>But the chittering, clicking tide of chitin and fangs seemed to grow denser
-
87.
>Yes, she was sure of it – and she could make out the silhouette of a particularly large creature coming through the door, surrounded closely by changelings
-
88.
>They seemed to hang off the larger one, fighting amongst themselves to be closest to it
-
89.
>This was strange… something new
-
90.
>Something to note in her studies of these creatures
-
91.
>Unless… a chill shot through her body
-
92.
>“Oh no!” she hissed under her breath before she could stop herself
-
93.
>“Oh, yes!” came the reply in Chrysalis’ alien strains, light with a cruel laughing tone
-
94.
>And in a split second the changelings all around her pounced
-
95.
>Whether Zecora’s spell was undone, or Chrysalis somehow forced her minions’ bodies to move like puppets, Twilight wasn’t sure
-
96.
>No time to wonder
-
97.
>The dark room lit up with coruscating magenta lightning, changelings flung in every direction as Twilight cleared a circle of free space around her
-
98.
>Her horn flashed a second time, ready to teleport
-
99.
>When she was blinded by a sickly green light
-
100.
>She was flung against the wall before crumpling into a heap on the cold steel floor
-
101.
>Every muscle in her body aching as she shakily tried to stand
-
102.
>The second wave of changelings came with vicious fervor as her horn crackled, her magic seemingly suppressed by Chrysalis’ own
-
103.
>She cried out in equal parts pain and frustration as they fell on her, one sinking its long fangs into the scruff of her neck as it dragged her back to the floor
-
104.
>Pinned down, pierced, her magic failing her… her body shook with impotent rage
-
105.
>Her vision blurred with tears as she saw Chrysalis stepping toward her, a low and evil laugh reverberating through her skull
-
106.
>The first time the herd of changelings tried to drag Twilight along with them, she defied them fiercely
-
107.
>Mustering what strength she had left, she planted her hooves in the ground and refused to move
-
108.
>With a magic suppressing ring around her horn and shackles on her legs, she still had her will
-
109.
>“I don’t care how you threaten me Chrysalis! I’m not playing along!”
-
110.
>Her defiance swelled up in her breast
-
111.
>“No matter what kind of… things… you do, you’ll never win! You’ll never beat Princess Celestia, because she’s the most powerful, the best… um, princess, ever! And you’re just a big… evil… bad guy!”
-
112.
>That had definitely sounded better in her head
-
113.
>And Chrysalis really wasn’t supposed to laugh such a smug, spiteful laugh in response
-
114.
>Yanking Twilight’s gaze up to meet her own with a hard, razor-edged hoof under her chin, she smiled
-
115.
>The purple pony couldn’t remember ever seeing a smile that held so little of warmth or kindness
-
116.
>Nor so much of cruelty or malice
-
117.
>“Oh, I think you’ll play along, my little pony”
-
118.
>“And to think – Celestia’s most prized student! How she would love to see what I will do with you!”
-
119.
>Twilight’s ears flattened in fierce anger
-
120.
>“You evil – ”
-
121.
>What began as a bellow was cut short as Chrysalis leveled a sudden, stinging slap across the unicorn’s face
-
122.
>The tears that sprang to her eyes were more of embarrassed surprise than of pain
-
123.
>Dropping her gaze to the ground, she could feel a subtle warmth spread across one side of her muzzle
-
124.
>Had she been looking, she would have seen Chrysalis’ dagger-like canines exposed even further as her smile grew
-
125.
>But now she couldn’t focus, now she could only feel all her doubts and fears suddenly tighten into a hard knot in the middle of her stomach
-
126.
>“Oh yes, you will play along”
-
127.
>“And if it takes a little more motivation to keep you moving – all the more fun for me!”
-
128.
>That caught Twilight’s attention
-
129.
>”W-what do you mean?” she managed to stammer out
-
130.
>Her head snapped towards Chrysalis, to follow her as she moved away
-
131.
>Toward one of the countless tropical plants surrounding them
-
132.
>A flash of green, and with her magic Chrysalis broke off a long, slender, springy branch from the tree
-
133.
>The glowing aura flickered down the length of the branch, stripping the remaining leaves from it in an instant
-
134.
>The changeling queen turned back towards Twilight, taking the switch in one hoof
-
135.
>Her face alight with an eager grin
-
136.
>Seeing the switch – recognizing it, despite her refusal to admit it – stirred something inside the purple pony
-
137.
>Something buried in her memory
-
138.
>A feeling of rainbow-colored lights
-
139.
>A little library where she could read for hours on end
-
140.
>And she shuddered as Chrysalis’ voice forced its way in, echoed through her moment’s reverie
-
141.
>“I had thought that Celestia had taught you better how to submit to your superiors”
-
142.
>Shuddered at the irreverence, at the lack of understanding in those words
-
143.
>“But it is no matter – we will see to that”
-
144.
>Her reflections broken by the two changelings that suddenly took her roughly by the shoulders, forced her head down to the ground
-
145.
>Finally she managed a weak protest
-
146.
>“No!”
-
147.
>“How delightfully cliché” cooed the slithery voice in her ear – did it come from Chrysalis or the beast pinning her down?
-
148.
>The last of her defiance, her struggle, was now in her hind legs
-
149.
>Refusing to yield
-
150.
>And thus presenting an ample view of her haunches, raised high in the air
-
151.
>Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew what was going on
-
152.
>What was coming
-
153.
>But she refused to acknowledge – to believe – it
-
154.
>That was something that never happened anymore
-
155.
>And moreover – that was something that only Princess Celestia could do to her
-
156.
>That was another universe, another lifetime away
-
157.
>And yet…
-
158.
>“Oh yes, you know too well the price for this kind of insolent behavior little filly”
-
159.
>Voices blurring together in her head
-
160.
>As something stirred within, as she began to see through her own fantasies, and the strength to resist flared up anew
-
161.
>When the switch suddenly cut across her haunches like a red-hot brand
-
162.
>She gasped with shock, her nascent focus shattering once more into a kaleidoscope of scenes, feelings, and reminiscences
-
163.
>And the sudden sting burning a line across both flanks
-
164.
>When a second and third stroke landed in rapid succession, she cried out before clamping her jaw shut tight
-
165.
>Torn between crying for forgiveness, and holding her silence in rebellion – which was the right course of action?
-
166.
>What was she supposed to do again?
-
167.
>She lost that train of thought quickly as stripe after stripe licked across her backside
-
168.
>She felt her face burning bright with shame even as her flanks felt like they were burning themselves
-
169.
>Instinctively, she tried to bring her tail down to cover her rear
-
170.
>Only to feel it immediately yanked up sharply, lifting her behind even higher as the switch continued its work
-
171.
>She was gasping and grunting through clenched teeth now, barely in control
-
172.
>Each snorting exhalation sending up a small cloud of dust and dirt as her face was held firmly against the earth
-
173.
>Her face, smeared now with her own muddy tears
-
174.
>Filthy enough to match the shame of her own disobedience, she thought frantically
-
175.
>When she suddenly realized that the onslaught had ended
-
176.
>The changelings holding her down abruptly jerked her up to stand on shaky legs
-
177.
>Chrysalis sneered at her with a pleased look
-
178.
>“Do you think you can obey now? At least for the time being, surely?”
-
179.
>Before she could respond, one of the creatures grabbed her by the head and roughly forced a bit into her mouth, fastening the straps tight
-
180.
>The other beast took the attached reins and tugged her forward
-
181.
>She hesitated for less than a second – really, it had to be!
-
182.
>When the switch whipped once more against her flank
-
183.
>With a muffled cry, she began to trot as the herd resumed its steady crawl in the direction of the hive
-
184.
>And she really wasn’t sure whether that wicked laughter was echoing through the jungle, or just reverberating in her mind
-
185.
TO BE CONTINUED?
by splishsplash
by splishsplash
by splishsplash
by splishsplash
by splishsplash