• Member Since 31st Mar, 2016
  • offline last seen 11 hours ago

Eric Longtooth


And sometimes, when the world is already burning, there is little more to do but dance with the flames...

More Blog Posts46

  • 239 weeks
    Chapter 9 and the Epilogue

    Well, quick update, Chapter 9 is about... 40% done, with nearly 2k words. I've still got a few more things to do with that, so that may be a little bit yet.
    But, the Epilogue is done. Because my brain thought that it would be funny to finish that before the last chapter.
    So yeah, this'll be the last pair, and then the fic will be done. I'll post both at the same time, but yeah....

    Read More

    1 comments · 257 views
  • 239 weeks
    Chapter 8

    So... good news?

    Chapter 8 is already sitting pretty at 1k words. I've got a bit more to add, but after it, there should only be one more chapter, and then the epilogue to go.
    So yeah, we're nearly there. I've nearly finished tormenting the pretty pony princess. :D

    At least, for now...

    0 comments · 208 views
  • 240 weeks
    Random thoughts of the writing kind

    I've started to notice that I only write when I'm depressed about something... It's probably not healthy, but its interesting none-the-less.

    Regardless, the next chapter has been posted, and I'm working on the next, I'd say at most this'll end at chapter 10, but if I were to guess further, I'd say Chapter 8.
    Dunno, my muse isn't very consistent.

    0 comments · 197 views
  • 263 weeks
    Progress Update

    Well, first off, I'd like to say sorry about the delay.
    The next chapter is currently sitting at 1.3k words, and I've got no clue when it'll be ready.
    Don't worry, I'm not going to pull something out of my ass to cover for this, as in reality, I just haven't gotten around to it.

    In other news, I have managed to stick together a plot line for a new fic that may never exist.

    Read More

    0 comments · 322 views
Jun
4th
2018

A Pawn in Another's Game, A teaser for later. · 8:52am Jun 4th, 2018

( http://fav.me/dcdfe9y )

Kingdom of Queen Zethala (Zeh-th-ah-la)
General Appearance:
Queen Zethala is taller than most, with Princess Celestia herself being a head shorter than her, her mane and tail are a blood red, commonly done up in a tight bun behind her head. Her front fangs a joined with a secondary pair that reside just behind the lip, her horn is more or less straight, only curving near the base to give it some distance from her temple. Along with her ‘main’ horn, there is also a pair of slightly shorter ones that begin just before the hairline to the left and right of her slitted eyes. Giving her a crown-like look. Her ears are double the length in comparison to the other queens, but in spite of this, they are slightly thinner, giving them a look from the elves of ancient mythology.  Along with her natural look, she also is often clad in fancy dresses that double as body armour through enchantments and hidden plates.
Personality:
The Queen is a bit of a double edged sword, in diplomatic terms, she is stoic and collected. She will put Changelings first, and she isn’t afraid of engaging in political games. In fact, she is quite good at it. This is the personality most ponies would see, with her other side only shown to other changelings or foes.
This personality is that of a hardened ruler. Slightly egotistical, cold and calculating. She is irritable and more than willing to give people a piece of her mind. This is the true ruler of the Changeling Hives, with her past as bloody as her mane, she is rarely found without concealed weapons. She is a mastermind, a puppetmaster to rival Fate himself. Some ponies can see a few steps ahead, where she plans years in advance. Morals mean little if it gets in the way of progress, with her advances in biological tampering rivaling the Adeptus Mechanicus’ knowledge of cybernetics. Where some cover themselves in cold metal, she makes her DNA rival the strongest of steels.
History:
Her mother was the leader of the first Areomornian hive, and, a personal advisor to The First King. But, through the years she began to question Changelings’ nature, whether they are evil, moral questioning of draining ponies of love, etc. So, on her six thousandth year on the throne of High Queen, she committed suicide. With her death, the rest of the hives were brought into a great power struggle, each queen attempting to take her place.
At the same time, Zethala, barely out of her hundredth year, began a hostile takeover of the remaining changelings. This was about the time Areomorne had been sealed from the outside world, and where Chrysalis’ grandmother had left Aeromorne, leaving a good portion of her drones behind.
Princess Zethala had rallied the remains of her hive behind her, and forcefully brought the drones that Chrysalis’ grandmother had left behind under her iron hoof. Through bloody conquest, she beat the remaining hives into submission through superior strategy and cunning. Whilst the other races were more or less left out of the ‘Great Hive War,’ they still bore witness to Zethala’s might, and even now, they still bend towards her wishes. Be it through intimidation or extensive infiltration throughout the governmental and corporate system.
She is, by far, the oldest of the queens, with her age still outpacing that of most nations. But, unlike some, she isn’t much of a traditionalist, aiming instead to change and innovate her hive. But, at the same time, she is very secretive of her advancements, keeping them from the other hives for as long as possible. Most only care for her on a professional sense, the only ones who truly care for her are her subjects, for they are fiercely loyal to her, willing to march to hell and back if their queen commanded.
Physical Differences (Queen):
Through the thousands of years she has been on the throne, Zethala has changed and modified her body in a multitude of ways. The main one being within her DNA. Although Queens are nigh’ immortal to the ravages of time, they are still that. Nigh’. Through manipulating the way her DNA replicated, and how her RNA kept it from changing too much, she was able to effectively produce immortality to time. Along with this, she also was able to implant a pair of kidney sized organs just under her shoulder blades, these organs act as centers for any and all biological healing, and due to the addition of small cybernetic implants, her body has effectively become immune to bleeding out, blood loss, heart attacks, radiation, and a whole slew of other issues.
In addition of this, she also implanted additional bone plates along all of her limbs, and, due to her general size, and the density the bones gain after she eliminated the need for bone marrow, she can deflect most small arms fire and parry non-enchanted blades without extensive damage. Some of the other major implants that she gained over the years include, infrared vision, photographic memory, the ability to see pheromones, three sets of larger than average wings, shark-like teeth that constantly grow and replace old ones, gills, and the ability to ingest most toxins.
Physical Differences (Princess):
Although the Corps are reluctant to allow the creation of new hives, and Zethala even more so, she does have three daughters to call her own. These princesses have a few modifications, not nearly as much as their mother, but enough to dissuade others from making an attempt on their lives.
Along with the kidney sized organs, they also have a minor version of the bone plates, it is still enough to deflect most small arms fire, they cover less of the body, and the rib cage isn’t a full plate like Zethala’s, insted, it consists of six plates, three on each side, with gaps about the size of a pencil. These gaps are filled with a stronger cartilage to normal, but not enough to stop bullets.
The only unique implant that their mother doesn’t share with them, is a larger organ that runs just under and along the spine. This organ produces a lethal venom that would dissolve the body of the princess within seconds. This organ only activates if the princess becomes brain dead, which would usually be around five minutes after their heart stops.
Physical Differences (Drones):
Unlike the ‘one size fits all’ approach of the other hives, Queen Zethala specialises her drones. With four main species, and ridiculous amounts of minor modifications each drone gets depending on their role, the list becomes hard to number. But, saying that, it can be given some order.

Warrior Drones:
With the ‘warrior’ class, there are three main divisions. The first, and most powerful, would be that of the Royal Guard. With their size being on par with that of the princesses, which is as tall as Princess Luna, they are much bulkier than the others. With additional layers of strengthened bone, and a minor version of the kidney organs, they are able to withstand a great deal of punishment. Along with being nigh’ immune to electrical attacks, they are able to tank anything short of a 50 cal sniper round. They also have retractable blades in their forehooves, and are able to fight on all fours, or in a bipedal stance.
The other two divisions are much smaller, only reaching a meter or so in height, there is the ‘melee’ division that has additional bone plates and muscles, and the ‘ranged’ division that can fight in a bipedal stance.

Worker Drones:
Builder drones focus on the maintenance side of the hive, with additional muscle mass near the front of them, and stronger bones in their legs, spine, and skull. Although they do count as civilians, they can be called to war if the situation demands it, with their modifications allowing them to keep up with the melee warrior drones as long as the attacks come from the front.
On top of this, they have an enhanced cardiovascular system that allows them to run or work for longer periods of time. Aside from that, their front hooves are toughened to allow for much more effective tunneling.

Infiltration Drones:
With on average, the highest level of independence outside of the Royals, the Infiltration Drones often spend most of their lives outside of the hive. They have enhanced digestive systems that allow them to almost completely live off of foodstuffs, along with organs that allow for the storage of large amounts of love energy. On top of this, they also have longer ranges for their Hive-link, and can turn almost completely invisible if needed.
Unlike other drones, infiltrators are built to be smaller and quicker, being slightly shorter than an average pony and much thinner, they have a three sets of wings that allow for much higher speeds of up to eighty kilometers an hour instead of the standard fifty six. They also possess three different types of venom they can inject to a victim, them being: Poison, Mind Control, and Coma.
Finally, they are able to secrete a form of mucus from the holes in their legs that, when hardened, becomes as tough as concrete.

Standard Drones:
These drones are standard, the reasons for this vary, be it late modification or a complication, the main reason if for their ‘Jack of all trades’ attribute. They typically get courier or medical roles, where there is little specialisation.

Princesses:
As stated before, there are three princesses. Along with them being the main birthers of new changelings, they also fill a important role within the hive. This role is that of the generals. They are all trained in the art of war, and they commonly take on duties that the Queen cannot focus on. Whilst this is mainly just paperwork, they also make sure the military is trained, and, when the time calls for it, they can also be seen leading armies.
The three princesses are as follows:

Azcrillack (A-zzz-crill-ack):
The oldest of the three by a hundred years, Azcrillack is the most militaristic of the sisters. Born near the end of the Great Hive War, she was raised in a time of war and unrest. She is very protective of her younger siblings, and often takes an active role in the Royal Guard’s training. She is almost as cold and calculating as her mother, often fooling others to thinking that she doesn’t care for her sisters, as Zethala had said on multiple occasions, “with enough grooming, she may one day beat me in chess. Maybe.”

Appearance:
Standing at just under two meters, Azcrillack is the tallest of the three sisters. Although she shares her mother’s eyes and mane, she has a habit of colouring a strand of her mane and tail a slightly off green. This is in honor of her mentor, who was a freelance changeling formerly of Chrysalis’ hive. He had trained her in ‘High-Queen’ style martial arts, which involves heavy usage of low drain spells and striking pressure points, whilst her mother had been on the frontlines. Her mentor’s name was ‘Zecrackthal’ (Zec-rack-thal).
On top of this, she commonly is found wearing a suit of highly enchanted and runed platemail. This armour, despite its age, is equipped with a few high tech items. The most prominent would be the ‘P.P.D.S,’ a Personal Projectile Defence Shield, it projects a low maintenance, nigh’ invisible, shield that melds and follows her charapase, leaving only a few centimeters between the two. It is capable to stop most long arms, and all small arms fire. But, due to battery life, it is unable to sustain it’s defence if faced with lots of high calibre rounds. Whilst she mainly leaves her helmet off, it is commonly attached to the belt of the armour.

Other than this, she is commonly seen with a standard armament, along with some personal modifications.
Along with the mana-blade projectors attached to the hooves of the armour, she also has a modded waraxe attached to her side. The axe had its standard enforcement runes replaced with that of mana discharge, and flame. Causing the axe to, when fed with mana, to burn it’s targets and create a small explosion whenever it makes contact with armour.
For ranged weapons, she also is equipped with an ‘A.A.M.R,’ a Automatic Assault Markspony Rifle, with a few choice mods. Along with a live H.U.D, a belt-fed box mag, a upgraded sight, and a muzzle break, it also comes with an acceleration rail and a forward grip. Across the barrel, there are the words: “No mercy for the guilty.” Engraved on the right side.

Quischarll (Cha-wis-cha-r-ll):
Although she prefers to be called ‘Quis,’ Quischarll is the second sister, older than Sharack by only a few days. She is the most peaceful of the three, aiming more for the diplomatic approach to conflict resolution. Though, at her mother’s insistence, she is still well versed in warfare. One of the things she shines in, is that of empire management, with a good eye for talent and a better heart to lead her subjects. As Zethala had said, “she is what I wanted to be, not naїve, but hopeful. She is the ruler that we would have in times of peace, not that of war.”

Sharack (Sh-ar-ack):
The youngest of the three, Sharack is the quietest of the sisters. Given the official title of ‘Spymaster,’ the best of the infiltrators often go to her for their final exams and training. On top of the normal enhancements given to the princesses, she also has the invisibility implant at the expense of some bone mass. From a personality perspective, she is the quiet, often having full conversations with little input on her behalf, on top of this she is very guarded, not often giving any information on herself to anyone outside of the royals. Her personal guards are hoofpicked from the infiltration corps, and each are given additional augmentations to expand their lifespans into the hundreds of years. They have been around her for a long time, and commonly keep conversations with her without her even talking. They are known as ‘The Eternals.’
As Zethala had said, “she is an interesting one, able to do things without anyone else knowing. Sometimes even I struggle to keep track of her. She won’t be a ruler, but she will bring terror to those against us.”

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