//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Five for the Hive // by HypnoticGemini //------------------------------// Author's Note: I wanted to get this chapter up much sooner, but between a) my internet being cut off, and b) teachers from Tartarus, it got a bit delayed. Anyways, here it is. For the last six days, changelings buzzed about inside the Hive, collecting anything that was worth salvaging. Grubs, Eciton gems, pupae, everything had to go. And in six days’ time, the colony had collected it all. Carrying these heavy burdens, the changelings were herded along the tunnels by Hive Guardians, Taskmasters, and Royal Guards, doing their best to get everyone out before the tunnels collapsed, which could happen at any time. The Hive Queen and egg-laying Broodmothers had been evacuated a long time ago, and being tasked with seeing that the evacuation went smoothly, Stinger watched on as the endless stream of black filed and flew past him. He then felt a tug at his leg. “Sir?” Stinger identified the changeling by voice. “Ah, Cotesia. How is the roof holding?” The female Hive Guardian dipped her head in respect. “It’ll last three days, at the very least. Maybe up to five or six, if we’re lucky.” “Good. That’s good to hear.” Stinger nodded in approval, his back still to Cotesia. “But I wonder, is that all you came to say?” “Well, there is something else,” Cotesia admitted. Stinger turned around. Despite their confident glow, Cotesia’s yellow eyes betrayed a hint of nervousness, which did not go unnoticed by the Head Taskmaster. “Well, don’t just leave me hanging. Spit it out.” Cotesia took a deep breath and began to speak. “I can’t help but wonder... what will the surface world be like?” “Well, you’re about to find that out, aren’t you? Don’t let me spoil the surprise,” Stinger replied impassively. In truth, he didn’t quite know either, having spent most of his life underground; however, he wasn’t about to let her know that. Cotesia knew, intuitively, that Stinger no longer wanted to continue the conversation. “So, what shall I do now?” she asked, changing the topic. “Traffic control.” Cotesia nodded and flew off into the crowd. Stinger returned his gaze to the crowd of changelings. The exodus had begun. *** “Okay, okay, how about this: Ahem... Greetings, fellow agricultural engineers...” For what must have been the umpteenth time in six days, Anopheles applied a hoof to the centre of her face. She found it surprising that she hadn’t yet given herself a concussion or a similar form of brain damage. “Ugh, how many times must I remind you that the word is farmer?!” she growled at Gemini in irritation. After ascertaining that their destination was a small settlement, Anopheles and Pyralis agreed that the four of them should practice making conversation, in order to blend in with the ponies. However, it wasn’t going so well. “All right, all right,” said Gemini, rolling his now-blue eyes and pushing his golden mane aside. The four changelings had all taken pony disguises to keep a low profile, since settlements were becoming more and more frequent; Gemini had opted to become an orange pegasus with a flashlight cutie mark. “Okay, maybe this: Err... Yeah, I got nothing.” “That’s it?” asked Dorylus, who was tending their campfire. He was now disguised as a grey earth pony colt with a mirror cutie mark. “That seems kinda short...” “I’m trying to think here!” Gemini shot back. “You guys aren’t helping, you know. Wait... Try this...” He transformed into a beige unicorn stallion, dressed in a tux and sunglasses. “The name’s Mane. Con Mane.” Anopheles clocked him over the head. “Okay, okay... Just a suggestion...” Gemini reverted to his previous form. “Let me demonstrate,” Pyralis piped up, trying to take the attention off of Gemini. He was disguised as a tan unicorn stallion (he had to do a lot of thinking about whether he wanted to give up flight or magic) with a balance scale cutie mark. He cleared his throat and spoke in a cheery voice. “Hey there, everypony. How’re you doing? Anyhow, my name’s Level Scale. Nice to meet you all.” He then turned to Anopheles. “”How was that, Anu?” “Pretty good,” she replied, now transformed into a pale violet unicorn mare with a pinkish mane, “but from now on, you’ll have to refer to me as Caduceus while I’m a pony.” She indicated her namesake cutie mark with a forehoof. She then turned to the other two. “Maybe you should just let the two of us do the talking.” Dorylus nodded. “You’re the boss. But I’ve been wondering: what about the Princess? I mean, ponies don’t usually run around with cocoons on their backs.” “I’ll think of something,” replied Anopheles. “There are a lot of ways to conceal a cocoon. But for now, let’s get some shuteye. We should get there sometime tomorrow.” “All right,” said Dorylus, stretching and yawning. “Right now I just wanna... Zzz...” Tuckered out from a day’s hard marching, Dorylus trailed off as he spoke and was sound asleep in ten seconds flat. “I’m not tired yet,” said Pyralis, reverting to his natural form and walking to the edge of their small campsite. “You guys get some rest, I’ll take first watch.” “G’night, Pyralis,” Gemini called over his shoulder as he extinguished the campfire, before lying down to go to sleep beside the pupal Princess Elytron. A series of shuffling noises told him that Anopheles was also turning in for the night. He laid a forehoof on the cocoon. “Hear that, Princess?” he whispered to the cocoon. “We’ll be among ponies by this time tomorrow.” Though pupae were supposed to be blind, deaf, and immobile, Gemini could have sworn that he felt the cocoon throb in anticipation. *** Pyralis awoke with a yawn, just as the sun peeked over the horizon. Of course, the sun wasn’t visible from underground, so he didn’t know that this was considered waking up early. As he sat up, Anopheles turned around and gave him a nod. Halfway through the night, she had woken up to stand watch, so that Pyralis could get some sleep. “Good morning,” she said. “Slept well?” “Naturally,” Pyralis replied. He could get by with as little as three hours of sleep a day, so he rarely ever woke up tired. “We’re getting closer,” he remarked. “I can feel it.” “So can I,” said Anopheles. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much love coming from one place. That should keep the Hive well fed.” Anopheles tossed him an Eciton gem. Pyralis caught it on the fly with both forehooves and touched it to his horn. As he held it there, the green glow of the gem seemed to be flowing into him through his horn as he re-energized himself with the emotions stored inside. Putting down the gem, which was now glowing much more faintly than before, Pyralis went over to Gemini and gave the sleeping changeling a swift kick. “Oi! Wake up!” “Huh? Daytime already?” came Gemini’s voice groggily. “Come on, the sun must’ve risen about 15 minutes ago! We should be moving by now!” interjected Anopheles, a hint of impatience in her voice. “All right, I’m awake... Just five more minutes...” Meanwhile, Dorylus had already gotten up. “I’m awake and ready to go!” he announced, grabbing the Eciton gem on the ground. “Good to hear,” said Pyralis. He then pointed to Gemini. “Now you get to wake him up.” Dorylus smiled wryly. “Well, I have been holding something in all night...” Gemini scrambled to his hooves as fast as he could. “Okay, okay, I’m awake!” After feeding themselves with their Eciton gems, the four changelings resumed their disguises and set off once more. However, the forest soon became darker and more sinister. The tree branches themselves seemed to be gnarled into claws, as though reaching out to try and grab the changelings and drag them to... well, wherever it was that evil trees dragged stuff. Pyralis felt himself growing more and more uneasy. Something about the place didn’t seem right. “I don’t like this place at all...” Dorylus’s voice confirmed his suspicions that the other three shared his sentiments. “Pyralis, are you sure that we’re still going in the right direction?” asked Anopheles, trying not to sound nervous. “Fairly sure,” replied Pyralis. Despite the gloomy aura of the forest, he could still sense the love of ponies, and he guided himself toward it like a moth to a flame. But suddenly, a howl rang out through the trees. “Oh, great, timberwolves,” muttered Anopheles. “Let’s get a move on; I don’t want to end up as some creature’s side dish.” As if on cue, half a dozen timberwolves jumped out from the trees, surrounding the changelings. Gemini turned to Pyralis, who had already assumed a combat stance, and sighed. “Still think we’re going the right way?” *** The encounter with the timberwolves had been relatively brief, partially due to Pyralis’s remarkable combat skills. Mostly, however, it was because the timberwolves were unable to break through the changelings’ tough carapaces and escaped in order to avoid Pyralis’s wrath. At Anopheles’s suggestion, the changelings pressed on, in case something more unpleasant came along. Hiding in the trees near the edge of the forest, the band of changelings surveyed the scene before them: a small, idyllic town, whose pony inhabitants had every appearance of being happy and carefree. “Now this is more like it!” Gemini grinned, licking his lips in anticipation of a decent meal. Pyralis was impressed. He had never felt so much love in the air in one place – not even in the much more populated large cities that they had passed. There was enough, perhaps, to keep even a changeling colony fed. This might be worth my while after all, he thought. Anopheles placed a hoof on Gemini’s shoulder. “Now hold on for a second, Gemini,” she said, “we can’t just waltz into town without knowing how they’re going to react to seeing our kind. We need a plan.” Gemini’s eager grin turned into a disappointed frown. “But I’m hungry...” “Um, ‘scuse me,” Dorylus interrupted, “but shouldn’t one of us stay here and guard the Princess? It might look kind of odd if we took her into town. Just saying.” Pyralis nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, fine. Anopheles, you and Dorylus stay here and watch our stuff. Gemini and I will do a little recon.” “Oh, no, you don’t,” Anopheles shot back. “I’m going with you. I thought we agreed that I would handle first contact. And don’t even think about stopping me, I’d like to see you try.” “But...” “No buts. No ors, yets, or howevers either. We only have one shot at this, and by the Queen, I want to make sure that we make it count. No screw-ups, no blown covers, got it?” “...Fine.” Pyralis sighed. Anopheles could be so stubborn sometimes. “What about me then?” asked Dorylus. “Well, you’re the Royal Guard, so why don’t you do your job?” Anopheles asked dryly. “Keep your head down,” said Pyralis. “And and hope that no timberwolves show up,” added Gemini. “That’s not very reassuring,” Dorylus said to himself as his three superiors headed off into town. *** Anopheles took a deep breath to calm herself as she trotted into town, flanked by Pyralis and Gemini. “Okay, here goes nothing,” she said to her companions, “just stay cool and try to act natural.” “Uh-huh.” Pyralis seemed rather calm, but his slight nervousness was betrayed by his stiffer-than-usual gait. He just hoped that it wouldn’t make anypony suspicious. Gemini, on the other hand, was the very definition of the word “twitchy.” He was practically salivating at all the love the ponies had to offer. “This place’ll make for some good feeding, eh guys?” he asked. “Gemini, don’t say things like that,” Anopheles hissed, “it’ll make the ponies suspicious, and that’s the last thing we need.” As they approached the town, a pink pony with a poofy mane and tail bounced along the path in front of them. As she crossed paths with the three changelings, she stopped and gasped. Anopheles quickly stopped and verified that her disguise was still intact. Pyralis did the same. After a couple of tense seconds, Gemini spoke up. “Uh... can we help you?” The pink pony blinked... then burst into speech and began bouncing around wildly. “OhmigoshareyouponiesnewtoPonyville?Wellofcourseyou’renew’causeIknoweveryponyintownandIdon’tknowyousoyoumustbenewtoPonyvilleanywaysI’mPinkiePieandIwannajustsayWelcometoPonyvillelikeIdotoeveryponythatcomestoPonyvillethiscallsforoneofmysignaturePinkiePiepartiestowelcomeyouandI’mgoingtoinviteeveryponyintownit’snicetomeetyoubye!” And she dashed off, leaving behind three dumbfounded, slack-jawed ponies in her wake. “What in the name of Queen and colony was that?” asked Pyralis, once he picked his jaw up off the ground. Anopheles slowly shook her head in amazement. “Of all the ponies on all the streets in all the cities, we had to run into that one...” *** “Guess what Twi? We have new ponies in town!” announced Pinkie Pie happily as she burst into the library. “And you know what that means, don’t you? Of course you do! There’s going to be a really big party (well, because there’s three of them) and you’re invited!” She ended off her tirade with a cloud of confetti from nowhere. Twilight closed her book and set it down, descending the stairs in the library. “New ponies you say?” Pinkie nodded rapidly. “Uh-huh! Isn’t it exciting?” “Gee, I don’t know...” Maybe it was because of what was on her mind lately, but Twilight somehow had a bad feeling about these visitors, even before she met them. “I know what you’re thinking, Twilight,” Spike spoke up, “but how will you know unless you meet them?” “What are you thinking, Twilight?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Are you thinking about cupcakes? Because I have to make enough for everypony who’s going to be there, but if I invite everypony, I might not be able to make enough. But I’d hate for anypony to feel left out, so I guess we’re just going to have to share a few. After all, you gotta share...” “I think you’ll be able to make plenty to go around, Pinkie,” Twilight interrupted, before yet another one of Pinkie Pie’s self-composed musical numbers became stuck in her head. Again. “Okay, I guess I’ll go and meet these new ponies in town for myself.” “So... You’ll be at the party?” “Yes, Pinkie, I’ll be there.” “Yay! Great! See you later, Twilight!” As Pinkie raced out the door, Twilight shook her head and smiled. She may not understand what goes on in Pinkie’s head, but there was no denying that the pink pony never failed to make her smile. “Spike, do you want to come?” she asked the baby dragon. “Well, I don’t have anything else to do, so why not?” he replied. As if on cue, a bookcase toppled over with a crash, causing Twilight to wince. “On second thought...” said Spike dazedly, poking his head out from beneath a pile of heavy volumes; Twilight could practically see the stars orbiting his head. “Okay then, Spike, I’ll leave you to it,” said Twilight, as she levitated a quill to her to-do list. “New item on the list: ‘fix bookshelf.’” Twilight left the library, closing the door and hanging a “closed for maintenance” sign from the knob. Now to find the newcomers. Pinkie Pie had failed to specify which direction they were coming from, but it was likely that they were already a fair way into town anyway, and having been here as long as she had, Twilight knew pretty much everypony in town, so all she had to do was find three ponies she didn’t recognize. Fortunately, they weren’t difficult to find; she immediately noticed the pegasus and two unicorns, looking rather uncomfortable. The pegasus and one of the unicorns were obviously trying to blend in, but failing miserably, while the unicorn in the middle was speaking to the other two in a hurried whisper. They looked quite out of place, even a bit suspicious... but they probably weren’t changelings, right? After all, she herself had been equally uncomfortable on her first day in Ponyville. They were probably just nervous. Deciding to make conversation with them, Twilight stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Ahem...” The unicorn mare immediately stopped talking to her colleagues and turned to face Twilight. “Hi, uh, how are you today?” she said with a small smile. “I’m doing just fine,” replied Twilight. “We’re having lovely weather today, aren’t we? Looks like the pegasus weather team’s doing a great job. My name’s Twilight Sparkle, town librarian, and I’d like to welcome you to Ponyville.” “Twilight Sparkle? That’s a nice name,” the mare said with a nod. “You can call me Caduceus. This is Torchlight, and this is Level Scale.” She indicated the pegasus and the other unicorn respectively as she gave their names. “Charmed.” The voice of Level Scale, the unicorn stallion, carried no inflection of emotion. “Yeah, pleased to eat – I mean, meet you,” said Torchlight, promptly receiving a glare from the other two. “Sorry. Slip of the tongue. ” “I suppose you’re hungry?” asked Twilight. “Well, we have come a rather long way to get here,” replied Scale, just as Caduceus opened her mouth to reply. He seemed to be weighing his words carefully. “‘A long way’ is rather abstract, if you don’t mind me saying.” Twilight now had her guard up. “If you could be so kind as to clarify?” “Las Pegasus,” said Torchlight. “You know, to the south?” “I see,” said Twilight with a nod. Was it just a coincidence, or was Spike that intuitive? “Any preferences in terms of food?” “Well,” replied the pegasus, “I don’t mind some good mushroom soup from time to time.” Twilight nodded again. “Uh-huh. Now, if I may...” Her horn lit up, and a wave of magical energy radiated from it, washing over the three ponies before her. Nothing happened. “What was that about?” asked Scale suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. “Sorry,” Twilight apologized. “It’s just that there’s been a recent changeling invasion in Canterlot, which isn’t that far from here, and I believe I speak for the whole town when I say that I don’t want to take any chances. That was a spell for lifting disguises, so I guess you three are in the clear.” “I see,” Scale nodded. “So, what brings you all the way out here?” Twilight inquired. Now that her suspicion of the newcomers being changelings was alleviated, her curiosity took over. “All I can say is that we’re just ponies who’ve fallen upon hard times,” Scale began with a sigh. “Yeah,” Torchlight piped up, “stuff happened, one thing lead to another, and now, we’re wandering around looking for a new home, because we don’t have homes to return to. We’re forever alone...” “I’m sorry I brought that up,” said Twilight sympathetically, “but you can stay here for as long as you like. You’ll find that the ponies here don’t take too badly to visitors, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find accommodation in the hotel. Would you like a tour of the town?” “No thank you,” said Caduceus, “we’ll do that on our own time. But if you would be so kind as to direct us to the hotel?” “Of course. This way.” The lavender unicorn turned and strode off down the street, oblivious to the collective sigh of relief and hushed discussion of the three ponies following her – as well as their true identity. “That was too close,” murmured Gemini. “Good thing you put that anti-magic spell on us, Pyralis.” “I just knew it would be useful,” replied Pyralis. “We should probably get out of here ASAP. If this area was recently attacked by another colony, they wouldn’t exactly welcome us.” “That’s not an option,” whispered Anopheles. “Princess Elytron’s metamorphosis is almost complete. If we leave now, we won’t be able find a sheltered place for her to break out of the cocoon, and moving her right after molting isn’t safe. We’ll just have to stay undercover until ecdysis is complete.” “So, I guess we’re stuck here then?” growled Pyralis. “Pretty much. Isn’t it great?” said Gemini. “Brilliant... Just what I needed...” “Well then, you’ll just have to suck it up,” Anopheles shrugged. “And this goes for both of you: Next time, don’t interrupt my carefully scripted ad-lib responses.” Gemini grinned. “Isn’t that exactly why we didn’t let you talk?”