//------------------------------// // Nekropolis and Hagfish // Story: The Changeling Hives by Written Word // by josh_the_changeling //------------------------------// The Nekropolis Hive “The Nekropolis Hive and its queen Calliphora are probably one of the most elusive and least explored hives in all of Equestria. They make their home in graveyards, feeding off ponies’ love by posing as ghosts of dead relatives and loved ones. Their size is unknown. Usually they move into already existing family graves and crypts and only set up rudimentary constructions and decorations. Although they use remains and coffins for this purpose, they don’t actually eat either of those to manufacture their building material, as many ponies believe. Instead it has been found their “changeling goo" is mostly composed of various moss and fungi types. They have little to no contact with other hives and are actually often purposely avoided by them, for the simple fact that, even if it sounds unbelievable, even other changelings are creeped out by them. Beside their macabre living conditions, the biggest reason for this are their appearance and their general behaviour. While they appear even more “perforated" than other changelings, with colours reminding of dead leaves and decaying matter, their most distinguishing and disturbing feature is what appears to be a second set of eyelids that they can close vertically and, while see-through, allows them to block out most light. This is important because the hive is almost exclusively nocturnal and thus reacts pretty badly to bright lights. Even their hive is kept in complete darkness (which is why they seldomly keep husks). Their general behaviour has so far been described as “sort of otherworldly". They tend to buzz around with their second set of eyelids closed, seemingly without direction, or huddled in dark corners, humming quietly, as if listening to some inner voice. Perhaps this stems from the fungi they consume and the various gases present in a graveyard. Nevertheless the hive never falls into ruin or disarray. When an intruder appears, the hive is immediately at full alert and goes into attack mode without so much as a whisper. Many a pony has already found themselves thinking they just walked into a zombie pony attack when the coffin lid next to them flew off with a loud hiss. One should take special precautions when a full moon is out. For some reason, it sends the hive into even more of a trance and a strange sort of dancing motion above the graveyard it currently resides in. Any intruder is immediately killed on sight, but one can usually tell and avoid these events by keeping a lookout for red eyes dancing in the sky like fireflies. Some ponies refer to this hive as “the order of the fly", proving that they are rather superstitious, but given that anyone who would find themselves in the clutches of this hive would surely think themselves in Tartarus, it is somewhat understandable.” - Time Share Hive Nekropolis is by far one of the most unstable hives in the world. The fact they haven’t ripped each other apart is pure mystery. Basically while it is simply a theory, though evidence is pretty clear and it is one I personally believe in, the fungi and fumes from the graveyard have caused the changelings of this hive to develop conditions ranging from paranoia and dementia to schizophrenia. Now I know what you must be asking “But Written Word, if they all suffer from mental instability how can they form a society or pretend to be a ponies loved one?” Well first off there have been, although extremely rare, situations where other groups have suffered from similar conditions but also managed to form societies though they are very primitive and barbaric. These includes the Morningstar incident, where a ship’s crew was left stranded on an island only to survive on mind altering fruit and became united in worship of a rock the shape of a face, and The Fallen Ones, a diamond dog guild who has suffered from breathing in toxic fumes of their land and now slaughter anyone or anything that’s not a diamond dog. You must understand that if a group has a leader, if they construct even the most basic of huts and have even an idea of what religion is then that’s a culture, it doesn’t need to have the complex historic glass windows of Canterlot or the art galleries of the Griffin Empire, all you need is a mud hut, a chief and a plank of wood to worship and you're cultured. The hive originated from Chrysalis when one changeling thought “Hey…What if we went to a graveyard and pretend to be the ghosts?…BEST IDEA EVER!” They got a thumbs up from the queen but in order to be there when someone decided to say hi to a loved one they needed changelings to be on standby, ready as soon as someone walked in resulting in an outpost being built directly underneath. During its construction that they came across the cave system filled with the fumes and fungi that resulted in their current position and as they slowly lost their mind they stopped reporting to the queen. When other changelings were sent to see what was going on they were “Converted” with a belly full of fungi and Chrysalis decided it was a lost cause. The reason they're able to keep a disguise is the theory that when a changeling changes into another creature they change inside as much as the outside, body as well as mind. Why they change back is up to debate, you must understand there is much mystery surrounding changelings that even the most avid researchers and scientists in the field still do not understand. As for religion they seem to worship some kind of moon deity. The exact details are unknown as riling them up into a killer frenzy is a good deterrent for researchers. There has been evidence of small moon alters scattered around their territory but that’s about it. It does have the moon as the symbol so it hints that they worship the moon itself and not some kind of moon god. These little alters tend to have offerings left but they range from wild flowers to gems and even some pony flesh. As a threat they offer none. The biggest issue for them is when members of their hive leave the graveyard for too long their minds clear up and they start to show stability, as such members who leave can, in time, be absorbed into society and it forces the hive to stay in the graveyard. Hive Hagfish “Queen Myxine and her changelings. They live in hollowed out caves along the shore and eat seafood to produce their building material (which might resemble corals). Usually they’ll either play the drowning to be saved, or save the drowning. Sometimes they build sharp spires underwater and try to navigate ships into them. Sometimes they’re lazy and just simulate a shark attack by swimming with their horn looking up over the water like a shark fin. They are a pretty small hive as ponies aren't all that big on seafaring. Overall they’re pretty pragmatic and a direct contrast to the Honeycomb hive’s song and dance.” – Time Share While Hagfish was a rather small hive up to very recently everything changed when the Gallopfrey islands were rediscovered. Tropical and exotic products to be traded for, ancient ruins and cities to explore, tribal societies to teach and research, it opened up a new frontier for the ponies. Thousands flock to the islands as we speak forming cities like Sharkbite and Sailboard while a thriving community forms. There’s even a discussion about whether these settlements should come under the Equestrian banner or split off into a separate nation. Before all this the best prey that Hagfish could wish for was the odd fishing ships and skimmers, the most changelings they could pass off as downers were one or two without raising suspicions. Now Frigates and in some cases Gallons were sailing back and forth over and over. The amount of love available to them has sky rocketed and as such so has their population despite the short time it has been since the Gallopfrey rediscovery. An off shot of Chrysalis, Hagfish have deep blue eyes and wings, much darker than the blue of Chrysalis and have a set of gills on top of lungs though besides that they are pretty generic. Their hive is unique in that they rarely do any digging relying on massive cave systems to hold their population making them not very good at digging and construction but as the lungs suggest, they are amazing swimmers. They usually use equipment either stolen or found washed up on shore which gives their armed forces a rag tagged look though now more cargo has been washing up they have started equipping weapons and armor as opposed to leather coats and fishing equipment. Faith wise they're split into two faiths. One worships Markesh, god of the sea who is described as a quick to anger and violent god but also understanding and open minded. The other faith worships the Deep Ones, squid like humanoids that sleep at the deepest parts of the ocean so far down even they, with gills and the strong swimmers they are, have no chance of reaching, They believe one day these creatures will awaken to consume the world in the waters of the ocean An apocalyptic scene for ponies, a paradise to the sea hive. The former seems to have the majority of followers over the latter but the Deep One faith have had some strange occurrences around it. For example one loyal follower was supposedly taken captured by a pony coastal village but was freed when the town came under attack from a giant squid. Another is the rumor their priests have been gifted with a kind of sea magic, twisting unnatural wet forces to their whim. Their government is a bit more wild then others mainly because it hasn't changed as they've grown in size like other hives. Basically the only changeling better than the rest is the queen, which means no class difference but also makes organization quite chaotic. Usually their tactics in battle involve swarming and flanking since they still use small unit tactics more useful in skirmishes instead of battle but on a rocking boat it’s still a valid tactic as opposed to on land where a defensive line would simply push them back. Originally as far as assaults go, they would usually swim under the ocean like a school of fish before silently, always under the cover of dark, slink up onto the boats deck or into the base grounds before killing as many people as they can in their sleep. If discovered a brawl would break out. This sort of strategy was needed with so few numbers and resources though after the population and resource explosion the hive has started construction of their own ships. Over a dozen are being built although only about three are actually sea worthy, their first and only ship in service at the moment is the “Queen’s Judgment” a frigate class. The changeling ship design seems to be practicality over design. Pony boats, even warships, are slick and beautiful things made in the shape of swans, eagles and dragons depending on the class. As for changeling ships their all made from the remains of other ships usually build around the hull of a sunken one. This gives them a patchwork look, old and worn out as most of the paint peels off without any new coats being applied. They should not be underestimated however, they are built to be just as effective as other ships just without the bells and whistles. Their ship tactics seem to be quite different from other races. Ponies try jousting, heading towards another ship head on firing their weapons before retreating away and going in for another run once they're safe. Griffins like to run alongside a ship where they can use their cannons to full effect, diamond dogs drag in their prey with grappling hooks so they can get down and dirty in hand to hand combat. Hagfish likes to try one of two tactics. First, they like to run behind a ship before launching grappling hook into the back of the boat connected by a thick chain. From there instead of bringing it closer they keep their distance while firing weapons from the bow. Most ships don’t mount weapons on the back so they can’t do anything as they're hit by fire. Those who do put something on the rear find the front of changeling ships to be armored. Another tactic is to ram a foes ship from the side, smashing it to pieces with a metal ram either running over the crew or starting a boarding action. The increase in hive population has split the population a little. The small size of the hive meant that every changeling knew each other and it had a sense of community and family. Now that the hive is much bigger some changelings feel that everyone has become cold and distant. On the other side many changelings feel that this is an opportunity to become an empire, to go down in the books as one of THE changeling hives instead of a footnote at the bottom of the page. After some debating they came to a compromise. Those who felt that they had lost a sense of community were free to leave but could still be called upon on times of emergency. These changelings formed a village on the coast and tried to rebuild the hive they grew up in but this was changed after they came into contact with one pegasus called Sea Shanty. Sea Shanty had opened up a business selling, of all things, fish to ponies. The idea of eating fish came about from the griffin empire where fish was the national food. Curious ponies who could afford it found fish to be an exotic delicacy. Now for those who unaware of this fad or are simply not from Equestria you must be asking “But Aren’t ponies herbivores?” And you would be right! Eating fish GREATLY upsets a pony’s stomach but that doesn’t change the taste and fans of fish not only claim that it’s worth it but that if you eat enough the effects are numbed. Whatever the reason it is the food for the adventuress. It’s difficult to come by however as the market is too small to fund massive hunts and due to the hostility between ponies and griffins all of their fishing ships unload in the Griffin Empire, the only fish making it over in time has to be heavily dried and salted. Sea Shanty specialized in this sort of trade but came up with a very risky plan. He approached the changelings and offered them a deal. He and his company would vouch for their worth and have them pardoned by the Equestrian government, meaning they were now considered citizens and would be protected too. In return they would just fish for him and he would even send ponies in to provide love. They agreed and overnight, the town was renamed “Fortune”. They began collecting fish, their gills and great swimming ability putting the griffin fishing fleet to shame. Before Fortune was founded only the nobility could afford fish. Now every major city has at least one fish restaurant. Despite their close relation to ponies they are still heavily isolated and are very aggressive towards any other race then ponies and even they don’t exactly get a warm welcome. The overall risk of Hagfish is somewhat great. Similar to Chrysalis they have dreams of making history and are busy growing and collecting resources although they are a long way off to having a trained, well equipped fighting force. As such whether they accomplice anything or take over the whole south sea of Equestria is up to themselves. Show their might too early and they could find themselves under attack from three different factions all out for blood. Personally, I’ll be keeping an eye on them, see where things end up.