“Thank you Obsidian,” I said and took the bowl of fruit from him, “I’d give you some emotion in turn, but I think Amber is going to hit me with a stick if I try.”
Amber made a buzzing sound next to me where she was sitting and glaring at any other Changeling that dared come too close.
She was holding a sharp stick. Almost a spear actually.
He nodded and then took a step back and looked up. Perking my ears, I looked up as well. Changeling hearing must be better than Alicorn because it took me a couple of moments before I could just about make out the sound of propellers.
“Amber, would you mind flying up and guiding them back here?” I asked as I turned to look at my guard.
She glared at me, “Yes, I would mind, Sir. I’m not leaving you unguarded with these Changelings.”
Okay then.
“...Send up a flare instead?” I suggested and shifted my wings. Oh man, Amber didn’t like these guys at all.
I would do it myself, but even after a couple of days of recovering, something that draining may still make me pass out.
Nodding, Amber then raised her head and her horn glowed before sending a bolt of magic flying up in the air through the canopy of the trees to explode like green fireworks.
“Thank you, Amber,” I said and leaned against her, only to have her growl at me and pulled away.
“If you try to feed me, sir, I’ll hit you with the suggested stick. You are not in any state to do so!”
“...Yes, ma’am…”
Even so, I knew that Amber had to be starving. She had not eaten for over a week, apparently refusing any of the gel the other Changelings had offered to her.
I hadn’t asked her how she got captured and she hadn’t told me. I didn’t plan to ask either, if my guess was right it involved being completely overwhelmed by a pile of Changelings.
It took a minute or so before a large shadow moved above the trees. Moments later there was a flash of light leaving behind Luna, Sunset, Skitter and a dozen guards, evenly mixed between my Legion and Luna's Nightguard.
Struggling onto my hooves, I moved up to them, “Welcome to the Jungle. We got fun and ga-Ow!”
Sunset glared at me and lowered her goof from my chest, “Nopony else gets those jokes anyway!” and then she hugged me tight, “Never do that again.”
“Didn’t think it was that bad of a joke,” I murmured against her neck as I hugged her tightly, “I’m fine. I promise.”
Luna put her wing around both of us, giving my ears a quick nuzzle before she looked towards Skitter.
Skitter stepped forward past us, giving Amber a small nuzzle before she buzzed her wings and spoke up, “Your Queen has fallen. The Jungle Hive is no more. I am Princess Skitter of the Canterlot Hive and I claim this swarm for the Hive.”
Ambrosia was the first one to approach her from the group. She looked up at Skitter for a long moment before lowering her head a bit, offering her horn.
Skitter lowered her head and touched the small antenna crown on top of her head against Ambrosia's horn for a moment. Ambrosia blinked and seemed confused and disoriented for a second, stumbling before closing her eyes and sinking down to lay on the ground.
Beyond that, I didn’t pay too much attention as the next changeling moved up to her. The guards were helping the ponies resting on the grass.
Pulling back from the hug, I smiled at both Luna and Sunset, “Seriously, I’m fine. We’re all fine, just tired.”
Luna pulled me close with her wing, “Are you sure, My Page?”
“Yeah. Don’t blame the Changelings, they were just doing what they have always done, they didn’t know a different way,” I said and looked up at her, “It’ll be fine.”
Luna just shook her head and rested her head against the top of mine. Sunset frowned at the Changelings gathering around Skitter.
She then shook her head and moved close, putting her horn against mine, “What is it with you and Changelings?” she sighed softly. Putting my wing around her, I pulled her close before I shook my head,
“Forget that now. Let’s get everypony and ‘ling back onto the ship,” I said and smiled at them, “...Before I fall over again, please.”
Sunset looked like she had something to say about that ‘again’, but instead she nodded, “Let’s move everyone back to the ship. Princ…” she started to say as she looked up at Luna and then changed it to, “...Luna, I’ll bring Page to our cabin.”
Luna nodded, “I will teleport everypony else. Go.”
They spent a lot of time together, it seems.
hmmmm talky time
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And i what to see it.
This is why I love your stories. So much content without all the baggage. Don't get me wrong, I like long chapters too but short and sweet with all the progress you manage to make happen is amazing.
Well done! I look foward to the next chapter.
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More that they're boinking the same stallion so it'd be kind of weird to bother with titles but old habits die hard.
And so ends the Jungle Hive arc!
YES,YES,YES, it’s here and I am late to reading it, but that doesn’t matter chapter one here I come!!!!!
Well, I have a feeling that other queens will think that Page is controlling Chrysalis hive and he himself kills queens to absorb other hives.
I myself would have thought that it was planned usurpation if I heard of what happened there
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I’m pretty sure this is the most familiar we’ve seen them in public so far. I do so love this story.
And the first complication has been dealt with... though Page will probably get more guards dropped on him now
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That's may be these Complications. If other Queens will start feeling, that they are endangered by new subversive threat, then things may get very ugly.
9841390
I hope so. This dumbass mind-controlled a hive into EATING THEIR QUEEN. If every hive in Equestria wasn't preparing to kill this new
idiotsuperweaponprince, they're as thick as he is. He chose, not was forced into, CHOSE to murder the queen. He could have been bailed out by... well, pretty much anyone once he got hold of Luna. He stayed, killed her, and hopefully will get to understand that regardless of how isekai'd you are, death is not a thing to brush aside.9841306
more like turning her inside out in your version
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Soooo, having Luna come to get him and turn the hive into a bloodbath would be.... fine with you?
That is like nuking a country because you hate the king, when you have other means to get rid of the fat bastard.
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This is how Luna first responded when she found out about Page being kidnapped...
Luna surged to her hooves, “I’m mobilizing the guard, we’ll come for you.”
“...No.”
She blinked at me in surprise, “...What?”
“It’d be a bloodbath,” I said and got up to nuzzle her, “There are hundreds of changelings here. It would be tunnel fighting against enemies that could look like the pony next to you. We’d win, but so many ponies would die.”
Luna shook her head, “No. Not with my sister and me coming. We’ll burn that hive to the ground.”
Luna did that because Pincer caused her hive to commit an act of war. Period. No excuses. The Jungle Hive was actually damn lucky Page was so committed to peace and minimal bloodshed. Because Equestria was well within its rights to storm the hive to rescue him, and to Tartarus with the Jungle Hive casualties that would have resulted. And any other leader looking at this, including other changeling queens, would know this.
So yes, Page staged a revolt, and one where the one responsible quite justifiably got the axe. And he potentially saved the hive from a lot of casualties by doing so. But let's say he just gets "bailed out", whether by Discord, blind underground teleport jumps by Twilight and others, or Starlight/Twilight/Sunset concocting who knows what via magic. There's still a major problem, and one that exists regardless of how he's rescued.
Pincer's still a hostile leader located somewhere in her hive. And thanks to her utter dumbfuck move the Jungle Hive is at war with Equestria, with her being a leader who quite frankly was almost certainly too dense to know when to quit. And now Equestria has no reason to take the casualties it would suffer from tunnel fighting to personally take her. So either A - Page/Luna break the hive via dream magic to the exact same results of overthrowing her. Which is probably what they would do because B is more vicious than the Princesses usually go. Because B is to summon overwhelming firepower outside and glass the entire hive.
And lest someone bring up Chrysalis, remember there was a key difference in the Pageverse regarding her situation. Did she cause her hive to commit an act of war against Equestria? Absolutely. But in the Pageverse, they were able to capture her because her direct infiltration led her to being isolated. So, once Chrysalis was captured, Page negotiated an official surrender. But negotiating Pincer into surrender was not possible for Page in a reversed situation.
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Yep. That's essentially what happened here.
It was this, or think of a name for the crater the Jungle Hive would have been turned into. I know which option would have been preferable for all involved.
I think there will be consequences to this - you don't get kidnapped by a hive, turn that hive on its head and dispose of its ruler without getting noticed by other hives. However, those consequences will be far smaller than the full-blown declaration of war that would have resulted from Page being exfiltrated from the Jungle Hive and subsequently the Jungle Hive being blasted to hell.
Let's also not forget, in both cases, who made the first strike. In both cases, it was the Changelings who struck first, and in both cases the ponies came out on top. With that realization, I don't think the non-allied Changeling hives will see this as a reason to attack - rather the opposite. It's a warning against messing with Equestrian royalty.
A pleasing end and maybe additions to Page’s retinue?
I adore Amber, she is sassy bug. Good in page, he stopped what was most likely going to be a very costly conflict with minimal bloodshed. There of course be consequences for what he did... and I feel like some of them will be embarrassing. At least if his luck holds true.
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Well he kinda does. Like Skitter puts herself below Page and then he forced Chrissy to 'unretire' when she tried to 'retire' her hive has become the Canterlot Hive and is under the protection and jurisdiction of the Equestrian Royalty
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By controlling I mean like an attack dog, a weapon, a tool to command
Short but nice to see them together.
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no, they're a kingdom underneath (literally and figuratively) Equestria, like a protectorate, so yes they aren't absolutely free and Page has basically been appointed to command changeling/food relations
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I meant how other queens may see this
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Indeed. Equestria is not offensiv but when pushed dont fear to end it!
Love all the humor and Interaction with Page. So short of a chapter Nice non the less
"What's with you and changelings," huh? She asks the alicorn of stories why he likes a race of incredible actors. HMMMM. I WONDER WHY.
Lovebug Legion grows
The lovebug grow. But we need more Snuggellings. Maybe the next Hive join in the Cuddlepile ♡
Lord Page, patron alicorn of changelings
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Nostalgia levels reaching critical mass
Skitter nr 1 problem:
Let's hope they can fix it upon arrival if they have not already the Love Honey on board.
11341200
Damn fine example of Fimfiction and its Authors taking mlp for a spin.
I wonder what color these new Changelings are, do they change color by any change when changing hives?