Lives of the Changeling Queens

by Big Saij

A Loyal Subject

Lyctida
May 13, 1007
-------
Loyalty.

The first thing many thought of when the term loyalty arose was of the Element of Harmony, and by extension its bearer. A blue rainbow-maned mare from Equestria, one who was said to never let her friends down, or abandon them in their time of need. A pony who was held up as the paragon of loyalty.

All who thought that were fools, and nothing more.

Queen Aurantia of Lyctida knew what true loyalty was. It was a complete and utter willingness to do whatever your queen asked you to do. To never question, to never disobey, to never do anything but exactly what they say. They have the generosity to allow you to do their bidding, and the trust that you will do it adequately. And betraying that trust is nothing short of treason.

Some called that kind of devotion blind. Aurantia thought of it as an apt term. Every subject is blind to the true thoughts and plans of their master, and questioning that for any reason only leads to problems, issues, unnecessary disagreements. For success, there had to be unity; for unity, there had to be loyalty. It was as simple as that.

It was also the reason why her fellow Queens, barring the One Queen of course were so infuriating to be around.

Aurantia was tempted to slam her hoof on the polished floor out of annoyance, but decided against it. All it would cause would be her royal guard rushing in to ask her of any possible problems. But still, just thinking of them made her blood boil. Every time they would meet, it was always the exact same thing. Helvia with her aloof pragmatism, Argynnis with her outrageously disrespectful sarcasm, and Yaria... well, her heart and beliefs were in the right place, but she always cared about her research more than her devotion. Tolerating those ingrates was quite possibly the hardest thing that Aurantia had to do each year. They were all lucky that Queen Chrysalis had the patience of a true royal.

In fact, the only queen better than herself at, well, everything was Chrysalis. She had brought them all together, blessed them with her endless leadership and boundless charisma, ruled and led her armies with the skill of the greatest generals. There was no doubt that she would accomplish any goal she set out to do, and that included the fall of Equestria itself now. If destroying the pony nation and any other on Equus was the only way to ensure the safety of the hives, then so be it. All would fall under the might of the swarm.

And speaking of the safety of the hives... Aurantia got off her throne and made her way to one of the windows overlooking the hive. Even under the light of the accursed Celestia's sun, the smoke from the vast lumber mills and factories, many of which were built towards aiding Chrysalis in her goals, meant that the entire hive sat under a shadow of darkness. The scenery was drab, the streets silent, and the hive somber.

Just how Aurantia remembered and liked it.

Visitors, on the other hoof, tended to hold a different opinion. Very few foreigners ever visited the hive, unlike Ditrysium to the north which was practically teeming with them. Lyctidans spoke with few words, preferring solitude, so noling ever brought it up. And they shouldn't, with the memory of the last group of non-changelings who had come still burning bright.

It was not a pleasant memory, yet Aurantia drudged it up anyway. Whenever her loyalty started to crack or her hatred simmer, recalling it always added gasoline to the flames.

She could not forget the traumatic experience even if she wanted to, anyway...

---

February 4, 962
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"My Queen, the deer have breached the central spire!" The drone, a royal guard clutching a spear tightly looked at Aurantia with fear in their eyes. "What do we do?"

The Queen of Lyctida had no response. How could she? The hive had repelled isolated incursions from Olenia before, but this attack was something never seen before! These... zealots, they slaughtered everything in their path! The trail of destruction left behind was obvious, the great forests that surrounded the city burning in a fiery blaze.

And the bodies, dear Hatcher the bodies. The deer were merciless, leaving no survivors. The streets were running green with blood, as their bodies lay for all to see. Perhaps that was the intention, to leave behind as much an impression as possible.

If so, it was working.

Truth be told, Aurantia was terrified. Lyctida had mostly remained isolated from the other hives despite its prosperous state, and as such had no connections or alliances like the others. They were alone, no friends to call upon. And the armed forces of the hive had shattered long ago under such a large assault... was this the end of her hive? Could she really fall so easily?

The doors slammed open, and the object of her nightmares walked in. A group of ten, maybe twelve Olenians, all wearing their religious symbols and clutching their war axes still dripping green blood onto the floor. The head of the group, a fanatical priest by the look of it saw the Queen and gave a truly evil grin. He did not say a single word, only pointed his weapon straight at her.

"Protect the Queen!" The royal guard immediately leapt into action, as they had trained for all their lives. Armed with sword or spear, they fought ferociously with the invaders, forcing the deer onto the defensive. The captain of her guard, duel-wielding swords engaged with the priest himself, the two playing a deadly game of strike and parry. The changeling had two weapons to block with, but the Olenian seemed to be blessed with unnatural speed and strength, pushing away every single attempt to gain an advantage. Eventually Aurantia saw a smirk form on his muzzle as he forced the captain to stumble.

"Look out!" she tried to warn, but it was too late. The deer twirled, swinging his axe around, and the drone was decapitated on the spot. The body fell like a rag doll, swords clattering on the ground. Aurantia knew she needed to do something, to blast him with magic or teleport away, but she couldn't. Petrified, all her body did was stumble backwards, stumbling as she fell on the stairs leading to her throne.

Slowly approaching, the priest laughed as the axe was raised skyward, ready to swing down towards her head. And in his eyes, Aurantia could see her own expression reflected, one of pure terror. The weapon began its downward decent, ready to execute the fearful Queen of Lyctida...

...

...And in a flash of green, the Olenian fell to the ground, dead. In his place walked forth a new stranger, another Queen. Her mane long and bluish-green, the crown of Vesalipolis elegantly on her head. She looked down at Aurantia with a mix of pride, disgust, and perhaps a hint of excitement.

Queen Chrysalis had arrived.

"Get up."

Aurantia stumbled onto her four hooves, looking around her throne room once more. The foreign invaders were gone, their bodies piled on the floor close to the changelings who had given their lives fighting them off. All around them, the royal guards of both Vesalipolis and Ditrysium were rushing in and out of the doors, weapons drawn and at the ready.

"Subjects, this hive is under threat from the deer who seek to take our rightful land! Today, we fight not as hives, but as one race against a common threat! Drive them off our soil, feed on them all, show them the might of the changelings!"

Her voice was authoritative, the very essence of leadership. Her words were inspiring, causing whatever remained of the Lyctidan warriors to follow their new allies back into the fray. Her very form was regal, displaying an overwhelming aura of confidence.

Chrysalis was no Queen, she was the Queen.

She observed the guards filing out of the throne room before making her way to the window that overlooked the hive. Aurantia timidly walked forward, taking a place at her side. The corpses of drones still littered the streets, but so did that of the deer now. The forest fires were beginning to die down as the normal cold of the north set in once more. It had been mere seconds, perhaps a minute at most since their arrival, and already the conflict was drawing to a close.

"Queen Aurantia." She snapped her head to the side, listening to her new savior. "Had I arrived a moment later, you would be dead. Lyctida has already proven unable to defend itself. By the laws of the hives, you should be cast out as a failure."

Aurantia dipped her head in shame, but Chrysalis was not finished yet. "That does not matter now. The disunity that has plagued our race must come to an end. The hives must work towards a common goal if we are to survive." The Queen of Vesalipolis tilted her head ever so slightly towards Aurantia. "Will you join me?"

It was a loaded question, there was no doubt in that. Saying "no" was not an option, not one without dire consequences now. Lyctida was still in no position to fight back against anything. But as Aurantia knelt before Chrysalis, the words she spoke carried no regret or anger, just complete honesty and respect.

"Of course, Queen Chrysalis. You have the loyal of me, and the Hive of Lyctida, from now until eternity."

A nod was all she got in return. "Good. Follow, we have important matters to discuss then." Aurantia's new master turned away and began towards the door, not even bothering to look behind. She hurried to keep up, much like a pet to its owner, as the royal doors barely hanging on their hinges slowly moved from the pull of magic.

The sound of them closing was the last thing Aurantia remembered.

---

"...My Queen? Are you listening?"

The changeling blinked, her mind being pulled away from the memory. An armored drone, the current Captain of the Royal Guard for the hive who she couldn't bother to learn the name of was looking up at her, concerned. "I am fine,", she spat out, annoyed at the interruption. "What is it?"

Keeping a straight and neutral face at her Queen's anger, the guard spoke calmly as if this had happened a thousand times before... which it might have. "The half-year report has almost been compiled."

"And?"

"The quotas that Queen Chrysalis set have been exceeded by more than two-hundred percent, as you wanted."

Aurantia gave a curt nod, before her expression morphed into a scowl. "One Queen Chrysalis, drone," she reprimanded.

"My apologies."

She scoffed before turning away to hide her grudging satisfaction. Vastly exceeding the wishes of the One Queen were a common occurrence these days, per the wishes of Aurantia. It was her way of eternally showing her gratitude for that day. The debt she was in would never be repaid, but it didn't mean that she couldn't do these little things to curry her favor in memory of it. She was approaching the end of even a Queen's lifespan, so these last actions before she moved to the next world would be the most important.

"Is that all?" she asked her captain, still standing at attention close by. The drone nodded. "Then leave me. I tire of your presence already."

A short bow, and he was gone. Good. Aurantia did not care for the personal lives or issues of her subjects, only the fact that they meet her demands. She was a Queen, she had responsibilities, she was above the common folk. They served her, not the other way around. It was one of the many lessons Queen Chrysalis had taught her, just a fragment of the wisdom bestowed.

Walking back to the throne, she settled herself back into the ancient seat of power. It was one of the few things she still found some sort of comfort in, the familiar cold of the stone that generations of her linage had sat in centuries past. Legacy, that was what she carried, and it was something that all had. Her ancestors had legacies of proud independence, of fierce warriors, of cunning diplomats. Tales that drones would tell to inspire their children to do great things.

Aurantia did not care for those things. There was only one word that she wanted to be remembered by, one trait that would go down as the defining moment of her rule.

Loyalty.

Author's Note:

We all have our heroes, even if those heroes are villains to others.

Aurantia is probably the Queen I'm the weakest in, mostly because there isn't as much story to be told with a changeling who's entire point is following orders and being completely loyal. Doesn't mean she won't have a part to play in the future, however. Just don't expect many stand-alone chapters with her.

Comments

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[PonyDragon]

Good story!
I enjoyed reading it.

But why did you insert this chapter in the middle instead of the end of the story?