Iridia writes Dianthia detailing her daily life and developments at the Chrome Hive and House Path.
Iridia wasn't sure if she wanted to go with the herd but both she and her mother knew what would happen if the new Chrome Hive was not set up correctly. She might be homesick, but with the ability to write letters home to her hive on a regular basis shes is never truly alone. How could she be with all of the chaos that goes on at House Path every day!
First Letter - ( Between Chapter 19 and 20 of A Different Perspective )
Twilight and Iridia walked down the hallway of the House Path mansion, the alicorn smiling pleasantly at her changeling guest the entire time.
“I'm so glad that you consented to help Free with his hive matters. I mean, I suppose I could have eventually whipped Free into shape, but it's so much easier and he learns much faster when you two are working in the network. There's only so much I can do without intimate knowledge of changeling matters. One of these nights I should give being connected a shot.” Twilight motioned to a door. “Here we go! We had our staff set this room up for you. I imagine that it might not be like what you're used to since it was decorated in a very griffon-centric way, but it's yours now! You can decorate it any way you like since you might be here with us for a while until the first stage of Free’s hive is ready.” Twilight levitated the key to her
Iridia slowly looked to the door and then to the key in her hoof. “Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight waved a hoof dismissively. “No royal titles while we're working together. Just Twilight will do fine. And you're very welcome. Rest well!” The alicorn then trotted off, happy to have completed her task of being a good host.
Iridia opened the door and looked at the room with a small smile. It was larger than she had been expecting, and while all of the pelts seemed to be overkill in her opinion, they were quite soft and warm when she walked over them toward the bed. She padded around in circles on the large mattress before she lay down and made herself comfortable. She aimed her horn back toward Equestria and her distant home.
She tensed up as she tried to increase her sensitivity to her home hive, drowning out the commotion of the Chrome hive-mind to which she had been given a side connection as she visualized the Green network. Within a few moments she frowned. Her mother, the Queen of the Green Hive, normally shined high in the virtual sky much like the sun, but now she was surrounded by muted cool colors. The faint twinkle of the hive hub was so far toward the horizon, it looked much like the last seconds of an ocean sunset. With all of her strength, she would not be able to communicate at distances this great; she just did not have the capability.
“Damn it! Of course I couldn’t expect to be able to talk to them, from this distance. I can barely tell they exist, much less get thoughts or ideas that far out to them. I’m also apparently talking to myself now.”
She laughed a bit and shook her head before getting up and going to the desk on the other side of the room. She opened one of the drawers, seeking out writing materials, and found some parchment along with a quill and ink set. She started to write out a letter which she would send out her next opportunity.
Dear Mother,
Things are going about as well as we were expecting. The network design and infrastructure was in shambles. In her rush to build up forces for the siege, Chrysalis neglected almost everything else. It took Gossamer and I about a day and a half with all of the remaining breeders and drones to get them fully connected to the new Chrome network. Then we had to organize the network itself. Twilight was trying to get involved but she doesn't understand that changeling organization doesn't work the same way. We have Queen Gossamer as the main hub of the network, but Elusive Clue and myself are acting as the two buffers to keep the flow of information in and out manageable for Gossamer until she is used to the load.
However, an interesting phenomenon that I have noticed is that when Path and Gossamer are next to each other, her capacity increases, and when they are both focusing on each other, the amount of traffic Elusive and I have to buffer gets reduced virtually to zero. I can't figure out why this is happening. If Path was connected to the network, I would be able to sense him easily, and the capacity would not drop nearly as sharply due to distance. We both know that the Blue Hive specialized in secrets and research, and I am thinking that maybe the Mad Queen had a few untapped ideas that she did not think to use in the siege. Gossamer has said many times that she and Path share a bond that goes beyond that of a pony, a griffon, or a changeling. This might be something worth looking into.
Now – onto other matters. The heads of House Path were urging me to join as a student, but I told them under no circumstances will I join them in their House pursuits, My goal is to set up the hive network and teach Gossamer how to handle the demands of her hive and that is all. I don't wish to be seen as a snob, but I am still a princess, not a first-grade nymph. Nevertheless it is enjoyable to talk to the herd when we are not busy with work. Roseclaw enjoys talking about history, and we have started a historical exchange of sorts: griffon history for changeling history. Gossamer is usually too tired and worn out to talk anything high level; she's still not used to exerting herself over the entire network. Path just smiles most of the time, and when we do talk, he asks me how I am doing and if I need anything. Something about him is different. I never took the time to look into his memories that he left when he was in our network for those few hours. Next time I am in Ponyville or Canterlot, I will need to access that.
I think that’s all I am going to write for this letter. Honestly, I need to figure out how to mail this to you because I don’t know of any mail service that goes between nations. I might give it to the Equestrian ambassador who could forward it to you. Until the next letter, Mother.
Love, Iridia
She wrapped the parchment up with a green ribbon and tapped her horn against it for a few moments, infusing it with her special signature so that the queen would know for a fact who really sent it.
“Hmm…. Now I need to track down that ambassador, but that can wait until tomorrow.”
The princess put the writing supplies away and stashed the rolled-up scroll in the drawer as well. Then she went back to the bed and settled in, pulling the pelts over her. It had been a busy day, and sleep quickly claimed her.
Second Letter - ( Just After Chapter 1 of The Growing Years )
Iridia sighed as she looked over to her desk. It had been far too long since she wrote to her mother, but she was now back in Ponyville, and when she looked inward to the network, she was able to focus on hers better than before. However, the closest drone on the network was still rather far away. She could take a day-train to Hollow Shades, but there was something novel about writing a letter and getting it sent off.
She rolled out of her cloud bed and walked over to the desk, yawning a bit. Her horn glowed, and in a few moments the quill was put to the parchment.
A lot has happened since the last time I wrote you. I have been busy brokering a treaty with the Queen of the Western Hive. She seems very cautious. I believe that this is because after centuries, if not millennia, of hiding among the griffons, she knows the cost of being exposed. She does want to send an envoy of three harvesters to Equestria in the coming months. One to talk and meet with you and the other queens, one to talk and meet with the princesses, and one to investigate the Crystal Heart. I believe that Azon’s report has aroused her curiosity and overridden her normal cautiousness.
You might have heard of the lockdown that happened in Ponyville a few weeks ago. This was the first time I have ever experienced Twilight and Gossamer going into a paranoid rage about anything, however if anything would have caused it, this would be it. As you know Gossamer and Long Path mated to produce Epiphany. She was in her crib after her normal feeding time. For some reason Path insists on going into the nursery and feeding her himself. He thinks that if the love is directed from a person that loves them, it will be stronger. And while this is true and love freely given tastes sweeter, we have no real information on if that improves a queen during their formative years. However, he is the first pony to ever attempt such a thing. But I digress. When the herd went into see Epiphany that evening, they found a box from Chrysalis of all ’lings. And while the doll encased in it was benign, the second ‘gift’ that was under a false bottom of the box was something completely different. They found a dagger with a note attached which said, “I was this close.” Path made Twilight teleport everyone out before the negative emotions affected Epiphany, which was most likely for the best. As you know, negative emotions can be like poison. Path ordered the nursery staff to not let the rest of the herd in until they were devoid of negative emotion. This is not a move that I was expecting. For nearly four days, he was held up in the most secure area of the nursery, feeding Epiphany.
I did not know that Twilight could cast shields on par with her brother, but apparently the overt threat to her daughter was enough to push her over the edge. She managed to make one that encompassed all of Ponyville while Gossamer lit up his entire network, pinging practically everyone on it including me to make sure they were not compromised. When I asked him later, he said that he could “Feel the taint of the Mad Queen on a ’ling from a mile away”. I am not sure if that was his paranoid rambling or if it’s founded on any truth. Roseclaw was interrogating the other hive ’lings that happened to be in the town at the time. Most of the residents were worried at first, until it was leaked out that all of this was a response to what can be considered a death threat against their daughter. I imagine that if Path did not come out of the nursery with Epiphany, it would have continued for far longer.
Both he and Epiphany were visibly upset. He made Twilight disable the shield, had Roseclaw stop her interrogations, and made Gossamer finally relax his network. I’m not trying to be speciesist but I don’t know how a mere earth pony can have such a commanding presence. I watched him to go the Sugarcube Corner and order “A party to end all parties”. It took a few days, but eventually they were able to recover from the negative P.R., all while increasing security around the nursery. After analyzing the doll, they decided to destroy it to play it safe. Twilight recreated a replica of “Mister Click-Click” to appease Epiphany, and I don’t believe that the child knows the difference.
On to the subject of the new Chrome Hive. While getting Path and Gossamer to breed and create a new queen was relatively easy, all things considered, it really was just a waiting game until his hormones took over, and once that happened Twilight and Roseclaw just had to point him at Path. Breeding regular members of the hive proved to be more daunting. While I know that queens tend to be monogamous, and I know that we usually outlive our partners, meaning that we can have at least three mates over our life time. Gossamer is in the unique position that his current mate, Twilight, will greatly outlive him. He is also fiercely loyal to Twilight, to a fault I would say. We had the breeders shapeshift into Twilight, but that didn’t work. Then we had Twilight herself come in to encourage and reassure him and that didn’t work. He kept rambling about how it was cheating. Eventually Twilight became fed-up with the situation and surreptitiously cast something on Gossamer. I don’t know exactly what, but he was finally willing to fertilize his breeders. I hope that the next round isn’t going to be this painful.
I think I have wrapped up everything nicely for this letter. I can’t wait to see you soon!
--Love, Iridia
The changeling princess rolled up the scroll and smiled as she heard a knock on the door. The tip of a deep orange muzzle peeked past the door.
“Hey! You ready to go? We should have started our date half an hour ago,” the owner of the muzzle asked.
Green fire flashed around the princess as she adjusted her mane in her pegasus form. “Yeah, yeah!” She laughed. “You are always so impatient, Pyro Cumulus.” She trotted toward the door and opened it, revealing a deep orange and red pegasus. He was lean and looked to be designed for speed.
“I can’t help it! I goofed and our reservation is across town in only ten minutes.” He started to trot nervously in place.
“Ten minutes?! Let’s go!” Both of them ran out of the room, and as they did so, Iridia passed the scroll off to a messenger changeling before they left the castle for the night.
The pair barely made it to the restaurant in time for their reservation, and the earth pony waitress smiled at the panting ponies. “Reservation for two, a mister Pyro I assume?” she said with a slight Prench accent.
He nodded several times as Iridia leaned on him, trying to catch her breath. She was not a particularly fast flier, nor did she have a lot of endurance, but then again these were not traits that her hive were known for. Once they calmed down, they were lead to a table that overlooked most of Ponyville. After the menus were placed in front of them the waitress left them to their own devices.
Iridia looked over to him and started to smile gradually. She was able to read him like a book, even if it wasn’t for her changeling abilities. He was clearly nervous and worried about making a good impression on her. Infatuation tended to be particularly sweet in comparison to other emotions.
Pyro rubbed the back of his head slightly before he began to speak. “You know, Noctilucent Sky, despite the fact that this is our third date, I really don’t know all that much about you. I mean, sometimes I’m able to come over from Cloudsdale to T.A. the flying classes for the House, but you never really told me why you’re living with them? A pegasus as smart as you can easily get a job in Cloudsdale, and you would never have to even touch the ground!” He tapped his hoof against his chin thoughtfully. “Didn’t you say that your parents lived there anyways?”
‘Noctilucent Sky’ never let her smile drop as she replied. “Well, you know sometimes it gets boring. My mom and dad are just mid-level accountants or secretaries… actually they never were really clear on what they did.” She shrugged as she gave her half answer and deflected the question back to him. “You never told me about your parents, Pyro. Care to enlighten me?” She blinked in surprise at the reaction her question caused, confused by the mix of shame and regret coming from her date.
“I could tell you, but it might end the date. He is… well he’s not something that I’m proud of, but he’s something that I usually need to deal with. If you can promise me that it won’t end our good time, I can tell you about him. Because honestly I would rather talk about him much, much later… or preferably never.”
The princess was not expecting strong feeling of seriousness coming from her normally relaxed friend. “I promise; please tell me,” Iridia said in as soothing a voice as possible while her eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, casting just enough to get him to loosen up a bit on the topic..
The waitress came back and smiled. “Are you ready to order?”
The tension at the moment was shattered as the two ordered. ‘Noctilucent Sky’ ordered the house special salad and some orange juice, while Pyro ordered the same but with a half portion of smoked salmon added to it, something that surprised both the waitress and Iridia.
“It’s...well it’s an acquired trait that I’ve been taught. I don’t really like the taste of smoked salmon, but my Dad says that when the time comes and I will need to fight, the protein in the food will aid in healing.” He held his head in his hooves. “My dad is what you would call a Pegasus Supremacist. He says that he can trace his lineage back to Commander Hurricane. I don’t really know if this is true but he’s a military pony. So as you can imagine dealing with him can be trying at best. It’s hard to talk to him because he’s anti-everything not pegasus.”
Iridia did not like where this was going, however her curiosity was piqued. “If he is anti-every other species, how did he handle the Grand Reveal? I couldn’t imagine somebody like him would handle that very well.” s Pyro just groaned. “It did not go well. I was a freshman when it happened. He ended up going into politics to make sure that–” He put his hooves up for quotation marks. “Cloudsdale remains pure.” He ended up trying to pass a lot of legislation in the attempt to secede Cloudsdale from the rest of Equestria, or create a series of custom rules for non-pegasi. He almost succeeded. It took the combined efforts of Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Cadance to disband the Cloudsdale Separatist Party.” He sat back in his chair. “So… that’s the skeleton in my closet.”
Iridia just stared at him dumbstruck. His father was General Nimbus Virga, one of the loudest voices of the fringe movement to remove all non-ponies from Equestria. “Wait...why did it take those three? Why not Luna and Twilight also?”
Pyro sighed. “It has to do with their history… Celestia is a no brainer because she is Equestria. Rainbow Dash because she’s the strongest flier currently alive, and Cadance because before she became an alicorn she was a pegasus. It was a closed door meeting; I doubt anyone even knows how close it came to really happening.” He looked at Iridia and sighed. “I’m sorry I dropped all of this on you. If you want to get our meals to go, we can just part ways before you start to hate me for his actions.”
Iridia could feel the happiness fading from Pyro and being replaced by self-loathing and sadness. She quickly leaned over the table and grabbed the scruff of his chest, pulling him toward her as she kissed him deeply. She liked Pyro, and she was not going to let him start to cycle into self-loathing. Her kiss was laced with some love energy, not enough to trigger the negative reaction that Twilight experienced, but enough to reverse his downward spiral. She whispered in his ear before she pulled away, “Let’s just relax and enjoy our dinner, shall we? I promise that there will be a fourth date.”
He stared at her dumbly for a few moments. “O-Okay...”
# # #
Iridia shut the door after saying her goodbyes to Pyro. She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding before her disguise disappeared. After a few moments, she went to her desk, picked up the quill and began to write.
This short letter isn’t about the goings-on of the Chrome Hive. This is more of a personal letter.
The ethics of changelings and their abilities: I used some of my abilities tonight, and normally I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. I like to make people happy when they are down, but today I might have crossed an ethical line. The part that worries me is that I don’t feel bad about it at all. Pyro was starting to go into an emotional spiral due to having to talk about his father, and I didn’t want him to be sad. So while I kissed him I pushed some of my own love energy into him, as well as a little something to calm him down a bit. Pyro doesn’t know who or what I really am. He currently thinks that I am an accounting intern for House Path, and that my parents live in Cloudsdale, but he really does like me, I can tell! I know that when I meet his parents, I can get them to understand!
--Iridia
# # #
Dianthia looked at the scroll as she frowned slightly, half talking to herself and half talking to one of her drones.
“She is not used to ponies giving her affection beyond normal societal friendliness, so she is oversensitive to it. I fear that this may become an issue.” The queen looked over to the drone closest to her. “What’s your name?”
The small ’ling stood up straight. “My pony name is Chocolate Truffle!”
Dianthia slowly raised an eyebrow.
The changeling rubbed the back of her head. “Aside from working as a controller, I also really like to make candy.” She smiled.
Dianthia couldn’t help but return the smile. “I am going to need you to go to Ponyville and watch my daughter. You can do whatever you want during your downtime, but I want you to watch her when she goes out with this Pyro. Report back to me everything you see.”
Truffle blinked a few times. “You want me to spy on the princess?”
The queen raised an eyebrow. “Questioning your queen? Huh! That’s a new one. But yes, I need you to keep a hidden eye on her. I need to see through your eyes what she’s doing. Best case scenario, you get a nice vacation from the hive. Worst case scenario, I am going to need to recall my daughter. The allure of using our power to force your way in a situation can at times be too great.” She looked down slightly, remembering a distant memory for a brief moment.
Truffle nodded. “I will leave tonight, Your Majesty!” She flew out of the main chamber.
Dianthia sighed and rolled the scroll back up. “I hope you don’t repeat my past mistakes, Daughter.”
Path yawned a little as he looked over to Proper Place and Iridia where they were seated opposite him. The train was almost to the Hollow Shades station, its final stop, but he had taken this trip so many times now, it was hardly exciting anymore. It was still nice when they were all greeted as they disembarked at the train station.
“So – how many days do we get to stay for?” Proper Place asked.
“Hmm… it’s just going to be an overnight trip this time. I need you back in Griffonia to help me with the expansion project. We need to make sure we can upgrade all of the staff living quarters from the shambles they are currently in, to a Changeling/Griffish-inspired living center.” Path nodded thoughtfully. “And I need Iridia to keep tabs on Free. With Pif running amok, I worry about the hive stability.”
Proper started to chuckle slightly. “Yeah Pif is going overboard, but then again she’s three, so what would you expect?”
Iridia rolled her eyes with a smile. “Well, if her love intake is any indication, she’s going to be a powerful one indeed. How did you manage to feed her for four days while Free and Twilight were freaking out over Chrysalis’ gift and you were isolated?”
Path smiled. “I just really love my daughter... that and it almost killed me. Once everything was settled down, I passed out for a day and a half.”
The trio nodded to the guards at the hive entrance, and they all signed in. Once they passed that point, everyone talked in the changeling tongue, and even though Path had been down this way many times previously, the drones and harvesters that they passed always seemed to be impressed that he did not carry an Equish accent when he talked.
When they reached the main chamber, Dianthia stood up with a smile as Iridia ran up to her mother and gave her a huge hug. The older queen smiled and hugged her back while changing her daughter’s connection to the Green Hive from secondary to primary.
“My little Iridia – how have your travels been? I mean aside from your letters, I almost never hear from you,” Dianthia said in a soothing mental voice as the two started chatting via the network.
Proper Place looked at Path. “I imagine that as soon as they are done talking, she’s going to want to link with you again; it is that time of the year, after all.” He sat down and half-closed his eyes, communicating via the network.
Path just smiled as he looked to Proper Place. “You know – between you and Free, I think that I’ve been connected to hive networks so many times it could make my head spin. But… I have been thinking about how the hive-minds work, and I think I understand how the connection works. I’m going to try something this time around.”
Path looked over at Dianthia as the Queen smiled and walked over to him, while Iridia left to go to her chambers.
“I am glad that you still fulfill the obligation that you made all these years ago. It definitely helps my hive when it comes to events outside Equestria. They love the influx of knowledge. Are you ready to be connected?” she asked him as the two walked over to the large pillow that he usually sat upon for these sessions.
“Before we do, I want to try something first,” Path said as he got onto the pillow, while the Green Queen sat down next to him. “Previously, whenever I tried to focus on my internal pathways, my chi as you called it, I could only feel magic, be it my own earth pony magic or the magic of the alicorns that I seem to be around. But recently I’ve been distancing myself so that I can get to know my internal systems. Without earth pony magic to rely on, I’ve been able to explore myself in ways I never could have considered before the accident.”
“What are you saying?” Dianthia’s head tilted in puzzlement.
“I am saying that I’m going to try to connect with you by myself,” Path replied with a grin.
“W-what? I don’t think that’s possible, Path,” Dianthia said with a deprecating smile.
“I think it’s possible. I just have to realign my own chi paths to mimic yours. It’s actually quite similar to how Warfist taught me how to hit harder and move faster by shifting my own internal power to different parts of my body – I just have to adjust mine until it mimics yours.”
“Are you saying that you can see the chi paths?!” Dianthia asked with a touch of shock.
“No, no – I’m not that good, but I can feel them and I remember what yours felt like.” Path closed his eyes and started to focus and concentrate. His own internal chi paths shifted and started to change their resonance.
Dianthia’s eyes started to widen as she felt Path’s chi lines move and shift, their resonance changing until she felt a light pressure against her network. Path did not have the capability to enter a network on his own, but he was able to match his resonance with that of the Queen, so the act of bringing him into the network was as easy as a pulling a pony into a cuddle, as opposed to how it was before which was more like pulling a pony in through a window.
Path materialized smoothly into the virtual grand library of the Green Hive, as opposed to just snapping into existence as he normally did. This transition was a lot easier on Path as well as those nearby.
“Hmmm… I think it’s time that I give another one of my speeches, don’t you think?” Path asked Dianthia rhetorically with a grin, and he started to walk over toward the center of the infinite library. After a few moments, nymphs and younger ’lings started to appear, eager to hear yet another story from the one that quite a few of them had started calling: “Uncle Path”.
Path and Dianthia laid quietly on the pillow for quite a while, and for all those that happened to walk in they would see the pony and changeling apparently motionless and inactive. However, in the network, it was a completely different story.
Path was walking back and forth on his virtual stage, talking to the entranced crowd of nymphs and young ’lings. “Nightmare Night, as you all know, is a very popular holiday in Equestria, and indeed many of you have already been to a few of them, while some of you will be going to your first one soon. Did you know that there is also a Griffonian version? We had to make it more intense due to how griffons are raised.”
Path’s form suddenly blurred slightly, causing confusion among a few of the changelings before he re-solidified. “T-The other thing that I’ve been working on lately is setting up the House presence in the Crystal Kingdom. I have been talking with Prince Shining Armor and Captain Diamondhard, and they are considering opening admission to every ’ling since we have perfected the Ambient Love Deflection charms, so you can set foot on the Kingdom’s campus without LSS becoming an issue.”
Several of the Harvester changelings perked up in excitement over the prospect of visiting the Crystal Kingdom which until then had been strictly off-limit.
Path’s figure blurred a second time. “And I was… The thing is you… I hope that we can all… classes will be….”
The changelings all began to look confused before Path suddenly faded from the network. The sudden drop startled Dianthia, and she opened her eyes to look at her friend.
Path was passed out on the pillow, panting heavily, even though he was clearly out light a light.
Dianthia sighed. “You did something ponies are not meant to do, so it only makes sense you would overexert yourself doing it.”
The Queen levitated Path’s limp form over to her large pillow in the center of the room and made him comfortable for an extended rest. She then sent a message through the hive to reassure her subjects, and to alert Proper Place and Iridia that they would be staying a few more days than expected. Lastly, she ordered that some food be brought up for their guest. He was going to be ravenous when he woke up, and he needed to build up his strength to complete his speech, but perhaps next time in not such a drastic, albeit fascinating, manner.
Path woke up with a groan to see a Green Queen gazing down at him with a smile.
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up, Lord Path. Are you hungry?” Dianthia smiled and handed Path a plate, and he started to munch it down like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“So… care to tell me what happened? A few of the younger nymphs are wondering are concerned.” Dianthia passed him a second plate.
Path stopped and looked at her with a smile. “It would be a lot easier if I showed you, but I don’t have the strength to shift my resonance again. If you can do a one-on-one connection, I will gladly show you. I just need this information to stay between us and nobody else. This doesn’t get out on the network, or talked about to the Queens or Princesses. It’s not something that even most of my herd know about. It’s a very, very secret training that Warfist made me undergo. It pushed me to my utter limit.”
Dianthia nodded slowly as she leaned in, curling up close to him as she opened up a private connection between the two of them. Since he was not directly exposed to the network, it was easier on both of them. She appeared in Path’s mindscape with a smile. Soon Path appeared as well, as did a door behind him.
“Pass through the door and you’ll see all of the information I have on it, presented in a format that should be the easiest to understand. Fair warning though – it won’t be pretty.”
Dianthia nodded as she walked past Path, opened the door, and everything went white.
# # #
Warfist looked over at Azon from behind his imposing desk. His meeting chambers were Spartan at best, designed to be functional as well as intimidating. Right now the catbird was staring the Western Changeling down, idly tapping his claw against his cold metal desktop.
“I do not know medical magic and techniques like you do, however I do know that you have no reason to lie. Explain to me your reasoning. If it is just, I will hear you out, but if I find subversion....” One of his claws started to scratch the metal slowly, cutting into it. “Pray to your Queen that I do not find subversion.” His piercing eyes stared the Medical Head down as he spoke.
Azon gulped slightly. “It was my fault, really. When he was near death, I started casting as much as I could into his body in desperation to jump start it again. I have no idea how it even worked, but his heart restarted. Path was crying out for painkillers. You would expect such a thing because most of his body was broken… organs ruptured… basically the worst parts of the medical handbook. Once he was stabilized, I cast my strongest painkiller and sedative spells. After we got him into the stasis pod, the unicorns cast them as well, and then several more times while in the healing pod. Then as he had to walk around to talk to the dignitaries, he was under the painkiller spell and light sedation. Then once his magitek horn was rebuilt, he had Twilight program those two spells among many others into it, and now he has been casting them on himself. I believe that Path has grown a physical dependency on them.”
Warfist stared at the changeling for a few moments before he spoke a single phrase. “Potential outcomes?”
Azon sighed. “It will get worse and worse. Right now, despite being fully healed, he might be so dependent that to be without them would cause him immense pain.”
Warfist clicked one of his talons on the table. “And if we get him off of it?”
“Because it is magical and not chemical, after a few days he will be rid of its influence, but you will have to keep him moving during the few days to keep his muscles from locking up. It will be hell. Pure and simple, Path may be broken after that.”
Warfist stared at Azon again for a few moments before he stood up. “I have trained many griffons, Azon. Part of the process is that we shatter the griffon down to their most basic form and then rebuild them stronger, better than before. A House is only as strong as its head. I am the Warmaster, and it is my duty to see that the House is as strong as it can possibly be.” He sighed and thought for a few moments. “Your colony has worked with griffons for a long while – tell me: have you ever heard of the ‘Way of the Four Gates’?”
Azon blinked a few times in surprise. “It’s a rarely used technique; griffons versed in the old ways can use it. The technique has to deal with the idea that griffons can use the four primary emotions to accomplish great things. But all the stories I have heard only talk about the Gate of Hate.”
Warfist smiled thinly. “It’s the most commonly used, and the most destructive. Hate, Love, Fear, Bravado – the Four Gates. If Path survives being broken, it will be time that I take a new student.”
The changeling just blinked. “You know all four?!”
Warfist smiled “There is a reason why I am without equal.”
Azon sighed. “So how are we going to do this?”
Warfist started to walk out the door. “I need to make a few contacts… and I need you to go talk to Proper Place. I will need to break him physically and emotionally. Proper Place knows enough to break him emotionally, and I can break him physically. I need you there to ensure he does not die. Once he’s in pieces, then we can begin the reconstruction.”
# # #
Path looked at his herd as he walked down the hall. “That really was a good meal. I should ask for their spinach surprise more often.” Path looked back at them all and smiled. His smile faded as he saw their concerned faces. “What’s wrong?”
Roseclaw spoke. “Just remember that we love you, Path.”
Path blinked a few times. “What are you ta–”
Twilight’s horn lit up as the magitek horn Path was wearing sparked, sending a stun spell through him, and he crumpled to the ground. Soon after, Warfist, Azon, and Proper Place came from around the hall.
Free looked at his brother. “How long will this take?”
Azon sighed. “With luck: a week.”
Free whimpered, “Why can't I go with him?”
Azon replied, “Because of your link. His pain would become your pain, which would then become the herd’s pain. We need to isolate him because he can only do this on his own.”
Warfist picked up the unconscious Path and they walked away, leaving a concerned herd.
Twilight looked at the rest of the family. “Let's just get some rest and try to take it one day at a time.”
They slowly nodded and headed back to their chambers.
# # #
Path woke up, flailing and sputtering as water was splashed on him.
“What is going on?! Oh, Sweet Celestia! Why does everything hurt?” Path groaned out as he opened one eye to see Warfist standing in front of him. “What is the meaning of this, Warfist?!”
The griffon said nothing, and Path slowly got up to his feet, only to be tripped and put back down by Warfist. The griffon glared at him. “Sit down and shut up. I am going to tell you what's going to happen before you lose your mind.”
Path blinked and went to cast, only to find his magitek horn was missing. “W-what...oh no...”
Warfist looked at him sternly. “You have been abusing magic, Lord Path, and it has made you weak. It is my job to keep the House strong, to make you strong, even if I have to destroy you and build you back from the ground up. I will be back in twelve hours, Lord Path.”
The griffon flew up and landed on a high up ledge where the door was located. Apparently this had been one of Ravenclaw’s punishment rooms for his more rebellious pony slaves.
Warfist shut the door behind him as he heard Path yell for him to come back. He turned to Azon. “Keep an eye on him, you and your second in command. Only intervene if you think he might pass.”
– Twelve Hours Later –
Warfist woke up and walked back to the chamber entrance where he found Azon looking troubled.
“Path... well, he's still awake, but you might not want to go inside. He's really mad.”
The griffon raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said he was going to be in a world of pain?”
Azon sighed. “He hasn't reached the pain part yet. He's still in the anger phase, which means he must have cast the spells just before we grabbed him. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”
Warfist slowly walked into the room and looked down at the snarling pony. He flapped down to the ground, only to be attacked. He caught the hoof in one talon and flipped the weak pony over his head and onto his back.
“Look at yourself! You once took down a Queen, but now you can't even land a punch,” Warfist taunted as Path rushed at him, sending a flurry of bucks and hoof punches. His body, however, was weakening, and his muscles were unfamiliar with the non-sedated sensations, starting to burn with the slightest exertion.
“Stop trying to hit me and hit me!” Warfist screeched as he grabbed the earth pony and launched him across the room. The pony hit the wall and slid down.
“I… kill you… I'll bucking kill you...” Path glared at the griffon and charged one last time, turning at the last moment to buck. Warfist grinned as he held his claws out, connecting with Path’s hooves and sliding back a few feet.
“Your will betrays your strength. You might just make it through this after all.” Warfist took back to the air and left a hissing Path on the ground. He exited the cell and looked to Azon.
“He's doing pretty good. I will come back in a day and a half. Again, do not talk to him unless he is at risk of passing on.” Warfist rubbed his talons slightly.
“By the time you come back, he is going to be in the worst stages. His body might very well reject itself. We have no idea how bad his comedown is going to be,” Azon warned.
“Path is strong – he will make it,” Warfist said before he left.
– 36 Hours Later –
Warfist returned to see Azon watching through the door, deeply concerned. “His vitals are still intact… but hes not doing good at all… I fear that I may need to recast the painkiller spell on him.”
Warfist pushed him aside and opened the door. “You are now under direct orders to not do that.” He flew in and landed, looking down at the pitiful mass of pony. Path had repeatedly gotten sick...among other things. The only way Warfist knew Path was still alive was his slowly rising and falling chest.
“Get up,” Warfist growled out.
“It hurts so much... Please… just kill me...I can't… I can't handle it!” Path cried, the heap still not stirring.
“I said get up!” Warfist yelled.
“Why... why are you doing this to me?” Path looked at the old griffon, his entire face matted by crying.
Warfist leaned down into the pony’s face and Path flinched. “This is your crucible, Lord Long Path. If you live, you will be re-forged into something greater than yourself. If you fail, you will die and your House will fall apart.”
“Please! Just… just cast the spell just once... please… It’s sheer agony.” Path started crying again.
“Get up, Path! Get up and show me you are worth re-forging. Show me that you are ready to ascend to the next level. Show me that you’re meant to lead! ” Warfist backed up and screeched. “GET UP, LONG PATH!”
The earth pony slowly moved; each inch his body shifted felt like every bone in his body was breaking. One of his hooves touched the ground and he screamed. Then a second... then a third… then a fourth. It took everything he had to slowly get onto all fours. The earth pony shook violently as he locked eyes with Warfist, his teeth clenched and sweat pouring off his face. “The House… will not.. fall.” Path collapsed back onto his side, passing out from the pain.
Warfist smiled in satisfaction as he took back to the air and out the door as Azon looked at him.
“Warfist, I don’t know if his body can handle this anymore. His vitals were all over the board when you pulled that stunt.”
“How much longer until he’s at his worst?” He asked the changeling.
“I would say two more days should be his lowest point. If he can last that final day, he should survive it,” Azon replied quietly.
“In two days, Proper Place and I will arrive. He will monitor his vitals while we do the plan we talked about.” Warfist started to walk out.
“That could kill him!” the changeling cried out.
“The greatest weapons are forged in the fires of hell.” Warfist left the doctor to watch over the still detoxing earth pony.
– 48 Hours Later –
The last two days were hell for Path. Every neuron in his body would not stop sending pain signals. He did not sleep. He did not eat. He had lost all control of his bodily functions. His voice was shredded from the constant screaming, and Azon had to come in a few times to cast healing magic to mend the damage to his throat, but he obeyed Warfist’s command to not abate the pain.
Warfist eventually returned. “How is Path doing?”
“Bad. Very bad. This detoxing is the worst I’ve ever seen. His vitals are acceptable, but I don’t think we should push it,” Azon warned.
“It must be done. It is your turn to play your part. Proper and I will monitor. Do what I said.” Warfist opened the door as Azon sighed and transformed.
Path wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead anymore. It was hard for him to see, or even to breathe. His body was failing him and nobody would help. His herd was gone. His house was gone. His mind was nearly gone. It was then that something snapped his mind back to reality – a giggle he had only heard once before.
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” The blue-chitoned Queen stepped into Path’s view as his eyes widened, but even that caused him pain. “The once-great ruler of a Noble House stretching across nations, now a pitiful heap destined to die alone in a pit.” The Mad Queen slowly started to walk around him, every now and then tapping his side, sending fire coursing through his body.
“One by one, Path. I will consume everything you love.” The queen leaned down until she was only a few inches from his eyes. “RoseClaw and Twilight will become my royal concubines. Every night I will take joy in defiling what you once loved.”
Path’s body started to heat up as the pain began to be overcome by pure, endless hate.
“Blue Streak and Lucida – such lovely children. I will dismember the fast one, but I will not give him the mercy of death. And your legacy – she will be the play toy of the lowest burrower drones. I don’t have to destroy their bodies to annihilate their souls.”
Path’s legs started to move. It was slight at first, but the fire building within him was not fading away. Chrysalis resumed pacing around Path as she spoke.
“And my daughter? She is my legacy. I cannot kill her for it would be killing my hive. But I will rend her consciousness from her form. My daughter will be the factory I need – breeders just lining up one after the other to replenish the forces you destroyed. One does not need a mind for the carnal acts that will befall her.”
Something broke inside Path. The burning was not his muscles crying out for numbing magic; they were crying out for vengeance.
“And there is nothing you can do about it, you weak, broken, shell of a mud pony….” The Queen turned to face Path, expecting him to be on the ground. However, she was not expecting a hoof to connect to her face, and then another. As the earth pony let out a war cry that no living thing should ever be able to make, it only took two punches before Azon’s disguise fell. Two more punches landed before Proper Place levitated the pony into the air to stop him from outright killing the doctor.
Path was more beast than rational being as Warfist landed down on the ground to look up at him. The pony looked at him… or maybe through him.
“The re-forging is complete. Proper Place, call the medics to help Azon. Take Path into the medical wing and restrain him.” Warfist smiled widely as he looked at the thrashing pony.
“Now to sharpen you into a force even the Aspects will cower from.” Warfist left the pit as the other medical staff came in to handle the situation.
– 72 Hours Later –
Path woke up with a groan, but instead of looking up at the dank, decaying ceiling of the pit, everywhere he looked it was white. He let out a grunt of pain, but he noticed that the pain was considerably less than before.
“So glad you finally woke up, Lord Path.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Path was able to see Warfist looking down at him as he moved up to the bed.
“There are those that cannot handle their worst fears realized, or their entire body revolting against them. Your crucible was more extreme than most, but because of that, you will reap higher gains than those who took the easy way.” Warfist talked as he walked to the door and locked it, before returning back to Path.
“What I am going to say stays between us. It is lost knowledge and needs to stay lost. Do we have an understanding?” Warfist locked eyes with the pony, drilling into him with great intensity.
Path’s mind was shaking off the haze of unconsciousness, and he focused on the griffon, nodding wordlessly.
“Within all beings, there is an energy – an energy that most have forgotten. Their own magics drown out the song that is within all living beings. You are in a unique position as you have no magic, thus you can begin to see, begin to hear again. This is why the crucible had to occur, to first hear the song you need to hear its high note. It’s why I had to push you to your breaking point. You would live, or you would die.” Warfist looked to him.
“Song? High Note? What are you talking about?” Path asked.
“Griffons refer to it as the life-song, Changelings refer to it as chi pathways. It is the movement and flow of intent and energy though a living being. You can now hear the song, which means you can now be your own conductor, a master of yourself, beholden to none. With proper training, of course.” Warfist smiled and leaned in closer.
“Before all of that however, to know a true name grants a person great power over the owner of that name. It is a sign of the highest level of trust when a full name is revealed. I now recognize you as the head of House Path, and my true Lord.” Instead of the normal formal nod or slight bow that Warfist usually gave, he did a full and complete bow before he looked up and spoke again. “Morza Warfist Rockfeather is yours to command.”
Warfist stood up with a proud smile. “Your training starts tomorrow. Be ready.” He chuckled a bit before he left the room. Soon Path could hear the hoof-steps of his herd coming to check up on him, and he figured Warfist notified them that he was awake. Indeed, maybe he was fully awake for the first time in his life.
# # #
Dianthia closed the connection as she looked at Path wide-eyed. “You went through all of that and made it out okay?! There are entire groups of Yellow Changelings that are specialized to deal with spell addiction, and even they have rarely had such hard cases.”
Path had held nothing back except Warfist’s name, but he shrugged with a smile. “I try not to remember it, and I hope that you never speak this to anyone either, but long story short, I am being trained to be better. Progress is slow, but I have enough control over certain notes to do what I need to do, such as feed my daughter if I need to.”
Dianthia’s eyes went wide. “You can control love?!”
Path chuckled. “No, I can’t control anything outside. I am becoming a master of myself, not of everyone around me. But if my daughter is hungry and tired, I can put her on my back and direct my internal flows so she can get at them with no effort or focus on her part. Have you ever wondered why when I’m in the meetings, Epifany climbs up on my head and sucks on one of my ears? Or if we are walking, she lies on my back and nuzzles the back of my neck?”
The Green Queen blinked as the mental pieces fell into place, and then started to laugh. “Lord Long Path – ally of the world and a nursery drone!” She held her muzzle as she giggled.
Path slowly lifted an eyebrow with a smile. “I am feeling a lot better now. How about we connect to the network again and I finish my speech, but this time the easy way? I don’t want to pass out again.”
Dianthia rolled her eyes before she lay down next to Path. He tilted his head to the side, and she could see his chi paths moving and shifting before they became still for her. She leaned in and reconnected him back to the network so he can begin his speech once more.
The Urge (Just Before -The Mistake- in The Fall Chapter of The Growing Years)
Iridia ran down one of the halls in the Chrome Hive as fast as her hooves would carry her. All the while, a strange synthetic laughter followed her. Clearly the Green Princess was panicked. After a few moments, she ran into her chamber and, with the power of her horn, everything but a table and chair was pushed up against the entrance. She scrambled to the desk and started to write.
Mother,
I hope this letter reaches you, or finds you. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few minutes.
There was a loud slam against the door, hard enough to shake the mass that was blocking it. The laughing turned more into a dull whine. “LET ME IN IRIDIA. I WON’T HURT YOU. I JUST WANT TO LEARN FROM YOU.” Pif’s voice was sounding more psychotic than before.
Iridia pushed the things back against the door and resumed writing.
Every changeling Princess gets the urge; we both know this. It strikes when they are growing up and they begin to take on the traits of their hive. I went OCD for a while before you helped me train to get over the urge. All hives have this problem, and all Princesses are trained by their Queens. But Pif has no training! She is becoming overwhelmed by her urges. She needs to know all secrets, all things!”
Iridia looked back to the door and there was a large crack now in it. A large, green eye looked through the crack with a dilated green iris.
“Come on, Big Sis – let me in.” Pif backed up from the door and lit up her horn, blasting apart the door and the stuff holding it shut. The Princess walked in with a grin as Iridia backed up against the far side of the wall.
“Oh… Moms and Dads are going to be so mad at me for breaking the door, but it’s okay. It will all be okay just as soon as you let me know more about you, Iridia. I NEED TO KNOW!”
She walked over to the Green Princess as she was curling up into a ball, and pushed her horn up against hers. Iridia’s eyes went white as she was forced into the Princess’s mini network.
“Pif! You don’t know what you’re doing! You have to stop this!” she screamed out as she looked at the mindscape.
It was a library, but its style was so different, so confusing. It was less of a unified library and more of a mismatch of Equestrian,Crystal Empire,Griffonian, Chrome Hive, and Blue Hive architecture, but she noticed that a green section was starting to form. Pif appeared in front of her with a grin, her eyes a bright white and her horn glowing just as intensely. All the while, the drones in her mini-network were racing around, placing books on shelves, then moving to other empty shelves, forming more books.
“Give it to me Iridia! Give me EVERYTYHING!”
The Chrome Princess started to forcefully extract the information from the Iridia as shelves upon shelves of books started to fill the empty spaces. The intense drain on her mind caused Iridia to scream out in pain, her body in both the mindscape and in the real world started to convulse from the extraction.
Pif shuddered in delight as she felt the knowledge build up in her network, temporarily filling the hole in her existence. Her horn slowly died down. “So much knowledge... so much history… hundreds… thousands… TENS OF THOUSANDS!” Pif broke the connection and severed Iridia from the network.
The Green ’ling screamed out in pain from being severed so carelessly, and when her vision came back, she saw Pif licking her lips. That was, of course, before she tried to use her horn and blinding pain shot through her entire body, forcing her to flop onto the ground, too weak and too much in pain to move.
“Mmm... thank you, Big Sis. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a meeting to get to!”
She happily trotted out of thewrecked room, her need sated for the moment.