I awoke to the noises of tiny chittering; half of my face covered by the still glowing goop of my cocoon in the pitch black room and the other half squirming with...
I opened my eyes, and a small weight moved along with my eyelid towards my brow. A blink was enough to send the small thing onto the goop, its tiny body causing it to float around. Lifting my head, I saw more of the tiny things holding onto another to create a raft of bodies, drifting on the surface of the pool. With ooze sliding down one side of my face, I leaned in towards the floating blob and rubbed my eyes to get a clearer look at what I was seeing.
Tiny grubs, bundled together and squirming around on top of each other. They made tiny squeaks and chitters as they tried to climb away from the goo, most of them having not noticed me awaken yet. One grub, however, took notice. One that had been clinging onto my face for dear life and crying for salvation. Pushing myself from the goo rather than continue laying in it, I was now laying mostly upright, giving the grub a chance to gain a hold onto my face where it crawled up into my mane, nestling itself next to my crown. I couldn't see it clearly with it being on top of my head, but I imagined that it held a content expression on its tiny face.
"Well," I softly spoke, "Look at all of you..." I gave as warm a smile as I could, keeping my movements slow so that they wouldn't be startled by their Queen.
The grubs atop their makeshift raft looked up to me with awe, one of them yawning as their eyes widened too far. I scooped up the tiny raft in my hoof and carefully placed all of the grubs it held within my crown. The crown itself was convenient in that there was a large enough space in the center for them to stay safe. In total, around thirty to forty grubs had already hatched. The other three eggs lay dormant and nestled against the wall of the spawning pool. My cocoon had begun to turn to paste, already slumping over and collapsing into itself. I didn't really know what a grub would need, but something told me that my cocoon would be the best place for them at the moment. It was fairly simple to lower my head and allow the grubs to crawl onto the soggy remains of my past self. To my surprise, they began nibbling away at what remained of it, happily gurgling and squirming as each took a section of the husk for themselves.
While the grubs ate away, I moved my exhausted self over to the remaining three eggs that had yet to hatch. I noticed that the one egg that did hatch was the closest to my cocoon, and moving closer to the other eggs allowed me to see a faintly burning pink flame within each of them. They were unharmed, and still alive as well. A faint smile spread on my face from knowing that I hadn't failed my drones, though it was quickly wiped away by the fact that it nearly hadn't been so. I was weaker as a full Queen, though if that was from starvation or my new form... I wasn't entirely sure.
Something I was certain of, was that I had very nearly come close to my drones being taken from me.
I couldn't afford to act rashly, however much the appearance of a betrayal from the humans seemed. The fact remained that I didn't fully understand why they had entered my hive, or why they had come so close to my eggs in the first place. I would have to ask them in order to find out for certain.
I heard a crack come from the next egg in line from my cocoon. Looking down at it and my own thoughts veering far from the troubles ahead, I was greeted by a few more noises of the egg breaking apart before the top fully came off. The grubs had been working together, using their combined force to push the top of the egg off in unison and allowing all of them to be freed. Such teamwork brought a smile again to my face, and I began to realize that my own drones had given me more happiness than all my time with the humans. Yes, they had given me Love enough to live comfortably on, as well as the other flame I hadn't figured out exactly what it was, but... there was something entirely different with having my own hive. Watching the grubs work their way down the egg, helping another and working as one was something I hadn't seen with humans. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen that with the ponies of Equestria either. When I was in Canterlot I witnessed the royalty bickering and arguing amongst themselves over things that mattered very little to anypony, especially the 'common-folk', as they were dubbed.
The grubs from the second egg had managed to move down into the goo in an effort to reach me, and after taking notice of their efforts I scooped them up in my hoof before placing them with the rest of their hive-mates on my cocoon. I noticed a few differences from these grubs than the others: They were larger, if only by a little margin, but they were sturdier in appearance as well. Comparing them to the first group, I would assume that the first were the Tunneler drones, and the second were Warriors. That would leave the Caretakers and Infiltrators to be the other eggs...
My body reminded me of its own needs, now that my drones had begun to take care of theirs. I didn't need to eat, but with my friends nowhere to be found it was a matter of survival to begin eating my own cocoon as well. I couldn't really taste anything, as the humans had discovered, but the cocoon was at least notable as 'mushy' in texture. I tried to take as few bites as possible, as I didn't know how much the grubs were going to need in order to fully grow and cocoon into their mature bodies. Something I did notice however, was that the cocoon and the goo itself had faint hints of love within them, making my meal more than just a reaction of desperation.
After eating alongside my grubs for several minutes and finally being sated for the moment, I heard the other eggs beginning to crack themselves open. The third egg was the first of the two, the top popping off in a neat circle as the grubs ate around the outer shell in a thin line. This allowed the grubs on the bottom of the egg to push the top off and into the goop below, greeting me with pleased expressions and tiny chittering cheers. I extended my hoof to them, allowing them to crawl onto me with a few taking up residence in my hoof holes. I placed them atop the crumpled remains of my own cocoon, giving them the opportunity to feast and for me to observe the differences.
They were... softer shelled, I guess would be the best way to describe them. They allowed room for other grubs to eat next to them, often trading places with grubs from another egg that hadn't been able to fully gorge themselves and moving the ones that had over into a pile on the side. From their behavior and kinder nature compared to the Warriors and Tunnelers, I took these grubs to be the caretakers. Counting all of the grubs had become a chore in itself, as there were easily over a hundred now; all squirming or wriggling atop of my cocoon with content faces from their meals.
Looking to the final egg expectantly, I began to feel as if something was wrong. I put my ear closer to the egg and was relieved to hear noises coming from within, but... they weren't like the other grubs. They seemed upset, almost angry with another. I tapped on the side of the egg lightly with my hoof and listened for their reaction. To my surprise it sounded like they moved as one towards where I had tapped, attempting to knock the egg over with their combined momentum. Either they were working together, or they were all rushing for the same prize.
After a few minutes of observation, It became clear to me that this last egg wasn't going to break free of itself on its own. Rather than do it myself, I grabbed a few of the Tunneler and Caretaker grubs from the pile atop my cocoon and placed them on the Infiltrator's egg. The grubs looked at me with confusion, their faces asking me what was going on.
"Listen to me, my little grubs..." I cooed softly to them, trying to ease their worries. "Your hive-mates fight amongst themselves in the egg beneath your tiny hooves." I explained, pointing my comparatively massive hoof to the egg below them. They followed my movement with their small heads, a few of them crawling closer to the edge of the egg in order to see my hoof better. "They look out only for themselves, not the good of the hive as you have." I continued. I hoped my voice was loud enough that the Infiltrators inside would be able to hear me. "I give you your first task, my grubs; Free your hive-mates from their egg. Work together as one, as you did to escape your own egg, and teach the youngest of you the importance of cooperation within the hive."
A few of the brighter grubs nodded, with one or two already beginning to chitter to the others. Their voices were very difficult to make out, but it sounded like the most basic of instruction was being called out. 'Dig here', 'Help them', that kind of thing. It brought a smile to my face to see them working together to free their hive-mates so quickly, and I wondered how Queen Chrysalis felt when her first eggs had been hatched.
Working together, the Tunnelers and Caretakers were easily able to break their way into the shell of the Infiltrator's egg. A Caretaker would offer a tiny hoof in support of their hive-mate, and a Tunneler would assist in lifting the grub. The warriors watched from their own spot on the soggy cocoon, a few of them looking at me with reverence and admiration in their softly glowing blue eyes from the darkness. The glowing goo had begun to lose its luster as the grubs fed on my cocoon, and now that the Infiltrators had been freed by the cooperation and assistance of their hive-mates, they looked at each other in a new light. Some of them were ashamed by their behavior, offering hugs to some of the more reserved grubs. The Caretakers of course had already been hugging every grub in sight, and the Tunnelers were looking to me with curiosity.
I returned a curious look with a sideways tilt of my head, leaning closer to them. My muzzle was large enough that two grubs climbed their way onto it, and my eyes focused on them. They clung to my face, their tiny eyes glowing brightly as they wiggled around. Despite my own concerns about the actions of the humans recently, with my hive already over a hundred strong and quickly growing it gave me great comfort for the days that would come ahead; especially now that I had far less to worry about as my own hive matured.
I wonder what my friends would think of this moment...
A tiny burp from one grub on my muzzle returned my attention to my hive, and I lowered my head to wiggle the grubs free of my face onto the soggy cocoon. The Caretakers and Tunnelers had already created bridges across the eggs for the Infiltrators to reach their meal, the last of them now crawling their way onto the soggy pile. I poked my head above the ridge of the Dirsime pit, looking around for the observation room. Stretching my wings and giving them an experimental buzz, I found that they had dried enough for flight. A quick burst of my wings was enough to fling me free of the pit, nearly causing me to flip forward from the unexpected speed of it. My body being so thin and unarmored would take some getting used to, especially with flight. Thankfully, this room was large enough to practice maneuvering in. My longer legs were clumsy as well, along with throwing off my gait from their lighter frame. I hobbled my way awkwardly towards the observation window, stumbling a few times as my brain became accustomed to how I was supposed to move now. Long, careful steps were the mode of transport now. My frame and newfound walking quickly went from a newborn foal to a regal Queen as I made my way across the room, causing me to hold my head up with pride at my new form.
Coming close to the observation window and without a peep from the humans, I wondered at their lack of response only for a moment before remembering their attempt to... do something with my eggs. Perhaps they felt worried from their actions, and what my own reaction would be? I lifted a regal hoof to the charred black window, tapping it lightly on the glass. I received no reply, so I instead tapped even harder on the glass. I knew that it might be difficult to see me, but hearing me should be something different all together.
"Hello?" I asked in a loud and chittering tone, my wings mixing with my newfound vocal chords to create a pleasing double-voice that was both hypnotizing and comforting at the same time. "Colonel Bunker, are you in there?"
I heard a few quick taps from the other side of the glass, my head going back a bit from the suddenness of the noise.
"I will take that as a 'yes'." I replied, taking a step away from the window. My tone dropped to a low scolding that I remembered Queen Chrysalis having used on misbehaving drones. "If I remember correctly, we have much to discuss..."