"Thorax, can we help show the princess around, too?" a cyan changeling asked, trotting backward in front of his alpha in a not-so-subtle attempt to grab his attention.
"Can you breathe fire for us, purple dragon?" another drone requested, hovering over Spike's shoulder with a hopeful grin.
"Are you really powerful, princess?" a third asked Twilight. "I heard you destroyed an entire landscape battling a creature from far away. Is that true? How strong was the creature? Did the really tall princess we saw last week help you? Did her mane get in the way? It looked like her mane would get in the way."
"Come on, you guys, it's not very polite to crowd our guests."
Even when scolding, Thorax's voice fell on the drones like a warm blanket. Ears all around flopped dejectedly in response.
"It's alright, Thorax," Twilight said, mindfully observing the crowd. "It's perfectly natural that the changelings are just as curious as we are. You're generous enough to share changeling culture with us, so I'm happy to share knowledge regarding Equestria in return."
"Oh, you misunderstand, Twilight. I think they're mostly just interested in entertaining themselves."
Twilight furrowed a brow. "What do you mean?"
"Ever since the major projects on the hive were completed last week, a lot of changelings have been finding themselves pretty bored." Thorax peered around to find all compound eyes conveniently turned away from him. "I can't say Chrysalis's reign had many positive points, but she did keep everyling busy, constantly hunting for food. Coming up with some recreational activities we can do around our hive is high on my to-do list."
"Oh, well, if it's a list you need help with, I can most certainly help with that."
"And if the changelings are bored, I've got just the answer!" Spike chimed in, wiggling his backpack. "Ogres and Oubliettes is really fun and requires a whole lot of imagination and focus—it'd be perfect! I sure hope you guys have big tables around here!"
Thorax beamed, glancing at his drones. This time they met his eye readily.
"Well, Spike, if you'd like, you're welcome to take these guys and start teaching them how to play," Thorax suggested. "I'm sure they'd like to sit down and relax after that exercise against the salamander. I can give Twilight a brief tour of our hive in the meantime, and we'll catch up with you when we're done."
Spike looked at Twilight for a sign of confirmation, and she nodded.
"It's fine by me, Spike," she said. "Unless you'd like a tour of the hive with me first?"
"Well, I can take a tour of the hive any time, so I think I'll start teaching the changelings how to play."
Spike noticed several changelings were giving him their full attention at this point.
"What do you guys think? Wanna give my game a try?"
"I'll try anything once," one drone said.
"I have no idea what an oubliette is, but it probably beats laying around all day," another reasoned.
The remaining changelings nodded in agreement, and Spike grinned.
"Alright! Every changeling who'd like to learn how to play, follow me!" Spike dashed off down the corridor. Twilight yelled after him.
"Wait, Spike! Do you even know where you're going!?"
The dragon came to a screeching halt. He turned to find that not a single creature had moved, and were just staring at him.
Sweat oozed from his scales. Even his sheepish smile was met with apathy.
"Yeah, about that—Thorax, where's the best place to play my board game?"
"You can use the main eastern cavern, Spike. There are some table-like structures we crafted. I'll be sure to end the tour there."
Thorax shot a glance at Tibia, who stood at the rear of the party.
"Tibia, I don't know if you'd like to try Spike's game or not, but could you stay with Spike and the others for now? I want to make sure one of my lead guard changelings is with each of our guests. I'm going to take Tarsus with me while I take the princess on our tour."
"Of course, Thorax," Tibia replied dutifully.
With a nod and a motion of his hoof, Tibia rounded up the small group of drones plus Spike and made his way down the tunnel. Meanwhile, Tarsus appeared at Twilight's side from seemingly out of nowhere, causing the alicorn to jump.
"Don't take too long, Thorax!" Spike called out. "I want to show you how to play, too!"
"Don't worry, Spike, I promise I'll be there!" the regal changeling shouted back, waving a hoof as the group vanished through a morphing hole in the far wall.
"You know, Thorax, it's really amazing to be here right now," Twilight said softly, meeting Thorax's vibrant magenta eyes. "Standing next to the changeling leader, Spike running off to play games with changelings—none of this was even conceivable for so long. It's wonderful."
"Princess Celestia said something similar when she was here, actually," Thorax mused, leading Twilight and Tarsus down an alternate hallway. "And, I feel the same way. I didn't fit in with my kind for a long time, but now I actually have the chance to help every changeling discover the same friendship I was looking for. It's a great feeling."
"And now...we are about to enter a world of mystery and magic. A world of thrills and perilous danger, where only the bravest will prevail. A world where the very hearts of your fellow changelings will be put to the ultimate test. Changelings, I present to you...Ogres and Oubliettes!"
Spike wiggled a flashlight under his chin, highlighting barred teeth. Seven varieties of aloof interest stared back, and one changeling yawned.
"But I still don't get what an oubliette is," a drone said suddenly, clearly bothered by the fact.
"Yeah, purple dragon, what is this game even about?" another piled on, slumping his chin upon the cool stone. "Also, if we're gonna play with flashlights, then you should probably know that Chrysalis forbade fireflies and most other forms of yellow light in the hive."
Spike blinked. The drone seated nearest to him had seized his flashlight and now thrummed his wings feverishly as he stared into the blinding bulb.
"First off, my name is Spike. Secondly, I'm glad you asked." Spike laid out a large game map across the table-like rock. "Ogres and Oubliettes is an adventure game where you pretend to be someone you're not—a character of your choice—and go on all manner of adventures with your fellow players. We use dice and this book to determine if your actions are successful as we attempt to defeat the evil Squizard and his army of minions. Basically, you use your imagination to go on fantastic adventures from the comfort of your own home. Er, hive."
"Imagination?" one drone whined. "But wouldn't you rather go on a real adventure, fighting actual creatures?"
"Do ponies even go on real adventures? Or do they just play this game?" a second one asked, peering at the game map with scrutiny.
"No no, guys, this is just-"
"Are these the kinds of games ponies play? Because this is nothing like what changelings do."
"Uh, well, what do you all normally do for fun?" Spike asked. The changelings exchanged glances.
"Lots and lots of play fighting."
"Tackling, sneaking up and scaring."
"I pretended to be a rock and made another changeling jump in the air, once."
Spike raised an eyebrow.
"I think we Equestrians have a whole lot more to teach you guys about than just friendship."
Twilight quietly soaked in her surroundings as she walked. A levitating quill rapidly scribbled across three different books floating above her head. Changeling architecture was fascinating.
"Twilight?"
The imbued magic within the hive's structures must be linked to changeling DNA, activated whenever a changeling or group of changelings approached. It was both elegant and a perfect way to deter any outside intruders. Simply astonishing!
"Um...Twilight?"
She'd have to dedicate a chapter of 'Changelings and Changed Forms'—her first to-be book about changelings—purely to changeling hives and their inner-working mechanics. Maybe she could obtain a sample of the infrastructure for research purposes and-
"Twilight!"
Twilight shook her head as if from a trance. The frantic scribbling came to a stop, and she looked at Thorax politely.
"Yes, Thorax?"
"Are you okay?" Thorax wasn't sure if he should be concerned or laugh. Spike had given him an idea of her obsessive tendencies, but now he thought he could've calmly declared war on Equestria, and Twilight wouldn't have batted an eye. Well, not for a few seconds, at least.
"Of course!" she replied, placing her books and quill back into her saddlebags. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to space out like that. Your hive is just so interesting! I've never been in one before—well, not while fully conscious, anyway. It's a lot to take in."
Thorax nodded. "That's fine. I don't mind you taking notes. If anything, I bet knowledge about our kind will help change what others think about us. I just want to make sure we get to our main tour points on time. I don't want to disappoint Spike. He's been so eager to play his game with me."
"Of course. Please lead on, Your Highness."
The trio came to another morphing doorway. The hallway beyond opened to a massive chamber riddled with tiny, drone-sized holes covering its walls. Unlike previous rooms, these holes did not morph and were arranged in perfectly organized rows.
"This is the old nesting chamber," Thorax said, beating his wings and encouraging the princess to join him in the air. "It's sort of like a conjoined bedroom for changelings. Every drone who lives in the hive burrows a hole for themselves in the nesting chamber wall, and that's where they sleep at night."
"Oooh...", Twilight muttered aloud, her pupils dilating. With a mind of its own, her horn illuminated, and her plethora of quills and books came out once more.
"Of course, now that we've discovered how closeness rebuilds our strength, a lot of us have started sleeping in clusters. We were doing that in the throne room at first, but as more changelings started to participate, we ran out of space. Now we have a communal nesting chamber in the lower part of the hive. It's a large room with compact walls for extra warmth during the winter and lanterns that can be dimmed. Just about every changeling can fit in there, and it's super multipurpose."
"Princess Celestia did mention you all slept in groups now to regain strength..." Twilight's quill was a blur. "But if you're creating a new chamber dedicated to resting, what will become of this one?"
"Oh, we'll keep it around." Thorax's gaze became distant. "Not every changeling is into the closeness thing. Some prefer to rest alone, and that's fine. There are also times when changelings just want some peace and quiet. They can have that here; we'll probably downsize it soon, but it'll always have a purpose."
Twilight gave a satisfied nod and jotted down a few finishing notes.
"Alright, let's move on, Twilight. I've got a lot more to show you," Thorax led the way through another morphing hole with a smile. Twilight followed with glee.
"Consider me an excited sponge of knowledge, Your Highness!"
"Alright, so let's see," Spike muttered to himself as he drew another of the drones on a tiny character standee piece. This changeling was in battle armor, had duel spiked maces, and a large shield with a changeling face on its back. "We've now have 'Cynibor the Demolisher'."
"That Squizard is toast," said Cynibor's changeling counterpart, giving his neighboring drone a hoof bump.
"Yeah, he is," said the receiver. "My character has earth magic. He'll just summon a bunch of salt and shrivel that squid up."
"You're thinking of slugs, not squids, idiot," another drone scolded, emphasizing his insult with a tap of his own head.
"Well, my salt is powerful enough to shrivel squids."
"Says who?"
"Says me, so shut up."
"Don't tell me to shut up, slime-for-brains."
"Don't tell me what my character can and can't do, bug breath."
"Who else am I missing, though?" Spike ignored the ongoing bickering. He looked around the table to match game pieces to their owners. "Razo the Rowdy, Sir Demonax, Gadaric the Gallant, Cynibor the Demolisher, Phrixus the All-Seeing, Obax the Oubliette..."
At this point, the changelings put up a cease-fire. All heads turned towards the sixth drone in their party—a red and green drone—who shrugged.
"If he wasn't gonna tell me what an oubliette was, I was gonna be one."
"And of course, me, Garbuckle the Magician. But there are seven of you. So, who hasn't made a character yet?"
The changelings exchanged glances, giving various head shakes and hoof shrugs whenever suspicion befell them. Eventually, all eyes drew towards the last changeling in the room—a certain orange-tinted drone who had been quietly observing the game unfold.
"Yeah, it's Tibia," a drone muttered in monotone. "That's a shock."
"Thorax wanted you to play too, Tibia," another said mockingly. "I heard him."
"Actually, he said to come with you guys, and that's it," Tibia corrected. "But I don't mind playing. I just can't think of a character."
"You can be anybody you want, Tibia, that's what's so fun," Spike encouraged. "First, why don't you think of a class you'd like? Maybe you'll think of a name from there. There are magicians, archers, healers, warriors..."
"Well, I do like the idea of healing. . . Then I can help everyling when they inevitably get their butts kicked in battle."
There was a resounding wave of groans. Spiteful raspberries blew from around the table.
"Classic Tibia," Obax the Oubliette drolled. "All in favor of succumbing to our wounds should we fall in battle?"
There was a unanimous raise of hooves. Tibia rolled his eyes.
They visited several of the hive's pillar chambers, which served as hubs for the endless tunnels throughout the hive. Then they stopped by the throne room itself, something Twilight had only seen before from inside a cocoon.
Along the way, Twilight's quills faithfully archived every thought and observation, forming complete sentences and rapidly filling page after page. The Equestrian Archive of Foreign Bodies and Beings would have quite the update when she returned.
The very last stop was a personal favorite for Thorax, and Twilight was already certain it was her favorite part, as well.
"This...oh, this is just what I needed," Twilight muttered aloud, the speed of her quills having greatly reduced along with her focus. Both her books and quills were floating a safe distance away from everything wet and steamy, whereas Twilight sat right in the thick of it, her body submerged in steaming hot water.
"We only recently discovered this," Thorax said, giving a shiver of content. "It's a natural hot spring. It was completely closed off, but when we were excavating further underground to expand territory, we broke it open."
"Was that while Chrysalis was still in power?" Twilight laid her head back against the warm stone, and let her heavy eyelids close.
"It was. As you can probably guess, she allowed noling to use it but her, so we forgot about it until recently." Thorax extended his wings to let them flex and relax within the water. "Our wings don't work very well when they're wet, but we don't mind. This is one of the deepest, most secure places in the entire hive. Intruders would never be able to navigate this far, even by accident."
"Thorax lets all of us use the hot springs as long as he doesn't get complaints about changelings fighting over it," Tarsus added, letting just his lower hooves get wet. "He starts shooting disappointed looks whenever we start squabbling with each other."
"Oh, Tarsus, you don't need to get into that-"
"Some of the really young changelings have started calling him 'Papa Thorax' because of how attentive he is with them."
"Uh, Tarsus, I don't think the princess needs to-"
"Pretty soon, a whole bunch of drones began calling him 'Papa Thorax' whenever he gave us that disapproving look. Now, it's practically his title."
Twilight giggled to herself. Thorax failed to pass off the rose blush assaulting his face as an effect of the bath.
"It's funny. My friend, Fluttershy has something she calls 'the stare', which gets animals to obey her when they're misbehaving," Twilight mused. "But what you have, Thorax, that's adorable. I think it's good that you're so attentive with the changelings. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"I know, Twilight. Tarsus just thinks it's funny to put a spotlight on me every chance he gets," Thorax said, glaring a hole between his lead guard's eyes. Tarsus grinned shamelessly.
"But that's why I'm your favorite. Right, Papa Thorax?" he asked, cocking his head to the tune of a sly tone.
"Not with that attitude, you're not. In fact, I'd have to say Tibia is beating you to the top of that list today. He offered to keep Spike entertained, after all, whereas I'm doing most of the work here."
Suddenly, the sound of hooves crossing stone began to echo through the chamber. A few shadows meandered down the staircase, soon revealing a small group of changelings chatting amongst themselves. Upon spotting the occupants, their upbeat conversations came to an abrupt end.
"Oh, uh, hello Thorax!" one drone forced out, waving a hoof.
"Is that the friendship princess?" another drone whispered.
"Yeah, Princess Twisparkle."
"What are they doing in the hot spring, together?"
"We'll just come back later, then," the most forefront changeling announced, promptly spinning on his hoof and pushing his fellow changelings back the way they came. Several heads poked up above the crowd, eager to catch one more glance before they were ushered out of sight.
The sound of gossip-heavy whispering lingered through the chamber until the small squad vanished. Thorax met eyes with Twilight, and the two shared a mutual, hearty laugh.
"For better or worse, I think that wildfire is going to spread farther than that salamander's fire ever could have," Twilight said with a giggle.
"I'm terrified to say that you're right. First, a pleasant visit from Princess Celestia, now being seen in the same hot spring with you...I'm never going to hear the end of the rumors now." Thorax stood up and shook himself dry. "But on that note, it looks like we should get going. There'll be a line if we wait around much longer."
"I agree, and I think I have an excellent grasp of changeling hive layouts now, all thanks to you." Twilight gently squeezed her mane through a compressed layer of magic, then stashed away her books and quills before giving her full attention to Thorax.
"We should head over to meet Spike and the others. I'm sure he's antsier than ever to get you in on his game."
"Honestly, I wonder if he's managed to grab the interest of the drones. Hopefully they're at least a little bit interested."
"You can't cast an inanimate object spell. You have no mana!" a drone bellowed, pointing his hoof accusingly across the table.
"I do, and we both know it!" The accused changeling crossed his hooves. "You're just a sourbug because Spike gave me one of his mana potions and not you."
"Guys, guys, come on." Spike tried to interject but was swiftly drowned out by more yelling.
"Would you guys shut up and come help me already!?" A third drone pointed both hooves at his own character piece on the board. "I'm being attacked by a hungry hydra, all by myself! I can't think of how to not get eaten with you two going on about mana potions!"
"Not our fault you frolicked off by yourself," a fourth drone muttered under his breath, his head planted as he awaited his turn. Hydra-fodder-changeling gave him a dirty look.
The once calm and quiet cavern reverberated with bickering too plentiful to make out. Changelings flailed their hooves, pointing at one another and buzzing their wings in anger.
Spike slapped his face with his palm. It was almost as bad as trying to hang out with other dragons.
"C'mon guys, let's help Gadaric overcome the hydra, then we can all move on to-"
"You guys don't even care about teamwork. You just wanna level up till you can sweep everything you come across," Hydra-fodder-changeling grumbled. Sinister stares assaulted him at once.
"You ran off!"
"Only because I wanted to go on an adventure and you guys didn't!"
"Hey, hey!"
Like a thunderclap scaring fillies under their sheets, the drones shuddered violently at the loud voice. Their bickering was quelled in an instant. A few heads turned towards the far corridor with wide eyes, where Thorax stood with an aura of disapproval. A slightly taken-aback but very impressed Twilight stood just behind him.
"Uh oh, 'Papa Thorax' is back."
"Shut up, shut up, he'll hear you!"
"Really, you guys? Do I have to be around all the time so that you'll behave?" His tone dared a reply, but none came. The alpha changeling approached, and the drones seemed to shrink into the floor. By the time Thorax's shadow cast itself across the table, only the eyes and ears of changelings were visible past the table's edges.
"And why when we have guests here, of all times? Princess Twilight and my good friend Spike came all the way from Ponyville to visit us today, and he's trying to play a game with you. Can't you guys get along for their sake, if not your own?"
"Sorry, Thorax," one drone mumbled, touching the fronts of his hooves together.
"I guess we got carried away with the game."
Thorax turned his attention to Tibia, who had been quietly sitting at the far edge of the table, praying he wouldn't be noticed.
"Tibia, I left you here to look after everyone. Why didn't you keep things under control?"
"I, uh," Tibia stuttered, rubbing his leg under the sudden spotlight. "I thought it might be part of the game."
"And you didn't clarify that with Spike?"
"Well, no, because...as soon as I figured I should, it got way too loud to talk to him."
Thorax stared at him for a long while, then buried a hoof in his temple. Leading his former rowdy peers with kindness and understanding was not nearly as straightforward as he hoped it'd be.
"No harm is done, everyone. I'm not upset, and I'm sure Spike isn't either," Twilight assured, quickly nudging Spike in the head as soon as he opened his mouth. "Everyone has times when they disagree. I'm sure if you give some thought to how your fellow changelings might feel in the future, you'll all start to understand each other more easily."
The changelings nodded vigorously at their bailout opportunity, donning exaggerated grins as soon as Thorax glanced their way.
"Thank you, Twilight," Thorax said softly, eyeing the drones with knowing skepticism. "And I want to apologize to you, Spike. I'm sorry they messed up your game for you. If you're still up for playing, I think I'm ready to join in now, at least for a little while. I imagine Twilight would like to discuss some things with me, before the day's end."
"Oh, no worries," Spike said, picking up a few stray game pieces that had been knocked over in all the fighting. "They learned all the rules really well, and, frankly, this sorta thing just happens sometimes. We can pick back up where we left off. All we gotta do is make you a character."
"And I am perfectly content with letting Spike have his time with you and the changelings, Thorax," Twilight added in, finding herself a relatively comfortable spot on the stone floor and creating a nest of books and papers. "I need some time to reflect on my notes, anyway. You and I can discuss things further this evening. Please take some time to relax."
Thorax found himself a spot at the gaming table, and the group prepared to once again embark into the land of Ogres and Oubliettes. Meanwhile, Tarsus quietly made his way towards Tibia, and then prodded his friend's chitin.
"'Too loud to hear him', huh?" Tarsus hissed with snark, just loud enough for Tibia to hear. Said changeling glared.
"Yeah, so what? I'm not good at getting wound-up changelings under control; that's your thing. He should have stuck your butt here with the group, and I could have gone on the tour with the princess."
"True, but I think we've reached a hilarious development."
"And what's that?"
"That even 'Papa Thorax' is better at yelling than you are, now." Tarsus's grin widened, while Tibia's mouth flattened. "More importantly, I'm definitely his favorite again after this little fiasco."
"He's about to settle down and start playing the game, you know." Tibia's tone dripped with condescension. "You sure you don't wanna go snuggle his hoof or something, Tarsus? Being his favorite and all. Maybe he'll even let you curl up in his lap like a puppy."
Tibia stuck out his tongue. It was Tarsus's turn to frown.