//------------------------------// // The Drone and The Queen // Story: I Am a Pet Changeling // by Queen Sanguine Dreams //------------------------------// I had been keeping a close watch of my cocoons, ensuring that nothing would harm them. They pulsed with a soft blue that sometimes silhouetted the drone within and gave me shivers of anticipation and giddiness. It was really happening! I was becoming a full Queen now, in more than just name and appearance. I was going to have my own hive! My own swarm to look after, nestled within this protected mountain with the humans as friends instead of prey. That entire concept was still taking some getting used to, after hearing for so long that any creature other than a changeling was considered prey. What would Chrysalis think of this? Perhaps she had considered friendship before I was hatched, but hadn't been as successful? I heard a small cracking noise and looked down in a flash of panic towards one of the cocoons. My spike of fear was replaced with elation when I saw that the cocoon wasn't in danger, no, It was hatching! A small horn poked its way through the top of the cocoon, bits of blue goop oozing from within and running down the side as the drone attempted once more to breach its way through the hardened shell. "Come on, little drone!" I cooed in support, leaning in closer to witness the hatching of my first drone. "You can do it!" The drone paused for a moment to look in my direction from within the cocoon before returning to their efforts with even more vigor. They slammed their horn into the top of the cocoon with enough force to pop the entire top of it off, sending a splash of goop over the side and causing their forehooves to flail for anyplace to grab onto. They found the rim of their cocoon a suitable support, though the cocoon's shell spun around their horn like a hat. Lifting the shell enough to see their face fully, I noticed something was wrong almost immediately. Or, well, I think it's wrong. "My Queen?" The drone asked uncertainly. My eyes ran over their appearance again and again in concern, but I couldn't figure out why... why they were white! The drone had blue eyes, similar to mine but without the detail that a Queen's eyes usually has. Their wings were a blueish-white; almost like my shell in pattern. The carapace though, was entirely white! "Is something wrong, my Queen?" The drone asked again, now becoming even more worried that it had done something to offend me already. They quickly began prying off the shell from their horn in a desperate attempt to look presentable in front of me, which made me more concerned for the drone's well being instead of my own curiosity about their carapace color. "N-nothing is wrong... drone." I replied a bit faster than I had time to prepare. I stepped back in order to give the drone enough room to maneuver. Something else felt wrong, however. Maybe it was all the time I had spent with humans recently, but simply calling this drone... a drone felt wrong somehow. Humans had a specific name for everyone on their planet, and they all could identify who was who fairly easily. Doctor Vahlen had a habit of naming everything in a different language to the one she typically spoke, so I figured it would be just as appropriate for any of my drones, considering that I was named by a human. "What is your role, drone?" I asked, internally wincing at the lack of a name for this drone. I couldn't just call every changeling in my hive 'drone', but it would help if I knew how to classify them. After all, I would be the leader and provider of thousands of drones all looking to me for guidance. I remembered from the moment I had hatched, I knew clearly what my role was in the hive. I was hoping that my own drones would have a similar insight as to what they were supposed to do, as the different cocoons all began to look the same after I had watched over them long enough and maintained their shells with small patches of love. The drone made a hasty bow, sending the shell-hat onto the floor with a crack that split it in half. The drone flinched as the shell cracked, but otherwise remained as reverent as possible while covered in goop. "I am an advisor, my Queen. Each of the castes should have an advisor of their own, though I am the first to hatch." The drone was about to continue, when a look of confusion spread across its face. "I..." Their mouth scrunched. "I um..." "It is alright, drone." I cooed, moving closer to them. "Take your time. You've only just hatched." The drone sat down next to their cocoon with a look of pure confusion and loss on their face. "I... I don't know what I'm supposed to be advising you about..." They replied with a defeated tone. "Something feels... wrong." Uh oh... was this the one that I had stepped on? Maybe that would explain the change in carapace color? The drone looked up at me in sorrow. "I have failed you, my queen!" I then immediately poked the drone's muzzle with my hoof, causing it to be caught completely by surprise and blink in confusion several times. After a short time, the drone regained their senses and looked up to me again. "W-what was that?" It asked. "The humans call it a 'boop'." I explained. "I would sometimes become panicked with worry about being a queen, and Soft would poke my muzzle very abruptly in order to get me to calm down. Apparently this works with you as well!" I finished happily, smiling as reassuringly as possible while lowering myself down to the drone's eye level. "So, now that you've calmed down, what are the first things that come to mind?" The drone took a few moments to think hard about its purpose, giving me equal time to study it. It was close to my previous size before I became a queen, meaning that its growth wasn't impaired by either myself stepping on it before, or by the strange type of love that I had been feeding off of. Their carapace and shell seemed as strong as I would've expected from being recently hatched, though aside from the white coloration they seemed normal to me. If more drones were to hatch soon, I would be able to tell if this was an oddity or just a feature of my own hive. "I remember being a grub..." The drone began, drawing my attention. I sat beside them, attempting to reassure them that everything was alright. After a moment, they continued. "You told us that we must look out for the hive above ourselves; that we shouldn't be selfish." The drone looked up to me with even further confusion. "What am I supposed to do to help the hive, my Queen? I don't know what my original purpose was, but I know I can still be of use." "I'm certain that you will find a place in the hive," I began, leaning my head down. "For now, I need your help in looking after your hivemates. There's so many of you!" I stood quickly, scanning over the tops of the cocoons for anything that seemed to glow out of the ordinary. The oddly white drone followed after me, uncertain though eager to assist. **** "Facinating!" Doctor Vahlen muttered in excitement to herself. She was amongst a small research team observing the developments in Queen Blue Sun's hive through the charred glass and whatever other viewport they could get a peek from. Doctor Vahlen of course had the best view and had been recording notes in a scribbling frenzy of short-hand coded letters. One of the sliding doors leading to the observation room slid open with Colonel Bunker standing in the doorway. "Moira?" she asked. "It's about Queen Catalyst." That name drew her attention as she quickly shoved her notes onto a nearby colleague. "Yes? What has happened?" Bunker waited a moment for Vahlen to get within whispering distance to avoid causing any kind of alarm with the research team, and the doctor noticed an armed guard team waiting in the hallway behind the Colonel. "Queen Catalyst has had a run in with our 'volunteers' in their quarters. Things didn't go how we expected, obviously, and we need your input on the situation." Vahlen raised an eyebrow. "My input? I am a scientist, not a diplomat. Why don't you call Agent Kay for this? I am in the middle of very important research." "It has to do with those Orbs we found at her crash site as well. When Catalyst made contact with the volunteers, they began emitting a different kind of radiation. We need you to determine what it is, because as far as we know, it isn't harmful. We just need to be sure before we send a team in to investigate." Bunker explained, guiding Vahlen away from the observation room with a hand at her back. "The orbs? But they were placed in containment! How could they be affected now?" Vahlen asked as she was lead in the middle of the security team around a concrete corner. "That's what we're trying to figure out. Queen Catalyst hasn't said a single word about those things, but any time we get close to them she gets aggressive. Now that she's made contact with the volunteers, it seems like her attitude has changed along with the orbs. You're our best bet into figuring out just what the hell is going on with this." Bunker continued, leading the party through several sets of guarded doors. "What happened when the second queen met with the volunteers?" Vahlen asked. "Surely they weren't alone when this happened. Do you have a recording?" "You'll have to walk and view at the same time." The colonel replied, handing Vahlen a video phone. "This was just transferred across the base's network. Take a look, I'll warn you of any foot hazards along the way." ***** Camera 23 East Hallway 23 "Just through there, Queen Catalyst." An olive drabbed soldier explained, pointing the alien queen towards the doorway. "Actually, I should go first so they have a bit of warning." He quickly amended. A few muffled beeps from the door's keypad soon caused it to open with a gust of pressurized air, ruffling the soldier's uniform. "It'll only take a moment." He explained. Camera 24 VIP Living Quarters "Olive! How are you doing?" A dark haired female replied, and Vahlen recognized her by Blue Sun's moniker of 'Timid'. "I've got a surprise for all of you waiting outside that door, but don't be too shocked." He explained. "A surprise? Is it Blue!?" Another female asked, probably the one named Maria. Now Vahlen was wondering why she couldn't remember the first girl's name, but quickly discarded the thought in order to listen closely. "Actually, no." Olive explained with a smirk. The lens of the camera focused onto the meeting. "There's a second queen; Queen Catalyst." "Another one like Blue?" The male of the group asked; Ricky, Vahlen thought. "A bit different." Olive revealed. "A lot more glowing bits on them; different coloration. She's actually right outside the door, and she needs love. We figured that since you were the only people on the base that have a history of it that--" "I want to see her!" Timid immediately blurted, cutting off Olive. Now Vahlen could remember her as Karol, always interrupting her train of thought. "You're all okay with this?" Olive asked. "Bring her in!" Ricky agreed, and Maria nodded. Camera 23 East Hallway 23 Olive's head poked through the door. "They're ready for you now," He smiled. Queen Catalyst was curious, though cautious all the same. She slowly advanced through the sliding door while giving it a contemptuous look before appearing on the other camera. Camera 24 VIP Living Quarters "Wow!" Karol blurted, keeping her distance from behind a couch though leaning forward to get a better look. "You're so glowy!" Catalyst blinked in reply before leaning closer to Olive. The microphone on the camera could only barely pick up what was whispered. "I had imagined this going a completely different direction." "So you need love just like Blue, right?" Ricky asked, drawing the attention of the Queen. Her ears perked along with her expression to a cautious optimism. "That would be correct, yes... though I have no idea how you Terrans harvest love..." She then looked around the room for something, and her scrunched face revealed that she hadn't found what she was looking for. Karol and Maria then quickly approached Catalyst, causing her to back away from them. "What are you doing?" Catalyst asked accusingly. "You wanted love, so here we are! You're different from Blue, but you still seem nice." Maria explained. "Besides, we've had practice." Catalyst's brow raised again. "Practice? Who is this 'Blue' that you keep referring to?" "Queen Blue Sun." Ricky explained. "She was the first changeling that humans have encountered, and she just so happened to land near our home. So, Maria's insistence, we took care of her. Now she's a Queen and we're staying here with her as long as she needs us." Catalyst's eye began twitching almost crazily as she backed away from the three volunteers. "T-there's another queen here!? I'm trespassing in another Queen's hive!?" She shrieked, quickly becoming panicked. Immediately, the three volunteers and the soldier known as Olive attempted to calm the Queen down. "Hey, its alright! She's our guest here, and you are too!" Catalyst was taking panicked breaths, squishing herself into a nearby wall in a chittery mess. "This is a trap! How did I not see this coming!?" "Calm down!" Ricky shouted, holding Catalyst in a hug that wrapped around her chest and neck as Karol and Maria joined in. "You're safe here, and nobody is gonna hurt you!" Catalyst's breathing slowed as she was embraced, and the camera's sensors detected an increase in temperature in the room. "Y-you... this isn't a trap?" She asked, and several parts of her glowed brighter as supposedly more love fed into her. "It isn't, is it?" "No trap here, Queen Catalyst." Maria reassured her. Catalyst's wings stopped chittering and buzzing nervously as she relaxed further, moving away from the wall. After a moment of collecting herself and when the volunteers had given her space, Catalyst asked, "So... there is a second queen in this mountain?" End of Recording Vahlen looked up from the phone to Colonel Bunker. "That's very... touching, Colonel, But I don't see how this involves me." Bunker pointed to the blast door that they now stood in front of. "In there, is where we're keeping those orbs we found at the crash site. It's safe to view right now, but we have a second recording of what happened at the same time as that meeting with Catalyst and the Volunteers." A second video was selected, and played for Vahlen. Camera 7 Hazardous Containment The video began, and was soon overlapped with the video of Catalyst's meeting with the volunteers at the same time stamp. The orbs were a standard fire-like orange before the encounter, but soon after being embraced by the volunteers, the orbs began emitting a different, almost rainbow-like glow. Looking from the phone again, Vahlen was still confused. "So you think that there might be a correlation between the 'love' received by Catalyst and these orbs changing their type of emission?" Bunker nodded. "That's what we need you to figure out. We've already had Doctor Shen send in a drone, and so far absolutely nothing negative has happened to it. No melting, no short-circuiting, nothing." Vahlen handed the phone back to Bunker and walked towards the viewport into the shielded room. The rainbow glow of the orbs danced across the walls inside, almost like an oil painting brought to life. "Interesting..." she hummed.