Gears of War: Down, But Not Out

by Helljumper206


The Hive

Badlands, Changeling Hive


Abigail POV

"Um, where's the way out?" Trixie asked the changeling.

"It's a changeling hive it shifts and changes like we do and were the only ones who can navigate it" He demonstrated by walking to a wall as it seemingly opens as he got close. "It's total chaos to non-channelings." We all followed are now 'essential' guide very closely so none could get separated. I had to voice my thoughts from earlier.

"That explains why there weren't many guards outside. My first impression of this place was the lack of security at the front, given its size; A place like this with a defense system built into like that can be a very useful tool."

"Well, I call it decent chaos I don't know about, total." Discord commented.

"Maybe not from your point of view but from mine I can defiantly say this place can bring out the crazy in some people," Abby told the spirit of chaos.

"Oh do enlighten me. I like to hear what you have to say about this 'lovely' place we're in," Discord pestered. The kept keeping pace with their guide while she explained.

"Again from a military standpoint, this would make so much confusion it makes running messages between groups near impossible if they don't know where to go. Frustration and paranoia would slowly reek havoc on the mind. In short, they go insane.

Simple as that. The guy or gal could have an extreme mental fortitude; but with time against them, places like this could make'um go mad and start attacking anyone they see. Or be quickly subdue due to an ambush, the list goes on." I said and quietly hoped that any of those options never happen while they are in this place. As I scanned the changing corridors for its inhabitance, the cave-like theme this place has reminded me of the Hollow.

"I can see that happening. I once pulled a similar trick on Twilight and her friends into thinking that I hid the elements in a maze. I took their horns and wings away and made them lose who they were. That was a fun time." Discord said with some pride. "I brought them down; made them fight and betray each other, making Twilight lose faith in her friends. Oh, it was such a good plan too. Don't you all agree?"

A moment of silence soon followed the group as they stared at the guy with different levels of crazy. I then proceeded to scratch out my mental to-do list of him and placed him as a "priority one'" must on getting that multiple restraining orders for Fluttershy against Discord. I did not trust this guy with the brain chemistry that this Discord guy has.


Up and down the halls and stairways we went as we venture deeper into Thorax's old hive. My mind couldn't help but wonder what had this place been like growing up with him? What was changeling school like for their young? Did they even have a school here? What about culture? From what I have seen so far from the past twenty minutes they've been walking around, they hadn't seen any that indicate such things. I had yet to see anything that even hinted of a residential home in this place. What do they sleep in cubby holes or to some similar degree a barracks maybe? More and more questions came to mind as we travel. But one stood out like a tall Boomer in a room, so I decided to address it. "Ok this may sound a little late in the game but Thorax, where are they?"

Thorax looked taken back at the Gears question, "Who? Our friends? We already-"

"No no not them. The other changelings?" I clarified. So far the only changelings they've seen besides their guide was when they got here was at the front of this place. "We have been walking for nearly haft an hour and haven't seen any of your kind inside what gives?"

"Oh there around."

"... What?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, they around somewhere. Most Changelings in the hive live in the center or the top of the hive's towers, so they are closer to the queen. Few live in the outer parts of the Hive. Which is where we are now." He explained making me slightly relaxed, but then another question came to mind.

"But why leave so much unusable space between them and the outside? Is there a difference between living here than the rest of the hive?"

"Haven't you felt it yet? The closer we get to the middle the warmer the air is." Now that stopped me. I may be in full body armor, but I did feel the air be a bit warmer than before now that he mentioned it. "The center of the hive and the central tower is coated in a special gel we make and use to keeps the Hive at a stable temperature. It is very difficult to make, so we only use it in areas we use the most inside the hive. Like where we sleep and the hatchery." He then pointed towards a section of changing wall that opened up to reveal a wall of light green crystals poking out. "The gel crystallize over time and heats up its surroundings making the hive a much more livable space for changelings."

"We also need to be careful from now on, so we don't get caught by a changeling patrol."

"Patrols?!" I said in surprise. "Patrols are running through these tunnels? When were you going to tell us this?!".

Thorax had a look of sadness and embarrassment. "Sorry, it's just that being here is not fun for me. It's making me forget things and remember stuff I wish to forget." He answered. "The last time I was here doesn't help either."

"What did happened the last time you were here, Thorax?" Starlight asked.

His gaze shifted to her with a sad look. "I proposed to others in the hive that kidnapping and invading others home's shouldn't be the way to get love anymore. That all we're doing is causing hatred and sadness, the emotions that we changelings hate. When the queen found out about me and my intentions she sent guards to bring me in for a public execution." He said sadly.

'Damn' I thought. Even if Thorax couldn't see it, I was giving the changeling a sad look. To me, Thorax was his people's version of a stranded. Abandoning one's home to survive another day in its aftermath of something horrible, but what I do not know. There was also another look in his eye, though they may be different creatures, she'd seen that look many times before over the years of the war, and I saw it again in the eyes of another in a different reality. How lucky was I?

"I barely had time to escape. I would have been killed if I wasn't warned before hoofed by my... hatch mate..." He stopped to look away as a few tears began to form in his eyes. Only I was able to notice this as the others pressed on the subject.

"Your hatch mate..? What's that mean?" Trixie questioned, making Thorax even sadder.

"Hatch mates are formed during our time in our clutches. The ones who are the closest together with strong bonds. "Most become strong like a brotherhood or sisterhood... Some are more. Much more." He explained while small tears left his face for all to see. The rest now saw what I knew all too well.

Loss. The look of defeat. The sight of watching someone you care deeply for, only to be torn away from. The view of seeing an innocent death. Moving to intercept, I cut Thorax off and stood to face the front of the hurt changeling. Removing her Onyx helmet and setting it aside I looked eyes with Thorax.

"What was her name?"

"... Cazador... Her name was, Cazador... She was strong and could wield the strength of five changelings. The strongest drone from our small clutch. The other haft to my existence, the love of my life..." Tears flowed freely from now from his face as he closed his eyes in a vain attempt to stop them. A sight that I had seen from thousands of others, and from herself.

"She was the only one who understood me... The only one who would stand with me, who gave up her time for someone as weak as I am... The only one who saw me worthy of being with her despite how weak I am. More so than the others in our clutch."

I put a hoof on the changeling's shoulder. Making him look back at my face. "What happened?" I asked in an emotionless tone. I could see in the corners of my vision that the others in their group had formed up behind Thorax as their looks were focusing on them. "Tell me what happened?"

"...We were going to leave together. Start a new life outside the hive. We were going to leave in secret. Get away from the others by leaving under cover of night, to avoid detection. But somehow they found out about the plan and came for me, but didn't know till Cazador heard them coming for us and told me to go, so we ran. But they got to her." By this point, he was staring deep into my eyes. Even if he lacked pupils, I could still see the sadness that he showed to me.

"What went wrong?"

"They came and collapsed the tunnel we were in and landed right on top of us; they were probably hoping for the rubble would kill us. Instead, it separated us. I got trapped outside the Hive, and Cazador was stuck inside. I watch through a crack in the wall as her fight other changelings through a small crack in the wall... I watched her fighting a bunch of other changelings before being restrained to the floor by a lot of changelings before Queen Chrysalis herself came down and approached her. She called her a traitor to the Hive for listening to my beliefs and sucked her dry of whatever love she carried inside." From the memories he was telling was heartbreaking.

"To do such a thing is almost instant death for changelings. When I saw that, I ran! I ran and ran so far and so fast I couldn't look back!" He wailed in my face. Thorax was silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

"When I finally stopped, I was tired and low on love. I felt cold, lonely, and afraid. I was surrounded by snow and mountains as far as the eye could see. It was only then done I realized I was up in the frozen north near the Crystal Empire where I soon met Spike and befriend ponies."

I steeled myself and showed no tears. Putting her another hoof on Thorax I dragged him over and embraced the crying changeling in a tight hug. A moment later Thorax buried his muzzle into my neck and cried profusely on my armor as he held on to me for dear life. While I just sat there, holding the changeling. Literally, over an hour ago, I was ready to kill this guy for what he was. Now here I was keeping him up as he spilled his guts out in front of others.

Looking over Thorax's shoulder, I caught the sight of the others. Discord had a look of sadness on his face, Trixie was tearing up a storm. When I looked at Starlight, she saw the pain in her eyes. I made a mental note to hug her later. Turning back to Thorax, he had stopped the waterworks and as looking up at her. He gave one last sniffle before giving the Gear a sad smile. "Thank you, Abigail. For putting up with me."

"No problem grub boy. I would have loved to have met this 'Cazador.' She sounds like someone I would've got along with just fine. Fighting till the end that way to give you a chance at a new life. Sacrifice is something that every soldier has to be willing to give. For her to give her self up for you means that she really cared about you. With you coming back here, risking your life to save another. I bet you my rank she will be nothing but pried for you for what you are doing now." I patted his shoulder as they broke off, leaving one foreleg still on him to keep his focus on her. "I have witnessed and listened to hundreds of others about lose. You are not the first one I've seen who has suffered and brought down from actions of loss for another, nor will it be the last." I then leaned in and gave the bug another warm hug. "But you're among the few that I've seen who decided to stand back up." I parted from him, a small smile crossing her face. "Will rescue our friends and if possible, we'll bring that bitch of a Queen down a few notches to. So lead us on then, those they've taken aren't going to rescue themselves now are they?" I finished with a haft grin.

Thorax just looked at me in awe. He put a holed hoof to his face to wipe away the tears he looked back at the gear with a new determination in his eyes as waved his hoof over to follow him. Discord and Trixie followed him down the hallway they've been traveling. Starlight stopped by my side and held a smile on her face. "That may be the best motivational speech I've ever heard. You could probably give the princesses a run for their bits in that department. The topic may have started out bad, but that was a very good thing you just did for him." Starlight nodded in approval. I gave her a sad smile.

"I've seen what's happens to those who are consumed with grief like him and many others in my life. It can destroy them in more the one ways. It's never easy to move on from that, some people can't even fathom what simple thing like a hug could do for a person that's hurting. To break them down and try to build them back up or simply hear their tale. You know I too became like Thorax after the 'hammer strikes,' and with seeing everything, I held dear destroyed." A small tear was beginning to form from under her eye from the memories. "It took someone else who was suffering like I was, who was stronger than me, to do me as I did for Thorax. I respect that man even now after all these years and thank him again now and then when pass by him."

I stopped myself as Starlight did something that surprised me wholeheartedly. Starlight kissed me on the cheek.

Starlight then took my Onyx helmet and planted it back on my head. "I'll remember that, and when we're done here, I'll very much like to hear more about come on we are falling behind." Starlight said, smiling with a small noticeable blush on her cheeks. I myself could feel herself blushing from the unicorns action. If my helmet were still off her face would have been one of shock. No one had ever gotten the drop on me like that before and now got a bit flustered from that alone.

'Maybe things wouldn't be so bad if she stayed in this world.' she thought happily of the way things were going.

I then went on to chase my group down. Getting to them, I heard Discord talking again in his usual annoying voice. "Are we sure I'll get my magic back when we destroy this throne thingy?"

"If Thorax is right. Then yes" Starlight replied to the draconequus.

Discord didn't look convicted. "Well, that's reassuring."

"But how are we supposed to destroy it when we find it?" Trixie asked next. Both of them looking to Starlight for an answer. Starlight didn't look confident. "I... don't know."

"That's reassuring." Trixie was then distracted as Discord was searching through the show mares pack.

"I don't suppose to brought any throne destroying tools along with these useless sideshow props." Thus the bickering begins.

"Says the 'Lord of Chaos,' who can't go for a walk without whining nonstop."

Wahoo! Burn'

"Yes, but when the throne is destroyed. I'll be able to rip the very fabric of reality to save our friends; while you still be a self-absorb below averaged illusionist." He said in a 'matter of fact' tone as he pulled the mares pointy hat over her eyes.

'Ouch, back burn.

Pushing her hat back up, Trixie looked to the draconequus in anger "Self-absorbed?! Why you-"

"Cut. It. Out!"

Starlight said as she pushed the two apart. "I'm barely keeping it together. It would be wonderful if you two could actually help instead of figuring like fouls." She schooled, then walked up the stairs. With me and the others falling in from behind.

"Ok" "How can we help?" The two replied.

"Don't ask me I couldn't even handle giving advise at the sunset festival and I had magic then. And the three of us are as good as useless. At least, Abigail, has her weapons and Thorax knows where we're going." She said as we caught up with Thorax.

"Um, guys? I think we're lost?" He said as the rest the group entered a vast open space. The sound of an armored hoof meeting a steel helmet could be heard echoing off the walls.