Soarin' speed walked around the corner towards Spitfire's office, too focused to think of anything else. Images of what Spitfire would do to him if she found out he'd forgoten to finish the promised paperwork frightened him. Soarin' shook his head. Shooing the thought away he upgrade his pace even faster still, now just shy of a gallop.
"Whoa!" Wave Chill shouted as Soarin' ran into him. Crashing, the two fell to the ground with a loud thud that echoed repeatedly off the Wonder-Bolt HQ's walls.
"Gah!" Soarin' yelped, jumping up. "Sorry, Wave Chill!"
Before Soarin' could resume his quest of beating Spitfire to her office, Wave Chill grabbed Soarin' by the back of his neck and yanked him back!
"Whoa! No! Wave Chill, I don't have time for this! I need to get the paperwork done or Spitfire is going to KILL me! I-I'm too young to die!" Soarin' pleaded like a foal begging for an extra sweet with dessert, or for a brand new toy he'd happened to come across at the market.
"Soarin'!" Wave Chill shouted before Soarin' could continue his rant.
"NO! I NEED to leave! Please, Wave!" Soarin' begged. "You have to let me go!"
"First off, I don't have to do anything. Secondly, oh, you mean this paperwork?" Wave Chill asked while guesturing to a folder tucked up under his wing as if it were obvious.
"Huh?" Soarin' asked dumbly, going limp in Wave's grasp and finally stopping his endless rant. "The paperwork!?"
"You worry WAY too much! By the way, I may have over heard your conversation with the Captain, and I may have noticed that you weren't here on time. So, I took the liberty upon myself to help a stressed bug out and do the paperwork for him before he really did bug out." Wave Chill said, chuckling a little at his pun that Soarin' seemingly didn't catch.
"Thank you so much!" Soarin' sighed in relief and leaned against the wall.
"Yeah. Spitfire has been really stressed out lately. In all honesty, I was afraid of what she'd do to you otherwise. I mean, she isn't that bad, but when the Captain is stressed she's off the chain."
"Agreed." Soarin' sighed, "and I already have a lot on my plate to deal with right now, anway. One I REALLY do need to be alive for."
Wave Chill raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Soooo.....what's wrong then?"
"It's not necessarily- there isn't really anything wrong per say...."
Wave Chill groaned, "really? You're seriously going to give me the 'speech' again? You literally do this every time something is bothering you and you don't want to tell me. I'm sick of beating it out of you. You know I will. You might as well just tell me."
"Wait, what? I don't give speeches, I don't like public speaking." Soarin' said obliviously.
Wave Chill face hoofed and shook his head. "Alright love bug, I'll bite. Tell big brother Wave what's bugging you."
Soarin' got silent... "I'm scared."
"Huh? Wait, what? Soarin'....Why do you have any reason to be scared? I did the paper work, Spitfire doesn't have to know."
Rainbow Dash wants to start a hive!
Wave Chill's eyes about popped out of their sockets. "A-are you sure that that's a good idea? I mean... the wedding........"
"I know." Soarin' leaned back on the wall and slumped to the floor. "That's what I told Dashie but she just..." Soarin' trailed off as he got lost in his thoughts.
"That's going to be A LOT of changelings...," Wave commented.
What's the point in standing when it's just Wave? I can relax and be myself around him, he won't judge me. I need to take a minute and chill out... Ugh! I shouldn't have told Dashie that! Me a father? There's no WAY I can do this! This is all going to end in a disaster. This is too much. All of this is going to come back to bite me, I just know it.
"Where is she?" Wave asked after a short-lived moment of silence.
"Dash?" Soarin' clarified.
Wave rolled his eyes. "Yes."
"Well, she was supposed to come here with me but she decided she didn't want to be around me once she realized I forgot the paperwork at about halfway here. So, she went back to her hive site. Said she'd changed her mind and that she wanted to get as much work done on her hive as she could."
"Her hive? I'm no expert on changling bio and culture or anything, but isn't this a hive a team effort?"
"Not really," Soarin' admitted. "Queens rule. What they say goes. Even if I did get some power or a say, I don't think its a hidden fact that Rainbow will be dominate in all of this."
"If queens are always dominate, how would you get a say anyway?"
"Rainbow knows nothing about how hives really work, therefore she will greatly be relying on me. In all honesty, she doesn't know much more that what the ponies know. Er, no offense."
"Non taken. Some of the things ponies are publish as fact though, my gosh. Then again, I know a lot more about you then most, so a little bit of slack there I guess. But still... How do changeling queens have so many children anyway?"
"Yeah, um, we really do have a lot of siblings when you think about it." Soarin' nodded in agreement. "Now to answer your question; normally, there are some males specificly selected for their genetics. This selected group of changelings are considered breeders to the queen. If they aren't selected for the Queen, they are most often paired with another changeling of the opposite gender. Although breeders aren't limited to just males. There are some females that reproduce too. Although for them, more often than not, it becomes a career for them in the hive. Whatever's better for the hive as a whole is whats goes. If we need bigger, stronger changelings on our defence, our Queen will make it happen, no matter the cost. Even if that's all they end up doing until they're too old to do otherwise, which is like, fortyish years in case you were wondering. If conditioned correctly, females can lay thousands of eggs at a time. Really though only laying six or so at a time is what's natural."
"....That... that's messed up..."
"You think that's messed up? Some Queens don't reproduce at all, they leave that to their subjects."
"Huh? Then how did she get changelings in the first place?" Wave asked in befuddlement.
"Often she gets a group of changeling from her mother's hive before they split to start another hive.
"Oh... Wait. If that's true, than after a while won't they become inbred?"
"Not quite. We've adapted. Our biology stores extra genes that weren't used when our egg was fertilized. That way, before it's laid, if the current genetics from the parents are too similar, it'll make a new combination for itself. We do though, limit any possible inbreeding as much as possible though. Some hives, like mine, are allies with other hives so that we can get some new blood into our brood if needed. So, no inbreeding here. Although this isn't as common, queens can produce asexually. Both using their own DNA or making a whole new combination, although that had proven to be much more difficulty when it is done alone."
"Okay. Like I said before, though "That's just messed up."" Wave commented, his brow furrowed down into a thinking expression as he tried to understand all that Soarin' had just said.
Soarin' rolled his eyes. "That most likely won't be the case here. Rainbow Dash was raised by ponies. All she really knows is what her instincts tell her and based on what she told me she knows on the way here, I don't think her hive mind link was developed enough into her mind for her to have the full, proper knowledge or instincts for this, which is very worrisome all on its own. It probably explains how she was able to survive. what'll be even worse is that we don't know who her parents are. Weather I like it or not, my queen will at the very least want a background check. Her, like most queens, Rainbow Dash included, obviously, have egos and a pride bigger than a whale. My queen will not willingly release me over to a weaker hive, if she will atall. That would tarnish her name and her legacy. Sadly, she simply will not have it."
"Does she even know about you and Rainbow being a thing? I mean, you know." Wave Chill said gesturing his hooves together.
There was a short pause before Soarin' finally spoke. "You know I think there were some complications in communication when it comes to this topic."
"You didn't tell her, did you." Wave said more than asked.
"No."
"Oooohhhhhhh, yikes! That's gonna' sting."
"I know. My queen is going to KILL ME! I don't know what to do. I mean, come one! Who am I kidding? Me? A father? All I'd do is screw up! Plus, once my queen finds out, I wont exactly be on her good side either."
"You don't know that."
"Sure I don't." Soarin responded curtly, a bitter sarcasm making itself well known.
"Hey!" Soarin' shouted as Wave smacked him upside the head.
"Ouch! Hey!"
"First of all, you've got hard chitian, so don't complain you wimp. Secondly, don't you even DARE cop that attitude with me! Lastly, the fact that you care already proves you're better than your father was. Listen, I know he hurt you Soarin'. I know you don't have the experience you wish you did or that you need, and I'm sorry for that. However, you're making this worse for yourself by not accepting the facts. Yes, you will make mistakes. Yes is will be difficult. Yes Rainbow Dash probably doesn't know what she's getting into either, BUT, you know what? She cares. It sounds like she'd go to the end of the Earth to accomplish this. Every pony who knows her knows it. My point is Soarin', dispite all this, you are not alone. There may be a lot of unknowns, but you have Rainbow Dash's support. You know you've definitely got mine. I'm sure Tarnix would do the same. Have you talked to him yet?"
"No."
"Talk to him. You're focusing on all the bad things Soarin'. I think it's about time you took a break and looked at the good things in life. Relax. You won't get anywhere wollowing in PITY like a fly stuck in water."
"Okay! Enough with the bug jokes! They aren't even that good!"
"Heh, really? I think they're great!" Wave smirked. Soarin's irritated expression only added to his amusement.
"Ugh!" Soarin' groaned, shaking his head.
Wave Chill snickered.
Soarin' sighed. "Well, guess I better get going. I might as well get this over with before I Chicken out."
Wave nodded in approval. "That-a-colt! Keep me posted though, I'm here for you."
"Really?" Soarin' asked sarcastically. "I couldn't tell by the crazy motivational speech."
"Get out of here!" Wave smirked as he pushed Soarin' back in the direction of the exit while laughing to himself.