//------------------------------// // 18: Onwards towards true purpose. // Story: An Exercise In Management // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// “Hi, Eight!” I sit up on the couch, yawning and stretching my weak legs. “Good evening, King,” she gives me a nod, and in a burst of green fire shapeshifts back to her changeling form, “Aaah, that feels so much better.” Looks so much better too. I mean, we changelings look physically very similar on the first glance. Our primary method of recognizing one another is sensing the shape of one’s mind up close. For example, Eight’s feels like a sealed steel box with jelly under it, Three’s a little glowing white marble full of holes, and Ten’s is a shadow with pink shimmer at its core. I guess it wouldn’t make sense to anyone without our way of feeling others. Physically, though, let’s say compared to a pony, Eight is nearly a head taller than an average mare, with long, slender legs, and a rather thin barrel despite her strength and speed. I wonder how she’s going to look if- when her belly armor grows back eventually. Judging by the dark pink colour of her mane reaching barely from the top of her head to the base of her ears and short, cropped tail, she clearly won’t be difficult to spot in her real form. What makes me shake whenever she looks at me are her eyes, though. Dark green, exactly like Chrysalis’. “You’re looking… healthy.” “I’ve met several other citizens during my late patrol. I don’t know why, but they are practically showering me with positive feelings. It can’t be just that one showdown at the bar, or the swamp creature... or the lost foal...” she walks over, sits down on the couch next to me, and presses her side against mine, “So, how do we do this? I’ve got a boatload of affection, even some purer love, and a ton of ideas on how to use the holes in my legs… and not only those,” she nibbles my ear. “Umm, well, ehm, yeah, I can drain you just fine, you know. Like I’ve been doing this whole time.” I was expecting some complaining, but Eight just chuckles, and says: “Alright, let’s see how it goes.” She’s planning something, she must be. However, I’m starving, and my self-control is slowly losing to the needs of my body. Putting my horn to hers, I open all the channels I have, ready to receive the trickle… flow… torrent… tidal wave of positive emotions. “Hnnh… s-s-slow d-d-d-down pleeeeeassse...” I can faintly feel myself collapse on the soft padding of the couch, but the sensation is buried under the numb burning of my body overflowing, “I c-c-can’t… hurts...” “Oh no, my little King,” all I can see is Eight’s sadistic grin, “My weak, shy, slow, and terrified King. I told you I had plans for you, and you’re not getting out of those.” “E-Ei...gh...t...” I groan, trying to stop myself from absorbing more, “Stop… ple...ase...” I can feel HER inside my head, a weak pressure working against all my attempts at stopping the burning flow. I feel more and more bloated, every cell being filled to bursting. “Nuh uh uh,” she just shakes her head, “Strong King, and a strong hive. You’ll make both, even if I have to push you a little.” To my surprise, I regain control over my forelegs, and try to shove Eight away. She budges only a little. “No… King… just me… I just want to… hide… and survive...” I feel sick, as if I’m going to throw up. I need to stop this. I don’t know what she’s doing or why, but this is killing me. I summon all my willpower in one final desperate attempt to force Eight out of my head and make my body listen. It fails, and suddenly, everything goes white. “Owwwww...” I roll over, spot the carpet, and don’t fall down on it, held by a pair of black legs which push me back. I feel so weak, so full, so… fat, so… hot. There’s something more now, some instinct I’ve never felt before. I can feel a strange urge, but I just don’t know what it is. “Calm down, and let yourself get used to it. This is an immeasurably tiny fraction of power that Chrysalis is used to controlling,” I hear Eight’s now soothing voice, “There will be more, a lot more eventually.” “What,” I gasp for breath, “did you do?” “We can’t have a King barely able to control the amount of energy a warrior has,” she’s slowly stroking my mane, “I just sped things up a little. I knew your body could take it. Our little hive will grow stronger, I’ll make sure of it.” OUR hive. There’s four of us and one wants to leave as soon as he can. There is no hive... ...and that’s what she wants to change. Does she want home? Then why with me? Why not take the energy and find Chrysalis’ high-tier core? “Why… me...?” She laughs and kisses my nose. “Nu uh. We agreed on something for something. I did this for you, and when you do your part of the deal, I’ll tell you what you so desperately want to know, Now rest,” she fluffs the pillow under my head, “I know it can’t have been easy.” “...do I look like a blob now?” I mumble, definitely feeling like one. “You’ve never looked better, my King.” “...I’m really mad at you right now...” Her warm smile with a hint of playfulness fades. “I… can understand that, but you needed a strong push,” she stands up, “I’ll go check on the cocoons in the cellar and let you think it over.” I don’t stop her from leaving. Partially from not wanting to, and partially because I can feel myself passing out again. This time I end up floating in complete blackness, but conscious. “Well well well, finally learning that changelings need a strong hoof to reign in their lust for power? It's to control or be controlled.” The voice… I’ve heard it only twice in my short life. Eight’s eyes glow in the darkness, but who materializes behind them isn’t her. It’s Chrysalis. “They need to be controlled, otherwise they’ll turn on each other like the starving beasts they are. On each other, and then on you.” I need ground. I need something to stand on so that I don’t break under that menacing and prideful gaze. Thankfully, my current unreal existence obeys, and when I stretch my legs I feel pressure under my hooves. “YOU made us like that! YOU and your incompetent leadership!” I bark back. I only wish my voice wasn’t shaky and far more high-pitched than usual, “Most of us have never seen a pony up close to feed on. Everything we got was ten times regurgitated affection, the tiny bit the higher-ups could spare.” “Insolent DRONE!” Chrysalis scowls, “You know NOTHING! I had more power than any queen before me, I had knowledge, I had so much control that you could never dream of-” Hives, several spread across Equestria. Changeling armies sieging pony cities, their captured inhabitants being dragged in green cocoons underground, hypnotized, and forced to breed so there would be more to drain. Queen Chrysalis ruling from Equestria while the other proto-queen generals led the assault on the rest of the world - Carapace, Cryo, Mandible, Decima, and Shadowstep. Zebras fell, griffons fell, everyone was supposed to bow before Chrysalis, the most powerful changeling queen who has ever lived. “-and I made the mistake of trusting them instead of breaking their minds. I thought their individuality would prove an asset instead of an obstacle-” Changeling armies, fed and trained, taking their pony slaves and leaving under the command of their leaders. “-but no. Cryo made a hive up north, trying to prey on dwarf ponies, yaks, and minotaurs.” Chrysalis shakes her head, “We aren’t built for polar activity, and she learned the hard way. However, that meant one less traitor I had to destroy. Carapace was loyal, and lay siege to Canterlot until her last breath which Celestia burned out of her. The damn alicorn made us what we are, and when she didn’t need us anymore we were to be wiped out.” “What do you mean?” A strange light pony with fly wings suffering in agony as his coat falls out, skin hardens into chitin, and a new commanding voice terrifies him by speaking directly into his brain- “NO!” Chrysalis raises her voice, the vision fading, “This isn’t for him... yet. No, the betrayal and failure of my best led to our downfall. It was the first time all races united, albeit shortly, to completely destroy us. If it wasn’t for our patron, the only alicorn I would ever call an ally, they would have succeeded. Scream, the avatar of Lust, understood our needs, our plight. She told us where to hide, where Celestia’s accursed magic wouldn’t find us. With alicorn on our side, we knew we would eventually recover. My mistake was-” Chrysalis would NEVER admit she made a mistake! “You’re not Chrysalis. Hive pile again?” The form of the changeling queen turns into shadow which blurs, and suddenly I’m surrounded by a circle of other tall and terrifying changelings. “Hive mind,” they say in unison, “and watch your tongue!” “Mind implies thought, calculation, and growth. You’re just a ball of rage and hurt pride!” To my shock, they simply chuckle this time. “You will learn. One day we’ll uncover the truth for you, and then you’ll understand that hatred and contempt for ponykind are the only way for us. Now, we have a different task for you. One which your Eight will definitely appreciate.” “Nope, and don’t drag her into this! I don’t know if I can trust her after today, but she’s still better than you.” “WE WILL GROW AND SPREAD! SHE PREPARED YOU FOR US, AND IT IS TIME YOU FULFILL YOUR ROLE!” “Prep-” “Hey, boss! You’re practically glowing. Ummm, can you goop over my pitchfork so I don’t have to bother miss Eight again?” I wake up, gasping for breath. “T-Three?” rolling over, I have enough presence of mind to stretch my legs and stop myself from falling off the couch on my own. Strange, I did that faster than I ever thought I could. My brain hurts. Out of the way, drone! “Out of-” I shake my head, “No. Hi, Three,” the undisguised changeling waves at me, standing next to Slipstream, “Good job with the Mayor, Ten.” “Your plan worked, I admit,” he says, nodding. Get rid of them! We have more important things to do. “Now return to your patr-” I clutch my head, “Stop it!” “Are you okay, boss?” Three hops onto the couch. Strange, that in itself makes me feel a little better. “Yeah. yeah. Hey, Ten.” “Mhm?” “I need you to get the Mayor off of our backs permanently.” “Finally!” he throws his forelegs upwards, “Can I get his wife afterwards?” “Not like that!” I roll my eyes. He’s incorrigible, “I’m going to give you some more love so that it’s possible to do. I need you to tear off pieces of your chitin after tonight’s patrol, and bring it to the Mayor as a proof you killed the changeling when he escaped after he and his wife agitated him or something.” “Oh queen...” he pales, “You’re serious, aren’t you?” “Look, if you have a better idea how to explain the changeling got away when the Mayor’s own wife almost saw through us, then by all means persuade them both, but you’d better do it by tomorrow, because I’m not keen on dealing with a bunch of guards sent our way. Eight can’t punch her way through an army… I think.” Ten sighs. “I’ll think of something,” he gasps when I simply send love his way without even touching him. That’s new, “Wow… that’s a lot, King.” “It's so you don’t pass out from bloodloss or something. I don’t know if it’ll be enough for full regeneration, but I might have more later. Ponies seem to be keen on filling Eight to the brim for some reason.” “Alright, alright. As I said, I’ll think of a good lie.” “Can I get some too?” asks Three after Ten leaves. GET RID OF HIM! “Of course, Three. Here you go,” a small drop of what I have now is enough for his full meal, “Now go read or something,” I mentally locate Eight who is still in the cellar, “I’ve got important stuff to do.” Finally. Standing up from the couch, my legs lead me through Truncheon’s house and down the stairs. Why does my head throb so much, and why do I feel so full? Physically, I mean. Something shifts and bulges in the region of my abdomen, something I’ve never felt before, but it feels like a pulsating furnace. I don’t look away from Eight, though. “Hmm, King?” Eight looks up from the cocoon she’s been examining, “Is there something-” Finally, we will breed and... “...spread,” I growl, pouncing at Eight. *** Three heard a high-pitched scream from the cellar. Strange, there should only be the boss and miss Eight there at the moment. Well, miss Eight had said the boss was really jumpy when startled, and maybe she just told him some super top tier changeling secrets which weren’t for Three. It couldn’t hurt to take a look, just in case one of them slipped on miss Eight’s goop and now needed carrying up onto the soft bed or couch. Despite his dream of eventually becoming an infiltrator, Three was still just a drone, and drones knew how to carry stuff. The door to the cellar slammed open as he was walking down the hallway, trailing crayons falling out from the holes in his legs everywhere. The stairs behind it were dark, but Three did spot a shadow crawl upwards. “Help me, Three!” the boss, mouth and torso covered by green goo, dragged himself forward by his forelegs. “Where do you think you’re going?!” Three heard Eight’s voice, and with a jerk the boss began sliding backwards as if something grabbed him by his hind legs, and pulled him back into the darkness, “We’re nowhere close to being done, my King. I can still walk.” “Aaaaaaaah!” the boss’ eyes grew wider, “I’m not ready. NOT AGAAAAIN!” “Uhhh, are you okay, boss?” Three watched the boss disappear down the stairs. It looked to be happening against his will, but there was only miss Eight down there, and she was his bodyguard, and technically Three’s pet, although the boss took care of all the feeding and she didn’t need a litter box. “HE’S FINE!” Three heard miss Eight, “AND HE WON’T BE LEAVING ANY TIME SOON! BUSY-” “I’m n-” the boss’ voice got drowned and muffled, as if something soft covered his muzzle. “Mmmm… much better use for your tongue,” Three heard miss Eight’s now quiet voice. Three shrugged, closing the door, and returning to the living room. Whatever was going on down there was a high-tier changeling business, probably important planning for the future of their small group. When they needed to carry something, they would know where to find him. “Wheee, crayons!”