//------------------------------// // The Queen Arrives // Story: Little Choices // by Skijarama //------------------------------// “Wh… What’s happening?” Squall mumbled as he gradually began to come back to his senses. He opened his eyes, though he found he barely had enough strength to focus his eyes, much less keep the lids open. The world around him was a blurry, swirling blob of dull blues and grays, with spots of luminescent green piercing through the other colors like a unicorn’s light spell in a shadowy cavern. After a moment, his eyes refocused and he realized that he was indeed inside a shadowy cavern. His hind legs were jostled when they scraped over a section of raised stone. He was being dragged along by… something. He looked around again, the muscles in his neck barely responsive. He caught sight of it, though. The creature hauling him along. It looked back down at him with orbs of pale-blue. It’s facial expression was unreadable to the delirious and weakened Squall, but the fangs were clear as day. A carnivore? A monster? “Let me… go…” he grunted, struggling to put force into his words. Any efforts to thrash against his captor were useless, sadly. He just didn’t have the strength in him to resist it as it pulled him along. Realizing that fighting back was hopeless, he tried to study his surroundings as best as his foggy mind would allow. There were many of these creatures, all watching him and, more specifically, his captor with a wide range of expressions. Some looked surprised, others looked proud, while others looked unimpressed or dismissive. One of them, a creature with purple eyes, leapt off of an elevated platform in the enormous cavern chamber and glided down on buzzing insect wings to greet them. “Thorax… I’m impressed. Looks like you got a member of the Lunar Guard.” Squall’s captor stopped moving and shifted slightly. “It wasn’t easy to do, Pharynx…” he said, sounding almost… guilty. The one with purple eyes, Pharynx, snorted and put on a smirk. “He fought back, did he? You didn’t cause a big commotion acquiring him, did you?” Thorax tensed a little, then shook his head. “No… no, I didn’t. As far as everypony is concerned, he’s on patrol somewhere in Canterlot.” he said, glancing down at Squall. “What… what are you?” Squall murmured, trying to jerk away again. Thorax’s grip help tight and, in fact, only seemed to get tighter. “Stop squirming,” Thorax hissed at him, though his words didn’t sound hostile, much to Squall’s surprise. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Pharynx’s smirk gave way to a scowl. “Alright, that’s enough chit chat. Get him in a pod and show me that your disguise is accurate. We can’t afford any missteps here.” “Right,” Thorax sighed before hauling a still feebly struggling Squall Dreamer up to a wall at the back of the cavern. Squall got a look at it, his eyes widening in shock. “I’m sorry.” Thorax whispered to him when he realized that Squall had seen it. Dozens, possibly even hundreds of green, glowing pods rested against this wall. Each one had an unconscious pony stored inside. Stallions, mares, civilians, guards, foals… fillies. Squall gave another thrash. “What have you done to my sister?!” he snapped, actually gaining some of his strength back. “I haven’t done anything to her,” Thorax replied in a low voice, pushing Squall against the wall and holding him there. “And I don’t plan to… it’s not my job.” “You revolting creeps!” Squall managed to raise his voice to a shout, adrenaline pumping through his veins. His wings began to twitch and flutter at his sides, giving him some extra leverage against Thorax. “What are you?! What do you want?!” Thorax, with a grunt of effort, drove his hoof into Squall’s stomach, wilting on the inside as he did so. Squall gasped, the breath escaping his lungs while we slumped against the wall. Thorax sighed, a green slime similar to the material of the pods began to drip out of his fangs. “...Not this.” he answered Squall’s second question before leaning down to apply the slime to his forehooves, adhering them to the wall of the cave as the slime solidified. Squall managed to look Thorax in the eye when he pulled back. “...Then why?” he managed to ask in barely a whisper before closing his eyes and going limp, slipping out of consciousness once more. Thorax was silent for a moment, tuning out the movements of his fellow changelings behind him. This kind of struggle was nothing new down here… which means none of the others had paid it any mind, allowing him to say what he wanted to say to the lunar guard before him. “Get him into a pod, Thorax. Spiracle, lend him a fang! I’ll be back in a minute to inspect your disguise, Thorax.” Pharynx ordered sharply before turning and buzzing off into the caverns. Thorax sighed and went about his task as ordered, Spiracle soon arriving by his side and using her own fangs to help construct the pod. Soon enough, Squall Dreamer was dreaming inside of a changeling pod, unable to wake, unable to feel fear. Soon enough, like he had promised, Pharynx came back with a serious look on his face. “Alright little brother. Disguise up, now. Let’s see what you’ve got.” Thorax nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on the appearance of the thestral trapped in a pod behind him. A few moments passed before, with a flash and swirl of green fire, he assumed the shape. He opened his eyes and stood to attention in front of Pharynx, who immediately began his inspection, using the real Squall as a reference for comparison. “...Heh. If there was one thing you were always good at, Thorax, it’s good disguises. You’re a one to one clone, near as I can tell.” Pharynx said with a proud smile. Thorax put on a small, half-hearted smile of his own before letting the disguise drop, filing it away in his memory for later use. “EVERYONE!” A new voice called out, sounding excited and frightened at the same time, the changeling it belonged to galloping into view from one of the higher platforms that overlooked the entire chamber. “THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED! FRONT AND CENTER, ALL OF YOU!” The entire cavern exploded into movement as hundreds of changeling drones quickly filed into the center of the room, forming dozens of organized rows. Thorax wound up near the back, while Pharynx was closer to the front. For several moments, all was silent. Then there was a sound that sent a chill into the spines of every single changeling present. Hoofsteps. Each one was slow, methodical, heavy and cracked ever so slightly. From one of the many entrance ways into the chamber, a shadow could be seen being cast upon the roof. That shadow was soon eclipsed by the real thing. Queen Chrysalis emerged onto the platform with two drones following close behind, each one dressed in blue armor. Every single drone in the chamber immediately dropped into a deep bow, their noses practically touching the floor. Chrysalis eyed the assembled changelings beneath her with an almost disinterested look, leaning back somewhat and lazily peering around the chamber. No one dared utter a sound. Chrysalis grinned. “I’m glad to see that being away from the hive for so long has not dulled your understanding of your place, my subjects,” she called before gracefully lifting off of the platform and drifting down to the floor of the cave. “And it appears as though everything is in order for your efforts to be rewarded… excellent.” The way she spoke was cold, condescending and almost mocking. She was daring any of her drones to get angry from how she looked down on them, inviting them to try and speak out or protest. None of them did. “Stinger, Pharynx, Trachea! The three of you are to report to me at once! I require an in-depth assessment  of the city and it’s defenses, the abilities of Princesses Celestia and Luna, and the relative power of the civilian population!” Chrysalis called out before eyeing the back wall of the chamber. A toothy-grin split her face. “Although, judging from the number of ponies you have already captured, I am guessing they are rather pitiful…” Stinger, Pharynx and Trachea, who was a few inches taller than the other two, came forward and bowed deeply to Queen Chrysalis. “It is an honor to have you here, your highness,” Stinger greeted her simply. “Rise, you three,” Chrysalis commanded with a hoof gesture before turning and trotting slowly through the caverns, gesturing for the others to follow along. “Fill me in while I get familiar with the hideout.” “The Canterlot Royal guard is surprisingly weak, majesty,” Pharynx began while falling into step behind the tall changeling queen. “Infiltration has been an easy task, and replacing members of their watch has proven to be remarkably simple. They seem to be more ceremonial than anything at this point.” “So many centuries of peace and relative prosperity, especially when compared to the rest of the world, has led the ponies to grow soft and complacent,” Trachea furthered, his voice sounding more professional and sophisticated than the others. “Though, to be frank, they haven’t needed a powerful military. Princess Celestia alone has been a powerful reason for most enemies to keep their distance.” “Her younger sister, Princess Luna, is also a matter for concern,” Stinger added with a small frown. “We don’t know the full extent of her power, yet. For most of her time back in Equestria, she has been in a deep slumber; presumably rejuvenating herself back to full strength. “There is also Princess Cadance,” Pharynx pointed out before frowning, unsure. “However, she is easily the weakest of the three princesses in the city right now. She focuses more of tending to the social environment among the ponies, rather than the political ones.” “She is far from a push-over, though,” Trachea pointed out simply. “From what I’ve been able to gather, she earned her alicorn status from being a pegasus. Such an ascension bespeaks a great deal of potential power. We should not underestimate any of them.” Chrysalis hummed with thought. “...And Princess Rainbow Dash is still missing?” “Yes, your grace,” Stinger nodded. “Several of our infiltrators have confirmed that the Princess isn’t in Canterlot, and we have spared a few scouts to keep an eye on Ponyville. She isn’t there, either. Wherever she is, she is far enough away that we’ll have the elements of harmony neutralized before she and her inner circle can arrive.” Chrysalis grinned. “Wonderful… then I believe our course is clear. You have been storing the love of the captured ponies as I ordered, yes?” she asked, a hungry tone slipping into her voice. “Yes, my queen,” Pharynx gave a curt nod. “We can continue to add to it for as long as you deem necessary.” “Show me. If we are to do this properly, we will need to ensure that I am able to effectively battle against Princess Celestia.” Chrysalis ordered simply, allowing the three droned to take the lead and guide her from the main chamber and into a tunnel leading deeper into the system. As they vanished away, the remaining drones gradually rose back to standing positions, talking amongst themselves with a mixture of anxiety, fear and excitement. From the platform Chrysalis had come from, several dozen additional drones, each one clad in that blue armor, came buzzing down into the chamber to begin preparations and inspections. Thorax watched all of the activity with an uneasy expression. He looked over his shoulder to Squall Dreamer and sagged. He then turned as one of the blue-armored changelings approached him and stood to attention. The swarm was growing excited, their hunger was palpable. Thorax would forever be ashamed of this, but in that moment, watching all of his fellow changelings flying about with growing anticipation and eagerness… he couldn’t help but feel the same. He had been starving, just like the rest of them, for so long… he licked his fangs instinctively. The time to feed was drawing near.