//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Hive part 2; Changeling Breeds // Story: Picking Up The Pieces // by Silver Dragon Blade Wing //------------------------------// Everfree Forest Changeling Group One Rhino, Spotter and a group of four Drones and one Healer run through the forest towards Ponyville at break-neck speeds on hoof. They would have flown but they didn't want to alert any Ponies to their presence. Dodging trees and plants Rhino couldn't help but remember a time before he joined Dragonfly's hive. The training, the pain, and the bulldung. If there's ONE thing my former Royal did right, it was the intense training. Ducking under some bushes Spotter climbed up a tree to get a better view. He spotted the Timber Wolves, in an intense fight with a dark grey Pegasus with a silvery blue mane and tail, so far the fight was even. "That Pegasus is putting up one hay of a fight." Rhino said impressed. "Yea but he's taking a lot of blows from the wolves. He's going to need to pull back and fast." The healer said. "Then we'd better help out. Brace!" Rhino ordered, not caring if the Ponies who had gathered by now saw them. Their Prince had given them the order to stop the Timber Wolves and that's just what they were going to do. The four Drones crouched and set their legs. "Charge horns!" The Drones horns lit up with light green magic, Rhino lifted a foreleg up. By this point the the Pegasus tried to retreat but took a blow to the back and went tumbling along the ground. "Ready, aim..." A Wolf jumped to finish the wounded Pony off. Before Rhino could order fire, a large light green bolt of energy shot out of the bushes and utterly destroyed the Timber Wolf about to kill the Pegasus, leaving nothing left, not even ashes. "What the...?" Rhino said stunned. Two massive Changelings came out from the bushes, smashing into the Timber Wolf pack. "Commander, are those really what I think those are?" Spotter said from the tree. "They are but, Juggernauts? Here?" Rhino said a bit surprised by their appearance while the Drones canceled their magic. "At least the Ponies are out of danger." A Drone said. The Juggernauts had just finished the wolves when there was a flash and Twilight, Shining Armor , Black Death, and the three Princesses appeared behind the crowd. BLACK DEATH IS HERE!! WE NEED TO GO!! Spotter shouted over the local hive mind. Right. Everybuggy move out! Back to the Hive! Rhino ordered. The group turned and fled back into the forest. Rhino contacted Dragonfly over the hive mind. Prince Dragonfly do you hear me? I hear you Commander go ahead. Timber Wolf pack taken out but it wasn't us. ?...Then who did it? Two Juggernauts. Juggernauts? You kidding me Commander? No I'm not. Black Death is here with the Princesses as well. Get back to the hive now! We're on our way. Out. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Hive "Let me get this straight, you all saw not one but two Juggernauts?" Dragonfly asked. He and the entire hive had gathered in the temporary meeting chamber to discuss what had happened. "Yes sir, two Juggernauts crushed the wolves then fled into the forest when the Princesses appeared." Rhino said. Seeker rubbed a hoof against his chin. "This complicates things Dragonfly. With the Timber Wolf attack and the appearance of the Juggernauts Ponyville is going to be on lockdown for the near future." "I know Seeker, at least Ponyville is safe for now. But what I want to know is who those Juggernauts were. Only a few Juggernauts ever existed in Changeling history and the only two I know of were-" "Your mother's personal bodyguards." A deep, Rumbling voice cut Dragonfly off. All fifty Changelings heads snapped around to see the two Juggernauts from earlier standing in the entrance. Dragonfly and Seeker recognized them instantly. "Titan, Spartan?!" they both said. The larger Juggernaut, Titan, nodded. "Hello Dragonfly, Seeker. It's been a looonnnggg time hasn't it." Spartan, the smaller Juggernaut flicked his tail. "You're finally starting you own hive, about time too." "Hold on, Prince, Seeker. You know them?" Rhino asked sounding quite confused. Dragonfly and Seeker turned to the rest of the Changelings. "Yes we do. Everybuggy, this is Titan and his twin brother Spartan. These two Juggernauts were my mother's personal bodyguards." Dragonfly said as he rubbed Titan's chin, the Juggernaut giving a moan of delight. "One of them would also looked after our Prince when his mother and I were both busy. They taught him how to fight along with his mother and father." Seeker said. The Changelings, now understanding why their Prince and his right hoof knew them, slowly started to approach the Juggernauts. They were still a bit wary by their size as they had ever seen this breed of Changeling before now. Spartan carefully laid down and allowed the nymphs to climb all over him. Titan chuckled lightly in amusement at his brother, who just shot him a look. Dragonfly, Seeker, Rhino, Darter and Spotter watched the Juggernauts integrate into the hive. "Why did you never tell us two Juggernauts were you mother's bodyguards and on that note; how did she end up with two Juggernauts anyway. Aren't they very rare?" Spotter asked. "You never asked, she raised them from eggs, and yes they are rare, she chose them because she wanted bodyguards she knew she could trust do to being the Empress at the time." Spotter nodded and looked back at the hive. Our hive has grown a little but... we can't stay hidden for much longer but what to do? Dragonfly thought to himself as his Changelings played. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Several Hours Later With the Juggernauts joining the hive cleaning got much easier, most of the middle and all of the upper areas were cleared with only the rest of the middle and the lower areas were left. Dragonfly was walking towards the newly set up Hive Chambers. The Hive Chambers were a special area used to change Drones into the various breeds of Changelings. Most Changelings started their lives as Drones, they entered this chamber when they had achievements such as bravery, skill, and other such things. The chosen Drones would then enter special cocoons that would change them into whatever variant that had been chosen over time. For example: If a Drone showed more skill in battle then his or her clutch mates, they could eventually become a Elite Soldier, Shock Trooper or even a Royal Guard if the requirements were met just to name a few. Dragonfly walked through the door way and looked around the Chamber. A large number of alcoves dotted the wall from one side of the door to all the way around the other side. Only one alcove was filled with a bee hive-like structure with a slightly raised platform in front of it. Resting in front of the structure was a single cocoon pulsing with a green light till it stopped then it spit open with a newly transformed former Drone shaking the remains off his new body. This Changeling resembled a Drone but stood a little taller with a longer horn, the most eye catching feature was a pair of light green tubes that traveled from the base of the horn down the back of the neck, over the back plate and into two deflated saddle bag-like growths that hang over the Changeling's flanks. This Changeling was known as a Gatherer, a variant of Dragonfly's own design. Changelings fed through two ways; draining the emotional energy, or E-energy directly from the Pony, or from the airborne E-energy around Pony towns and cities. Dragonfly had forbid the first way because even though it was more filling then the second way, it caused permanent damage to both parties in the long term. After a number of years Ponies would become empty shells with the only mercy being a painless death while Changelings suffered great levels of insanity after a very long time. Fortunately, the short term effect were not permanent and no were near that bad, at worst only needing a little food and rest to recover. The second way wasn't as filling but was far safer for both parties, taking distilled E-energy from the air around and above Pony settlements. Ponies gave off E-energy like boiling water gave off steam, if you were to look through the eyes of a Changeling using their emotion sense on a Pony, you would see energy waves coming off him or her like heat waves off a fire. This energy would gather around Pony settlements and would stay there as long as there were Ponies living there. Dragonfly created the Gatherers to get a lot of this energy and bring it back to the hive using their saddle bag-like growths. Gatherers would enter at night and find a spot were the purest energy had formed, fire a magic tether into it and draw the energy down the tether, filtering through the horn, through the tubes and finally into the bags. Once the bags were full the Gatherer would return to the hive and drop off the energy. A single Gatherer could bring in enough to feed 25% of a large hive with no harm to the Ponies this way. Dragonfly smiled with pride seeing his work on that finally bear fruit. He had been worried that it would have been lost with he was placed in that cocoon. And even then they had to drop a pile of them on me in hopes of catching me in one because they knew they couldn't fight me head-to-head Dragonfly was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something tapping his side. Looking down he saw Rhino tapping his barrel. "You okay Prince?" "Yea, just remembering some of the past." "Alright, Seeker asked me to refresh your memory on the different breeds of Changelings." "Ah right, never hurts to refresh the memory a bit. Especially after being in that cocoon for a year which didn't help." Rhino nodded in agreement. "Follow me." Rhino said as he and Dragonfly left the Hive Chamber and walked to what would be Dragonfly's throne room. The room was fairly large with a slightly raised up two steps platform opposite of the door way, the platform held a simple throne made up of a bed-like seat made of lightly hardened and gelled Changeling slime with a few pillows made of the same stuff. Not exactly luxury by anycreature's standards but Dragonfly had wanted something simple unlike the other Royals whose luxury's and throne rooms went way overboard. Dragonfly sat down on his throne while Rhino set up a small crystal in the center of the room. Rhino channeled some magic into it lightning it up. He turned to Dragonfly. "Okay Prince, this crystal will show the different Changeling breeds. When you see them I want you to say what they are and tell me what you know about them, I'll help fill any blanks." "Alright Rhino, start it up." Rhino nodded and did so. Dragonfly recognized the Worker, Gatherer, Healer and Berserker just fine. The next looked like a Berserker but with glowing crystal-like growths spread across it's body. "That's a supercharged Berserker, if my memory is right they are an upgrade unit made for causing more havoc among enemies then the regular Berserker but unlike the regular, which out of combat could make productive members the supercharged had to be encased in special cocoons to keep them from wrecking the hive and killing other members. Those facts made them very and they were only used in extreme cases. Both Types are hatched as their breed." Rhino nodded and switched to the next one. Dragonfly smiled seeing it. "The Good old Drone, the most common and versatile of the breeds, making up the bulk of a hive. They can do any job with the right training and most Changelings begin their life as Drones." Next one came up, this one looked like the Drone but wore armor that covered it's back plate and wings and a light helmet. "That's the Armored Drone, they are Drones used for more dangerous duties and make good soldiers in a pinch." The next one looked like a Drone but was a little bigger and wore armor on it's chest and a helmet. That's a Soldier, the standard front line infantry of the Changelings and the most common next to Drones. A group of Drones are often by a Soldier and you Rhino are a Soldier yourself." "That I am Prince Dragonfly." The next one was a Soldier wearing armor that greatly resembled the armor worn by Pony Royal Guard but without the saddle and helmet plume and with armor covering the barrel and legs fully. "Armored Soldier, veteran Soldiers either who lead squads of Soldiers or form their own squads." Next was a Drone that was a bit taller and instead of a webbed tail had a long tail with a row of spikes travelling from the base to a scythe shaped blade at the tip. "Spiketail, They are used for precision attacks against large enemies like Yaks or Dragons with their long tail." Next was a Soldier with a long horn with some slight bents and wings long enough to cover it's back like a cape when folded. "Elite Soldier, a rare breed know for their skill in combat, being veterans of many battles." Next was a Soldier-like Changeling with longer and larger wings, plates on the back of the neck, a larger neck fin, thicker legs with a few spikes on the lower legs, and smaller eyes. "Shock Trooper, a breed know for their shock and awe assaults and their use of the Germane Blitzkrieg tactics." "Well my Prince, seems your memory isn't as fogged as we thought, up next is Heavy Case. The Heavy Case is our version of heavy infantry." Rhino said tapping the crystal, causing a heavy set Changeling to appear. This one looked like a Berserker but was a bit bigger with a long, curved horn and three sets of fangs. "I know this one, the Skirmisher, a breed with three other variants that make up our heavy infantry. They are not very smart, only enough to follow orders, their attack couldn't be simpler; they see their target, they attack it, it goes down. But they are as tough as they are dumb. This breed and it's variants are hatched as this." Next was a Skirmisher with armor on it's legs, chest and head, and some sort of device on it's horn. "The Bolter, the device on it's horn allow it to fire magic bolts at a very high rate." Next was a Skirmisher with armor added to the back, barrel, flanks and neck, and a helmet with four spikes as long as the horn. Held in it's magic were two very large and heavy tower shields with short spikes around the edge and a medium sized crystal in the center. "Charger, this breed will rush at enemies covering themselves and nearby allies with their shields. Once they reach their target they slam their shield into their target, if the blow doesn't bring them down the blast of magic from the crystal will. Next was a Charger with more, heavier armor and four even heavier tower shields. "Elite Charger, a veteran Charger with more armor and shields that reflect ranged attacks." Rhino tapped the crystal. "Next is the Armor Case, these Changelings are our heavy assault units, often found were fighting is the thickest. Changelings in this case are heavily armored, very strong and have a very high resistance to both magic and physical attacks. These breeds however have lost the ability to disguise." "I'm not too familiar with this case or the ones after Rhino, Mom never got the chance to teach me the rest before she had to flee." "I know my Prince, I'll teach you since I am familiar the rest of the case's and breeds." Rhino tapped the crystal and a large Changeling a good head taller then a Royal appeared. This one had thick legs, smooth plated armor on it's shoulders, back, flanks and chest. A short webbed tail and mane with a lot of holes and tears, a blunt snout, a short, thick horn, two curved thick horns jutted out from the sides of the head, a short head crest, three sets of short fangs, and four eyes with the rear pair being smaller than the front pair. "This one is the Brute. Brutes are the smallest of the Armor Case and have the least amount of armor, being built more for speed, to counter their lighter armor they work in packs of three." "But they are still hard to take down." "Right." Next was a Changeling twice the size of the Brute with thicker and heavier legs, more plates with spikes, a row of four spikes down it's back, a short webbed tail and mane with a lot of holes and tears, a thick sightly longer horn then the Brute's, a few bumps at the base of the horn, a crest of six plates behind the ears with a gap on top, a set of fangs with a smaller set behind the first, and four eyes with the rear pair being smaller than the front pair. The way it's head sat give it a hunchback appearance. "The Tank, the standard Armor Changeling who make up the bulk of the Changelings armor core. Both the Brute's and Tank's wing are hidden under their back plates like a lady bug or rhino beetle." The next one was as big as the Tank but with light armor and had plates along it's back like a Pill Bug. "The Roller, this breed is used for siege warfare. They fold up and roll at their target picking up speed along the way, often smashing through walls, gates and enemy infantry formations. They are a somewhat rare breed." Next was the Juggernaut, which Dragonfly knew. "Now this one I know. The Juggernaut was created by my Mother Empress Nebula Sheen a very long time ago. They are among the most powerful breed of Changelings, capable of going hoof-to-claw with a dragon and wining." The next one Dragonfly didn't recognize at all. "Rhino what is that? It looks like somebuggy took a young adult quadruped dragon, turned it into a Changeling version of one, and removed the wings. "That's just what happened my Prince, this is the Drake, a breed originally created by taking the body of a dead young adult dragon, removing the wings and placing it in a cocoon to become a Changeling." "That's... rather morbid, and why remove the wings?." "It was created during a terrible war between Changelings and Dragons long before the Pony Tribes came together, as for the wings the original body's wings fell off during transport." "Okay that's just sick." "Yea thankfully this breed can be created from drones now. Anyway, this powerful breed was created to fight dragons since Juggernauts weren't around at the time." The next one didn't even have a picture. "What is this one Rhino? There's no picture." "This one is the infamous Behemoth, this breed has not been seen for well over a thousand years so I don't know much about them and the only hive that could create them was lost two thousand years ago." Rhino switched over to the next one. The next Case is the Air Case. This case is our air counters to airborne foes like Pegasi, Griffons and Dragons. This one is the basic Flyer, they're pretty much airborne Drones." The Flyer was a Changeling a bit bigger and more slender than a Pony and had bigger and longer wings. Next was a Changeling that resembled a Wyvern, a Changeling version of one anyway. Next to it was one only a little bigger than a foal. These are the Wyrm-" Rhino pointed to the small one "- and the Wyvern," He pointed to the larger one. "I'm afraid my knowledge on these breeds is very limited. Other then the fact they existed I don't know about them." He said shrugging. "I wonder what they were for." Dragonfly said. "Anyway next one." The next one resembled a Royal with very large and sharp wings. It wore a flight suit like the Pony Wonderbolts but with the horn and legs exposed and a pair of goggles on it's head. This one goes by three names; Windbreaker, Wing slicer, and Cloud Crasher. They are the direct counter to Pegasus Pony Soldiers." "They look like the Changeling version of the Wonderbolts." "In a way that's what they are, just far more Military focused. They are the fastest Changeling Flyers and their wings are razor sharp, capable of cutting a Dragon's wing clean off in one pass." "Yikes." "Yea, and they always aim for their foes wings. Thankfully they can dull or sharpen their wings at will to keep the from hurting hive mates. The holes in their wings make this sound when they attack." "For intimidation i'm guessing." "Yes." Rhino confirmed. Next was... "Commander, is that what I think it is?" "A Changeling version a Dragon? Yes that is just what it is. They were created during the same war as the Drake and are made by infusing the cocoon with dragon scales. They are the most powerful breed known but require a very rare and special gem to make, one that is borderline impossible to find." He switched over to the next one. "Next is the Support Case, pretty self-explanatory." The first one looked like a Drone but had two long, antenna-like limbs sitting behind the ears. "Scouts, their antenna allow them to navigate poorly lit areas and their emotion sense is far more keen then other Changelings." The next one was a Drone with it's back legs and tail replaced with a mermaid like tail. "Swimmer, a breed only seen in hives near bodies of water." Next was a Manticore sized Changeling with a head like a Juggernaut but rounder, a body similar to a tortoise with a mostly flatter back, very thick back legs with several long thick spikes pointing down on the back of them, and a long thick tail like a Juggernaut. The most unique feature was some sort of organic 110 pounder naval long gun mounted on it's back. Around the Changeling were seven Drones and a Soldier, and sitting in front of the right leg were three cocoon-like cylinders with different tops; The first was a smooth dome, the second was a spike and the third was a dome with a honeycomb structure. "Okay this one I have no idea what that one is." Dragonfly said tilting his head to one side. "This Breed is the Pounder, the Changeling counterpart to the Ponies catapults and cannons. The Drones and Soldier with it are it's caretakers, the Pounder is hatched as it's breed but it's caretakers hatch with it. The cylinders are the ammo for the cannon on it's back, the smooth dome is general purpose, the spike is armor-piercing, and the honeycomb is anti-air." "I'm guessing this is a rare breed?" "Yes, only larger hives could make them. Next is the Infiltration Case, this on is also self-explanatory." The first one was a Drone with a longer horn and longer wings. "Infiltrator, they infiltrate enemy forces far ahead of the main force and act as spies. Next was a Changeling that resembled a head shorter Royal with light full body armor and a number of small cocoon-like orbs hanging on several straps across the torso and a two saddle bags over their flanks. "Commandos, elite Infiltrators who work as saboteurs." He switched to the next one. "Next is the Magic Case, our counterpart to Unicorns." The first was a somewhat larger Drone with a horn twice the length of the normal Drone's. It wore an amulet with a crystal on it's head and a gem pendant in the shape of a claw or fang around it's neck. "The Caster, basically our version of a Unicorn trained in combat magic." Next was a Changeling the size of a Commando with a long horn like a Royal, large wings, and short fangs. It't wore an amulet and a pendant like the Caster but also wore a shawl studded with small gems and a collar made of lightly hardened and gelled Changeling slime. The Valkyrie, one of the most powerful Changeling breed, almost on par with the Canterlot Archmages. I don't know much else about this breed as they haven't been seen since before Discord's rule and even then they were a very rare breed." He tapped the crystal again. "Next is the Guard Case, this case is responsible for protecting the Royal Case and act as their personal agents." The first one was a Changeling a bit bigger than a Drone with armor on it's chest and neck and a helmet with mandible extensions. "The Royal Guard, the standard guard and the most common. They can be found all over a hive and sometimes serve as body guards." Next was a Commando-like Changeling wearing heavy armor similar to a Pony Royal Guard with the addition of a heavy and thick collar that split in two spikes half-way up with the flanks and plot covered by a cape-like cloth split down the center to allow the tail through and a helmet like a Royal Guard's that covered the eyes and horn and in place of the plume was a webbed mane. Held in it's magic was a crossbow-like weapon and attached to the spot were the armor and cloth met on the left side was a quiver holding more bolts. "The Praetorian, the second most common guard. These are field agents who work along side the main force and lead squads of Royal Guards. The crossbow they carry fires explosive bolts and will stick into targets and terrain then explode, they have three variants. "The Praetorian Sentinel, They Stay close to the hive and work as lookouts for the Royals." The Sentinel looked the same but with a helmet that left only the jaw exposed. "The Elite Praetorian, a veteran Praetorian who protect Young Royals in squads of six." The Elite had a full helmet. "And the Hive Guard, the Elite of the Elite, they are the lead Royals personal bodyguards, with no less than eight with a Royal at all times." The Hive Guard wore more oriental armor studded with gems. "The final Case is the Leader Case since you know the Royal Case; the Young Prince/Princess, the Prince/Princess, and the King/Queen. First up is the Lieutenant." The Lieutenant was a large Drone-like Changeling with an armored collar and helmet. "Lieutenants are the second-in-command to Commanders, who is next." The Commander was a Commando-like Changeling with an armored collar with five studs and a helmet with mandible-like spikes extensions and two curved short spikes below the horn. "The Commander is the head of a division of the hive Military and is just below the Advisor and the Royals. A Commander is added by two Lieutenants. The last one is the Advisor, which is what Seeker is. Advisors are the right hoof Changeling to a Royal." Rhino Turned the crystal off. "That's all of them my Prince, any questions?" "No, but I am glad Chrysalis only had untrained Drones and only a few Soldiers or things could have been a lot different. On that note, could you gather Seeker, Darter and Spotter in here? We need to discuss our future plans." Rhino saluted "-On it sir.-" and walked out of the throne room. Dragonfly began thinking about the future. The future of our hive is unknown right now, with the Timber Wolves and the alert Ponies times will be difficult but what could we do? We will help them with the wolves but do we stay hidden or do we reveal ourselves to the Ponies? We have a long road ahead of us. He picked up his crystal and stared into it. Mom, Dad, rebuilding will take time and I'm not sure if peace is possible with the Ponies right now but, when the time comes, I hope I do the right thing. He hugged the crystal against his chest, a few tears fell from his eyes. I love you both very much, and I hope to make you proud to call me your son.