//------------------------------// // The Hive Mind // Story: The Love Must Be Shared! // by Timemaster //------------------------------// The Glistening Village The golden sun beams its glory unto the fields of scrumptious hay. For miles and miles, this farm seems to have conquered the earth, with hills only distinguishable by their noticeable curve. Dirt paths and irrigation channels run through the fields, the only structures breaking that golden monoculture. The air is dry, the soil is perfect, and the dust from the badlands has yet to billow through. Before the sun finally plummets to rest, a small and colorful bug is seen flittering around erratically. This bug dives into the sheets of hay, leaving a small dent. Then, a larger dent rushes quickly towards the bug's dent, the sounds of panting heart clearly. "Get... Over... Here... you..." says a stallion, his voice tired, yet angered. The small dent tries to rush through the hay once more as the pony approaches, but a green magical field stops it in place. An angry buzz, a solid clank, and an exasperated sigh later, a pony laughs and stumbles onto the road, falling to his butt. Next to him is a cage, humming with an enchantment, and a rather angry parasprite trying to eat the cage. "Mr. Smiggles," the pony says, looking at the parasprite with a victorious grin, "you better not try escaping again!" The parasprite looks at the pony and frowns at it lays on the floor of the cage. The pony stretches his red body on the soft soil and stares up at the beautiful orange sky. Closing his eyes, he slowly releases a magic aura. ... Nothing but crops! He smiles to himself. He rests on the soft dirt, the stars shining bright even though the Sun has yet to truly sleep. He admires the beauty of the ending day. Darkness erupts into and overtakes the mind. However, this illusion of darkness then fills with so many colorful spheres of all different colors and sizes that it seems one stepped into the cosmos. Warmth radiates from these spheres and light slaughters most of the darkness, revealing that the darkness hid fluffy clouds. The spheres play on these clouds and zoom around, clearing away more darkness as they make more spheres. This is the Hive Mind. A newly born Superior Changeling closes his blazing blue eyes, yet his true eyes never close. He can see everyling, feel everyling, and they can feel him. However, they did not hear him. Within the loud plane of Paradise that is the Hive Mind, a slowly growing number of changelings spread love and ideas. Everyling that joins the collective is greeted by thousands of their own kind and given Love no matter where they are. It was the same for this Changeling. WELCOME! HELLO WE ARE SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU! Are you new? So am I! Let's be friends! FOR FREEDOM Friendship, please? YES, another elder! Is that you, Mandible? Still so old? I'm way younger, and cooler, than you; but you're pretty old and cool! FOR FREEDOM HI HI Uh... hi FOR FREEDOM YO! H-hello, elder! Love flowed from every syllable, nearly drowning Mandible in ecstasy, but he was undeterred. He replied to none of their gestures, even the one that recognized him. His mind seemed to vanish from the hivemind, confusing the others, but they forgot about it once a new changeling was born into the hivemind. Quiet, calming, and unseen, Mandible cowered within paradise. Antennae explores the Hive Mind. Cheers and applause surround his mind, younger Changelings filling him with their Love. His closest allies, those who had evolved with him earlier, usher the newlings into their new Hive Mind. One very special changeling to Antennae could be heard shouting FOR FREEDOM throughout the entire Hive Mind. Truly, the Hive Mind was beautiful. His eyes wide shut, Antennae could see the feelings of all his brethren as they greeted and played. Tempted to play himself, he stops to speak once more to his people. My Fellow Changelings he thinks loudly to the Hive. Shimmering orbs fly from all directions closer to him Hello! Thank you! It is so pretty here! Yes? Yes, Mr. Antennae sir? Yes? His soul bobs in joy at their love, Oh, no, you don't have to call me sir! I'm your friend! I know that we are having fun together, but our fellow changelings back in Equestria need to feel our Real Love! They must be so lonely! Absolutely! But can't we wait a moment? Yeah, there's still little lings hiding around in the Badlands! I can go out So can I! And I! Not me, sorry! I'm tired! I'll come with! Everyling needs to experience this paradise! Antennae swirls around and chirps, Yeah! Everyling who wants to go, fan out! Don't get caught now, though, and keep in touch! He opens his eyes and returns to the normal world. He prances around happily in the cave while gathering those who wish to come with him. The Glistening Village The enchanting moon shines over the stallion as he observed Mr. Smiggles gnawing at a piece of hay in his cage. The Night is so bright due to the stars, that the dirt paths could clearly be seen. The stallion stands up and walks up the path up the hill, Mr. Smiggles' cage on his back. He hums a tune as he goes up. After the departure of a sizeable portion of the superior changelings, those who remained discuss the future of their kind. A bright collection of sphere chirp back and forth, bobbing as they think and smiling as they receive love from one another. This love intoxication loosens their inner lips and moistens their inner eye, drowning out self-doubt and anxiety from many a changeling. Although there were thousands of orbs in attendance, only a few manage to speak loud enough and forcefully enough to actually penetrate into the conversation/ I'm tired of caves and flower gardens! Can we build a new changeling hive? oooo new hives? Let me in let me in! I loved the old one! Wow, you got to live in a hive? I want to help! How can I help? Anyling need supplies? Why did King Thorax, may he rest in peace, keep us in caves? I don't know, actually. Does anyling? .. Well, in any case, we should all meet up at the old hive, we can really plan there! I only recently joined, but I own a magic shop a few miles in Equestria! I'll ship some supplies here! Should we remake the stone chair of Chrysalis? How would we even go about it? There is bound to be someling hiding in Equestria with an idea! Maybe the scouts will force them in? Yeah! Once they are in, everyling will understand the power of the hive! I'll start gathering materials in the old rock mine, everyling that wants to help should come, too! That sounds great and all, but how do we go about defense? I'm worried someling will betray the collective! What? Why would anyone betray this? I've never felt so full in my life! Oh, if only my pony friends could feel this love. Surely not all ponies were in with those royal planners? Silence falls across the hivemind, everyling's thoughts coated in that question. I, someling chimed in, don't think everypony is at fault, but I remember that there were ways to turn ponies into changelings! They COULD feel this love and understand the true purpose of life! Ponies into Changelings? How? Converting ponies is easy! We just stuff them into a chrysalis, no relation, and incubate them like our young! Why did we not do that before! Think about it, we could have had everypony become everyling! No longer would we even need disguises in Equestria! I don't know, but I think King Thorax loved the ponies too much! Don't you all agree? The minds race quickly, but only the quickest and loudest answered first. Yes, but no! He loved them enough to hug them, but not enough to make them into us! We are all better than silly ponies, right? I think we are? Did we not almost conquer them in our strange malnourished forms? And we were under a dumb Queen! Nowhere near the intelligence of the Gyphonian Queen, before we showed her what happens to tyrants! Laughter rings around the hivemind. Everyling feels their happiness and, although some had feelings of doubt, the love can not be wrong! Then we are one! When do we strike? How? Should we ask Antennae and the others? I think we should plan and strike fast! No! What if we get caught and the ponies try to zap us to the moon? I don't want to live on the moon! Do not be a coward! We are far smarter than those dumb ponies! How could they ever detect us? I think King Thorax built something in the Crystal Empire to detect changelings! Oh Yeah! What if there are many of those? Thoughts swirl as knowledge is shot throughout the hive mind. Detractors to the idea of invading Equestria are awash with the unbridled joy and happiness coming from those planning this "operation". Some open up their eyes to escape the flood of emotions, only to find they still feel them outside of the thought collective. Sure, the ideas within the thoughts are not permeating their skulls, but the emotions resonate throughout their bodies. It feels so good, that a few detractors even close their eyes to try and understand the joy. However, one particular changeling contests these ideas. Fools! Don't you remember what King Thorax told us? Ponies are our friends! Why would we force them to be like us? His soul was red with righteous fury, dousing the joy of those around him. He saw the effects his thought had on others and blinked pink in embarrassment, cooling just a little. Force? We never said to force them! Ponies have to be forced! I've met quite a few stubborn ponies who wouldn't accept change even for a buck! No they don't! Once they hear of the paradise we can bring them to, they'd be sure to join us! Yeah, we can just convince them! Yeah! They can not all be stubborn! Yeah! Look around, this place is so much better than the gardens! No offense, Stinger! A small blue mind blinks in pink, as she replies, None taken, but I agree! Somelings whisper their thoughts all around the red detractor. Every single quiet word they spoke doused his anger in waves of disappointmen just like he doused their joy earlier with his rage. In nearly an instant, his once red mind becomes a blinding pink. His mind puffs out and he groans, Okay, maybe we can convince them, but how? Don't worry about that right now! We should get the other changelings in Equestria on our side first, right? Yeah! Smart idea! That second idea is smart, but I still disagree with pony conversion. Can we all talk about this after we get the other changelings? Maybe they'll have knowledge we require on this? And just like that, the brave orb realized that he just shifted his grounds. However, once he did, love explodes from all his brethren towards him! It wrapped around him and cuddled him. The love, the approval, was so delicious and sweet, that he no longer had to heart to continue his thoughts against his brethren. Instead, he held his thoughts at bay as his lovely brethren continued their talk, his soul bobbing with joy. The Glistening Village The stallion crawls into his soft bed, Mr. Smiggles on the desk next to him. Taking one soft look at the moon through his large window, he feels at ease. After a few seconds of staring at the moon, the stallion stopped existing in the waking world.