There's something I don't quite get. Xavier stopped and looked in one particular infirmary chamber.
"What is it?" asked Blue as he turned on the spot.
This hive used to have a queen some time ago, right?
"Uh, yeah?" Blue tilted his head.
And this queen used to lay all of the hive's egg sacs, correct?
"That's right." Blue nodded.
So, where did all of these new changeling larvae come from? Xavier motioned a paw toward the opening in the wall. Multiple colored changeling babies were curled up in their nymph wrappings.
"Oh, some of the females decided to have children." Blue smiled and turned forward to continue his walk.
Xavier nearly tripped on nothing before he caught himself and ran up next to Blue. Wait, if every female changeling can bear children, then what was the point of having a queen do it alone in the first place?
"Beats me." Blue shrugged and briefly lifted his wings to follow suit. "I guess Chrysalis just wanted to be dominating in every category. One of her rules included a clause that forbade any other changeling from reproducing."
Huh... Xavier looked down a little as he moved along. So she was bound to fail sooner or later, due to a rule stunting her maximum army size.
"Oh yeah, good point." Blue chuckled. "Anyway, want to see something cool?"
Xavier looked back up. Okay.
"Behold the Shifting Room!"
Blue reached out his front hooves to either side while balancing precariously on his hind legs. Xavier looked up and down a jagged pillar of stone. The Lucario did a double-take when it looked like a large hole shrunk out of existence. He squinted as he observed a new hole appearing at a slightly different angle and position. In fact, this was happening all over the rock.
What in the world? Xavier looked to the left and right. Who is shaping the rock like this?
"No one." Blue smirked. "It's doing that all by itself. The hive used to be made of nothing but this shifting stone. But it made visitors from the other nations and tribes uneasy. Something about headaches and dizziness."
I think I understand their point of view. Xavier gently pressed his paws up against his ears, and slowly rubbed back and forth. The layout is altering before I can even grasp half of the structure.
Xavier closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he looked up with a calm, bluish-white glow. He tried to use his Psychic attack to hold the Shifting Room's stone. However, the telekinetic squiggly lights did nothing to slow the changing patterns and openings. He grunted as he called off his attack.
Blue hopped through one of the expanding holes and waved through. "Come on, pal! This isn't battle training. Have some fun!"
You have a strange definition of the term 'fun'. Xavier leapt through just in time for his impromptu entrance to slam shut behind him. Has anyone ever gotten trapped in here?
"Eh, not for more than a couple hours." Blue flew around a stone spire in the shape of a helix. "Plus it seems polite enough not to crush any creature that its stone covers."
Oh... Xavier knelt on a floating platform and stared deadpan. So we could potentially be caught by rock for two hours. Great...
Blue hovered back down and patted Xavier on the back. The changeling then proceeded to fly haphazardly through certain holes in the rocks while taking sharp turns around growing, flat surfaces. Xavier took a crane stance before somersaulting over a sudden hill. Upon landing on a shrinking circle stone, he leapt into a back flip leaning back just in time to avoid a surprise stalactite. He was sure his chest spike chipped some of the rock off with him.
Both of them ended up running along some outer walls that were moving into an upward spiral. Blue flapped his wings while hanging in place just above the Shifting Room's exterior. Xavier managed to hold one of the holes in the ceiling open with his staff along its diameter. The Lucario pulled himself out and his staff just before the hole could crush either.
Blue chuckled. Xavier accidentally whipped with his tail while turning away, sweeping through Blue's wings in the process. The disruption flipped Blue over his side and sent him diving straight onto the distant floor. Xavier gasped and hopped over to a wall, using his Bone Rush attack to try and slow his own descent. After sliding for a second, he canceled the move and hopped next to Blue.
With a deep breath and a thought of sweet cherries, Xavier released a Heal Pulse at the groaning Blue. After the pink glow briefly flashed throughout his body, Blue stood up and sighed in relief. He turned to look at his current company and continued to chuckle. Xavier smiled a little, glad his friend was okay.
"What are you goof-balls doing?"
The echoing voice caught the attention of both. Pharynx was approaching in his beastly-bug shape with loud steps along the hall. Blue shook on his hooves. Xavier crossed his upper paws and stared expectantly. By that point, Pharynx had shifted back to his default form and landed in front of the pair.
Is something wrong, Commander Pharynx? Xavier casually wagged his tail once.
Pharynx instead turned his glare to the changeling drone. "Didn't you hear the hive mind call?"
"Er... I might have been distracted." Blue chuckled nervously. "I thought we had some down time."
"March!" Pharynx ordered with a swift raise of his hoof. "We have visitors from the ponies. Thorax wanted to present our... guest." He glanced at the Lucario when he said that.
I've been promoted to "guest"? Xavier smirked as he and Blue swiftly followed. Things are looking up for me!
Pharynx rolled the white spots of his purple eyes. "Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head, dog."
---
Calm, blue presences whisked around in Xavier's aura sense. His real eyes were closed as he focused on his external awareness. Various colored auras left the room while a few remained. Two purplish auras, he recognized as the sitting shapes of King Thorax and Commander Pharynx. The other two were new to the Lucario. One was what he could describe as a flame-less Ponyta, if he stretched the description.
The other was flying around while having a gleeful spasm at him simply standing there. At first, he thought it was a fair reaction. He still hadn't seen all of this Equestria. So, it made sense that plenty of creatures had yet to see him, let alone know anything about him. But something kept ringing in his ears, the longer the aura with large wings shuffled around and muttered to herself. Xavier let a low, beastly growl escape between his teeth.
"Uh, Twilight?" The unicorn aura moved a hoof up. "Maybe it's time to take a break from the note-taking!" It then quickly waved both of its front hooves. "Not that I'm making a suggestion while in the hive!"
"I'll allow it this one time, Starlight." Thorax spoke while his aura's center remained completely still.
When Xavier opened his eyes, the alicorn retreated to a seat. So, this is a young princess of the land. She seems like a cross between a fan-girl and someone writing their thesis at the last possible minute. He moved a paw just under his mouth. Where did that choice of words come from?
Twilight beamed in her own little world. "But this 'aura' is so new! I've got to write it all down somewhere, or I'll forget the important details!"
"And I completely respect that." Starlight held a hoof over her chest. "But don't you think we should respect him in the same vein?"
The alicorn slowly turned from her stack of notes to look at the Lucario. "Oh! ... Um... I'm sorry?"
Xavier crossed his arms and took a deep breath. Apology accepted, Your Majesty.
"You have telepathy?!" Twilight's eyes opened wide as a growing smile adorned her mouth.
If Pharynx had pupils, he would have rolled his eyes. "That's how he has been talking to us this entire meeting. Catch up, Princess."
Thorax smiled sheepishly. "Hey, it's easy to overlook one or two things when some pony gets excited. At least we're all caught up now."
Pharynx shook his head. "Your quick sympathy makes me sick some days, Thorax."
"Love you too, Big Bro." Thorax shifted his gaze to Xavier. "So, Xavier! Why don't you tell our guests about what you've been doing recently?"
If you'd like. Xavier nodded before clearing his throat. "Ri! Car!" As I mentioned earlier, I am a being who was 'displaced'. Several other worlds exist that are like Equestria, but have unique traits and possibly a different creature or entity that was also 'displaced'.
He pulled out his patterned card, mini-claw, and rectangular charm. He explained what little he knew about these 'keys' and how they connected him to the other 'displaced' beings. He described the worlds he had visited so far and the things he had picked up while there.
Starlight Glimmer's horn glowed briefly before she tilted her head. "Hmm... I don't detect any portal magic in these objects."
They're less like portals and more like Instant Transmission devices. Xavier held a paw above and between his eyes. And they only seem to work for the Displaced.
"To fixed points in other worlds?" reiterated Twilight. Her notes were back on the table as she scribbled in earnest.
Sort of... He held up the order dragon's charm. In my recent trips, they've only been vaguely in the vicinity of the keys' original owners. Some wild guess searching was still required to find the other Displaced in those worlds.
"How long were you gone for during your trips?" Starlight looked at her mentor before shaking her head, giving up.
Thorax placed a hoof on either side of his spot at the table. "According to some of the drones' reports, they spotted Xavier vanishing before reappearing after an hour each instance."
I trust your scouts better than my own perception. Xavier placed his right paw over his left paw's spike. These different worlds don't always feel like they share proportionate time lengths.
Pharynx held up a hoof to his side. "If you wanted to lie about your whereabouts, you should've made the story more convincing."
Thorax looked over. "Do you think he's lying?"
Pharynx scoffed. "No. He's too ridiculous and he wears his emotions on his hide... kind of like you."
"Um... thanks?"/Erm... thank you? Thorax and Xavier lifted their brow-like areas while looking at Pharynx.
The simultaneous mix of uncertain gratitude elicited giggles from both of the pony visitors. Xavier took the time to quietly place his keys back into his inventory. Thorax chuckled nervously. Pharynx smirked at what may have been a job well done. As Twilight was catching her breath, she started placing her notes into sorted files in her saddlebags.
"Thank you for your time," she said. "Before we go, is there a chance we could make copies of those keys for examination?"
"That's the first thing I tried right after searching for magical signatures," interjected Starlight. "It didn't work."
"Wait, you mean like Chrysalis's magic-absorbing stone?" Twilight turned to look at her.
Starlight shook her head. "No, they didn't absorb the magic I cast. It just stopped, like if a hoof tapped on blade-proof glass."
Twilight held one of her feathers just below her muzzle. "Hmm, that's even more interesting. So the objects can be grabbed by levitation, but are completely immune to other spells. They really are from other worlds."
At times, I wish that their immunity applied to me as well. Xavier sighed. Then again... if I never felt pain, I guess I wouldn't try so hard.
Starlight nodded. "It was nice to get to know you better, Xavier."
"Yeah, we'll have to talk again soon!" Twilight smiled as the two stood up.
I would welcome that. Xavier gave a nod. His tail slowly wagged behind him.
Thorax waved. "Good to see you guys again!"
Pharynx half-waved. "Later, Light Twins."
---