//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: The Queen // Story: Realm of the Lost // by Orsuros //------------------------------// Wait until the frog takes her to Queen Cordys. Ocellus hated her sticky, slimy prison, but Headmare Twilight always said that knowledge was the first step to solving any problem. Usually Twilight meant friendship problems instead of getting captured in some strange world, but Ocellus was confident that the same principles applied. The bouncing rhythm of the frog’s hops halted as the creature stopped at the edge of a cave. Ocellus gasped as two black changelings stepped out of the shadows. They were lightly armored and looked as fierce as any of the old guards and warriors that patrolled the hive when Chrysalis was in charge. The frog spat up Ocellus. She quivered in fear as flashbacks to the old hive played through her mind. Her wings buzzed to try to get the slime off. The guards stepped up to her. The larger one looked over at Dusty Tail. “Servant, who have you brought us?” The mushrooms growing around Dusty Tail’s mane glowed brighter and his voice came out in a flat tone as he answered. “A strange changeling. I found her out in the forest before the frog captured her.” “Good work. Accompany her to the queen and receive your reward. I am curious about this outsider, but the queen will question her first.” The guard locked manacles on Ocellus and Dusty Tail. A chain tied them together. Dusty Tail helped Ocellus up and smiled. Ocellus could feel his excitement at getting this reward, but her own heart was racing for much different reasons. Ocellus got a better look at the guards as she walked past them. She could feel the aura of strength they had. These changelings had the powerful look of being well fed on genuine love. They both looked at her with curious glances, but their discipline kept them at their posts. “Sorry about the awkward chain,” Dusty Tail said. “But you’re going to love the hive. It’s up ahead.” The subterranean tunnel was lit with mushrooms glowing brightly in many colors. They grew thickly in the roots and rotten wood that lined the walls. The cave widened until the mushrooms growing on the ceiling were distant dots before it suddenly opened up. Ocellus shivered at what she saw. In the center of the cave was a massive conical pillar made of stone, wood, and hardened changeling goo. It was exactly like the old hive. Ocellus had to look closely before she started to see the differences. It was less sharp stone blocks and more wood pulp. The colorful mushrooms grew all along it. Drones and soldiers flew in and out of the many holes. Huge fields of the blue mushrooms grew in neat rows. Ponies tended the mushrooms while changelings watched them. A large staircase led to a small hole at the top of the cave. A little sunlight came in through the small hole, and Ocellus could see ponies going up and down the staircase. They were all earth ponies, and each of them had the glowing blue mushrooms in their manes. “Why do all of the ponies have those mushrooms?” Ocellus asked. “Everyone has them except for very young foals. They help link us to the queen. They make us part of the hive.” Dusty Tail said it proudly. Ocellus was shocked. The ponies all looked so happy in their work while Ocellus walked by them in the fields. They joked with each other as they tended the mushrooms. They passed more guards, but the guards said little. The guard at the entrance to the hive stepped in front of them and led the way through the tunnels that shifted with changeling magic. Every tunnel and room reminded Ocellus of her childhood in the old hive, but the guards here seemed more relaxed and more intelligent than Chrysalis’s. There weren’t as many of them, though, and there also seemed to be fewer workers, too. Finally, they rounded the final bend and stepped through a large hole that led to the throne room at the center of the hive. Ocellus nearly tripped as she saw the changeling queen on the throne. She hadn’t realized she had stopped walking, but Dusty Tail kept pulling her forward. Ocellus reminded herself that it wasn’t Chrysalis, even if this queen looked similar. She was tall and graceful, although she lacked the starved and thin look of Chrysalis. She had a thicker and more rounded figure, and her carapace was more purple and light blue than Chrysalis’s. Her crown was larger, too. It was made of silvery metal. Small black gems surrounded a huge blue sapphire in the center that was the same color as all the blue mushrooms. The queen’s horn glowed and the manacles unlocked. The guard and Dusty Tail both bowed. Ocellus did the same as she remembered old habits from the old hive. “Welcome to my hive, young one. I am Queen Cordys. Step closer. Let me get a good look at you. And a reward for the pony who brought you here.” The queen’s crown glowed, and the mushrooms on Dusty Tail lit up. He sat down and sighed happily. Clearly something was making him feel amazing. Ocellus could feel the strength of his happiness. “Ah, yes,” Cordys said. “You are a strange one. Are you one of Chrysalis’s? I sense her mark on you, yet I also sense so much more.” Ocellus fought with her old instincts to obey a queen. She sputtered and had to clear her throat to buy a little time to properly reply. Being friendly might get her some good information about this strange queen who already seemed to know so much about her. “Y-yes! I was part of Chrysalis’s hive.” The sudden urge to tell everything came over Ocellus, and she couldn’t fight it. “But she’s no longer our queen. Now we follow King Thorax.” “A king?” Cordys laughed. “That explains things. I wouldn’t think Chrysalis would be willing to give up so much control to change you into what you are now. So your hive found a way to feed your hunger without draining love from others?” “King Thorax found it first, and we followed his example. I’d never want to go back to the way things were. Now I share love with my friends instead of taking it.” “It sounds like an interesting story, and I have time. Why don’t you tell me all about yourself and how you got here?” Ocellus felt a little guilty at the pleasure that obeying a queen was giving her, but the pleased look on the queen’s face made her feel amazing. She eagerly shared the story of the changelings in Equestria and her own story of going to the School of Friendship. She finished with the most recent information about the magic that had brought her here. “And now the magic of Equestria is bound to Starlight Glimmer. But I don’t know where she went after we got separated.” Ocellus clapped her hoof over her mouth. She had said way too much. She was stupid for giving in to the queen’s simple tricks, but it was so hard to disobey a queen that seemed so powerful and full of love and magic. “Ocellus, you are such a helpful and intelligent young drone. I can see why your king chose you to represent the changelings at the school. And I can think of many opportunities that your information will provide for me. I hope you can see that I run things differently than my cousin, Queen Chrysalis. I have ways to bring other creatures into my hive so they can share their love freely and benefit from our guidance. We help them adapt and grow. Dusty Tail is a good example. He and his friends and family are happy and protected up in their little village above the hive. We provide all the work and purpose that they’d ever need.” Dusty Tail muttered softly. “It is as you say, my queen.” Ocellus could feel the magic passing between the mushrooms growing on the pony and the queen’s crown. It was unlike anything she had studied, but she had a sudden idea. Cordys was using the mushrooms to somehow control and pacify the ponies and even creatures like the frog that had brought her here. She said nothing as the queen continued to talk. “With the magic you brought, we could return and bring the same peace and prosperity to Equestria. You won’t even need a school of friendship. I can make any creature be our friend. And it sounds like your king needs a queen to help him rule.” Ocellus felt dirty. She had betrayed her hive and her friends by saying too much, but she had figured out something very important. She trembled as she felt the powerful emotions of Queen Cordys. This queen wanted power and control in a more absolute way than Chrysalis ever had. Ocellus would have to warn her friends, but a small part of her wondered if she’d see them again anytime soon. “I will prepare an expedition to find that magic,” Queen Cordys said. “And you will go with them to convince your friends that we mean no harm. I will be happy to adopt you into our hive if you swear your loyalty to me. Pince, gather the materials for the allegiance ceremony. And have a guard take Ocellus to the guest quarters. Oh, and take the pony with you. He will help you with any comfort or food you might require.” The queen stomped a hoof on the edge of her throne. One of the largest changeling warriors at her side ran off into the tunnels. The guard that had brought them in led them down a short tunnel and into a brightly lit room. The guard stayed at the entrance while Ocellus and Dusty Tail walked inside. A few paintings were hung on the walls, and some fine pony-made furniture lined the walls. Ocellus paced around the room and looked at the paintings. They were all of Queen Cordys. In some, she was the graceful ruler of the hive, and in others, she was painted as the benevolent protector of the earth ponies. Ocellus sighed and flopped down on a soft couch. If she stayed and went through the allegiance ceremony, she’d have even more trouble resisting Queen Cordys. King Thorax had refused to use that sort of magic, but he had explained it to Ocellus once. The ceremony magically bound a changeling to a certain hive and its ruler. The queen had assumed Ocellus wouldn’t refuse it, but if Ocellus stayed, she might be forced to go through it. “Can I get you something to drink?” Dusty Tail interrupted Ocellus’s thoughts. He set down a tray with a few bottles. Ocellus recognized them. The love-infused nectar was similar to what Chrysalis had given to her best drones and soldiers. Pharynx still had bottles of the stuff that he’d sometimes drink, although now it meant that he’d get too much love and get a little drunk on it. Usually that meant a night of wandering the hive and singing his war songs until he passed out. King Thorax was always a little embarrassed when that happened. “I’d like just a little.” Dusty Tail carefully poured a small glass of the nectar. He didn’t spill a single drop. He held the glass out until Ocellus took it. “There you go. I’d be happy to provide anything else you need.” Ocellus sipped the nectar. Even if her body no longer used love in the same way as the old changelings, the energy in the nectar was enough to wipe away most of her fatigue. She drank the last of it and was feeling almost bubbly. (Ocellus heals 2 stamina.) She took a deep breath to clear her mind and sat in her pose she used for meditation as she quickly thought through what she could do. Experiment on Dusty Tail and see if there’s a way to remove the mushrooms and magic controlling him. Find a way to fake the magic of the allegiance ceremony and use Queen Cordys to help find and warn her friends. Find a way to escape. Convince the guard to transform into a new type of changeling and rebel against the queen.