Fake the magic of the allegiance ceremony.
Dusty Tail brought Ocellus paper and a pencil for her to try to sketch out her plans. She tried to list what sort of magic or spells might mimic the sort of magical bond the ceremony would normally create. It was very difficult to have a good idea of what to do because she had never seen the ceremony take place, but she thought it would make something like the bond she used to have with Queen Chrysalis.
Even thinking about that made her shiver. Dusty Tail sat nearby and his ears perked up.
“I’m here if you need some love or even a warm pony to snuggle. Some of the nicer changelings sometimes like to harvest our love that way.”
Harvest. Ocellus hated that word. She waved him back with a hoof and went back to her lists and plans. Eventually, she had what she thought would work and practiced it for a few moments. Dusty Tail kept watching her the entire time, but he didn’t seem to understand much about the magic she was trying to do.
Ocellus could have spent hours experimenting, but the guards returned after about half an hour. They both looked more friendly now that Ocellus was about to become part of the hive. They marched Ocellus back to the throne room.
Queen Cordys sat on her throne with a confident and welcoming smile. A small table in front of her held a small vial of royal jelly. It glowed with a brilliant green light. If a female changeling was given enough of it, they could become a queen, but this amount was too small for that. It made sense that it would be used in the ceremony, but Ocellus hadn’t planned for it.
“Ocellus, spawn of Queen Chrysalis. Come forward and become part of my hive. We welcome you as part of our swarm. Let the love you gather serve the hive well.”
The queen used her magic on the royal jelly. Ocellus could feel the magic radiating off of it, but she knew that many of its effects wouldn’t be magical. She took the vial in her hoof and cast her own spells to protect her from it. She hoped they would be enough as she raised the thick fluid up and drank it.
The effects of it were like ice and lightning traveling through her body. She collapsed to the ground and shut her eyes as the unnerving sensations made her chitin itch. She knew immediately that her little hidden spells had done almost nothing. She could feel her mind connecting to the hive here and tried to draw back from it. She felt another magic deep inside her that reacted against the changes in her mind and heart. Ocellus called on the magic of Harmony.
Ocellus could feel the changes slow down. The connection to this new hive was still there, but it hadn’t entirely replaced Ocellus’s connection to Thorax’s hive. And Ocellus could suddenly sense the changelings around her in a way that she hadn’t felt since Queen Chrysalis was in charge. The presence of the queen was now like a brilliant sun, and Ocellus relished the sense of pleasure that the queen radiated. The words to say suddenly came to her through the new bond.
“My hooves shall follow the queen’s path. My heart will follow her desires. My wings will carry me where she commands. My love for the hive.”
Queen Cordys laughed and got up from her throne to give Ocellus a gentle pat on the head. “Very good. Now I know you will be loyal to me instead of to others. Of course, you’re a little different than my other drones. I don’t think you can harvest love in the same way that they can.”
Ocellus felt two sets of emotions. Part of her rebelled at the thought of harvesting love, but part of her was disappointed that she couldn’t be useful to the hive in that way. Cordys lifted Ocellus’s chin up and looked into her eyes.
“Instead, you will do as I commanded earlier. Go with my expedition. Convince your friends to come here. Then I’ll be able to see to all their needs, like I do with my ponies. There’s no need to violently take love like Chrysalis did. My way is much more steady and sustainable. Bring them here, and they’ll be safe and happy. Pince will lead the expedition, so follow his orders as you would mine.”
The massive changeling warrior saluted the queen before motioning for Ocellus and a few other drones to follow him. Ocellus took one last look at Dusty Tail. She could feel a new connection between her and him. She wanted him to stay with her, and the thought of that command suddenly called a little magic from her. Dusty Tail followed her saying a word, but Pince glared at the pony.
“You are dismissed,” he said. “Go back up to your village.”
Dusty Tail smiled and bowed before quickly trotting off toward the hive’s exit.
Pince looked Ocellus over and snorted. “I hope they taught you how to properly infiltrate in that hive you came from. If you can’t carry your weight on this mission, I’ll find a way to make sure you don’t hold us back. Am I clear?”
The way he spoke and yelled reminded Ocellus of Pharynx. Pince was definitely the tough military type of changeling. Ocellus saluted.
“Uh… yes, sir!”
“Good. And welcome to our hive. We’ll be traveling in a small infiltration unit to avoid notice. I have reports from the spies and scouts that something big is happening at the Shadow Mountains. We’ll need to sneak in until we find an umbrum or windigo and transform into them. That should let us in to see what’s really going on. If you find any of your friends, let me know.”
Ocellus could feel the excitement from her fellow changelings, and she felt it herself. This would be her big chance to prove her worth to the new hive. Yet, wouldn’t following these orders be betraying her friends? Ocellus’s feelings seemed more divided than ever.
Besides Pince, only three other changelings had followed. There was one other big male drone, but he wasn’t quite as big as Pince. The other two were slender female drones who moved with the dangerous grace of well-trained soldiers.
Pince pulled out a map and traced out the route they’d be flying. It led through and over the many canyons of a place called the Wastelands and then through some forested hills that led up into the mountains. It would be the perfect approach to fly quickly while avoiding notice.
“I estimate we’ll get there early tomorrow,” Pince said. “Everyone but the new drone gets one of these. The queen said you don’t need love in the same way that we do.”
Pince handed each of the other changelings a vial of love-infused nectar and put the map away. He led the way out of the hive. Once they were out into the large cavern full of mushroom farms, he buzzed his wings in preparation for takeoff. Ocellus followed his lead, and soon they were circling toward the small opening at the very top of the cave that led up to the sunlight. While they climbed, Ocellus got one last glimpse of Dusty Tail walking up the stairways. He stopped and waved.
Ocellus blinked to adjust to the bright sunlight. The jungle had been cleared from the area around the cave. A small pony village with fields of crops was surrounded by thick jungle on all sides. Ocellus got only a moment to look. All but the youngest ponies had the same blue mushrooms in their manes as Dusty Tail.
The village disappeared behind them as they flew over the thick jungle. The miles passed quickly. After a few hours of flying, the jungle ended in a sharp cliff that rose up to a desert plateau. They landed on the cliff’s edge to take a little break from all the flying.
Ocellus would need a good plan for what to do when she found her friends, and a few ideas came to mind. It felt wrong to plot against her new queen, yet Ocellus wondered why she was thinking about helping Queen Cordys instead of her friends.
(Ocellus is at 12/12 stamina and 5 friendship tokens.)