Dragonfly rubbed his chin thinking his choice over, looking up at the two variants again.
'Let's see, the Combat Rig Soldier is faster, able to move about the battlefield with ease, and has a few abilities to add them while the Plated Soldier is able to get into the thick of the fighting and emerge unharmed with the option of three different weapons for their shoulder slots but are slower moving.'
After several minutes he make his choice.
"I chose the Plated Soldier."
Said variant stood taller and straighter while the Combat Rig variant nodded in understanding, both Soldier variants saluted. Rhino speaking up.
"Alright Dragonfly, the Plated Soldiers will now be available for deployment while the gear for the Combat Rig Soldier will be put into storage." The Combat Rig Soldier removed its gear and carefully packed it up as Rhino came up to collect it.
"Is that everything?" Dragonfly asked.
"That is, Rhino and I still have some things do finish up but nothing that needs your attention." Hurricane said.
"Okay, I'll see you guys later."
"Later Dragonfly."
"Later."
Dragon walked out of the Hive Chambers, hoping he made the right choice in variant. He made a mental note to get a Geneweaver ASAP once he learned what unlocked them.
Canterlot
Royal Palace
Same Day after Bluebelle and her companions left Ponyville
Bluebelle, Sparks, and Blades walked through the palace corridors, talking about their time in Ponyville and Blue's new love interest. As they entered the Throne Room they were surprised to find it empty with only Celestia, Rose, and a second, shorter Alicorn waiting inside.
This Alicorn had a pinkish coat, tri-color mane and tail of moderate violet, moderate rose, and pale gold. Her eyes were light purple and her Cutie Mark was a multifaceted light blue crystal heart between gold laces. She wore gold hoof covers, necklace, and small crown, the last of which had two amethysts on it.
This Alicorn was Princess Cadance, her full name was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza but she preferred to be called Cadance and she was known as the Alicorn of love. Blue's face brightened when she saw the Alicorn.
"Cadance!"
"Blue!"
They wrapped each other in a hug, after they pulled away from each other Cadance's eyes suddenly narrowed and she looked closer at Blue with a raised eyebrow, the Pony in question suddenly looking nervous.
"Um... Cadance?" Blue squeaked. 'Oh crap! please don't...'
"A Stallion..."
Cadance's eyes widened and her face twisted into a happy and excited looked.
'Oh no...'
"You met a Stallion!" Rose was next to them in an instant, looking ready to start squeeing loudly and start hopping about the room.
"Blue met a Stallion!?"
'Oh... nuts.'
Blue suddenly found herself gripped tightly by and nose-to-nose with Rose, who had far to large of a smile.
"Tell us everything!"
Before Blue could get a word out, Sparks sealed her fate with too large of a smile of her own.
"She did, a Unicorn by the name of Dragonfly Wings." Blades then added, "Blue here was quite taken by him, blushing up a storm."
Blue turned to scold them but yelped in surprise as a flash of silver light appeared next to her, the light faded to reveal who just teleported in; A Unicorn Mare with a pearl white coat, curly gold mane and tail with a red and blue stripe running through it, and pink eyes. Her Cutie Mark was a diamond surrounded by spiraling red and blue ribbons. Like Bluebelle, this Mare also wore a large bow at the top and base with a second even larger bow was tied on the base of her tail, only her's were ruby red rather than cornflower blue.
The Mare was Diamond Dancer, Blueblood's and Bluebelle's younger sister. Like Bluebelle, Diamond didn't get along with Blueblood at all, to the point where if the two of them were in the same room for too long they would come to blows. Unfortunately for Blueblood, Diamond was a surprisingly skilled fighter thanks to training from Bluebelle's friends. On the other hoof Diamond was very close to Blue and her parents though her profession kept Diamond away for half the year. Diamond was, as her name implied, a dancer by trade and she enjoyed it immensely, mostly ribbon dancing but she did do other dances.
Besides that Diamond enjoyed many of the same interests as her older sister, swimming, gaming, and even pranking (with Blueblood being the main target).
Shaking to clear her head from the teleport she turned to Bluebelle with a wide smile.
"Hello sis!"
Blue, forgetting about the others for a second, smiled wide and jumped up to all fours, meeting her younger sister in the middle and doing their greeting dance.
"Stagelights stagelights Diamonds shine Flowers wave and Shake your tail."
"Stagelights" was done by a springing on all four hooves, "Diamonds shine" by lighting the tips of their horns and waving them around, "Flowers wave" by waving their bodies left and right, and "Shake your Tails" by crouching down and shaking said hairy limb in the air.
The two sisters laughed as they hugged each other, after pulling back Blue spoke up.
"Great to see you again sis, but I thought you were still on tour."
"Tour's over for the rest of the year and I just got back this morning. I wanted to see you, how are things.
Before Blue could answer Rose did for her.
"Blue met a Stallion!"
"WHAT!?" Diamond grabbed Blue and began talking a mile a minute.
"What was he like? Is he nice? Is he handsome?"
Her happy face suddenly changed to an angry one.
"Did he try anything?"
Blue was left stuttering trying to form a response then yelped in surprise as she was suddenly lifted into the air by Cadance's magic.
"Come on Rose, Diamond, let's head to my room to get the whole story with all the details!"
"Right with you Princess!"
"Oh ya! This I got to hear!"
The three of them ran out of the room in a full sprint, Blue shouting, "SPARKS! BLADES! I'LL GET YOU TWO FOR THIS!!!!" The said two were laughing hard as the door shut. Celestia was chuckling behind her hoof, after a minute she looked up shaking her head with a smile.
"That worked very well."
Sparks and Blades looked up at her, Sparks speaking first.
"Wait... worked very well?" Blades went next.
"Did... did you plan Blue meeting Dragonfly and then what just happened Princess?"
The Alicorn of the Sun just smiled and said, "Not telling, but... maaaayyyyybe."
The three stood there, then all three started laughing.
A month passed as the Cozy Rest continued to make good business, both in and out of town thanks to Gold Bar giving Dragonfly some advice. At some point Dragonfly discovered he had a natural talent making not just tea but also potions, and after buying some equipment and a license for selling them he started working on them in his spare time. As for the Hive they had run into a snag, while they had reached the point to unlock the next tier they had discovered that they were missing an important item needed to do so, understandably the Changelings were rather annoyed at this. On the plus side though the Scouts had reported that there had been no sign of Chrysalis since the Everfree City Mission, both Seeker and Rhino had said that with the lost of so many of her Changelings it would take at the very least another year on top of the first four years from before, the Dragonfly Hive was determined to use this time to ready themselves, they all knew that they would face Chrysalis eventually and they wanted to be ready for when that time came.
Dragonfly was currently sitting at the counter in the Cozy Rest cleaning some glasses, it was Sunday so the shop was closed and he was catching up on some cleaning he hadn't been able to do during the week.
'Yep, definitely bringing some of the Drones up to help me run this place.'
He had just placed the last of the glasses back in their cupboards when he heard the bell above the door ring, curious on how it was, Dragonfly exited the kitchen and entered the main area to see who came in. His eyes brightened and a smile appeared on his face when he saw who.
"Belle, great to see you again."
"You too Dragonfly." Came the cheerful response.
Bluebelle walked up to Dragonfly and gave him a hug, the Changeling in disguise gladly returning it, enjoying the feeling of the Unicorn's very soft fur and mane against his body and her sent of lilac and strawberry that tickled his nose in a pleasant way he liked. While the two of them hadn't been able to see each other much due to Blue's duties in Canterlot (Though from what Belle had told him those "duties" where just small ones that Celestia didn't want to do) and this was only her second visit, the two of them had been communicating through letter at least once a week and had become rather close despite having only seen each other twice now.
Pulling out of the hug Dragonfly noticed that Bluebelle wasn't alone, she was accompanied by another Mare and a Royal Guard Stallion. The Mare had a pearl white coat, gold mane and tail with a red and blue stripe running through it, and pink eyes. Her Cutie Mark was a diamond surrounded by spiraling red and blue ribbons.
The guard was slightly shorter than the average Stallion but it was barely noticeable, he had an indigo coat which had several decent-sized brown patches, yellow mane and tail, and blue eyes. His Cutie Mark was hidden by his armor. Blue introduced them.
"Dragonfly, this is my sister Diamond Dancer and Indigo Patches, one of my personal guards and a good friend of mine. Diamond, Indigo, this is Dragonfly Wings, the Stallion I told you about."
Dragonfly smiled and offered a hoof, Diamond shook it energetically while Indigo shyly shook it, a small smile on his face. Belle and Diamond giggled at Indigo's shyness.
"He's rather shy meeting new Ponies, but once he gets to know you he'll open up." Blue said.
"No rush, I understand that. I used be be rather shy myself when I was a colt. Since you guys are here can I get you three anything?"
"No thanks." Belle said while Diamond and Indigo shook their heads, Bluebelle continued. "We're here to visit and because we want to see your Hive. Don't worry, Diamond knows about your secret and has also agreed to keep it secret."
"Sure, follow me."
Dragonfly lead the three Ponies up to the master bedroom, this room had what one would expect but Dragonfly didn't really use this room, or most of the upper levels in general, preferring his own room in the Hive. After closing the door Dragonfly brought them over to the center, Belle spoke up when they got there.
"Dragonfly, before we enter the Hive, could we see your true form?"
"Sure, one sec,"
With a flash of green flame, Dragonfly stood in his Changeling Form before the three Ponies, who stared in awe. From their point of view Dragonfly closely resembled a Pony Stallion just instead of a coat his body was covered in black carapace, his back had a shiny metallic silver plate which had a short spike in the center, and (to Belle and Diamond) cute fangs stuck out from his upper lips. a long horn somewhat bent in a few places jutted out proudly from his forehead and six tall and large red dragonfly-like wings sat with three on each side of his back plate. His eyes had stayed the same along with his mane and tail, the latter two had several holes of various sizes appear, a closer looking showing that the holes were formed from the hairs shifting to the sides like they were holding invisible water drops. Beyond that his height was also unchanged.
"Wow, you look rather cool Dragonfly." Indigo said in a quiet tone.
"Thanks Indigo." Blue then asked.
"By the way, what are the holes on your legs for? I meant to ask Nebula but never got around to it."
"Well Belle, as Changelings are covered in hard and dense carapace we Changelings don't sweat to cool off. We are warm-blooded like Ponies so the holes in our legs work like heat sinks, in that they release built-up heat while drawing in the cooler air close to the ground."
"Ooohhh, makes sense. What if you're in cold weather?" Diamond asked.
"In that case we just us our internal supply of E-energy to make our bodies produce more heat, though that can only be down for a limited time."
"E-energy?" This time Indigo asked with a head tilt.
"Emotional Energy. You see, Changelings require food and water like you do but they also require Emotional Energy or E-energy as well."
"How do Changelings get E-energy?" Belle asked.
"There are a few ways; we can drain it right from a creature but this can have serious effects if done for too long, over a length of many years, such as insanity for the Changeling and the victim permanently becoming just a hollow shell."
The three Ponies eyes when wide at this, then they shuttered at the thought. Dragonfly nodded grimly.
"That's why this way is forbidden in my Hive, a crime around the level of High Treason. Another way is by passive feeding."
"Passive Feeding?" The three Ponies asked.
"Passive feeding means we take the energy we need from the air around us. Here's how it works: All creatures release E-energy like steam is released from boiling water, from many thousands of years of research Changelings found that Ponies give off the most so Changelings would often set up shop close to Pony settlements, Like Ponyville in this case, and draw the E-energy they needed from the air. The energy released from creatures gather around the air in those locations and seeps into the ground, and as time passes this energy builds up as long as there are creatures around the area. As far as I know there is no limit to how much energy can build up."
"And the passive feeding brings no harm to others?" Indigo asked.
"That's right, as Hives tend to set up in areas that have been inhabited for a while, again like Ponyville, the E-energy will never run out as long as there are creatures still living in the area, with no harm to them at all."
Dragonfly took a breath.
"A third way is by a creature giving a Changeling E-energy willingly."
He noticed the three Ponies' ears perk up, showing that he had their undivided attention. Chuckling he continued,
"For example; Belle, when you hugged me after coming in you gave me a small amount of E-energy."
"I did? I don't feel any different, well now that I think about I do feel a slight bit rejuvenated."
"That's because as you were giving me E-energy I was sharing some of my own with you."
Belle rubbed her chin in thought, "So a creature and Changeling sharing it grants possible benefits?"
"I couldn't tell you, we know very little on that front." Indigo then asked.
"What happens if a Changeling was to run out of E-energy?" Dragonfly frowned.
"At first they would suffer similar symptoms to malnutrition, starvation, and other weakening sicknesses at the same time, this lasts for awhile but eventually the Changeling enters what we know as Dry Hibernation, something we Changelings consider far worse than death."
"Why's that?" Diamond asked.
"Imagine being unable to move at all, your body completely frozen, unable to even blink or breathe. Yet you remain fully aware for what's happening around you, only able to watch as time slowly crawls forward. While in this state the Changeling's carapace has more or less become invulnerable, but no Changeling would dare enter this state willingly for the reasons I mentioned."
The three Ponies looked horrified by the description, Indigo shuttered like a leaf in the wind for a second at the thought while Blue and Diamond paled. Dragonfly nodded grimly.
"I know, scary thought. Though thankfully it's not permanent."
"It isn't?" Blue asked.
"No, all a frozen Changeling in Dry Hibernation needs to unfreeze is some E-energy and they are able to move again, but they still suffer from other problems until they get enough energy, not to mention the possible mental problems if they were frozen for a long time. Anyway, I thank we've spent enough time here and on that. You three ready to see the Hive?"
The three Ponies, glad for the change in subject, nodded eagerly.
"Here we go, just a heads up you might feel a bit unwell the first time." Dragonfly lit his horn and hidden markings appeared and glowed green, magic of the same color quickly covered the four creatures and in a small flash of light disappeared from the room.
The Hive
Once again the teleporter lowered towards the floor spreading its claws and a green flash appeared under it, the teleporter raising again after Dragonfly and his guests had been set on the floor. Blue, Diamond, and Indigo sat down recovering from the trip, the former two rubbing their heads while the latter worked to stead himself.
"You three okay?" Dragonfly asked.
Yea, just give us a minute." Blue said.
The three soon recovered and looked around the Throne Room, taking in the sights and Blue complementing the banners. As they looked around in awe Seeker approached, Blue, Diamond, and Indigo shifting their attention to the tall Changeling.
"Greetings Dragonfly, I see you brought some guests."
"Indeed I did, Bluebelle, Diamond, Indigo, this is Seeker, my Advisor and second-in-command of the Dragonfly Hive. Seeker, this is Bluebelle, her sister Diamond Dancer, and one of their friends Indigo Patches."
Seeker walked forward and offered a hoof to them. "Pleasure to meet you three, welcome to the Hive."
Blue, Diamond, and Indigo shook Seeker's hoof, Indigo a bit shyly, and greeted back. Dragonfly spoke again.
"Seeker served my mother long before me and he is the oldest of my commanders by a wide margin."
"I've still got plenty of time left." Seeker snarked at Dragonfly, who gave a sideways glare.
"Not if you keep forgetting important details like the egg laying." Seeker winced at that.
"Egg laying?" Blue asked, Dragonfly grimaced.
"I'll explain later, it's a bit of an... uncomfortable subject for me."
The three Ponies nodded and Dragonfly continued.
The room we're in now is my Throne Room, the main area from where I guide my Hive. What do you think?"
"I like it, reminds me in someways of Canterlot's Throne Room, only without the whiny Nobles and I think a bit more roomy. Could use some decoration though, besides the banners." Belle said looking at Dragonfly, Diamond nodding her head in agreement.
"Plenty of places for guards to hid out of sight, looks more defensible than the one in Canterlot." Indigo said looking around. Dragonfly chuckled.
"We've only be here for a few months and have been busy with other things so we haven't been able to spruce up the Hive yet. We are working on that though."
"Speaking of guards though," Seeker spoke up, "Dragonfly, Rhino and I have something to discuss with you."
"Oh, what would that be?" Dragonfly asked, head slightly tiling to the left.
"A few things regarding a Guard Force." Rhino said as he entered the room, he walked over to the three Ponies and introduced himself, Indigo giving a respectful salute which Rhino returned with a smile. He then turned back Dragonfly and continued.
"As you might already know, rulers generally have their own guards for protection. As you are a Changeling Young Prince you should have your own personal guards, like how Celestia has her own." Seeker continued.
"Besides protecting you they would also guard the Hive's Throne Room from attackers." Dragonfly nodded in understanding, then asked.
"So how would I get my own guards? And would they follow me everywhere?"
"The first we'll get to in a minute, as for the second one, no." Rhino said, "They would only follow if you ordered them, otherwise they would stay and stand guard at the entry hall or outside your bedroom."
"As for your first question..." Seeker looked up and gestured with a hoof for some of the Drones above them to come down. As ten did so Belle, Diamond and Indigo looked around, seeing that the room was actually crawling with Changelings, mostly Drones but they could see several other breeds, all over the place except for the floor they were on, the three realized that any attackers wouldn't get far as the Changelings around the room would have swarmed over the attackers before they reached even half-way to the throne.
Dragonfly meanwhile recognized the ten Drones as the first ones he met back in the Everfree Forest, eight of them having helped him in the Everfree City, and the first Drones of the Hive. The ten landed in front of the group, lined up side-by-side and stood at attention.
"Empress Nebula left us a special crystal that is able to turn up to ten Drones into Hive Guards, which are normally a Tier 6 Breed, Rhino..."
Said Changeling cleared his throat.
"Hive Guard: The Hive Guards are the personal bodyguards of a Hive's Royal, sworn to protect them even at the cost of the guards' lives. When not protecting the Royal they guard the Hive's Throne Room and Private Quarters, along with if and the Hive's Royal gets one or more mates and their offspring. The Hive Guard is considered the Elite of the Elite in the Hive."
Rhino then reached into his armor and pulled out a small greenish-blue crystal.
"This Crystal is what turns the Selected Drones into Hive Guards, here's what needs to be done: First, the Royal and the selected Drones place one hoof each on the crystal, then the Royal says an oath and the Drones repeat it. After the the crystal then dissolves into energy than changes the Drones into the Hive Guards."
Rhino gave the crystal to Dragonfly who took it and looked at the Drones.
"Are you ten sure you want to do this? Once we do this there is no turning back." He asked, The ten nodded.
"Yes our Prince, we talked about it for awhile now and we have all agreed. We are Clutchmates and had chosen to go through with this together." One of them said, the others nodding their agreement.
"Alright then, let's do this."
Dragonfly set the crystal down with a tip pointing upwards and a hoof on it, the ten Drones quickly placed their own hooves on the crystal. Dragonfly then started the oath.
"Do you swear to protect me, my family, and the Hive against all threats, even to your final breath."
All ten Drones spoke as one, their eyes locked on Dragonfly's.
"We swear to protect our Royal, his family, and the Hive from all threats, even to our final breath."
"That you will follow my orders from this point forth."
"We will follow our Royal's orders from this point forth."
"Then become the first Hive Guards."
The crystal glowed brightly as it dissolved into energy and flowed into the ten Drones, before the others eyes the Drones transformed. They grew taller until they were only a head shorter then Dragonfly but they otherwise looked similar to him with silted eyes and all, through instead of hair they had webbed fins and tails. Heavy armor similar to that the Pony Royal Guards wore formed over their bodies with the addition of a heavy and thick collar that split in two spikes half-way up with the sides and a cape-like cloth split down the center to allow the tail through covering their rumps. On their heads a helmet like a Royal Guard's that covered the eyes and horn leaving only their lower jaw exposed and in place of the plume was a webbed mane. The armor was silver and oriental studded with red and black gems, bearing a resemblance to Neighpon warrior armor.
On their backs crossbow-like weapons and halberd-like weapons similar to Dragonfly's appeared and attached to the spot were the armor and cloth met on the left side was a quiver holding bolts for the crossbow.
The ten newly transformed Hive Guards stretched their longer limbs and necks, looking over their bodies. After spending a few minutes, they were satisfied and stood at attention. Dragonfly saluted them as they returned it and Rhino brought them to their posts.
"That, was rather amazing," Belle said, the three Ponies had been in awe of the whole transformation.
"Indeed it was, now shall I show you the rest of the Hive?" Dragonfly asked.
The three Ponies agreed and followed the Young Royal, with both Belle and Diamond staring at his flanks at some point. Dragonfly only chuckled and asked if the two liked what they saw, causing both Mares to blush heavily.
The first place Dragonfly brought them to was the Egg Chamber, leading them through the entryway Dragonfly explained its role.
"The Egg Chamber is were every egg the Hive's Changelings lay are stored and a small amount of Healers look after them, from Egg to Larva to Nymph. While different Royals have different ways of bonding with the younglings my mother Nebula for example would come to her Egg Chamber and spend time with her Hive's younglings at the very least once a week."
As soon as Belle and Diamond laid their eyes on the larva and Nymphs they began lightly squeeing.
"Dawww, they're so adorable!" Belle said as she walked into the gathered younglings.
Diamond had to hold a hoof over her mouth to keep her own squeeing down as she joined her sister.
Indigo also "Dawwed" but held back with Dragonfly, letting the two Mares have their fun.
Belle and Diamond laid down in the center and allowed the younglings to crawl over them like Dragonfly had before, Belle nuzzling any in front of her with love while Diamond laid her head gently on a group that had gathered between her forelegs, signing happily with her eyes closed. the Larva and Nymphs curling up to them, chirping happily, playing with the girls' manes, tails and bows, and just taking in the love the two were freely giving. All the while Dragonfly and Indigo watched with large smiles on their faces, some of the younglings even went up to the Guard Stallion and cuddled with him, which he enjoyed as well.
At some point Belle happened to look up at the far wall and spot the Hive Spider, blinking surprise as Diamond also noticed it, along with the group of large toads close to the size of a Pony Foal around it.
"Dragonfly, what it that large spider?" Belle asked.
"And why is it in here with the Hive's young?" Diamond asked, as the two Mares looked up above themselves to see at least six more of them.
"They're called Hive Spiders, and this species of spider was domesticated a long time ago to help protect the young from smaller pests and parasites, as well as serving as an early warning system and help guard the Hive from intruders. They're completely docile to Changelings of this Hive along with any allies, if fact they care for the Hive's young as much as a caring mother would."
"Really? And the Toads?" Diamond asked.
"They're called Changeling Toads, you would have to ask Rhino more about them since he breeds them. But the Toads have a mutualistic relationship with the Hive Spiders: The spider provides the toad protection from predators and a food source from insects feeding on the remains of its prey. The toad's foraging protects the tarantula's eggs from ants. Through that we also gain extra protection for our own young." Dragonfly explained.
Belle looked at him with a confused expression.
"Spiders and toads guarding what is essentially the young of an insect-like species?" Diamond continued, "Isn't that rather ironic."
Dragonfly laughed.
"The irony isn't lost on use either, in fact I was rather scared of the Hive Spiders myself when I first met them. Almost attacked them too." He said sheepishly as he rubbed the head of one Hive Spider that came up to him. The three Ponies watched this, then Indigo asked,
"How so?"
"Believe it or not, I actually suffer from Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders." He then told them of his very near fatal encounter with a Badlands Spider and the effect it had on him. The three Ponies agreeing from his tale on why he would have it after.
"But then how are you so calm around them now?" Diamond asked. Dragonfly then told them of the "Egg Laying" he had gone though, the Ponies wincing at his description of the experience.
"And I woke up after a few hours to find several Healers making sure the eggs were okay and one of the Hive Spiders standing over me like a mother spider over her egg sack. Since then I haven't had a problem with them, and I will say this; if that pain I experienced is what Mares go though during labor, they have my respect and sympathy."
The three Ponies were a bit freaked out by the tale but nodded in agreement, with both Belle and Diamond wondering if their own experience would be as painful.
"But looking at the eggs and realizing that I brought them into the world made all the pain I suffered during that time worth it, I guess that is what parents feel upon seeing their own offspring for the first time."
Belle smiled at that as she looked at Diamond and remembered seeing her for the first time despite only being a year younger, her sister smiled back. Dragonfly then stood up.
"I'd hate to pull you three from the young but we still have the rest of the Hive to go."
Both Belle and Diamond signed in disappointment and slowly stood up, using their magic to carefully set the younglings on their backs down. The four walked out of the room, though not before the two Mares gave a loving nuzzle and kiss to each of the Larva and Nymphs, and continued on their way.