Darkness has fallen on the forest and the changeling group is sitting in a clearing, all pretty much invisible to common observers aside from the teal bioluminescent glow of their eyes.
“It’s time for a story about one of the old queens...” 387 waves his forelegs in a spooky fashion, making the drones huddle together. A piece of bark drops from the open jaw of 36658, “Yeah, you’d better be scared. Most of them were absolutely nuts.”
“Marking as a traitor in 3… 2… 1...” 156 smirks, pretend-writing into an invisible journal.
“You know where you can shove that invisible pen and set it to vibrate, don’t you?” 387 snorts, “Anyway, this one’s about Shroud, the second changeling queen, and the horror of burrowing worms.”
He glances at 156 who is watching him intensely, not commenting on what to her has to be a made-up story.
“Go on,” she nods.
387 clears his throat.
“So, Shroud was a shrewd, heh, queen in the times when changelings were hiding away from the rest of the world. Back then, ponies were aware of changeling existence and far from friendly, so she led the hive away from major pony settlements, instead taking out small towns and villages, straight up cocooning entire populations and having her drones carry them.”
So far, that’s par for course in the eyes of the listening drones.
“Eventually, though, the settlements grew more and more sporadic and with the hive numbering hundreds of thousands the cocooned ponies couldn’t last long. Her scorched ground strategy also made sure that she had nowhere to return, so the only way was forward.”
“Umm, did she start eating other changelings?” asks 57999, raising its hoof.
387 grins, leans closer, and says in a conspiratory hushed voice:
“That’s the thing, she didn’t!”
“Wooo!” cheers 54331.
“Go queen!” adds 10013.
387 suddenly points at 36658 who immediately hides its chunk of bark behind its back.
“Mhmmpf?!” it also completely forgets that it’s been chewing on more in its mouth.
“Why? Because she could extract love from inanimate objects. Not much, granted, but in her situation, every little bit counted.”
“Like… from bark?” asks 36658, eyes widening, proving once again that quick thinking isn’t a drone’s main purpose.
“No, I was pointing at you just because I wanted to stretch my leg,” 387 rolls his eyes.
“Awww...”
“Yes, even from bark,” 387 sighs, realizing that sarcasm doesn’t get across well when targeted at someone made for taking things literally.
“BEST. QUEEN. EV-” 36658 bites down when 156 shoots him a scowl, “...secondbestqueenever...” it corrects itself quickly.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be so quick with the praise if I were you,” 387 nods, “She was an infiltrator queen and her speciality was venoms, namely acid that could dissolve pretty much anything and absorb love from it, even something as minor as flowers. Something with bees loving it or whatever, I don’t know the details. In short, if there was any love to be had inside any physical matter, she could melt it and absorb it. Got it?”
Group nodding ensues. From the corner of his eye, 387 notices that even the other warriors on watch and 918 have inched a little closer to him.
“So, eventually when the hive got so far from civilization that even the ponies in cocoons began withering beyond the point of usefulness, she started with the usual love-saving methods - hibernation of anyone not crucial, eating the lowest ranks, and so on. You know the drill better than anyone,” he points at the huddled drones who nod again and shudder.
“As they marched, the hive’s numbers started dropping rapidly to keep the high ranks strong and ready for anything. However, that was what eventually turned against her.”
“Her top ranks tried to dethrone her, I take it?” asks 156.
“Nope!” 387 beams, “Unexpected, is it? No, Shroud was actually a respected queen and, as I said, the top ranks were decently fed all the time. What did happen, however, was that they entered a jungle somewhere supposedly in the south of Equestria, and her changelings started getting sick with something she couldn’t identify. Their chitin started flaking off and turned brittle but on examination her infiltrators couldn’t find anything. Granted, changelings and medicine have never gone well together and, obviously, drones were the first to get infected so there wasn’t that much effort put into figuring out what was going on.”
“Booo!” comes from the clumped-up drones.
“And then...” 387 pauses for dramatic effect, “The infected changelings started disappearing along with the guards posted at the camping hive’s perimeter. Drones, low-ranked warriors, and infiltrators alike.”
“Deserters?” asks 918, the only infiltrator left other than 156.
“That’s the thing - no,” 387 shakes his head, “If they just left, higher ranks would simply track them through their hive links but that wasn’t the case. Their links simply vanished along with the changelings.”
“Did they have no one with any tracking skills?” asks 156 skeptically.
“It might surprise you, but jungles weren’t the usual changeling haunts. Too warm and too humid at the same time, plus lacking widespread civilization. Still, it was possible to eventually adapt to their surroundings and start exploring the jungle in detail but not before losing almost half of the hive. Absolutely massive losses within days.”
“Whoaaah!” drones do their droning.
“Yep. That expedition, more than anything else, was responsible for us changelings almost being wiped out. Anyway, at some point, Shroud lost her patience and finally tasked her top ranks to patrol the spread out changelings, keeping only 1 and 2 as her bodyguards. Before, she wasn’t too keen on leaving herself open to any potential deserters turning against her but the mounting losses were too much. So, as the hive rested, the top ranks patrolled as quickly as they could, burning love to keep their senses enhanced and to be able to keep an eye on everyone, and finally they scored a success. An infected warrior simply picked itself up in front of their eyes, its hive link went completely black, and it disappeared in the thick undergrowth. The top ranks went after it and...” he pauses.
No one says anything. The drones are leaning forward, hanging on his every word, and he smirks to himself, picking something off of the ground and starting to fiddle with it with his hooves.
“And nothing,” he continues, “It got out of sight and its tracks were gone, leaving behind only a slightly messed up patch of ground. After reporting their findings to Shroud, the queen ordered her drones to dig, suspicious that some indigenous life form was possibly dragging her changelings underground. It didn’t explain the hive link shutdowns but it was a start.”
He takes a long breath, completely ignorant of 156 glaring at him while thoughtfully rubbing her chin.
“So the drones dug and dug, and suddenly the ground swelled up and burst open, revealing millions of hoof-long worms everywhere! The drones who were in the center of the hole were swallowed immediately by the swarms and piles of worms burrowing deep into their carapace with ease, and even entering through nose and ears, chewing deep into their brains and devouring them. A single clump of worms could take over a changeling’s hollowed-out head and lead it into the central mass where the worms almost immediately turned its entire body to dust,” he raises his hoof and blows a small cloud of dust at the huddling drones.
“Eeeep!” they flinch and lean backwards as one.
“H-How did queen Shroud get out of there?” asks 918, uncertainty in her voice.
“She ordered everyone to fly upwards. It quickly turned out that the burrower worms couldn’t really control their victims with any precision so flying was out of their league. A mental call rang out to force transformations and whoever had the love started burning with green fires, the corona lighting the sky for miles on end, and burning away the worms who haven’t managed to chew their way into changelings yet. More and more fell but whoever was left, it was certain that they were okay.”
“So she took the hive and flew away?” asks 156.
“Oh holes no!” 387 chuckles, “You don’t just attack a changeling queen and get away with it, even if you are a mindless, instinct-driven animal. Shroud’s special power, as I said, was melting things. She could synthesize acids beyond the level of anyone else, and she asked her hive who wanted revenge. Whoever answered got eaten, fueling her power and giving her the ability to start puking acid everywhere, vaporizing the worms and their habitat and leaving only green mist filled with scraps of love and memories of the lost changelings. She turned the entire jungle into a swamp of acidic sludge on her own while the rest of the hive cheered.”
“Yaaaay!” drones wave their forelegs in the air, “Go Shroud! Go Shroud! Wooo!” even without knowing what a Mexicolt wave is, they synchronize perfectly for it, “Kick those worms’ butts!”
387 clears his throats.
“However, that happened a loooong time ago, and I heard that over all those centuries, some more nests of those worms were discovered more to the north, and they got a little more intelligent. Not much, I grant you, but enough to develop a concept of ‘enemy’, and there’s only one enemy they seek to destroy - changelings. Eternally hungry, wriggling... underground... mass!” with his final word, he lobs something at the audience.
Squeezed and noodled-up clumps of grass land on the drones who start screaming in horror.
“AAAAAH! WORMS EVERYWHERE!”
“GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!”
“I CAN FEEL IT EATING THROUGH MY CHITIN!”
“I SWALLOWED IT! AAAAAAAAH!”
“IT’S IN MY BRAAAAAAINNN!”
156 facehoofs, muttering:
“Then I admire its accuracy...” she stands up and raises her voice, “Alright, everyone calm down!”
“AAAAAAAAAAH!”
“EEEEEEEEEEK!”
“IT’S IN MY MANE! IT’S IN MY MANE!”
“YOU DON’T HAVE A MANE!”
“AAAAAAH! IT’S ALREADY EATEN MY MANE!”
“I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BRAAAIN!”
“YOU DON’T HAVE A BRAIN!”
“HEY, THAT WAS MEAN!”
“SORRY!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“Okay, time for plan B,” 156 rolls her eyes, “Warriors, go round the idiots up. Not you, 387!” she adds to the rising second-in-command, “I’ve got a question for you.”
“Yeees?” he raises an eyebrow. She leans so close to him that he can feel her breath on his muzzle, and whispers:
“How do you know about that? A mid-rank warrior like you should have had no access to the hive mind archives.”
387 looks around and points.
“Look, isn’t that 31214 running away into the forest? I gotta go!” he bolts, “You stay here in charge!”
“Get over here you damn- grrrrr!” 156 stops the ground as the warrior gets immediately lost between the trees, “THIS ISN’T OVER!”
***
387 follows the panicked screaming and quickly catches up to 31214, tackling the drone to the ground.
“AAA-”
*Slap!*
“a- ouch...” 31214 pouts, “What was that for?”
“Give yourself a second to think, then try saying a different thing. If it’s a wrong thing again, I’ll punch you this time,” 387 glares at it.
“Ummm… sorry?” 31214 takes the safe option, “I, uhh, panicked. Good story, though!”
“Much better,” 387 stands up from the drone’s barrel and helps it back on all fours, “Now let’s go b… ack,” his eyes go wide and his jaw drops as he stares behind the drone.
“Hey, I’m not falling for your tricks this time,” 31214 frowns. When 387 doesn’t react, the drone slowly turns around, spurred by a strange orange glow which it would swear wasn’t there before.
A pitch black rift is hanging in the air, now visible even without the glow of changeling eyes. In front of it stands a tall mare wearing gold-foiled full plate armor with a halberd locked to it by a hook on its side. She’s pure white, her eyes are amethyst-violet, but her mane and tail look like fire come to life, explaining the orange glow illuminating the area.
“You failed him,” she says in a deep, cold tone.
“I… I… I...” 387 is staring right at her, unable to move.
“He died because of you.”
“There were… there were too many of them… we couldn’t...”
“You were supposed to keep them in line.”
“We tried to, but his own daughter-”
The halberd floats up into the air and flames envelop its blade.
“You will join him as you should, as all the others did.”
387’s enture body sags, he breathes out, and lowers his head.
“I… I deserve it...”
The huge pony seems to completely ignore 31214 who momentarily ponders fleeing back to camp and returning with help but something about the situation is making it clear that 387 wouldn’t even try to buy himself time.
And so, the drone trots over and kicks the pony’s foreleg as hard as it can.
“Ow! Owowowowow!” the drone hops backwards. It was like kicking a statue made of diamonds.
The huge mare flicks the butt of her floating halberd, knocking 31214 off of its hooves, taking steps towards 387 like an executioner to a prisoner resigned to his fate.
Something clicks in 31214’s totally worm-less brain, and the drone gives attacking the creature a second shot. This time, however, its foreleg flashes green, and the weird pony stumbles backwards as it notices that half of its hind leg is missing with her next step.
“You little!” the halberd comes down with a flash of fire.
“EEEE...P?” 31214 refuses to move so that it doesn’t inadvertently lose any important bits. When nothing bad seems to happen, it carefully opens one eye and looks upwards.
387 is standing above it, his forelegs crossed as he blocked the handle just below the blade.
“Run!” he hisses at 31214 as he lets go, kicks the drone to the side, spins around on the other hind leg, and roundhouse kicks the big pony with full swing and power.
He lands on the ground, clutching his fractured hind leg. The force of the blow made the armored pony stumble, mostly due to its lack of stability thanks to its missing hind leg, but he clearly hit something hard and completely indestructible.
So how did the drone…?
“EEEEEEEP!” the high-pitched drone battlecry filled with 90% fear of the creature and 10% fear of what 156 would do to it if it came back without 387 rings through the air.
31214 jumps straight at the pony, its glowing forelegs swinging wildly and taking out chunks of the pony’s flesh as easily as if it was punching water. 387 limps back on all fours to help but that one simple attack left half of the pony missing, gore splattered everywhere.
When 31214 stops screaming and flailing, it realizes that its carapace is clean, and there’s nothing around other than 387 with his foreleg on its shoulder. The chitin of the warrior’s hind leg is still cracked, though, leaving no doubt that something really did just happen. The drone looks around, opens and closes its mouth silently, and then looks around again.
“Whuh?”
“Let’s head back to camp,” says 387, patting the drone’s head.
“Wh-What happened? There was blood everywhere, then nothing. The fire pony, big axe-”
387 narrows his eyes.
“Let’s head back to camp,” he repeats.
“Okay,” the drone doesn’t push further. It’s not its job. The high ranks are here to think, it is here to dig and carry stuff.
With that cleared up in its head, 31214 follows the slowly limping warrior back to the camp.
When they get to the clearing, 156 walks up to him, fuming:
“What do you think y-” she notices 387’s leg, “What happened?”
“Something that looked like a pony attacked us,” he says after a second of hesitation not lost on 156.
“Elaborate.”
“It wasn’t a pony. Don’t ask me how I know that because I don’t have an answer. I kicked it and almost broke my leg. 31214 shredded it to pieces, though.”
“What?” 156 leans back, “That makes no sense. Let me have a look inside your head-”
“No!” 387 barks at her, almost feral. He takes a long breath and adds, much calmer, “Don’t bother wasting love. I’ll do it myself,” he puts his short horn to hers and replays the visual part of the last few minutes.
“Did she look like that alicorn about whom queen Chrysalis was so worried?”
“Celestia, yes,” 387 nods, “But it wasn’t her,” he looks at the drones, “You guys, which one of you fixed 47989’s head?”
“I’ll fill-in the fracture myself, don’t worry,” says 156, sits down by 387’s hind legs, and starts liberally applying love-infused goo on his damaged carapace.
None of the changelings catch a sight of a mantis-like foreleg retracting into a small rift hanging above them and disappearing along with it.
“Thanks,” 387 lies down on his side and closes his eyes.
Damn you, Chrysalis…
Why don’t you queens ever learn?