How drastically can the hivemind be altered?, I mull over the question for a bit as I sit alone in the cuddle-lounge while waiting for Skitter.
I only had a rough idea of what I wanted when I originally created the round table and lounge, yet they still came out realistically detailed and perfectly acceptable. The hivemind or my subconscious must have something similar to an autocomplete function that targets my intentions; it would have to, at least, because I have no idea how long it would take me to get this consciously detailed.
But what are the limits?
Casting my gaze around the cathedral-like room, an idea suddenly pops into my mind. Driven by nostalgia, I begin forming the layout and basic design in the hive-edit view, slowly transforming the room into what I envisioned. Marble-grey walls replace the chitinous black rock, and the depressive green lighting gives way to a warmer white light streaming through the newly created windows close to the ceiling.
A haunting melody begins to quietly play in the background.
Skitter decides to finally make her entrance, appearing a few feet away, "Good evening, My Queen, I-", she cuts off mid-sentence, looking around wide-eyed. Then, tapping the floor with her forehoof—creating a very familiar stepping sound—she continues, "Well, this is certainly something..."
"Yes, yes it is...", I mumble, still absorbing it all in, thrown off by the staggering potential of the hivemind. The resulting throne room was amazing enough, but I definitely did not expect the sound design of the source material to make its way here too. Though, it makes sense that my subconscious would be so consistent with this, considering how much of an impact the game had on my childhood.
Skitter tilts her head to one side, listening for a bit, "Is that music?"
Shaking myself out of my reverie, I respond, "Uh, yeah, it's from an old video game I used to play. Actually, it's what this entire room is based on."
I get up and walk out of the lounge, heading for the queen's quarters with Skitter in tow, continuing, "This won't be a permanent change, but I'm just curious to see how far I can take this."
We quickly arrive at the hallway to the bedroom door and I peek in experimentally to make sure that it was still unchanged.
"So what do you plan on doing here?" Asks Skitter, giving a curious look.
Closing the door and walking back out, I give her a sly grin and reply cryptically, "Expanding the world." Then, without waiting for a response, I close my eyes and delve back into the editing view.
It takes me a while to figure out how to do what I want to do, but after I manage to delete the hallway and bedroom while creating an expanded space in its place, it's just a matter of fleshing out all the necessary details.
I'll admit, I might have been a bit ambitious going into it, and it might have taken much longer than I anticipated. In the end, though, I was satisfied with the results. At least, it seemed fine from the editing view, but I realize the real test is about to play out.
Coming back down from my editing high, I open my eyes to find that Echo had arrived at some point; she and Skitter having walked off to the side to talk.
"...are definitely up to something, so be careful and keep an eye out," Echo says, finishing up the conversation they were having.
Must be something to do with the Equestrians, I surmise, then say out loud, "Sorry to keep you both waiting, I didn't mean to take so long on my work."
Skitter looks over, smiling, "No problem at all, My Queen, it hasn't really been that long. Not more than thirty minutes, anyway."
They make their way back over to my side as Echo asks, "So what's up with the big changes; are you adding some new rooms?"
"Something like that," I reply, giving a side glance to the ornate door that now occupies the wall where my bedroom used to be, "Basically, if this test works the way I think it should, our ways of learning, entertainment, and training are about to be vastly improved."
"Ooh, this should be good," Echo says with a grin, "I'm always up for something new."
A quiet chuckle escapes my lips as I grasp the door in my magic and say, "Then you're going to love this."
With as much of a flourish that I can give, I throw open the doors to reveal the new outside world; a light breeze of fresh air begins to flow through the doorway as we gaze out into the courtyard of the Temple of Time. Giving a quick glance downward, I confirm that effect has indeed worked as well as I had hoped, as shown by the slack-jawed stares currently adorning my changelings.
"Well, shall we go out and inspect the new hivemind over-world?" I ask with no small amount of mirth behind my voice.
With only silent nods for a reply, I lead them out into the courtyard and down the lone path into the market square. All the while, Skitter and Echo did their best impressions of spell-bound tourists, trying to look at everything at once and muttering amazements between themselves. I let them both explore the immediate area at their leisure as I sat by the central fountain and got a better look at the area in general.
For the small amount of time I had to work on the world, it's pretty impressive how much I managed to get done thanks to autocompleting. However, now that I'm viewing it in person, it's way easier to see the fallbacks of the mechanic.
It is possible to miss if you're not really paying attention, but under any scrutinization, it's hard to ignore the repeating patterns of what you'd usually call the textures. Though that's kind of a misnomer since everything here is perceived as of a real-world quality.
In the end, I managed to make castle town and most of Hylia Field consisting of the surface only with no background music. I mean, I like the game's music and it's a good nostalgia hit, but long term it would get very annoying. Oh, and no NPCs either, not sure that I want to get into that just yet.
Skitter and Echo have just about made their rounds on the market square and seem to be eyeing up the path to Hyrule castle, but I quickly call them back over before they went too far.
"We can all explore more later," I say as they sit down before me, "But for now I'd like to get a status update, Skitter. How was your trip to Manehatten?"
"Right," Skitter says, facing me fully and at attention, "My travel through the tunnels was typical, just a few hours of flight, as per usual. I'm happy to report that our hidden exit in the sewers is still undiscovered, or, at least, there was no evidence of tampering there.
"My route from there to the library was just as uneventful, having made it there just after closing. Backdoor access is still good, as well as the unused attic bedroom that I'm currently in. I plan to browse the shelves tonight after this meeting so I have enough books for tomorrow's study time."
"Very good, I'm glad everything has gone well so far," I say, but then ask, "Your sure that the bedroom is safe, though? What if someone comes up to do some cleaning?"
"Don't worry," she says confidently, "Even if a pony did come into the room, they wouldn't be able to find me before I could hide effectively. This bedroom is just being used for storage right now and you'd have to climb over many floor-to-ceiling stacked boxes just to make it to the bed."
"Alright then," I say, mollified by her answer, "Just as long as you stay safe."
My gaze switches to Echo, who looks at me expectantly, and I ask, "What about you, Echo; you're at Rapid Hills, right? Anything to report there?"
She thinks for a moment before replying, "Hmm, nothing really new here except for one thing that I've noticed lately, and it might be nothing. But...," she shrugs, "The Equestrian guard patrols here, and usually they just have standard routes and always behave fairly lax at their jobs. Lately, though, they seem more attentive, like they're looking for something.
"You wouldn't notice unless you monitor them as carefully as I do, but, at the same time, I'm not sure if I'm just being overly paranoid," she says, frowning, "After all, if there's one thing that they've mastered, it's being walking statues."
I dwell on this revelation for a bit before saying, "With our current situation being as it is, being too cautious has way more pros than cons, and I feel that we should trust your intuition on this."
"Thank you, My Queen," she says gratefully, "As for love collection, everything is still fine on that front. Grift caught me up to speed with the meeting I missed last night, so I know to refrain from including you in my nightly deposits."
I open my mouth to thank her—"Ah, that reminds me!" I add quickly, wanting to smack myself for almost forgetting, "I collected a small amount of love earlier when I was visiting with my sister. How do I go about spreading it to the rest of the hive so I don't have too much stored?"
Skitter froze, "A small amount? How much is a small amount?"
"Uh... I'm not sure how to quantify emotional energy just quite yet," I slowly say, worry creeping into my voice, "is there an easy way to tell?"
Skitter and Echo look at each other, a silent conversation crossing their eyes until Echo faces me and asks, "Remember when I taught you how to find your flame for transformation?"
I think back, and upon my confirmation nod, she continues, "Do that, but, instead of using the energy to change form, release the smallest possible amount that you can with me as the recipient. I should be able to gauge the overall love from that."
"Alright," I say hesitantly and do as she instructed, grabbing the littlest part of my energy and sending it her way.
The few-seconds wait for her to react is agonizing to bear, my mind racing to try and figure out what they were getting at. Had I fucked up something already? I knew I was supposed to avoid holding too much love energy, but I had assumed I would have been able to offload any amount needed to stay under that limit. Was I wrong?
Echo's eyes lit up in surprise, "Wow, that's potent; and definitely love from a close family member...," she pauses, contemplating, then shifts her eyes from me to Skitter, "All of it together is likely equal to the amount of what I'd usually gather in a week."
"Seriously?", Skitter exclaims, her features stunned, "In one day?"
"Yep, unless I'm reading it wrong," Echo admits, "But that's unlikely."
"So, wait," I interrupt, desperate to get a straight answer, "I get that's it's a lot of energy, but can't I just purge it to the rest of the hive so I don't have enough to start growing eggs?"
Skitter sighs and looks down, "I'm sorry, My Queen, this is my fault. I should have specified last night that once you hit a certain threshold of energy, the process begins immediately."
Damn, I can't believe I actually messed up this badly in under a day; it doesn't bode well if this is an indication of how my role as queen will go. Sigh... Well, I knew that it was just a delaying tactic to avoid what would have to be done anyway. Maybe it's for the best to just rip it off like a band-aid and move on. It's almost a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.
Before letting her get any deeper into her self-inflicted funk, I lay a forehoof comfortingly on her shoulders and say, "No, Skitter, you're not at fault here; in the end, It's my job to make sure that I obtain all the required details, especially when it comes to situations as important as this.
"So, to learn from that mistake, we shall now discuss everything needed to know about... egg-bearing." Right as I finished saying it, I knew I was in for many awkward moments in the future. Still, it needed to be done, and I realize the only one making it difficult is me—even if it is warranted.
"Thanks," Skitter says with a small smile, then after recovering enough, explains, "Very well, the absolute most important thing to focus on first is obtaining as much love as you safely can. Also, don't worry about sharing it with us, newborn changelings have a much greater need for it and will suffer from stunted development if there's a prolonged deficiency at any point."
"That makes sense," I say, nodding in agreement. Pretty standard protocol for any species really; don't let the kids starve. So then the issue becomes how to gather enough love energy, seeing as I can't rely on my sister long-term with her only ever able to be in my area whenever her work allows it.
"Then what about transformations, will having eggs physically restrict me from changing form?" I ask, and, after a moment, a thought occurs to me that causes me to frown, "Or even worse, will doing so harm them in some way?"
Skitter thinks for a while, eventually admitting, "I'm... not really sure. Chrysalis almost never–"
"Oh, I know this one!" Echo interjects, raising her hoof into the air, "Queens are able to use disguises anytime up to a week before laying, but after that, their body actually prevents it automatically as the eggs start becoming independent of the queen's fire." She lowers her hoof again and beams, "Just something that came up briefly during infiltration training; who says I don't pay attention to my teachers?"
With a small giggle, Skitter adds, "I don't think anyling is saying that, Echo."
Echo sticks out her tongue and retorts, "Not according to 'Professor' Shadow. The smug-bug even thought that mere act of blinking during his talks was disrespectful."
Suppressing a laugh, I try to bring the conversation back on track, "Alright, it's good to know that I'll have a concrete timeline once I reach that point." I pause, thinking about it some more. It won't be of any use to me if I don't get out of the city by that point, and I really don't want to be here if I can't disguise myself.
"But what about until then," I say, continuing on, "I don't suppose there's a good way to estimate how much time I have. At least, considering the different circumstances between myself and Chrysalis anyway."
Skitter gave me an apologetic look, saying, "Sorry, My Queen. What we really need here is a Nursery Changeling, but...," She trails off, her inference obvious. Then her eyes widened in remembrance, "Ah, but there is one thing I do know. Every queen's first clutch is special because it solely contains her Prime Guardian."
Echo suddenly facehoofs, "Of course! How'd we forget about old Scyth?"
"Scyth?" I ask, barely following along, "And what's a Prime Guardian?"
"They're the most loyal and powerful of any of the changelings that a queen will ever have." Skitter explains, "Chrysalis' Guardian was Scyth, the scariest changeling you'd ever meet. Beside Chrysalis herself, that is."
"Yeah, big, silent, and scary. The few times he would ever leave her side would be to 'take care' of unruly changelings," Echo says, air quoting her words.
"Except for during the invasion," Skitter adds, then grimacing, "Chrysalis had him go on a special mission that didn't involve guarding her, and he was not happy to hear about that. One of the few times I ever heard him talk. Or yell."
"Oh, that actually happened?" Echo asks with surprise, "I thought it was just a rumor that was being passed around."
"It happened, I was there," Skitter says with a nod, "What's amazing is that she wasn't even angry with him for arguing. Actually, it might have been the only time I'd ever seen something of a motherly look on her face."
Echo just gives her a half-lidded stare and says, "Okay, now I for sure don't believe you."
"I promise I'm telling the truth," Skitter shot back, "Of course, Chrysalis threatened those of us who were also there in the throne room with death if it ever got out that she went soft on him."
Echo grins, "Well, I believe that part at least."
I clear my throat in an attempt to get off another tangent, "So, do Guardians have a slower gestation time or something?" I ask hopefully, "Even an extra week could be incredibly helpful."
"Um, maybe," Skitter says with an embarrassed smile, "They're bigger than any other drone can get, almost as big as a queen, so my educated guess would be that there should be a significant growth time increase. Hard to say for sure, though, since it only happens once per queen and it's not really documented."
"I suppose it's better than nothing, then," I sigh and conclude, "All that's left is to figure out where to place a hive before I'm locked into queen-mode."
"Wish we could help you there," Echo says apologetically, "But I'm sure you know your world far better than we ever could."
Skitter nods in agreement, but adds, "Though, one thing I'd recommend is to focus on underground options, it's what we're built for, after all."
"Thanks, Skitter," I say, then stand up, "Very well, I guess that's all I need to know for now, so I'm just going to turn in for the night."
Skitter follows suit and says, "That sounds good, and I need to go book hunting before It gets too late. Sleep well, My Queen."
I smile and nod appreciatively, watching as she disappears from the hivemind.
"Turning in too, Echo?" I ask, turning to her with a grin, "Or do you have a wild night planned as well?"
She laughs at that before admitting, "While rowdy bars are very useful for passive collection, I prefer to pony-watch most nights before bed. It calms the mind for better sleep."
I share her smile before also wishing her a good night, and we both leave the hivemind. I open my eyes to find myself back in my twilight-lit bedroom. Closing my eyes again, I take the long road to unconsciousness paved with various worries and thoughts pertaining to my immediate future. Will I manage to find a place for a new hive in time? How am I going to go about quitting my job? Can I do a good job of raising and protecting my first changeling, my Prime Guardian?
How do I avoid fucking this all up?