//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - The Hive // Story: A Changing Perspective // by Dragrace //------------------------------// Jack was paralyzed with fear. There were so many... THINGS moving around him, but they all seemed to ignore him. He took a deep breath and began to look at his surroundings some more. It was extremely dark, it seemed as if there was so source of light in the room. But he could see just fine, even in the dark. Perhaps it was one of the benefits changelings had compared to normal ponies. The cavern was quite a sight however, something you would never expect to see in Equestria. The walls were a very dark tone of grey, piled with many moderately sized spheres. The spheres had green blotches attached seemingly at random, and they tended to be grouped together tightly. 'Where am I, anyways?' Jack thought. The constant sounds of the passing changelings hooves, or whatever they were, constantly echoed through the room. Near one of the small entrances to another room, he saw a two changelings that seemed to be in some sort of argument. Without any notice, the one on the right tackled the one on the left. Before Jack realized what had happened, there was a brawl of roughly 30 changelings occurring right in front of him. He did the only thing reasonable in this kind of situation - he walked away. >---< It was quite scary for Jack to be wandering around in such an unfamiliar place, especially with so many of these unfriendly creatures around him. He got the occasional hiss, but nothing turned into a fight. After walking through a couple more tunnels, Jack noticed that there weren't any more sacs on the walls. 'I must have been in some sort of nursery, or whatever the changeling equivalent is' he thought to himself. After walking for another minute or so through the Hive, the found the population of changelings was significantly lower. The next tunnel he saw was guarded by two very large changelings. They had chitin armor much thicker than the rest, and there size alone was enough to scare him off. He turned around, suspecting the guards must have been guarding something of great importance. As he began to leave, he heard a booming voice come from behind. "Halt!" said the voice. 'Oh no... What do they want with me?' he thought. He turned around to find that one of the guards had approached him. The guard was more than twice his size and was definitely something you didn't want to get in trouble with. "State your business here, drone!" The guard boomed. The guard's voice was very deep, and very loud. The cavern seemed to echo his voice back more than twice. "Err... Ummm... Nothing. I was looking for the err... Nursery?" Jack stumbled. It was hard enough being in an unfamiliar environment, but not knowing what any thing is makes things more difficult. "What is your responsibility?" The guard countered. "What?" Jack responded, slightly confused. The guard let out a sigh. "Another new changeling, it seems. Very well, the Queen will appoint you with your duty." 'Wait... The Queen? As in Queen Chrysalis? Jack thought. It didn't occur to him that the guards were letting him in so easily. Almost without reason. "Be quick with you, the Queen is very busy." The guard said, as he shoved Jack into the opening. Without much thought, Jack proceeded into the tunnel. Walking for no more than 10 seconds, he reached a grand chamber. The chamber itself was quite impressive; the cavern walls had been rounded out very well. There were many banners scattered across the walls. They were all black, with the bottoms filled with holes almost as if to represent the changeling colony. The middle of the room was a large, perfectly symmetrical diamond shaped gem. In front of the gem was a grand throne, made from an onyx-like substance. The throne was occupied by a large changeling with deep green hair, and a single crown above her head. He knew it was Chrysalis. Beside the throne there were two more large guards, these ones had strange blades attached to their chitin. Jack cautiously approached the throne, careful not to make any sudden movements. For all he knew, he could be killed before he could even speak. Without noticing his actions, he was about 5 feet from the throne, staring directly at the Queen of the changelings. >---< "What is it you desire of your Queen? I haven't the time for a drone like you." Chrysalis stated, almost as if she was bored of the encounter already. "State your business now drone, or be sent to the chamber." Chrysalis had a voice that chilled Jack to the bone. He could hardly move, and was afraid he might say something he didn't mean to say. 'What is 'The Chamber' anyways?' Jack thought. A moment passed in an awkward silence, and then the Queen finally spoke. "My... The emotions stored within this one are quite strong. I taste fear... I haven't felt that from a changeling in years." Jack gulped. 'This is how I die.' he thought. "This changeling is certainly... different" The Queen stated, seeming less annoying. "Perhaps you deserve the honor to tell me your purpose here." "Uhh... Err... Just t-to feed the c-colony, Queen." Jack stuttered. "You certainly have, with all those emotions of yours. This is certainly going to be a nice snack." Jack felt like he was being drained. His vision became slightly blurry and his legs wobbled slightly. Chrysalis looked quite content with her 'snack'. >---< After another long moment of silence, Jack had finally recovered from his 'donation' to the Queen. It seemed changelings really were quite brutal when draining the emotions of others. For a pony not to be able to notice something like that, the changelings must have some pretty powerful manipulative skills. After waiting for what seemed like ages, the queen finally spoke once more. "Where have you been, my dear, I have not felt so much energy since... since..." Her voice trailed off. "The wedding?" "How did you... You certainly are quite interesting. Not many changelings knew about what truly happened at the wedding." "You defeated Celestia herself with your power, but you were defeated by the love of Cadence and Shining Armor." "So you were there!" Chrysalis exclaimed. "Where have you been all these years? I have not seen you around in quite some time, drone." 'Drone. That's all she calls me. Maybe only important changelings get names? Jack thought. "Yes, my Queen." Jack responded. "I have been in Ponyville since then." It was a blatant lie, but he was getting much more comfortable talking to one of the most evil beings in Equestria. It seemed although she was warming up to him quite well, however when he mentioned her defeat she did seem a little angry. "Ponyville? That is where the sister of Shining Armor rests, is it not? I believe her name is Twilight... Sparks... Holes?" The queen said. "Twilight Sparkle" Jack corrected. "So you do know her... In that case I have a very specific task just for you." "And what might that be?" He asked. "Seeing as you know the bearer of the elements of harmony, I plan to have you collect more energy for the Hive in 'Ponyville'. The closest I can get you is the Everfree forest. Do you accept my offer?" "Of course my Queen." He knew that he would finally get a chance to redeem himself. He would make up his own form and try to trick the others into believing he was another pony. But what if the Queen attempted to retrieve him? Either way, this may have been his only chance to get back to Ponyville. "Very well then. Should you fail, your punishment shall not be light." Chrysalis stated. 'Oh well that makes me feel a lot better.' The twisted horn of the Queen began to glow. Without any sort of notice, faster than a blink of an eye, Jack found himself back in the Everfree forest. From there, he would have to determine what to do next.