//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight // Story: Queen of Blades // by Salacar //------------------------------// Queen of Blades Chapter Eight With only the muffled sound of her hoofsteps on Creep to accompany her, Queen Chrysalis trotted cautiously into the Zerg queen’s lair. She was used to environments which would leave any pony a shivering wreck, but even she could not help but be unnerved by the biological nature of her host’s home. It almost felt like she was walking into the stomach of some great beast. Moving through the strange tunnel, Chrysalis noticed an odd creature, though ‘creature’ might not have been the correct word for it. It was a multi-tiered pillar of flesh, ending in a weird mouth, spikes covering its body. Worst of all, it seemed to follow her movement every step of the way, before swiveling back to face the outside once she had passed. The small tunnel then opened up into a huge cavernous room, pillars of Creep-covered rock spread throughout the interior. Several identical creatures milled about the place, carrying large pieces of gems or crystals in their pincers. The alien workers paid her no heed, going about their business of transporting the various minerals to a large, fleshy structure at the far end of the cave. Moving closer, the Changeling queen attempted to discern its purpose, and was quickly enlightened when a number of larvae emerged from it with a disgusting sound. The Queen of Blades was standing by the newly birthed Zerg, picking one of them up to study it intensely. Chrysalis made to join her, but stopped in her tracks when another creature appeared from behind a nearby pillar. It was much larger than the rest, its elongated body and multiple legs supporting an upper body that looked somewhat like the Queen of Blade’s. Though the creature was intimidating, it made no move that it had even seen her, instead releasing a sickly green ichor on the birthing structure. The hatchery started writhing and pulsating rapidly as a result, beating steadily like some sort of perverse heartbeat. “Does the presence of my children unnerve you, Queen Chrysalis?” The sound of the Queen of Blades’ voice brought the Changeling’s attention away from the bizarre sight. “Come, join me. I promise that you will be safe during your stay.” A sneer was the queen’s response, the Queen of Blades’ patronising tone annoying her beyond measure. “I was simply... admiring your minions. It is not every day I get to experience such an unfamiliar hive, though it does share some similarities with my own.” The Changeling cast a quick glance to the side, where a biological structure of some sort, adorned with the same spikes as the one at the entrance, but with a long tentacle-like growth protruding from its center, was walking across the floor on several legs. “And some of it... not so familiar.” Potential enemy or not, the Queen of Blades could not keep a tiny smile from her lips at the casual air around the Changeling. It was refreshing to meet someone who was not immediately repulsed by the nature of her being, or those of her creations. “Beautiful, aren’t they? All of them a result of perfected evolution, and brought into this world from one of these small larvae,” she presented one of the maggot-like creatures. “Each of these carry the genetic code of the entire Zerg species, capable of becoming anything I want them to be.” As to prove her point, the Zerg queen placed the larvae back on the ground, taking a step back as she sent it a mental command. In no time at all, the larvae had entered a pupal state, the green egg pulsating and glowing as the DNA of the desired breed was quickly replicated. Less than a minute later, the egg suddenly hatched, bursting with green goo and revealing the form of yet another of the alien workers. “These are Drones, originally gashyrr wasps of Eldersthine, brought into and enhanced by the Zerg Swarm.” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, pacing closer to get a better look. “That larvae just increased its size tenfold in a matter of seconds,” she turned to glance at the Zerg queen. “How is that possible, where does it get the mass?” “You’re standing on it,” she answered simply, smirking slightly as Chrysalis lifted a hoof to look at the fleshy carpet. “It is something the Terran have taken to calling ‘Creep’, it is in fact a living organism, sustaining and connecting all Zerg in contact with it. It draws minerals from underground as nourishment.” “That’s certainly... effective,” she couldn’t help but grimace. “More so than the source of food for my kind at least. We Changelings feed on love and affection, all positive emotions shared between creatures.” The Queen of Blades perked up slightly at that. ‘They feed on love? No doubt in the form of psionic energy evoked by strong emotions. I suppose that explains her strong mental protection...” “Intriguing. I’m guessing you have some way of integrating with a society then? With a name like Changelings I can’t imagine otherwise.” After taking a moment to watch the newly hatched Drone move to join in the work, Chrysalis turned to the Queen of Blades with a confident smirk. “Indeed, a Changeling is capable of changing their physical form to perfectly imitate another individual, as long as the desired form does not stray too far from our own. Watch.” In a flash of green fire, the black insectoid shape of Chrysalis was almost instantly swapped with the regal, white form of Princess Celestia, standing just as tall and proud as one would expect of the real one. The Zerg queen couldn’t help but feel somewhat impressed by the display. ‘No use of psionic impression, and I only detected a slight mental fluctuation. It is certainly much more effective than my own changelings, dependant on psionically influencing others as they are. This is actually a perfect physical transformation, achieved in the span of but a second.’ The fake Celestia flared her great wings, smiling gently at the Zerg. It was almost unnerving how perfect a copy she was, the Queen of Blades even detected a slight change in the Changeling’s mental wavelength. “A perfect imitation, as you can clearly see,” even her voice had changed. “It is a talent which has enabled us to feed on the love of ponies for millennia, entirely unnoticed.” Only her advanced psionic training allowed the Queen of Blades to detect a very subtle flinch at the end of the Changeling Queen’s sentence, revealing a small degree of hesitance in that last statement. “That is certainly impressive - Yet, entirely unnoticed? Perhaps it is time you told me how you came to end up in the Everfree,” she gestured with her hand for the Changeling to follow her. “I detected an enormous release of energy shortly before you showed up, and I suspect it had something to do with your current situation.” Trotting next to the Queen of Blades, a twitch of the eyes was the only sign that her words had struck home. “You are correct, the release of magical energy you felt was the result of an unforeseen complication in my effort to take control of Equestria,” A burst of green fire returned the Queen to her normal form. “I am not too prideful to say that I let my own arrogance get the better of me, and both me and my Changelings have suffered because of it.” The Queen of Blades came to a stop near a large, organic pool of green liquid, settling down on a Creep covered rock. “You were in Canterlot then, did your plan have anything to do with the wedding perchance?” “You’re certainly well informed,” Chrysalis said as she sat down on her haunches, the Creep making a surprisingly comfortable cushion. “Yes, I had managed to take the place of the bride, enchanted the groom, and siphoned enough magic from him to take down his protective force field.” She cast an annoyed glance out across the pool of bubbling, green ichor. “I was foiled in the end however, and my Changelings have been spread in all directions. I’ll need some time to reestablish my link to the hivemind.” The Queen of Blades smirked internally. ‘So the Changelings make use of a collective mental link too, they are certainly the most evolved species I have encountered since coming here.’ “And what about you?” The Changeling’s voice brought the Queen of Blades out of her thoughts. “What are your plans, where do you even come from? No one of your obvious power would have been able to stay hidden in Equestria for any length of time, even if you kept to the Everfree Forest.” She saw no real reason to lie to her new acquaintance. “I arrived only a few days ago in Canterlot, I’m not certain what the ponies are saying about it, but I did encounter and fight a group of guards.” Recognition showed clearly in Chrysalis’ eyes. “It was through no choice of my own, I was sent to this world by an ancient artifact of the Xel’Naga.” The Changeling Queen seemed in thought for a moment. “I did in fact hear about the appearance of some rampant ‘monster’, though Shining Armor would tell me very little.” She cast a searching glance at the Zerg creatures around them. “You’re truly not of this world then?” “No, I am from a place far beyond these stars. There my Swarm controls numerous planets, almost endless in their number. I wish to return to them, to my rightful place of power, and finally settle some old scores.” Her eyes glowed with an inner flame at the statement, and Chrysalis could feel the very strength of her conviction. Any lesser being would have shriveled under that burning gaze, yet Chrysalis was no ‘lesser being’. “And how will you do this? I will admit that I somewhat admire those with such strong desires, but I have never heard of any ways to travel beyond our world.” She gave a dismissive gesture with a holed hoof. “I have lived for a very long time, and what you seek is likely impossible.” The Queen of Blades reclined herself slightly on her seat, her demeanor cooling back to its previous casualness. “I can work with ‘likely impossible’, I’ve already done things others have believed to be impossible. I will not be denied my destiny, not by anyone or anything.” <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> A group of shadowy figures sprinted through the Everfree Forest, the sound of soft paws on dirt the only noise evident by their stealthy trek. For the most part they would run on all four, stopping only once in a while to stand on two legs in order to scout their surroundings. Their progress was swift, silent and, most importantly of all, coordinated. The entire pack moving like a singular being, it would certainly have been an impressive sight to any military commander. Until one of the shapes ran face first into the low-hanging branch of a tree, dropping to the ground with a painful thud and a yip of pain. A low, miserable whine came from the humanoid dog as it managed to sit back up on its haunches, gingerly stroking its bloody snout with a paw. The rest of the diamond dogs had already stopped, and quickly gathered around their hurt pack member with worry in their eyes. All but one, who instead facepawed and groaned in annoyance at the pathetic display. “Ugh, I tell you to run careful, and you go ahead and run into tree.” The taller dog brought the paw away from his face in a gesture of exasperation. “Stupid dog needs to see where he’s going, or stupid dog gets kicked out of scouting pack.” The dog in question, not wanting to get scolded anymore, quickly regained his footing and returned an apologetic look. “I is sorry, tree suddenly show up and I don’t see.” His surrounding pack mates, all with tongues sticking out and light iron armor covering their bodies, made sure to nod agreeably to the statement. This did little to appease the pack leader, who simply sighed in futility and turned to leave. “I...- fine, whatever. We continue scouting now.” He managed to take a few more steps before noticing that there were no sounds of moving dogs behind him, and with a puzzled look turned back to them. Only to find that they hadn’t moved at all, instead looking at each other with lost expressions, until one of them turned to the leader with a blank stare. “Uh, what we scouting again?” The sound of the resulting facepaw rung through the forest, sending a flock of birds flying from a nearby tree. With another groan of misery, the leader turned an almost hopeless, deadpan look to his pack. “We are here to find out what happen to dragon in cave, and take gems back if we can.” A chorus of ‘Ooooh’s originated from the dogs, who quickly got back into position and before long were back on the right path again. The entire pack, numbering five scouts and the leader, was fast to pick up the pace, and before long they had made it to the cave in question. An uplifted paw from the leader stopped the rest in their tracks, and with practiced patience they closed in on the dragon’s lair. The task to check out the cave had come from the Alpha himself; apparently there had been very little activity from the dragon recently, and it was entirely possible it could have started its long sleep, or even left for that matter. Whatever the reason, it was a good chance for the diamond dogs to expand their territory or gem stock. The cave itself seemed silent, the dogs’ sensitive hearing barely able to pick up any sound at all. More puzzling to the canines was the fleshy substance that seemed to grow out from inside the cave, creating a disturbing, purple blanket to cover the ground. Each of them sniffed curiously as they approached, picking up an unfamiliar scent. It almost smelled like flesh, yet the distinct odor of blood was absent. The pack was wary as they closed in on the cave opening, one of them gingerly placing a paw on the Creep at the behest of their leader. When nothing sprang from the ground to eat them, the dogs continued onwards with coiled muscles, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. All of them were silent as they entered the cave, and eventually they reached the primary chamber. It was entirely covered in purple Creep, yet devoid of any other creatures and sounds, and none of them could detect any immediate dangers. A collective sigh of relief was given by the group as their searching gazes ran across the cavernous room. Many green, glowing crystals adorned the walls, granting some measure of illumination for them to investigate in. “Beta! Beta! Over there, look gems!” One of the dogs suddenly exclaimed, pointing a dirty claw to a corner of the room where a large pile of gems was situated. The leader did not respond however, as something else had caught his gaze. Behind them, just above the cave exit, was a strange growth protruding from the wall. The long, fleshy stalk twitched slightly, the pointed barb at its end swaying silently from side to side. In the next moment, the Spine Crawler’s long tentacle shot out, taking one of the dogs by surprise and impaling it with a sickening sound through its stomach, sending a spray of red blood in all directions. The dog’s body hadn’t even hit the ground before the rest went into a flurry of activity, sprinting with terrified yelps for the exit. Only to find it blocked by a wall of the purple Creep, which had been stretched across the opening. Despite their best attempts, the diamond dogs were incapable of ripping apart the rubbery substance with their claws, and quickly stopped their hopeless endeavour as a new sound was heard from behind them. A chittering and clicking of fangs. As one they turned, their eyes growing wide with fear as they noticed the alien creatures closing in on them, appearing above them from around the pillars, their clawed limbs easily allowing them to walk the surfaces of the Creep-covered towers. The chittering and hissing of gleeful Zerg resounded throughout the cave, and even more of them became visible, falling from the ceiling or burrowing up from the ground. They were quickly surrounded, and in an act of desperation the beta threw up his hands, yelling to be heard over the cacophony of noise. “Wait! Wait! We not enemies, we good diamond dogs!” Surprisingly, the mass of zerglings became silent, eerily looming over their canine prey. For a moment the beta hoped for the best, right up until the point where a flurry of spines turned the dog on his right into a pincushion, falling to the ground without a sound. Another creature emerged, this one much larger than the others, its large claws swiping at the air menacingly and the ‘wings’ on its back twitching after their release of acid spikes. The queen gave a single screech, and the Zerglings washed over the cowering dogs like a flood of claws, sickles, and death. Everything was quickly drowned out by howls of pain, the sound of tearing flesh, and the helpless yelps of the aliens’ canine victims. <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> He awoke to a world of painless agony, every part of his being felt like an alien entity to him, and for some reason he could not remember, he was afraid... so very afraid. His vision was dark, and a mass of chaotic voices in his head almost drowned out his own thoughts. Yet one voice rang through, so clearly that he could not ignore it. 'Awaken...' The voice was strange, so unfamiliar, yet so very beautiful. In his mind he knew that he had to obey, to open his eyes and wake up. It was the only thing that mattered, to answer that beautiful, perfect voice and fulfill its every wish. He fought a battle, and eventually his eyes opened to the world for the first time, yet not for his first time. Shaking his head to dispel the other voices, he sought only to hear that one voice. With surprising vigor he brought a limb to the front of his face, his... paw, yes, that was what it was. It was different though, or was it different? He couldn’t be certain. It certainly looked like his paw, yet the nails were more like claws than he remembered, and much of his fur was gone, replaced with a strange, hard coating. Little bits of white bone had apparently ruptured through his skin, yet he felt no pain. 'Look to me.' The voice was back, demanding his undivided attention, and he was glad to give it. With a shift of his head he turned to look at her. The one with the voice. The one who was... “My... Queen.”