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// I'm Running Out of Puns for the Queens' Names 
// Story: I Blame You 
// by Whitestrake 
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	Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of travel? Oh, I have? Well, my opinion hasn't changed in the least. The rhythm of the rails provided an odd lullaby that sapped my concentration while nervousness filled the core of my being. Draconia was still a fair bit away, but we would arrive in the Badlands in about an hour. Chrysalis passed the time by resting her head on my shoulder, snoozing the train ride away. Jay and Cadenza also slept the trip off, while Luna and I had a unique method of passing the time.

“Focus.” The alicorn held a cup aloft, her magical aura suspended the drinking glass about a foot off the tabletop. The exercise was rather simple, really, and the two of us came upon the idea using logic and a fair amount of guesswork. I concentrated on the empty glass, trying to extend my mind to the levitating bit of melted sand. With any luck, the nullifying field humans emitted would also react to mental stimulation, perhaps granting precision control over active magic and enchantments. Even if it worked, which I doubted it would, I would only be able to stop unicorns from casting but be unable to actually use magic myself.

I felt the same half-headache the statue gave me during our first meeting. I focused my attention and every ounce of mental energy I had. The headache intensified tenfold, going from a dull throb to a burning pain as I concentrated all thought on the floating glass. A slight pressure built in the forefront of my mind, akin to the tense of a finger pressing into a balloon, except the force was from within. The feeling fizzled out just as quickly as it appeared, but the small progress gave me no consolation. I was aware that innovation must take small steps before it can leap, but the possible uses of controlled anti-magic were too great to ignore. Sadly, it was unlikely that I would have even a rudimentary proficiency, given the constraints of time.

“Well, given what I could do before, I'd say we've had massive improvement.”

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We got off the train at Nova, a small border town. The place was a trade hub, and far from what I'd expected when it came to the changeling homeland. The Badlands were named appropriately, to be sure, but there were still plenty of habitable areas to be found. Still, the place reminded me more of downtown Detroit than a merchant town. But, then again, there wasn't much difference between the two.

“We need to get to Grove Avenue, Mom'll meet us there.” Chrysalis was wearing the same disguise Karapass had used during our meeting. This was probably a completely cultivated individual, or maybe some celebrity that used to be relevant. Either way, the red pegasus mare was a visual signal that this was a changeling. It might also have been a specific disguise only queens were allowed to use, which seemed oddly conventional for a species of shapeshifters. Oddly enough, our group didn't attract even the smallest of curious glances.

“Why do I get the feeling eyes are upon us?” I specified curious looks; sinister ones were still fair game. I looked through the large crowds, searching for any sign of a stalker's gaze. Sadly, my hood obscured my peripheral vision too much to accurately estimate the feeling's source.

“My sisters are likely watching every incoming train for us.” Chrysalis said that like she wouldn't do the same. Then again, I knew she probably wouldn't. Actually, you'd probably be surprised by how much I knew about her. Despite the possibility of ambush, or at least what I perceived as such, we kept following the cloaked queen through Nova's winding streets. At times, I almost forgot that Chrysalis was over fourfold my age. “Thorax is probably the Hive's eyes and ears right now, probably as much for our protection as the locals'.”

“Is your mother expecting trouble?” Cadence had been unusually quiet during the trip, even before she fell asleep. The question was genuine though, and was undoubtedly shared by the rest of us, except, maybe for Chrysalis. The dethroned queen was really our only source of information regarding changelings, so she was the sole person that knew exactly how underhanded and devious her species could be.

“No, but it's a habit for us to keep our eyes open around here.” Right, the whole species still had to live in the shadows, the whole emotional parasite thing coming back and biting them in the ass. Contrary to popular belief, changelings do not actually receive sustenance from love, rather, they convert it to stored energy they can later use to boost their magic. Kind of like love batteries, if you think about it enough. If batteries could kidnap your loved ones to charge themselves on your affection and possibly lay waste to cities, the comparison is fairly easy to make.

“This seems rather complex, would it not be easier to just use the sewers?” Luna had no idea how awesome secret bases worked. Sewage systems may have been find and dandy for common crooks and such, but real evildoers had a flair for the dramatic. Not that Karapass was evil or anything. Honestly, I didn't have enough knowledge to pass any real judgment on her. At a cursory glance, we were much alike, but that would be a problem in any extended contact.

“Sewers are so cliché, you need something cool. Twenty bits says it's a giant cave system with hot springs or something like that.” Jay said his first words of the trip. I should have been suspicious when he was silent, but there had been more pressing issues on my mind at the time.

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Queen Arthroa, mother of the Draconia Hive, was giddy as her drones relayed her youngest sister's arrival. She and Chrysalis hadn't been very close growing up, what with the former being over two-hundred when the latter was born and all, but it was still nice to see family again. But, as happy as the broodmother was to see her sibling, she was just as amazed at her entourage. Two humans that walked like outlanders and two Equestrian princesses accompanied the youngest of Karapass's daughters, but it was unknown to the changeling if this was a move meant to scare Arachni into surrender.

“Did you get the message as well?” Queen Chorion was the twelfth-oldest of the Grand Matron's brood, sired by a barbarian that shouted praises to a dead god. Thankfully, she took after his softer side, though she still had his tempter. The elder sister was also one of the kinder hivequeens, and the one most thought would inherit Karapss's title. Being the mother of a hive that pioneered in many sciences, she was very interested in the magic-nulls her sister arrived with. But, one of her scouts had indicated the smaller human was adapting and even passively emitting a small signature of magic while the larger was actively negating any spells within a yard of him. Chorion chalked it up to unstable genes or a tendency to mutate, perhaps even an evolutionary drive that made them adapt to the local biology.

“Oh yes, I'm so happy Chrissy's back in one piece.” Arthora was also intrigued by the bipeds, but kept the curiosity to herself much better than her older sibling. While every queen had a reverence for the Grand Matron and the Deceiver as guardians of their species, sacrificing one of their own to fulfill an ancient prophecy too old to be clearly remembered didn't seem like the best idea to the relatively younger queen. It seemed to work out well, though, so there was that bit of good news. Xerox, the drone that had initially seen the group, had mentioned a certain spring in the youngest matriarch’s step, a certain hitch in her giddy-up. Either way, it appeared she had attracted the romantic interests of at least one of the humans and possibly the two alicorns with her.

“I wonder how Arachni is going to take this.”

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Extra – Bright Lights, Running Ghouls

“Who was the guy on the intercom?” Trixie kept her voice as low as possible, trying to avoid alerting the feral ghouls that inhabited the rotting building. She had even gotten over her fear of corpses enough to huddle behind a dead nightkin for cover.

“Dunno, said he wanted to see us.” Taylor lied without effort, fully knowing who was on the other end of that metal box. He actually couldn't recall the man's name, but he did know the former dweller of Vault 34 suffered delusions of ghoulhood. The teen was the only member of the group able to navigate with any clarity, due to his enhanced night vision and sensitive ears, thus making him the crew's unofficial guide. The rifle-toting human fingered his weapon's trigger, keeping the high-caliber problem-solver ready for anything.

The four moved quietly through the RepCon building, though Jay and Taylor had to carry the ponies on their backs to avoid clopping sounds. A roamer almost alerted the rest of the pack to their presence, but was silenced by a large wrench bashing his skull in. The sound of a head breaking coupled with the scent of fresh blood sent the ferals into a frenzy. The two humans agreed upon their original plan and ran as quickly as they could to the stairway that lead to the Bright Brotherhood's temporary locale. The flautist dropped his only grenade as he sprinted, knowing the ghouls were too stupid to avoid the anti-personnel weapon.

The frag went off in the middle of the pack, sending blood and gore in every possible direction. Those not caught in the primary shrapnel path were tossed by the pressure wave or their fellow shuffle-steppers. The few that survived did their best to get on their feet, but three firearms would do their damnedest to prevent that. It didn't matter the caliber, every bullet helped rid the world of one more abomination. Jay, Lyra, and Taylor kept their fire until the attacking ghouls had found peace in oblivion, while Trixie contacted Chris.

The foursome immediately entered the unlocked room.

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Right, so here's what's currently possible for the spin-off, but everything can be changed with sufficient feedback and reasoning. Feel free to request or suggest whatever you wish.
Arctic planet for Equusian settlement
Combined forces of Imperial Guard Regiment/Space Marine Chapter(Chapter undecided) against either Tyranids or Eldar (possibly both) either on planet or in local system
Space travel and multiple planets, likely fighting against multiple enemies
At least one venture into the Eye of Terror