I stirred. My body felt like it had been ripped to pieces and mashed back together again by a deranged hatchling. My vision was blurry as I tried to push myself to my feet. I fell, unable to keep my balance. My head swam as my vision slowly began to clear. The first thing I noticed was the ground. It was the blackened dirt of the corpse fields, the home of the geysers and the demons.
I finally managed to bring myself to a standing position and took in my full surroundings. I was on the edge of the corpse fields. I could smell the noxious sulfur and vaporous ejections in the air. As I looked around the field I could not begin to calculate the dead that littered the ground around me. What a waste, so many dead that could’ve fed the living. There was one corpse in the midst of all of the dead that I was worried about.
There she lay, just as serene as the day I had first seen her. Even in death my loyalty to my queen did not end. I bent down and I spoke.
“My queen, please forgive me for what I am about to do.” I pushed my head underneath her neck and hoisted her onto my back. I felt ashamed at how inappropriate this was, but she was my queen, and she needed to taken back to the hive, back home. I turned to the corpse fields. This was going to be bad. I ducked my head and entered the geyser field.
The walk was intense. I had to weave my way through the massive holes in the ground. It would have seemed easy, but the holes were covered, almost camouflaged. I chuckled at the irony that something that hides in plain sight could kill me. So, still carrying my queen on my back, I sojourned on.
The geysers weren’t what I was worried about, there were still the demons, the creatures that lurked in the shadows and the mists. I could see shadows flit about as I was stalked. It was morbidly exhilarating, knowing that I could die at any moment. I smiled slowly as I could see one massive silhouette standing some way off. I turned away from it, hoping I did not wake the beast.
I did not know how long I had been walking through the corpse fields. Random geyser eruptions added a less than wonderful distraction as I moved through the fields. I had only one encounter with a demon. Luckily, it was just a child. It had scampered through the mist in front of me. I stopped dead and stared, unmoving, hoping that it wouldn’t look at me.
The little beast turned its flat, scaly head and fixed its enormous black and yellow eyes on me. Its body was long and slender, covered in shining green and red scales. Its tail flicked back and forth as it stared at me. I didn’t know what to do, if I engaged it I knew it’d all be over, but the damn thing kept looking at me. I didn’t move, I just stared and kept looking over the details of the demon. Its massive black horns that curved around its pointed face, its massive black claws shiny with sweat. But its eyes, those brutal orbs that barely stayed in the socket, kept my attention as I could easily see the pupil moving as it searched me out. Suddenly a geyser erupted in front of me, just inches in front of my face. The heat from the steam burned my skin, I flinched away and I had to shut my eyes, but I remained silent lest I warn the demon of my presence.
I turned about, my eyes watering. I felt a massive scratchiness in my throat. Pressure built in my stomach as my body prepared to cough. I coughed aloud. It took several hacking moments before my throat was clear. I froze as the last cough echoed out through the chemical haze. My eyes searched through the sulfuric fog to spot the movement of the demons. I was surprised to see nothing. I should have been seeing something, anything. But I could not spot anything I could not hear anything, not even the slightest rustle or squeak. I felt fear run through my veins, a luxury provided by my place within the evolutionary hierarchy.
Then I heard it. Well, to be fair, the whole entirety of the corpse fields heard it. A massive roar sounded. I couldn’t determine from where, the fog keeping my senses blocked. I couldn’t smell the demon, see it, or tell where it was coming from, but I could feel the earth shake as the massive beast charged towards me.
I had only one scent in my nose I recognize: Home. I turned the direction the scent led and I ran. I didn’t care what was in my way, whether it be massive geyser or demon I ran.
As I ran I took things in at a glance. Demons flashed by and geysers exploded. Behind me the ground still rumbled as the huge demon chased me. My heart pounded, my muscles screamed. I would have used my wings, but with the queen on my back I was incapable of such and I was not about to drop her body, nothing would make me leave her behind.
The demons screamed and whooped as I sprinted, terror coursing through my veins. I had no idea what I was going to do, I just ran, trying to get home. The geysers began to thicken and the eruptions began to happen closer and closer together as if even nature wanted me to die, I would not be surprised considering that I am the kingmaker.
A geyser opened up beneath me. I fell. It was an odd sensation to one who was armed with the ability to fly. As I dropped I unfolded my wings I felt the queen’s body shift. I panicked trying to turn to keep her from falling, and then the geyser erupted.
The expulsion of gasses forced themselves into my wings forcing me into the air. I soared into the sky, above the noxious fumes of the corpse fields into the ugly blue skies. It was breathtaking to see the dense cloud cover before me. The clouds were black and unmoving. They were the clouds over the hive.
I drifted down with my wings outspread, trying to balance the dead queen on my back. I fell back into the clouds I was blinded by the evil vapor as my senses were invaded. I prayed to my dead queen that we would come out of the other side. I closed my eyes to avoid the pain. Then my wings gave out.
I plummeted through the smog, the queen still on my back. I refused to open my eyes or even try to unfold my wings again. I prepared myself for the ultimate failure and death would be a barely suitable punishment for everything I had failed to do.
As I fell memories flashed through my vision, it was horrifying. I saw images from when I was young, starting out on the execution line, punishing the drones who had failed in their duties. Next came my first actual kill that idiotic cobalt blue pony that had somehow stumbled across the hive, the blood had gone everywhere and I had enjoyed every second of it. The next memory was my first mating, I smiled, how intimate and loving the queen had been to me as I entered her. The memories flashed faster. I stood in the hatchery watching my seed grow into new brothers. I stood over the scorched corpse of a dead manticore as warriors charged into the sunken caverns hidden in the great forest to kill the Ursa Major. I hovered over a large village as ponies ran from their homes in terror. I was roaring my fervor out as my brothers fell onto the defenseless and useless organisms. We had eaten well that day. And the last memory was of yesterday. The whole day ran before my eyes in brutal and slow detail. First was the feeling I got from the queen. The chemical message she had sent me through the air, me sounding the general alert and gathering my other protectorate brothers to me. We flew together to Canterlot laughing at the doomed city we were about to pillage and burn. And the last thing I saw was the look on Chrysalis’ face right before the massive wall of energy slammed into her and took her from me.
The air streamed past my head. The air whistled to me, singing to me. Then I smashed into the dirt. I felt my ribs crack, two of my legs break and my right wing snapped. The pain was excruciating as I slid across the dirt.
I opened my eyes and looked up. The first thing I noticed was the cloud cover. It was wonderful to see the thick, black and noxious clouds that reminded me of me being a hatchling and taking my first flight around the hive. The next thing I noticed was the brutal and scarred face of Corlax. I noticed he had recently lost an eye, it was interesting to notice that my offspring was rather more violent than any previous generation. The big dumb brute smiled.
“Hello Krom, good to see you again.”
“Thanks Corlax, now could you get your mother off of me?” Corlax kept smiling.
“Alright dad, whatever you say.” The big, dumb guard moved out of my vision and my I lost consciousness.