The Hive Life

by Thorax


Episode 2: One Job

{Authors Note: I apologize for the quality of these first two Chapters, I’ve been sick for the past few days and find myself unable to think properly. I did my best to edit these, but I’ll have to come back later.}


Crowds of Changeling On-lookers watched as their Queen and Princess made their way through the town, closely followed by a squad of the finest Changeling Soldiers. News of their Princess’s accent to the surface had traveled fast and many had gathered in hopes of glimpsing the surface. Many of them had also begun to question the two Changelings in the large cage; neither appeared to be prisoners and both appeared to be making the journey to the surface.

“Oh come on Cocoon, let us out.” Whined Mandible as he shook the bars.

“Are you going to try and escape again?” Cocoon answered as she waved to several Hatchlings who had begun following the carriage.

“If I may add” began the Changeling Queen “Your last two attempts were quite well executed. You managed to dispatch your commanding officer with only a wooden barrel.

“And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling hatchlings and their devourer.”

“Haha” groaned Thorax as he kept his eyes closed hoping the world would stop spinning “It almost ate your face.”

Several minutes of walking, another escape attempt and one extremely sick Changeling later, they had arrived at the gates to the Hive. The large wooden doors, which separated the world of the Changelings, had been opened in anticipation of their arrival.

“My Queen, the guards at the surface entrance have been notified and several scouts have been sent to your requested areas.” Spoke the armored guard as he resumed his position.

“Very good” Chrysalis spoke happily “I assume there have been no real disturbances?”

The guard shook his head as he removed a scroll from his saddlebag and began to quietly read through it. Eventually he closed it and returned it to its spot in his bag.

“There have been reports of a Hydra making a nest within the bog. However, that is outside of your designated areas, so the Princess and her escort shouldn’t run into any trouble.”

“This is excellent news.” Chrysalis began as she entered the door way, closely followed by Princess Cocoon along with her two extremely reluctant “guards” The doors slowly beginning to shut behind them. “I’ll be back within the hour” Chrysalis managed to get out as the doors sealed, locking them in the large stairwell.

The three Changelings and one Queen stood in silence as the stared up what appeared to be a never ending staircase in both directions. Cocoon and Thorax had only seen it once before, on their initial arrival to the Hive. Back in their home Hive they had never been so deep below the surface and overtime they had forgotten how deep they truly were.

Mandible however, had been born within the main Hive and had never even seen beyond the gates, let alone the surface.

“My Queen, where does that lead?” Cocoon asked as she pointed down the staircase.

The Changeling Queen remained silent as she stared down the stairs as she thought about the hell beneath the Hive. She had always intended to tell her people what was so very deep below them, but now was not the time.

“Storage” Chrysalis said with a forced smile “It leads to the water reservoir for the entire Hive.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

After several more minutes of discussion regarding the depth of the Hive and several other forced delays by two specific Changelings. They had completed their long ascent to the Surface and now stood at the final barrier between the hidden world and the surface.

“So, you all understand what is expected of you?” Chrysalis asked as she pressed her hoof on the door.

Cocoon and Mandible both nodded in the affirmative. Thorax however was shaking his head rapidly

“I woke up in a cage, I have no idea what’s happening.” The Changeling flatly stated.

Chrysalis gave a sigh as she prepared to give the speech. However, she was cut off as Cocoon began to speak before her.

“Queen Chrysalis wants me… us to learn first hoof about the Surface. In order to do so, she’s set up a “staging” area for us to explore on our own. We’ll be up there for an hour or so, on our own. When we’re finished we’ll return to this door and back to the Hive.”

Chrysalis felt a bolt of pride go through her as she watched her student take charge. She had explained the situation almost perfectly.

“Okay my little Changelings; it’s time for you to begin.” Chrysalis paused as she began going through her own saddle bag. “However, I do have a gift for you, before you begin.” Slowly and carefully Chrysalis removed a hoof sized glass orb and passed it to her student’s magical grip.

“What is it?” Cocoon asked as she examined the clear glass ball.

“A seer’s Orb” Chrysalis answered as she removed a second one and held it up to her face. “It’ll let you contact me, should the need arise.” With a flare of her horn, a green aura surrounded both balls. Cocoon was surprised when the face of her Queen appeared on her own orb.

“If you have any problems, or need any advice all you need to do is give the orb a jolt and I’ll be there to help. When you’re ready, open the door and follow the trail.” Chrysalis finished as she nuzzled her student and began making her way back down the stairs.

“Oh Shi-“echoed Chrysalis’s faint cry, followed by the loud thuds as she tripped down the stairs. After several seconds of waiting for any sign from their Queen there was nothing and the three Changelings began to worry.

“I’m alright” came a groan from right beside them.

“My Queen?” Thorax and Mandible asked in unison trying to find the source of the voice.

“The Orb” groaned the voice.

Cocoon quickly removed the orb from her Saddlebag and was surprised to see the upside down face of her Teacher. “Are you okay my Queen?” she asked trying to tilt her orb the proper way.

“I’m fine Cocoo- Oh Gods here we go again.” Cried Chrysalis as she began plummeted down the stairs. The three Changelings watched from the orbs perspective as their queen bounced down the stairs behind it. With a final thump the orb cut out, leaving the three Changelings to themselves.

“Well this has been an eventful day; we better go make sure the Queen is safe.” Mandible quickly blurted out as he darted towards the stairs. However he was quickly stopped as a green aura enveloped him. “Stupid Hive mother magic” he hissed as he tried to break free from her grip.

“Not so fast, the Queen gave us a mission and we’re going to complete it.” Cocoon spoke as she pulled Mandible back to the door. “Now if you and Thorax” it was only then that she noticed the missing member of her group. “Where is Thorax?” she blurted as she searched the small platform.

“Out here” came the missing Changeling’s voice to their horror, the voice was coming from outside the door way. “You guys have to come see this.”

Without thinking the other two Changelings quickly made their way through the door and were promptly blinding by one of the brightest things in existence.

“Oh Gods” Mandible as he dropped to the ground “I can’t see! I’m blind, oh what a world.”

Thorax and Cocoon silently watched their friend as he rolled about the ground in apparent agony. They had forgotten to tell him not to look up and apparently that was the first thing he did. Meaning the very first thing he had seen on the Surface was the Sun.

“Guys are you there?” Mandible waited for a response from his friends, but received nothing “Oh Gods you’re dead aren’t you? I’m blind and everyone’s dead. This was the worst idea ever.”

“Oh stop being such a Hatchling” groaned Cocoon as she pulled her friend up off the ground. “You’re not blind, and we’re not dead.”

After several seconds of rubbing his eyes and groaning, his vision slowly began to return and the world around him became clearer.

“It’s a miracle!” Mandible shouted “I can see again, praise Chrysalis!” Mandible slowly began to notice the all the things around him, he was no longer in his nice safe Hive. Now, he was in the most dangerous place he knew of, the surface and that realization set in as he dropped low to the ground.

“You okay buddy?” asked Thorax as he patted his friend on the back. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not worried” Mandible answered with a forced laugh. “I’m just trying to get a better view of everything. By the way, where’s the ceiling?”

Cocoon gave a laugh at her friend’s joke, several seconds later a few awkward stares she realized it wasn’t a joke. “There is no ceiling, that’s the sky.” she stated flatly “We’re outside, there’s no ceiling, or walls.”

Slowly and cautiously Mandible picked himself back up off the ground and shifted his gaze towards to the “Sky” carefully shielding his eyes from the object that had blinded him earlier. To him, it was appeared to be an ocean in the air, dotted by white blobs, which slowly floated atop the sea.

“Okay then,” Cocoon began “Quick rundown, the Sky is the blue thing, the clouds are the white things and the Sun is the light that blinded you. Now if that’s everything, we’ve got a job to do.” The Changeling Princess finished as she pointed towards the faint trail recently made for them.

“So how do we know when we’re done?” Thorax asked as he played with a small bug.

Cocoon remained silent for several seconds as she removed a scroll from her saddlebag and began to silently read after finishing she returned it back to her bag.

“Queen Chrysalis told me, that all we have to do is follow the path to its end and come back home when we’re done.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Mandible asked as he quickly made his way down the trail.

Thorax and Cocoon quickly made their way after their extremely anxious friend. When they finally did catch up to him, he had come to a dead stop in front of a small winged creature. The clueless Changeling had prepared himself for its possible attack and had grasped a large branch in his mouth.

“Mandible, what are you doing?” Cocoon asked as she approached her sheltered and apparently uneducated guard.

The Changeling Guard dropped his branch to speak, never taking his eyes of the threat. “Stay back Princess, it’s my Duty to protect you from any possible threats.” Mandible finished as he gave the creature a hiss.

Cocoon gave a sigh as she pulled the branch away from her guard

“First, don’t call me Princess, it’s weird. Secondly, you know very well, that I’m the one protecting both of you.”

“Hey” shouted Thorax as he pulled a squirrel off his face. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” As if the universe was attempting to disprove his claim several other squirrels joined in on the assault. “I see you’ve been preparing for this battle Mr.Chippers!” He growled as he threw two off his back. “You beat me ten years ago, but this time I’m ready.”

“Go get em Thorax” shouted Cocoon as she turned back to Mandible who was still readying to fight the menacing bird. “Poor fool is probably going to die.” To her stunned amazement, the bird made its move.

“Back foul demon” Cried Mandible as the small creature began its attack. The poor Changeling was now defenceless he flailed his hooves in the air in his best attempt to scare the creature off. “Cocoon, Thorax, help!”

The Changeling Princess face hoofed as she retrieved the Seers orb from her Saddle bag. She wasn’t sure how her teacher would feel, but she knew this wasn’t what she had planned to happen. With a flare of her horn she sent a jolt of magic into the orb and several seconds later the face of her Queen was staring back at her.

“Oh, Cocoon, I hadn’t expected hear from you so soon.” The Changeling Queen spoke happily as she rubbed the bandages around her forehead. “I hope everything is going okay.”

“Yeah, about that” The young Princess spoke as she rubbed the back of her head. “Everything was going well, until the wildlife showed up.”

“How bad is it? Are any of you hurt?” The Queen asked as she prepared to send out some of her medical staff.

Cocoon didn’t answer; instead she shifted the orb so that it first faced Thorax who was currently being thoroughly beaten by several squirrels who had apparently summoned reinforcements.

Chrysalis was stunned “Is that Mr.Chippers? I thought you said he was one of your servant’s paranoid delusions.”

“I thought he was making it up, but the way he’s yelling and the way it’s chattering, I believe Mr.Chippers has been waiting a long time for this moment.”

Chrysalis groaned as she face hoofed. She had expected years of peace to cause her Children to lower their guard and combat capability. However, she had never expected them to be outmatched by Squirrels.

“And what of your guard?” She asked, hoping that maybe he was faring better. Sure the guards had never seen real combat, but they had been trained for it.

Sadly for her, when Cocoon shifted the orbs gaze once again. She was met with the image of a Changeling Royal Guard having its flank handed to itself by what appeared to be a song bird.

“Oh for the love of the Hive, Cocoon, get it off of me!” cried the slightly wounded Changeling as he continued to run in circles in a vain attempt to get away.

Chrysalis gave a sigh as she realized how bad her soldiers were at being… well, soldiers. She knew if the time ever came where she needed to lead and assault or go to war. They’d most likely be pretty bad off if this was the standard. However, she shook the thoughts of war out of her head. She hadn’t expected her student to take soldiers with her anyways; she had hoped her to bring friends.

“Well my faithful student, you’ve done well so far. You and your friends did leave the confines of the Hive. Though, I had hoped your group would make it to the finish. I understand that this is a lot to ask from all of you. Why don’t you go save you friends, and make your way back down.”

“Are you sure my Queen?” the young Princesses asked a look of worry spreading across her face.

“Yes, you’ve done quite well today, we can try again later.” Chrysalis answered, doing her best to ease her student’s fears. “I’ll meet you back at the entrance; we can get you and your friends some food.”

Cocoon placed the orb back in her saddlebag and began liberating her friends from each of their captives. Several minutes later she was dragging their unconscious bodies towards the entrance of the Hive. Though their wounds were less than minor and at least Thorax’s pride remained intake, they agreed to never speak of that embarrassing event again.

Sadly for both of them though, this was just the beginning of so many painful days to come. They still had much to learn about the surface, and so far they hadn’t even made it ten minutes from the Hive.