A Changeling Queen by Any Other Name
Chapter 4 -- I Love the Night Life
I informed my hive that we would be traveling at night so as not to arouse suspicion. Considering the weather and its effects on the changelings, I had contemplated taking a southerly route, perhaps to Miami or Houston -- I discovered that I was seemingly immune to whatever the weather decided to throw at me. The hive mind informed me that they likewise seemed to be immune as we continued eastward. We were able to make good time, stopping in various locations to build up our strength, sapping love by assuming human forms and mingling with others. I discovered that my hive were quite adept at assuming human forms, including clothing, something that impressed me.
It took us about five days of traveling to reach New York, though we did so at what I considered to be a very leisurely pace. After our numerous stops to replenish our energy, we were now ready to build a proper hive in the city. I sent my army to scout locations and found a particularly attractive one the day after I made the request. I was amazed at their efficiency, though they informed me that their previous queen had trained them in that discipline.
This abandoned building should suit our needs quite nicely -- we should be able to stay here for a long time, I noted mentally, receiving affirmations through the hive mind as a response. Now that we had established a location, it was time to actually build the hive proper. One of the benefits of having a pre-established hive was that there was a certain hierarchy which I discovered on our travels. There were five divisions, each with its own commander -- and it was these commanders who had initially contacted me through the hive mind. As it turns out, once I had proven to them I was fit to be their queen, their subservience was automatic.
I issued commands to the hive to retrieve building materials to fix up the building and create a Royal Suite for me -- as their Queen, I deserved to be treated like one! During the construction process, one which went much faster than a normal construction crew would, we would put the building together during the day disguised as normal humans, then during the evenings we would go around to various bars, taverns, and night clubs in order to recover any lost energy as well as consume the needed sustenance to keep ourselves fully satisfied. I suppose taking love energy from humans may have been cold -- perhaps even brutal -- but I understood that there were certain needs which had to be met, which was a justification I used to convince myself that what we were doing was necessary for the survival of our species. It was my continuous existence as a changeling queen which seemed to be having an effect on my mind, though those effects were barely perceptible.
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It had been about two weeks since I had left Equestria and I had wondered out of curiosity if Princess Celestia might have been trying to contact me. I recalled that she had wanted me to keep in contact with her, but without my car I was unable to do so. I had been so preoccupied with establishing our new hive in New York that the time had flown by -- our construction was nearly complete and our strength was nearly as fully restored as it was some time before the previous Queen had died, though the circumstances surrounding that event were unknown to me. I hadn't even given it much consideration until now as our efforts neared completion and had finally given me enough time to contemplate our next course of action.
The following day was when we finally completed the hive, though the abandoned building still retained the appearance of one. The work had been done on the interior of the building, living quarters, conference rooms, barracks, and my Royal Chambers being concealed quite well from prying eyes -- I wanted to ensure that anyone who might see the building would not consider giving it a second look. I spent that day touring the entire building and giving my approval to the quality of work which had been accomplished. We celebrated by feasting on a substantial number of humans, sating our hunger completely, the hive still mindful of my request that they not be completely drained.
You have done well, my children! I am deeply pleased with the results of your work!
It was a pleasure, my Queen. We would like to know what the next course of action is.
We shall expand slowly, but we shall improve our strength and conditioning so we can become a force to be reckoned with.
We have done that before, my Queen.
Then improve agility and swiftness -- we can never be too strong or too fast!
Agreed. We shall strive to become as powerful as possible!
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The next few weeks went quite smoothly as my army began using the energy they absorbed by channeling it into improving their fighting capabilities. My plan was to increase the size of the hive to ten thousand, though the process was going to take a considerable amount of time and it would most likely result in the need for an expansion of our building.
I was feeling a slight amount of discomfort coming from my lower abdominal area -- it felt as though I had a bad aching in my stomach. It was while I was sitting in a chair that I felt something slide out from between my hind legs, causing me to shriek in horror at what had popped out. I discovered that one small problem with being a Queen was that I was laying eggs, something which freaked me out, causing me to scream my head off again. The hive mind tried to console me and sent me multiple reassurances that this was a normal part of being a Queen. Fortunately, the hive had foreseen this possibility and provided an incubation room for my new offspring, though the prospect of laying eggs was one which frightened me, though adding to the hive was a bit of a necessity in order for us to survive.
I was slowly adapting to my new life as a changeling queen, but was interrupted one day when a certain oddly-shaped creature teleported into my chambers. I considered the being to be male, as he had a rather deep voice, though it was hard to tell what kind of creature he was -- he appeared to be a jumbled mish-mash of different animal parts.
"Well, well -- how are things going for you, Chrysalis?" he asked, grinning slyly. I heard him chuckle softly as he seemed to be sizing me up for some purpose.
"Hmm, what manner of creature might you be? I seem to recall pictures of you on the internet -- I haven't had much time for that since I became the new Queen. You must be Discord, yes?"
His grin widened. "Yes, Chryssie, that's right!"
"I don't have time for your games, Discord. What is it you want?" I asked, annoyance clearly evident in my voice.
"Oh, no games, Chryssie, just a business proposition," he replied nonchalantly, still grinning at me.
"What are you getting at?"
"Well ... I've grown bored of playing with the humans and I wanted something a little more exciting. I noticed your recent return from the dead and have been watching you to see what you would do. I was wanting to offer you an opportunity to conquer this little planet."
"Not interested, Discord -- I'm not trying to take over the world -- why should I?"
He sidled over to me, wrapping his lion's paw around my withers, grinning broadly. "Just think! The two of us together, with your army -- we'd be unstoppable!" he chortled.
"You realize I used to be human before I became a changeling queen, right?" I asked. He nodded his head.
"Of course, Chryssie! I was just wanting to see how well you'd adjust to those changes!"
I glared at him in disapproval. "You could have chosen someone else, you know," I grumbled.
"Are you kidding me? This is much more fun! Come on, Chryssie, what do you say?"
"Go back where you came from, Discord. I'm too busy dealing with my own issues --" I began, but was interrupted by another egg coming out of me. "Uhhh! I don't think I'll ever get used to that!" I exclaimed indignantly, causing the dragonequus to chuckle loudly. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What if you were the one laying eggs?" I asked harshly as a team of my army flew in and took the egg to the incubation room.
"Well ... consider it a learning experience, Chryssie! I would hate to be in your position," he offered in an almost apologetic tone, but his eyes spoke differently. "Though I hope we can work out an agreement -- I'd love to enlist your aid!"
"One other thing, Discord -- I am on good terms with Celestia, and I would hate to have to inform her that you're running around here causing trouble," I stated, flashing an almost malevolent grin.
"Oh, Chryssie! Do you really think she can do anything to stop me from having my fun? If you won't help me, I'll take over the world myself -- I would hate to have you as one of my enemies," he said firmly, giving me a stern look.
"There are certain humans who I have chosen to protect, Discord -- if any harm befalls them, I will hunt you down and I will hurt you," I admonished, my gaze hardening.
"You realize, of course, that threatening the God of Chaos is utter foolishness," he warned, his stare hardening into an evil grin. "If you think you can take me on, I'll be waiting for you!" he laughed, then disappeared. It appeared to me as though I was going to have to enlarge my army to the point where we could defeat him.
My children, the time has come for us to enlarge the hive -- we must build an army of a hundred thousand as quickly as possible!
It will be our pleasure, my Queen!