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// Prisoner of the Hive 
// Story: Living Mark of Courage 
// by Moowell 
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The Badlands. Once home to a great underwater nation, it now stood an empty canyon surrounded by the Everfree on all but its southern side, where the Mediquestrian Sea and its waves crash against tall cliffs. The faces of its mesas were all but eroded by time and desert winds. To traverse its depths meant certain death for all but the hardiest of creatures. Even those would only last if they could find its nearly non-existent plant-life among the long-dried river beds. Otherwise, even they would lose themselves to hunger and starvation. 

That is, if the sandstorms didn't get to them first. The polished bones of hundreds was a testament to the region's ability to stamp out life. 

Hidden beneath the mesas of this inhospitable region stood the Badland Hive. During the hundred years of continued night, it swallowed every Hive within Equestrian borders until it stood as the capitol for a single, unified changeling empire ruled by Queen Chrysalis. It was there that Epona found herself when she awoke after struggling against a squad of Collectors, the drones responsible for apprehending rogues and criminals within the empire. 

The first thing she noticed when she came to was the sheer volume of mental voices. In Ponyville, there had only been a few sporadic exchanges between the ones that attacked the Acres and the Collectors. Here, there were thousands, tens of thousands of conversations all going on at once flooding through her mind. The second thing was that it somehow didn't bother her. Despite the multitude, she could think clearly and individually. 

She tried to move and stretch, but she found her legs to be bound. A cord was wrapped around and through the holes in her ankles. She could hear the buzz of wings steadily grow louder as more and more drones populated the nearby area. When she opened her eyes, she saw the spires passing by as her captors took her toward a large cave in the ground. 

There were many drones busying themselves around the entrance as the group entered. Deeper inside, Epona saw a massive structure being constructed. Swarms of drones surrounded the monolith. Most of them were Spitters applying the same goo that they had used on Epona. Some carried torches for extra light while others wielded strange devices that drew in sand from the floor and blasted it at the structure, leaving it looking smooth and polished. 

The large room disappeared as the Collectors took her deeper into the caverns. The passages were covered in the same green glow which she saw when she was first transformed. They passed several hallways leading to various parts of the Hive. Most of the areas were combat and training oriented. There was a Spitter range, a small mock village that looked eerily similar to Ponyville, a room filled with dummies of various shapes including pony, dog, and something that looked like a cross between a Manticore and a chicken. 

As they passed deeper into the earth, Epona felt a powerful presence begin to press onto her mind. She glanced around, searching for the source of the connection. It didn't feel like one of the Collectors. Whatever it was was mentally incredibly powerful, like when she felt the Hive pressing on her during her conversion, and it was only getting stronger as she went deeper. Finally, when the pressure became almost overwhelming, the group entered a chamber which housed a single changeling. 

["Why have you entered my chamber with this hatchling?"] Epona heard inside her mind. The voice commanded respect, and even though she had never seen its owner before now, she knew it belonged to the tall, slender mare. All other voices seemed to fall silent in comparison when she spoke. ["Speak, Collector."]

"My Queen, thiss hatchling iss a convert." 

["Another one?"] the Queen asked, mildly annoyed. ["It was Captain 8 again, wasn't it?"] 

"Yes. This one is from Ponyville." 

The Queen sighed. ["Throw it in with the others. I'll test it later."] Epona could hear the Queen grumbling under her breath as one of the Collectors picked her up and carried her away. Something about Captain 8 and the Hive getting cluttered. 

The pressure on her mind eased the further she got away from the Queen. The Collector took her to a chamber filled with other drones. Most were chained to the walls and floor, staring around at the innards of the cavern and at each other, but there was one that was free. That one was carrying a bag of crystals and placing one in front of each of those that were chained. 

"SStill wassting your time on the convertss," the Collector carrying Epona scoffed. "You sshould go back to gathering, CT1." 

"They are living creaturess like you and me, Collector," CT1 replied without glancing up. "We have hundredss of Gatherers, but none who will care for thesse." She placed another crystal down and scratched its drone under the chin, much to the drone's contentment and the Collector's annoyance. 

"That'ss becausse they are less than the beasstss in the Everfree. Nothing but worthless trassh. They aren't even usseful as bait for the Gatherers." 

CT1 glared at him. "Did you come out of your way just to belittle my work? If sso, then your bussiness iss done and you may leave."

"Actually, I came to bring you another one. I hope you enjoy ssplitting your love ration into even more partss." The Collector threw Epona gruffly to the floor not far from CT1 and walked out with hissing laughter. 

CT1 scowled after him, but soon turned her attention toward Epona. She approached slowly and without and sudden movements. "Don't be afraid," she cooed. "My name is Caretaker 1, or CT1. I'm not going to hurt you." As she tugged on the ropes that bound Epona, she grunted in frustration. "Tied thesse a little tight for ssimple transportation... This is abussive, especially to simple converts. Damn thosse Collectorss..." Finally, the cord came undone and she pulled it away from Epona's hooves. "There. Doess that feel better?"

"A little," Epona mumbled as she tried to rub her sores. 

CT1's eyes widened "You can talk?" Epona suddenly realized that she made a mistake. She was a convert. So far, every changeling she had met looked down on her. The Collector called converts trash. The Queen was annoyed when she found out another convert was in the Hive. Even CT1 seemed to think of them as pitiable creatures. As she scanned over the others nearby, most of them looked like they were in their own little worlds, completely detached from reality except for CT1, that little crystal she placed in front of them, and occasionally the chains in their legs. "Convert," CT1 said softly. "Can you talk?"

Epona pulled a hoof to her face and licked where the cord had rubbed it raw. 

CT1 sighed, a little disappointed. "Musst've been my imagination. Come with me, little one." She led Epona to an empty section of the wall. When she picked up a chained cuff, Epona recoiled and hissed angrily, doing her best to act like an abused animal. "SShh... I'm not going to hurt you," CT1 said softly. 

If Epona had fur, it would've been bristling. Part of it was play-acting, but another part of her truly didn't want to be chained again. CT1 seemed nice enough compared to the other changelings, but even a nice changeling was still a changeling and couldn't be trusted. She did a quick mental search of her inventory out of habit before she realized she still couldn't access any of her equipment. Strangely enough, she still felt a connection to her Ocarina, but that wouldn't help her in combat. 

"Please, trusst me. I'm not going to hurt you at all. Here, I'll even put a fuzzy covering on the cuff sso it won't be painful." CT1 reached into her bag and pulled out a fluffy pink circlet. She wrapped the circlet around the cuff then rubbed it against her cheek. "SSee? It's ssoft and comfortable."

"We don't have much choice right now," Wisp thought to Epona. "We're deep in enemy territory, you can't get to your items, and there's no way to hide with your connection to the Hivemind."

Epona wanted to argue, but she knew Wisp was right. Slowly, cautiously, she stepped forward, wary of the cuff in CT1's hoof. She may have to accept it, but that didn't mean she needed to look like she accepted it. 

"That'ss it, convert. That'ss good. Keep coming. You can do it. Jusst a little closser now. Good, good. Now, turn around pleasse, and this will all be over." When she was within reach, CT1 reached out and took a gentle hold of Epona's back hoof and clasped the cuff through it. "There, now. Wass that sso bad?" 

The Caretaker took a few steps away, then pulled a small glowing crystal out of her bag and placed it in front of Epona, just out of reach. "Here you go. This crysstal hass all the love you'll need for the morning. Whenever you get hungry, just sstand near the crysstal and feed, like thiss." CT1 pulled out another glowing crystal and set it down in front of her. As she opened her mouth, a small green flame surrounded the crystal and flowed inside. When she was done, the flame died down and the crystal was as grey and lifeless as common stone. Epona's belly gurgled, and CT1 giggled. "Don't eat it all at oncce. I'll be back to refill it in the afternoon."

As CT1 walked away to tend to the others, Epona stood near the crystal and fed. She could somehow feel the love coursing through her, calming the hunger inside. It didn't necessarily have a flavor, but the sensation it gave her was so much better than a simple taste.  

When she finished, she lied down contentedly. However, her happy feeling sank once her belly touched the floor and reminded her where she was. Epona looked back at the weight on her leg. The bright pink cuff looked rather silly compared to the black of her skin and the dark green of the cavern, but it still marked her as a prisoner. 

And there was nothing she could do to change that.