I woke with my head pounding and my side aching. Blinking my eyes slowly, I found I was still in Chrysalis' bed. Minder was curled up on the bed a few feet away. Reaching out to the sense of the hive, I found it was nearly sundown; I'd slept the whole day through. I also found that the vague sense of danger that had woken me was an alarm at one of the tunnels, the one that I'd come in through, in fact. I wearily pulled my attention to the drones there and looked out through their eyes. To my surprise I saw a very familiar pink pony standing in the tunnel, just outside the hive proper. Pinkie?
Yep! It's me! I felt you being all tired and stuff and I knew you'd been giving away all your love again, so I came to give you more. I brought our friends too! We'll have a big ol' love and friendship party for the hive!
Indeed, behind Pinkie I made out several familiar forms. Applejack was there, and Rainbow Dash, and even Fluttershy and Rarity, the former peeking out from behind her mane, the latter looking rather grimly determined. Through the drone, I tasted their emotions, and it was wonderful. There were hints of nervousness and revulsion, but I could also taste clear, bright, sweet friendship, mixed generously with Pinkie's love.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll have the drones escort you here right away.
I instructed one of the warrior drones guarding the entrance to lead them to me. I also lowered the shields that kept ponies out of the hive, both the outer and inner ones. They answered to me easily, as though I had set them myself. Then I touched those drones who were in the tunnels along the way, asking them to stop and clear the path. Partly that was for Rarity's sake, having her in the midst of a hurrying swarm of "bugs" wouldn't do much for her mental state, I was sure. Equally, though, it was for the sake of the drones. There was an air of worry to the hive's hum; they were afraid of these ponies. So it was to spare them as much as to spare my pony friends, that I cleared the path.
That done, I rose from the bed. I started to stretch, but stopped when my side twinged painfully.
As I rose, several drones came into the room. They had an expectant feel about them. A brief touch on their minds and I realized that they were servants, here to groom me. I knew exactly what a sorry state I was in, so I settled on a low couch and let them.
Bad as I still felt, though, I couldn't bring myself to just lie there and be tended to without returning the grooming. The drone whose crest I started cleaning first actually squeaked and jumped when I did. I chuckled. Relax, I said softly to her and continued my work. She did, and a moment later was in an almost comical state of delight. I could faintly hear her mind going, The queen is grooming me! The queen is grooming me, over and over.
I could feel Pinkie and the others drawing nearer as the drones worked. I wished I could just lie here all morning and let them groom me, but, thinking of Rarity again, I decided it would be best if I dismissed them. Thankfully there was time enough for them to get me looking at least slightly less disheveled, and for me to give each of the drones at least a little bit of attention, before the ponies arrived in the throne room.
I heard their hoofsteps, and their voices raised in curiosity and wonder, as they came through the vast, echoing chamber. Pinkie was chattering cheerfully. Just hearing her so close lifted my spirits. She was always with me in my mind, but I'd missed having her there to hold. "We're almost there!" she said to the others. I could hear the clatter of hooves as she bounced up and down.
Then she was there, silhouetted in the doorway. She didn't pause there for even an instant; she flung herself at me in a flying tackle. I caught her, ignoring the flash of pain from my side, and held her tightly. Her sweet love flooded over me, washing away all my tiredness and pain.
The drones that had been grooming me scattered with nervous squeaks of fear. I soothed them and asked them to retire as the other ponies walked into the room.
"Oh my! This is not at all what I had expected," said Rarity, looking around the lavish chamber. She sounded almost delighted.
Pinkie giggled. "What did you expect, beds of goo and creepy cobwebs and slime everywhere?"
"Well..." Rarity blushed just a bit.
"Man, you could fit all of us on this bed and have room left over!" said Rainbow Dash. She bounced on the bed, which woke Minder. "Oh, sorry," said Rainbow.
Minder blinked at her, then smiled. "You are here to help the hive, so all is well." She put her head back down and closed her eyes, not remotely bothered by the ponies.
"Howdy there, Sweetcake," said Applejack. "At least I figure you're Sweetcake, since you got Pinkie Pie stuck to you like mud on a pig, an' you got yer cutie mark still an' all," she grinned at me, "but I can't help but notice ya' look a little different than last time I saw ya'."
"Oh. Yeah. I've, uh, turned into a queen." I shrugged.
"Pinkie was tellin' us about that."
"It's so exciting!" said Rarity. "A friend of mine, suddenly royalty!"
I chuckled. "I'm not certain most ponies would consider me royalty." I could still taste a certain tension in Rarity. She was in the middle of a hive of "bugs", and I was right there, a great, big queen bug. Pinkie always liked hugging me better in pony form anyway, so I shifted to my usual pony shape. It was a bit odd having this shape be shorter, rather than taller, than my changeling form.
That, unfortunately, meant that the resin that had been bandaging my side simply fell off when I changed. I hadn't quite thought that part of changing through. In this form I had a long slash across my coat, rather than a crack in my chitin, but the raw puncture just over my ribs was more or less the same.
"Oh! You're hurt!" said Fluttershy.
"It's fine," I said. "Minder took care of it yesterday."
"I don't think it should just be left open like that though," said Fluttershy. "It might get infected."
"I shall tend to it," said Minder, climbing off of the bed. Rarity squeaked in surprise—rather like the drones had—as Minder pushed past her. Minder nudged Pinkie aside, then knelt beside me and began gently licking the wound. Her saliva was thick and slightly greenish, so I knew she was making a different type of resin, one that took more effort, but would also be stronger and more flexible. It was the sort that egg pods and captive pods were made from.
It stung a little, but I was happy enough to let her tend to me. Pinkie leaned against my other side and nuzzled me. I nuzzled her back. I was still drawing love from her. I was taking it carefully, I didn't want to exhaust her, but I needed as much as I could get—both from her and from the others.
"Thank you all for coming," I said to them. "Tell me how things have been in Ponyville while I was gone."
"Ain't been nothing much happening, really," said Applejack.
"It's been the quietest week I've seen in ages," agreed Rarity with a nod.
"I'm glad. I'd hate to have more than one disaster turn up at once," I said.
Rarity looked around, then settled herself gingerly on a second couch that stood near mine. "Pinkie said, well... she said that you and the hive needed food."
I nodded, once again admiring Rarity. There was a hint of acrid fear in the air around her as she spoke, but she hadn't let it stop her.
"How does this feeding business work, anyhow?" asked Applejack.
"I believe Pinkie described it once as being like a sponge. Ponies constantly give off emotional energy. I merely soak it up."
"So you are, ah, feeding right now?" said Rarity, looking—and tasting—just a little queasy.
"Yes. Mostly from Pinkie at the moment, but a bit from the rest of you as well. When Minder is done I'll go and transfer some of that energy to the hive." Minder was still lapping at my side, building up a thick layer of flexible green resin. She felt almost smugly content. In her eyes everything was just as it should be. I was queen, she was tending to me, and all was well with the world.
"I don't feel anything," said Rarity.
I chuckled, refraining from mentioning that I wasn't really drawing on her right now, she didn't currently taste especially appetizing. "It is quite painless. The idea is generally to do so without being noticed, after all. But I assure you that it does no harm."
"It sure ain't done Pinkie none." Applejack grinned.
"Nope! I like feeding Sweetcake, it makes him happy, and that makes me happy. I bet making his whole hive happy would be even better!"
"Speaking of which," I said, looking down at Minder, "I think that's enough, Minder." She nodded and lifted her head. A large patch of flexible resin was glued to my side, completely covering the injury. I would appreciate it if you would leave, I asked her silently. Rarity is not comfortable while you're here, and both for her own sake and the hive's, it would be best if she were.
Of course, my queen. Minder rose, gave me a little bow, and left. That done, I rose to my feet and went to the feeding crystal. It was dimmer than when I'd left it last, though not quite as bad as it had been when I first saw it. Changelings had been feeding during the day, and whatever other energy might have come in, it hadn't been equal to the amount drawn out. I touched it with my horn and let it pull all the energy I had just obtained from Pinkie from me. Once again I kept pushing after that point, giving it every drop I could spare. The warm golden glow I saw when I lifted my horn made me smile. Then I sagged a little, my headache returning.
"Poor Sweetcake." Pinkie was immediately at my side, supporting me. I leaned against her, and she guided me over to the bed, feeding me love again as I went. I could tell that she was tired too, though, so I didn't pull much from her. Pinkie helped me climb into the bed, and then climbed in next to me and cuddled up.
"Why are you so tired all o' the sudden?" asked Applejack.
I lifted my head and looked over at her. "I'm trying to keep the entire hive fed. I don't even know what Chrysalis has been doing, but whatever it was, it wasn't working terribly well. They were practically out of energy when I got here." I sighed. "And all Chrysalis could think of was getting revenge on me, even while her whole hive teetered on the brink of starvation. All those drones, just like I used to be, who have nothing to do with this absurd conflict. How can I do anything but give them all I have?"
I felt a soft touch at my back and looked over to see that Fluttershy had climbed onto the bed next to me. She hugged me, and I hugged her back. "You are a very good person, Sweetcake, to take such care of all those poor creatures." I felt her friendship for me, sweet and warm and wonderful. I pulled in as much of it as I could without actively draining her.
"You're being very generous," said Rarity with a smile, more at ease now that there were no "bugs" visible to set off her phobia. She too climbed into the bed, though she just sat on the edge and put a hoof on my shoulder.
Applejack sat next to Rarity and smiled at me. "I reckon we can't just let yer friends starve either, so we'll lend a hoof however we can. That's why Pinkie asked us to come."
Rainbow Dash plopped down on the bed and flopped over on her back nearby. "Yeah. I figure we owe you one for Ponyville anyway. If it weren't for you, I'd still be stuck in one of those freaky pod things. That wasn't much fun."
"Thank you all. Thank you so much." I felt tears gathering in my eyes. Their friendship was so wonderful, not just to taste, but to know that they were there for me.
Friendship is stronger than I could have thought, I heard Minder say softly in my mind. I chose better than I knew when I chose to join the hives so that you could rule. With friendship and love you will be a true queen, like the old queens, who led us to prosperity and happiness.
As friendship and love flowed free and clear into me, I found myself able to believe that Minder might be right. Perhaps I could help this hive find prosperity and happiness again. Whatever I did, though, I knew I would do it with Pinkie and my friends at my side.