//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 - The Infection  
// Story: The Fungus Among Us 
// by Xain Russell 
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Chrysalis had little need for decor in her study. For one, living in a cave didn't lend itself well to that sort of thing, and two, she wasn't exactly the sentimental type. Things should be as they were. Trying to hide the rough walls, carved out by years of hard work, behind tapestries and paintings would be meaningless. This room needed to be one thing to the changeling queen, a place to get work done. It was quiet, tranquil, and far below the main cavern where her subjects lived and worked. Chrysalis spent many hours of seclusion here, going over reports from her spies in Equestria, or taking stock of her hive's resources. She only left this small sanctuary on occasion, mostly to see the work of her drones or to spend time in the nursery with the latest brood of future workers and soldiers. There were the even rarer occasions where she left the hive entirely, like the failed mission to take control of Canterlot, but she hadn't set out on a personal undertakings like that since. 

It pained Chrysalis to this day to know that she'd come closer than any other queen in history to having a stable source of food for her subjects, and it all slipped past her hooves because of one stupid assumption about her enemies. How could she have been so blind as to think that love couldn't fuel magic in other species like it did for the changelings? It was beyond short sighted of her, and it had cost her dearly. Not only were they starving, but all of Equestria was now aware of the changeling presence and determined not to let even one go by unnoticed. Everypony and their mother was now being taught how to recognize a changeling from one of their own, making it even harder for harvesters to collect love, exacerbating the already appalling food situation. If they didn't find a new source of food, few if any changelings would last the next winter. 

Unfortunately, even that was becoming more and more of a pipe dream every day. Since the failure at Canterlot, things had been changing rapidly within Equestria. Every time Chrysalis came up with a feasible new plan for taking over Equestria, or at the very least reintegrating her swarm into the pony population, some new history making event would occur and send her back to the drawing board. First it was the crowning of Princess Twilight Sparkle, which enraged Chrysalis to the point of destroying her own living quarters. Then it was the Everfree going wild, destroying a key hive closer to Canterlot mountain and forcing her to mount a secret rescue operation right under the nose of three powerful Alicorns. And then recently, the attempted coup d'état by a creature that went by the name of Lord Tirek, a pathetic waste of power Chrysalis had ever heard of. 

"All brawn and no ambition." Chrysalis had thought when the report came to her. "Idiot. Hope he's rotting in his cell right now."

But Tirek's attempt at the Equestrian seat of power, had made one thing perfectly clear to her: she was woefully out classed by the Alicorn princesses' power. If she were to defeat them, it would have to be with the greatest of subterfuge, and an unrealistic amount of luck. Again, only a pipe dream at best. At this point, Chrysalis was ready to pack up and find new hunting grounds for her people. Equestria had proven itself time and time again to be a worthy adversary, and that was the last thing they needed right now. They needed an easy target, something to help them get back on their hooves.

"I want my vengeance." Chrysalis thought out loud as she read the latest report from what few spies she had left. "But my children need to come first."

A ringing bell announced a visiter at her door, a chime that sounded far more pleasant than any knock. "Enter." Chrysalis yelled from her cushion, rolling the report up and stowing it away for later perusal. 

A Healer opened the door and bowed low before his queen before he'd even crossed the threshold. Healers looked much like the far more common drones that buzzed about the hive, only they had highly sensitive noses and antenna that distinguished them from the rest. They were also slightly more intelligent than the others as well, which made them good caretakers for the others when sickness would set in, hence their name. 

"Ah, Larvus," Chrysalis said. "Come in. I received your message yesterday about your patient. I was wondering when you would make a follow up report."

"I am sorry to keep you waiting my Queen," Larvus said, standing at attention before her. "But my patient was... demanding, you could say."

"How so?"

Larvus opened and closed his mouth several times, as if unable to find the words. He eventually sighed and closed his eyes before speaking very slowly and carefully. "Before I dive into a full account, I... regret to inform you, my patient, the female worker drone known as Ent, died of lethal injection this morning."

Chrysalis's eyes went wide in surprise before slanting dangerously in anger. "You killed her?"

"I did my Queen." Larvus bowed his head in shame. "But in my defense, I'd say it was a mercy killing. She was in a lot of pain and past the point of being helped."

"I will be the judge of that." Chrysalis scowled at the figure before her as it began to shudder. "Full Report Larvus. I want to know everything, from the point this Changeling was found yesterday to now."

"Yes my Queen." Larvus then straightened himself up and began his summation of the last two days.

"As I reported to you yesterday, the changeling known as Ent was found at around eight AM, leaving the western mines. She was there doing some extra morning work in hopes of earning an extra share of love at breakfast. When she emerged, she walked right past the supervisor on duty, failing to report on where she had dug and how far. The supervisor caught up with her and asked what she was doing, according to him Ent seemed disoriented and surprised to see him, as if she'd been snapped out of a trance. Ent then claimed she was exhausted and asked to return to her hovel. The supervisor then sent two other drones to make sure she got home, but instead they brought her to my infirmary. They claimed on their way to Ent's hovel, she attempted to wander off in a completely different direction, until her escorts got her attention, once again snapping her out of a trance like state. They left Ent with me and went back to work. 

At first I thought it was simple exhaustion, so I brought her to one of the beds and asked her to take a nap, which she agreed to. However, five minutes later she got up and attempted to leave the infirmary. I stopped her, and immediately she became distraught over the fact that she didn't remember getting out of bed. At this point I thought this might have been something more, so I placed Ent in a locked room and began a close observation of her. When ever I spoke to her, her attention would be on me, yet I could tell she was distracted by something. When I stopped talking to her and remained quiet, she would get up and walk to the door to try and open it. When the door wouldn't open, she'd start walking around the room, before going back to the door to try again. She did this several times before I got her attention, again causing her great confusion.  

It was at this point I decided to send a message to you, which I planned to follow up on later in the afternoon... but that's when things started taking a turn for the worse."

Larvus stopped to gather his thoughts while Chrysalis waited patiently. When he looked ready to continue, she nodded at him to do so.

"Around sunset yesterday, roughly twelve hours after she emerged from the mines, Ent ceased all attempts to leave her room. She curled up in the corner and remained there in silence. I asked her how she was feeling, she responded in a few one word sentences: "Tired." "Fine." "Sleep." I assumed she was finally ready to stop moving about and get some rest, so I left the room, locking it behind me. I was about to write back to you, when she started screaming. When I reentered the room with two other Healers, she was clutching at her head, howling in pain. We restrained her to her bed, and then administered a pain suppressant. But no matter how much we gave her, she still continued to scream. We were forced to spend the entire night trying desperately to find the source of her distress, even going so far as to link with the hive mind. Nothing helped, and we couldn't find anything. Her thoughts were muddy and blurred, as if her mind itself was disintegrating.

Then, at about two in the morning, she finally stopped. But we knew she was still conscious and in pain, because her eyes would dart back and forth. They were filled with agony and fear. It was at that point we decided it would be kinder to just put her out of her misery than let it continue. I administered the injection, then spent the next few hours by her side, trying to figure out what went wrong. 

By sunrise, I caved and decided it was time to report to you what had happened. But as I looked upon Ent one last time before standing to leave, I saw... something... bulging from her left forehead. And then..."

Larvus hesitated at that point. A look of pure disgust and horror evident on his face. Chrysalis sighed and stood, approaching him. "I don't have time for queasiness Larvus," she said as she bent down to touch her horn to his. "Show me what you saw."

"A-as you wish my Queen." Larvus stuttered before closing his eyes. Chrysalis did the same and suddenly her thoughts were full of images from the hive mind.

The infirmary. The private room. The changeling called Ent, eyes still full of fear even after death. Something above her left eye twitched, then her tough skin split into an inch wide hole. A tendril of some foul abomination grew out of the hole, twisting about Ent's horn, then budding at the end. The image seemed to fast forward, showing more unpleasantness growing across the corpse's face. The image ended shortly after as Larvus had evidently fled the scene. 

Chrysalis pulled back, her breathing uneven as the images continued to flash in her mind.

"I-I'm sorry my Queen." Larvus said as his mistress turned away. "What should we-"

"Burn the body." Chrysalis said without hesitation.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me!" Chrysalis shouted, spinning back around. "Burn it! I don't want even a trace of that... THING in my hive! Then find out where this drone was digging and seal off that entire area! NOW!"

"Yes my Queen! At once!"

Larvus quickly exited the study, closing the door roughly behind him. Chrysalis sighed and walked towards another door, which led to her private quarters. She walked, shakily, to the one and only bit of decor she DID have: a simple mirror. She looked upon herself, her dazzling green eyes, and her molted green hair. Her wings and legs, filled with holes, giving her an almost decayed look.

"The ponies of Equestria see us as monsters." She murmured quietly. "But that thing in infirmary... makes me look more beautiful than Celestia."


~~~~~


Larvus stepped out of the winding tunnel leading to his majesty's home, and looked around at the massive cavern that housed thousands of his kin. Everywhere there were changelings, buzzing to and fro as they went about their work, unaware of the horrors growing under their very noses. Larvus sighed, the long night had drained him, and the adrenaline that had pumped through his body at the sight of that... thing... had worn off long ago. He felt tired, he'd have to go and take a rest after he climbed to the top of the hive.

Larvus stopped. "Climb to the top of the hive?" he thought with confusion. "No. I'm going to the infirmary to burn that body like my Queen commanded." He shook his head slightly and started walking. The infirmary was across the hive in a secluded area, so he took the stairs and started climbing upwards. After he stepped out onto the fourth floor, he had a full view of the lower levels, where he should have been walking through. 

"What in tartarus?" he mumbled. "Why am I up here?"

The exhaustion was really getting to him. He couldn't think straight as his body started moving by itself, climbing higher and higher.

"Yeah... no changeling hangs out up here... it might be a nice spot for a nap... then I'll go... I'll go... go to the top... go... top..."