Hive mind by TheMusicalBoy93
By TheMusicalBoy93
The palace halls stood silent in the cool night of Ponyville. Stood near the occasional door or hallway corner, the sparse Pegasus guards kept a dutiful eye open for any disturbances. The crystalline tree palace loomed over the streets of Ponyville like an alien behemoth, totally out of place in the quaint little backwater town. Princess Twilight Sparkle lay in her Alicorn size four poster bed, nestled beneath the downy covers. After the attack from Tirek some months ago, Golden Oaks Library was reduced to little more than a, once living, bonfire. Twilight, imbued with a powerful magic granted to her and her five pony friends by the Tree of Harmony, avenged her beloved home, but she could never claim back what Tirek had taken away from her. That library was more than just her home. It was the home to many wonderful memories, as well.
Hundreds of dozens of tomes that each held a specific memory Twilight shared with her friends. The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide; the book that brought Twilight and her friends together the first day she spent in Ponyville. Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super; the book that could’ve saved her flank from deep embarrassment with Zecora, had she not been forced to believe the zebra was evil. All those books could be replaced, that was true. But the special meanings behind those books would be lost forever. When Twilight was helping the citizens of Ponyville clean away the charred remains of what was left standing of Golden Oaks, she found a hidden compartment in the back of one of the shelves. She couldn’t help but find it ironic that it happened to be the shelf Pinkie Pie had hidden in when she and Spike were looking up genealogy.
Inside the hidden compartment laid a black book, about as thick as Twilight’s hoof, left unscathed from fire damage or the explosion from Tirek’s attack. She decided to leave the book off to the side of the clearance crew before reading it; and continued to help with the clean-up op. Once Twilight returned to the palace, she locked herself away in one of the numerous studies to read her newfound book in peace. While the book bore no title on its binding, the title page announced itself to be The Ultimate Guide to the Chanegelings, by a mysterious author named Dark Blood. Twilight had never heard of a pony by the name of Dark Blood, and the author didn’t seem very intent on revealing much about his identity. The book was, surprisingly, detailed. Not even Celestia knew much about the changelings, yet this pony seemed to know them in, almost invasively, intimate detail.
The thing that caught Twilight’s attention the most was a chapter titled Changeling Hive and the Hivemind. According to Dark Blood, changelings were all telepathically linked to their fellows, and their queen, through a single, conjoined, consciousness. Whatever one changeling thought, another shared. Whatever pain a changeling felt, another shared. Whatever love a changeling tasted, the list went on. It was a rather ingenious feat of evolution. One thought shared between hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of conjoined minds. It made for many tactical and militant advantages, and it ensured that whatever love the changelings gathered was well distributed, especially in times of hardship. The most incredible part, however, was that Dark Blood even wrote, in unbelievable detail, how anyone could join, or leave, the Hivemind at any time. No matter what species; changeling, pony, zebra or dragon, anyone could tap into the Hivemind at will. Of course, Twilight had to give this a go.
The process, according to Dark Blood, was long and difficult. And, if done incorrectly, Dark Blood made no bones about it being incredibly fraught with danger. When entering the Hivemind, one needed to be in a state of complete relaxation, meditation and lucidity. Otherwise, if the foreign mind was full of alien thoughts, the sudden traffic from the Hivemind would overload the synapsis, and could lead to permanent brain damage. The same applied to leaving; the brain needed to slowly disconnect from the Hivemind, and allow the voices within to fade away into the background. If the mind trying to leave just decided to break away, it could lead to insanity. Not to mention causing chaos for the rest of the Hivemind collective. Dark Blood suggested entering a state of lucid dreaming when trying to enter the Hivemind.
Try to picture a clock face in your mind, focusing your attention on the second hand. As you watch the seconds tick by, try to imagine the second hand turning counter-clockwise. Once you achieve this, you are in a lucid dream. At this point, clear your mind of any and all thoughts, and focus on what you know about the changelings. I would suggest committing the following diagram to memory, as this may offer you a way into the Hivemind.
Twilight admitted to herself that the sketch in the book bore a striking amount of attention to detail, as if the picture were almost a photograph of a changeling model. She found it, however, unnecessary as a focal point for her lucid dreaming. She had her changeling focal point engraved in the back of her retina, whether she liked it or not. Over the follow weeks, Twilight practiced focusing on the face of Queen Chrysalis, and practiced entering lucid dreams. She made sure she never practiced both at the same time; she didn’t wish to enter the Hivemind prematurely.
After a month and a half, she was ready. And that’s where she found herself looking up at a clock face with the second hand ticking across the numbers. Counter-clockwise. Twilight smiled to herself as she tested her mobility, finding herself in satisfying control of her actions, her thoughts and her surroundings. She emptied her mind of any intruding thoughts and began to focus on Queen Chrysalis. She imagined the dark green eyes with elongated oval pupils, the twisted, gnarled horn that extended from her forehead. The translucent teal locks that fell about her head and the slender neck they draped down. She focused on the Alicorn-sized body, with holes peppering her every limb and the insectoid wings that graced her back. Slowly, her pointed form began to materialise directly in front of Twilight; her every feature offering an all too familiar feeling in her heart. The only unrecognisable feature of the illusion Chrysalis was her face. Instead of a scowl, or a smirk, or a sneer on her lips, the changeling Queen appeared to be… smiling. Not a false, misleading smile, like when she was posing as Cadence, but a true smile. A warm, welcoming smile, as if inviting an old friend into her home.
“Twilight Sparkle,” the changeling greeted, much to the Alicorn’s surprise. “I’ve been expecting you. Welcome to my Hivemind.” The changeling queen threw up a hoof to the sky, and the white backdrop of Twilight’s lucid dream fell away, giving way to a new scene. The colours warped and shifted into a deep green, the sound of humming faintly audible in the background. The air seemed to thicken slightly, as if wrapping a blanket around the two royals, and a comforting warmth enveloped them. Chrysalis sat down on her haunches, and a small granite table materialised between her and the Alicorn princess. A small black teapot appeared on the table top with two matching teacups. Chrysalis poured the rich smelling contents of the teapot into the cups, and offered one to Twilight, who politely accepted it with her magic. Chrysalis blew on her tea before taking a deep sip, moaning with delight at the rich floral taste. “Jasmine Dragon Pearl,” she explained, leaning back in a chitinous chair she seemingly summoned from nowhere. “A personal favourite of mine, for future reference.” She winked, causing Twilight to blush and hide her cheeks behind her teacup.
“H-how long have you expected me?” Twilight willed her wings to calm down as she gingerly sipped at her brew.
“I could feel your attention for many weeks, my dear.” The changeling smiled. “Your eagerness to learn more about the Hivemind was quite the meal.” Twilight fought down a blush, silently thanking Rarity for teaching her a simple cosmetic spell to cover blushing cheeks.
“W-well… I couldn’t just take the word of an author at face value,” she reasoned, sipping once more at her tea. “I just had to try it out. I… I’ve actually been looking forward to-“
“Getting to know more about me and the Hivemind?” Chrysalis offered a knowing smile, still with no hint of a smirk or manipulative sneer. Twilight hoped she could blame her pinks cheeks on her tea.
“M-maybe.” She blushed, sinking a little into her chair, which she still didn’t understand where it came from. Chrysalis chuckled, leaning forward on the table with a half-lidded gaze.
“Well then, what would you like to know?” Twilight didn’t waste any time to reply.
“Everything.”