//------------------------------// // Of Progress and The Beginning (Rewritten) // Story: The March of the Giants // by LindwurmProto //------------------------------// Dozens of thick wires, as thick as a Changeling's foreleg, were attached to a rectangular device that had a 'cover' sticking up with various emitters within. Myxine, wearing a pair of tinted protection goggles, watched a computer screen with various power nodes and charts that were slowly steadying itself and finally nodded to one of Patina's drones assisting on this project. The drone merely pressed a series of buttons and the various spotlights of the testing area flickered for a moment before a steady hum of energy being transferred could be heard. With a bright corona of energy, a pulse of pinkish violet energy erupted from the opening of the fusion engine behind meters of metal, concrete, and glass. The bright glow began to sear the confines of the testing chamber, but Myxine focused intensely on the screen before her. With no loss of energy from the engine within, Myxine nodded to another drone who pressed a single red button. Various electrodes alongside magical crystals descended from the ceiling slowly as arcs of raw fusion energy were being directed into the pony-sized crystals they had mined from the underground fortress. The crystals began to hum with untold energies as fusion energy was rapidly absorbed into the crystal.  "Readings stable!" Myxine ignored the drone that yelled that out. While unsure if she was capable of the same things... the 'humans' were capable of, she had wanted to have something to jingle over their heads. And if this succeeded... As the smoke steadily cleared away, Myxine couldn't help but to grin in an excited manner. It had been awhile since she had grinned in pure excitement, hadn't she? Who said she couldn’t create a fusion of magic and technological reactor that outstripped even the Colossus DropsShip’s own fusion reactor? [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] Ambrosia glared at the computer in front of her with a hint of annoyance. Even with the knowledge of how to use them, she realized quickly that she had no proficiency with technology. All she had found out in the last hour was how to turn it on and off... By jabbing several of the large buttons with her hooves. And while it did turn itself on, she had yet to figure out Patina’s equine friendly Operating System. Using her magic to move the 'mouse', she moved it over a random 'software' and clicked on it as the handy set of instructions from one of her drones who had written to her after he had volunteered to work in the command centre of the underground base as a logistical support staff. As the program started up without much problems as the instructions said, quickly frowned when she realized it was the wrong program before noticing a whole bunch of random buttons. Noticing a bright red circle, Ambrosia clicked on it and noticed time moving alongside what appeared to be pulses of something. "I’m going to have him come and teach me instead of writing things out" She blinked in confusion as the pulses increased in size when she had spoken. "What is that?" Pressing the red button again, she blinked when it stopped moving and that there was another button that was on in the form of a sideways triangle. Wondering what it did, she pressed it with the mouse and was startled by her own voice being played with the exact words she had just spoken. "So it records like those large black discs the ponies use!" If it could record other sounds and voices, she could record everything she sang or said! "That is so cool!" A drone wearing a bright orange engineer outfit yawned as it walked into an elevator and it's ears twitched as it heard something from within the Queen-exclusive floor. It was the sound of singing and various instruments playing. A pause and the same sound played. It's tired posture visibly changed as it began to walk out from doing maintenance on the air-conditioning on the building.  That tune was rather catchy though. [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] Muffled sounds of snap-hiss came from a massive warehouse a distance away from the apartment complex that the current four combined hives lived in. Dozens of Changelings, wearing the combat harness that armored their legs, barrel, and head along with their horns; firing the smaller of the weapons on them while another group fired bright crimson streaks of energy from the rectangular device with their extended barrels with both their aim being linked to where the Changeling was looking. "Switch!" Patina shouted over the din and the ones firing the mounted needler rifle switched their current weapons for the beam by a swift mental command using the modified neurohelmets while ones  firing the infantry laser rifles switched to the needler rifles. Neurohelmets were an unique piece of technology that she had taken full advantage of. Brainwave to machine interfaces that was modified and outfitted as infantry helmets, seeing as 'magic' also worked directly linked with the brain, and allowed for nigh instant mechanical communication between brain and machine without jabbing machines into the brain. So theoretically, a unicorn might be able to use it, even other types of ponies with modification; but the machine itself worked only with Changelings as was DNA locked. Patina's smile was getting larger by the moment as targets at 500 meters were being obliterated with ease and the needler rifles quite literally never jammed. As some of the weapons clicked from being out of munitions, another armored Changeling from the back ran forward with its own unique harness. Instead of the weapons, this Changeling mounted a single metal box filled with blocks of polymer-composite  along with a pair of three-fingered mechanical arms. The arms moved swiftly as it lifted the loading cover while another grabbed a block of white reinforced plastic from the box and inserted the block into the weapon. It tapped the shooting Changeling on the back twice to resume fire and fell back quickly to the rear All of this reloading in less than four seconds. Their military still required more training, more equipment, and vehicles; but for now, she could finally be proud to call herself a Changeling. She would make sure that it was Quality that mattered, not Quantity. [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] Calliphora adjusted the light on her personal desk while she admired the numerous devices that were in her own room. Myxine and Patina had preferred to be in the research and development, Ambrosia... had wanted to do what she does best; so it had fallen to her to take the reins of their 'organization' as best as her quirky self could. A computer on her desk, printer that was on the side of the room, a telephone like device also on her desk, and so much more. She adjusted the dark olive colored uniform with a patch that Patina had, but with a crimson color instead of the yellow hue that she wore as a symbol of leadership. With every other Changeling drone wearing olive green with blue arrows and golden bars to denote their rank, the Queens were wearing similar silver ‘crosses’ with black half-spheres in the center. Hers, however, also had an outer black circle that placed her as the ‘General of the Armies’. Pressing various items on the computer, she had to appreciate how much easier things had become with the 'advent' of computers. Instant messages from one end of the base to another without talking, ability to calculate nearly anything given, and a much more organized method of things that could be done with the machine. But if there was one thing that leadership brought on was paperwork. While it was a small pile as of now, she knew that if more hives joined, the stack would grow larger and she rather dreaded that as it appeared she was being placed in charge of their military. But that was the gift of being the leader of the third largest hive, so who was she to complain? Opening the first file with her magic, her good mood immediately shattered as she read the report from one of her drones still located in Equestria. Slamming her head on her desk, she pressed the button to the intercom to call all of the queens together to the meeting room below her office. It seemed as if their 'Queen of All Queens' was going to do something incredibly stupid. [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] [][][][][][][] "Only Chrysalis could think of such an idiotic plan and hope that it would work." Myxine muttered within one of their newly constructed Barouche hover military transports sitting alongside the other three queens along with three guards; two with the weapons mount and the one other with the reloading mount. "Not hope, she 'thinks' it will work." Patina growled frustratedly as she sat in the driver's seat, driving the hover vehicle nimbly through the woods. "Doesn't she realize that if she fails, all of the wrong attention would be on us?" "Even I think impersonating royalty is stupid." Ambrosia made her annoyance known as she stomped her left hoof on the wooden crate they had brought with them. "That I agree. And the adopted niece of Princess Celestia is the target." Calliphora's scowl was downright frightening seeing as she had her second set of eyelid over her eyes. "No matter what happens, we would be hunted by the Royal Guards and the Princesses in the long run. We will lose in the end." "That's why we brought some firepower, proof that we could live without love from ponies, and even brought this truck to prove that we can do better than our dear 'Queen of All Queens' Chrysalis." Patina stated as she slowed the vehicle down. "We're here." The four clothed Queens alongside eight armored Changelings from within the massive 24.5 ton cargo hull with a single large tarp covering something in the middle stepped off the rear of the military hover transport while hovering the wooden crate behind them using magic. Approaching the hidden entrance, a Changeling from Chrysalis' hive landed in front of them after jumping down from a nearby tree and hissed. "You are late! Queen Chrysalis is-" The drone couldn't finish as a dart shot into his side, knocking him out quickly. "Is going to have to wait." Patina said as she nodded to one of her Spec Op drones holding a large rifle and moved the hidden wooden door open. The three major queens and one minor queen made their way into the hall with the air of silent fury. "-And with the capture of both Princesses of Equestria, we will have the solution to our food problems!" Chrysalis shouted from within as a rather loud cheer erupted from the other gathered queens. "Does that idiotic bitch want to get us isolated and exterminated?" Patina audibly growled as she unpinned a flashbang grenade and threw it into the room just as the twelve Changelings outside the room possessing customized visors over their eyes performed takedown moves just as the non-lethal grenade erupted into a bright flash of light, followed by agonized screams about their eyes. "That light... Patina!" Chrysalis hissed as she attempted to rub her eyes with her hooves to clear the white spots out of her vision. "Whe-" A cold metal hoof went smoothly around her neck and felt immense pressure as whoever had a hoof around her began to squeeze. "Listen to me carefully, Chrysalis. I respected you for partially bringing the Changelings together. I respected you for settling the most idiotic of arguments between hives. But this is a suicidal run that would bring the worst down upon us." Chrysalis' muzzle looked to an angry Patina who had her held in a choke hold. "Listen to me, my fellow Queens! What happens after the two Princesses are imprisoned? The ponies still outnumber us five to one, they quite literally have the magic on their side, and then 'captured' Princesses... Do you really think we, shape-shifters who specialize in deception, can hold two several thousand year old beings for long?" Immediately, the other queens looked uneasy at hearing that. Myxine, whom had been sitting on her place on the stone table as if nothing had happened after walking up after the white flash of light, decided to give her own thoughts of the situation. "And even if we do somehow win, how would we be able to produce love efficiently? By draining them dry using Chrysalis' methods? How long would that even feed us? By my best estimation, we would essentially turn all of the ponies into emotionless husks within a decade. Then where do we get more love? The battle-crazy Griffons?" She paused for a moment. "Now that I mention it, isn't the Griffon Kingdom allied with the ponies? If we do indeed take over Equestria, the Griffons would be 'honor-bound' to attack us on sight. With how we are currently, we wouldn't even last a year against the Griffons." "Not to mention that 'love' from forced extraction tastes horrible!" Ambrosia declared as she crossed her forelegs over her chest who had been sitting amongst the minor queens unnoticed until now. "And would we really extract love from captured ponies? They'd only feel fear, pain, and other negative emotions that are bad for us! Do you want that? I don't!" "Err..." Patina looked at a stunned looking Miasma, who had been watching them silently ever since recovering. "What?" Ambrosia asked when Miasma looked at a slowly choking Chrysalis and back at Patina. "So... you found her." Miasma stated as she looked between the three somewhat seated 'major' queens. "Of course, we did. And just in case you want to ask us about Patina, we'll tell you later." Calliphora smiled mysteriously as she motioned for the wooden crate that had been delivered to the front of the stone hall. "Patina, would you be a dear and free Chrysalis? We still need her." Grumbling audibly, she released Chrysalis and snarled as she crushed a rock under her artificial limb. "We're not finished." Chrysalis was about to shout for her guards, but froze at the sight of the eight armored Changelings that were sitting facing her with strange devices pointed at her. While she didn't know what they were, her survival instincts were screaming at her to avoid being hit by them. Merely nodding with a hateful glare, she watched Patina alongside the other queens who were now focused on the missing 'minor' Queen. "Ehem!" Patina cleared her throat and adopted a unique tone of voice that sounded rather confident unlike her last presentation. "Remember how I was forcibly made to present my project last I was here? Artificial love, created by a fusion of science and magic to alleviate our problems with consumable love. One year has passed and I have more results to share.” Flicking her artificial hoof outwards, three mechanical fingers popped out with a click and she cackled inwards as she observed the shocked and surprised faces of some of the queens. Without any preamble, she pried the wooden crate’s top off with utter ease filled with several bottles of glowing pink liquid and filled with what appeared to be sandwiches, that when seen in low light seemed to have a slight pinkish glow to them. “As you can see, the bottles are filled with diluted love; nothing more than the concentrated love mixed with water in one to five ratio.” She twisted the top of one bottle open and drank it openly. She tossed the remaining bottle into the gathered queens as they caught them quickly with their own magic while she had two of her armed changelings pass out the sandwiches. “The sandwiches are also made using the diluted love as a replacement for water. The bread, lettuce, the sauce, and the soy-based patty are all made with crops from using diluted love as the watering replacement.” A minor queen who had been given a sandwich looked at it warily, but quickly closed her eyes and bit down . Her eyes shot open and looked surprised at the relatively simple looking sandwich and back at a grinning Patina. "It-It is love. I-I feel so much better now!" Now all of their attention was on Patina. She was grinning proudly and then proceeded to motion over one of her armed drones. "And now, my drone.” She nodded to the armored Changeling and smiled as the drone quickly moved to a low, yet alert position to activate the two weapons mounted on the mechanical arms. “As you can see, they are armored with a synthetic muscle-based armor that allows nearly no restriction in movement alongside being light. They are protected against the most common offensive spells and weapons while being able to lose nearly no speed. For the weapons mounted on the mechanical arms are two weapons of amazing armor-piercing ability and suppression.” She turned back to the enraptured crowd all listening intently. “ I also have vehicles and machines capable of taking on the militaries of any nation with ease.” "But alas... I do not have enough drones to produce enough components to support all of Equestria's hives. Even with Queen Myxine, Queen Ambrosia, and Queen Calliphora assisting me; we have yet to reach one hundred percent production capability of my machines." She appeared sad at that thought and hid a smile as several of the other minor queens looked interested at that bit. "H-how much can one hundred percent percent produce in a day?" A meek Changeling Queen in the back asked as she quickly lowered her hoof when Patina looked at her with a smile. "Full one hundred percent, theoretically, would produce 'Artificial Love' to a scale that would be considered infinite and construct more machines for our protection!" Patina said with her artificial fingers held in a fist. “Imagine it. Being able to stand against the mighty armies of the Griffons as equals! Being able to freely research magic in relative peace to surpass the ponies! Being able to challenge the Zebras’ numerical superiority with the sheer might of machines! We as Changelings can become a unified species capable of surpassing them all and even strive to explore the stars!” She finished her declaration with a stomp from her artificial hoof, cracking the stone underneath. “A-are you going to lead us then?” The same Queen asked and Patina merely shook her head.  “I am an engineer and a Kommandant-General, that denotes me as an officer of the armed for- No.” She stood proudly as she could while displaying her uniform. “OUR armed forces. But I am not the General of the Armies.” She motioned over to a calm Calliphora who sat demurely as she drank elegantly from the plastic bottle filled with diluted love.  “Indeed. Push all of the boring tasks of command onto one of the eldest Queens in existence.” Calliphora joked as she didn’t move from where she was. “I feel as though Patina explained everything rather well, but allow me to add on something.” She turned her head to the rapt crowd and smiled softly. “Come with us to the Chaotic South. Come with us so that we may build a Commonwealth amongst the Hives. Come so that we may grasp our fates freely and without fear of being trapped. Come and see what we could become when united completely.” “For we are the Umbra Commonwealth and I am it's Archon.” In the background, Chrysalis could only stare in disbelief  as she could feel her authority being taken away harshly and in the most cruel manner possible.   Right in front of her.