A young changeling stood at attention, her bright emerald eyes the only source of light in the room. She didn't care, though. Even if her eyes didn't emit a tiny amount of light, she would still have been able to see. The rough mattress behind her did not enter her mind, nor did the curving walls or the small stone desk by the room's only exit draw her attention, though. She stood upright, nose pointed slightly towards the ceiling, as she often saw the queen stand when commanding the drones. She intended to impress her mother when she came for the day's training.
She stood there, silently waiting, until her eyelids resembled lead. She was starting to regret getting up so early, and her legs burned. She felt her head lowering and realized that she had closed her eyes at some point. Opening them, she realized that she was not alone anymore. The opening she had been facing was no longer empty, but was now taken up by the large figure of her mother.
"So, you think that pathetic display is going to earn you any respect? Do you think that letting yourself fall asleep just because you got up early that morning will earn you the respect necessary to run a kingdom? Or do you think that your drones will just follow you just because you love them? You have to command their loyalty!" She slapped the youngling, who straightened up, chin held higher than before.
"That's better. You must look the part if you want their allegiance. They will not give it willingly." Chrysalis stared right into the youngling's eyes and sighed. "Not that you have the strength to command their loyalty. You'll have to be smart, my child. If you ever hope to amount to anything and rule, you will have to find a method that you can actually utilize."
The young changeling's head drooped as her mother's words sunk in, but she straightened when she felt the wave of anger emanate from the figure before her. She lost her footing as a black hoof struck the side of her head, but she quickly recovered. "Did I say we were done? Did I say you could relax?" the queen shouted, bringing her face centimeters away from the youngling's face.
"No..." she quietly replied, and immediately regretted her response. She saw this blow coming, but did not dodge it, instead using the time to ensure she was still standing afterward. Green blood trickled from her nose.
"Shut up! You will not talk unless I tell you that you can. Is that understood?" The youngling was scared now. How many times had she drawn the anger of her mother? She knew there was no way to escape it, so she took the bait.
"I under-" she began, but was cut short by the pain of another powerful blow striking her face.
"No, you don't understand," the queen shouted, striking her again and again with her hoof. "You never will understand! You are too stupid for your feeble mind to wrap around such a simple concept." She struck the young creature before her yet again, watching as the youngling started wiping the blood dripping from her mouth, nose and face.
"No... Mother please, I..." the youngling started, backing away. Chrysalis roared at the youngling, and sent a blast of magic hurtling towards her. It impacted the young changeling, throwing her back into the wall.
She slumped onto the mattress, and Chrysalis slowly walked toward the blood covered mass. "You know what? I think you understand what you did wrong."
The youngling looked up at the monster above her, confused. She had never shown mercy, and she couldn't believe she would start now. Fear flashed across her face as she realized what the queen meant.
"No... Please..." she whimpered, barely able to speak. Chrysalis raised her hoof.
"I know you understand that disloyalty and incompetence is to be punished, and you know what that punishment is." She thrust her hoof down against the youngling's head. She took a step back from the twitching corpse and shook the goo off her hoof.
"Apology accepted."
The young changeling jerked awake. She rubbed her sore nose, peeling herself off the stone floor. Looking around, she pieced together what had happened, the dream fading from her memory already. She must have fallen asleep while standing at attention.
She looked to the door, and was surprised to see two bright blue eyes staring straight at her. "Ash?" she asked, and was relieved to hear clicking to the affirmative.
The changeling drone moved into the room, extending a hoof to the youngling. She took it, and stood. She extended her gratitude in the only way she knew was appropriate. The drone chirped happily as it fed on the love she felt for it.
She felt love for all the drones, but Ash was not a normal drone. The young changeling was her drone. He didn't serve Chrysalis, but instead served her, whether by choice or otherwise. The drone, just as young as she was, motioned to the door, signaling that he was escorting her to practice today, not her mother.
"How long have I been asleep, Ash?" she asked, dreading the answer. The drone didn't answer directly, and instead insisted that they should start heading towards the queen. "That's what I feared... Let's go!" They ran towards the queen's chambers, knowing the penalty for showing up late.
While running, the youngling's thoughts drifted to the drone that accompanied her. She remembered how the queen had summoned her to the throne room. At the time, it had seemed like they were going to practice commanding other changelings, but they had been interrupted by a pair of drones dragging a third, bloody changeling behind them. They were both shocked to find that, not only was his coat a slightly lighter shade than most changelings', but he was actually self-aware.
"No drones are supposed to be truly sentient," the queen had said, ordering the dark gray changeling to be executed, but the queen-to-be had stepped between them.
"Let it live, it might serve useful," she had requested, attempting to resemble her mother as best she could.
"Fine," had been the answer. "You're going to take care of it, though. I cannot afford to waste my time on such a creature." The drone had then pledged to serve the youngling, teaching her how to be a proper queen. At the time, the idea of serving had frightened the young drone, just as being served had scared the queen's daughter, but in the end, the two had grown close, the drone serving willingly, and the queen-in-training learning how to rule as a true queen should.
One time, remarking on his color, she had compared him to ash among charcoal, and thus she had named him Ash. She was still waiting for someone to give her a name, but it at least made Ash happy to have a name. Most drones didn't have a name, living and dieing undistinguished from any other drone. Only one drone actually cared, though.
She brought herself back to reality as the two entered a large room devoid of any furnishings, its black walls stretching far into the distance. They scanned the room, hoping to locate the queen before she noticed they were late. This was where the queen had decreed that they would practice magic, and where she was to be trained today, but the only inhabitants of the room had just entered.
"Where could she be?" the youngling asked, but the only response was a quiet click from Ash. Both knew that nothing good ever happened if the queen was late for something. She had never been late for practice, though.
Ash moved to the center of the room and flapped his wings fearfully. It was obvious that he didn't like the scenario playing out before them. Not only were they late, but the queen wasn't present. Anything involving either of those occurrences never ended well. They both decided to wait, but Ash was soon circling the room, his wings buzzing franticly.
The youngling looked longingly at the drone. She wished to be right up there with him, but her underdeveloped wings could only lift her weight for a few seconds before she became exhausted.
She went out into the hallway. "Maybe we should check her bedroom?" she asked, uncertain. She didn't know what to do. Should she stay there and wait for her mother to arrive, or should she take the initiative and go out and find her? Her mother always said that, if there was ever any doubt, she should follow the rules, but there were no rules concerning something like this. She cast one last look at her blue eyed companion.
"Ash, wait here. If she shows up, tell her i'm out looking for her, ok?" Ash dropped to the floor, chittering nervously. "Don't worry," she replied.
"If I find her first, i'll bring her here. If you find her first, you come looking for me." She turned and ran out into the hallway, leaving the insectoid alone in the dark room.
She ran down corridors until she found what she was looking for. Even before she had turned the corner, the light emanating from the room hurt her eyes. She slowed to a trot, letting her eyes adjust as she slowly approached her mother's room. She looked into the bright room.
It wasn't really that bright, but the dim light shining from the single candle in the small room was brightened significantly by the many emeralds embedded in the walls. It was much easier to see around this room than any others, but even her own room had more furnishings than this one did.
A single slab of dull black stone served as a bed, which had always confused her. How could the queen let her sleep on a mattress, which was actually quite comfortable, when she herself slept on a slab of rock? She dismissed the thought, bringing her attention back to the room. It was obvious that the queen wasn't here, but she did notice something out of place. She crept towards the only other item in the room, nervous.
A little black doll with emeralds for eyes sat next to the bed. It couldn't really be there could it? After all, Chrysalis had taken the doll and ordered it destroyed. How could it have gotten here? No matter. After deciding that it wasn't a trap, she used what magic she could muster and placed the tiny stuffed doll on her back. She felt the small emeralds begin to emit the magic she had stored in them so long ago. Ash had made the doll, and he had given it to the youngling when she had started having nightmares, as the similarity between it and her comforted her, as well as its strange magical properties, but when the queen had learned about the gift, her notorious rage had surfaced yet again.
"A queen does not need such things as toys to control their emotions," she had said, unaware of its storage capabilities. "If you can't control your fears, you won't be a good ruler. I WILL make you a good queen."
Shortly after, the doll had supposedly been destroyed, but she was glad to that it apparently hadn't. Not many drones were smart enough to even conceive of such a doll.
The youngling turned away from the empty room, and went back into the hall. "Where could she be?" she asked the air. She took a moment to feed on the energy stored in the doll, looking down the hallway. Trying to decide which direction to choose, she noticed a drone walking down the hallway. She ran up to him, resulting in a startled chirp from the drone. When he saw who she was, though, he attempted to move past the small changeling.
"Please," she asked, "where is the queen? I'm trying to find her." The drone chittered for a moment, trying to think. Soon, it pointed down the hall in the direction it had come from. "Thank you," she said, letting it feed on her love. It chirped happily before moving past the youngling and continuing down the hall. The youngling turned toward the direction he had pointed out.
The only thing up there worth noting was the outside. She moved up the hall, noticing how the tunnel seemed to start rising. Eventually, she came to an opening through which blinding light, brighter than any she had ever seen, flowed. She paused.
The queen had told her to never leave the hive, and the stories she had been told about the creatures on the surface had been one of the many sources of her constant nightmares. Would the queen be proud that her daughter was brave enough to outside to look for her, or would she find herself in a world of trouble the likes of which she had yet to experience? She looked around, making sure no other changelings were around to see what she decided. She sighed and decided to push through the fear. She would find the queen, and the queen would finally be proud of her daughter.
The light surrounded her as she stepped through the door.