//------------------------------//
// 2. Introductions to the Hive 
// Story: One With the Hive 
// by Jank Rubz 
//------------------------------//

	The blob then permeated through the many crevices of her brain, rewiring it and sorts with a strange blend of both indescribable science and baffling magic. With a violent shake from her body and a few seconds of lifelessness, Fluttershy regained consciousness, looking greener than before. Her coat had taken on a greener tinge than originally. She then got up on all fours, precariously balancing on the mushrooms looking unusually refreshed. It also seemed that he thick air did not hinder her breathing.
“What did you do to me?” Fluttershy said with a gasp as she felt her new form. “I feel so… different…” 
“We have perfected you,” a voice said in her head, reminiscent of the voice of the blob from before. “You are now a part of the hive.”
“I never wanted to be a part of a hive!” Fluttershy cried with a scared disposition. “Get out of me!”
“You don’t understand, our precious foal,” the voice responded. “We are helping you. Try moving around.” 
Fluttershy complied with the voice and tried to trot to the other side of the cave. She then saw that her body was falling apart into a cascading force to the ground! She could feel her body become a free-form as she screamed in terror, feeling the odd embrace of the mushrooms and her form conforming to them, seeping below the mushrooms and touching the cold cavern surface. She couldn’t fathom accepting the fact that she was a freeform gelatinous blob at this point.
“What’s going on?!” Fluttershy cried. “What’s happening?!”
“Relax… Fluttershy,” the voice said to her, just now knowing what her name was. “You are now a part of us.”
“I don’t want to be a part of you!” Fluttershy cried. “And how do you know my name?”
“Relax, Fluttershy,” the voice said, retaining its calm composure. “We have access to your mind.”
“That’s not relaxing at all!”
“It soon will be. We will be the best thing to ever happen to you, Fluttershy. Now assemble yourself and get up.”
Fluttershy complied and tried to get up. Instantly, her body began to reassemble to her former pony form, standing on the mushrooms in a perfect balance. The feeling of gelatinous freeform coagulating into a structured form again was perturbing to Fluttershy. 
“I don’t know what’s going on!” Fluttershy screamed. “Just get out of me!”
“Relax,” the voice reiterated. “You will adapt to our ideals soon enough. We welcome you to the hive, Fluttershy, for that you are our first conduit of existence in centuries!”
“I just don’t want you in me,” Fluttershy said in between sobs, with her tears being an actual part of her physical form, blending into her arm as she wiped her face. “Why do you have to do this?”
“You are the only significant life form to ever grace our cavern since centuries ago. We have counted that we have been imprisoned in this cavern long ago. Ever since the being you call Celestia imprisoned us here, we’ve been unable to manifest ourselves outside of this cavern. We’ve been luring in specimens for manifestation, but only parasprites and small creatures would enter. Now, with you, we can live vicariously through you, finding a means to exist beyond this infernal cavern!”
“I don’t want to be your ‘conduit,’ though,” Fluttershy replied in hesitance. “I just want to be myself, without anything inside me doing this to me!”
“You clearly do not understand this gift we have given you,” the voice said solemnly to her. “So we’ll just have to show you ourselves.”
Fluttershy then felt a terrible stinging sensation in her brain that eventually exacerbated itself into severe throbbing. The blob had permeated through her brain to take control of her, making her move against her will. At that point, Fluttershy was a golem, programmed by the ooze to be literally a conduit for the blob’s actions/ whim. Without speaking or showing any semblance of the normal Fluttershy, the possessed body of Fluttershy extended her hoof to the opening of the chute, extending her free-form arm to coincide with the chute.
Her arm extended with such a velocity, and her arm somehow merged with the chute. When her hoof graced the dirt walls, it began to soak into the dirt, becoming a part of it, locking in to securely anchor itself in. She reproduced this result by repeating what she had done with her other limbs until she was able to propel herself up the chute. Then, in a disturbing fashion, she morphed into the form of a gelatinous slime, becoming indistinguishable from looking remotely like Fluttershy. The ooze then scurried up the walls of the chute, gracefully yet quickly inching its way up to the top. 
The voices were bracing themselves for impact of entering the outside world, as they didn’t realize the one stipulation that kept them contained within their subterranean prison. As they commandeered Fluttershy to escape the chute, her body was repelled by a magical force-field of sorts, knocking her violently away from the mouth of the opening and spiraling to the ground. As she collided with the ground, her body looked as if it nearly exploded, as millions of droplets from her body scattered across the cavern, collecting on the walls and the various fungi dwelling on the cavern floor. And in a stunning passage of merely a few moments, all of the droplets that used to comprise Fluttershy assimilated to create the form of Fluttershy again.
“No!” Fluttershy, possessed by the ooze, yelled, its voice echoing throughout the cavern. “What went wrong this time? Perhaps… she must-“
The possessed Fluttershy was starting to shake violently, enduring random, violent spasms until she wound up falling to the ground, recreating the mind-blowing ability to break completely apart into droplets and reassemble herself. After a few moments of lifelessness, she came to as normal Fluttershy, looking ostensibly sickly than before.
“What happened?” Fluttershy groaned, still sounding ever-so innocent in the process. She picked herself up carefully, adhering to the pain circulating throughout her body from reassembling so many times. “And why do I feel so nauseous and achy…?” 
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” the voice said to her. “We merely tried to free you from this cavern, but-“
“But how?” Fluttershy unintentionally interrupted, in which she rectified her ways with a whimpering voice, hampered by fear. “What happened? I just found myself resting on these mushrooms and-“
“Silence!” the various voices yelled, finally breaking their sweet, soothing demeanor. The main voice of the bunch now seemed to sound more annoyed than previously. “You need to comply with us, Fluttershy. We tried forcing you to escape this cavern, but we remembered Celestia’s enchantment on the entrance upon entering it. We have no power once we hit the seal.”
“Why are you telling m-me all of th-this if you’re just going to m-mind control m-me again?” Fluttershy, regaining her stammering fears, spoke out to the ooze. “Just get m-me out of here. I’m willing to just do w-w-what you w-w-want.”
“Fluttershy,” the voice began, regaining its calm demeanor. “We do not wish to simply control you. We want you to be an autonomous pony.”
“Then why did you c-control me?” Fluttershy stammered back, afraid of learning what the answer might be. “I don’t know w-w-why you’re d-d-doing any of this!”
“We only control you to guide you,” the voices continued. “We suppose that now is the right time to tell you about ourselves.”
“It would m-m-make things a lot more understandable,” Fluttershy responded, losing some of her trepidation. “Now do go on, p-please.”
“Alright,” the voices responded, seeming to sound more understanding than before. It knew that it would have to reason with their conduit in order to fully break free. “Exactly five-hundred one years ago, we were imprisoned in this cavern, as you may have known. We were summoned by out great ruler, in which we have forgotten his glorious name, many years ago before that. He knew that Celestia and her sister Luna would imprison him, so we were created to spread his good word. He only wanted to spread his perfected vision across the lands.”
“How could you forget your creator’s name?” Fluttershy asked; sounding puzzled. “If you really liked him, you wouldn’t have forgotten their name.”
“Silence!” the voice broke its façade of kindness again, quickly regaining its composure. “It’s… it’s been awhile.” The voice sounded uneasy in speaking to Fluttershy.
“Well, how can I help jog your memory?” Fluttershy asked, sounding eager to help. “What did his or her name begin wi-“ 
“Stop it!” the voices roared, boggling Fluttershy’s mind and making her brain hurt, much to her disdain. She touched her hoofs to her head to regain control, but she saw her world in a dizzying gaze. “We just don’t remember his glorious name, despite it being glorious.”
“You didn’t have to hurt me like that,” she responded while massaging her temples. “It really hurt me. If you’re going to take a forced refuge in my body, then please don’t hurt me like that.” Fluttershy, from this point, had seemed to accept the ooze in her body, much to the sudden pleasure of the ooze. 
“Well then,” the voices said, changing their tone to a more appealing one. “Maybe you can help us reclaim our memory. Just help us leave this accursed tomb and you can help us reclaim a footing on our original creator’s whereabouts.”
The voices, realizing the situation, brought themselves to the conclusion that Fluttershy would only budge if they had offered her freedom from them in exchange for a “simple enough” quest of sorts. Fluttershy, looking ecstatic at the sound of this deal, nodded her head in a satisfied manner.
“Ooh, I am one for helping,” she chimed, looking relieved to know that she’ll have the ooze out in a short amount of time. “And I can get my other friends to join in and help you find your creator. Then will you leave me?”
“Of course,” the voices said, sounding rather shifty. “We promise to relinquish control of you. Just help us out…” 
“Okay,” she responded in confidence. “Now, um… How do I escape?”
“Oh,” the voices replied, being caught off-guard. “Since we are a part of you, you have absorbed a part of our great powers. Simply aim your arm for the chute over there and extend to it.”
“Um, okay…” she feebly, responded, clueless as to what she was supposed to do. “I’ll try my best.”
She complied with the voices and aimed her arm at the chute she had previously fallen through, her vision being enhanced by the ooze. She aimed her arm at the mouth of the chute, and turned her head away, squealing in fear as she stood there, trembling at the unknown.
“What are you doing?” the voices said, sounding annoyed. “Get on with it.”
“I… I… I-” Fluttershy stammered, regaining her fear again. “I don’t know what you mean…”
“What do you mean?” the voices shot back, sounding angry. “How much clearer must we make ourselves? Just aim at the chute and force yourself at it!”
“But w-w-why?” Fluttershy stuttered. “I don’t understand why.”
“Haven’t you seen your gift in work?” the ooze asked. “You are a part of the glorious manifestation of D-" the voices had then interrupted themselves. "We mean… our creator’s work! You’re physical makeup isn’t a restricted form. Your body can be any form it wants to be! So just focus on moving yourself from here to the chute.”
“…What?” she responded, sounding as clueless as ever. “Just t-t-throw myself at the chute?”
“Yes,” the voices responded, sounding even more annoyed. “You can do it…”
Fluttershy looked just a little bit determined from the meager pep-talk she received. She closed her eyes and aimed for the chute again, thinking about hurtling herself at the chute. Then, she felt her arm extending, slinking through the air slowly but freely until it hit the cold embrace of the dirt walls of the chute. Fluttershy then opened her eyes and gasped at the fact that she had actually done this incredible feat.
“What the-?” she gasped. “How did I do that?” 
“You simply extended your body,” the ooze responded. “It’s nothing special, really.” 
“What do I do now?” Fluttershy politely asked, looking silly with her arm attached to the chute wall from several feet away. 
“Aim your other arm at the wall, too,” the voice responded. “And repeat.”
Fluttershy did as she was told and repeated the process, turning her head, closing her eyes, and squealing in slight terror as she felt the cold embrace of the dirt touch her hooves. She then opened her eyes feebly and saw that both of her arms extended to reach the cavern walls. 
“Now lunge at the walls,” the voices said, sounding pleased. “Lunge with your entire body.”
“I’ll t-t-try,” she softly stammered, still amazed at what she could do. 
She then assumed an aggressive position, contrasting to her ideals on life. She bent her head down, back-end perfectly positioned in the air as she readied herself for a lunge forward. Again, she turned her head and closed her eyes, hoping for the best as she had threw her body forward, feeling herself move through the cold cave air as she impacted with the compacted soil of the chute walls. She felt herself blending into the cold dirt of the chute as her body literally splattered all over the wall. The rest of her body, which had still been in the same position prior to thrusting herself forward, soon followed suit, following the trail Fluttershy’s body took and impacting with the chute walls. 
Her amorphous body then reassembled itself on the cave wall, unintentionally planting roots into the dirt while her arms slinked back into her body. She could instantly feel the dirt energize her in some way she couldn’t comprehend. 
  Why am I feeling like I’m becoming more energized? Fluttershy thought to herself, little to her knowledge that the ooze knew exactly what she was saying to herself.
“It’s because your body can plat roots into the soil,” the ooze responded, sounding calm and sincere for once. “Your body is latching to the walls to stay connected to it, so naturally your form will draw nutrients from the ground.”
That seems really nifty, Fluttershy responded. But how do I make my way to the top of the chute?
“Just inch your way up,” the voices responded. “Move your form up the chute. With your body subconsciously latching itself to the soil, you won’t fall.”
Fluttershy noticed her body literally dripping from the chute wall to the cave floor.
“And if you drip,” the voices added. “You’ll have to pick yourself up from that.” 
Fluttershy then wondered how she could even see. She was sure that her amorphous form didn’t have any eyes attached to it. Then, the voices responded before she could even think of asking them.
“You are seeing from the aid of the sensitivity of your body. If not in your solid form where you can form eyes, you can feel the stillness of the cavern air. It’s almost supersonic, really.” 
But that would have to include great hearing skills, Fluttershy retorted feebly. 
“Well, we assume that that is the case as well,” the voices said, unsure of what to go with. “Just get to the top.” 
Fluttershy felt at one with nature. She could feel the ground’s nutrients coursing through her veins as she intentionally embedded her roots deeper into the soil. She then had to retract her roots to slither her way to the top of the chute. From there, it was a slow but smooth trek to the top, with the ooze feeling more grateful than before. It could finally be released from its underground imprisonment after over five-hundred years of solitude. It could now take refuge in a foolish host’s body, proliferate its form, and perform its primary function once and for all.