//------------------------------// // 2: Changeling Politics 101 // Story: Reformation of the Hives // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// The changeling royal navy was making a very brief stay in Phoenix’s Roost before heading out to the Summit. With the construction of a cloakable tender vessel, Rainbow Dash was able to size down the cargo capacity on both capital ships, allowing better tactical movement at the cost of slightly reduced independent operational range. The removal of the hatchery from the Deception was enough to make room for the new Octavia engines. Little of that knowledge passed through Rasua’s mind as she disembarked from the Deception at the Phoenix’s Roost airship dock, mostly because of the massive hangover she was nursing with a canteen of water. What she did know however, was that the refit of Octavia engines onto the frigate worried her greatly. I know Aegis said these engines were in development for decades, but the willingness they show to so quickly embrace any new technology is frightening. What if that diplomat of theirs gets his mitts on something important back in the homeland? They may have one over on us in airships, but we have more than the lightning cannons and electrified crossbows they’ve seen so far. Shaking such musings aside, Rasua made her way to the edge of the dock which hung a good fifteen stories up. Stretching from the central palace to ten miles at the outer walls was a complex of civic planning that was superb as far as Rasua was concerned. The industrial district blanketed the entire south half of the hive with a singular spire jutting up to match the palace in height. The forest of smokestacks rising above the factories and warehouses belched grey and black smoke that was being pulled towards the spire. Rasua remembered seeing large blackened lumps being constantly removed from the base of the spire, but ultimately didn’t bother finding out what was being done with them. They could be dumping them in the ravine or selling them for all I care. The northern half of the hive bore all of the residences, primarily small apartments or large boarding houses for those drones that didn’t require much personal space. A large number of parks and other buildings one would find in a normal city spread out, each one filling some need for Phoenix’s Roost. Rasua choked down her whiskey induced migraine and leapt from the dock, flying off towards a specific building that was flush against the northern stone wall. Since I’m not going south with the royal family, I’m free to get my next session before going back to my smithing work. Her path was beset by thousands of nymphs flying or running all over the hive. While the local drones were able to ward the nymphs away from anything dangerous, that didn’t include poor Rasua. The hungover huntress was being stalked by a swarm of curious nymphs. Rasua was assailed by constant questions to which she gave short answers until she finally reached her destination. Thankfully a caretaker was already present and chased after the nymphs to shoo them away from Rasua. With the changelings gone, Rasua found several sphinxes milling around the two story structure. A large sign read ‘Federation Immigration Office’ in both Vespid and Felionian. Clutching her psionic-dampening smithing medallion to make sure it was there, Rasua landed near the front door. The building itself was rather generic with regularly spaced windows and a roof access. It bore the brass and gunmetal grey finish that prevailed throughout most of the technophiles basic building colorscheme. The three sphinxes near the door all bore the brand of a psyker upon their forehead. It was a crimson brand of a stylized open eye seared upon them by the either the government or the Order to show to the world that they were willing practitioners of their psionic abilities. The only sign of them being Psykira was a single lock of blue dyed hair across the left side. The three of them knew Rasua on sight as the one who scouted the Alliance as a safe harbor for the Psykira. “Hail, honored huntress, have you come for Dr. Arvatus?” She nodded briskly. “Yes, is he in?” “He just returned from lunch barely a minute ago.” He pointed a paw at the front lobby towards an aging Egyptian tom who was chatting with the secretary. “So he is, thank you,” she replied in a friendly manner. Glad the Sestapo works as discretely as they’re known for. We haven’t intercepted a single warning from the Order’s monks in Equestria so far. The reception lobby was almost completely empty, save for a scattering of waiting room chairs. Dr. Arvatus noticed Rasua’s entry almost immediately and smiled at her. “Ah, my honored huntress. I was just thinking about you. I feared your time in the pony capital might have caused you to miss your treatment.” She shivered at the idea. “Believe me, I was scared that I’d lose three years of progress if I was too late as well. But I was able to convince my masters that my presence was unnecessary in the southern jungles.” Arvatus waved towards the hallway before walking towards his office with Rasua falling in behind him. “So I see. How was the party? Was it as extravagant as everyone expected it to be?” “I don’t really remember much of it,” Rasua admitted with only a hint of self-consciousness. “I had to get drunk to keep your work from unraveling. I didn’t expect the royal family to stay in Canterlot as long as they did.” Arvatus caught a whiff of stale alcohol. She doesn’t like drinking this heavily. I think she’s developing additional fear about her phobia returning. “Well, you are here now. Let us get started.” The doctor’s workplace was akin to a psychiatrist’s office complete with patient couch, desk, various personalized nick nacks and statuary of various individuals important to Arvatus. Chief among them was a figurine of Rasua on the right side of his desk. It was a tribute to the jane who helped him in more ways than she could possibly know. Rasua took to the couch and rested her head on the end closest to Arvatus’ chair. “I’m sure you know the routine by now, keep your mind’s eye on that which you fear most,” he said while taking a small paper cup and filling it from a water cooler nearby. “Thank you.” She downed it in one go while taking her dampening medallion off. Getting comfortable, she pulled up images of spiders, millipedes, the sound of hundreds of buzzing changeling wings, their eyes, and worst of all, the tens of thousands of them speaking with one voice. With their constant gentle glow, their eyes always looked like compound bug eyes from even a short distance to her. As she pulled all these fears to the surface, Arvatus primed himself by massaging his temples and focusing on Rasua’s surface thoughts. From there he followed the pathways they all shared to her entomophobia. He perceived it as a knot of tangled rope from which he started slowly pulling apart as he had done since their first session years ago. Too quick and he might cause any latent psionic potential within her to awaken. Too slow and he would never see appreciable results. “So tell me, how goes your relationship with Thunderfury?” Active conversation was encouraged during sessions, yet Rasua’s migraine had kept her silent thus far. “Difficult, doctor, you already know these changelings find monogamy laughably backwards at worst and unnecessary for them at best.” He nodded while placing his hands on her head, careful to avoid messing up her hairstyle. “They are a very strange culture to get used to, I agree.” He teased a strand of the knot free, letting it dissipate. “But the lack of psyker phobias really helps smooth things over.” Almost makes me wish the Harieta province had stayed out of the Federation, but war would have followed us there. No further attempts at conversation were made and silence reigned for over an hour as Rasua relaxed her guard to let Arvatus work more freely. Eventually he released her head and leaned back in his chair mentally exhausted. “There, that should negate your fears for another week.” Shuddering a moment, Rasua climbed back to her paws. “Thank you doctor. You are a credit to Psykira everywhere.” Arvatus took a cup of water for himself and sipped it. “Hardly. I am simply abiding the Faithocrattic oath, as any good doctor should.” He leaned forward as Rasua made for the door. “One thing before you go.” For a brief moment, Rasua thought he would ask for payment for once. Being the one to realize the Equestrian Alliance as a safe harbor for Psykira, Arvatus usually waived all fees for her. “I noticed the knot of fear weakens every time you have,” he coughed uncomfortably, “intimate relations with Thunderfury. It is as I expected, you have the Grenger Disposition.” “I am not familiar with that, doctor.” “Most aren’t,” he chuckled, “especially since medical Psykira specializing in the mind like myself are few and far between. It’s difficult work, and even more so to practice safely. “GD simply means personal contact, real love, or simple friendship can make my efforts more natural and permanent for you. Which is rare,” he added with an amused guffaw, “since the focus of most phobias can’t really be loved, only tolerated. But if you can resolve your personal issues with Thunderfury’s polyamory, or any other changeling I suppose, you could rid yourself of your phobia for good.” “…Interesting, doctor. That might be necessary if I am to remain the Sestapo’s agent here.” Rasua was about to leave but her curiosity got the better of her, and she stopped at the door before turning back to him. “Doctor?” He looked up from her file and hummed inquisitively. “I’ve been wondering about the changeling hive mind ever since Aegis first told me about it, but I never cared to know more about it until after asking for your services.” “Ahh, I see. You wish to know what it sounds like, yes?” Rasua moved back over to the couch after nodding. He closed the file and sat behind his desk with a creased brow. “It is… very dangerous to psykers like us, though I’m glad those Psykira who opt to remain in Phoenix's Roost are strong enough to resist it.” “How is it so dangerous? Thunderfury has always told me it is central to their society.” Unbidden memories came to him, making Arvatus pinch his nose. “I’m sure it would cause no physical damage, though I have no evidence. But the reason it’s dangerous, huntress, is that it is a nigh irresistible siren’s song.” She gave him the puzzled look all non-psykers gave him when talking about such things. “Oddly enough, every drone I have ever come in contact with is almost completely mute psionically.” Rasua did a double take. “Surely you jest. How can there be a siren song if they’re mute?” “I said almost, honored huntress,” he said with less mirth than she expected. Arvatus cupped his hands and spread them out. “For us sphinxes, without our childhood training, we all radiate our surface thoughts like radio waves. These drones however, send their messages like a lightning bolt to their queen. While they refrained from speaking on it further, I suspect this technique is perfected during childhood.” Rasua mulled over the information, filing it away in her mind. “You keep talking about the drones. What about the queens? I imagine that must be very different if they are the psionic hubs they claim to be.” “Oh very much so,” Arvatus nodded in agreement. “I actually approached Queen Rainbow Dash around spring last year, to give thanks for providing sanctuary to us. Out of morbid curiosity, I let my inquisitiveness surpass my better judgement and asked to briefly connect to this wonderful hive mind I kept hearing about.” Rasua’s jaw dropped. “I thought prolonged linked minds went against the Psykira covenant.” He gave a self-deprecating sigh. “It does, which is why I only wanted to catch a glimpse of it.” He gave a short humorless laugh. “As you might expect, she warned me against it, saying that it was a threshold no one outside of the changelings themselves should cross. “But in my arrogance, I protested, stating that my mental discipline was strong enough to resist any addictive nature. To her credit, it took me five separate requests on different days, but eventually she granted my request for a single minute. For the life of me, I wish she hadn’t.” Rasua furrowed her brow when he shuddered at the memory. “Was it that traumatic?” “Yes, but not in the manner you’re thinking,” he clarified with a halting finger. Arvatus centered himself as the memory of the loud welcoming chorus of voices from all vocal ranges assailed him. Arvatus had to forcefully shake his head to clear it. “I was wholly unprepared for the hive mind. No sphinx could be,” he attested while jabbing a finger on his desk. “The moment I was brought into the changeling Link, I was surrounded by tens of thousands of voices. It felt like I was thrust into a giant forum with hundreds of conversations that weaved together with harmonious order.” He wrung his hands trying to put the mind-numbing experience into words. “But it - it wasn’t something you’d find in something as mundane as a school cafeteria. There was something like a carrier wave that brought a form of order to it all. The constant chatter sounded more like a song, all unified by the queen’s orchestration. Queen Rainbow’s presence was strangest part to it all.” “They say they’re the focus of each section of the hive mind,” Rasua stated with growing worry on how far her doctor went with this little experiment. “Oh they are,” Arvatus declared flatly. “But they are unlike any sound I have ever heard. I can only describe it as a heavenly tone not unlike your mana-tap chant. What I can tell you is that Rainbow’s psionic voice was guiding me to join the choir. It was completely automatic for her.” Arvatus choked up just thinking about the beauty of it, and had to pause for several seconds to compose his voice. “I nearly caved in to add my voice to that holy chorus, but Rainbow’s conscious mind must have been watching me closely because she severed my connection before I could add my own voice to that choir.” He remained quiet for a minute, brooding on foolishness he thought he had long grown out of. “I didn’t want to leave it, honored huntress. At that moment, I would have given my life to remain a part of the Link.” “That’s… unsettling,” Rasua admitted hesitantly. “If what you say is true, this it is a testament to your fortitude that you have resisted that siren’s call for so long,” Rasua praised with a thin reassuring smile. Arvatus gave a self-deprecating huff. “For you, huntress, I will speak the truth. I do not deserve your approbation. I wanted to be reconnected. By the Great Cycle I begged and pleaded for the longest time, and to be honest… what scares me the most is that some part of me still does.” Twilight Sparkle stood silently on the bridge of the Longshot as it was preparing to depart for the jungles. Captain Darya, one of Rainbow’s drones, calmly overviewed her crew’s performance. She was a newer strain with improved observational capability over the hive mind itself, allowing her greater awareness over the battlefield. The strain was made in direct response to the carrier’s fighters. Rainbow Dash may not believe in the carrier, but she’s wise enough to give it a chance. At least until her new cruiser is complete. She’s already promised to gift it to Aegis and Blitz, but I can at least use it for the Summit trip. With no need to micromanage, Twilight searched the hive mind for one ambassador in particular. Gem Shield was far to the northwest along the griffin-pony border where a large mountain range currently hosted a dragon horde. Twilight pinged Gem with a puppet request which was quickly granted. With a rush, Twilight’s awareness raced across the hive mind to fill Gem Shield completely. She found her far away daughter in a personal cavern nestled inside an open wax sleeping cocoon that was a staple for on demand sleeping accommodations. Gem never was one to enjoy modern technology. A small torch at the entrance provided the only light source. Twilight was about to leave the rather spartan room when Spike appeared at the door. “Hey, Gem, just got those notes back about the next migration location.” He paused after catching Gem’s wide grin and cat-like eyes. Twilight, in Gem Shield’s body, admired the young drake Spike had become over the years. Spike had grown to match Princess Luna, with wings that were not quite large enough to carry him aloft though that would inevitably change. He was about as lanky as any teenager who hadn’t quite filled out yet. “Hey, Spike, how’ve you been?” “Terrible,” he groaned before dropping the box to hug his adopted sister. With him being so much taller than a drone, Twilight had to rear up to embrace him. He let go first and started ranting while digging through the scrolls. “Okay, I admit, hanging out with my own kind was really good for a few years, I even managed to get Garble to back down from raiding anymore phoenix nests.” “He’s the one you met on your first dragon migration, right?” Twilight asked while moving to the other side of the box. She wasn’t sure which scroll he was looking for, so she opted to just let him work. “Yeah, that’s the one. Prick.” “Language, Spike,” Twilight warned. He deflated briefly with a sigh before continuing. “My bad. Anyway, I’m getting sick of this place.” He quickly looked to the cave entrance to make sure no other dragons were possibly listening in. Sensing no one, he returned to the crate and found the right scroll. “My people are so preoccupied with hoards and general bickering with each other, it’s a wonder the matriarch has any real power over them at all.” He waved the scroll at Twilight. “There’s only so many times I can go to the bathroom without a toilet or running water around here before I go crazy. Or wake up in a dark cave without even a straw bed, or fridge for breakfast, or even a book to read! I only get scrolls to read, and even that’s frowned upon here!” Giving him her best reassuring smile, Twilight nuzzled Spike. “I know it’s rough around here, but it’s draconic tradition. They think technology separates people from the world they’re connected to.” Spike spat in disgust at the concept. “Well it’s stupid. Who’s to say the world doesn’t want us to live like cave people? If you ask me, I think the reason why we have so many intelligent species is so that somebody gets the right idea that tech and magic needs to be constantly improved, not so our brains are rotted by idiotic backwards thinking. What good’s a brain if all you use it for is survival?!” It was a rant he had given often enough that Twilight knew what he meant, even if the words changed. “I agree completely, Spike. But it is the dragon’s way.” “Well it’s not my way!” he huffed angrily. “At least not when I can leave this dump. I haven’t even been able to see any of my pony friends, or even go to your birthdays. At least with Gem around you can visit me.” “I understand your frustration. Outside of my bloodline, no other queen sees the value in non-biological technology. Such as it is though, you only have to stick around long enough for Gem and that cranky old unicorn Wise Consul to earn the matriarch’s trust enough for you to return to the Alliance. The Rites of Velandus should be over in a few months, and then you can come home.” Spike perked up at that and cast Twilight a thin smile. “I still have your old basket, just the way you left it,” she added with a teasing smirk. “You still have that thing? I probably can’t even fit my foot in that anymore,” he chuckled loudly. Spike could feel some of his dragon aimed resentment begin to cool. “Never fear,” Twilight announce with a hoof twirl, “I’m sure I can commision a replica to fit you.” “Ha! At that point, you might as well call it a full-fledged bed than a basket.” Spike finally remembered the scroll he held, unfurled it, and then passed it on to Twilight with a deep frown. “I had some news for Gem Shield, but you might as well hear it too. The matriarch is finally letting you guys off the hook from that assassination attempt by finally accepting your hive as a separate nation from Chrysalis.” “That’s great!” Twilight beamed as she started reading. “If only,” Spike amended with a sour tone. “She’s demanding two metric tons of starlight infused sunstone in tribute to be delivered to her by the time the migration reaches the next location or she won’t add Phoenix’s Roost to the list of protected nations.” “What?!” Twilight scanned the scroll with shock and indignation rising in equal levels. “But that would allow any dragon to raid us for gems, gold and whatever else they may want!” Spike twirled his claw dramatically. “As the matriarch oh so delicately put it ‘not my problem anymore.’ I tried to tell her that your hive’s defenses would be more than enough for any pissed off dragon, but she couldn’t care less. Makes me sick.” Shoring up Celestia’s tutelage, Twilight took a deep breath to focus on the solution instead of the problem with only limited success. “So is she purposefully asking for the impossible? You can’t infuse sunstones with starlight, let alone two tons of it.” Spike grumbled as he sat down. “No offense to her, but the whole thing is partially Luna’s fault.” Twilight’s planning for a rant came to a halt at that. “She showed up a few months ago with a big pile of gems as part of the once a decade princess visit. The ‘cherry on top’ of it all was a starlight infused sunstone barely the size of my finger.” “So let me guess,” Twilight growled at the scroll. “The matriarch or someone important liked it and now thinks she can blackmail two tons of it out of us since we’re friends with Luna?” “That and she loathes the fact that you focus so much on tech,” Spike added bitterly. “I think if anypony has any right to say whether or not we’ve lost our connection to the world, it would be Arya and the other Tea’la.” Twilight rubbed the temples of both her puppet and her real body. Even Gem Shield, who was observing it all from the back of her mind, groaned at the news. “I’ll be sure Rolled Scroll passes the message to Luna. It’s entirely possible that the sunstone is easy for her to make or find.” Twilight forcibly pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. “As troubling as this is, I don’t want my visit to be all about bad news. How are you getting along with Slytha?” she asked with a knowing grin. I always knew Spike’s crush on Rarity was just a phase. “Ah well, you know,” Spike flustered with reddened cheeks. The purple drake tried to scowl at her, fully knowing she was playing with him. “I don’t think it’s going to go very far,” he said with masked regret. “She’s got the hots for Deventh.” Spike spat his name as if it was poison. Seeing her attempt failed miserably, Twilight hugged him again. “Don’t worry, I’m sure another dragoness will come around in time.” “Yeah, maybe.” Spike shrugged defeatedly. He’s done so much for everypony, only to lose Slytha… An idea struck her, making her gasp in joy. “Hey, Spike, what if I found a fire ruby for you?” Spike blanked for a second before a toothy grin cleaved his face. “Yeah, yeah! That would work! Slytha always said fire rubies are her favorite, but there aren’t any anywhere near the roost.” “Don’t worry about that, Spike, I’ll get it taken care of. Gem will tell you when I find one.” “Awesome, thanks, Twilight!” He ran over and scooped her up in a crushing hug. “Anything for you, Spike,” Twilight wheezed out. “Spikivar, I require your presence immediately,” boomed a growling dragon from deeper within the cavern. Twilight and Spike shuddered at the ear rattling roar echoing in the small chamber. “Your matriarch suffers an itch.” Being the center of a free-love hive, Twilight’s fears immediately went to the gutter. Spike rolled his eyes and dragged himself to the door. “Bah. She’s so old, every time she eats rubies her spines start itching like mad.” Twilight sighed in profound relief, but kept just enough composure to keep a compassionate visage. “I suppose I’ll have to leave you to it. Just remember you’ll finally be able to come home by late fall.” Dreams of being Twilight’s assistant again and living in a place where plumbing was expected, gave him the strength to keep going. “Thanks, Twilight, I hope we get a chance to talk again soon, but I’ll need to join the scavenging party after tending to Itchy Scales.” “Well good luck,” Twilight called out as Spike ran off. From the depths of her mind, Gem Shield wordlessly indicated she had duties to tend to soon as well. Twilight’s dominating presence in Gem Shield’s mind faded as quickly as it had come. With Twilight’s attention focused elsewhere, she missed Gem squirming on the ground relishing the ecstasy after being puppeted. “Ohhhh, yeeeaaahhh.” Her eyes rolled back as waves of pleasure washed over her. The flotilla which set out from Phoenix’s Roost consisted of three ships, the Deception, Longshot, and a tender vessel called Cornucopia. With the loss of Stripped Gear and it’s volcanic crystal factory, cloaking crystals were exceedingly difficult to produce. As a result they were rarely used anymore, save for the Cornucopia due to its vulnerability. Twilight insisted that their flightpath avoid the ruins of Stripped Gear lest bad memories color their actions in the Summit. From her elevated perch on the Longshot’s bridge, Twilight watched the flight deck crews drilling to launch the biplanes. Ultimately though, Twilight trusted Rainbow’s assessment. At the very least they might be a shock value instead of any real tactical usefulness. Twilight looked to her left to find Aegis watching the crews with an eagerness usually reserved for flamethrowers and eggs. “They’re beautiful aren’t they?” Aegis pressed her face against the glass trying to drink in every action of the crew and pilots. While she genuinely favored the pilots, Aegis was doing so more to ignore the large swaths of burnt and diseased trees the warships passed by on their way south. The sight of it all disturbed Aegis to no end should such forces ever be leveled against her home. “To look at, from an engineer’s standpoint at least,” Twilight conceded, breaking Aegis out of her dark thoughts. “But I’m glad you seem to like them. The Longshot will be your flagship after all.” “I still don’t know what you and Aunty have against fighters.” She looked up at her mother with a borderline condescending eyebrow and half frown. “Our whole business model is maximizing each individual drone’s combat ability isn’t it? What better way than fighters to do that?” Twilight shook her head at the headstrong princess. “I don’t focus on combat, Aegis, and you know that. I can defend myself in a fight, but I leave everything else to Rainbow. If she thinks the carrier is a bad idea, then I’ll back her decision. You know we only kept this ship operational because mother insisted we give the concept a chance to prove itself.” “Well don’t worry about that,” Aegis declared as she refocused on the aircraft. “I’ll figure out a way to make it work even if you two can’t.” “You’d better,” Twilight warned with masked mirth, “I’d hate to see all the bits dumped into this ship end up being a waste. I’ve always tried to instill creativity in all my children.” She gave her daughter a loving smile whereas Aegis responded with a curious look. “Let’s see if all that effort’s paid off,” Twilight added while poking Aegis’ ribs. “Gah!” The poke coincided with an abdominal cramp. Aegis bounced away from her mother’s invading hoof causing Twilight to giggle. Ignoring the poke, Aegis rubbed her abs grinning maniacally. “That’s the third cramp since yesterday. You think I’ll finally start laying today?” Twilight frowned before pointing out the bow window. “I hope not, because we’re here.” The Longshot’s forward engines shuddered to a halt with the Ebony Castle looming ahead. Unlike the hostile jungles below, it showed no signs of the war. The black edifice was immaculate as always, bringing a strong sense of nostalgia in Twilight. Joining her sister’s announcement from the Deception, Rainbow Dash added her own. Everyone scrambled to obey with the shuttle pilots and Queens’ Guard in particular preparing to depart. Aegis scowled at how the biplanes were being left on the flight deck. What’s the point of having them if we don’t use them? Aegis waited for Rainbow’s reaction to the first time those fighters would be scrambled for a non-drill. This time Rainbow spoke to Aegis alone. Aegis found herself steepling her fingers to think. Aegis smirked as the first plane took off. Rainbow snorted in approval. Waiting for the second of the five plane squadron to take off, Aegis made for the stairwell and the shuttle hangar below. With an hour left until the Summit, the four royals of Phoenix’s Roost cantered through the hallways of the Ebony Castle with a squad of eight Queens’ Guard behind them and a pair of Home Guard taking the lead. While she kept her expression and aura neutral, Twilight was still troubled by being here. Cadista remained in Phoenix’s Roost going over the latest budget projections. Twilight walked by a tapestry depicting the First Mother’s victory in battle. It was the same tapestry she had seen the first time she came to this lonely palace. She glanced backwards at Aegis and Blitz who weren’t even bothering to hide their bipedal movement and hands. Being so in tune with her sister, Rainbow Dash, picked up on the conversation. While Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Cadista conspired about their rival queens, Blitz cringed when an abdominal cramp nearly made her drop to all fours. This is bad. Aegis saw Blitz absently rub her lower stomach. The discomfort lingered for only a minute before passing. Blitz realized and let her hand drop. Aegis buzzed her wings out of excitement. Blitz gulped when the two Home Guard drones flanked one last black stone door. “Please, only your royal majesties in the chamber itself,” the corporal on the right announced respectfully. Twilight turned to Intel and her squad. “You know the drill.” “Yes, my queen,” Intel snapped a salute and barked some quick orders to the other drones to stand at the ready. Intel called out to Aegis as she moved to follow their mother into the Summit. Aegis snarked back. Squaring her shoulders, Aegis marched past the door with every intention of making her mark on changeling society. If they were honest with themselves, Twilight and Rainbow Dash didn’t really know what to expect. Several queens were already present and waiting. Polybia was the first to catch the pair’s eyes. She was in the middle of talking with an unrecognized queen who looked tired, worn out, and had the look of recently molted chitin across her left foreleg and chest. By contrast, Polybia looked physically imposing with a self-assured expression and dominating stance. However, both Aegis and Rainbow Dash noticed there were odd discolored splotches on her chitin, starting on Polybia’s horn and becoming rarer near her tail. Polybia only stopped talking to watch Aegis and Blitz walking by on two legs with obvious confusion and bloodshot eyes. Kreesus sat flanked by one other queen and a single proto-queen if her height was anything to go by. Aegis was surprised to see that proto-queen was not part of Twilight’s bloodline due to the lack of any fur. While her two apparent allies whispered to each other, Kreesus stared at Twilight with mixed emotions that neither Twilight nor Rainbow could read with any certainty. Sitting quietly beside Kreesus’ single queen ally was a diminutive blue princess who had chitin covering her entire barrel and half of her neck. Fur grew along the princess’ legs and head and it looked as if that fur was started to grow over the leading edges of the chitin. What really caught Twilight’s attention though was Chrysalis seated off to the side in an isolated section of the amphitheater with only Jstrul, and two princesses at her side, one purple and one blue. The princess’ had the same strange mixture of chitin and fur that Kreesus’ ally possessed. However Chrysalis’ strong and collected demeanor could do nothing to hide the vicious scars crisscrossing her chitin. Her whole neck was a dull pink due to the chitin being completely shed and a new shell growing in. Jstrul had both of her eyes gauzed over and a chipped fang. With no medical salve of their own, Jstrul had dirty bandages covering her barrel, though Twilight could only discern dirt, not blood, soiling the once white strips. Lastly, Captain Thoran, leader of the Home Guard, was standing alone near the empty seat Silandrus once occupied. “Announcing Queen Twilight Sparkle, Queen Rainbow Dash, and their heirs, Princess Aegis Altair, and Princess Blitzkrieg respectively.” Blitz groaned and smacked her face out of exasperation. “Did he really have to use my full name? It doesn’t even match my job in any way shape or form!” she grumbled under her breath along with a few Prench obscenities. Unbeknownst to Blitz, Rainbow shot an apologetic look at her daughter. Well not everypony can be prophetic with foal names anyway. Almost everyone in the room was keeping to their own council, and not gawking at Aegis or Blitz’s bipedal movement. Like Rainbow before her, Aegis growled at the lack of interest. Twilight stated flatly. She would have injected some humor, but the blatant presence of purple and blue princesses was almost insulting. Doing her absolute damnedest to ignore her sister’s verbal prodding, Rainbow Dash was glowering at all the queens with princesses. Unlike her sister, she wasn’t hampered by trival things like ‘diplomatic grace’. “I’ve heard of shameless salad tossers before, but you all take the rutting cake! None of you had the First Mother damned common courtesy to recolor any of our grandchildren so it wasn’t stupidly obvious?” Polybia cast a condescending eye at her. “We have had more important matters to attend to than insulting Queen Twilight’s intelligence. You, however, are more than capable of doing that for the both of you.” Rainbow jumped to her hooves fully intending to lay out some verbal murder. “Oh yeah?! I bet you’d love to know our consorts were keeping score on you sorry hags. A corpse would be a better lay than any of you.” The collected queens scoffed more than anything else with Kreesus speaking the general consensus. “We have better uses of our time than frivolous bedroom exploits, Rainbow Dash.” “You don’t know what you’re missing then,” Rainbow replied with a snide grin. “And that’s Queen Rainbow Dash to you, you repulsive honorless traitor!” Kreesus’ reaction was almost all the satisfaction Rainbow needed. “Pardon my impertinence, your majesties,” Thoran interrupted before the Summit could descend into anarchy. “But it appears all surviving queens and their heirs have joined us, and the allotted time for the Summit to begin has elapsed.” Rainbow halted her tirade, but never stopped glaring at Kreesus. It finally took a mental prod from Twilight to make Rainbow retake her seat. Returning to her sister’s side, Rainbow Dash silently glowered at their rivals. Queens are completely insane, Thoran mused darkly. I’m so glad we Home Guard don’t have one. Satisfied that the various royals were listening, Thoran continued. “It has been four years since Queen Silandrus’ death was confirmed. As my messengers have informed all of you, since no other queen has been able to gather enough political support to be nominated as the next Prime Matriarch, it falls upon us, the Home Guard, to name a successor.” A gentle rumble of gossip passed quickly as Thoran continued after a moment. “Until that successor accepts the position, I will be acting as temporary Head of Summit, and act in accordance to the rules of conduct Queen Silandrus enforced previously. “We of the Home Guard have debated this selection ever since Silandrus’ death on who would best fit the future survival of our species. Records indicate that this choice is usually difficult, but in this case, it was not.” The rumor mill tripled in volume, so Thoran simply spoke over it. “We of the Home Guard have decided to name Queen Twilight Sparkle as the next Prime Matriarch.” While Kreesus and many other queens were shocked by the declaration, Polybia however jumped to her hooves frothing with rage. “Are you mad, drone!?” Twilight was completely speechless in all of this with Rainbow Dash going bugeyed. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want Twilight to be PM? Rock on!” “She’s far too young to be the Prime!” Kreesus added with much more composure than either previous speaker. “She’s barely into her first century. She can’t even rule a hive by herself!” To his credit, Thoran remained firm in his position. That never stopped you from allying with Yumia and Cadista. Keeping the thought to himself, Thoran answered her with only the barest hint of his snide musings. “From my understanding, Queen Twilight’s style of rule is voluntary, not a symptom of weakness. As for her age, she is the eldest queen capable of producing love. That love is ultimately the deciding factor.” Chrysalis remained oddly quiet throughout it all, not that Polybia noticed as she spat hatred at Rainbow Dash. “Neither of you are true changelings! You’re half-breeds that destroyed the sanctity of the First Mother! The Home Guard be damned, neither of you have any right to be on that throne!” “We have just as much right as you do, fanatic,” Twilight stated with all of the aristocratic sass she used to put up with in Celestia’s court. Rainbow took to hovering in the air, but stayed close to her sister. “Besides, the HG didn’t ask us to vote. They’re the ones who get to pick.” She kept her gaze on Polybia, but mentally nudged her sister. Twilight replied quickly. Not desiring to waste her breath confronting Twilight or Rainbow directly, Kreesus zeroed in on Thoran. “You’re making a mistake. Twilight is too weak to rule a hive by herself, let alone the rest of us, even if the position of PM is little more than a figurehead!” The ‘debate’ faded from Aegis’ awareness as she felt something solid shift in her gut. Her jaw dropped and her eyes dilated to the size of dinner plates as she felt four objects move in her abdomen before moving down her canal. “Holy frick, it’s happening now!?” Aegis looked over to see Blitz was sweating profusely as she grimaced and squatted down. Blitz started pressing down on her stomach, but Aegis was too preoccupied to finish watching. She looked down to see her first egg fall out of her and roll on the stone bench. Barely two seconds passed before the second egg came, followed by the third and fourth soon after. Completely ignoring the world around her, Aegis scooped the eggs up in her hands just to make sure they were real. A manic grin that would feel right at home in a mental asylum cleaved Aegis’ face as her vision centered on the four lavender eggs in her hands. Her wings were buzzing so fast out of exhilaration she started floating up. “I – I – I laid eggs. I, me, Aegis, I laid eggs! I finally laid eggs! I’m a proto-queeeeeeeen!!” Aegis didn’t even need to manually feed them love. The raw emotion she radiated being more than enough to satiate them. Between Aegis and Blitz, their love was so intense that it radiated throughout the amphitheater. The range and strength was more than enough for the other changelings in the room to siphon off some for themselves. Aegis fed the glowing eggs a little bit anyway to link them to her. It was only then that she turned to Blitz and saw her quartet of blue eggs were also glowing, though Blitz’s exultant grin was rapidly fading to mortification when her eyes drifted off the eggs. Confusion washed over Aegis as she followed her counterpart’s gaze to find all the other queens staring at them ranging from Polybia and Kreesus’ shock, to Chrysalis’ steely visage. Aegis found herself being telekinetically yanked back down to her seat, with an extra magic field keeping the eggs secure in her hands. Twilight gave her daughter a brief hug. Tucking her eggs close to her chest, Aegis flew off to the exit. Blitz caught up to her, with her eggs held firmly in her magic. Blitz’ embarrassment was so profound her disguise magic went wild, causing her whole head to turn bright red. Things were only made worse for her embarrassment with the fur on her nethers and back legs being damp. Aegis got the door and swung it open. Blitz found it difficult to be mad at Aegis when she was still wrestling with the elation of her first laying. Once the two new proto-queens closed the door behind them, Chrysalis turned back to the now silent Summit. “Well, if Queen Twilight is capable of producing a proto-queen in less than twelve years, that’s more than any of you have accomplished,” she deadpanned towards Kreesus and Polybia. “Hey, I’m here too ya know!” Rainbow shouted sourly. “In case you hadn’t noticed, one of those proto-queens came from me!” Kreesus was more or less able to conceal her shock at the scene, as were most of the other queens, including Chrysalis. Polybia, however, was dumbstruck by it all. As Chrysalis so diplomatically put it, Twilight had barely been a changeling for twelve years, and Rainbow Dash even less than that, and they had already produced not one, but two proto-queens. This was not sudden news to most thanks to their spies, but to have it so flatly pointed out was a blow to everyone’s pride, even for Chrysalis herself. That wounded pride was far worse for Polybia who had let her information network decay into complete ignorance of everything outside of the jungles. Luckily for Twilight, she had been expecting this would happen fairly soon and collected herself first. “Captain Thoran before I accept your nomination, I need to know exactly what that entails.” The other queens found their voices and moved to raise more objections when Thoran shouted ahead of them. “The floor recognizes Queen Twilight Sparkle.” The others silenced themselves more out of habit than any regard to the purple queen. Wanting to get out of the increasingly hostile and bizarre Summit meeting, Thoran talked quickly. “As Prime Matriarch, you may preside over the Summit as you so please. In addition, you are granted the status of ‘Last Bastion’ which means that no one is allowed to make war upon you because you stand as the “last bastion” of our species. Records show that it was Queen Silandrus who created this law upon acquiring the position after the last jungle-wide war ended up killing all but three queens out of the twenty seven before the war. A startling parallel to our current situation, wouldn’t you say?” He added with veiled disdain. “It is generally believed that is why she lived as long as she did. She only fought wars she knew she could win.” Polybia couldn’t believe her ears and snarled at him. “Are you trying to tell me we wouldn’t be allowed to attack her at all!?” Not wanting to push his luck, Thoran didn’t chastise her for speaking out of turn. “Only in self-defense. Should the Prime Matriarch declare war on you, you may end the war in any way you see fit. As always, a war only ends when both parties cease hostilities.” Chrysalis steeled her voice and stood up to get Thoran’s attention who nodded at her. “The floor recognizes Queen Chrysalis.” “I agree with Thoran’s decision.” Twilight, Rainbow, and even Thoran himself did a double take. “The Prime Matriarch is meant to be the last of our kind should the jungles claim us. Regardless of age, we must have love production as a species.” With renewed fire, Chrysalis glared at Polybia who was staring daggers right back at her. “Since no other love-maker is of age yet, let alone in possession of their own hive, Twilight is the most logical choice.” Chrysalis briefly shifted her gaze to Kreesus who was fuming, but Chrysalis knew she wasn’t stupid enough to deny reason. She turned back to Polybia who was silently promising a painful death. “Our future should be all that matters, not your pathetic little fantasy world of scriptures that your bitch of a mother made about the Silver City and the First Mother.” To the end of her days, Rainbow Dash would swear Polybia spontaneously combusted out of pure rage. “You will regret that, Chrysalis,” she said in a low growl. “I will not accept the Prime Matriarch being some outsider!” She jabbed an accusatory hoof at the former ponies. “I will have nothing to do with a Prime who treats our most sacred beliefs as nothing more than some research project!” “Ultimately, that it is not your decision.” Thoran countered with just enough authority to stop Polybia’s rant. The zealot charged her horn to incinerate him where he stood. “Not another word, drone!” Flames licked at Thoran’s chitin, but before he could be consumed, Twilight and Rainbow Dash fired off a counterspell at both him and Polybia respectively. Kreesus and Chrysalis jumped to flank Polybia and charged their horns. “Have you gone mad, Polybia!?” Kreesus shouted with bewilderment and indignation in equal measures. “Thoran is still acting PM. Attacking him is tantamount to going rogue!” Polybia scanned the queens who were arrayed against her. Even her singular ally was paralyzed in fear between siding with her or being declared rogue along with her. “As if any of you can stand against me now.” She let go of the spell and shoved past Chrysalis to focus on Twilight Sparkle. “Not even your warships will save you, profligate!” Thoran recovered from the shock of the sudden attack and pointed at Polybia. “You have broken the Summit Accord! I hereby declare you rogue and your crown forfeit, as is your life!” Kreesus and Chrysalis wasted no time in firing off two killing curses, but Polybia deflected one with a burst of mana, and dodged the second. Spoiling for a fight, Rainbow Dash charged headlong straight at Polybia with her wings glowing white hot with Arcane Wing magic. Twilight shielded her sister during the charge but Polybia blasted everyone with a blinding flare. Everyone who was looking at Polybia got caught in the spell, an intense flash blinding them. Except for Thoran, every queen either reactively shielded themselves or wildly fired spells in all directions. By the time Twilight sundered the spell on both Rainbow and herself, Polybia and the princess of her ally were gone. Rainbow Dash rubbed the spots out of her eyes and looked around to find her target. “Is she insane?! Why would she go rogue like that?” Chrysalis expanded her magical senses to compensate for her blinded vision, but she couldn’t sense Polybia. “She’s gone mad after using corruptive dark magic for so long.” Twilight flew over to help her sister, and to learn more. “What kind of dark magic?” Rainbow Dash removed herself from the gathered queens when Captain Darya spoke over the hive mind. Seems like you made a good call, if for the wrong reasons, Aegis. Rainbow Dash focused on the carrier captain, glad that she had something to work with. Darya’s blood ran cold and she couldn’t process the news while Rainbow relayed similar orders to the Deception. Within seconds, five biplanes angled to intercept the rogue queen while all the royals converged on Polybia’s ally demanding answers.