//------------------------------//
// Tail 5- Siege 
// Story: Monkey Business 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Monkey Business- Siege




The Hive (Cobalt Colony)

        Inside the hive, there were two central colonies that coexisted amongst one another. The first was the Crimson Colony, a state that focused on the might of the Changelings to prove that they can not be so easily crushed. An alliance between Queen Chrysalis and Queen Mordred. The other was known as the Cobalt Colony. It was more focused on proving peaceful relations with all kinds of species and not just one another. This allegiance was between three other queens of the hive. Queen Amaranth, Queen Violet, and lastly, Queen Solana. 

        Each one of the queens and their brood were represented by a different color. Chrysalis was represented with a darkened Teal green. Amaranth was a Sapphire blue. Violet, the color purple. Solana; a warm sun like orange. Mordred… the color of Blood red. 

        Unknown to the thousands of changelings that lived inside the walls of the cobalt colony, the streets of the city were soon going to painted with the same color. Blood red.



        “Reson, please settle down. It’s too late to be playing around right now.”

        “But Mooooooom!!” came the cries of Prince Reson, son of Amaranth. “You promised that you would play with me!”

        “Yes I did darling and we did play earlier today, but it is past your bedtime. For both you and your sister.” The Queen told her child as her daughter, Honeydew, soon trotted up beside her brother. Along with her, came the presence of a Male changeling. One with a Black mane, dark leather coat and light cerulean eyes. “Ah, Kreed. You’ve arrived just in time.”

        Kreed was the name of the personal caretaker and bodyguard for Amaranth’s pair of Twins as well as the queen. He was skilled in weaponry and also multiple kinds of magic, the two most important tools that one would need for a job such as his. “My queen, Solana and Violet are waiting in the Grand Hall.”

        “Excellent. I’ll be on my way. Please take the children to their quarters and make sure that the others are there too. Afterwards, you are dismissed for the evening.”

        “Thank you, my queen.” The guard bowed, turning his attention towards the two twins. “Come along now. You will be able to see your mother in the morning.”

        “Good night mommy!” Honeydew squealed, hugging her mother as the three of them left the hall. They made their way through the corridors of the palace to the winding streets of the Chrysm Undercity, passing through commoners and Changeling nobles alike. However, just as the three of them were approaching the living quarters for the royal children, platoons of guards and drones passed them, equipped with spears and other weapons.

        “Kreed?” 

        The single word from Honeydew caught his attention as he looked down at the youngling. “Yes, Honeydew?”

        “What is that?” She then asked, pointing a hoof at something she saw in the distance. It looked like small source of light. Almost like fireflies. However, Kreed felt that something was off with these “fireflies”. Especially since they were rising in the air… and coming towards them. 

        “Oh no…”

        “What’s wrong Kreed? They’re just Fireflies right-?”

        BOOOM!!!

        The “fireflies” soon collided with the walls of the Colony, causing the whole city to shake. Kreed himself had to pull the two children he was with by his side and teleport away from the falling debris that almost crushed them. Kreed himself was beginning to worry. What struck the walls of the colony were not ordinary projectiles, but instead were Magic Enhanced Boulders that would set fire to anything it touched. Flames began to spread quickly through the streets as the screams of civilians could now be heard alongside the clash of weapons and the battle cries of soldiers. 

        “Reson, take Honeydew and get out of here!! Use the tunnel to the surface!”

        “What about you!?” Reson asked. “We can’t leave without you or Mom!!”

        “I’m going back to see if she’s okay and come back. Just GO!” Without objecting to the words of his bodyguard, the young changeling took his sister with him and went through the door that lead downstairs to the escape tunnel. Now, Kreed’s primary focus was to get to the queens and fast. Trotting out the door, he unsheathed his sword and began to combat the intruders. To his shock, the invaders were Changelings had the features that would show that they were under the Allegiance of both Chrysalis and Mordred. This was just insane! Why would they attack now? He didn’t have time to think of the reason’s why as he dodged an incoming magic blast and countered it with a Sword thrust to the attacker's chest. This was followed by two other warriors, which he dealt with by using a spell that pulled the two of them together as he cut them across the throat. 

        In the Midst of the fighting, Kreed heard a series of screams. Ones that sounded Identical to the voice of Amaranth and Violet. Quickening his pace, he hacked and slashed through those that tried to cut him down and harm him. But by the time he reached the grand hall, the sight he saw was horrifying. 

        A bipedal monster, one with red hair and a mask covering it’s face, just used his blade to stab the queen that he served loyally through the heart. She dropped to the floor, alongside the dismembered bodies of the two other queens.

        “NOOOOO!!!!”

        The monster turned, spitting at the ground. “Well, look what we have here. More lambs to the slaughter.” It lunged at Kreed with amazing speed, but the changeling teleported himself out of the way and reappeared by the side of his queen. Amaranth was losing blood and was going to move on to the next life. But before doing so… she said four words to the guardian protector.

        “P-please……… protect m-my…… children……”

        As he weeped internally and closed the eyes of his queen, Kreed now began to let Anger set in. Blindly, he charged towards the murderer of the queens, blade drawn at the ready. However, despite his best efforts and almost being able to strike him, the killer was too fast for him and in one single strike, he shattered the guardians blade into pieces.

        “So this was the great protector of the queens that they were boasting about? I have to say, I am very disappointed. You’re not even worth my valued time.” He drew back, launching himself forward at the wounded guardian. However, Kreed was not going to let this monster kill him. He had a promise to keep and it was one that he was planning to fulfill. Closing his eyes, he teleported himself away seconds before the monster’s blade could hurt him.

        “Pfft… Clever little bastard.” The Faunus in the room told himself. 

        “I see that you have completed your task, Adam.” The voice of Queen Chrysalis filled the blood soaked grand hall as she and Mordred stepped inside alongside a few of their personal guard.

        “Yes. However, one of them escaped. The Queen’s Guardian that you told me about. He was in very bad shape though so I expect him to die of either exhaustion or blood loss.”

        “What about the children?” Mordred asked. “Amaranth had offspring as well as the other two queens. If they’re still alive, then who knows what kind of trouble they’ll cause if they remain that way.”

        “I did not see any children in the room when I entered.” Adam told the queens. “My guess is that they’re hiding somewhere in the city.” Chrysalis sighed. Turning towards the guards behind her, she cleared her throat and prepared to give orders to her drones and the soldiers outside. One of the benefits from being disguised as Princess Cadence during the wedding was that she was able to pick up on using the “Royal Canterlot Voice”. A perfect way for her to give orders to her troops.

        “LISTEN UP, YOU FOOLS!!! I ORDER YOU TO SEARCH THIS ENTIRE CITY FOR THE KIN OF THE FALLEN QUEENS THAT HAVE BEEN SLAIN. ANY CIVILIANS THAT RESIST WILL BE SEEN AS TRAITORS AND WILL BE KILLED IMMEDIATELY!! THOSE WHO ASSIST YOU IN YOUR SEARCH WILL JOIN OUR RANKS OF YOUR FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!! THIS IS A DECREE FROM YOUR QUEEN! YOU ARE DISMISSED!!!”

        Many cries from the warriors outside were heard as the chaos that came afterwards took fold. However, unknown to the queens, was that the brethren of the fallen were already miles away.



Next Morning… 

        Run. That was all that could be done and all that they could do. If you were too slow, you would get killed. If you stopped, the same thing would happen. For both Reson and Honeydew, they were now on the surface, in the dark, and on their own. When they found their bodyguard Kreed, he was passed out and severely hurt. Not to mention bearing the news of what happened to their mother. But this was not a time to look back and instead, look forward. Using what limited knowledge that they knew about the Everfree Forest, the first thing that the two of them tried to do was find a shelter for them to hide. Now, the sun was rising and the light was shining upon the land. 

        “Honeydew, please stay with Kreed.” Reson told his sister, who was sitting by Kreed’s side. “I’ll be back soon.”

        “Wait! Don’t go!! I don’t want to lose you too!!”

        “Somepony needs to find some Fauna Leaves for him. Kreed told me before that the nutrients can help close open wounds. Not only that, but I’m the only one out of the both of us who has seen them before.” The Changeling told her. “I’ll try to find some berries for you as well. I shouldn’t be gone long.”

        “O...okay-. Just please…… be careful.” 

        “I will sis…” Reson assured his sibling, leaving the canopy of the tree they were under and into the forest. Despite his age, Reson had been taught a lot of things by Kreed from nature and survival skills to swordsmanship. He was going to teach him and Honeydew how to master magic, but that was put on hold because of the current situation. Reson right now, did not change into a disguise. Mostly because he thought that he didn’t need it. The coast was clear and the three of them were MILES away from Ponyville. Nopony would come all the way out here because of the monsters that lurked in these woods. From Timberwolves to Hydra’s, everything that the ponies feared many changelings like Reson would use to their advantage. Mostly because the monsters would ignore them.

        He soon began to stop trotting, his eyes now seeing what exactly he was looking for. Fauna leaves. There was a whole pile of them out in the open. Like they had recently fallen from the nearby tree onto the ground. He didn’t even think that the scenario would possibly be a setup. Reson was about to find out first-hoof how dangerous the Everfree forest could be.

        Holding a branch that had both blueberries and the leaves he needed, The changeling first began to trot back to the enclosure that his sister was hiding at. However, a loud scratching sensation against the nearby trees caused him to stop and slowly turn around. His gaze met the ones of a Black and Red beast that resembled a Dire Wolf. It’s head was hardened like Bone and it’s eyes were savagely red. The one main thing that caught Reson off guard was that unlike most creatures in the Everfree, it started to chase him.

        Dropping the branch out of panic, he began to gallop as fast as he can as the beast chased him. He needed to warn the others and get them out to safety, but those plans had to immediately change when he heard her sister’s screams. “HONEYDEW!!”

        He soon caught up. But now, the situation was a LOT worse. Two other creature that looked exactly the same had cornered his sister and Kreed was still unconscious. “Are you okay!?”

        “Yeah, but what are these things!!?”

        “I don’t know. But whatever they are, they’re trying to kill us. Stay by me!”

        Honeydew did so, panicking as she hung onto her brother for dear life. Reson was trying to think of a plan to fight these things. But soon, something else caught their attention.

        BANG!!

        Reson didn’t know where the loud sound came from, but whatever it was caused the first monster to disintegrate into thin air. Two more loud bangs rang out, each with the same result. Soon though, both the twins found the source of the noise as a new figure stepped out. A bipedal one.

        “Are you two okay?” It asked. Soon, it noticed the hurt changeling on the ground and then looked back at the twins. “Come with me. I know a pony that can help treat him.”

        “W-who are you?” Honeydew asked as the figure got on one knee. It’s monkey like tail curling around Kreed and holding him tightly.

        “My name is Sun Wukong. Now… Tell me…… what were the three of you doing in the Everfree Forest?” He asked. “Where are your parents?” Both twins looked at each other with expressions of pain and sorrow. 

        “They’re…… gone.”

        “Oh… I’m sorry for your loss.” The Faunus apologized. “I’m sorry if I forgot to ask you two this earlier, but what are your names?”

        “I’m Reson and this is my Twin Sister, Honeydew. The one you're holding with your tail is Kreed, our protector.” 

        “Protector?” Sun asked, wondering a little by what the youngling meant. “You mean like a bodyguard? I honestly didn’t expect Changelings to have bodyguards.” That statement caught both Honeydew and Reson off guard. This figure knew about the Changelings? How was that possible?

        “Y-you know about our kind?”

        “A little. Only heard about what they’re capable of and the actions of Queen Chrysalis a few years ago during a wedding. Well, that’s what Twilight told me.”

        Again, more shock. Reson recognized the name. Twilight was Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and Alicorn Princess of Ponyville. Despite this sounding bad, the changeling then thought that this… could help them. He, his sister, and his guard had been severed from any possible way to help fight back against Chrysalis and it was unknown if their friends were still alive. In order to avenge his mother, the young prince needed new allies.

        “Hmm… Would it be possible if we could meet this individual that you speak of?”

        “Possibly,” Sun told him. “However, we should focus on helping your injured friend.” Sun said, now reaching Fluttershy’s cottage. The Pegasus herself was outside checking the mail in her mailbox when she saw Sun with the three changelings. At first, she was beyond scared, but Sun told her that they needed her help and when he informed them of the situation, the Element of Kindness welcomed them inside. They needed to act fast if they were to help save the life of the protector named Kreed.

        Discord himself was also quite shocked by the events that transpired. But he soon was brought up to speed and even volunteered to be the Messenger and inform what was going on to the Princess of Friendship. Fluttershy and the Faunus proceeded to taking the injured Changeling to the upstairs guestroom, where they laid him down on the sofa and Fluttershy proceeded to getting the first aid kit and rubbing alcohol in order to clean his open wounds. As they applied it to his cuts and scrapes, the pain caused him to wake up from his unconscious state, groaning in agony as he opened his eyes. His gaze being set on both Sun and Fluttershy as they tended to him.

        “W-what-?”

        “Easy there, my friend.” Sun told him. “You’re in no shape to be moving around right now.”

        “W-who are you?” He then asked.

        “My name is Sun and this is my friend Fluttershy. We brought you into her cottage so you can recover. Reson and Honeydew are here as well.”

        That caught the guardian by surprise, leading to his next question. “A-are they…… safe?” Sun’s only response was a nod and a warning that what they were going to do next was going to hurt like hell. The Faunus then applied a rubbing alcohol soaked cloth to a few of the bodyguard’s scars, causing him to flinch and groan in pain. But after a few moments, he was able to overcome the painful stinging sensation as Fluttershy applied bandages on his wounds. He then thanked the two of them for their kindness, followed by his reaction to seeing Reson and Honeydew entering the room. Relieved to see that Kreed was okay.

        The one thing that surprised all three of them though was when Princess Twilight Sparkle came into the room moments later. Sun had to tell them that he specifically asked for her to come so that way, they could tell both of them about why they were alone and in the Everfree Forest. Kreed himself sighed, groaning a little as he adjusted himself upright on the sofa he was on.

        “Well… I am honored to see a princess in the flesh during these times.”

        “Your manners are kind, but it does not answer the question I asked you. What were you three doing out in the Everfree Forest?”

        The Changeling sighed to himself, before asking a new question. “To understand that, you must know a little more about us. Have you ever heard of the Hive?”

        Both Sun and Twilight shook their heads, answering Kreed’s question. “The hive is like Canterlot to ponykind. A thriving undercity where our kind has lived in peace. However, these past five years have been taking a toll on our society. It all started when our king, Zektor, died unknowingly. After his passing, the leadership of the hive was split between the five queens that had King Zektor as her husband. You may know one of them I believe.”

        “Chrysalis…”

        “Right, the Queen of Jealousy as they call her. The other four were Mordred, Queen of Anger; Violet, Queen of Fear; Amaranth, Queen of Sorrow; and Solana; Queen of Joy. Each one was said to reflect Zektor’s emotions as a whole. In the first year, things proved to work out alright. But there were shortages of what we needed to feast on.”

        “Love…” Twilight said.

        “You may think that, but that is only one of the things. Since Chrysalis is Jealousy, changelings under her could only feast on that and most of the jealousy they look for is in the form of love. Mordred’s brood feasted on the hate of others, Violet’s kind feasted on the feelings of scared children, Amaranth’s feasted on the sadness of the mourning and Solana’s kind feasted on happiness.”

        “Wait… if there are five queens, how can one tell which one you have served under?” Sun asked out of curiosity.

        “You can tell through the color of one’s eyes or the color of their mane for those that have one. My eyes are blue and I served under Queen Amaranth. The two younglings that you met on the way up here are her children. Prince Reson and Princess Honeydew.”

        Neither Sun nor Twilight could hold in their shock. But instead of interrupting, they let Kreed continue with his story. “Anyways, like all political arguments, the five queens started to take sides. But this only occurred after what you would call the Royal Canterlot Wedding, when she invaded. It was to show the other queens that she, nor her species were to be considered as weak or fragile. Mordred and her formed an alliance and the Hive then split into two colonies. There’s being called the Crimson Colony and ours being called the Cobalt Colony. Tensions ran high as time dragged on. Like a cauldron of boiling water that was bubbling at the top. Last night… It spilled. The Crimson Colony, along with a powerful monster, laid a siege on our colony. I saw Chrysalis’s monster kill the queen I serve along with her fellow rulers. When I tried to fight him, he shattered my sword in one strike. I was left fatally injured, but had to keep a promise and make sure Reson and Honeydew were safe. I just hope the others are okay.”

        “Others?” The Alicorn asked.

        “Other Children. Solana’s son and Violet’s daughter. I did not see them in the city when the siege began so either they’re alive or already dead.”

        Sun himself was trying to think through everything that the guardian had said. But one thing was confusing him. “Forgive me, but what is this monster that you speak of? Do you remember their description.”

        He nodded his head. “Yes. His Mane was blood red and wore black clothes from top to bottom. It stood on two legs like you with his sword at the ready and a facemask covering his eyes. His clothes also had a symbol across the front and back of the clothes along with the two horns that was on his head.” 

        The Faunus’ eyes widened. “Oh no……”

        “Sun, what’s wrong?”

        “That monster is not just any ordinary monster. It’s a Faunus like myself. A Faunus that is exactly what Kreed called him. A monster.”

        “You seem to know of this figure.”

        “I’ve heard many things about him. Of course, it is unknown if all of those things are true, but what I do know of is his name. Adam Taurus. He’s said to be a renowned swordsman who can cut anything with a single slice. It has been said that his semblance is also very powerful.”

        “Sun, I’m sorry for interrupting, but what is a Semblance?”

        “Semblance are like special techniques and/or abilities that are unique to a specific person. They’re like talents, like your teleportation.” He told them. “Mine is called Decoy because it allows me to make two holographic clones of myself that can explode on contact. I have heard stories of what Adam is capable of. Being able to take the power from an opponent's attack and use it as his own. If that is the case, then Celestia needs to know about this immediately along with the events that have transpired at the hive. If there are more survivors, than we might be seeing them pop up soon and I don’t want them getting hurt. As for right now, Kreed, Reson and Honeydew should stay here. They’ve been through a lot and need some time to recover from the physical… and emotional pain that they are facing.”

        “But what if they come here?” Twilight then asked as Sun looked out the window at the forest in the distance.

        “If they come here and try to land a hoof on them, then they’re going to have to deal with me.”




End Tail 5