//------------------------------// // 15: Mission Impossaling // Story: Reformation of the Hives // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Down in the deepest darkest recesses of the changeling jungle, a hive that was halfway to becoming a necropolis festered in the hot rain. The living and the dead patrolled the trees, green and blackened alike, that covered the subterranean hive. The air was choked by the stench of decay, which was compounded by the humidity of the jungle. Yet even with the dead working alongside the living, the jungle did not submit. The near omnipresent drone of insectoid wings around the hive was joined by a buzz of another treble. Eyes, both pale blue and milky white looked to the south to see a writhing black cloud filtering through a swath of dead trees that scarred the dying land. Polybia’s reaction was both rapid and predictable. Several small fires set in strategic places around the hive’s entrances were guarded by drones. Under her direction, they threw in several pounds of tinder composed of grey vines into the fires, causing them to burst forth into bonfires belching greenish smoke. Well over a dozen drones started whipping the air into a slow tornado to keep the smoke concentrated on the hive. The hoof sized insects were rebuffed by the sickly bitter smell of the smoke and wind, but the scent of death was still in the air and they were hungry. Behind it all however, lay a single ebony drone perched over the lip of a hive entrance. It’s chitin was, for the moment, grey and mottled like the rock face it hid behind, with green reptilian eyes watching everything unfold. So, Polybia has never bothered to move beyond using rust vines against bloat flies, Chrysalis mused derisively as she waited for her chance to slip inside. Through the spy strain’s enhanced binocular vision, Chrysalis spotted only a pittance of the local drones’ eyes were visible beyond the gentle blue glow. Even then, all of them were rounded irises, not the slits of a full puppet. Good, my little raiding party along the north river must be diverting attention away from even here. Once a group of drones arrived with more vines for the fires, Chrysalis’ spy slipped into the tiny cave hole barely two drones across. The buzzing and distant scraping of hoof and claw against rock urged Chrysalis to push the drone to its limit. It sprinted down the dark winding tunnel, lit only by the occasional bio-luminescent moss. In such cramped quarters, it would not take much for a passing drone to bump into the spy. Chrysalis made it almost a hundred feet through the long steep tunnel before the ground trembled with oncoming drones. Does she already know I’m here? Chrysalis looked around and saw an air vent to the lower levels and dove through the opening, leveraging the spy’s small frame to squeeze through. She had barely managed to get her tail over the lip of the hole before several ghoulish drones thundered past carrying more vines. Good, they didn’t pause in their step as they went by the hole. I should be good to go, but I’ll send a couple more spies on through. Poly will expect at least some attempt to infiltrate after an attack from bloat flies. With her goal of sabotage in mind, Chrysalis commanded the spy to descend further into the depths of Polybia’s lair. The Long Shot steamed through the skies over a raging jungle river far below. The clouds were heavy, so moving unseen was fairly easy. Twilight Sparkle was with her sister on the carrier’s bridge, as they stared out into the dense grey soup of the cloudy overcast. Rain was pouring down onto the jungle below, but for the ship it was almost like being caught somewhere between flying the air and an ocean. Water clung to everything, making the drones eventually abandon the exterior observation posts out of futility. Even the planes were grounded, leaving the pilots with little to do but get some restless sleep. Both queens were also looking through the eyes of the drones manning the ventral observation blisters, which thankfully had windows shielding them from the elements. The carrier rocked from the constant turbulence as it pressed on through. The tender vessel-turned-gunship-carrier Breadbasket lagged behind, trying to find tamer air currents since its jury rigged design and deployed cloak crystals were at risk in such a storm. Twilight Sparkle gnawed on a haunch of meat, more to distract herself from the tedium between battles than to satisfy any hunger. She was still in a good mood after seeing Aegis with her first few clutches of nymphs, and wanted to stay that way until the ship arrived at Chrysalis’ hive barely half an hour away. Weather permitting of course. A pang of deep seated wrongness flashed through her mind before she could numb it with a few sips of hard royal tea, one of the few benefits that made such periods of time bearable. She was able to mostly banish the wrongness since she knew full well what the cause was. This is what I get for moving out of the jungle, our supply lines are going to be quite long. She absentmindedly rubbed her flat stomach. Can’t make eggs until the Column of Spring gets closer. She swallowed her chunk of pork before giving her old breathing exercise a few tries to recenter herself. The wrongness abated for the most part, allowing Twilight to focus on her sister. If I’m having problems with this… She briefly studied her sky blue sister sitting in the throne next to her, noting Rainbow’s aura was mostly clear with a sense that she was stubbornly clinging onto a happy thought. The throne, if it could really be called that, was little more than a swivel seat that was large enough to accommodate a queen. With a playful smile, Twilight magically made Rainbow’s throne turn to face her, prompting a chuckling smirk out of Rainbow. “How are you holding up, Rainbow?” “Just psyching myself up for the next fight, and meeting Sticky Spit.” Glad that her sister had given her a valid reason to keep her mind off eggs, Twilight squared her shoulders at the worrisome prospect. “I’m not sure how compatible our technology will be with the other queens’ tactics.” Rainbow blew a dismissive raspberry. “You let me worry about that, you just keep them in line during ‘negotiations’.” Rainbow’s face soured heavily at the thought of Kresus. “I don't trust the lot of them.” “I can do that,” Twilight replied with a healthy dose of confidence. “I just hope we brought enough holy-imbued ammo for the fighters,” Rainbow commented with a note of concern. “The pilots went through double the amount of ammo I expected them to last time.” “I’m sure the resupply ships will get here in due time,” Twilight replied with a slight hitch in her voice. “We’ve already pulled half our merchant fleet into resupplying us.” “Yeah I know…” Rainbow trailed off and might have left the matter alone, but something bothered her, causing her to eye Twilight carefully. “You know, sis, I couldn’t help but notice something.” To her credit, Twilight acted curious and unaware. “I may not know much about magic outside of combat applications, but even I’ve noticed you’ve had some serious problems using holy magic.” Twilight’s face burned from embarrassment, which was made worse by the presence of the bridge crew. After all, combat magic or not, Twilight was the embodiment of magic not the sooner-sleep-than-study Rainbow Dash. Twilight had repeatedly attempted to address this fatal logic error of the universe without anyone being aware of it, and yet Rainbow was outright calling her on it. “Ah-,” Twilight started to explain and only to stutter along. “Well, I - I just don’t-” Rainbow watched in mild amusement as her sister wrestled with making an excuse or telling the truth. Thankfully, Rainbow could see Twilight’s aura was tinted orange from simple embarrassment rather than a blacker color from a dark secret bubbling up in her sister’s thoughts. “You might as well fess up or I’ll sick AJ on you.” The image of an irate farm-mare with bucking hooves a flying did not sit well her, not one bit. “Alright, fine…” Twilight prepared herself for some verbal zingers. “I’ve never been able to use holy magic like I used to before my rebirth, and I don’t know why.” In light of the expected battle with Grogar, Rainbow put a temporary hold on her loose mouth. Survival came before delicious verbal lashings, most of the time. “What kind of trouble do you think it is?” Rainbow asked with a slightly cocked head. “W-well, ever since I was reborn, my…” Embarrassment made Twilight hesitate until Rainbow prodded her with a hoof. Twilight said over the link so she could save at least some face. Of course, Rainbow wasn’t going to let her off easy. “What do you mean, you can only summon half?” Twilight’s gaze danced around the room causing each drone she saw to quickly turn back to their station and act as if they weren’t shamelessly eavesdropping. “Yes, half,” Twilight relented while sagging in her throne. “I just don't understand it. None of either of our children ever have this kind of issue.” Rainbow Dash leaned back in her throne with a self-satisfied smirk that would put the Cheshire Cat in his place. “Really now? And now the day has come where pigs are flying and ‘ol Chrissy is a bonafide saint.” Twilight scowled in her seat as Rainbow oozed with satisfaction. “The day has finally come where I, Rainbow Dash, the least magically intelligent person on this planet,” who has a horn anyway, she added to herself, “get to teach you about magic.” She raised a hoof for Twilight to wait. Rainbow broadcast to both the drone and her sister. “Wait, you can!?” Twilight replied wide eyed. Gentle replied with a mix between a groan and shock, not knowing Twilight was hearing it too. Rainbow scoffed, enjoying every second of this. Twilight fumed in her chair until Rainbow finally addressed her. “Now, you were saying you could only summon half your old power with holy magic?” “...Yes,” Twilight replied with her trademarked Fanged Sisterly Scowl of Biblical Indignation. “I just don’t understand why since none of our magi children have any problem wielding holy magic.” Rainbow Dash made a show of scratching her chin while half-whispering “half.” She clopped her hooves together. “You know what, sis, I bet you’re only drawing upon the Silver City, aren’t you?” Rainbow said with an eyebrow wiggle. Twilight hated to admit it, but she was perplexed by the question. “Ahh… Well of course. I’m a full blooded changeling, and my soul is bound to the Silver City.” “Ahh, but see that’s where you slipped up,” Rainbow chided playfully. “You became a changeling, you were born a pony. Both you and I are equally tied to the City and the Elysian Fields.” Twilight blinked slowly. Her mind churned at the statement, trying to make sense of it. “B-but… wait, how does that even work? If you’re talking about what that demonologist said about our souls being an even merger of pony and changeling, that doesn’t account for our children since they have the same kind of soul.” Rainbow lost most of her superior smirk and shrugged. “Hey, I don’t know the ins and out of holy magic. All’s I know is that I’m a changeling that used to be a pony. I tried asking Elysia for aid and I got it, so I’ve been calling on both the Fields and the City whenever I have holy work to do.” “I… I can’t say I thought of that.” Twilight turned away in thought as she tapped her chin. Calling upon the old incantations, Twilight opened herself to the Elysian Fields and asked to be shielded from harm. The old prayers sang in her thoughts as her horn prepared to mold any oncoming power into a shield. It was sluggish at first, as if Elysia had almost forgotten about her. Yet all too quickly it forgave her and lent her the aid she requested to the best her soul could carry. Twilight felt the age old familiar warmth of holy magic fill her very being with a shield quickly forming around her. Rainbow Dash let off an approving huff. Twilight’s shield formed around her like a second skin, rather than a dome. Because she intended no harm to Twilight, Rainbow’s hoof passed through easily to pat her on the back. “Leave it to you to overthink things, now you just gotta ask the Silver City at the same time to get your old strength back.” Twilight absently stuck her tongue out as she wrestled with aligning the two sources of holy magic into a single spell. Rainbow Dash added pointers wherever needed, which sadly was almost at every point. What’s easy on paper isn’t exactly simple in practice, Twilight cheered at the new challenge. The two queens toiled on this lesson for several minutes as the clouds parted a little, revealing the landscape below. The ventral observers to call out shortly thereafter to the queens and shipmaster. As Captain Rourke started giving orders, Twilight let go of the holy power. “Thanks, Rainbow, I’ll have to work on using both at the same time when I get a chance. But for now, we have some diplomacy to conduct.” Rainbow’s good mood wilted with a groan. “...Joy.” Chrysalis’ spy finished digging a small hole for itself into the side of a vast chamber. It was completely dark, save for some glowing moss that was covering the ceiling and walls. The room was absolutely covered from floor to ceiling in eggs. Caretakers ran to and fro, tending to them while some eggs hatched. She hummed worriedly. I don’t understand it. This is the fourth nursery I’ve come to and this one is practically overflowing as well. This isn’t even her primary hive cluster, so where is Polybia getting all these eggs? Was she able to steal my secret to egg-laying drones after all? Seeing that the nursery was not a worthwhile target for her saboteur, Chrysalis pulled away from the hole and filled it in to cover her tracks. I better see if I can find the source of these eggs. The main tunnel the spy slid back into was busy, filled to the max with drones, both living and otherwise, on their way to perform various tasks. Chrysalis quickly donned a disguise to match them, including their scent. In this area of the hive, the drones had little to no oversight by Polybia, evidenced by their eyes having a strong blue glow. Chrysalis was able to slip past them easily as long as she didn’t accidentally interfere with any of their movements. Instinct and simple commands ruled down here, and Chrysalis made sure to let the hive run like clockwork until she found a target worth destroying. After filtering through the main thoroughfare for another half hour, Chrysalis finally found something that piqued her interest. A small tunnel branched off at a section that was otherwise completely devoid of chamber entrances. However, it was the inward facing guards brimming with holy-enchanted weapons and armor that made Chrysalis purr with satisfaction. Now why would dear ‘ol Polybia need guards with holy-weapons, hmmm? Slipping away from the rush of drones, Chrysalis found a spot near a boulder sticking out of the wall and started digging. The spy was perfectly suited for such work and quickly disappeared into patch of soft earth. It took a little while, but through echolocation, Chrysalis eventually found the expected air pocket of end chamber. Circling around, Chrysalis poked an eye-hole through into the last chamber’s wall near the floor. Within was a pool that gave off a green glow, casting its pale light over the small rocky chamber. There two more guards inside the chamber itself near the exit that looked highly alert. Chrysalis had seen the look before. The guard's’ eyes darted to and fro over the small chamber, their ears were alert, their weapons held tightly. These won’t let me pass so easily. Chrysalis contemplated whether or not a single odd pool was worth the trouble until her gaze fell upon a large cocoon, easily large enough to house a queen. Her breath caught in her throat as Chrysalis realized she beheld a ram with a single horn. The wax of the cocoon was inscribed with runes, complete with warded chains, covering the deeply encased entity all the way up to his neck. His eyes burned a hateful crimson and his jaw was practically set in stone as he undoubtedly contemplated his escape or revenge fantasies. His eyes drifted over to the antsy guards, but as of yet he remained silent. How very interesting. Weaving what little mana her spy possessed, there wasn’t enough strength left for a sleep spell after crawling through the jungle for the past month, so Chrysalis lulled the guards into a state of calm instead. The pair went back to being passive, allowing Chrysalis to finish burrowing her way into the chamber. The ram regarded her with silent curiosity. “Well, well, you must be the infamous Grogar I’ve heard so much about,” Chrysalis purred with contemptuous amusement. “You’re shorter than I had expected.” Grogar’s eyes drank in the spy, taking note of every detail. “Your color and eyes betray you, Chrysalis. Given all that Polybia speaks of you, I’m surprised you wormed your way here.” “Polybia is nowhere near as competent as she makes herself out to be, but then again…” Chrysalis waltzed over and hesitated before touching the chains, fearing an alert ward. “She’s done a marvelous job keeping you under control.” Grogar gave an unimpressed grumble. “As much as I let her think. I assume you are here either to find me, or cause damage to Polybia.” “I admit, I was not expecting to find you, but alas, this puppet doesn’t have the strength to break your bonds. But, it does have enough to kill you here and now, necromancer. I’m sure you can reform at your phylactery. Be a dear and slaughter Polybia for me.” “I would rather you not,” Grogar rumbled, making Chrysalis look at him curiously. “I did not come to the jungle just to see my prize snatched from me.” “Prize? Do you prefer to be Polybia’s guest?” Chrysalis asked with far more sincerity than sarcasm. “I will tell you the same thing I told Polybia. I want the body of a royal changeling. One way or another, I will have what I want. You can either help me, or stay out of my way.” Chrysalis eyed Grogar in a new light, with her mouth forming a pressed line. “And just what would you do with the body of a royal? Would you possess it? Would you perhaps merely become a more competent rival than Polybia? I have heard tales about you, Grogar.” Chrysalis glanced back at the guards, making sure they were still unresponsive to her. “You are an age old terror if the ponies have anything to say about it. Why should I help you become one of us?” Grogar took in every facial expression, every little movement in the spy. She doesn’t trust my intentions, a shame. “Because I can destroy Polybia from within, and once I have her body, you will have nothing to fear from me.” Unless you damn your soul as she has, he added to himself. “That will never happen, Ram!” Both Gorgar and Chrysalis turned to see the guards both wore Polybia’s eyes. The spy was pulled away from Grogar by one guard’s magic with a dampening field formed by the other to keep Chrysalis from casting. Then she brought the spy over to one of the guard’s face so she could lord over it. “It’s a shame you can just turn off the pain from a puppet, we still have a score to settle after what you did the last time you killed me.” “That was for what you did to Yeelindrus! You deserved every scrap of that pain a thousand times over.” Chrysalis spat a wad of sticky salve in the guard's eye. A malicious sneer crawled across Polybia’s guard as she idly wiped away the salve before it could harden. “Poor misinformed Chrysalis,” Polybia cooed as if to a child. “Don’t you mean, what I am doing to your dear sister?” Chrysalis’ blood ran cold and her breath caught in her throat. “Impossible. I made sure to-” “Nothing about death is beyond my reach, Chrysalis,” Polybia chided darkly. “She will never know the peace of the Silver City.” Chrysalis’ stunned expression morphed into one of depthless hatred, yet before she could act on that fury Polybia’s guard cleaved the spy’s head from it’s body with a swift movement of the guard’s halberd. Polybia glared at Grogar who was watching her with contempt. “That was foolish, Polybia, Chrysalis strikes me as a mare who will not act irrationally out of hate.” “She’s already out for my blood, ram, a little more incentive will hardly change things.” My magic must be eroding her mind better than I thought. “Sooner or later you will slip, and I will be there to claim what is mine.” “I would rather suffer my final death than give you a royal’s body!” Polybia declared while leveling the blade of the bloody halberd at his head. The other guard approached the spy’s tunnel to make sure there were no more of them. “But if and when that happens, ram, I will make sure to drag you down with me.” “You will try,” Grogar rumbled with dark amusement. “But I know Tartarus far better than you ever could.” Chrysalis seethed with barely contained anger from her throne. Her throne room was decorated in the various artifacts that Twilight had brought back from Rookhaven, tactfully arranged to flaunt each and every piece while also giving respect to the First Mother. Damn you Polybia, you best hope that was only a bluff, or so help me Grogar’s vengeance will be tame compared mine. She brooded for a long while, mostly to calm down and think a bit more rationally, but also to mull over what Grogar had told her, and how she might take advantage of his words. So he wants to become a queen, eh? If even half of Twilight’s research on him is accurate, then that would be even more dangerous than Polybia as she is now. The thought of a demonic hive chilled even her frigid heart. A few drones on the surface signaled that Twilight and Rainbow had arrived near the hive’s primary entryway. She sent a command for the drones to escort the new arrivals to the throne room to give her more time to think. Actually… If I play this right… Chrysalis recalled Kreesus’ lone full queen ally still practiced rebirth, making a conniving grin split her muzzle. “Maybe I can make Grogar subservient to me entirely of his own volition, maybe I can capture Polybia and offer her up to him as a bargaining chip.” Still, I have to approach this carefully. Perhaps form a contract with him. Demons are hidebound by any that they sign, and I give him what he wants he’ll have no ability to betray me. The risk warred with the possibility of increased power in her mind, pushing her decision back and forth between. More power and a more stable upbringing for my loving daughters, or eliminate a potential threat. What to do, what to do. Chrysalis was so lost in thought that she didn’t immediately react to Twilight and Rainbow entering the room with Kreesus coming in from a second entrance to the west. Well, no need to decide now. But I’m sure Twilight will have some necessary information for me. After all, she thought with an inward smirk, she’s been so very helpful in sharing her knowledge. Chrysalis pulled herself off the throne and affixed an oily grin. “Ah, Queen Twilight Sparkle, Queen Rainbow Dash, here at last.” Rainbow Dash was already sour with Chrysalis at seeing all of the hard-won treasures that she and Twilight had secured from Rookhaven being flaunted about, like Chrysalis had earned it all. However it was the presence of Kreesus that pushed the militant queen that much closer to fraying her diplomatic nerves. Twilight didn’t answer her sister immediately since Chrysalis had finished speaking. “We ran into some difficulties with our navy, but we’re here to lend our support, Queen Chrysalis.” Twilight was curt, but respectful in her tone. At the very least, we, well I won’t be the one to sunder this alliance, she mused worriedly at her sister. “Shall we get down to business?” she asked to both Chrysalis and Kreesus after turning her gaze to the red queen. “After sitting out of the fight for four years, you act as if you suddenly have a sense of urgency,” Kreesus growled. Rainbow Dash was only able to hold her wild tongue in check by her sister mentally asking her to calm down. Even then, Rainbow’s very being as the embodiment of loyalty itself, raged at the presence of the traitor. “The war was not our problem,” Twilight replied smoothly with all the passive-aggressive poison of a Canterlot noble, “since we no longer had a stake in the jungle. You saw to that, after all.” Chrysalis wanted to keep the military alliance intact, but she was enjoying the verbal sparring too much to interrupt. After all, posturing was the norm for changeling politics. Nay, it was expected. Far be it for me to interrupt such entertainment too early. Kreesus glared at the sister queens, her pride denying any small wish she might have had to make amends. “I did what had to be done! Your mother understood that, and that’s why we were friends once.” “Is that all friendship is to you?” Rainbow pushed backed her sister with burning fury in her eyes as her wings glowed dangerously lethal. “Your kind will never understand. You talk big about advancing our species, but you don’t give a damn about honor or loyalty. It’s always one big game to one-up each other. You may have played nice with Granny Caddy, but don’t lie to my face and say it was friendship. A friend would never have betrayed her so completely that she destroyed her own royal blood! She gave it all up after what you did so that we could focus our resources on Aegis and Blitz.” Rainbow shoved her face into Kreesus’ own. “How Cadista ever found it in herself to actually forgive you I’ll never understand.” Kreesus flinched backwards with suppressed sorrow briefly crossing her face before she hid it again. “S-she?” Kreesus grunted to get control of herself again and resolidified her expression to one of stoicism. “Well, at least she understands the way things are. Giving up her own reconstruction in lieu of the next generation is what any self respecting queen would have done in her position. A pity the two of you haven’t learned that lesson properly. What else was she to do?” “And you wonder why all your attempts at raising a loving princess were failures,” Twilight deadpanned. She wasn’t actually sure how much longer she’d need to keep posturing without looking weak. I really hate these games. Kreesus’ fury looked as if it was going to make her pop a blood vessel when Chrysalis stepped in with a silky smooth tone. “Ladies, ladies, we can have all the meaningless drama we want by perusing Canterlot’s inspirational gossip tabloids. Why don’t we discuss the war over dinner? The sooner Polybia is dead, the sooner we can all go back to hating each other.” Twilight centered herself to resume Princess Celestia's style of diplomacy, but she couldn’t do that quickly enough to keep Rainbow’s tongue from flying off the handle. “There is no way in Tartarus that I am sitting at the same table as that traitor!” Her mana infused wings vibrated angrily, making the other queens nervous. “Would you prefer the nymph’s table instead?” Kreesus rebuked with cold fire. “Hate me all you want, but Polybia is the bigger threat.” Twilight had found her diplomatic train of thought again and held a hoof out to hold Rainbow back. “Agreed.” “Lead the way.” Rainbow tsked angrily and spat at Kreesus’ hooves before releasing the lethal magic on her wings. She followed her sister and Chrysalis towards a Rookhaven dining table where a meal was being laid out by drones for them and the last few queens who were due to arrive shortly. Once Twilight and Rainbow turned away from Kreesus, the red queen’s steely visage cracked a little. I took everything from you, Cadista. Your hive, your queenhood, even your pride. How could you forgive me for that? I can’t believe Rainbow would lie about that, she’s too blunt and emotional, but I need to be sure. I need to hear it from Cadista. Kreesus recalled the names of a few love collectors in Ponyville that Cadista used to have. At least one of them should still be living there. Not wanting to give the other queens any sign of weakness, Kreesus quickly made her way over to the table so she wouldn’t be missed, though her mind was elsewhere. Roseluck was one of them, surely Cadista would have retained her hive mind over her brood. Oblivious to Kreesus’ plans, Chrysalis sat at the head of the table, in the biggest chair of course, and watched as her sister and the last queen, Valera, arrived. “Now, why don’t we jump right into it, yes?”