//------------------------------// // 20: Showing One's Hand... or Hoof // Story: Reformation of the Hives // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Unlike the fetid wildlands below, the skies above the changeling jungle were almost peaceful. Provided you either went unnoticed or were too frightening for aerial predators. One such group of predators soared high just above the dense cloud layer. Rusty Spring led the rest of Viper Squadron along, deep in the southern reaches of the jungle, near the heart of Polybia’s bloated territory. Above the clouds, the midday sun burned hot, cooking the pilots and their fighters. In between the ten aircraft of Viper Squadron were a dozen additional biplanes of a jury-rigged design lugging incendiary bombs. Rusty Spring checked his watch while Twilight lightly watched through the eyes of her pilots, allowing them to retain full control over themselves. With nothing akin to radar to guide them, and the use of heavy cloud cover, Twilight had to resort to letting Rainbow Dash calculate both direction and distance to the target. A few hours into the flight, she gave the word. Rusty Spring signaled the rest of the pilots before banking sharply to the left. The rest of the aircraft joined as one. Greasy Piston howled in excitement as she whipped past the dense clouds. Down below in a craggy valley rested a dense patch of multicolored crops with the solid green of the jungle above it. Twilight drew every pilot’s attention to the northern side of the valley where it met with a small clearing. There, a gathering of drones was packing foodstuffs together. the seventeen pilots replied as one. Rusty split off the main group with five other biplanes right behind her in a wedge formation while Greasy Piston and the rest of the squadron went for the storage area. Greasy advised with a mad hatter grin. Diving nearly straight down, Greasy unloaded a fusillade of fire on the hundreds of bundled crops. The enchanted ammunition caught fire upon impact as both crops and drones burst into flames. Rusty Spring was just as successful with the valley suffering a string of small fires that threatened to spread wildly. Strangely, the expected anti-air defense was sluggish to start. While the worker drones acted on instinct and fled the devastation, the cadre of warriors started to use spellfire against the aircraft only after they had finished their strafing run. But it was too little too late, upon finishing their strafing run, the pilots skimmed the treeline to escape retribution before fleeing back to the clouds. Chrysalis and Kreesus watched over the valley farm through their scouts’ eyes, having directed Twilight towards the target. Both queens were puzzled by the lackluster response from Polybia. They kept their eyes on the growing fires while their real bodies sat within a mocking recreation of an equestrian theater hall hall that Chrysalis had assembled deep within Kreesus’ mountain hive. A cadre of quasi, former ponies and griffins, were reenacting a current popular equestrian play, She Lights my Candle. While Chrysalis still kept a large portion of her mind focused on the plethora of drones scattered throughout the jungle, she always seemed to find time for some enjoyment in life. Occasionally without causing suffering or at least mild irritation in the process. Sitting beside her, if only out of curiosity for the play, Kreesus was highly distracted by the aftermath of the air raid. “Strange,” Kreesus mused with cautious worry, “it’s not like Polybia to be so lethargic to act.” Chrysalis cackled at the morose failure of the play’s protagonist before giving Kreesus, and a local scout of her own, any real attention. “Clearly the years of dark magic and war are starting to take their toll on her.” Kreesus watched through her scout as the real threat of the biplanes’ attack revealed itself in the form of bull sized howlers that constantly prowled the grounds of the farm. With the temperament of a rabid manticore, packed with several bladed limbs and curiously enraged by fire, the beasts would prove devastating. The dozens of howlers, normally beguiled into protecting the farm by the scent of the crops, were now shaken from that control with the fire whipping them into a frothy vengeance as the blaze quickly overpowered the hypnotic smell. The beasts started trampling the crops, slashing at them with animalistic rage, and slaughtering the drones and warriors alike with wild abandon. “As much as I would like to believe that,” Kreesus replied with a touch of irritability, “This is too much all at once. Just yesterday she reacted nearly instantly to our attack.” The comment caused Chrysalis’ grin to falter. “It could be that Grogar is giving her more trouble than usual. An overconfident fool like Polybia could have easily made a mistake.” She certainly doesn’t make it too difficult for me to visit that wretched goat. Chrysalis’ scout pressed itself low to the branches to avoid getting spotted and watched the fight between Polybia and the howlers. She took primal delight in watching Polybia’s misfortune unfold, grinning wickedly all the while. “Perhaps we’ve been giving Polybia too much credit. We should strike deeper into her territory and end this war quickly before she can recover from whatever malady has befallen her, or let Grogar escape.” Kreesus’ scout remained at at the edges of the valley, and kept an eye on the farm as well to make sure it would get destroyed completely. “I don’t like it. This farm was too big to just throw away with sloppy defense. We can’t rule out that this might be a feint or outright deception. Something you live by more than is healthy, I think.” Chrysalis cackled with a fang-filled smirk, and idly watched through her scout as the terrain before it took a steep decline towards a large flat area of moonlit jungle. “Come now, Kreesus, we’re all allies here. Our fates are bound together in this war.” Kreesus was pleased to see the howlers were still coming in droves, and would soon leave the area a charred ruin. With her real body, she cast a knowing scowl at Chrysalis. “And that would do nothing to stop you from turning on me as soon as Polybia’s final death.” “Such are the risks of the jungle,” was all Chrysalis said in snide response. Kreesus boiled at Chrysalis’ taunting, yet she decided to sit on that rising fury lest she make a second colossal mistake. Were it not for Polybia, I’d have killed you long ago. Any further vengeful thinking were put on hold after Kreesus saw something rather strange through the eyes of her scout. Far, far to the south just above the rolling treeline of the jungle was a massive writhing black cloud the likes of which set Kreesus’ scales in a chill. The cloud was easily a mile wide, deep enough that the scout couldn’t see through it to the other side, and tall enough to give the distinct impression of a stormfront. The sheer size of it made Kreesus briefly wonder if Lukia parasites had infested the scout’s eyes. The cloud was simply too large, too absurd to contemplate the very idea that the cloud could be a swarm of drones. And yet her instincts rebelled against her rational thinking. “Chrysalis, stop flaunting your false superiority and turn your gaze south. Do you see what I see?” As much as Chrysalis wanted to irritate Kreesus even further, her victim’s shaken tone made her skip any taunting and complied. It took Chrysalis’ scout a minute or two to safely extract itself from the area near the inferno of the farm to find a chance to get above the treeline. It didn’t take her long to wish she hadn’t. The moving black mass was simply too large to miss despite its distance. “It, it can’t be what I think it is,” Chrysalis huffed dismissively at her snap shock at the sight of the cloud. “Polybia expects us to have spies in her land. This is nothing more than a ploy to hide something else.” Kreesus was slow to dismiss the notion. While her scout’s vision was designed to pierce illusions, that range was measured in meters, not miles. “If this is an illusion, it is a costly one. There is no ley line anywhere near the farm, the sheer magic cost must be staggering.” Chrysalis nervously chewed on her inner cheek as she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the chilling cloud of drones. “...It has to be a trick,” she said at length with a definitive tone. “Silandrus was the best of us in terms of mass control, and even in her prime could only control three hundred thousand, not the…” Chrysalis did a quick estimate on the cloud. “Million or so drone swarm she wishes us to see. Besides, I refuse to believe she could have laid so many eggs so quickly, or held them in reserve for this long.” Kreesus watched carefully as the mass of drones split in four with the biggest section flying straight for her mountain hive. “We don’t know what sort of dark magic she could have been holding in reserve. In case you forgot, Chrysalis, the lot of us have been on the back hoof thanks to her for a year now. She had no reason to play her cards fully… until now anyway.” Chrysalis tried to get at least some part of her mind refocused on the play, but no matter how much logic she threw at the impossibility of a million-strong swarm, she couldn’t shake the undercurrent of fear it caused. With a mental command, she ordered the play actors to abandon the performance for the time being. “You can investigate this farce if you like, but I will find out Polybia’s true aim.” Passing her caution on to Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, Kreesus’ scout started moving south to get close enough to the approaching swarm to confirm her suspicions. “Waste your time if you like. Perhaps you’ll discover her plan to expand her She-Mare collection.” Pear Butter stood before the mirror in one of the servant quarters of Sparkle Manor. It was a modest bedroom with a window offering a good view of the colorful rear gardens. She was primping herself to play her part, and allowing her disguise to drop for the moment to rest her already stressed magic. Just think of the filly, old girl, she’s why you’re here, not because that bit - She tried to force the word out, but her thoughts rebelled against her. My queen commanded it. She couldn’t stop a depressed sigh from escaping. She didn’t want to get used to being half a changeling or having Polybia be able to end her life with but a thought. Shoring up her resolve and restoring her disguise, Pear Butter was about to return to her duties when something akin to a rope snapping hammered her mind. She reeled at the headache, groaning in pain and slumping against the wall while cradling her head. By the winds of Elysia, what was that!? It took her several long moments to recover from the shock of such a psychic blow. She started hyperventilating at the sudden sense of emptiness. She noisily knocked a chair over and fell to the floor and curled up involuntarily. Yet as terrified as she was, she couldn’t consciously understand why. It was that realization that blunted her sudden fear, allowing her to stop shaking. She waited a bit longer, when she felt nothing physically off, she expected it might be some punishment from Polybia for some slight. However, no answer was forthcoming. Why did Ah freak out? My queen wouldn’t randomly punish me would she? Did she hear what Ah was about to call her? Pear Butter quickly donned her disguise and waited for the expected reprimand. An ‘oops’ sorry Ah didn’t mean to do that would be nice. As the time of her shift was coming, Pear lost patience and meekly tried to communicate with Polybia. The clock on the wall ticked away with no answer. Ah hope Ah’m actually doin’ this right. The clock chimed without even a nonverbal blurb from Polybia, Stopwatch, or even Paint Brush. Not that they’ve talked over the mind before, but something happened! Checking the mirror one last time to make sure her disguise was spotless, Pear left the bedroom behind to make her way to the dining area where Stellar Drift was scheduled to end dinner. If it weren’t for that Twilight Sparkle, Ah keep hearin’ about, Ah’d think that keep’n a foal on a schedule wouldn’t ever work. Pear Butter passed through halls and down stairs, half going over the planned activities with Stellar and the other on the mysterious absence of Polybia. Twilight Sparkle was in semi-meditation as she communed with several shipmasters and logistics officers of the very long and vulnerable supply chain. She opted out of making a Linkscape this time for a simpler voice only communication. Twilight’s attention shifted to a stubborn naval officer of her brood, Captain Rourke, now in command of the Steamrunner. A feat made easy by injured captain not needing to be too physically active to do her job. Sadly, that also led to having a personal nurse constantly hovering around her just in case she collapsed. That puts them over the gorge at the edge of Equestria. Rourke couldn’t stop Twilight from picking up a fearful twinge in her voice. A mental ping forced Twilight’s awareness to return to her body where Rainbow Dash was caught somewhere between being panicked and failing composure. “We’ve got a potentially seriously huge problem, Sis.” It took but a glance at Rainbow’s emotional aura for Twilight to climb off her couch as Rainbow approached. With both queens being in Twilight’s quarters aboard the Long Shot, they didn’t need to worry about the prying eyes of their ‘allies’. “Kreesus just spotted a freak’n insane number of Poly’s drones rising up from the south.” Rainbow levitated over a few moderately well done, if hasty, paintings of what Kreesus’ scout saw. “Something close to a million strong!” “A m-million?” Twilight sputtered in disbelief, only for Rainbow to, for some aweful reason, nod in return. “A million!?” “You’re taking it better than I did,” Rainbow remarked with a dower frown. “That can’t be right!” Twilight protested with a wave of her hoof. “It’s impossible for a single queen to control that many drones. I don’t think even we could handle such a Link load, even with our children needing no real oversight!” “Yeah well, she found a way.” Rainbow nodded her head at the porthole and the mountain beyond it. “Sticky Spit thinks it’s a distraction. As much as I would love to believe that delusion, I’m not taking any chances. I’m ordering the kids to stay within the ship.” Twilight was still reeling from the very notion of a single queen commanding such a swarm of mindless drones to truly acknowledge her sister’s comments. “With the four of us here, Poly’s going to hit us here to try and end it quick.” Twilight’s mind kicked back into gear as Rainbow started bouncing various ideas in her head about how to counter such an overwhelming force. “Wait. Are you sure Kreesus is right about this? Shouldn’t we at least wait for her to verify this?” “I am, I am,” Rainbow assured her with an absent wave of a wing, “but I gotta plan for both. Sticky might be right, and fleeing could make us walk into a trap. Kreesus’ hive is defensible, but against a million? Not a chance.” Twilight tried to think of a plan, even with her sister being the better military strategist. Several ideas blazed past her, each one discarded as quickly as they came until one thing stuck in her mind. “Wait… wait a minute...” She turned to Rainbow Dash who was already giving new orders to the ship to prepare to flee just in case. “Momma always said the other queens prefered inhabiting ley lines. Did Kreesus ever tell you whether or not this place has one?” Rainbow Dash was puzzled by the question with the mention of ley lines bringing her back to the Battle of Rookhaven. “What would it matter if there was? Gethar had a whole nexus point to himself and he couldn’t stop a single warship and a battalion of drones. Even if our kids are the best on the planet.” She always finds time to boast, Twilight inwardly chuckled despite the looming threat of Polybia’s legion. “First off, I believe we got away with a lot thanks to Gethar having no idea how to properly damage a steel warship. Second, he came across as somepony who was narrowly focused in his magical experience. Ancient magic isn’t as grand as most storytellers like to make it out to be. Aside from alchemy of course, arcane spellwork was quite primitive compared to the spellcraft we have today.” Scary how easily she slips into lecture mode when it comes to magic. Wanting to avoid a school lesson due to Polybia, Rainbow conceded. “Fine, I’ll take your word for it. But that aside, that traitor never told me about any ley line below her hive. Beside, if she did have one wouldn’t you know already?” To that, Twilight frowned a little. “Kreesus actually has two hives. The one in the lowlands during ‘peace time’, which is the only one I’ve ever been to, and here. She never had a reason to tell me, nor I to ask.” “Well if you think a ley line could help, then by all means, go ask her about it. I for one am going to see what I can salvage out of this campaign if this million legion is legit.” Probably best that I do it instead of you anyhow. Twilight nodded and mentally searched for the closest child to one of Kreesus’ drones. “Right. I’ll let you know shortly.” Hours had passed for Pear Butter with nary a word from Polybia. With Night Light and Azure Skies gone for a social engagement to reveal their adopted daughter to more of Canterlot’s elite, Pear Butter was more or less left to her own devices. There was still at least an hour and a half before the family of the house was expected to return. With this in mind, Pear timidly approached the family butler, Pranceston in the grand entry hall. Pranceston was meticulously dusting one of the decorative vases along the staircase when Pear walked up and politely cleared her throat. “Mister Pranceston, sir. Ah’ve finished cleanin’ Miss Stellar’s bedroom and playroom. Is there anythin’ else for me to do?” The immaculately groomed stallion in a perpetually sharp tuxedo turned away from his work to fix Pear with an appraising stoic expression. “Have you prepared her bathing supplies? At this hour the master will undoubtedly want her in bed straight away.” Pear bowed respectfully. “Yes, of course. The filly’s playfulness permitting, Ah’ll have’r ta bed promptly.” Pear was still new to the job, and with only Polybia’s hair trigger temper to go on, Pear initially feared she might have taken too much of a liberty by passing future blame onto Stellar Drift not wanting to cooperate. Yet all the old stallion did was nod with understanding, catching Pear’s worried grimace. “Adopted or not, it seems all of the Sparkle children have that fiery spirit about them. And the family wouldn’t have it any other way. “Very well. In the meantime, you may take this time to do as you wish, within reason. I highly suggest you relax while you can.” Pear blinked in surprise at the offer. “Ah thought Ah would take the role of a normal house maid when my foalsitting wasn’t currently in need.” Pranceston shook his head and returned to his dusting. “Your employment contract clearly states you are a foalsitter, not a house maid. If Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor are any indication, you will learn to treasure your free-time while you can.” Rather than feel slightly terrified at the warning, Pear Butter felt a maternal instinct she didn’t know she had flood her. “Ah think Ah can manage a feisty youngin, sir.” “We’ll see, Miss Butter. Just know that I’ll be watching both you and Miss Drift closely.” The front door opened, an earth pony guard sticking his head in cut off Pear’s reply. “Mister Pranceston. There’s a stallion at the gate wanting to speak with a Miss Pear Butter. Said his name was Paint Brush.” Pranceston turned first towards the guard then to Pear. “You know of him, Miss Butter?” Why in the world would he risk coming here!? Could it have something to do with that incident earlier? Not entirely shaking off the surprise in front of Pranceston, Pear nodded. “Y-yes Ah do. He’s an old friend a’ mine. Probably just here ta congratulate me on gett’n the job, or ask for a date,” she added at the last minute. “Probably both.” Pranceston studied her for a moment, narrowing his gaze just enough for her to notice before letting his suspicions fall away. “Very well. It is your break time after all. Just remember to return before the master returns. Master Night Light hasn’t given you leave for the whole night.” With a quick thanks and a nod, Pear raced past the guard with as much tact as she could muster. From the door she saw Paint Brush waiting for her near the closed gate where two more private security guards were standing watch. Pear made her way to the gate to find Paint Brush visibly appear calm, but that annoyingly persistent empathy of hers could feel the cold blue aura of his fear. It didn't help matters that he wasn't even using a special disguise, outside of merely looking like a normal unicorn. Pear Butter was quick to flash a smile at the guards. "Thank you sirs, he's my date tonight.” Paint Brush was caught mildly off-balance by the sudden cover story, but quickly rolled with it. “Heyya, GG, you good to go?” He asked as the guards opened the gate to allow Pear Butter to pass through. “You know Ah am. Ya know how Ah love going to Doughnut Joe's with you.” Pear gave Paint Brush an affectionate nuzzle before leading him away and waving goodbye at the guards. After seeing the casual act had appeased the guards, both quasi quickly made their way out of earshot near one of the other aristocratic manor exterior walls. However, Paint Brush started nearing a full gallop instead of slowing to talk. “Alright, PB, what’s goin’ on?” Paint Brush let his calm demeanor fall away into one of near panic. “Ah -Ah don’t think we can talk here, Ah better take you to Stopwatch’s place.” Not wanting to risk any possible eavesdroppers, Pear Butter remained silent for the entire run to the brothel Stopwatch lived above. The Madame of the establishment paid them no mind as the pair raced through to the loft apartment. There Paint Brush revealed Stopwatch in a small green cocoon surrounded by a collection of hastily assembled take out boxes still loaded with half-eaten food. “The queen was saying to watch over her for a week or something and that Stop was some kind of plan B. And then she just cut us off from her!” So that’s what that was. Pear’s rebellious heart soared at the news with her barely managing to hide a massive grin that threatened to betray her. Yes, Yes! Ah’m free of that bitch! Oh that felt good! If we’re free, then maybe Ah have a real chance at getting PB to abandon the queen too! The gears churned in Pear’s head at how to do just that. She briefly watched Paint Brush inspect the cocoon for any imperfections. “Did she tell us what we should do besides that? We can’t leave her cocoon here.” Paint Brush gave her a quick nod, yet returned his attention to Stopwatch. “We might be able to take her to my new apartment. It’s just down the road.” He spotted an area where the wax was thin, so he tried to smooth it out as best he could. “Ah can’t do it now. Night Light and Stellar Drift should be back home in half an hour, and everypony thinks we're on a date.” “Ah can't move her by myself,” he protested hotly, to Pear’s mild surprise. “We owe it to our queen to act on good faith of her trust.” “Good faith? Good faith!?” Without Polybia’s connection, Pear Butter was finally able to speak her mind at Paint Brush. “Oh rut her good faith!” she spat venomously while jabbing Paint Brush with a hoof. He stumbled back in utter shock at the hatred in her eyes. “The only thing she deserves is a good stone prison, Discord style.” “You can’t mean that!” Paint Brush held a hoof up in a placating gesture. “The queen hasn’t abandoned us, she’s trustin’ us ta watch over the princess.” Even though the geas threatened to smother her anger at the mention of the child, it did nothing concerning Polybia herself. Yet despite that, Paint Brush only succeed in making her angrier. “Th’ youngin ain’t done nothing wrong, but ‘er mother is a different story. Ah say we get rid’a Stopwatch and live our lives on our terms. S’ only fair since our queen stole our old lives in the first place.” This time, Paint Brush pushed himself into her Pear’s face and matched her anger. “We don’t know what our lives’re like back then! For all we know, we coulda been criminals, or maybe suicidal.” “Or we coulda been the happiest ponies ever!” Pear rebuked just as harshly. “Do ya ever think for a moment and think that maybe, just maybe we mighta’ wanted her ta take us?” At that, Pear visibly hesitated, but not for the reasons Paint assumed. Ah need him on my side. But fer that Ah need proof, one way for another. “Alright, fine. How ‘bout this.” Pear pushed away and slowly walked over to a nearby wall to think. “Ah’ll play it your way, but only until Ah find somepony who can tell us what we were really like back then.” With his lack of his old life’s memories, Paint Brush cooled off to speak a little more evenly. “Sounds fair. Go on back to the Sparkles then, but come by mah place later so we can move Stopwatch. No matter what happens, Ah ain’t letting any harm come to her, at least not until she wakes up.” He started gently taking the cocoon up in his untrained telekinesis to hide her in the bedroom. Pear was about to leave when something occurred to her, making her turn back towards the cocoon. “Wait a tick. Didn’t Stopwatch always say if she were disconnected from the queen that she’d die?” At that, Paint Brush could only shrug in ignorance. “She said that, yeah. Ah guess the pod’s there ta keep her alive.” Working with no more information than he was, Pear let the thought go. “See you later tonight then.” And Ah have a certain lead to follow up on Miss Apple Bloom’s sister, or should Ah say, Applejack. Only a few hours after the raid on Polybia’s farm, Kreesus herself flew towards the Long Shot. The carrier was a hornet’s nest of activity with the next fighter squadron nearly ready to sortie. Flightdeck crewmembers ran to and fro in an organized chaos that Kreesus was all too familiar with. Upon landing, she got a cold reception from the nearest crew members with most deliberately ignoring her, with especially hostile glares from the blue drones. I trust Rainbow Dash will change her tune by the end of this war. Kreesus outwardly ignored the hostile glares. “Tell your queens that I was right. Polybia’s million is real, and they will be here within a day.” Within moments, Rainbow Dash and Twilight teleported from the bridge and onto the flight deck near Kreesus. Being the militant queen, Rainbow spoke up first. As much as she hated Kreesus, even she could see now was not the time for it. “Then I suggest we force her to split up and use hit and run tactics to whittle her down. A force that large is too unwieldy.” “I actually have a different strategy in mind,” Kreesus replied in a knowing tone. “We hold Polybia’s attention and her might here. By doing that, you can strike her primary hive located on the southern shores of the jungle.” “You want to make a stand here? Against a million?” Twilight asked with only one logical thing in mind: the ley line. “How?” Twilight gave Kreesus a questioning look. “Polybia has to have eyes everywhere. There’s no way she could be caught off guard, and there’s no chance the carrier could slip away unnoticed.” “Not your carrier, no. She undoubtedly knows that Equestria is sending a fleet, but we can use that fleet’s size to our advantage.” Rainbow scowled, but not necessarily at Kreesus. “Split her attention and forces between here and the fleet?” Kreesus shook her head at the question. “That is only part of it. But I suggest we go a little further than that.” Rainbow arched an inquisitive eyebrow first at Twilight, who shared the gesture, before both turned back towards Kreesus. “Alright, what exactly do you have in mind?” they asked in unison.