//------------------------------// // Princess Prominence // Story: A Changeling Tradegy // by Reddling Rain //------------------------------// Queen Pupae took center stage, striding past Lazni and approaching Queen Lalartu. Lazni smiled between the pair as they exchanged neutral glances at each other, both queens trying to size up the other. Queen Pupae was short, her legs and hooves having a thinness that made each potmark more pronounced. She resembled a teenager that had grown an extraordinary amount in a short period of time and had not been able to afford clothes to keep up with the spurts. This was in stark contrast to Queen Lalartu, who was comparable in size to that of Princess Celestia, if not greater. Her legs were free of potmarks above her shins, and her horn had only one halfcircle missing near the base. "Queen Chrysalis's daughter." Lalartu said quietly, carefully and wisely considering her next words. "You are a long way from home, nymph." There was a stirring among Pupae's drones as they heard Lalartu speak. A few let out low, guttural hisses. Lazni closed her eyes, crossing one forehoof over the other as she stood up. Changeling queens typically did not coexist together, Lazni had repressed her fears that this meeting between the queens was going to be less than cordial. Every Changeling could feel emotions of the other like the scents in the air-- and uneasiness would have filled the entire hive with thick miasma. "Excuse me, Mother," Lazni stepped forward, glancing uneasily at Pupae. The foreign queen had her mouth open for a retort, one that was no doubt unproductive. "This Hive is in a very poor-- condition. Queen Pupae, you should stick to pleasantries. We are thankful you are here." Silence fell over the room as the group stared between each other. Lazni could feel emotions swirling within Pupae-- ones of apprehension and anger intensified by the slight against her. Lalartu mused, looking down at the queen in front of her. "Yes, very well. They are weary from their journey." Lalartu nodded to the drones doting on her, letting them make their way down from her throne towards Pupae. Tense glances were exchanged between the drones of the different hives as they turned, making their way out of room. Lazni was halfway out with the rest of the drones when-- "Lazni." Lalartu's voice cut across the room like a knife. Lazni froze in place, slowly pivoting around and smiling at her Hivemother. Lalartu gestured for her to come closer, and Lazni did so-- each step causing a raisin feeling of apprehension to grip at her. Lalartu was the only changeling in the room to feel these emotions, but that only increased Lazni's worries-- she didn't like being away from the rest of the hive for long, even when it was required. For a moment, both were silent-- merely letting their emotions speak. It was an empathetic link, and Lazni winced as she felt something twist at her insides. Yes, Lalartu seemed to be sugary, lovely, everything she wanted in a Hivemother, and underneath that was ice. The old queen had become very good at hiding the ice over the decades, but Lazni knew it was there. She knew that there was this tundra that went on forever inside her Hivemother, no matter how much she tried to ignore it. "You should not interrupt two queens when they are talking. You forget your place." Lalartu finally broke the silence. "Please tell me you didn't forget your manners in Equestria." "No-- of course not, Hivemother." Lazni said quietly, leaning forward in a submissive kneel. "You won't be punished-- you know you are far too important to me for that, but I want you to limit contact that you have with this Queen Pupae. I don't want her filling your head up with ideas." Lalartu, lowered her head lethargically, her eyes glaring out at Lazni. "Yes... of course, Hivemother." Lazni's voice was only a whisper now. "Go to the second floor, spend some time with the newest members of our family. See if any are suitable for specialization." Lalartu nodded for Lazni to leave, and she turned and ran from the room, eager to escape the leer of her mother. --- Lazni did not immediately report to the second floor of the hive, and took her time composing herself before she went in. Young drones were often curious of the world around them-- the new sights, smells, and feelings that they'd be experiencing could be easily contaminated and cause irreparable damage. Many years ago, it had been the duty of Queen Lalartu to take a few weeks and rear the drones, but she was far to "busy" and far too old for this now. Lazni tilted her head as she went down a wide hallway, stepping under curtains of very thin gossamer material. The wide hallway had opened up into a spacious cavern that had walls, a ceiling, and much of it's floor covered in a thick green goo. It was thinner than mucus, but not by much. In the center of the room was some rough furniture that had been created from the same material as the goo, but had been hardened to a crystalline kind of structure. There were a three lounging chairs and a table, and standing behind these was a tired looking young Changeling. She stood taller than most Changelings, with long, wavy golden orange and red hair that was complimented with golden highlights. She looked up as Lazni entered and smiled, her tired expression relaxing. "Lazni." she said simply, moving forward and offering a hug. Lazni quickly accepted, snuggling herself against the neck of her friend. "Princess Prominence." Lazni said warmly, patting her on the back before pulling away and looking around. There was another hallway leading deeper and sloping downward. Lazni pointed over at it and Prominence nodded. "We have four this time, but they're all mostly well behaved." Prominence whispered. "Only four?" Lazni's ears drooped. "Prominence, we're going to lose far more than four drones this year at least. We need more than four new drones a year." "It's noted, Lazni. We know that." Both of them tightened their jaws at the same moment and nodded, proceeding on the downward slope together. "Why did Hivemother not request more?" Lazni kept her voice cool and controlled, breathing slowly and trying to hide the tension this was causing her. "We can talk about it later. Compose yourself." Prominence ordered. Lazni took a deep breath and nodded, looking straight ahead as the slope leveled out and the two of them entered into a large cavern. Long expired bio-lamps hung from the ceilings, failing to illuminate a floor covered with scars from a century of playing and dancing as young drones learned about their world. That had been before Lazni's time however, and she had no firsthand recollection of the cavern's glory days. Tall ceilings caked with hardened residue from long neglected liquid lamps lay on the floor, the strong resins that once attached them to walls or ceilings having lost their elasticity. In the far corner however there was light and warmth. Lazni could make out the shadows of the new drones sitting together, still dwarfed by the discarded cocoons attached to the walls that once contained them. When the two had drawn close, Prominence cleared her throat, pulling herself up to her full height. The drones apparently had not heard them approaching, and quickly jumped to their hooves. They were still unsteady when upright, and Lazni could see some soft spots on their shells around the bellies and joints where their chitin had not fully formed. All four were unmistakably common drones, the kind that would be doing all of the day to day labor for the hive. Their eyes were bright but very washed out, having only faint purple hues like all of Lalartu's drones did. Three were short, barely more than larva, while the other was taller and lankier. Prominence gave them a nod, turning and patting Lazni on the shoulder. "Take it easy for a few days, Hivemother is running you ragged." Prominence turned back to the drones and gave them an approving nod before heading back into the gloom of the cavern. Lazni gave the drones a smile, brushing the back of her head. Normally she worked with drones from the moment they came out of their cocoons, with formal introductions to common drones being a process she was used to. Nodding to them, she stepped forward and let the light of the few lamps illuminate her fully so she could speak. "Who are you?" One of the small drones asked innocently, a musical tone in their voice. Lazni gave a little laugh and grinned, lowering herself so that she was on eye level with the drone. "Lazni, and we will be working on integrating into our hive over the next few days. If any of you have special talents in some area, then we'll spend a lot of time together. We all know where you are, right?" The drones all exchanged nods mechanically. "Right well, could you tell me everything that Princess Prominence has taught?" Lazni asked. "It will help speed up the process if I know what has been taught so far!" The largest of the changelings shifted uncomfortably, sitting down on his bottom and looking at the smaller drones to see if they would speak. Lazni took a mental note of this behaviour, in case this particular drone continued to be uneasy. "We learned about what to eat, grooming habits for our chitin, and-- to not poke each other in the eye." The drone looked a little downcast at the last bit, pointedly looking away from another sore drone. "Princess Prominence told us some of the jobs we'll be performing, and mostly just helped us feel better while our-- this, grew. That's mostly it." The largest of the drones tapped his chest, which made a soft thunking noise from chitin smacking chitin. Lazni nodded sagely, closing her eyes. She knew it was rare that they were informed of what would happen before they ascended, and breaking this news was never easy to them. Still Prominence had always had a charm about her that seemed to make it easier for new drones to accept their new life. "This-- this may be a traumatic experience, but the trauma will pass and you will find the greatest happiness and joy in this role." "How do I find that joy? What do I do to find it?" Asked one of the small drones. Lazni blinked in confusion, for this was such an obvious question to her that she never really thought about it. "Why-- well, that word is not used. That is part of how you will find your joy. Changelings, we don't say the word I or me to refer to ourselves. We are a collective, a family! We are always we." The drones exchanged glances, then the same small one asked, "Why?" Lazni was ready for this question, as she had answered it many times before. "It all goes back to the legend of why we exist. The story of the first Changeling." None of the drones spoke, all of them leaning forward eagerly, waiting. Lazni grinned and cleared her throat. She had them right where she wanted them. Long ago, there was a beautiful Princess. Her coat was ebony like the night sky, and her features immaculate. Despite her beauty, however, her lover turned her down. She was shunned by all of her hive. In the dead of the night, she ran away and blended in with the night. Above her, a comet passed by, and she heard a voice ask her why she was so sad. The Princess explained that she was without friends or family, and wished that others were not chosen over her. She had always been passed over by others for some pony they deemed to be better than her. The comet then gave her a blessing-- the power to remove this pain from the world. The first Queen rose, and her eyes glowed bright in the night as she returned to her home. One by one, she converted every member of her hive to this new way of thinking. With the great queen at the top-- the most beautiful, the most wise, and the most stunning, she created the happiest time in the world. Lazni smiled as she finished her story, losing herself in the dreaminess of the short story's glory. Princess Prominence had taught her the full tale, and the romance of it was both invigorating and relaxing. "Then what?" one of the drones asked. Lazni backed up a little, having not anticipated this question. "Why-- the happiest time in the world lasted for as long as the queen reigned." "Then what?" another drone gave Lazni a quizzical look. "Then-- then..." Lazni trailed off, standing up. "Well, I think it might be easier to show you. Would you like to take a walk and get out of this old cavern?" Lazni breathed a sigh of relief as the little drones let out a cheer of approval. --- Prominence felt her knees nearly buckle when she was clear of the room with the young changelings. In truth she admired the strength and endurance of Lazni, something that she knew was far greater than her own. The Hivemother had been running both of them ragged with errands. Although Prominence had nearly had her fill, she kept her mind shielded and guarded, not daring to let other changelings pick up on her dissent. She knew well that the drones could not read her mind, but all changelings-- even those who do not share a hive, have a certain unbreakable empathetic link. This link as of late had become more and more troublesome for the Princess. She stopped and sat down, resting in the central most cylinder and looking at the lava-lamp like biolamps. Several of her kindred buzzed past her, but she stayed distant, not meeting their bug eyes or any stares. "Princess?" A voice chimed musically in her ear. Prominence barely was able to hold back a groan as she turned her head, rising from the floor to tower over a drone that had stopped next to her. "Speak." She sighed, blinking her eyes a few times to wipe away some weariness. "There is an-- issue with the guest hive." The drone squeaked. "...Guest hive?" Prominence stared down at the changeling, bemused. "The others who arrived earlier. They are requesting better quarters." "Slow down," Prominence hushed the drone. "The guest hive, that's the hive that was approaching from the north? When did they arrive here? This is the first I am hearing of this." "Only but two hours ago, Princess. Hivemother asked that we show them to quarters, but they are displeased." The drone looked earnestly upset, and Prominence gave a sigh, rubbing her head against his in a nuzzle. "Shhh. I will go talk to them and handle this. Don't be concerned anymore. Can you lead me to their quarters?" Prominence asked. The drone gave a swift nod and hopped off one of the ledges that lined the main cylinder, Prominence following gracefully behind him. Rumors were not exactly something that spread slowly in a hive where every changeling knew each other, and once more Prominence found herself guarding her emotions. The quarters for the Guest hive were going to be less than the best in the hive. Prominence couldn't deny that perhaps the worst parts of the hive had been given to them based on the empty biolamps, the rough walls that lacked any fine polish, and a floor that generally seemed to be covered in dust. It was not unlike entering the home of a recently deceased-- everything seemed to be still in it's proper place, but the spirit had departed. When light glanced the faces of the Changelings once more, Prominence looked across a sloped cavern.at the far end were some abused looking drones who had huddled into a pile. Some of the worst were sleeping, but a few stayed alert, their eyes restless and drained. Near all her subjects was their queen, Pupae, who seemed to have finally let weariness overwhelm her. "I don't believe we've met." Prominence said, strutting downwards and keeping her head held high. "You are the 'guest hive'?" Pupae rose from the ground, letting out a sigh and nodding. "I am Queen Pupae, daughter of Queen Chrysalis." "And I am Princess Prominence." Prominence announced, her eyes tracing over the squalor that the guest hive was living in. "You look pathetic. What happened to you?" Pupae gave a snort of disgust, but proceeded to explain how Queen Chrysalis did not return after the attack on Canterlot, and how she had fled to protect her small hive. Prominence stayed silent, asking for more information about what attack had been perpetrated. Pupae was quite forthcoming, telling the entire tale of the Canterlot Wedding and the events that had transpired afterwards. How Night Guard had been sent by Princess Luna to hunt down Changelings that might have escaped the blast that repelled them. How Chrysalis had tricked the Night Guard and managed to lead a counteroffensive before Equestria struck back-- and how she had, subsequently, never returned as she said she would. Realizing the worst, Pupae fled, and had found her way into the company of Lazni, who brought her to Hive Lalartu. Prominence sniffed, a little irked that Lazni had not thought to share any of this with her earlier, but put the thought out of her mind for now. "A bit of a far fetched tale to say the least. I don't question it, but I question what you will do now." "My drones need to recover their strength." Pupae said. "Which is why I am displeased by the quarters your Hivemother has given us. We will not be able to rest on rough floors without food or water. We would be better off leaving." "Unfortunately we can't risk that. Your hive is in no state to travel and might be caught by ponies." Prominence said. "Drone, take this hive up to my quarters. See that they get some attention. You, Pupae, walk with me." Prominence pointed to the queen, trotting over to her and giving a jerk of her head towards the door. The two of them took the lead, the other changelings following from behind by either carrying or dragging themselves and fellows upwards. "At least until Hivemother approves it, you will not be able to leave. You are not prisoners, but changelings cannot freely come and go from these lands. "If we are going to be thrown into forgotten caverns and never be allowed to leave, how are we not prisoners?" Pupae demanded indignantly. "I will see to it that you have food and water, and you will have my accommodations. For now, until you can be trusted to disguise yourselves and not leave behind traces that you exist, you will not leave. The locals ponies could react unpredictably to your appearance. " "...How so?" Pupae queried. Prominence sighed, entering back into the darkness of the hall that led to the sloped cavern. "The locals here worship Changelings as gods. They give us whatever we need, and in turn, they believe they are blessed. The foolishness of ponies never ceases to amaze me, but nevertheless it is our way of life here." "You use them like cattle?" Pupae almost laughed. "Such Changelings powerful enough to enslave a population were considered a myth in my old hive.." "They aren't slaves. They're worshipers cut off from the rest of the world by their remoteness. " Prominence said. "Almost every drone in this hive used to be one of those worshipers. As foals-- some are offered up every year to... as they would put it, ascend." "You transform members of their youth to become Changelings?" Pupae shook her head. "Why? That is-- I understand it can be done, but it is unnatural, a last resort. Can this hive not do nothing in a traditional way?" "No, we cannot." Prominence's voice was dark, telling Pupae she did not wish to continue this line of questioning. The two fell silent as they entered into the main cylinder, the motley few Changelings of Pupae's hive barely following along as Prominence led the way towards her quarters. The other denizens of the hive watched the parade with mixtures of disdain, hostility, and curiosity.Prominence was sure if she was picking up on this, then Pupae probably... "Have we done something wrong?" Pupae asked finally, turning a corner into a tunnel that led towards Prominence's chambers. Prominence bit her lip for a few moments, trying to consider what she should say. It was the truth that so far as she knew, Pupae had done nothing wrong. However, it would be a lie if Prominence did not admit that she was caught of guard by the hostility the drones in her hive had shown towards wounded, sick changelings. "I can seek an audience with the Hivemother, and then you will have your answer," Prominence said bluntly. "I cannot imagine that you have committed any serious crime, otherwise you would not be talking to me. Even if you have, we won't throw you away in some dungeon like those feral ponies in the north would." Pupae was halfway to forming an answer when she gasped. They had finally reached Prominence's chambers, something that seemed almost out of place in a Changeling hive. Changelings were ones to keep objects for practical uses, and never be beholden to creature comforts. Prominence clearly was an exception to this rule, as rich rugs, fine silk banners, and even a full sized bed that looked as though it had been lifted from some noble's home and transplanted into this chamber marked a stark contrast to the rest of the hive. "Do not allow your drones to chew up the rugs to banners, they took a lot of work to have done," Prominence mused, grabbing the corner of the center-most rug and pulling it back to create a bare space in the center of the room. She pointed to the drone that had followed her since the slopped cavern, waving them towards the door. "See to it that proper provisions are laid out for them. I must go speak with the Hivemother."