//------------------------------// // The Hiveless // Story: A Changeling Tradegy // by Reddling Rain //------------------------------// The horizon was a bloody tapestry as Lazni ripped through the sky, beating her wings to cut the air as she left the tunnel entrance. Much to Lazni's surprise, this was not an all out battle between her drones and Prominence's drones, but rather Prominence's drones were defending Lazni's drones from attacking forces on almost every front. As if they had sprung from the hillside itself, Lalartu drones were attacking any changeling they could reach. Lazni quickly looked around, glancing down for somewhere she could speak from. finding a large jutting rock, she flew down and perched herself at the edge, overlooking the entire battle below. Truth be told, Lazni felt it looked more like a series of squabbles than actual battle. Prominence's drones were subduing the last of Lalartu's drones when Lazni cleared her throat, calling out to every drone below her. "Hive Prominence, Hive Pupae, Hive Lalartu, Hive Lazni, hear me!" Lazni screamed over the edge of the rock. All of her hive snapped their eyes upward, and several more of the other hives turned their heads, wondering who was screaming at them. Lazni gulped as nearly four hundred eyes from every hive combined turned to look at her. "Hivemother-- Queen Lalartu, is dead!" Lazni proclaimed. "Queen Pupae and Queen Prominence have fallen! They are all dead, and this hive is their tomb!" "Liar!" One of Prominence's drones screamed. Lazni hoofwaved them, shaking it to the side and bringing it back in a circular motion to point at the offender. "I killed Prominence myself. Her will had turned to madness!" There was a massive roar from below as echos of pain and anger erupted from all hives except for Lazni's. a few drones tried to charge her, but Lazni's own drones swiftly cut them off, piling onto whomever would dare to try and close the gap between the crowd and their queen. "Changelings, listen to my words, I must share a terrible truth with you that many of you have forgotten or were never taught." Lazni breathed deeply, staring down at the hundreds of eyes. "You were all ponies once-- many of you related to one another. But you were not selected to ascend. You were deceived and cheated out of lives that were rightfully yours. You did not willingly choose this life. Even now, you are not fighting because it is your will, but because it was your queen's will." Lazni stomped her hoof, staring down at the drones as they all tried to lock eyes with her. "You have been lied too and forsaken since the moment I first met any of you. Whether you are part of Hive Lalartu or one of the three hives of Raspberry Creek, I have met each and every one of you-- and I have, by Prominence and Pupae's will, lied to each and every one of you. I lied to you that this was right. That there was no other choice for you." "But there is another choice!" Lazni stomped her hoof again. "You can never return to being ponies- this is true, but you can return to your old lives. For all of you who would rather not return or have no life to return to, I will help you. I will be your guiding light. To all of you who have lost families, you can go home to them. I will make sure of it. Surrender the madness of the other queens and listen to me! You do not have to endure a lie any longer. You do not have to endure war or strife. We can have happiness, but we must stop fighting." Lazni stared over the scores of black carapaces, some now beginning to turn to one another and talking among themselves. "She could not have defeated our queen!" Screamed one of Prominence's drones, breaking free of three drones on top of them and charging Lazni. Lazni jumped backwards as they landed on the rock, heat cracking the stone under them as they gave a hiss of fury. Before they could gain any more ground though, several more changelings grabbed the soldier, holding the drone back. "If you need proof, you may go inside and see for yourself. Prominence, Pupae, Lalartu, they are not there. Prominence is drowning in the ruin of the great light inside, and Pupae and Lalartu are sharing a tomb created for them by Prominence." "It was Queen Prominence that murdered our queen then!" Quipped one of Pupae's drones, horrifying hisses escaping from the sea of green eyes as they turned on their red eye'd brethren. Ducking past the restrained dron,e Lazni dove between the two groups, holding out a hoof towards both crowds. "Stop, you are family! Townsfolk from the same blood! Try to remember your time in Raspberry Creek!" Lazni pleaded. Silence fell over the two parties, but it was so thick that Lazni was sure she could cut it like butter. "I was a tailor." One of the red eyed drones said. "Before I threw living fire on that forest and-- and fought those drones-- I made dresses. White dresses." "... I married somepony in a white dress." one of the green eye'd drones said. "We had a-- family?" The concept seemed almost foreign and disturbing to them. "I was a raspberry farmer!" Another drone in the crowd called out. Several more echoed this sentiment, drones of every hive sudeningly finding themselves connected by memories that they had been forced to repress. Lazni, confident that the tension was melting, turned her attention to the subdued Lalartu drones, who were still being held down by Prominence's hive. Several of them looked up at her, a few with expressions of total shock. "Lazni." One of them said. "You've returned to us-- Hivemother said you-- you are a traitor." "A traitor to her will, but loyal to my heart." Lazni leaned down and offered a hoof to the drone that had spoken to her. she nodded to the drone subduing him, and an instant later the drone was released, latching onto Lazni and hugging her. "You didn't want to leave then, is it true? It was Prominence? I heard rumors that it was all Prominence's fault!" The drone asked. "Prominence-- Prominence thought she was doing the right thing. But she was becoming just as monstrous as our Hivemother was before she passed away. tell me, when did she pass?" Lazni asked the drone. The drone looked up with tear filled eyes, still hugging Lazni tightly. "It has been such a horrible day. She passed away right after the army left to kill Prominence-- and the army-- the army never returned." "Shhh." Lazni hushed the drone, hugging their head into her chest as she looked down at the remnant of Lalartu's hive. two score drones were shoved belly down into dirt, preventing them from doing much more than buzzing their wings. "You are welcome in my hive if you desire it." Lazni told them all, motioning towards her own purple eye'd drones. "Otherwise, your will is your own. But you must all move on." Lazni turned away, flying back towards her rock with the drone that had been hugging her following only mere feet behind. Lazni landed on her rock again, standing with no fear next to the drone that had attempted to rush her. "Those of you that would join me and make the world a better place, follow me. Those of you who would return to your lives, follow me to Raspberry Creek. Those of you who would do neither-- you are released. We will help you however we can, but you must find your own path."