//------------------------------//
// Report 
// Story: Fallout: Equestria - Project HIVE 
// by Cascadejackal 
//------------------------------//





PROJECT HIVE


Report


  


The door barely had time to close before the Overmare spoke up, addressing the mare in Medical barding. "Well?" Beside her, the Regent watched expectantly, her ears perked forwards and attentive. "How are they?"

The Medical mare consulted her clipboard for a moment, flinching slightly as the Regent pulled it away impatiently to see it for herself. With a small scowl at the changeling leader's impatience, the mare began her report. "Chief Damsel's leg was badly injured. Judging from the lacerations and punctures, something was chewing on her, though I don't know what." She watched as the leaders both nodded, examing the clipboard together as they listened. "Officer Lorikeet's quick thinking in applying a resin cast kept the initial wounds from becoming more severe or contaminated at the time, although the bite appears to have had... secondary effects. Both chitin and soft tissue around the intitial wounds were completely dead, and most of the injured leg showed signs of decay." She paused for a moment, noting the frowns crossing the Regent and Overmare's faces as they reached that part of the report. "We believe that the initial bite may have been venemous." 

Frowning, the Regen looked up from the report. "Will Damsel recover?"

The Medical mare cleared her throat before replying. "Unfortunately, the damage was too severe. We were forced to amputate almost the entire leg to save Chief Damsel's life." She paused again, putting a small smile on to try and reassure her leaders. "However, we're confident she will recover fully and be able to live her life to the fullest, barring some adjustment to her new... circumstances." Her smile slipped slightly. "It may be some time before she wakes up, though." Noting the questioning glances from both Regent and Overmare, she continued. "When they were brought in, Chief Damsel was in hibernation. From what we can gather from Chief Damsel's whispers in the hivemind, she entered hibernation due to proximity to the Queen. I believe this saved her life, slowing her metabolism to the point that the venom's effect was greatly reduced."

A thoughtful look crossed the Overmare's face. "Changelings don't always hibernate for long, though. The Hivemind can wake them up. Honeycut down in Maintenance went into hibernation after the freezer incident, if I recall."

With a snort, the Regent shook her head and pointed to the clipboard. "Normally, that would be true. But they've got Damsel in an isolated cocoon while she heals."

"An isolated cocoon?" The Overmare examined the indicated part of the report herself. "Is that really necessary?"

Frowning, the Regent nodded. "Yes, it is. From what the Medical changelings reported, it seems Damsel was called to rest by the Queen Herself. If she wasn't isolated from the Hivemind, that call would spread to the rest of us, and we'd all enter hibernation."

"I see..." The Overmare nodded, looking pensive. "But we know the Queen is still alive now, at least..."

A small smile appeared on the Regent's muzzle at this piece of good news. "Yes..." The smile faded slightly as she continued reading the report, flipping to the final few pages. "Unfortunately, of the two, only Lorikeet is in any condition to speak, and if this is accurate..." She trailed off, giving the Medical mare a questioning look.

The Medical mare cleared her throat and frowned. "It is, ma'am. I'm afraid Officer Lorikeet is..."





"C'mon, Lori." Holly cooed softly, rubbing her longtime friend and partner's side with her hoof. "Just speak to me... say something, anything."

Lorikeet, for his part, showed no sign of acknowledging the mare sitting beside him on the Medical cot. He just stared blankly across the room, at the dull green cocoon set into an alcove, his eyes locked on the barely visible form floating within.

After a few minutes, he blinked and slowly turned his head, his eyes focusing on the pegasus beside him. Holly felt a spark of hope form inside her, the first time her friend had noticed anyone but the cocooned Damsel since returning. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, confusion clear in his eyes as he struggled to speak.

"C'mon," Holly coaxed, "I'm here. You're safe, so's aunt Damsel."

"We... need.... we need to..."  Lorikeet blinked again, visibly struggling to break out of the haze filling his mind. "We need... to... heal... heal the poison... and... return..." His eyes dulled as he focused on the cocoon again, Holly shaking her head and sighing.

"Say something else, Lori."





The Medical mare shook her head as she continued her summary of the flutterpony colt's condition. "That's all Officer Lorikeet has said so far. 'Heal the poison and return.' He doesn't acknowledge or interact with anyone, but he retains enough motor skills and awareness to care for himself and Chief Damsel.  We attempted to remove him from the room where Chief Damsel's cocoon is, but with the distress and confusion it caused him it was deemed less harmful to let him remain and watch over her."

Both the Regent and Overmare were paying close attention now, ignoring the report on the clipboard for the more detailed report they were being given. The Overmare noted that her counterpart had a thoughtful look on her face.

The Medical mare continued. "Officer Holly is observing Officer Lorikeet right now, but after consulting with our Medical changelings, we believe that Officer Lorikeet is suffering from-"

"Isolation sickness," the Regent interrupted, frowning. "Ensure Officer Lorikeet isn't left alone. Keep at least one changeling or flutterpony in the room, maintain a constant hivemind presence around him at all times. His parents, his partner, anyone who is close to him, have them spend as much time as possible near him. He needs as much love as possible." When the Medical mare opened her mouth to speak, the Regent scowled. "Dismissed."

Taking the hint, the Medical mare nodded, retrieved her clipboard, and departed, the door hissing closed behind her.


The Overmare watched her counterpart for a moment, the changeling leader moving to her habitual spot beside the window overlooking the atrium, staring out at the hustle and bustle silently. To the Overmare, though, her body language was clear. The slight, agitated buzzing of her wings, the way she shifted her weight from one hind leg to the other, all the little tells learned from their long friendship... the Regent was worried. Very worried.

Pony joined changeling at the window, not speaking, both just watching those under their protection through the window.

After several minutes, the Regent spoke up, her voice low. "Changelings should never be left alone. We can be distant, but never, ever alone. Not for long. There's a story, passed down from Captain to Captain, about a changeling who was seperated from the hive centuries ago." She paused. "The story is a long one, too long to tell in its entirety, so I will be brief. A member of Her Guard was believed lost in battle. Though their body was never found, their voice had gone silent in the hivemind, as sure a sign of their passing as any. Almost a year later, our scouts in Mustangia heard of a strange pony who had been stealing from outlying farms, fleeing when confronted and always moving, never raiding the same place twice. The description matched a changeling, but all of our kind in that area were accounted for. The Queen at the time tasked the scouts with finding this strange maybe-changeling, and they did."

The Regent paused again, shuddering. "It was the missing Guard. Wounded, broken, deaf to the Queen's voice. So long alone, without even a single other changeling to communicate with, had sent him half mad. He was following the last orders he'd recieved, to flee, to escape and survive, with almost singleminded devotion."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "He recovered eventually, but it took years, and apparently he was never the same. Always quiet, barely communicating even through the hivemind, needing constant direction and guidance to function." The thought of that happening to one of the changelings she was tasked to protect and guide horrified her, her entire body shaking.


The Overmare moved, gently pressing her side against the Regent's. "And that's Isolation Sickness?" A shudder and a nod were the only response she got. "Do... do you think that... Lorikeet may fare better? He is a flutterpony, not a pure changeling... he wasn't alone for as long... and he was with Damsel..."

Shaking her head, the Regent opened her eyes again and leaned into her pony companion. "We can only hope, my friend. We can only hope..."