Hive Alive

by BlackWater

15 - Rejuvenation is Empowering

Pinkie Pie came to just before she heard the train whistle its farewell to the Crystal Empire station. Thinking that perhaps her attacker had identified her, she swapped out of her secret mission ninja suit and stored it along with its accessories in the bottomless capacity of her puffy mane. Like a pink-colored version of Rainbow Dash's streak of speed, she launched from the train car and into the crowd waiting outside of the transport vehicle.

First, she looked for her assailant from earlier. Next, she looked for her group of friends that she had been on her way to meet before she got knocked out. Last, she looked for anypony else she knew. And that was quite a lot of ponies. But still no sign of anypony she was supposed to be interested in.

“No dice?” she looked down to the station floor sadly. “Aw...”

As if on some deity's cue to prevent sad tidings from taking hold, a scent wafted its way to the Earth pony's nose. It was a scent unmistakable to a mare that spent so much time making and eating large varieties of confections. Was that smell...cupcakes?

All foes and friends forgotten, Pinkie Pie zipped through the crowd again and straight into the shop responsible for the lovely aroma. It was obviously a bakery but it also doubled as a laid-back cafe lounge. Ponies were all sitting about reading newspapers, drinking teas and coffees, and eating the great variety of treats the shop offered. Some were even writing on scrolls, drawing on canvases, or filling the low conversational noise of the shop with an additional hum and thrum from a variety of instruments.

Pinkie Pie's eyes widened in excitement and her smile beamed a level brighter than it had for the past few days, which said something since it always beamed bright anyways. To say that she had forgotten multiple times by now what her purpose for the day was would, of course, be entirely accurate. But Pinkie Pie was born with a natural attention span equal to the remaining half of the cupcake that she had just bought at the sales counter and devoured whilst other ponies bothered to consider her personality.

After she had finished her quick treat, Pinkie Pie wasted not a fraction of a second in diving into the thickest part of the cafe. While others did their own thing at each of their tables, there was one cluster of ponies that had gathered at one of the corners. It was not until Pinkie's first hop and bounce at the edge of the closely-knit pack that she saw what the commotion was about. Needless to say, her eyes lit up for the thousandth time and she gasped in excitement. One Pinkie-sized bounce sent her catapulting over the crowd and right up to the ponies that were the cause of it.

“Vinyl!” the Element of Laughter exclaimed with abundant exuberance.

The white unicorn lowered her purple glasses just enough to peer over them at the Earth pony with her naked eyes. “Pink?” she asked with mild surprise. “What are you- oh,” she caught herself. “It was the snacks, right?”

The musician was referring to the shop's treats in regards to her unfinished question concerning what in Equestria had brought Pinkie Pie to where she was currently standing. Vinyl Scratch was herself currently situated at a corner booth with some sort of switchboard like device on the table in front of her. To one side of her, nearest the outer edge of the half-circle booth seating, was a gray mare who Pinkie Pie vaguely recalled from the Grand Galloping Gala. To Vinyl's right were three other ponies of similarly varied backgrounds.

One was a pegasus with a shiny but not overwhelming coat of gold and a cobalt mane that was reminiscent of the ponies that haunted night clubs throughout Equestria. The image was only intensified by the red strikes running through it. He appeared to be staring at some musical notation papers with an expression that cursed it more than any word would be able to.

The second pony was a unicorn of a silvery coat, as if to accommodate the gold of the respective pegasus. Her silky maroon mane was likewise an offset, but that was the end of the obvious comparisons. Unlike the pegasus, she was busy nursing some unidentifiable drink and watched the exchange between Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie Pie with a mild interest.

Last, a butter-yellow Earth pony sat on the opposing end of the booth seat. He bore a dark brown mane with a short beard and mustache, which was a trait shared by some of the other ponies scattered around at other tables. Whether or not it was an artist thing was best left to social researchers. Unlike the others, however, he had his head pressed to the table and was seemingly fast asleep. How anypony could truly sleep in the assorted racket of the cafe was beyond any sensible pony to determine.

Vinyl Scratch started introducing them as the crowd behind Pinkie Pie started complaining about being ignored and not getting their desired autographs, photos, and memorabilia. Starting with the pegasus and working her way down in respective order, Vinyl Scratch did indeed ignore the miffed groupies. “Here's Thunder Rift and Silent Silver. The dead guy is Golden Tone. Oh, and her too,” the unicorn waved carelessly at the gray Earth pony to her right.

“I don't even get a name?!” the dark-maned mare complained with a puffed out cheek and particular accent as the pink pony rapidly greeted each of them. Golden Tone barely made a return gesture before knocking back asleep.

“Fine,” the glasses-wearing musician sighed as if it was some deep burden for her to give one more simple name. “She's Tavi.”

Immediately the gray pony was incensed. “Use my real name you ignora-!”

A white hoof stretched out and stuck itself in the other female's mouth to silence her. “Don't mind her,” Vinyl explained casually. “She's just grumpy because she didn't get her teddy bear and good night kiss yesterday.”

The quieted mare's coat starting warming into a red hue of rage as she flailed like a madpony behind Vinyl's stalwart hoof of absolute silence.

“Oh, I getcha,” Pinkie snorted in laughter. “I have a hard time getting to sleep if I don't have a dozen cupcakes before bed.”

Vinyl grinned as if she didn't have reason to grin enough. “That's why I like dropping gigs for you, Pink. You make life fun. Unlike prissy pants here.”

The gray Earth pony finally threw her friend's white hoof away from her mouth. “I'm not prissy! And stop treating me like some third wheel!”

Vinyl winced comically. “Lower the vol, Tavi.”

“My name is Octavia!”

For a second, the yellow stallion stirred as if he was about to wake fully. But then he just settled back down into sleep again.

“Pinkie Pie?” came the sing-song voice of the silver unicorn mare. “It's nice to meet you. Vinyl always speaks fondly of your parties.”

“Well, duh,” the party pony rolled her eyes and then flopped over the booth tables to vigorously shake the other female's hoof. “I'd give you all more than a hoofshake but I left my party cannon back in Ponyville. Silly me. But my parties are the best. Pretty pleased to meet you again with a cherry on top.”

Vinyl Scratch winced, this time for a reason mostly unrelated to the conversation. She always had so many things to organize and keep track of mentally due to the wealth of jobs, meet-ups, and ponies she dealt with on a daily basis.

“C'mon, Vinyl,” complained Thunder Rift on an entirely different topic. “You can't expect me to pick up this junk in my free time. I've got a job, you know.”

The unicorn pushed up her glasses and beamed innocently. “If it was impossible then I wouldn't be sitting here now would I? You think I never doubled up on jobs when nopony was buying my tracks? It's all about the blood and tears, buddy.”

“I've been doing overtime, I'll have you know. They got me working thunderstorm shift tomorrow. Maybe next weekend...”

The two continued talking while Pinkie Pie continued lazing across the table as if it was an everyday sofa. Silent Silver was opening her mouth to comment when another mare spoke instead.

“Wait a second,” Octavia squinted her eyes and leaned towards the Element of Laughter's face. “I think I remember you from somewhere...”

“Ha!” Pinkie Pie stiffened in her spot and laughed awkwardly. “Ha ha. Imagine that. Us having met already. Ha....ha...”

If the black-maned mare noticed any sweat forming on Pinkie's brow then she didn't mention it. Normally, Pinkie would leap at every opportunity to meet somepony new. But this gray mare was not somepony new. Even if Octavia's memory was grasping at straws, the party pony remembered her. She rarely forgot anypony – if anypony at all. But this musical mare had been playing cello at the Grand Galloping Gala and, upon fully remembering the event, Pinkie Pie was worried about the bitter can of recollections that might open should she bring it up.

“You're really laid back,” Silent Silver remarked off-hoof as she sipped her drink again. It was a thankful break from a very suspicious Octavia, to which the pink Earth pony leaped.

“You might say that, though I'm really more 'laid front' seeing as I'm not currently on my back,” Pinkie rambled as she so naturally did. Her words were punctuated every now and then by a cheap giggle or snort of laughter. “Or would that be 'laid forward?' Oh, did you know I came here on a secret mission?! It was, like, super secret and stuff but I was defeated by the forces of chaos and ended up so low on 'E' that I had to recharge by using a passing...”

Silent Silver's eyes faded. Either it was because she was going blind or else she was looking into the face of eternity. Probably the latter, though that did tend to cause the former. It was not until Vinyl and Thunder finished talking that the infinite loop met a finite end.

“Pink,” the DJ interrupted the pony's ramble. “Me and the rabble are going to shoot off to the shops in a bit and then crash at the hotel. Well, except for Tone. He's got a night show to hit. Want to hang out?”

Pinkie Pie spun into a hurricane and then landed all-hooves on the table in front of Vinyl Scratch. Her eyes were dinner plates. “Hang out? I'm always down for that!”

Nevermind that she needed to catch up to Twilight and the others. She could still do that as long as it didn't get too late, right? And who in Equestria would pass up the chance to hang out with some friends that one happened across by fate without even trying to do so? That was called destiny!

Octavia gave a skeptical look to her blue-maned friend but didn't say anything.

Thunder Rift stashed the papers he had been reviewing in a saddle sack next to him. “Yeah, I wouldn't mind a break from this,” he gestured to the rest of the cafe and the crowd gathered around their table that had been forced into an uneasy stand-off due to Pinkie Pie's traumatic appearance. It would not take long before the ponies started pushing in again.

“Let me finish this first,” Silent Silver requested as she took a greater sip from her drink.

“So, seriously. What brings you to the Crystal Empire?” Vinyl Scratch queried once more to pass the time.

Normally, a pony would take a deep breath before stringing together large amounts of words. Pinkie Pie was an exception to that by rule. She explained the whole thing by starting from the beginning. The very beginning. “Well, you see,” Pinkie started in her best Mama Pinkie voice. “When a stallion and a mare really really love each other, there's this stork that-”

Octavia's head hit the table. Why had Vinyl expected a coherent answer from the party pony? She never got one before, not even when the mare hooked her on for DJ at one of her parties. And that was only what Octavia had heard from Vinyl about it, which reignited her sneaking suspicion that this airhead mare matched the description of somepony else. The contradictorily fast-paced drawl of the pony in question went on and on only to make Silent Silver hurry with her beverage.

“-and then Queen Twily saved all of Equestria!” Pinkie Pie finished with exaggerated gestures.

The silence thereafter was deafening.

“Oops!” the Element of Laughter quickly covered her mouth. “That hasn't happened yet. Sorry,” she apologized in a whisper.

“Done!” Silent Silver broke in as she nudged Golden Tone awake with some difficulty.

Vinyl just shook her mane and laughed. “Let's get rolling.”

The DJ's words worked like law to get the party of ponies up and moving, various papers and instruments packed and hauled. The crowd around the table took the chance to assail the group with all manner of praise, admiration, requests for autographs, and then some. They all managed to get through it quickly as if they had some particular skill at it, which they probably did. Vinyl herself, however, was preoccupied with Pinkie's questions.

“So what brings you to the Crystal Empire?” the pink Earth pony asked the pale unicorn with cheer as they walked out of the cafe.

“Oh, Tavs got something spilt on her axe and the best repair shop moved here-”

“It's my cello, not my axe!” the refined accent of the gray mare interrupted energetically. “And I didn't spill the wine. You did. And it's Octavia, not Tavs!”

Pinkie caught a grin flash briefly on the DJ's face. Either she had just thought of something randomly funny or else she actually enjoyed antagonizing her musician friend. In either case, Vinyl picked up where she left off with the rest of the tale and how she ended up with her other friends. That part was also challenged by Octavia since Vinyl explained that every musician winds up knowing every other musician, agent, MC, host, etc before they manage their first album. The dull colored Earth pony disagreed strongly, but Vinyl shrugged it off.

The group made it with few incidents to the Crystal Empire's largest plaza of shops. There were places for toys, games, sweets, music, furniture, and apparel of all sorts. There were places for literally everything. Pinkie Pie's blood boiled with excitement and didn't slow down for the many hours the group relaxed with as they visited one place and another simply for the fun of it. Perhaps that was why the memory part of Pinkie's brain had a stroke and failed to remind her of her original mission as it should have.

Darkness fell along with some additional hours before the group headed towards a posh looking hotel. Pinkie Pie happily bounced along for the promise of some additional games after they got to their rooms. Golden Tone bid farewell when he headed off down another street, but Thunder Rift and Silent Silver continued walking in stride with the white and gray mares. The hotel was every bit as fancy inside as it appeared on the outside, which nearly made Pinkie Pie spin out of control with glee. She had never been in such an upscale place save perhaps for the Canterlot and Crystal Castles.

Vinyl had to drag her into her room on the top floor to prevent the party pony from wreaking any havoc that she might have to pay for, which was an unusual bout of perception on the DJ's part. Pinkie Pie didn't mind though because the room she was dragged into was like something out of a brochure one never got to personally experience. She barely saw Thunder Rift and Silent Silver going into a different room across the hall before Vinyl was leading her into her own suite.

Before they parted completely, Pinkie called out. “Later, Rifty and Silvy!”

The male laughed while the female raised her brows. That was when Vinyl gently shut the door behind her and Pinkie while calling out to Octavia.

“Break out Twister!” The unicorn laughed hysterically in a way that was most uncalled for.

A deep-throated groan came back from the cellist that had already rounded a corner into another room. “No. Not again. Why must you insist on such childish and undignified games?”

“I love Twister!” Pinkie Pie practically exploded. “Let's play. Let's play!”

“Looks like I win, Tavi,” Vinyl beamed, though it was not nearly as much as the pink one was capable of. Entire cities could likely be powered just from the smile she was giving off.

“We're going to have fun fun fun!” the super-powered and unstoppable Earth pony bounced about with a crazy look.

Vinyl used her blue aura of magic to toss her glasses over to their spot on one of the gigantic living room's side tables. With a toss of her head she whipped her blue mane around and enjoyed the cooler temperature of the air-conditioned super-suite. “You're one of the few who gets it, Pink,” the white unicorn laughed in anticipation of the rest of the night. “You don't spend your life worried or angry over everything. You just have fun and try to get others to have it too.”

“Of course, silly filly,” Pinkie Pie landed to a halt and gave a raspberry. She rather enjoyed doing it. “Life is a cupcake. You have to layer it with tons of frosting and eat it whole!”

That analogy almost made sense in a weird Pinkie kind of way, but it was probably best not to spend too much time thinking about it. That was generally how black holes were made. Or was that fourth-wall holes?

What happened the rest of that night would be best left to the imagination. For that was precisely the only thing that could invision what Pinkie Pie managed to do with her hooves in the game they played, much to Octavia's dismay. The Element of Laughter was without doubt the winner and stole the spotlight from the mostly undefeated Vinyl Scratch.

More games were had in addition to snack, drinks, and even a few movies. Pinkie Pie was so engrossed with the whole thing that nothing could possibly break her away from the oodles of fun she was partaking of. Thus did she burn like a star and then collapse when said star fizzled out. Let it not be noted that the physics-defying pony was completely without limit. Thankfully, the pair of musicians were kind enough to drag her into one of the gargantuan suite's ornate bedrooms when she fell asleep on the floor.

Of course, that meant that Vinyl had to move into Octavia's room for the night. It was a good thing that the stricter of the two was too exhausted to do anything but accept it. Vinyl was, in any case, content to hear the whining about the sheet-stealing and general bed-sharing in the morning. It was future Vinyl's problem.

When Pinkie Pie finally woke groggily, she slung her head around towards the nearest clock as if she was some slug soaked in molasses. She read the time but didn't really register the numbers for some drawn out minutes in the quiet hotel room. The number did eventually register along with the fact that she had fallen asleep to begin with. She was supposed to have gone off before it had gotten too late in the night so that she could hook up with Twilight.

“Oh pickles!” she exclaimed as she shot up and ran to the door in a pink flurry. She barely remembered to leave a note before she left. Along the way she would have to pick something up as an “I'm sorry” gift to the ponies she had forgotten about yesterday. Because, as it happened, it was almost noon of the next day.

A shadow crept through the back alleys of the Crystal Empire before it found its way into a well populated tavern. Of course, the term “tavern” was more of a catchword because the place was really just a toned-down diner. Many ponies filled the various seats and stools, collectively raising a volume of conversation that left the restaurant in an eternal uproar of sound.

The shadow was tired and needed rest. It had already been forced to fall back on the less concealing shroud form since it was running out of energy to maintain light form. Not to mention it couldn't manage greater manifestation as long as the Crystal Heart was powered. Still, light and shadow were only two of the many varieties of transformations it was capable of. Perhaps another day would see the most powerful ones used. But, again, it could not be today since it was low on magical energy and was strained almost to the breaking point. It had not properly prepared itself for the magical assault of the Crystal Heart and was thus left to heal for months before even movement became feasible again.

The shadow supposed it should feel lucky for being alive but it had been through far worse to be perfectly honest. The threat of death was forever upon its mind and that was the very same thing that drove it to where it was now. It needed some information if it was going to survive and even more if it was going to reach its goal.

Now it was in the Empire once again like a moth to the flame. Only this time its need was not for raw labor. It spent far too long accomplishing nothing as it roamed Equestria in search of leads, the result being an enormous pile of nothing. It could only hope starting back at square one would refreshen its chances.

The shadow passed one pony and another without being noticed since it succeeded in blending into as many other shadows as possible. The dim lighting of the place worked to its advantage until it stopped beneath the hooves of what seemed to be a zebra packing more weaponry than a Royal Guardpony on deathwatch. If the cutie mark of crossed knives was any indication, the striped being was of particular skill with the accompanying ordnance.

“Nevermind the ponies here,” the zebra growled to a unicorn with a deep green mane. “I know what I saw and these cuts prove it!”

The striped one stretched out a hoof onto the table that was shared with the strange pony. The unicorn would have said something but was interrupted by another that was moving past their table to serve a party of four.

“Passin' through again, eh, Sharp Eye?” bellowed the heavy voice of a surly stallion of a waiter. “Don't go bloodyin' up my tables with your battle scars again.”

“Don't mind him,” the zebra sniped as he returned his gaze to the unicorn across from him. The pony had taken a great interest in the fresh but thankfully non-open wounds that marked the leg. “I don't make it a habit of turning tail but I know a losing battle when I'm in the middle of one. Had to cut losses. Only got away with a few knickknacks to convince those Guard idiots there's trouble coming. Changeling trouble.”

The unicorn's eyes seemed to grow darker than the brown of his coat. There was a wild look about him, as if he was on the edge of some descent into insanity. “I don't suppose...you still have those 'knickknacks' with you?”

The zebra withdrew his foreleg and shifted a blade on his opposing shoulder as he thought. “Depends on who's asking I suppose.”

The unicorn drew himself into an upright posture and breathed his name out as if it was something to be found lurking about the cursed ruins of the world. “Star Craving, a humble enchanter...”

“Yeah, you told me that earlier,” Sharp Eye deadpanned. “I mean if you might be representing somepony else.”

“Hardly,” the unicorn replied just short of a mad bark.

“I see,” the zebra return in kind. “Well I've got to use them first to convince the Guard, as I said. If they don't take them outright then I suppose you could have them for a price.”

“You really care so much about Equestria?” Star Craving spat with no small amount of disdain.

“And what if I do?” Sharp Eye matched tone. He wasn't about to be challenged so openly by some random unicorn that took an interest in his personal findings.

“Oh, forget it,” the crazy-looking pony rolled his eyes. “I'm not interested in fighting you.”

“Really? Because you will lose if you try,” the zebra's eyes narrowed with resolve.

There was a thick tension between the two until it broke and they both laughed. It was not really a cheerful laughter but rather the kind of laughter one had when convinced they were so far superior to the other that laughter was, in fact, called for. On the good side, they didn't begin fighting and instead opted for a different discussion.

“So you heard about the changeling here in the Empire?” Star Craving asked with the ghost of his crazy smile returning.

“Heard?” the zebra gave a single “ha” to indicate the notion was absurd. “I saw it with my own eyes three blocks away. I'm not called Sharp Eye for being blind. Even a foal could pick out a changeling queen in a crowd.”

“Then you know she wasn't alone,” the brown-coated stallion chuckled darkly. He always sounded on the edge no matter the tone or topic. “Princess Twilight Sparkle was with her.”

“Couldn't be any other way. I saw the notice Princess Celestia sent to the Guard about this Chrysalis. The whole thing's a mistake, but it's hers and not mine.”

“So short-sighted,” Star Craving insulted too quietly to be heard above the roar of the restaurant. His next words were louder to be noticed. “I think she's up to something. The princess and that changeling,” he clarified. “I felt unusual surges of magic all night...”

“Tracking spells or I'm a griffon's uncle,” Sharp Eye answered. “I saw it as well. It's easy to see things from high vantage points.”

Star Craving finally gave a furrowed and skeptical look. “Spend much time on roofs?”

“You might say that,” the zebra grinned less menacingly.

“Wish I had such exorbitant time on my hooves,” the unicorn rolled his eyes.

A silence hung between them, filled only by the ongoing ramble of restaurant noise that didn't much concern either of them.

“Sticking around?” the unicorn finally asked without seeming to care anymore.

“I've got stuff to do, so no. I'm not sticking around to get my nose bloodied. Not when there's zero point in it.”

The shadowy presence that had been listening in to the conversation moved on to other points of eavesdropping. How ridiculously easy it was to get some useful intelligence without expending any energy or real effort. Ponies of the modern age gossiped openly just as much as the ones from the past age did.

What interested the shadow the most was the name of the alicorn that had been chasing it around for the past twelve or more hours. Any pony with the kind of power and determination necessary to do that was of note to the shadow. It had been forced to use up most of its recovered magic just to keep two steps ahead and out of discovery. Now it was forced once again to spend painful weeks in regenerating the most base layer of its magical pool. If it was a unicorn to begin with then such a thing would not be so difficult. But, alas, the melding of the dark magics had its own weaknesses. Weaknesses it had labored for countless years to keep from being discovered, else its ability to instill fear might lessen.

The shadow picked up some more tidbits of knowledge as it listened around. And ever as it did so did it gnash its shadow-shaped teeth at the fact that it was forced to mull around to hide itself in the shadows on the floor of some dive of a restaurant. How far it had fallen!

But at least it had a lead now and that lead just might get it out of the rut it had fallen into for so long. Perhaps the fall it had taken was a necessity, unlike the pointlessness of that thousand-year imprisonment. What had become clear to it in those months fighting for existence upon the windswept hills of the outer city was that the Crystal Empire had been a crutch to it.

As it made its way once more out of the eatery, the shadow relented one fact. It had spent so much time and energy on the Crystal Empire that it had lost sight of its original goal. The point in creating and controlling the Empire was to give it the resources it needed to fulfill the dream prophecy. Somehow, that need for power had become a crippling force, keeping the shadow obsessed with the means and not the end.

No more. The shadow's own end was inevitable if it did not hurry to fulfill the dream. As it was now, even in a transformed state, it was mortal. Its life was elongated but still on the clock. This Princess Twilight Sparkle was a modern anomaly and her raw ability might be enough to get the shadow what it wanted. Of course, its own abilities were far beyond the mare's but let it not be said that servants of power were not useful tools. After all, it was not the kings of old that had built the great pyramids that entombed them so majestically.

The shadow found another dark alley where it could hide behind a set of barrels that had obviously not moved in a decade since before it had cursed the Empire to its great magical time seal. Hiding in some dark corner was a disgusting blow to its ego. When the recovery was finally over, it swore to powers unheard that it would exercise its dominance in full as it took what it wanted at will. Every hope was held that nopony with as much resourcefulness as the purple alicorn came hunting for it. Rejuvenation had to come first if it was to have its way with the world.

Author's Note:

Guest Appearances
Thunder Rift - Thunder Rift
Silent Silver - Thunder Rift
Golden Tone - shiney103
Sharp Eye – Trigger Happy
Star Craving - Ebonysdagger

Comments

[Zocarik]

Is Twilight the mare of Sombra's prophesy? Or Chrysalis?

Keep up the good storytelling and comedy. The Pinkie stuff was hilarious.

[DarkBlueDreamer]

Yay, more Hive Alive! This is one of my favorite active stories. :)

That said... while I understand you're doing a lot of setup, I'm kinda missing the TwiChry-centric nature of the earlier chapters. So far the side-stuff has felt kinda extraneous and filler-y. Don't like biting the hand that feeds me, but I've seen other fics kinda "lose focus" and I'm worried that's happening here for the sake of world building.

[Xaldon Ajide]

Hopefully Chrysalis can keep Twilight safe and keep the shadow from dominating her queen.

[Trigger Happy]

So Sharp Eye and Star Craving just revealed some important information to the shadow. For a zebra with great eyesight, you sure are a loudmouth.

One more thing, how do all the guest appearances going to affect the story or is this just another filler?

[Scarheart]

Another brilliant chapter!

[FinalFan]

Normally I like worldbuilding, but this comes off to me personally as tedious rambling. Maybe it's just because I'm reading this while dead tired.

[BlackWater]

3753561

I get ya. And I have to admit that it's not easy doing slice-of-life that also has a deeper concentric story. But there's no need to worry about Hive Alive teetering out because - SPOILER ALERT - the "world-building" stuff that's come up more recently is setup for the story beyond this fic (if you want to keep reading it with sequels and stuff). So if you're reading this for the lighter slice-of-life involving Twi, Chry, Shy, etc then rest assured I will indeed be following the story's category tag. In fact, the next chapter (#16) starts leaning into it again. Perhaps I shall call it the "Ponyville" effect.

Also, Sent. Hope nopony forgot about him.

[DarkBlueDreamer]

3784519
Okay, gotcha. That mostly makes sense. The bit with Discord, while disposable, was just one chapter in an interlude sort of fashion. The Vine of Life thing, while cool, while a bit more relevant still felt unnecessary (or could have been brought up later). The chapter with Pinkie, Vinyl, et al. and no TwiHive in sight was where I started to get worried, if you see my thinking. I'll wait and see, I just feel better knowing you're aware of my concerns. :) Thanks.

[Ebonysdagger]

Nice. Star being used for that is a delight to see to be honest.

[Sketch Scribbles]

“-and then Queen Twily saved all of Equestria!” Pinkie Pie finished with exaggerated gestures.
The silence thereafter was deafening.
“Oops!” the Element of Laughter quickly covered her mouth. “That hasn't happened yet. Sorry,” she apologized in a whisper.

DAMNIT PINKIE WATCH THE SPOILERS! We're trying to read here. sheesh.

[MChain]

[TheGreatEater]

“So, seriously. What bring you to the Crystal Empire?”

brings
______________

The shadow past one pony and another without being noticed since it succeeded in blending into as many other shadows as possible.

passed
_____________

[Razzy]

Pinkie alarm!

Skulking Sombrero is skulking.

[nioniosbbbb]

I wonder if Pinkie's part is going to be relevant. Also wonder if the changeling Trouble is more than just Chrysalis