7 - Company is Transformative
The sun's last shimmer shone and disappeared into the twilight of the closing day. The effect was a cluttering of shifting shadows across Ponyville. Lighting grew dimmer and made some shapes hard to distinguish when within heavy shade. Nopony was about at this time, being wrapped up in other things or else avoiding the troublesome lighting of the waning hours.
Two forms emerged from around one home, now becoming visible to the two stallion pegasi stationed on either side of the town's treehouse library door. If either of the guards had not been alert they might not have caught on to what the new forms were. But they were alert. And they knew a pair of other guards just by the way of their stride.
That and this new pair had switched shifts with them before.
“Cent,” called the guard at the door's left.
“And Sent,” joked the guard on the right.
“Heh,” one of the two forms pipped as he rolled his eyes. “Funny.”
When the two new arrivals finally exited one particularly long shadow that had been cast from a nearby building, their guard armor became immediately obvious. Nopony could mistake who the two were even if their coat colors didn't blend with the white regulars at Canterlot. The pastel red coat of one and the orange of the other weren't exactly status quo and gave reason to wonder if some of the guards didn't dye their colors so as to keep from standing out. As odd as it was to some who liked being the oddball, standing out in a full garrison was not usually desirable.
Such things were irrelevant when the garrison was only four pegasi.
“Still nervous, Sent?” the right-side guard asked as he stepped from his post and looked to the orange pony. “This isn't your first shift, you know.”
“I think every shift is going to feel like first shift while I'm on this post,” he finally commented as he took the other stallion's position beside the door. His light red companion did likewise with the other male.
“While?” asked the previous left-side guard. “We're not palace guards anymore, Sent. 'Royal' means we take care of the princess personally. For the rest of our lives,” he finished resolutely.
“Unless you get transferred,” the dark blue-coated one mumbled sadly.
The new left-side guard started laughing at the orange one's expense. “He's got a case of princess preoccupation,” he explained colloquially to the two that were leaving. “I've had to give up on the poor lad. It's a lost cause.”
“Just don't let it lead to anything,” warned the one with the dark gray coat. “Can't have a case on our hooves.”
“Don't I know it,” the reddish one replied in lost cheer. With the last two guards now heading back to the quarters, his only concern was to keep alert and guard the princess within the treehome.
“Centurion,” the orange one with the blue mane began without losing his rigid and mindful posture he held at his post.
“Yes, I know,” the other replied. “You may be fresh out of the oven but I trust you not to make a mess. Nopony gets through the captain if they can't even handle a simple post.”
“About that...”
Centurion broke his forward gaze to glance at his fellow pegasus before correcting his focus. “Don't tell me you've never met the captain!”
“Oh, I have!” quickly responded the orange one. “You're right about nopony getting past him. I meant to say he pulled me aside in particular. It's just that...”
“Out with it,” the other stallion said flatly as his green eyes narrowed.
“He didn't pull you, Direway, or Midnight Strike aside. Just me,” he explained unsure. “He didn't say it but I got the drift that he was upset with Princess Celestia for going over his head. I think he wanted to have the pick of guards since Princess Sparkle is his sister.”
Centurion frowned. “Figures. I heard Midnight was on Luna's palace regiment and Dire used to work Princess Celestia's prep checks with me. Captain Sparkle might have chosen us on his own because of our records, but he wouldn't pick a new face like you.”
“Don't I know it,” the blue-maned pegasi sighed with depression. “And it kind of stings to have the captain on your case about something out of your hooves.”
The red pony pressed his lips in concentration. “Don't mind him,” he tried to encourage. “We get our assignments and we run the nine we're trained for. Princess Celestia herself assigned you and she never posts anypony anywhere without good reason. Trust me. I've made enough runs under her to know.”
“Doesn't help me much now. We've got all night to get through and I'm going to worry the whole time if Princess Sparkle is going to walk out and see me.”
The green-eyed one laughed at cautious volume and shook his golden mane. “Yeah, I guess we haven't seen each other since we got posted. Our day pals are getting all the love!”
“Love?” the orange one widened his eyes, blushed, and gulped.
“You should count yourself lucky,” Centurion finally moved from a neutral expression to a smirk. He did like playing it up now that he settled not to keep worrying over his fellow guard's situation. “This place gets low enough on traffic that we can actually talk. Those saps at the palace never get the time of day to talk to each other – forget anypony else. Trust me, I used to be one.”
“Is that why Midnight doesn't talk much when he's over at the pad?” the other asked a bit too quickly, glad he might focus on some other matter besides love.
“Maybe,” Centurion said longly, tilting his head slightly in thought. “I tend to think he's sulking though.”
“Sulking?” came the doubtful reply.
The older guard nodded minutely, more sure now. “He was a Royal Guard on Luna's nightwatch. Some of them get...” he trailed before smiling. “Well they get kind of attached, you know?”
The orange one frowned and refused to answer.
“Not that any ever get attached in return,” Centurion finished the line of thought before deciding to pick it up again. “On the other hoof, Princess Sparkle is not exactly like Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. I believe she's around your age,” he remarked as he praised his own ability to talk so freely without any other ponies in sight. It was like being able to breath after holding one's breath for a very long time. Maybe it wasn't talking anytime but rather talking on post in particular that gave him the sensation.
Still the orange one didn't answer.
Centurion kept his alertness but also continued his small smile. Yes, it really was refreshing to speak freely. He hadn't realized it until recently because routine tended to be the perfect blindfold.
Princess Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth and closed it, allowing herself to move in the direction that her changeling was nudging her. Images of late nights entered her head. Images that gave her shudders. Particularly, images of staring at the Horsehead nebula.
“Bed?” Spike put his book down. “About time.”
“Spike, it's not even completely dark yet,” the alicorn countered her assistant.
The dragon's stride, however, didn't lessen in the least. “Exactly,” he defended. “The sun's going down and we're running out of time.”
Twilight would have facehoofed if she had the energy for it. Her thoughts quickly turned to the physical aches she was starting to feel in her back and wings. But those were some of her last thoughts before her mind started dulling focus before the seduction of slumber. Her hooves felt more like lead with every step she took up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Can't have you falling down the stairs,” Chrysalis commented to nopony in particular as her horn glowed a faint green. If any of the others asked, she could just say she was using a little protective magic to prevent possible accidents on the stairway. She was by no means using an entirely different magic to help lull the princess into a peaceful rest. Can't have any kinks, she told herself.
In short order, the oddball triplet of alicorn, dragon, and changeling were all stepping into the sleep ring in Twilight's bedroom. Chrysalis' heart was pounding almost painfully. Part excitement, part fear. It was like the feeling of opening a present. It was a great joy but within lurked a nervousness of the present being something undesirable or even being a trick.
“Hah,” Spike chuckled as he bounced onto the soft padding of the ring. “This is the life...”
The changeling couldn't find the motivation to remark anything. The nervousness was starting to overtake the excitement. What had she even been thinking in the first place? There was one chance in a million she could pull this off!
Twilight was in auto-pilot mode as she knelt down and nestled into the padding. Cautiously, the shape-shifter followed suit, curling behind the princess where she could still physically reach Spike. A little insurance never hurt, right?
The Element of Magic closed her eyes and entered pre-sleep rest mode. Spike was rolling around with a smile and giggle. “I'm going to have one of these for my gem lair...” he commented softly as he obviously trailed into sleep. He turns off like a switch, Chrysalis thought finally. Turning her attention back to the mare, she listened closely and had to wait another half-minute before she was certain the alicorn's breathing meant full sleep.
Fluttershy would not be in bed for a few more hours by the changeling's figuring. Nevertheless, it would be knowable when the pegasus was asleep in the ring because that was when her unique broadcast would emit. In the meantime, Chrysalis could run some more gentle tests to check the mental connections. Very gentle tests that would not disturb the subconscious and awaken the two around her. Once the alicorn and dragon had been eased into a subtle connected state, Chrysalis could begin gradually turning up the ambiance of the hivemind. It had to be gradual for those who never experienced such a thing before. Otherwise it would be rather uncomfortable. At least that's what the changeling guessed. Always having been a part of the hive until recently, she had only thin grounds to make deductions.
Gracefully, the transformative being closed her eyes and let the green magic of her race emanate from her. She kept the intensity so low that it was barely there. Still, it made the ring's light circle glow with a surreal hue and the space within the ring began to alter in light as well. Within her mind, Chrysalis latched onto the emptiness of the yellow pegasus' ring. She also grasped the four smaller points, each empty as well. It felt as if she had just entered an empty house. Rather lonely...
An hour passed and Chrysalis' patience continued to hold only on account that she knew she was on the edge of an important moment. It was as if she was going to sleep knowing she would wake with the next day being a holiday of great celebration. That's when something happened.
A presence came suddenly into the empty house that had been the newly fashioned hivemind. It was abrupt and caught Chrysalis off-guard. The being's consciousness was more blatant than she had anticipated. Perhaps it was because changelings were natural with a shared mind, used to not being as red in a gray portrait. Chrysalis could only wonder.
Wondering is not important right now, she reminded herself. The presence had come from one of the four links she had hidden in the guard bunks. Not letting her own presence broadcast back to the pony, she observed it with interest. Then something began to worry her. The individuality of the mind was so immediate that it was obvious who had fallen asleep at the guardhouse. It was harder to distinguish a specific changeling from a hivemind of over a thousand. Even if one focused on one in particular, it was not as if the observation would be apparently colorful. This pony's mind, on the other hoof, was colorful.
Midnight Strike. The name was practically painted in bold on his presence. Dark blue coat, silver mane, eyes of deep ocean blue that shone so dark that they seemed a pitfall. Happiness, shame, then strong sorrow. Everything about this pegasus guard was on display.
Why were certain emotions so strong, the changeling questioned as she reached out to him within the hivemind. Then she stopped with a jolt. No, this was for the queen, Chrysalis decided firmly and backed away within the mental space. Now she began to touch lightly the purple pony that was not a hoof away in the physical realm. If done right, this could be a useful prep before Fluttershy.
The former hivequeen had no trouble soothing the alicorn's mind and carrying her consciousness carefully into the realm of the hivemind where she was sure it belonged. Now the whole matter was as if attempting to place an Ace on an already well-developed pyramid of playing cards. Chrysalis steeled her nerves as she reduced her magical protection of Twilight's presence and gave it room within the hivemind. The princess' conscious and subconscious played off each other in ways that the changeling well expected. Twilight was not currently aware that she was within a hivemind, since Chrysalis was easing her into. But the mare's scientific curiosity immediately began picking the place apart, categorizing it, labeling it, and building a thesis for the whole. It was almost laughable.
The next step, after allowing for some “breathing” time, was to allow Twilight and the guard to become vaguely aware of each other. Chrysalis exhaled and inhaled calmly as she focused on her job. That was when Twilight Sparkle's mental presence suddenly surged. She had caught a glimpse of somepony else being present and swiftly began a thorough investigation. The intensity of Twilight's mind only confirmed Chrysalis' belief that she would be a perfect queen. Midnight Strike would be her practice subject.
For the changeling, it was simple to project herself into the mental space of a hivemind but she imagined it was a surreal experience for the ponies. As far as they knew, they were fast asleep and experiencing some sort of dreamworld where they got the rest they needed and still got to think and act. A world that was, of course, controlled by the hivemind's master. For now that master was Chrysalis. She would slip out of that role once Twilight...
“Who?” called a soft voice within the hivemind. It was the purple alicorn princess but sounded as if a thick blanket had been cast over her face.
“I,” came a reply just as dulled. The responder was the guard.
At this point, Chrysalis could feel Twilight construct her thesis that indicated a dreamworld.
“Where?” Twilight called again.
“Away. Away from her,” the voice replied, this time very sad.
“Her?” the princess continued to inquire.
“No, she's far away with many as I was,” Midnight answered with less coherence.
The alicorn paused in thought, constructing ideas and weighing probabilities. “Why?”
Chrysalis became intrigued but was careful not to let her masking lighten. The two ponies could not interact too directly or else everything might fall apart.
“I was reassigned,” the stallion groaned. “Traded from the one I love to one I never even knew.”
“Why?” again came the query.
“I was ordered.”
For the third time, “Why?”
“I am a royal guard. I must follow orders. I must protect,” the pony answered dutifully.
As if the question could never be used enough, it came a fourth time. “Why?”
“I am no longer Luna's. I am Twilight Sparkle's. This is my life,” the pegasus stated resolutely and not without some tone of regret.
That last response was as a pebble into the gears of a delicate watch. The mind of the princess reeled back. Shock moved to fear and then finally to that old scientific curiosity. It quickly evolved, as many things did for Twilight, into another question that needed an answer. A door that needed to be opened.
“You were Luna's royal guard. Now you're mine? What is your name? No,” the mare countered herself. “What do you look like?”
It was a very good thing that Chrysalis had managed to get those connections in the guardhouse. That nighttime snoop of a lunar princess would not take long in seeing such mental activity in the night. The changeling did not yet know to what extend that Princess Luna could invade minds, but she reckoned that the hivemind was not yet something that the princess was capable of entering. After all, even a powerful alicorn could not interact with something that seemed only a confused garble on the outside. What was important was that Luna could not detect even the garble, else her curiosity would still undo the whole thing.
To help her little pony of a queen along, Chrysalis allowed a little more of the guard and princess to be sensible. Their voices became less dulled out and their formlessness became a glow. One purple, one dark blue.
“I am the blue of a darker persuasion. Silver in my mane and tail,” the guard recited as if he was speaking to a superior. Maybe he thought that he was, since he didn't seem to have a clue who he was speaking to.
“Blue coat and silver mane?” Twilight gasped. “Are you one of the two guards that pulled my chariot? That followed me around all day?!”
That must have been the deciding factor. The question was so obviously revealing that the stallion could never miss it. Not a sharp guard such as himself.
“M-my...my princess! I mean, your highness!” he tripped over himself. A hilarious thing considering that it was a hivemind and he had no physical form to actually trip.
The implications hit the young alicorn like a wagon full of anvils racing down Ponyville's infamous danger-zone hill. Chrysalis could see clearly all of the things that the mare had realized at once. Thankfully the word “hivemind” was not mixed in.
“What...is your name?” the princess finally asked slowly, apparently deciding that such a question was first by necessity.
“I cou-”
“What is your name?” Twilight asked more firmly.
The stallion knew his position and gave the information appropriately. “Midnight Strike, second commanding Princess Twilight Sparkle's Royal Guard, your highness!”
Crisp, Chrysalis smirked. That Shining Armor had a challenger for guard stiffness. But then she didn't know the stallion as well as some guards probably did. She shrugged it off.
“Midnight Strike,” Twilight Sparkle voiced as if needing to test the name on her tongue, existence thereof notwithstanding. “Second?”
The stallion did not hesitate now, but his unease was bleeding in his clipped tone. “First commanding, Centurion.”
“Centurion?” Twilight began to ask.
“Red persuasion, gold mane,” gave the pegasus.
A pause and then, “I don't remember such a pony...”
“Night watch, as dictated by guard regulation,” he kept speaking tensely and respectfully. “Limited resources must be dispersed in such a fashion as to maintain reasonable chain of command while maximizing best distribution of experience. Centurion's exceptional record justifies his position of commander as well as his position on night watch, the most dangerous time, with the detail's least experienced member.”
If Twilight had physical form, she might have blinked as she took everything in and weighed her next inevitable question in relation to all possible inquiries, which were quite numerable at this point. In this instance, she decided to go back. Something from earlier was apparently bugging her.
“You said you loved Princess Luna?” Twilight asked with dripping and eager curiosity. This question seemed to have far more weight with her than anything to do with the details of the guards.
Midnight Strike's glowing presence altered to a more purplish hue. Chrysalis laughed at the thought of the stallion's blue coat turning to Twilight's color because of a red blush getting mixed in. But she was careful not to let such reactions become detectable to the two she observed.
“Well...?” the mare prompted again with a caring tone. Was she trying to be considerate? If she wanted to be that way then she might not have thought to pry in the first place.
“I...I do. Did. It doesn't matter now and I'm not sure it ever really did,” he responded depressingly. Chrysalis could see the pain that stirred within him, only faint to the alicorn princess' view.
“Hey,” Twilight said with worry. “It does matter.”
“Why?” Midnight Strike was now the one to use that word.
“Because love is important. Because you're important,” Twilight explained.
Chrysalis stopped breathing for a second. The purple pony couldn't even see the stallion in physical form and yet she was saying such things. It was the same kind of heart that had saved the changeling and it made her stop.
“I'm just a-”
“No,” Twilight argued via interruption. “You're not just anything. You're a pony and you have feelings. I'd be a failure as a friend, student, and princess if I didn't apply everything I've learned so far. And I've learned how important others are. How important their feelings are...”
“But...” Midnight sighed. “It doesn't change where I am. My old life is gone forever.”
The alicorn didn't speak immediately this time but waited in thought. Finally, “Change is not bad,” she decided to say. “We often end up in a better place because of it. Maybe,” her tone got more cheery, “your new life will give you something you could never have had before.”
“Never had?” the pegasus seemed surprised at the notion.
“I don't know what friends you had or already have but if Pinkie Pie is ever right about anything then it's that another friend is something to smile about.”
“Friend?” the guard asked not knowing the meaning that Twilight was getting at.
The purple aura that had been the princess' presence in the hivemind began to move forward to the guard's. And it began to take more solid form. The glow began swirling into an actual pony form.
Chrysalis widened her eyes in shock and panic. She had lost control over Twilight within the mental realm. The Element of Magic! Twilight had, in her vast and deep pool of magic, unknowingly blown past the changeling's safety precautions and subconsciously taken full control of the hivemind. Chrysalis had been too focused on Twilight's conscious mind and had forgotten what the subconscious was doing. The guard was materializing now as well.
Chrysalis was only undetected because Twilight was focused on somepony else. The changeling was now also being sucked into a physical representation within the hivemind. She would be painfully obvious, standing there visibly in a place that was still constructing itself around her.
The shape-shifter cursed her short-sightedness. It had been obvious from the beginning. She had even noted it for Pete's sake! Twilight's conscious and subconscious were powerful in their scientific and mechanical workings. She naturally deconstructed things in her mind to learn what they were and, as she began to understand them, she began to wield the knowledge effortlessly. While Chrysalis had been focused on controlling the interaction between the guard and the princess, Twilight's subconscious had flipped the dreamworld thesis into something more along the lines of a magical dimension. It was a technically incorrect conclusion but such a distinction was irrelevant when it came to magically controlling the hivemind.
The mare's subconscious ran a quick series of scientific tests that were not large or obvious but rather efficient at practical manipulation. Then in the last moments of Chrysalis' control, the tests completed, confirmed theories, and began taking over the hivespace as foals shovel piñata candy into their forehooves.
And it all happened within the short time that the Element of Magic had been carried into the mostly fresh and blank hivemind. Twilight Sparkle's raw ability was terrifying.
But Twilight's subconscious was wielding its new power like a caffeinated squirrel and so an issue was inevitable. The princess finished taking on her full physical form as she reached the guard, who also finished materializing. The mare reached out a hoof and hugged the pegasus.
“I'm your friend, Midnight,” she said kindly. “And I don't want you to feel like you're unimportant.”
Everything came apart then. Chrysalis couldn't watch as she buried her face into her newly materialized holey hooves. Whatever was going to happen, she decided, would not be good.
An explosion of light erupted from between the stallion pegasus and alicorn mare. In that one moment, their minds had come too close. Twilight didn't understand yet how the hivemind worked even as she unknowingly tried manipulating it. She didn't even know that this space was called the hivemind. But in fairness, Chrysalis hadn't realized what she had done either. She had forced non-changelings into a hivemind without considering what a pony might be in it or what they might be capable of doing. She had split an atom without realizing the underlying energy thereof.
Twilight leaned back from the stallion as her eyes widened and beamed with a blinding white light. The hivemind around her that had started to take a physical representation began to crumble before it was completely there. Her conscious and subconscious had just been sucked into a hivemind collision. Midnight Strike's mind raced before her. She saw everything of him and he saw everything of her.
Finally, the the two ponies were blasted away from each other. Both groaned and held their heads as they laid painfully on their backs. The representation of the hivemind environment was back to a formless blackness with only the residents retaining materialization. But even that seemed to waver, the forms struggling to maintain existence amongst Twilight's confusion. It was as if trying to see one's reflection in the water after a chain of ripples had been put into effect.
And now to add chaos to disorder, a new presence entered the hivemind, catapulting into it like a meteor. It struck into their midst and shakily got to its hooves as if it believed it was going to be attacked any second by some terrifying monster. There could be only one reason the new presence had taken form so quickly. The hivemind's current master, Twilight Sparkle, could immediately give materialization subconsciously to those she already had a strong mental depiction of. And there was only one other sleeping ring that could be broadcasting so strongly in the first place.
It was Fluttershy.
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This is awesome!
Just opened the main page to check the ch.7 length so I could put it in the right sized schedule slot and misread the chapter title... This has caused me to realize you HAVE to title a chapter "Blank is Cumulative"... because that would be awesome.
You done fucked up Chrys, you done fucked up.
Yes...resistance is futile...
You done goofed
How in the blood soaked prodasnt hell did you do that
Fuck you that's how
Twilight is going to have soo much fun!
I hope she thanks chrysalis or at least forgives her after this.
Okay, one question, if Spike is in the same sleeping chamber thing as Chrysalis and Twilight, would there be any risk of him causing undue interference in the hivemind? I'd imagine the possible repercussions either being an infection of Dragon Greed or Spike having an anchor to prevent such an episode from occurring again.
One popular thought is that the guard armor has a strong illusion spell that make the guards of each of the four units look a like.
This story has become incredibly fascinating. :) I can't wait to read more.
I shall now implant a fractal representing an impossible shape into the Borg,,, I mean... changeling collective hivemind. They shall attempt to construct it within their holographic subroutines, which they will be incapable of accomplishing, leading to lots of 404 errors and blue screens of death.
Oh dear Faust...
Don't you dare include pinkie in this, chrysalis!
If it was stated outright I missed it, but is Midnight Strike a bat-pony?
Also, holy crap this will either turn out great or terribly. NEXT CHAPTER!
Is Twilight connected to the others only when sleeping in the ring or has the hivemind expanded past that because Chrysalis didn't foresee some things?
An orange pegasus that 'centurian/cent' calls 'Sent'.........
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/12/10/178766__safe_princess+luna_image+macro_reaction+image_i+see+what+you+did+there.jpg
3345671 The world would never survive it.
5320665 I don't get it?
5453103 really its 'flash sentry'
...*sighs*
good job Chryssi... This should be interesting.
Twilight just took over your Hivemind before she knew what it was, que mental explosion in 3...2...1
This is a terrible analogy from the scientific perspective, since atoms split all the time. You are currently in the presence of splitting atoms. The energy required to split one single atom is not really so great, nor is the return of energy, even for those elements which release energy in the process of splitting (hint: heavier ones).
Bind a pile of billiard balls together with string. Hit them hard enough with anything, and some of them will break apart. Light of sufficient energy (short enough wavelength) is a common cue ball (while it has no mass, it does have momentum).
Splitting atoms only become dramatically significant when you have carefully arranged them in such a way that the splitting process is accelerated by positive feedback, so that a great mass of atoms splits at once (note that for this to happen at all, these atoms must release energy in the process of splitting).
Even anti-matter is a relatively mundane occurrence. Einstein's most famous equation tells us how much energy is equivalent to any given mass. It turns out that when twice as much energy as the mass of any fundamental particle is involved, the equation can be physically realized. The energy can be converted into a matched set of particle and anti-particle. (Of course, the anti-particle rarely has a very long life.) Further, there are certain radioactive isotopes which routinely emit antimatter (positrons via beta plus decay), common enough to be used in medical procedures.
...I'm sure I had a point when I started this. Oh, well. Science is magic!
this alarm is now going off
the air raid siren turned into
along with
Hey, at least it worked!
Oh crap... This is going to be craaaazy.
As I expected, it backfired!
I can only hope that there are no permanent complications because of this.
Also, Chrysalis, has been a bad girl, sneaking around.
All I can think about after reading the caffeinated squirrel part is this clip from Hoodwinked