"I honestly had no idea that you were that cute when you were little."
As Shining Armor and the princesses burst out in laughter, Cricket blushed bright blue at Twilight Sparkle's comment. He had to admit, changeling hatchlings were surprisingly cuddly looking, given what they grew up to look like: frightening, fanged, dark, and with a shell would be considered medium armor for most creatures.
Cricket chuckled a little bit himself, and said, "Well, I hope that you'll keep that a secret, your highness. I do have something of a reputation to maintain in the swarm, and if it gets out that I was once that adorable, I'll never hear the end of it."
The laughter of the princesses redoubled, and it was several moments before they finally approached something regarding seriousness. Luna, the first to regain her composure, raised her hoof, and said, "If none of you have any objections, I would like to go next." Again, nopony seemed to have a problem with that.
"As with young Twilight, I myself have a few things I'd like to ask of you before I begin my official inquiry, if that is not a problem?"
Cricket smiled, and said, plainly, "Ask away, your highness."
The princess of the moon nodded, her expression now serious. "Given how little is currently known about changelings in general, there are many things that we would like to ask you about, concerning your culture, your race's social hierarchy, and so forth. However, there will, I think, be time for discussion about such things later, outside of this interview. What I would like clarification on right now is this: From what young Twilight and my sister shared with me, you spent a great deal of your career at odds with the commander, Blattaria, did you not?"
Cricket nodded, his expression serious as well. He volunteered, "Blattaria possessed very clear views about where commoners stood in the social structure, and those views mainly involved commoners being thrown, in waves, at anything and everything that got in his way on the battlefield. That included city walls and forcefields, even when even a hatchling could have told him that it wouldn't work. Insectoid wave tactics were about the only thing he really understood, and were it not for the fact that changelings are so durable, the hive would have been much, much smaller by the time that I was born. Admittedly, the tactics sometimes worked, eventually, but that was only because the queen made certain that plenty of infiltrators were inserted into the target areas beforehoof, to help soften things up."
Luna nodded, then continued, "And this antagonistic relationship only intensified when it was discovered that the queen wished for you to succeed him. Yet if your species' traditions in any way mirror our own, the Commander would select his own successor, rather than the queen, correct?"
Again, Cricket nodded, then said, "Yes, your highness. That was normally the procedure. However, the commander ended up complicating things, as he often did, due to how he was running, or perhaps failing to run, the military branch at that time. He had, unintentionally, put himself into a precarious position: If he named one of his toadies as his successor, he was just barely smart enough to know that said toady would immediately turn on him in hopes of getting his position. As long as none of his cronies held that title, they would do everything they could to keep him safe, for fear of losing their own cushy positions in the hive. The queen tried to keep her muzzle out of the running of the military branch in those days: Her position, and her authority, was still somewhat precarious, due to her youth. Meanwhile, Blattaria held the rank of commander because he had a great many connections with the various aristos in the other branches of the hive, mainly due to a massive stockpile of love that he, as an aristo, had access to. The queen had to deal with the infiltration branch and the recon branch on a regular basis, and those were all aristo, from bottom to top: if Blattaria lost his position, those branches, and especially their leaders, would lose out on the steady supply of hugs that Blat was feeding them. The queen would experience a great deal of backlash from that, making her position ten times more difficult."
Twilight Sparkle raised an eyebrow, and asked, incredulous "What was that about hugs?"
Cricket sighed, then said, "Your highness, I did not come up with the name used for the standard unit of love that the hive uses. I would not have chosen "Hug", if it had been me, but I will admit, I could not come up with a name that didn't sound at least a little silly. One "Hug" can sustain a changeling for a day, as long as they don't burn it for a boost or use it for a spell. The units for measurement in the hive, so you'll know, do mirror that used by your own metric system: one Kilohug is one thousand Hugs worth of love."
There was a great deal of smothered chuckling at that. Celestia clapped her hooves, and then, with a chuckle she did not try to hide, admitted, "I admire your ability to be able to say all of that with a straight face, Commander."
Cricket smiled, then chuckled himself, saying, "Years of practice, your highness."
The changeling's expression turned serious again as he picked up where he left off: "Blattaria wanted somebuggy specific to succeed him, hoping to turn the military into a kind of dynasty, a kingdom within a kingdom, if you will. However, he could only name a lieutenant as his official successor, due to both official regulations and long standing tradition. Had Blattaria's son ever risen above squad leader, I'm certain that Blattaria would have chosen him, and that would have been that. However, while Gromphadorhina was, admittedly, an able squad leader, he knew enough about his own limitations to know that, if he ever accepted one of the promotions his father kept offering him, he'd make a hash of things very quickly, and when he became commander, it would only get worse. That was one apple who fell miles from the tree. Like I said on the way here: there are only a few Aristo's that I respect. Grom is one of them, and I was proud to call him one of my comrades."
"Interesting," Luna said, her face an unreadable mask as she considered what to ask next. "So, the Queen named you as the successor, after you were promoted to lieutenant. However..." The princess furrowed her brow in consternation, before saying, "Bah, I admit, I am torn. I would like to know what you did to receive such favor from your queen, and yet... I would also be interested in hearing how you made the rank of lieutenant as well, given that it sounds like the commander would never have granted that rank willingly..."
Cricket raised his hoof, interrupting the princess, then said with a large grin, "Well, in that case, you're fortunate, your highness, since the two stories are related. If you ask for one, you should get to see the other as well. And it does make for an interesting, and entertaining, story."
Princess Luna nodded, and said, with a grateful smile, "Thank you for sharing all of this information, commander, in spite of your concerns that such knowledge could be used to harm others of your kind." Cricket nodded, smiling and acknowledging her gratitude. The moon princess was rather stiff, in a way, but he couldn't help but like her. At least she was trying to loosen up a little. Luna's voice took on a more formal tone (and a surprisingly loud voice. He'd later learn that this was something called The Royal Canterlot Voice. Luna tended to only break it out for special occasions, although most princesses these days tried to avoid it if they could. Cricket remembered thinking to himself at the time, that if she and Vespidae ever got into a shouting contest, there likely would have been an explosion, and possibly an earthquake) as she asked...
"This Is My Question: How Did You Earn The Queen's Favor?"
The gemstone on Cricket's forehead pulsed with magic, and a familiar tingle ran through the changeling's skull. The window appeared in the air above the changeling's head...
This is a shorter update than last time: I am not feeling great today, and like I said, I am trying to keep leadup to the serious interview questions and the flashbacks separate from now on, so I don't end up spending all day on a chapter. It's more exposition than anything, but it helps set things up for the next chapter, which is going to be a really action packed and hilariously awesome one.
A bit short, would have loved to see the answer to this. Oh well. It was entertaining to go from just having favorited this to reading the next chapter because it was just updated.
Okay I admit it I had to look up Groms name. You have elevated naming to an art. I can't wait to meet more of his friends.
Is this an indirect question? because Cricket willingness to talk freely about his race and hive, including the political and military aspects, could mark him either as a traitor of his own kind, or a mole... neither of them inspiring trust.
3744939 I c wut u did ther.
3744939
First, while Mole is his first name, it's less about him betraying trust, as him showing trust in the princesses: they've given their word to keep what is said here quiet, so long as it does not constitute a direct threat to Equestria. Besides, a lot of his intel will be pretty out of date: he's been separated from the swarm of more than a year (and much of what has happened so far is years ago, in countries a long ways off). Things can change pretty quickly, especially in the face of such a disastrous defeat, so much of what he's revealing is obsolete. If changelings had a newspaper (or if they had any real sort of civilization, period), the information he's given so far would more or less be stuff they'd be able to see by picking up a few old newspapers and taking a look. He's revealed nothing about current tactics, strategy, strength, yadda yadda, just very broad information about someone who used to be in charge, and isn't anymore. Besides, isn't he technically already in the process of defecting to Equestria right now?
Second (not to spoil any major plot points), and perhaps more to the point, in most military branches, you're going to find that the oath is to the nation first, then the leadership of said nation second (if the leadership gets mentioned at all). Cricket has already indicated, in chapter three of Your Fangs Are Showing, that he's intentionally withholding the knowledge of the Crystal Heart being a limitless source of love energy because the Queen would try to use it in a plot for global conquest, which would, inevitably result in the heart being destroyed: an action that would put him in hot water with the queen, but is for the good of the swarm in general. Instead, he's waiting for a change in leadership, one that he's... suspiciously certain is on the horizon, in order to reveal that information then, to someone who would use that knowledge responsibly. Leaders change, the nation remains.
This is all building up to some pretty major plot points, over the next few chapters, ones that may result in blowing some minds.
3746064
I'm glad you liked that. I mean, if it was possible that Celestia and Luna were Cosmic Keystones, and their demise would mean a literal apocalypse for the entire world (no night, and all would fry, no day, and all would freeze)... why would any creature, anywhere, anytime, ever want to try and overthrow them?
Freakin' cliffhangers.
3747159
Sorry, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.
3746386
To put it simply: Power.
Let me explain. In "Hearth's Warming Eve," it is implied that Celestia and Luna have yet to enter the equation: it is the unicorns who control the sun and moon. Therefore, Celestia and Luna are not essential to the passing of day and night, just better than anyone else at it.
Their overthrow would be a catastrophe of massive proportions as various groups bickered and fought over who would inherit the duties(and political leverage) of controlling the cycle, but eventually one group would come out on top. Is it hard to believe that one group, convinced they could win the ensuing power struggle, would make the attempt?
Make no mistake, everything in Equestria would suffer for it in the short-term, and only the victors would gain anything in the long run. Only a being both greedy and indifferent to the suffering of others would even consider such a move. Unfortunately, such beings can and do exist, as evidenced by Queen Chrysalis.
3747468
And King Sombra, naturally.
3747628
Well, it is a good line, and it does describe the Canterlot Invasion pretty well, from the military side, at least.
one word: MMOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
uhhh....... please and thank you
I would like very much to witness the detonation of a 400 Kilohug atomic Lovebomb.
3748453
On this line of thinking, what is the Hug rating of Shining Armor and Cadences repulsion love bubble thingy?(Dang it I cant remember the humorous name it was given.
3763777
the Massive love sphere of DOOM! probably used something like 1.21 Giga Hugs of energy!
All the wat
I will give you all the hugs I have if Princess Alex can pronounce 'Mississippi' correctly. Published one shot or it doesn't count.
one of my favorite lines!
Yes I would like six deci-hugs and a side of fries please
Wait, so you're telling me this entire time Luna has only addressed Cricket with "The Voice"? That is absolutely priceless.