Chapter 1
“Wha... What happened?” Twilight said, rubbing her throbbing head.
“The queen fainted,” a timid voice said from somewhere above her.
“Queen?” Twilight’s eyes flew open and she sat up, locking eyes with the same changeling as before.
She fainted again.
A wave of cold water splashed over her, and Twilight shot up, once again face-to-face with the changeling, who now held and empty stone bowl in its hooves. “T-this isn’t a dream, is it? I’m really here?”
If the changeling was confused, it didn’t show it, only nodding in response.
“Oh no... This is bad! This is really, really bad,” Twilight wheezed, feeling the beginning of one of her signature panic attacks.
“What is bad, my queen?” the changeling asked, genuinely concerned.
“I’m not your queen!” Twilight gasped rapidly.
Now the changeling was confused. It cautiously pulled away from her. “Ummm... yes you are?” it replied softly before flinching.
“No! No I’m not,” Twilight stammered. “I’m just in your queen’s body!”
“I know. You are not Queen Chrysalis, but you are in her body. You are the queen,” the changeling explained slowly, as if stating something glaringly obvious.
“J-just like that? You’re not disturbed by any of this?” Twilight gaped incredulously.
“A queen is a queen,” it shrugged, hesitantly rising back up from its deep bow. “Old queen, new queen... Still a queen.”
“I see...” Twilight muttered, though she didn’t truly understand the drone’s logic. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her head with a few deep breaths and analyze her thoughts. “Okay... I’m stuck in the body of a changeling queen. I can get through this, I just need to stay calm.” She opened her eyes and looked at the other changeling, who just continued to sit and watch her. She closed her eyes again and began to focus on herself.
“Let’s see... I don’t feel any other presences in here with me; no voices in my head or other minds struggling for dominance. That means that Chrysalis’ soul is elsewhere. Now it’s very unlikely that the spell killed her or just disembodied her spirit, which means...” Her eyes shot open as she went from calm to full panic in an instant. “She’s in my body!”
She jumped to her hooves, or at least tried to. A sharp, crippling pain shot down her rear left leg and she collapsed with a shriek. She glanced back to see that the leg was covered in a cast of opaque green resin.
“What’s this?” she whimpered, turning back to the changeling in the chamber with her. “What happened?”
“Queen injured in attack on Canterlot. Thrown through the sky and landed in tree,” it said, waving its hooves around for emphasis. “Can’t walk, leg needs to heal.”
“Heal? I need to get to Ponyville now, I don’t have time for it to heal!” Twilight groaned. “How long before I can walk?”
“Dunno.”
“You don’t know?” Twilight sputtered.
“Nope, not a healer,” it said matter-of-factly.
“Can you go get me a healer?” Twilight asked, doing her best to hold back her frustration.
“Nope.”
“And why not?” Twilight snarled, failing to hold back her frustration.
“No healers.”
“There are no healers?” Twilight muttered. “Then how did this happen?” she asked, pointing to the cast.
“Old queen did it herself,” it replied.
“Great... Well, is there anypo— Are there any changelings around who might know anything about injuries?” Twilight asked desperately.
“Ummm... Soldiers might,” the changeling offered softly, scratching its head. “You want me go get one?”
“Yes!” Twilight nearly shouted, a glimmer of hope rising in her. “Please.”
The changeling left with only a bow. Finally alone, Twilight looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a relatively small chamber, slightly smaller than her bedroom back at the Golden Oaks library, hewn from solid rock. A green crystal grew out of the ceiling, glowing dimly and providing the only source of light. Despite the relative darkness, Twilight could see perfectly fine; she suspected that changelings had much better night-vision than ponies.
She was lying on a soft, translucent, fleshy sack filled with a viscous green liquid, and immediately tried to put the thought out of her mind. Aside from that, all that was in the room was a pile of scrolls tucked neatly into a corner.
A clacking of chitin on stone alerted her to the fact that another changeling was approaching, so she turned her head towards the hole on the far side of the room as a changeling, much larger than the previous one entered. It immediately stopped in its tracks and glared at her suspiciously. “You are not Queen Chrysalis.”
“I know that, I—”
“Who are you and what have you done with our queen? Why do you inhabit her vessel?” it asked hostilely, approaching her with as much menace as it could muster.
“There was a magical accident, and I think we switched bodies. Trust me, I’m even less happy about this than you are. I swear that I’m not here to cause trouble, I just want to get things back to normal,” Twilight explained hastily. She waited for it to respond, but when it didn’t, she continued. “Listen, I think I can fix this, but I need your help. I need a lock of hair from my body— my real body— and some other stuff from Ponyville.”
“Ponyville? We’ve been trying to get into Ponyville for days. They’ve put up some powerful anti-changeling spells,” the soldier grumbled angrily, shaking its head.
Twilight winced slightly, a bit confused by his revelation. “Why have you been trying to get into Ponyville?”
“Queen Chrysalis’ orders,” it said. “She wants us to find the unicorn that foiled her plans in Canterlot, and seize her so that—”
“You’ve been trying to kidnap me?” Twilight screamed without thinking and immediately slapped a hoof over her mouth.
“You?” the soldier shouted, recoiling from her with disgust.
Well, there’s no point in trying to hide it now... “Yes, me,” Twilight growled. “Now do you understand why I’m so upset? I don’t want to be in this body, and I really don’t want her to be in my body!”
“Yes, I understand now,” the changeling snarled, eyes shining with fury.
“Like I said, I think I can fix this, but I can’t do it alone. I need help. So if you want your old queen back, you’re going to have to trust me,” Twilight stated, trying to express more confidence than she felt. “Do you think you can do that?”
The changeling stared at her, grinding its back teeth. Twilight could almost hear the cogs turning in its head, almost feel its frustration. No... She could feel its frustration. Her mind reeled, trying to fight back against the emotional invasion, but try as she might, she couldn’t block it out. She blinked a few times, focusing on separating her own emotions from the foreign ones
The drone, oblivious to her internal struggle, heaved a sigh and nodded. “I have no choice. For better or worse— you are the queen now, however temporarily.” It stepped forward, exuding an aura of grim resignation. “So, what do you need?”
“If you can’t get to Ponyville, than I’m going to have to go myself. So how long will this take to heal?” she asked, pointing at her leg.
The soldier leaned over her, scanning her leg with a gentle magic. “Well, you should be able to travel in a few more days, but it won’t be fully healed for at least a month. Changelings heal much differently than ponies; our bodies are designed to get back to work as soon as possible, but it takes us longer to recover completely.”
“All I want to know is when I’ll be able to get to Ponyville on it,” Twilight replied.
“Two... maybe three days at most; especially since you’ll be flying most of the way,” it muttered, gently poking at the cast with a hoof. “But I wouldn’t do much more than walking, or you’ll just hurt it again.”
“A-alright. Two days. I think can do this; I hope I can do this,” Twilight sighed trying to calm herself with a few deep breaths. “She can do a lot of damage in two days, but somepony is bound to notice unless she’s subtle about it, and if she’s subtle about it, she won’t be able to do nearly as much damage. And that’s assuming that one of my friends don’t notice that something’s different about me. This could be worse!”
A loud clatter at her side made her jump and snapped her out of her thoughts. She whipped her head around to see that the first changeling she had met had dropped a stone plate next to her. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was the same one, but she knew. She glanced down at the plate. “What’s this?”
“Food! Mushrooms! Queen need eat,” it chirped happily, obviously proud of itself.
Twilight gave it a confused frown. “I thought changelings fed on love.”
“Need food too! Eat once a day,” it explained. It turned around and trotted towards the exit.
Twilight turned to the soldier and it nodded. “I suggest you eat; the wound won’t heal properly if you’re malnourished. I realize that you’d probably like to cripple our queen like that, and I would do it myself in a similar situation, but you need her body to be in top shape if you want to get your old body back.”
Twilight gave a gloomy sigh and nodded back. “Yeah, you’re right.” She leaned down and picked up one of the mushrooms in her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and very nearly gagged on it. “Oh, these are awful!”
The soldier snickered to itself and turned to leave. “You get used to them after a while. Let’s just hope that you don’t get the chance to.”
Twilight picked another of the mushrooms up with her hoof and grimaced at it, when a thought struck her. She glanced over to the pile of scrolls in the corner and reached out with her magic. Surrounded by a green glow, they flew over to her and stacked themselves into a neat pile in front of her.
“At least there’s something to read around here,” she muttered to herself, popping the mushroom into her mouth.
Sleep came fitfully to Twilight. Dreams and nightmares intertwined into one confused blur, and she woke to her own scream.
“Queen okay?”
Twilight flinched at the sudden sound and snapped her head up to its source: a changeling, somehow different from the other two she had seen before, was poking its head into the room. Twilight shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind and focused on her breathing. “I-I’m fine. I just had a bad dream.”
The changeling’s curious expression didn’t change; it only continued to stare at her. “What about?”
“I... don’t know,” Twilight whispered, examining her trembling hoof. “Just fear.. And darkness. I was sort of hoping that this was all part of it; that I’d wake up in my own bed.”
“Oh,” the changeling replied plainly. It was acting like it understood, but Twilight could sense— in the back of her mind— that it, in fact, had no idea what she was talking about. “Queen okay now?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’m just a little shaken up,” Twilight sighed. She took one last deep breath and shoved Chrysalis’ lengthy mane out of her face. “Hey, can you do something for me? Yesterday— or before I fell asleep rather— I spoke with a changeling soldier, Can you go find him for me?”
The changeling blinked at her and simply stated, “Her.”
“Uhhh, what?”
“Her. Soldier female,” the drone explained. “I female too.”
“Oookay. Well can you go get her for me? Please?” Twilight asked, attempting to sound as polite as possible.
The changeling nodded and quickly disappeared from sight. Alone again, Twilight slowly stood up and stretched out, snickering softly as the hard plates of Chrysalis’ body clicked and scratched as she pulled them apart. Rolling her shoulders, she worked the kinks out of her back and plopped back down with a yawn.
She heaved another sigh and began to look herself over. A thick exoskeleton— black, except for the massive green piece covering her back— covered most of her body, arranged in thick overlapping plates; feeling almost like a natural suit of armor, protecting her from harm. She inspected one of the joints closer, and was surprised to find a thin strip of skin beneath the edges of the plate. Curious, she gently touched a hoof to it and winced as a sharp jolt shot through her. She then decided to try something similar, touching the plate this time. Oddly enough, she could feel it. She wouldn’t have been able to tell exactly where on the plate she was being touched, but it was sensitive enough that she could feel even the slightest change of pressure.
Next, she rubbed a hoof over her lower chest, finding that— rather than being covered in a hard shell, it was made of the same smooth, deep grey skin that was between the plates; but unlike that skin, touching this was actually rather pleasant. She sat up for a moment to get a better look and found that it ran all the way down her abdomen before tapering off and ending in a point somewhere between her back legs.
She lay back down and pushed Chrysalis’ mane out of her face again, noting that her entire face was also comprised of skin, but there seemed to be some kind of bone structure beneath it. Maybe a skull?
After a few minutes, Twilight began to feel trepidation in the air as soft clicking announced the soldier’s arrival. She entered, bearing aloft a plate in her magic and gently set it down in front of Twilight.
The former unicorn’s jaw dropped as she looked at the plate. “You’re kidding, right? I am not eating bugs.” She picked up a slightly charred beetle in her magic and sniffed at it. “No. Just, no!”
“I am afraid that is all we have,” the soldier grunted. “Our food stores are depleted, so you’ll have to eat whatever we manage to find.”
“Depleted?” Twilight asked skeptically “How’d you let that happen?”
“We didn’t let anything happen,” the soldier retorted defensively. “Right now we have six changelings foraging for a hive of one-hundred twenty-two, and only three of those six are actually gatherers; the other three are a digger and two soldiers. We’ve been strictly rationing as best we could for the past week. The six foragers are the only ones who get to eat every day, and that’s only because they’re working every hour they spend awake.”
“I-I’m sorry; I didn’t realize things were that bad around here,” Twilight replied with a guilty wince. She glanced back down at the plate for a moment before turning back to the soldier. “If things are so desperate, than why did you give this to me? I ate yesterday.”
“The queen always eats first. It’s the natural order; your needs are always the top priority. Even as poorly as we are, we’d feed you six times a day if you wished it.”
“That just doesn’t seem right,” Twilight muttered, more to herself than to her companion. She frowned down at the plate and pushed it away. “I’m not eating this. I refuse to gorge myself while others go hungry.”
The soldier recoiled with surprise at Twilight’s sudden outburst. “B-b-but, my queen, I urge you to reconsider! You need—”
“Skipping one meal isn’t going to hurt this body,” Twilight interrupted angrily. “Find some changelings who haven’t eaten in a while and give it to them.”
Hesitantly, the soldier picked up the plate as another changeling appeared in the doorway. She glanced at Twilight suspiciously, slowly muttering, “If all goes right, those changelings you are demanding be fed will be your enemies again in a few day’s time.”
“I don’t care!” Twilight screamed. “Starvation is a horrible and painful way to die! Enemy or not, I won’t let them suffer like that if it can be avoided.”
“As you wish,” the soldier sighed, passing the plate to the other drone. “If you won’t eat, at least take this.” She leaned forward and touched her horn to Twilight’s.
The effect was immediate. Electrifying and exciting, a burst of energy shot through Twilight’s body and mind, leaving her breathless and energized. “W-was that—”
“Harvested love,” the soldier nodded. “And before you ask, we have plenty of it stored. Enough to sustain a hive this size for months.” She bowed to Twilight and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Twilight squealed, causing the soldier to jump and turn around. “What’s your name?”
The changeling simply glared at her for a moment before speaking. “Only queens have names, drones have no use for them. I am number 2,987, the eldest member of this hive, aside from our queen, of course.”
“Oh...” Twilight mumbled, slightly disappointed. “Okay, I’m just going to call you 29-87; it’s a bit easier to say. Anyway is there anything I can help with around here? Any organization or administrative tasks that need to be done?”
29-87 sputtered for a few moments before giving a frustrated groan. “Okay, ponies are rather soft, so I can sort of understand giving up your meal, but why would you want to actually help the hive?”
“Because I’m bored!” Twilight whined. “I’ve been sitting here for hours, and there’s nothing to do?”
“Weren’t you reading those scrolls?” 29-87 asked, pointing at the papers littering the floor.
“I was, but I really don’t want to anymore,” Twilight grumbled. “They’re all scrolls of magic and it’s all black magic. Most of these spells are banned in Equestria; a unicorn can get life in prison or even lose their horn if they’re caught using them! And I’m sure that those that aren’t banned would be if Celestia knew they existed. Look at these!” She shoved a pile of unraveled scrolls at the drone. “Circle of Suffering. Blood Binding. Mindstab... These spells are vile! They’re just elaborate, magical methods of torture.”
“Perhaps you should read them more thoroughly and report them to your princess?” 29-87 asked sincerely.
“What I should do is burn them,” Twilight snarled, scattering the scrolls with a swat of her hoof, “but there’s some sort of protection spell on them that I can’t figure out. And you still haven’t answered my question!”
“Well, to tell you the truth, there isn’t much at all. The hive’s been rather quiet while we’ve been recovering from our ill-fated attack,” 29-87 muttered thoughtfully. “But if you’re truly bent on lending a hoof, you could take a visit to the infirmary; it’d do them some good to see their queen up and about.”
“I thought you said I shouldn’t be walking around on this leg?” Twilight grumbled.
“I said you shouldn’t go to Ponyville on it, not that you couldn’t hobble around the hive. Besides, Chrysalis hasn’t done anything but sit in that spot moping since she got back. It’s not healthy to sit around for that long,” 29-18 sighed. “Come on, I’ll guide you there.” She stepped over to Twilight and helped her to her hooves.
Twilight stumbled for a moment, but succeeded in following 29-87 out of the door and found herself emerging behind a throne of green crystal. She wanted to ask about it, but her companion had continued on and Twilight had to move as fast as she could to keep up with her. They went down a corridor and emerged in a large room full of beds.
“Ummm, I thought you said there were 122 changelings in the hive, there are at least 80 in here!” Twilight gasped, heartbroken at the sight around her.
“Eighty-four. Now you know the severity of our situation,” 29-87 muttered with a nod. “It was initially ninety-six once we recovered all of our wounded after the attack, but many of the worst-off didn’t make it. Most of those remaining will survive, but at least a dozen will be permanently disfigured, and there are four who will be maimed for life. With supplies as low as they are, those four will likely be left to die.”
“W-what? You can’t be serious!’ Twilight stammered.
“I’m afraid that I am. We need to feed those who are most likely to remain useful to the hive,” 29-87 replied stoically. “Would you like to walk down one or two of the aisles?”
Twilight nodded and began moving down the nearest row of cots. All eyes in the room seemed to be on her as she limped across the room, trying to make eye contact and provide encouraging smile to every changeling she passed. She stumbled to a stop when a soft voice reached her ears. “Q-queens here?”
She stopped and turned her head towards its source: a small changeling with a large, green laceration on her swollen left cheek. “Yes she is,” 29-87 cooed from Twilight’s side. “She’s here to visit you and the rest of our sisters.”
The injured drone simply smiled and closed her eyes with a content sigh, so Twilight and 29-87 moved on. Even so, Twilight couldn’t get the image out of her head; the changeling had been no bigger than Applebloom. “I-I’m almost afraid to ask, but how many did you lose in the attack?”
“Umm, about 2,100 I th—”
“What? You said that there are only 122 of you left. That’s 94% of your hive!” Twilight squeaked weakly, staring aside at her guide, refusing to believe it; but the soldier only nodded. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t have known,” 29-87 sighed, shaking her head. “I know that you’re only helping us out of boredom, but I still appreciate it; morale has been terrible lately. Lowest I’ve ever seen.”
“Understandable so,” Twilight replied. As she reached the end of the first row, she locked eyes with one of the smaller drones; teary-eyed and missing both wings. “H-hi, little one. How are you fairing?”
“Better now,” it murmured. “Queen awake, queen okay.”
“Y-yes, I’m okay,” Twilight stammered. She slowly extended a hoof towards the changeling, hesitating for a moment as it flinched, then gently stroked its cheek. She quickly turned away and made for the exit. 29-87 followed her out, a concerned frown on her face. “I-I’m sorry, it’s just hard to see.”
“It’s quite okay, please have a seat and calm down,” 29-87 said soothingly, helping Twilight to her haunches. “You did us a great service by even showing your face. Some drones can go their entire lives without seeing their queen.”
“W-well I’m glad that I could help. I hate seeing anything hurt, especially that badly,” Twilight sighed, trying to push the sight from her mind. “Hey... the drone who I first met told me that there weren’t any ‘healers’. Is that an actual type of changeling, or...”
“It is,” 29-87 nodded. “A changeling’s role is chosen even before they are born, and each type has a few biological differences. It allows us to be more specialized and get things done more efficiently.”
“Well, what happened to all of the healers? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“They were all killed in the attack,” 29-87 replied, fidgeting uncomfortably. “T-to be honest, a few of them were actually slain by you.”
Twilight’s heart sunk. “Sorry about that. We were trying to only knock them unconscious, but we didn’t really have time to be careful about it.”
“I cannot fairly blame you for that; it was a battle after all,” 29-87 grimaced. “Most of our casualties occurred when we were cast out anyway.
“What about the males?” Twilight asked pressingly.
“Males?”
“Yeah. When we were in there you told that changeling that I was there to visit her and her sisters. What about her brothers? Did we ki—” Twilight began to ramble before 29-87 cut her off.
“No, you did not. The only purpose males serve in the hive is to breed with the queen,” she explained. “Chrysalis was fertilized... Actually, I’m not sure how long ago it was, but considering the fact that I was hatched from her eggs, it was obviously before I was born. We haven’t had a male in this hive in decades. At least.” She fell silent, leaving Twilight feeling little better. Twilight’s feelings must have been obvious, because she continued, “Perhaps we should change the subject. Would you like a tour of the hive?”
“No, my leg’s already starting to get sore. Thank you though,” Twilight sighed as she climbed back to a standing position. “I wouldn’t mind if you told me about changelings as a species though.”
“Very well,” 29-87 muttered, moving to Twilight’s side so the wounded queen could lean on her for support. “What do you wish to know?”
“How about changeling reproduction? If males only breed with the queen, then are the rest of you sterile?” Twilight asked. “And what about your eggs? Can I see them? I promise I won’t do anything to them.”
29-87 held up a hoof. “One question at a time, please.”
“Sorry,” Twilight mumbled sheepishly. “I get like that when I find something that interests me.”
“It’s okay, my Queen, I’m more than happy to explain, just not all at once. I’m not used to speaking to ponies at length and to be honest it’s a bit dizzying. That and I’m used to be able to know what your kind is feeling,” 29-87 said, shaking her head. Twilight opened her mouth to ask another question that popped into her head, but snapped her jaw shut and nodded for her guide to continue. “First off, yes, we drones are all sterile. And before you start extending your sympathies, we are all fine with it. Those of us who feel the desire to interact with our younger sisters take up teaching and spend most of their time training new changelings to perform their assigned tasks.”
“Oh. That makes sense,” Twilight murmured thoughtfully.
“As for our eggs, we don’t have any,” 29-87 explained distastefully. “Laying eggs is exhausting to the queen and requires a lot of magic. Leading up to the invasion, Chrysalis decided that it was more prudent to hoard her magic rather than ‘waste it on eggs’. She was so sure that we would succeed that she figured she could just recoup our losses later, and she wanted to take Canterlot so badly that she was willing to risk nearly everything in her attempt.”
“Well that doesn’t seem to bright,” Twilight grumbled.
“That’s because it wasn’t too bright, but questioning the queen is taboo in any hive. Chrysalis in particular accepted no dissent. Had we known then what we know now, maybe we would have tried to counsel her against it,” 29-87 said with a shrug.
“You know, before I thought she was evil for what she did in Canterlot. Now I know she’s evil. What kind of terrible leader would risk thousands of innocent lives like that?”
29-87 simply sighed and shook her head. “Forget it, a pony just can’t understand. What’s your next question?”
“But I want to understand!” Twilight replied. 29-87 merely shook her head, her message clear. “Okay, fine, next question. Why is it that the other drones can’t even put together a full sentence, while you can speak in perfect Equestrian?”
“Simple: soldiers are the ones sent to infiltrate pony communities, and therefore the only ones who need to be taught to speak properly,” 29-87 said proudly.
“Okay, that I get, but why not teach the others to speak properly as well?” Twilight asked.
“Why? It’s a waste of time to teach them anything beyond what they need for their jobs. Soldiers are highly educated because we need to be; other drones are not educated because they don’t need to be,” 29-87 retorted, her frustration beginning to buzz angrily in Twilight’s mind. “The hive is about efficiency, not equality. They only need to be taught enough to communicate, and we drones can sense the emotions of other drones.”
“I’m sorry, but that seems a little messed up to me,” Twilight grumbled back, plainly annoyed.
“You don’t need to understand it, so unless you wish to become our permanent queen, just accept it and move on,” 29-87 growled before stopping dead, eyes wide and fearful. “I-I don’t know what came over me. Please forgive my outburst, my queen.”
29-87’s rapid shift from annoyance to guilt and unease was rapidly giving Twilight a headache as her mind once again struggled to separate her own emotions from the drone’s. “Oh for crying out loud! Relax. I can’t hear myself think.”
“Sorry, what?
“I can sort of hear your feelings in my head, and it’s annoying. How do I turn it off?” Twilight whined, her companion’s rising alarm only making things worse.
“I... don’t rightly know; a queen’s abilities are different from a drones,” 29-87 said with an apologetic shrug.
“Different how?” Twilight snapped.
“A queen can feel her drones, but a drone can’t feel her queen. I don’t know whether a queen’s sense is just more powerful, or if it’s different altogether, but it is different,” 29-87 explained. “I can give you some tips for suppressing it, if you wish, but they take practice and even then might not work at all.”
“Jus-just take me back to Chrysalis’ room,” Twilight grumbled.
“Very well,” 29-87 sighed, beckoning Twilight to follow her.
They walked in silence for a minute before Twilight suddenly spoke up again. “...Chrysalis was cruel to you, wasn’t she?”
“No... What makes you say that?”
“That last drone. She loves her queen no matter what, I have no doubt about that, but she recoiled when I went to touch her. The only other creatures I’ve seen act like that are abused foals,” Twilight muttered sternly. “Being weary of someone you love is not a natural reaction.”
“She treated us quite well,” 29-87 growled sternly before halting in place. “Actually, I can’t really speak for the rest of the hive, but she treated the soldiers well. I never had reason to assume that she treated the others any different.”
“I see. It’s quite easy to turn a blind eye on abuses that don’t affect you. You may not even realize you were doing it,” Twilight said softly.
“If you say so,” the soldier replied with a confused frown. She led Twilight back to the throne room, and Twilight took the lead, remembering where Chrysalis’ quarters were, but 29-87 stopped her by clearing her throat. “I know you are angry with me, but I think you may find this interesting.” Twilight turned around and glared at her as the soldier approached the throne. Wordlessly, she laid a hoof on it and a bright white light lit up the room from within the crystal.
“Whoa! Is that..?”
“Love. The throne is where we keep it. Any excess is stored within the crystal for a time when we may need it,” 29-87 smirked, pleased with Twilight’s sudden change of demeanor. “At maximum capacity, it can store enough to feed 2,000 changelings for a year.”
“That’s incredible!” Twilight squealed, limping towards the throne as quickly as she could manage and squinting deep into the crystal, as if trying to see something within. “I-I could write a whole research paper around this alone!” She gently touched her hoof to it, gasping at the pulsing power radiating from it.
“Is there a specific reason that the crystal is used as a throne? Like so the queen has total control over the hives supply, or is it just symbolic?” she asked, giddy with excitement.
“I... don’t actually have an answer to that. It’s been like that as far back as any of us can remember, and I know that the other hives do it too,” 29-87 muttered.
“Oh...” Twilight muttered disappointedly. “This is still amazing. I can’t believe that you’ve managed to create such an efficient storage method.”
“It’s actually much bigger than it looks. There’s another chamber below this one where the bottom of the throne protrudes from the ceiling. That way drones can add energy to, or take energy from the crystal without disturbing the queen,” 29-87 mused. She smiled sheepishly for a few moments before continuing, “I thought you might appreciate that.”
“I do, thank you,” Twilight said with a smile. She turned away and limped around the throne, dragging herself back to Chrysalis’ quarters and flopped back down on what passed for a bed. “Now to figure out what to do with the rest of my day...”
“If you’d like to take a nap, I could have our alchemist mix up a sleeping draught for you. Getting more rest would likely help you to heal faster,” 29-87 offered, only to receive a suspicious stare from Twilight. “It’s not a trick, I am incapable of harming you.”
“I still say that I don’t feel safe accepting unknown liquids from someone who was probably trying to kill me a few days ago,” Twilight muttered, narrowing her eyes.
“I’m serious,” 29-87 insisted. “Drones can’t harm their queen; we have a biological block in our minds that prevents us from doing it no matter how much we want to. Even an incredibly strong willed drone has difficulty even disobeying their queen.”
“Y-you mean you don’t even have free will? That’s terrible!” Twilight stuttered, utterly horrified.
“Well, sort of,” 29-87 muttered. “We do have some measure of free will, just not where our queen is involved. The only time we can do something that contradicts her orders is when another, more powerful queen establishes a link to us and gives us a contradicting order. But even then, we are only given the choice between two sets of commands, we can’t just pick neither.”
“Oh...” Twilight murmured, unsure of what to say. “W-well, I guess I could take a sleeping draught. It’ll make time go by faster.”
29-87 nodded and left, returning a few minutes later with a stone spoon full of viscous grey liquid. Twilight took a sip, and fell asleep as soon as it hit her stomach.
“My queen? Miss Twilight? You need to wake up.” Twilight stirred from the haze of sleep as the sound of her own name kicked her brain into gear. Her eyes fluttered open and the now familiar face of 29-87 came into focus. “It’s mid-morning; you’ve been asleep for nearly 20 hours,” she said with a warm smile.
“20 Hours? Was that stuff really that powerful?” Twilight groaned with a groggy yawn.
“No, I think your body— or Queen Chrysalis’ body, rather— really just needed the rest. She has done nothing but lay around sulk since our defeat,” 29-87 grumbled. She nudged a resin jug towards Twilight with her hoof. Only now noticing her severe cotton mouth, Twilight seized it at glanced at the liquid within.
Water. It was lukewarm, cloudy, reeked of sulfur, and was held in a container made from hardened changeling spit, but she poured the whole jug down her gullet regardless. “Thanks.”
“You’re very welcome,” 29-87 murmured with a nod. “Now, if you’d please lie on your side, I’d like to check on your leg.”
Twilight complied and a smaller, but much bulkier changeling appeared at her side. “This is changeling 3,561. She is one of our diggers and is here to remove your cast.”
Curious, Twilight only nodded and gestured for the drone to continue. It smiled and trotted up to her, overflowing with enthusiasm. It spat a small wad of fluid onto the cast and gently rubbed it in. Climbing on top of Twilight, it then managed to somehow get its horn beneath the skintight cast, and with a single thrust, shattered it.
“Whoa, that was... impressive,” Twilight whistled as the digger left without a word.
“I thought you’d like that,” the soldier muttered as she took hold of the newly freed leg. She gently pulled on it, testing the movement of the joints, then rapped on it with a hoof, smirking at the ring of chitin against chitin. “Bear in mind that the only medical knowledge I really have is how to patch myself up and get back into a fight...”
“Noted. What’s the verdict?”
“You should be able to travel on this, if you take it easy,” 29-87 sighed. “But I would wait a few more hours. Lie here and stretch and move it every five minutes or so; get the blood flowing and the feeling back. I know how eager you are to get underway, but this is for the best. A numb and weak leg will do you no good.”
“Fine,” Twilight grunted.
“I also have food for you. I’d be best that you actually eat this time, or you may not have the energy to travel later,” 29-87 muttered, levitating a bowl and spoon from a nearby shelf.
“Bugs again?”
“Yes and no. One of the diggers found a pair of mushrooms in one of the deep tunnels; wasn’t enough for a meal, so we cooked them together with the insects. We also threw in a few leaves of mint that one of the gatherers found in a nearby forest,” she explained, setting the bowl down in front of Twilight. “We hoped that it would make the insects more palatable.”
“‘More palatable’ implies that they were palatable in the first place,” Twilight grumbled. She picked up the spoon and took a scoop of the mixture from the bowl. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and shoved it in her mouth, barely bothering to chew it. “That. Is. Nasty... The worst part is that the bugs somehow taste better than the mushrooms.”
“I also brought this... To pass the time,” 29-87 muttered sheepishly. She produced a thin book from behind her back and offered it to Twilight.
“Rare Birds of Equestria, Volume III. Fourth Edition...” She frowned at the book for a few seconds before looking back up at 29-87. “I’m confused.”
“One of the drones noticed how relaxed you seemed yesterday reading the scrolls, and the whole hive knew in less than an hour. An unspoken command spread to find the new queen new things to read,” 29-87 said with a shrug. “It’s sort of hard to explain to a pony. The queen’s wants and needs are a major priority in the hive, even if she doesn’t even know what they are.”
“So one of you just ran out and grabbed the first thing you could find?” Twilight asked, examining the book.
“Not exactly. One of the gatherers came across a campsite last night while looking for food. She checked over the sleeping ponies’ packs, but didn’t find any. She did, however, find that, so she took it for you,” 29-87 replied hopefully.
Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Well, I don’t approve of stealing... but thanks.”
“I’ll... leave you alone for now. I’d like to prepare the rest of the surviving soldiers to escort you to Ponyville,” 29-87 said with a bow. “I’ll send someone in to check on you every now and then and come back when we’re ready.” She trotted out, leaving Twilight alone.
Twilight wolfed down the rest of her meal, cracked open her book, and did what she does best; taking care to exercise her leg whenever it began to feel stiff. Before she knew it, 29-87 had returned to inform her that everything was prepared. As the drone turned to leave, but Twilight stopped her with a hoof to the shoulder.
“Hey, there’s something I want to say,” she murmured as the soldier jumped at the sudden touch.
“Okay. What is it?”
“Thanks. You’ve been really... nice to me over the past few days,” Twilight lilted. “I know you didn’t have a choice when it came to taking care of me, but you went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable and welcome.”
“I-it was nothing. Really,” 29-87 mumbled uncomfortably.
“No it wasn’t. You treated me like a friend, and when I get back to normal, I’m going to tell Princess Celestia about it,” Twilight crooned. “I’ll see if she’d be willing to send some food and medicine as a peace offering. If we could get some friendly dialogue going between your hive and Equestria, then maybe things will get better for both of us.”
“T-that would be wonderful, Thank you,” 29-87 stammered sheepishly. She glanced around for a few seconds and beckoned for Twilight to follow. “Come on. The sooner we get you back into your own body, the sooner we can try for peace.”
She led Twilight out of the room and through a series of upward sloping tunnels, stopping in a small chamber that had sunlight streaming in from a hole in the ceiling and one of the tunnels.
She smiled at Twilight and gestured to fourteen other changelings in the room, most of which bore a combination of scars and freshly-healed wounds. “This is all that remains of our soldiers. If you permit it, eight of us will be escorting you to Ponyville, while the other six stay here to guard the hive.”
“If I permit it?” Twilight asked curiously.
“You can order us all to come with you, but we would prefer not to leave our sisters defenseless,” 29-87 murmured. “For now, you are still our Queen, so we will do whatever you ask, but all of us would like to request that you allow some to stay behind; even if it’s just the weakest of us.”
“I couldn’t ask you to abandon them like that. Go ahead,” Twilight smiled.
“Thank you,” several of the soldiers said at once. 29-87 nodded to six of them and the rest filed out of the far tunnel towards the light, with Twilight and 29-87 following. As Twilight reached the top of the tunnel and into a barren sandstone canyon, she closed her eyes and took a moment to enjoy the soft warmth of the sun on her face for the first time in days, only to collide with one of the soldiers she had been following.
“Hey, what’s going—” she began, but choked on her words as she glanced across the clearing to see a disturbingly familiar unicorn with an arrogant smirk on her face.
“I had suspected I’d find you here, infecting my hive,” Twilight’s old body sneered at her.
Twilight stepped forward, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and suppress the fear rising in her chest. “L-listen, Chrysalis—”
“Queen Chrysalis, thank-you-very-much. You may be in my body, but this brood belongs to me,” Chrysalis snarled with a scowl.
“T-that’s what I meant, Queen Chrysalis. Listen, this was a mistake, I swear. I don’t want your body, I definitely don’t want your hive, and I’m really sorry about all the trouble,” Twilight stammered pleadingly. “I know how to set things right though. If you get a few things from Ponyville for me, I can fix this.”
“Fix this? But why would I want to fix this?” Chrysalis sniggered maliciously. “After my abysmal failure in Canterlot, I sat here for days, wondering how I could possibly recover from such a setback. Then, all of a sudden, you give me the keys to my revenge! Twilight Sparkle can go so many more places, do so many more things than Queen Chrysalis. I could walk right into Canterlot and touch Celestia without setting off any anti-changeling alarms! What kind of Queen would I be if I squandered this opportunity?”
Twilight’s heart sank. She had been afraid of this, had known that getting her body back wasn’t going to be easy. But she still had one advantage: she was still in control of the hive. “Seize her!”
As the soldiers rushed at her, Chrysalis laughed and lit up her— or rather, Twilight’s— horn. “Come now, Sparkle. Do you really think I can’t control my own hive?” The violet light of her horn turned a deep crimson and stopped all eight soldiers in their tracks. “Chrysalis Hive... To me!”
Though a few of them hesitated, shooting indecisive glances between Twilight and Chrysalis, all eight soldiers turned around and lined up on both sides of Chrysalis in a semicircle as the six that had been left behind emerged from the tunnel, surrounding Twilight. She looked around her, hoping in vain to find a gap in their ranks, but found none. Her first instinct was to teleport and run, but her injured leg wouldn’t carry her very far.
She knew the solution to this problem: a small trick her brother had taught her years ago.
The ‘cold cast’ he called it. By forcing a large amount of energy through the very tip of their horn, a unicorn could cast a powerful spell without having to charge it first. It was risky and left the caster drained afterwards, but was invaluable in certain situations. Situations like this.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she launched a blast of green light at Chrysalis— not strong enough to do any lasting damage, but more than enough to hurt. She spell seemed to connect for a moment, but dissipated nearly instantly as a larger, more focused beam of violet light shot through it, striking her in the chest and throwing her onto her back.
“You may have stolen by body, Twilight, but you didn’t steal my magic,” Chrysalis cackled. “I am still many times more powerful than you.”
Several pairs of hooves grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and hefted her up and forward, forcing her to kneel eye-to-eye with Chrysalis. “This has been fun; the look on your face when you first saw me was priceless. Fortunately for you, I very much want you alive, so you will not be harmed. Instead, I only want you to sleep.”
As Chrysalis spoke the word, a fog invaded Twilight’s mind. Her eyelids drooped and thoughts slowed down as her heart-rate decreased, dragging her to the edge of unconsciousness.
She knew that she couldn’t afford to let Chrysalis win this bout. She summoned up as much magic as she could gather and forced it into her mind, breaking the fog with a bright spark. As her vision cleared, she saw Chrysalis had been forced down to her haunches by the counterspell, rubbing a singed horn.
“Oh my..." gasped Chrysalis heavily. "I knew you were powerful, Twilight, but I had no idea. How exciting!”
Chrysalis stood back up, straightening her body into a regal pose. She grinned hungrily and broke into a small menacing chuckle. She stared into Twilight’s eyes, a manic glimmer shining in her own. “You are so very much stronger than I had imagined... You can’t possibly know how much I’ve been wanting this, my Twilight.”
She stepped up to Twilight, and leaned in to whisper in Twilight’s ear. “Oh the things we could have accomplished if I had targeted you instead of your brother...”
Twilight’s skin crawled as she felt a tongue run down her neck and she thrashed around, slamming her head into Chrysalis’. “Get away from me,” she snarled slowly, nearly sobbing with fear and rage.
Chrysalis slapped her across the face. “Temper, Sparkle. It is not wise to vex your new Mistress.” The faux-unicorn stepped back and smirked. “Yes, your Mistress. I am going to build a new Equestria; an Equestria that I alone rule, where all of ponykind bows down to me. I have very big role for you. And you will play, whether you like it or not.”
She cocked her head slightly to the side and grinned sadistically. “It will take years to accomplish and I will not fail this time, but it will be much easier if you co-operate, so I’ll make you a deal, Twilight.”
She frowned and took a businesslike tone. “If you be a good girl from now on, I’ll make you my pet. How does that sound? In fact, if you play your part particularly well, I might make you my personal servant. Or maybe...” She stepped up to Twilight again and ran a hoof through her mane. “Something more... intimate? But first, I need you to sleep.”
The fog invade Twilights mind again, twice as powerful as before. She felt her will rapidly draining as she was dragged towards slumber, but she wouldn’t give in yet. She couldn’t give in yet. She summoned her magic again, and in a rage-fueled fit, shook off the fog once more.
Her vision returned just as Chrysalis hit the ground, thrown away from her by the counterspell. The queen grunted with the impact glared up at her angrily with a sneer. “Very well, you had your chance. I had hoped that it would not come to this, but we are apparently going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.” She stood up and dusted herself off.
“I cannot say that I am not disappointed, but I am more than willing to wait,” she sighed. Leaning in, she spoke in a whisper, “Once Celestia is out of the way, you will be mine and you will have room in your heart for me only.” She nodded at one of the soldiers and Twilight felt a blow to the back of her head.
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What happens if the queen orders the Drones to live their own lives?
Goku vs captain Ginyu anyone?
That... is some lax security. I mean damn!
5272069
It's probably short out their brains do to being a hivemind they can't live without a queen controlling them and giving order to everything even if some show free will.
it would be a lot like putting a robot in the middle of a round room and telling it to stand in a corner.
6739199 THIS. SENTENCE. IS. FALSE.
7132421 It is true and false but ultimately nuetral
Twilight why are you so weak omg, I don't think damsels in distress even faint this often.
I genuinely like this soldier character.
Sudden name change typo detected!
RIP my lungs, 1996-2017
This was an extremely eventful chapter.
Who is Twilight?