Chapter 2: The Outbreak
Chrysalis spent the remainder of the day running through the remainder of the reports from Equestria. Nothing really stood out though, which could have been a good thing. Maybe things were finally slowing down and she could at last formulate a plan that didn't fall apart before she could even enact it. All the same though, the image of that changeling in infirmary continued to naw at and distract her. She considered retiring early, maybe a good night's rest would clear her head.
The bell rang out again sometime past midday. And at Chrysalis' invitation, her visiter entered.
"My Queen." Said the slightly lanky Changeling as he entered and bowed.
"Rise, Monarc," the Queen commanded with barely even a glance upwards.
The Changeling known as Monarch did as he was told, shutting the door behind him and approaching Chrysalis. Monarch's outward appearance would suggest to most that he was a healer like Larvus. However a second glance would show that he was far more than that. For one, his eyes were not the solid turquoise with a hint of white that most changelings had. They were more like the queen's, with distinguishable pupils and irises. His horn was also slightly longer than the average changeling, with a slight twist to it, again like the queen's. Lastly, his wings were of a different shape, more like that of a butterfly's. Monarch was a special changeling, one of only a few who's eggs were personally bred and raised by the Queen herself. In every sense of the word, Monarch was a son of Queen Chrysalis.
"You missed lunch my Queen. " Monarch said in his usual dutiful tone, but with the slightest hint of curiosity.
"I've been preoccupied." Chrysalis said, rolling up yet another scroll and tossing it into a pile of the already studied.
"May I?" Monarch asked, reaching for one of these scrolls for his own perusal.
"You may."
Monarch pulled and unrolled a scroll at random. Scanning it, he smirked at its contents. "'September 23rd. Running of the leaves held in Ponyville.'" He read outloud. "'Unicorn known as 'Comet Tail' wins. Nothing else of note to report.' Hardly an exciting month we've been having."
"Hopefully it remains that way." Chrysalis said with irritation.
"None of it really looks to be very time consuming, or worthy of my Queen's time. So what exactly have you been preoccupied with?"
Chrysalis lifted her gaze slowly from the new scroll she had pulled and glared at her son. "Be thankful you are of my nest, otherwise I would have just incinerated you for your insolence."
With a moment's hesitation, Monarch nervously cleared his throat and quickly placed the scroll back into the pile before standing at attention. "My apologies my Queen, I was simply curious."
"That curiosity will get you killed one day boy. You'd be wise to cull your... enthusiasm for knowledge gathering."
"Yes my Queen."
Chrysalis sighed and looked back to her scroll. "If you must know," She said. "I've been reading through these reports more for my own sanity than anything. I've been trying to keep my mind off of the events that happened in the infirmary this morning."
"Is something amiss?" Monarch asked, tilting his head slightly.
Chrysalis opened her mouth slightly to respond, but then halted herself. On reflection, it might be for the best if few knew about what had become of the drone formally known as Ent. Then again, Monarch had an annoying way of ferreting out information when he really wanted it, so she might as well point him in the right direction.
"I'd rather you not know," She said. "But if you're that curious, go find the Healer known as Larvus. He's the one who reported it to me."
"I could do that." Monarch said. "But your hesitation to tell me yourself indicates something rather offensive. So for your sake I'll simply wait until whatever it is makes its way around the Hivemind. I don't have the patience to track down one healer anyway."
Chrysalis grunted in the affirmative. "Is that all then?"
"Not quite," Monarch said, stepping forward. "Like I said, you missed lunch, so I brought you something." Gently Monarch stretched his neck out and pecked a small kiss on his Queen's cheek, and as he did so he transferred some of his stock piled Love over to her. "I love you Mother."
"And I you Monarch. You are dismissed."
Monarch bowed and left, leaving his tired queen to stare at the door as it closed. Sighing, Chrysalis decided her son was right. Nothing in the multitude of reports was even worth the effort she was putting into them. Tossing the scroll into the 'read' pile without rolling it up, she returned to her chambers and collapsed on the bed sized cushion.
"What I wouldn't give for some absinthe right now." She mumbled as she pulled blanket over herself and slowly drifting off to sleep.
~~~~~
The comforting embrace of her bedding did little to quell Chrysalis' mind as the night wore on. She continued to reel and cringe at the thought of the monster that had killed one of her kin, and the horrors it would disperse upon the changeling race if it ever got out. She dreamed of the thing in infirmary consuming her hive like a plague of ravenous Fire Hornets. Her imaginary fear grew as it crawled out of the ward and attacked one changeling after another, biting down and piercing their tough chitin. Her subjects collapsed like dominos, their heads erupted in horrid tendrils and platelets, only to rise again to infect even more victims. The creatures made their way downward, entering into her quarters and tearing her apart in her sleep, before finally finding the nursery and destroying the eggs and larva. Her own clutch was last, and she screamed out in terror as her own children met the same fate as her.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" She howled in anger and sorrow, ripping through her sheets until she managed to find purchase on the floor.
She huffed and puffed as her senses returned to her, assuring her that it was just a dream. She was alive, as was her swarm and her children. She sighed and collapsed amongst the shredded bed spread, breathing deeply to try and calm herself down. "What a foal." She mumbled. "Getting so worked up over a nightmare."
She looked up at the time piece on her wall. It had been almost a full day since Larvus had come to her. Surely her orders would have been carried out by now. Her hive was safe, and she had nothing to worry about.
"Then why do I have this awful feeling in my gut?" She thought out loud.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
A rapid banging at her door forced her to squint her eyes in frustration. Groaning, she sat up right just in time to hear the frantic cries from the other side of the entrance.
"My Queen! Forgive my intrusion! But something has happened!"
"What now." Chrysalis mumbled as she stood and levitated her crown to her head. She then walked to the door and flung it open, revealing another of her immediate spawn looking up at her in fear. "Speak, Birdwing."
Her Captain of the Guard, 'Birdwing' bowed low before he stuttered out his report. "My Queen... Something... Th-There's something in the infirmary! Something is overtaking it!"
Chrysalis' already cold blood went even colder as she looked down at the shivering, armored changeling. "What sort of 'thing'?"
"It- It's like a fungus! It's grown all over the body of a dead worker drone, and it's filled the air with spores!"
"...spores..." Chrysalis breathed out with the slightest quiver. "Did you breath them in? DID YOU BREATH IN THESE SPORES?!"
Birdwing seemed to have cold reality crash down on him as he did his best to respond in a calm manner. "I... I did not... but several of the drones under my command did..."
Chrysalis began to hyperventilate at this point with barely restrained anger and fear. Why did Larvus not burn the corpse as she had instructed? Why had he allowed it to grow like this? She slowly stepped out of her quarters and trotted down the hall, Birdwing following close behind.
"Are you sure you did not inhale these spores?" She asked.
"I did not even enter the infirmary. I sent a half dozen drones in and they came out nearly in a state of shock at what they had seen. If I hadn't connected with the hive mind, I wouldn't have believed their report. Though at this point I wish I hadn't."
"Find the Changelings you sent in and quarantine them." Chrysalis responded, trying to retain her ability to lead and command despite the anxiety eating away at her. "What of the healers who were working the infirmary?"
"They were no where to be found my Queen. They have simply vanished."
Chrysalis ground her teeth in frustration. 'Great' she thought. 'Not only did they NOT burn the body, now they've gone AWOL!'
The two reached the end of the tunnel and entered into the main hive. She looked down at Birdwing and began to give her orders.
"Birdwing, this is important. Before this... fungus... spreads any farther, seal off the infirmary. No changeling gets in or out! Then, in addition to your own drones, send someone to find the healer called Larvus! He and his staff have put this hive at risk by not following orders! They are to burn whatever that is in their infirmary, then burn themselves while they are at it! And when all that is done, return here to me."
"Y-Yes my Queen!" Birdwing cried before quickly extending his larger than average wings and bolting off in the direction of the infirmary.
Chrysalis watched him go, then looked out over the hive. It was still early morning, and very few of her subjects were awake at this point. She made a silent prayer to her ancestors that all she saw would be safe from whatever parasite was waiting to latch on to them, before spinning around to return to her study.
"Something wrong my Queen?" Came a voice from one of the side passages.
"Monarch." Chrysalis said wearily. "Gather your brothers and sisters and have them meet me in my quarters. Now."
"Umm... by 'brothers and sisters' do you mean-"
"I mean the Changelings I personally bred and raised within my own hovel, you foal."
"Oh, yes, of course my Queen."
"And avoid the Infirmary at all costs. Birdwing is there at the moment, so leave him be."
"Yes my Queen." Monarch said before he dashed out of the tunnel.
A half hour latter, twenty two of Chrysalis's twenty three children were gathered in her hovel. Like Monarch, they all looked at first glance to be Drones, but each had something unique to them that set them apart from the rest of the hive. A longer horn here and there, as well as differently shaped wings or colorations. Some had armored chitins, the telling sign of warriors or guards, who stood around the edge of the room like sentinels. There were three standing near the front that were lighter coloured with larger body structures, these were the nurses who took care of the young changelings and the eggs in the nursery. The remainder were more like Monarch, changelings that were smarter and more observant than the rest, and who's roll in the hive was to lead where Chrysalis couldn't. She was only one Changeling after all.
Chrysalis herself sat upon her cushion, tapping a hoof absentmindedly while she waited for them to process the information she'd fed them through the Hivemind. Each and every one of them had made some form of indication of disgust when the fate of Ent was revealed, and horror had set in when the idea of the fungus spreading had set in.
Eventually, Birdwing also joined them, though he no longer looked like the head of the changeling Guard. He looked like someone who had just been told he had mere hours left in his life.
"Birdwing, at last." Chrysalis said. "Did you find Larvus?"
"I did my queen." He said somberly as he too made a connection with the hive mind. "He's dead. As well as the rest of the infirmary staff."
There was a wave of fearful chatter through the room at this, before Chrysalis waved her hoof for quite. "let me guess, the fungus?"
"Indeed. The seven of them were found on the very top floor, laying near the edge of the rim that overlooked the rest of the hive. They had long since sprouted polyps from their head, and the spores in the process of ejecting."
"But... that would mean the rest of the hive is already infected!" One of the others shouted.
"We could ALL be infected right now!" another cried out.
"Enough." Chrysalis said with a slight waver in her voice. "We don't know how 'infectious' these spores are, so until we start growing stalks of our own, we shall continue to act like the intelligent children I raised you to be." There was a general nod of assent, but worry was still on the face of every one there. "Let us look at the facts, and then plan accordingly. Birdwing, your drones burned the bodies, correct?"
"Yes my Queen."
"And themselves?"
"They gladly accepted their fate. They're currently in Infirmary along with the rest of the exposed drones."
"Good. The area will need to be cleansed with fire before we do anything else. Monarch, how many changeling's live in the upper levels?"
"None." Monarch said. "Not for more than twenty years. The highest any changeling lives is three floors from the top, on floor four. Out of the one-thousand twenty eight changelings currently living in the hive, only three hundred and six have chosen to have hovels on the fourth floor. However, because of the dome shape of the main cavern, the over hang might have spared them. The changelings we should worry about more are the one's in the center of the ground floor."
"That's where the bulk of our population lives," Chrysalis stated with calm horror.
"Yes. The spores will have created a type of snipers ally in that location, and based off of the information we have on this fungus, it's affects start taking hold within roughly an hour to two hours."
"And who knows how long it's been since the Healers had sprouted," one of the nurses pointed out. "There might already be more infected drones headed upwards to take the Healers' place."
"So what do we do?" Birdwing asked. "There's far too much conjecture at this point! We can't hope to burn every spore in the hive, and if we miss even one infected drone... oh by the ancestors."
"What is it?" Chrysalis asked.
"I said there were seven up on the top floor. But Larvus's report yesterday said he only entered Ent's room with two other healers. Where did the other four come from?"
"...the mines..." Monarch whispered. "That's where Ent picked up this fungus, and Changelings have been going in and out since her infection...two mornings ago."
Silence rang like a mighty gong through Chrysalis's home. This wasn't just like her nightmare, it was worse. This wasn't just some sort of zombie outbreak, the fungus was an almost invisible threat to her and her swarm. Nothing could stop this, not even if they'd caught it in time.
"We're dead," one of the youngest in the room said. "Aren't we mother?"
Chrysalis looked to the changeling in question, the one she called '88' due to the peculiar pattern on his wings. She'd always known that there was a distinct possibility that her race would die out in her lifetime. Starvation had pushed them to do so many drastic things. They'd had to kill, steal, kidnap, even attempt to concur a vastly larger and more established nation. All of it was for the sake of survival, to endure the harshness of a world that so obviously wanted them gone. And now the world was throwing its worst at them. Nature itself would be there undoing.
"No," Chrysalis said, rising from her seat. "Not today. Not now. Not ever." Chrysalis walked to the mirror and looked at herself one last time before she lifted it off its hook and casted it aside. The reflected surface cracked violently as she pressed a hoof against an hidden imprint in the wall, causing a secret doorway to shutter open and reveal a passageway she had carved out of the rock long ago.
"My children," she said simply. "We're leaving. Birdwing, go and sound the evacuation horn. I may have lost this Hive, but I will not lose this swarm."
There was a rush of activity as the assembled changelings, not needing to be told twice, scrambled for the exit. Chrysalis watched them all go, save for Birdwing, who rushed to raise the alarm, and the three Nurses.
"My Queen." One of them said. "What of your eggs?"
Chrysalis felt her heart sink. It pained her to leave them behind, but she didn't have much choice. "There isn't time." she said. "I can't afford to risk current life for possible life."
"But we can." The nurses responded. "You bred us to take care of the young in this hive. Let us do our job. Let us retrieve them."
Chrysalis's face twitched, her mind struggling between the desire to see all of her children safe and sound, and ALL of her children safe and sound. She sighed, then looked sternly between the three as the sound of the massive evacuation horn reached her ears. "You have three hours. Gather as many as you can, then escape with the rest of the swarm. Take the outer tunnels and stay out of the main hive."
"Yes my Queen." They responded and darted out the door, leaving Chrysalis to follow the rest of her brood out the secret passage.
~~~~~
The tunnel came out under a large rock formation about a mile away from the main exit of the hive. It was nearing noon in the bad lands, and in three hours the sun would be high in the sky.
"This disease sure had perfect timing." Monarch said to one of his siblings, who nodded in agreement.
"Enough talk." Chrysalis said as she exited the tunnel. "Ulysses, Goliath, Swallowtail, and Morpho." Four armored changelings assembled in front of her at attention. "Go to the main exit, Meet up with Birdwing, Hairstreak, Brimstone, and Peacock. The later three will hopefully have my clutch of eggs, but you will need to assist Birdwing in rooting out the infected and the non-infected. Wait three hours, anyone that tries to wander off is to be killed and burned. Anyone left must follow through with the evacuation plan, integrate with Equestrian society and make their way to the Manhattan hive. You three," She pointed to Ulysses, Goliath, and Swallowtail. "Will go with them and act in my stead. Morpho will return here to us with the Nurses and my eggs. These are your Queen's orders, now go!"
"Yes my Queen!" the four shouted before flapping open their wings and buzzing off in perfect synchronization.
All that remained were fifteen, plus the Queen. They huddled together in the shade of the formation they'd crawled out from. "Nobody sleeps," Chrysalis stated plainly. "And nobody wanders off. That includes me."
~~~~~
Three hours came and went. And in that time, Chrysalis had to kill two of her own. The corpses of two of her sons lay burning within plain sight of the others. Monarch and 88 couldn't take their eyes off of them, while the rest had averted their eyes to try and block out the sight. They didn't blame their mother. They couldn't, what she'd done had been a mercy, both to their infected siblings and to themselves.
As the sun drew high, Morpho returned to them, alone. The lack of the three nurses hammering home a truth so horrible that 88 actually started to tear up.
"Well." Chrysalis sighed. "Report."
"Goliath almost turned on our way there." Morpho said. "He dipped out of formation, and when we accosted him he realized what was happening and demanded we kill him. The remaining three of us joined up with Birdwing. Over the next three hours, only about five hundred drones left the tunnel... and almost half of them 'wandered off' my queen."
"How many... How many are left?"
"...less than three hundred."
"And the nurses?"
"Never showed up.... Also, Birdwing began to turn about an hour in."
"Curse it all to Tartarus!" Chrysalis swore as she rose abruptly. She started pacing about the area, fuming in anger and misery.
"Roughly half the swarm ignored the evacuation horn." Monarch said quietly in disbelief.
"Or were already becoming one of those... things..." 88 murmured.
Monarch closed his eyes. He couldn't help but imagine the screams that would surely be starting at any moment. The cacophony of wailing would rival even those in Tartarus.
Chrysalis stopped her pacing and looked northward, out of the Badlands. "We're heading out now. We're going to make our way to the Smokey Mountain hive."
"Smokey Mountain?" 88 asked. "But the rest of the swarm-"
"Is at risk of alerting Equestria of what is going on. A mass exodus like this wasn't something I thought would ever happen. The Evacuation plan was more of a hypothetical scenario. Three hundred changelings traveling northward, ponies are going to notice. And then their accursed Sun Princess will be pushing to find out what's going on. I don't want any of us caught in the middle of that."
"So they're a distraction," Monarch said.
"I wouldn't use that word, but yes."
The remaining members of Chrysalis's brood looked at each other worriedly for a few seconds before Monarch rose and barked at them. "You heard your Queen! We're leaving!" And with that, they all burst into green flame, giving themselves proper disguises for the long trip through enemy territory.
~~~~~
Two Hours Later
The secret exit stirred once again as three more changelings emerged. The missing Nurses clambered out, twitching slightly every now and then as the spores in their brains tapped into a very instinctual drive in all of Chrysalis's children: To be with and support their mother.
"M- Mother..." one murmured, sniffing at the air and locating the queen's scent.
The three stumbled into the wastes, bringing the fungus with them as they made their way to Equestria.
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4931985
Well it said that the infected fungus is by the small ant name Ophiocordyceps unilateralis or call it Zombie Ant
Here's a video
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis
this was beautifull
Images fill your head of twitching bug-ponies with funguses bursting out the side of their heads, with eggs on their back as they moan, "Mother....
You fall to your knees screaming.
So far it's pretty great! I love this idea and kept me on my toes when the decision to leave had to be made.
Only a thousand living in the hive? I was thinking 30 000 members.
5517653 yes, if it were only one hive, but from the sounds of it there are more than one hive, so the population would be very dispersed
Wouldn't burning the bodies only make the fungus spread faster, as it would pop releasing a few dozen instead of a few thousand?