11: Refugees
Unconsciousness was never quiet for most changelings. The hive mind, a part of their self-identity, was always audible. Yet as one particular changeling awoke, the Link’s morning greeting was accompanied by bodily pain, both sore and deep, and abrasive stiffness.
Cadista cracked her eyes open and blinked a few times to find herself staring at a hospital ceiling. The worst part about that ceiling was it was definitely not part of the Silver City. “No… I’m back here.”
“Mother!” Cadista struggled to turn her head to the voice. Twilight surged forward to dominate Cadista’s field of view. The purple mare’s face was stained by old tears and her eyes had mostly recovered from being bloodshot. “You’re awake!”
“Granny!” Rainbow Dash’s face partially shoved Twilight’s aside, making both young queens smush each other. “I knew an old crone like you would pull through.”
“As kind as ever, Rainbow Dash,” Cadista choked out dryly. Twilight pressed some buttons on the bed to help lift Cadista’s head up. Rainbow Dash fetched a cup of water and helped the old queen sip it down.
“I thought I was going to go bald from the thought of losing you,” Twilight said as she called over the link for the doctors attention.
Rainbow Dash refilled Cadista’s drink and gave it back. “That’s when I told sis your presence in the Link was only faint, not fading away like we feared. After that it was just a matter of waiting for you to wake up.”
Now that Cadista’s vision was clearing, she could see the meticulously clean hospital room was actually a whole ward with her area curtained off. White neon lights cast her space into semi-harsh brightness. She was laying on her side with two of her legs suspended by cables and covered in casts. By the feel of it, her body was covered in gauze, but the distinct lack of a fourth leg was painfully clear. The news her senses brought back worried Cadista greatly. “How long have I been out?”
“A week and a half,” Twilight replied while trying to wipe her tears away.
Cadista nodded slowly, or at least tried to without wincing in pain. She could sift through the hive mind to catch back up from the lost time, but the pounding migraine creeping up on her stayed her hoof. She couldn’t even summon the willpower to use magic to scratch an itch. “How many of my children survived?” she croaked out.
Twilight was silent, unable to speak without her voice cracking. Rainbow Dash however, had always been the one to deliver next-of-kin letters to the families of all Wonderbolts in her command. “We only saved five hundred and twenty three,” she said, barely holding onto her composure. The loss of so many voices upon the Link was painfully apparent to all within the hive mind. “Including the fifty nymphs you had. We’ll be holding a Day of Mourning when you’re well enough to attend.”
“So many survived?” Cadista’s heart soared a little. “Even with your assistance, I was sure I would have lost so much more.”
“It would have been more if it wasn’t for…” Twilight grit her teeth and quieted. She averted her gaze in burning shame. Cadista looked to Rainbow Dash, assuming she would finish her sister’s sentence, but she too remained silent. The flash of anger in both of them was palpable.
“If it wasn’t for what?” Cadista demanded weakly, trying to add some edge to her voice. Pain shot through her body, making her grunt in agony.
“…Chrysalis,” Rainbow Dash said at length. “Right as we were trying to get all your drones to the train depot for evacuation, Thereena and Nubile had been lying in wait between Stripped Gear and the train outpost for us. The ground and air was filled with your kids, so our ship couldn’t open fire on their drones as they were converging on us, but Chrysalis and her sisters’ goon squad came in and wrecked face. They left us alone, and just focused on Thereena and Nubile.”
“The five of them fought it out while we made our escape,” Twilight finished. “We never bothered to find out who won.”
Cadista was caught between stunned surprise and a flash of anger that agitated her wounds. “Why would she help us?! You didn’t cut a deal with her I hope.”
Rainbow Dash made a sound of disgust and stuck her tongue out. “No way! I’d rather go a year without eggs before asking Sticky Spit for a favor.”
“Doesn’t matter now,” Twilight said bitterly. “Even if she doesn’t try to press for a favor, she’ll hang this over our heads for decades.”
Cadista couldn’t think of anything to say. With tired eyes, she let her head fall back to the pillow. Even with more survivors than Cadista had hoped for, the loss of the hive, and Kreesus’ betrayal bore down like a crushing vice. Yet the worst of it all was Yumia’s absence.
You were holding me close for the first time in forever. Why did you send me back? Haven’t I suffered long enough without you? Cadista’s silence was deafening to Twilight and Rainbow. Even her voice on the Link was diminished. She let out a long weary sigh.
Wanting to break the silence, Twilight scooted closer to the bed. “We thought the strain of the hive mind was keeping you in a coma, so we… sort of…” She clapped her hooves nervously, but Cadista didn’t seem to break from her blank stare at the ceiling. “RD and I started severing some of your drones and linking them to us for the time being.”
Even then, the elder queen was lost in emotional turmoil. Cadista’s link presence had shriveled down to what it had been while she was unconscious, making those drones still linked to her nigh impossible to hear. “Leave me, please.”
Twilight started to get choked up, but Rainbow Dash had seen it before. It’s the same with all the families I’ve delivered the bad news to. Even I can tell this is a pain deeper than the loss of her hive and kids. She walked over and laid a hoof on Twilight. <Come on, sis, let’s give granny some space.>
Twilight lingered by her mother’s bedside a while longer before acquiescing to Rainbow’s suggestion, but not before giving Cadista a long loving nuzzle. The pair solemnly departed through the privacy screen to find Resta and a few of other medical staff. “Take care of Granny, she’s in a bad way.”
I’d have never guessed, Resta mused darkly. All that played on her face and aura was a subdued clinical smile. “I understand, my queen.” She started going over the chart on her clipboard. “However, before you go,” she called out to Twilight and Rainbow Dash before they could leave earshot.
The ward’s nearby patients, all twenty of them, were some of the less lucky survivors of Stripped Gear. Most of them were in stable condition, but none of those in this ward were fortunate enough to escape with all limbs intact, or attached. Twilight whispered into Rainbow’s ear, before the blue queen continued on. Twilight turned back around to face the Chief Resident. “Yes?”
“I must insist that while her return to consciousness is a good sign,” she paused as two nurses flew overhead to attend to Cadista, “she’s not out of the woods yet.”
Twilight saw her nearby brothers and sisters’ originally uplifted faces sink back down. “Perhaps we should continue this conversation elsewhere.”
<As you wish,> Resta took to the air and made for her private office down at the far end of the building, stopping only sporadically to offer quick advice to the nurses who came up to her. Twilight patiently followed after her, knowing Resta’s workload was still immense. The pair made it to Resta’s office, which was as much a paragon of organization as Twilight herself.
Resta briefly searched for Cadista’s file from a cabinet before restarting. <I’ll be blunt, Cadista may be conscious, but that’s only because a queen’s nervous system is designed for rapid regeneration to keep the Link intact. Aside from that and her reproductive system, her other regenerative capabilities barely match that of the average drone. I don’t know if she’ll ever fully recover from the organ damage without allowing herself to be rebirthed.>
The setting sun bathed the office in rich oranges and reds. Twilight frowned at the diagnosis, and from having to lift a hoof up to shield her eyes. <You know full well your grandmother would never agree to a rebirth.> Resta grumbled in supreme disapproval, and chewed on her quill to keep from voicing a barb. <So tell me what can we do about my mother’s condition?>
“That’s where it can become tricky,” Resta commented after lapsing to vocalized speech since they were alone. “In all honesty, with the amount of damage she sustained, I want to put her in a life support pod to heal. Buuut,” she added with dry irritation, “That’s only one step away from rebirthing, and we know she’ll shoot that one down.”
“I’ll try to convince her otherwise,” Twilight offered with dismal hope of success.
“Mmm, wouldn’t that be a nice surprise. You cave into her wishes too easily, my queen.” Twilight scowled at her, but couldn’t deny the truth of it.
Resta only sighed in exasperation. “Unfortunately, even if you dragged her to a pod, it will only serve to accelerate healing. The process won’t heal organ scarring nor replace the missing leg. Plus any bones we couldn’t set right wouldn’t miraculously be perfect again either.” Resta rattled off numerous other injuries that Twilight was already familiar with. Even so, her mood lifted slightly at the doctor mentioning various improvements, or at least stable conditions.
“How soon can she be up and about?” Twilight added with a bit of regal authority. “If she doesn’t use a pod?”
Resta huffed in mild exasperation as she poured over her clipboard. “I’m guessing maybe two months bed rest at the most before trying to walk around, with some serious time off for fitting a prosthetic and physical therapy after that.”
Twilight absorbed it all silently. If she was honest with herself, she was just happy her mother’s life wasn’t in danger anymore. “I’ll have Ratchet commission one for her since Blitz is currently testing for a new career path.”
Resta nodded slowly to signal a slight switch in topics. She closed her file and tucked it inside a pocket of her doctor’s coat. “The other thing I must mention, even if it should be obvious, is that Cadista is going to go through mental shock and undoubtedly depression as well. Her loss of life, home, and limbs is going to be difficult to bear. I strongly suggest you and Auntie-momma to spend as much time with her as you can spare.”
“Of course we will,” Twilight replied with mild surprise that Resta needed to voice that concern at all. “But for now, mother wants some space.”
“Not exactly what I expected…” Resta rubbed her chin contemplatively. “But I’m a surgeon, not a psychiatrist. I’ll post a nurse to her in the event that she needs somepony, and doesn’t call out for one. You can never be too sure when it comes to depression.”
Twilight grimaced and couldn’t help but to look back at the door to the ward. “You don’t think she’d do anything to hurt herself, do you?” The icy cold touch of terror gripped her heart.
“I don’t know, but I’d rather not take any chances, hence the nurse.” Resta took a moment to give the ward staff several orders. “In the meantime, leave her to my care.”
“…Very well.” Swallowing her fear, Twilight pinged her mother, but Cadista only desired to be left alone with her thoughts. I hope she gets better.
The renovations to turn Phoenix Roost’s old colony ship into a proper castle were well nearly complete. While it may have been local civic engineers and immigrated ones from Stripped Gear that got everything into shape, it was Rarity’s keen eye for style and fashion that brought tactful color and cheer to the ship turned castle. She was also the primary reason the castle conversion was still unfinished.
The room where Aegis and Blitz currently resided in was one such example. A banner bearing the same phoenix and storm cloud design that was borne on Thunderfury’s shields hung beside two windows with the lounge furniture matching the color scheme. Rarity was beyond delighted that her color patterns were meshing so well with the drones and the furniture they used.
Sadly, this was entirely lost on Blitz who was sitting on a blue couch while Aegis paced back and forth on her back legs. The blue drone had to admit Aegis was becoming rather adept at walking upright. “We’re starting testing now of all times? What if the war reaches us here?”
Aegis stopped pacing and gave Blitz a reassuring small half-smile. “The queenly duo and I don’t think the other hives will risk striking us here. Luna’s got eyes on every single infiltrator and love collector in the alliance, and Celestia made sure the griffins and minotaurs are only a few steps behind us. If an army sets one hoof in our territory, they all get booted out. Besides, from what our scouts report, the other queens are more interested in fighting each other right now.” Aegis glanced at the closed door and windows conspiratorially. “Look, you’re not exactly cleared to know this, but since you’re in the princess running, I’ll let you in on this one. Granny’s generals and Aunty both agree that the attack on Stripped Gear was as much about kidnapping grandma as it was about getting Equestrian interests out of the jungle.”
“I suppose that makes sense. But they’ll keep trying to get love production.”
“True,” Aegis conceded with a shrug. “Nevertheless though, we can’t put everything on hold just because we have enemies.”
“Oh, alright.” Blitz suppressed a nervous shudder and pulled her legs in closer to her barrel.
“Now, as you know, I’ll be making my own hive in five or six years thereabouts.” Damn I wish somepony could figure out an exact timeline for this. Maybe one of the mathematicians? “I also agree with both our mothers’ idea of making my hive a diarchy. So…” she gave Blitz a come-hither look just to get a blush out of the blue mare. “Here we are.”
“Okay,” Blitz’s muzzle scrunched at the princess’ teasing under such a serious meeting. “So what do you need me to do?”
“Just a few questions. First off, now that you’ve had some time to think on it, do you want to be my partner for the next thousand or more years?”
Blitz turned away and looked down at the sofa cushion. “I don’t know. Neither one of us can claim to be even ten years old yet. I mean, I love you, but I love everypony in the hive. This sort of thing is crazy big to think about.”
“Well you got one up on me.” Blitz gave Aegis a confused look while the princess shrugged helplessly. “Back when momma was testing me, I didn’t really think about the long run. I had eggs on the mind and little else.”
“Oh yeah? At least now you’ve expanded to pyrophilia and nymphomania,” Blitz smirked while looking up contemplatively. “Oh wait…”
Aegis gave her a sardonic smirk and eyebrow. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Blitz gave her a deadpan scowl.
Aegis couldn’t hide the bubbling laughter pushing its way to the surface. My future partner needs a sense of humor. “Anyway,” she said slightly dismissively. “Here’s a scenario. If you had full say on what alchemical enhancements you wanted for a royal rebirth, what would you want? Generally I mean.”
Blitz perked up and pulled one of Aegis’ forelegs in close to admire her handiwork. “To be honest, I think it would be a good idea to mirror you. If we both had upright walking, then we could just modify everything we build to accommodate for it. This is a pretty big change, so we’d be better off if everypony’s working with the same arms and legs, right?”
“Interesting.” Blitz let go of Aegis’ hoof so she could flex her fingers. The joints hissed and whirred quietly as she thought. Floria suggested having no alterations done to her, to counterbalance my more radical alterations. A tried and true method, sure, but unimaginative. Gaia Waltz said roughly the same thing as Floria, just with auntie’s sonic rainboom wings added in. Those wings are great in low numbers, but I don’t think that’d be that good for half the hive. Momma said it’s a frivolous adaptation to anypony outside of special forces. Especially since I would be the military arm of the hive.
Synergera had it in her head to rebirth herself into a semi-aquatic form of all things. I guess that’d work for a coastal hive location like she suggested, but that wouldn’t really compliment my alterations. She’d be better off waiting for the next set of royal daughters to push that idea. Lastly there was Rusty Hammer and her crazy of idea of retooling the salve gland to produce crude oil. She shuddered at the last thought and tried to rub the taste off her tongue with her teeth.
In an exercise in improving hand dexterity, Aegis walked over to the desk and wrote down Blitz’s response by hoof, or actually hand this time. The purple mare scowled at her abysmal penmanship which made chicken scratch look like it came from a printing press. She tried rewriting Blitz’s answers over and over again while muttering curses at the unwieldy digits. Blitz was starting to get antsy from the long silence before remembering she brought a book with her and started reading up on the latest developments her grey aunts and uncles had managed to save from Stripped Gear. Miffed by her difficulty, Aegis pulled a chair over to continue working.
Half an inkpot and four pages later, Aegis finally pieced together enough of Blitz’s response to paper. I’ll just have to write it again later by horn before putting it to file. “Okay,” she said with a cheery smile and slightly disheveled mane after spinning around in her chair towards Blitz. The blue drone winced at the irritated eye tick Aegis was suffering and coughed while pointing at the lukewarm glass of cider. “Ooo good idea!” Aegis took half the beverage in one gulp and slammed it back down on the desk with a satisfied smile. “Thanks.” She stood back up to begin pacing. “Right, so…” Aegis ran a hand through her mane in an unconscious effort to smooth it back out. “If we became partners, where would you prefer to colonize?”
Blitz moved a bookmark in place before closing her tome. She fixed Aegis with a thoughtful look. “That’s easy. We should put ourselves along the Steamrunner River.”
“You mean the one mother named on our way over to Stratholme?” Aegis tapped her chin, and hummed in thought. “Why’s that? So we can keep a check on Federation expansion?”
Blitz smiled happily at being able to go into detail. “It would create a definitive western border, to be sure, but the river itself is key.” Wish this room had a map to work with. “That river runs only twenty kilometers from Ponyville, so a short land route is possible between the river and Ponyville. Not to mention it's calm in most places, so it would be excellent for non-airship trade until a railroad is made.” Blitz started falling into an excited lecture mode. “Not only that, but it would put us in closer contact with sphinxes, and more importantly, their hands.”
Now she had Aegis’ real attention, causing her to stop pacing with both ears angled forward. Blitz smirked at being able to reacquire Aegis’ undivided attention during a lecture. “Since Rasua morphs her hands and paws back and forth so completely, that means their bones must be able to shift along with the muscle and skin.”
Aegis recalled the numerous hand lessons Rasua gave her with a growing smile. “Yeah… that’s right! Her hands don’t even have the cat claws, just something she called ‘nails’. Even granny was shocked when I told her about that.”
Blitz’s beaming smile mirrored that of her princess. “To think natural evolution is still teaching us so many fascinating designs. If we could incorporate that limited form of shapeshifting into ourselves, we wouldn’t need gauntlets! We could keep our hooves for wall walking and quadruped movement, and have organic hands and maybe even toes too!”
A predatory grin slowly crept over Aegis muzzle the more she thought about it. “Yeah… Yeah. Yeah! That’s not a bad plan at all.” Blitz may just be an engineer, but she’s got some damn good ideas on alchemical possibilities that even I didn’t think about. Hell, I should have, since the whole biped thing was my shtick.
A voice over the Link jarred both changelings out of their scheming. <Princess Aegis, there is an urgent matter that requires your attention,> Thunderfury butted in without a ping. <Rasua’s been skulking around the hive and is currently at the eating area just west of Hot Spice’s diner.>
Aegis gave Blitz a troubled brow furrow. <Skulking in what way?>
<Ever since this morning, she’s been trying to eavesdrop on the conversations of our siblings without making herself noticeable. I’ve been relaying to these groups to keep their conversations vocalized while she’s around, but we haven’t exactly been able to keep eyes on her twenty-four seven since our mothers didn’t want to make her paranoid.>
<And you think your warnings are only making her even worse,> Aegis tsked irritably. Guess we’ll have to air out the fact we’re a psychic species then. “Blitz, I gotta say, I am mighty impressed. I’ll get back with you later today or tonight to finish up.”
Nodding in agreement, Blitz buzzed around the room to gather her belongings. “Okay. I have to go over some things with my department anyway. I’ll see you then.”
With Thunderfury and several other soldiers keeping an eye on Rasua, Aegis found the lone sphinx had moved away from the diner. Instead, Thunderfury directed Aegis towards the Clover Library. The library was a bibliophile’s dream and one of the grandest buildings in the hive, complete with matching flags of Phoenix’s Roost and Equestria. It even rivaled Ratchet’s manufactorium just four blocks away. The primary reading room was filled with drones of grey, blue, and purple in a five story spiraling tower. Aegis came in from the open skylight to find Rasua on a second story balcony chair. A gaggle of drones were researching at the table next to the fidgeting sphinx.
Aegis raced down to stop in a hover next to the blacksmith’s table. “Afternoon, Rasua. I take it you’ve finished settling in.”
Rasua closed her book with a loud clap. “I have.” She gave Aegis a neutral expression, but her eyes darted to the two Queen’s Guard hiding by a bookshelf and a table across the room. There’s a thin line between being among friends, and a nest of vipers. “A very impressive home you’ve built for yourselves. A far cry from the…” Rasua twirled a paw in the air while try to word it properly. “The pulsating organic mass of an insect hive I was expecting.”
“So glad we defied expectations,” Aegis replied sardonically with an amused raised eyebrow.
Shifting uncomfortably, Rasua shrugged off her embarrassment. “I doubt you’re here for small chat. What can I do for you, Princess?” she asked in a calm and respectful tone.
Aegis crossed her forelegs and gave her guest a knowing scowl. “You can tell me why you’re spying on my siblings.”
All of the drones nearby quieted and slunk away from the confrontation. The quick evacuation put Rasua on edge, but she tried not to show it. Even with that attempt at self-control, Rasua couldn’t hide that edge of fear. “I may be here to pay a blood debt, but I will return home one day. Can you truly blame me for wanting to learn more about your kind? Especially since you always seem evasive about my questions of the existence of psykers among you.”
Aegis landed and took a chair at Rasua’s table. “Fine then. You want the whole truth?”
“It’d be refreshing change of pace.” Rasua leaned back in her seat. “Not that our little game of 'Hide the Cheese' hasn't been fun.”
I know Momma’s prepping me for rule with all these stupid royal tests, but damn I wish she’d let somepony else handle this. Aegis worked her jaw while her lips were in a pressed line. “You asked me if there were any ‘psykers’ among my species after we fled from Stripped Gear.” Rasua nodded curtly. “Yes,” Aegis stated flatly. “Every last changeling is psychic.”
Rasua’s heart went cold. Everything seemed to slow down, and while her eyes were entirely focused on Aegis, Rasua’s other senses seemed to work overtime to locate the remaining changelings in the room. As her brain finished processing the declaration, her predatory pride wrestled with her fight or flight instinct. “Y-your entire race?!”
“Yyyuupp.” Aegis deadpanned. “After hearing how much you sphinxes love psychics from that Order priest, you can imagine why we were wary about telling you.”
“The Order likes to exaggerate the dangers, but there is reason for my people’s need to… regulate psykers.” Rasua didn’t bother trying to hide her breathing exercises in her attempt to stop hyperventilating and to get her heart rate back down. Images of Silandrus’ drones speaking with one voice sent chills down her spine.
“Well there’s no need for that with us,” Aegis stated flatly. “Aside from royals like myself, the only thing changelings can do on the psi front is some empathy along with communication, but even then, we can only communicate with each other. No mind reading. We also passively feed on love. Even with a royal’s expanded abilities, much of it is mirrored by unicorn styled magic anyway so we’ve never seen a problem.”
“But it is a problem,” Rasua banged the table for emphasis. “Maybe not for you, but what about the other races of the world? The ponies, those tree… things, and all the others you’ve told me about. Do they have psykers or defenses against them?”
“I say again,” Aegis bit back with weakening patience, “only royals like myself have anything outside of intra-hive communication and some empathy. The other races have no more reason to fear us than any other sentient being. Why do you have such a phobia against it?”
Trading answers for answers? Very well. With her breathing more or less under control, Rasua adopted a normal sitting posture. “The people from my province, unlike everyone else, have never had a problem with psykers as a whole. I think they are a great boon, but it requires a paragon of morality to be welcomed by me. So after seeing your once strong ally betray you,” Rasua pointed a finger at Aegis, “And other royals sending thousands of their own citizens off to die by your guns, and then spiting Queen Cadista by razing her city state to the ground, your species doesn’t strike me as one with a strong moral fabric.
“That reminds me far more of the debased royal families of old kingdoms. You commit incest on a disgustingly grand scale, and I doubt your queens don’t partake in it either. Then you tell me just yesterday that your queens toy with the genetics of the drones to force them into a single defined role.”
“Oh get off your moral high,” Aegis rebuked, cutting Rasua’s growling tirade short. “You’re going to sit there and impose your sense of morality on a culture that developed on an entirely different continent? You know next to nothing of us.” Aegis’ scowl deepened to match Rasua’s stubborn look. “I’m not going to bother lecturing you on why incest is practically a necessity for our species because I don’t have the patience to educate yet another species where love is only an emotion to you.”
Aegis’ glare hardened to the point of making Rasua instinctively uncomfortable. “But let me smack you with some knowledge. It’s every queen’s moral obligation to design each drone to fit whatever role they need to fill.” Rasua moved to speak but Aegis leaned forward and jabbed a gauntleted hoof at her. “And even then, if a drone wants to choose a different career, they can!” she added while wrapping her gauntleted hoof on the table. “Just ask Gear Ratio!"
Rasua moved a hand forward and was about to retort when Aegis cut her off. “I don’t want to hear one word about hypocrisy, because I used to be a drone myself. If my queen had asked it of me, I’d have gladly been redesigned to anything the hive required. Without question, because they deserve such loyalty.
“And don’t you dare lump my queens in with scum like Kreesus and the rest of them. Between the four of us, my fellow royals allow any drone to have individuality, and sapience like any other civilization. My aunt is the embodiment of loyalty itself! So shut up about morality before you dig yourself into a hole you can’t fly out of.”
Rasua felt like she was forced to reevaluate her stance since Aegis was too furious to give her a word in edgewise. Thankfully, Aegis’ silence gave her time to think. Rasua’s face went through a range of emotions before settling on troubled before she muffled a gasp of inspiration. “My most sincere apologies, Princess Aegis. I spoke out of ignorance.” She glanced out of a window and spied a few thestrals and Tea’la. “You surprise me to be sure. I suppose the sheer number of refugees you’ve accumulated between those bat ponies, tree things, and now the grey changelings can attest to that.”
Aegis’ face went from angry to confusion. “We’re still trying to find places for them in the alliance, since we can’t properly house them all here. What of it?”
“If you were speaking with the Order, then you must know what my people do with Psykers. I have never truly agreed with that doctrine. Morality is a psykers’ saving grace. If they use that power for the good of the people, than it is no different than blacksmithing or any other tool or technology.
“You say you’re moral people, then I challenge you to prove it, by offering asylum to any and all Psykira.” Seeing the confusion on Aegis’ face, Rasua clarified. “It’s my homeland’s word for moral psykers. I feel it would be better that they live outside of the Federation, than…” Rasua caught herself before finishing. “Well, better than what irrational fear causes my kin to do.”
“That’s not something I can offer,” Aegis countered. “Even if we did, we simply don’t have room here in PR. We’re going to need to send well over half of Granny’s drones to settle in Equestria.”
“If that map I saw of Equestria was accurate, your alliance is quite expansive. All the Psykira would require is somewhere to live without persecution. A sad fact of life within the Federation, I grant you, but my people have been harmed badly by psykers who abused their power.” Rasua picked at her left paw. “I want to believe you, my friend, can show the rest of my kin how to properly conduct themselves.”
Aegis cast a triumphant smirk at the blacksmith. “I’ll pass it on to my queens so they can discuss it with the Princesses. Although I doubt they’d fall into the same trap your people did. But I gotta ask, how are you going to get those, Psykira?” She asked, Rasua giving a nod at her pronunciation. “Over here?”
“You just concern yourself about accommodating them, I’ll worry about helping them immigrate here,” Rasua said with all the guile of a used car salesman. “I just need to write a letter for my colleagues, assuming your queens really are that generous and agree.”
“Well I know we will!” Aegis shot back strongly.
Nodding submissively, Rasua left her seat. “I concede to your superiority, Princess.” With a deep bow, the blacksmith departed the library through a nearby window.
Feeling smug, Aegis leaned back in her chair feeling rather good with the defense of her people. At least for half a minute until her ears fell along with her smile. “Wait, what? …I think I just got played.”
Unbeknownst to Aegis, Rasua made a beeline straight to her quarters to finally give in to her panic attack. She wrapped her blanket around herself and started rocking back and forth on the bed. Rasua held her smithing hammer close for comfort. “A whole race of psykers!? Damn it all to Futhnar! What did I do to deserve this?”
She skipped meals for the rest of the day to hide in her room.
In the wee hours of the following morning, Cadista awoke to a world of throbbing pain and phantom aches. Gentle snoring made her look over to find Twilight Sparkle had pulled a second bed over and was sleeping next to her. Even Rainbow Dash was snoozing on a cushion with her circlet/crown glowing with a noise nullification spell. The former ponies exuded so much love for their mother, or adopted grandmother, that it brought a tear to Cadista’s eye.
With her good hoof, Cadista reached forward and gently rubbed Twilight’s mane, causing the sleeping mare to smile lightly. They nearly got themselves killed trying to save me. That’s exactly how Chrysalis took away my… She choked up at the thought of it. Even with centuries under her belt, Cadista’s emotional control fell apart.
Not even caring if anyone was around to see her in such a miserable state, Cadista wept as quietly as she could. The few on duty nurses who poked their heads in at the muffled sobbing departed quickly to give the old matriarch her space.
Minutes passed like hours as Cadista bled away so much loss and pain, yet more always kept rising up. By the time the early signs of sunrise pouring in from the east side queen sized windows, Cadista had gathered enough of her wits to start thinking. There’s no use in trying to rebuild my hive. It would cost far more than my hidden savings. It doesn’t help that Twilight is trying to strengthen her own economy to properly support Aegis when she moves on to found her own hive.
A small part of her mind chose that particular moment to remind her that a non-sapient drone base would be far more capable at rebuilding a hive from complete scratch. Between housing my children and the cost of medical supplies for healing all the wounded…
No matter what strategy she could think of, despair was all that met her for every plan she came up with to rebuild Stripped Gear. Retaking the caldera would be folly with the magma chamber no longer being regulated. Even if it wasn’t, that’s money that could be pumped into PR or Aegis’ hive.
While drones were more than happy to work themselves to death for their queen, a technological society such as theirs was nigh impossible to build without outside materiel assistance.
You could always just stay with Phoenix's Roost, said a desperate voice within her. Cadista shot it down almost immediately. Even if it is with Twilight and Rainbow, no hive should ever have three queens. The Bonding between Twi and RD would be broken if I did that.
Just as she was about to cast the idea out the window entirely, a moment of dark genius struck her. My life as a queen died with my hive.
A loud yawn from Twilight broke off Cadista’s musings. The purple mare blearily dragged her head up just in time for Gentle Touch to push her way through the privacy curtain with a platter of steaming coffee mugs in her magic. “A quick pep up for you, your majesties.”
“You’re too good to me, Gentle.” Twilight gave a tired grin to the cup of java presented to her.
“Resta disapproves, but some caffeine can lift anypony’s spirits.” Noticing Cadista was awake, Twilight’s majordomo offered a cup to her as well.
“I could use any lift I can get at this point,” Cadista replied dryly. She hissed in pain trying to orient her head so she could drink normally.
With Rainbow stirring as well, Gentle served her too. Seeing her mother awake, Twilight laid a cautiously gentle hoof on the mangled matriarch. What could she say to her tear stained mother? In the face of such profound loss, Twilight had no idea how to begin healing her mother. “...How are you feeling?”
Wanting to lose herself in the cup of coffee, Cadista drained her beverage in tense silence. By the time she finished, Rainbow Dash was more or less awake. “As bad as I look,” Cadista deadpanned while trying to gesture at herself with a hoof.
“I know it’s bad, Granny, but once you’re back on your hooves, we can set you up with a new hive here in Equestria.” Rainbow stood up to pop her stiff joints. “I know even the nobles wouldn’t complain to have somepony else stand between them and the Chaos Lands.”
“It’s the best we can do on such short notice,” Twilight added forlornly. She snuck in a quick but loving nuzzle.
“Twilight, my child, I am too old for that anymore.” Twilight and Rainbow gave each other a mildly terrified look. “There is no scenario where I rebuild my hive.”
“Now wait a minute,” Rainbow challenged heatedly. “Sure you’re injured, but we saved a whole bunch of your kids. There’s no reason you can’t start rebuilding immediately!”
“You really think PR’s struggling economy is going to be able to handle that?” Cadista replied with a hint of deep sadness. Rainbow looked to Twilight who averted her gaze from both of them, knowing full well the budget was in the red now that Cadista’s refugees were settling in. Equestrian relief aid was on its way, but it was ultimately a short term solution.
“We’ll find a way!” Rainbow declared with spittle flying out. “I mean, you, you, have to! You can’t let Kreesus win like this!”
“This isn’t about Kressus,” Cadista rebuked sternly with anger flashing in her eyes. “We are Queens. The welfare of the hive is our top priority. Since mine is gone,” she spat with tears. “We have to look to the future, and that means sacrificing my reconstruction to bolster Phoenix's Roost.”
Twilight glanced to Gentle Touch to silently dismiss her before turning back to her sister. “I-I’m sure this is just a temporary measure.” Cadista’s quiet refusal only heightened Twilight’s mounting panic. “You lay just enough to keep yourself sane, we host your current children, and send off who we can to find jobs in Equestria or abroad. Once we get Aegis’ hive off the ground, we can refocus on rebuilding Stripped Gear.”
Yumia’s welcoming smile backdropped by the Silver City flashed in Cadista’s mind. “I don’t want to rebuild.”
The bickering sisters’ jaws fell open. “You can’t be serious,” Rainbow blurted out first. “Weren’t you the one who taught us a queen is nothing without the hive?”
“Mother, please, I know we lost a lot recently, but that’s no reason-”
“Enough!” Cadista growled. The harshness of the pained fury cowed the sisters. “It is my decision to make.” She kept a hard expression long enough to assert her authority. “I am old, and now I am hiveless. If I could produce love, then I would be willing to wait that long, but I am obsolete. Any efforts rebuilding my hive would be better spent on getting a second pairing of royal daughters from you two.”
“I don’t care if you’re obsolete,” Twilight cried. “You always told me there should never be more than two queens per hive because it causes too many problems.” Twilight’s fear of Cadista’s implied plan was threatening to push her over the emotional edge. “But why can’t you live out of town, and just use our hatchery? You could take the Deception back as a small temporary hive, just don’t k-- don’t harm yourself, please!” She threw herself on Cadista, eliciting pained yelps out of her.
Cadista was caught between being insulted and touched. She bore Twilight’s crushing embrace only because she couldn’t physically push her off. “Girl, would you stop with the hysterics. I have no intention of committing suicide.”
Twilight was too busy trying to love her mother out of harming herself to really hear her. Rainbow Dash on the other hand stood there confused. “If you don’t want to stay in PR, you don’t want a temporary hive, or to rebuild in general, then what are you going to do?”
Sniffling, Twilight looked up to her mother’s eyes, waiting for an answer. Cadista caved in and nuzzled her back, if only so Twilight would recompose herself. “I don’t have any details worked out yet, but I have a general idea.” Twilight leaned back onto her bed as Cadista gave both of them a demanding glare. “And don’t try to talk me out of it.” She waited a bit to make sure each of them wordlessly nodded. Yumia’s beckoning face flashed in Cadista’s vision. Shaking herself to clear her clouding thoughts, Cadista forced herself to speak evenly.
“Now, since you know we queens have the ability to alter ourselves via alchemy, I know of a way to remain here without disrupting the two-queen rule.”
Ambassadors Rolled Scroll and Blue Flare joined each other at Blue’s royal apartment balcony for breakfast. Despite her genetically enhanced grace, Blue was worse than her mother in the morning. Her mane was scraggly and her usually melodious voice matched Rainbow’s raspy tone almost to a tee.
Rolled Scroll, by contrast, had woken up an hour earlier, and was impeccably dressed in some of Rarity’s finest clothes. If he disapproved of Blue’s current appearance, he made no indication of it in either body language or his aura. In fact, he was feeling rather playful today, and Blue Flare snickered at him while toying with her pancakes.
“Going in a dress for today’s court? You know how much that bothers Representative Heavyweight. He can’t decide if he wants to court you or spit curses behind your back.”
Rolled tittered at the thought and pecked at his waffles. “One of these days I’ll get him to embarrass himself enough to ruin his credibility, and end his opposition to resolution 49-B.”
“Then you should go with the topaz dress clip. I hear he has a thing for that gem,” Blue suggested conspiratorially.
Rolled Scroll cooed at the news, but any further discussions were interrupted by a theseral Night Guard who flew in from the lower levels. He looked briefly at Rolled Scroll, yet failed to recognize him, but he knew Blue Flare on sight. With Phoenix Roost’s drones becoming a mildly more common sight in Canterlot, he made a mental note of the mystery mare but pressed on. “Ambassador, ma’ lady,” he said politely while withdrawing a letter from a slot in his armor. “This letter from the Canterlot Reserve arrived for both you and Rolled Scroll.”
Only wanting to toy with those in court, Rolled Scroll played the part of a guest, and let Blue Flare speak for them. “Thank you, Corporal Gleaming Blade, I’ll be sure to relay it to him.”
Taking the letter into her magic, the guard saluted and flew off. Blue found there were actually two identical letters in the envelope and gave one to her counterpart. Both drones hummed with interest. “So,” Blue started, “Grandma is transferring all of her trade profits and businesses over to our hive.”
“Indeed,” Rolled gasped. “Do my eyes deceive me or was she sitting on a thirty million bit bank account?”
“Well, she was trading finished machine goods and salve for coal and steel,” Blue commented after her morning sluggishness faded a bit. “It’d make sense she was making a profit.”
“Point taken,” Rolled conceded. “Either way, if this is used carefully, it could be exactly what the hive needs to be seriously profitable.”
“Even with Grandma’s drones coming in, this would allow our mothers to continue expanding our industrial base.”
“Well isn’t that fascinating news,” called a trill voice from above.
Both changelings looked up to find an ebony drone with reptilian eyes hanging on the outer wall above them. Blue Flare’s mental morning fog evaporated immediately with both drones shoving their chairs away to make ready to fight. Blue Flare fired off a quick bolt of magic to which the chitin clad changeling deflected with an enchanted hoof into the marble wall.
“Is that anyway to greet a friend?” the puppet teased while dropping a rock on top of Blue’s pancakes.
The mare was distracted enough to actually look at the rock to find it was the Stone of Parlay. Picking it up in her magic, Blue Flare looked back up at the puppet for ruining her beloved pancakes with her Searing Glare of Aggressive Diplomacy. “What do you want, Chrysalis?”
“Such hostility,” Chrysalis purred as the puppet detached from the ceiling and disguised itself as an ordinary pony so the guards wouldn’t interrupt them. Both ambassadors backed towards the bedroom to keep the the puppet out and deny it from possibly casting any magical surveillance spells. “I suppose a simple drone wouldn’t understand proper manners. It’s a wonder you’re allowed to play politics.”
Letting the insult roll off of him, Rolled Scroll gave the puppet a flat look. “You have called for parlay. State your business and be off with you.”
Chrysalis huffed in mocking approval. “I thought you’d like to know that Silandrus is dead. Killed by her own feral drones. Whatever you did to her, I must say bravo, bravo,” she added while clapping her hooves.
“You should take the lesson to heart, Chrysalis,” Blue Flare replied with a thinly veiled threat. She cursed not brushing her mane earlier, rendering her attempt at intimidation comical. “Don’t screw with us. Now, say your piece and bugger off.”
“No time for chit-chat? Or should I wait for your queens to puppet you for small talk?”
Rolled Scroll turned his nose up at the puppet. “We may be bound by the Laws of Parlay, Chrysalis, but the ponies are not. Give me a reason to keep them from tearing you apart when my eight o’clock appointment arrives.”
Chrysalis couldn’t help but to laugh. “Haven’t you guessed yet? I am your eight o’clock.”
Blue Flare risked a scathing glare at her counterpart. <Why did you tell your appointment to come to my quarters when I look terrible?!>
<Not the time, Blue,> Rolled chided.
Chrysalis’ leering smile wanned a little. “Ahh,” she cooed wistfully, “I see much of your mothers in both of you, both good and bad.” She received a couple of bemused expressions at that. “Either way, I wish to offer your queens a deal.”
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Ah, finally the ball dropped. Rasua's going to have an interesting time from now on.
What kind of deal could Chrysalis be willing to part with?
Shame about Aegis being the one to reveal the psyker powers to Rasua, without getting her to understand the basic mechanics of changeling psi she has left Rasua feeling that she is dealing with a credible threat.
Poor Cadista.
Mmmph. Played my emotions like a fiddle, this chapter has.
There isn't much more I can say. Cadista's despair was very effectively conveyed.
Hooray it updated ^_^. Great update, continuing where we last left off. Silandrus being dead now, gives Phoenix Roost once less Queen to worry about.
And this, is exactly why I freakin' LOVE this story!
This chapter was awesome. First Rasua finally gets to know the truth, then Cadista decides to give up her crown and then you have Chrysi offer them a deal.
You know, Chryssi has always been one of my absolute favourite characters and I really have to give it to you to succeed in portraying her as far more cruel and evil than my favourite version of her throughout the story so far and yet have me like her. You have given her depth. You explained her cruel character through her nature, her experiences and her philosophy in life. Yet you didn't have her be blind to change, you had her open for changing herself.
And you hinted it the first time when you let her lecture her sister on how to act around their love producing drones. And when you let her help Cadista's drones to flee.
I might have my hopes up too high but if you really did plan to have her do a 180 and actually become inclined to give the new ways of Twily and Dash a try maybe even making her into an ally. That would be sooooo awesome.
As I said I love this character and I have great respect for you for having me like your version of her even though she has been an antagonist par excellence so far.
I can't wait for the next chapters. Thanks again for writing this masterpiece
what does Cadista and Chryssy have planned now.
And honestly Caddy, go through one that rebirth. You wanted to ensure Twilight's safety and with the mess the other hives are in it just makes sense to wait one more lifetime before dying.
Great chapter! I look forward to the next.
But changlings aren`t psychic (if my comic book knowledge is right that mean reading and/or manipulate minds), they are empaths with a hivemind, like a borg collective of counselor trois . That is not the same.
I have been waiting for my Hive fix for days... thank you! Your wonderful work and that of Phoenix-Dragon's own take on changelings have all but consumed my free time, refreshing my watch list every few hours, hoping for an update.
I only spotted two small mistakes that slipped through editing:
Resta's name should be capitalized here.
Too many 'with's.
I eagerly look forward to the next chapter. I may even be patient and wait a day or two before renewing my watch list refresh.
Squee! I'm truely entranced by your storytelling skills. The plot continues to entice, twist and thicken. Unlke 3D chess, all the peices are moving at the same time. Taking into account all the motives, goals and character depth, I always feel that the world is living and breathing. We may not see what's happening with the other nations or their figureheads, but we know that they react to the events.
To further praise your skills, I love how even the minor characters are not fully static. While not as important as Rasua and Cadista's development, along with all the other main characters, Resta the nurse, Thunderfury the guard, Ambassadors Rolled Scroll and Blue Flare are givin flexible personalities. We've seen them multiple times thus giving them time to develop, albeit only a little.
I look forward to seeing what Chrysalis has plotted as well as how Rasua learning how to cope with her fears and worries. I'll try not to speculate how the story develops as my simple mind would only try to piece together a plain plotline.
5740831 I find it pretty obvious - Chrysalis's overarching goal for the moment is to get rid of the old blood that, in her eyes, is stalling the evolution of the changeling race. This means she'll be gunning for the other queens incapable of producing love. What I assume her plan might be is a temporary truce between Chrysalis's family and the TwiDash hive. A truce that could be extended into limited cooperation wherever the other queens are concerned.
But, of course, this being Chrysalis, I wouldn't expect the truce to last too long - I'd like to think she's planning to make a move on Cadista behind everyone's backs.
So...Silandrus is dead. Wasn't she the oldest queen? Who was the second?! The ebony castle is probably saying "Oh #$@%, lockdown!"
A traumatized sphinx...awesome.
5740831 idk man, I think Changelings are a credible threat
Well, there goes whom I thought was going to be the main nemesis for this arc. Damn, you're doing a good job of keeping me guessing here as to who's on who's side.
chrysalis's hive may be insectoid and thus her and her sisters can breed at a high rate but she great overestimates her chances here. aside from twilight and dashes hive there is the four pony tribes now complete with stabilized threstal populations meaning a increase in Luna's battle hardened bat ponies added to this are celestia and lunas political alliances with other countries. several other assets not being factored in agianst the entire world three hives isn't even going to resemble enough.
why do I feel like that Cadista is going to go through rebirth to be rebirthed as a drone?
5741712 I'd think that she would be reborn as a concubine for both Twi and Dash. But a drone would be the more logical step.
...Nice chapter, but really strange place to end it on.
You had a perfect uportuniy to give us a 'oh shit!' hint about what type of deal, so why keep it so vague?
5742089
To give the reader something to contemplate. The clues are there throughout the series.
Plus some poeple prefer more mystery than not.
5741712
Cadista is going to alchemically cut off her need/ability to produce a new hive, and/or restrict her own hive-mind capabilities.
guile
__________
5741712
5742076
5742170
I'm putting money on converting herself into some Hive mind, apparition. Or alchemically convert herself to something similar to the drones that run the Bazzar. She'd be low maintenance, not feeling like she's in the way. And best for her, could give her time, to try and connect with the Silver City and those she lost.
5742328
Good idea, but what if...
Imagine the possibilities if Cadista withdrew herself into battle meditation mode semi-permanently for the purposes of reconstructing all the lost technology of Stripped Gear, and then some!
5742328 Don't forget there's that carrier and the fighters that are up in the Chaos Lands. Those could be very powerful if used the right way.
5742089 What's the one thing that Chryssy was willing to risk literally everything to obtain?
I can't be sure what Cadista is planning, but if it were me:
After Yumia's death and deciding that this was to be her last incarnation, I can imagine Cadista planning for some very interesting end-game scenarios. Especially after re-birthing Twilight and finally creating a changeling line that can produce love. On that day she knew that she and all the other queens were obsolete, but still represented a threat to her daughters. Having such an technologically advanced society it is conceivable Cadista could have found a way to do things like enrich certain rare and dangerous elements, and use them to build the most devastating of weapons.
I think Cadista has planed for a day such as this. She has built a bomb, hidden it somewhere, and never told a sole about it. Once she's healed enough to walk she'll secretly send a small patrol to fetch it and load it onto an unassuming transport skiff. Then she'll call a queens moot at the black keep, incapacitate Twilight and RD, show up to the gathering of all the other queens alone, and blow them all to kingdom come. Thus she can be sure that Twi and RD's futures are be secure. And the fact that she'll get to join Yumia in the Silver City is a nice bonus.
This is all just wild speculation tho, and perhaps a little what I would do were I writing the fic. Either way, this is a great story and I can't wait for more!
I know logically that at this point, having another one of the mane 6 ascend would be silly, but I would also love to see Rarity ascend and have the most fabulous hive ever.
God damed cliffhanger!!!
>Culling update
[CUTE HORSE NOISES INTENSIFY!]
We expected much of Cadista's hive would integrate, but it almost sounds like Cadista herself is going to rebirth as a pony?...
Keep going! ;)
5742594
That's something similar to being one of the Hive Mind Servers (Queenified). But yeah, with her knowledge, experience, and mental developement. She'd be one massive server, still around to help, but not physically active. (Since she's planning on altering herself with Alchemy, but has given all physical ... everything to her daughters.
5742682
I think she already did that. She already gave her daughters all of her wealth, businesses, and physical holdings not tied down to Striped Gear's actual hive, and her daughters have her hive hooked up already. So I think that any tech that survived the battle / that's not in the Jungles. Will be given to them.
5742752
Ohhhhhh...
A re-birthing into a love producing queen, you mean?
Quite the twist in that case... but I have to confess, I still think spelling it out would have left a far more memorable moment; both for those that hadn't guess that so far, and for those that did getting validated.
Just my 2 cents, though.
if I were to speculate, Chrysalis always had this hive culling plan. Had she been successful in overtaking Equestria, she would have had the vast love resources to wage long term war with the other hives. Slowly starving them out. However I could speculate that if she was successful, then most of her alliances with the other hives would dissolve, much like how Kreesus betrayed Cadista.
I also find it interesting that Chrysalis and her sisters have been semi-successful at maintaining love producing daighters. Perhaps Chrysalis is more sympathetic to Twilight and Rainbow's well being than they realise. When your enemy was actually your friend all along.
I'm shocked and surprize that Silandrus is (potentially) dead. Even under the stone if parley, I doubt that a hard core deceiver like Chrysalis would freely give valuable information. It was thrown out there that Silandrus may of had control/manipulation over beasts that negate the hive mind, which is detrimental to a changeling. Also with the oldest queen dead, who will lead the summit? Will there be another summit?
Moving on from the hive queens though, Aegis is going to have to handle Rasua very carefully. While yes, she was played to provide shelter to discriminated psykers, does not relive the fact that her weak spell just took out a large playing piece off the field. Granted, its effectiveness is relative to the amount of individuality other changelings have, but Rasua is a wild card in Twi and Dash's hands... err hooves.
And lastly, I really have no idea what's going through Cadista's head as for what she has planned for herself. I can see that she's putting down her crown, but rebirth is still out of the question for her as she still desperately wants to be reunited with Yumia.
This is the best kind of death for her. It's poetic, really. Bravo, my friend. Bravo. img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130102165456/mlpfanart/images/d/d7/Octavia_Clapping.gif
5744045
We got a third person viewpoint of Silandrus experiencing a dark-magic mind-break. Independent of her physical state, Silandrus's Ego is very dead.
If Chrysalis is lying, then Chrysalis has captured Silandrus+Hive to rip out trade secrets from Silandrus's broken brain.
Chrysalis might(?) be the oldest queen, after the culling is complete.
There never was a complete table for the relative ages of the queens. Or is there?!
Rasua has a fear of insects. Her race has some issues with physics. This is going to be fun.
5743871 I thought is alchemically impossible for her to rebirth herself to even be able to produce love
5746227
The tech itself could still be on the negotiation table.
There's quite a difference between cobbled together knock-offs, and having the real research notes.
Of course, if Chrysalis have the level of negotiation chip she think she has is another matter also...
A full hive of bipedal changelings, ones that plan to figure out how to incorporate the sphinx hand shifting? I like Blitz's plan.
Heh.
A colony of psychic sphinxes in Equestria? That's not what I expected out of this conversation.
Hmn. So if a drone can be rebirthed as a queen, can a queen be rebirthed back down to a drone? If Cadista is planning on not being a queen anymore, but isn't planning on dying, I can't quite imagine what else she might have in mind.
I wonder what Chrysalis is up to now? I'm more convinced every time we see her that she's not going to be an enemy anymore by the time this series is over.
So... Rainbow's daughter likes pancakes, eh? No wonder why she's in Canterlot then.
She's everything her mom isn't, and I find that rather amusing.
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/gyropedia/images/5/52/RainbowDashAlwaysDressesInStyle.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110612214407
5780878 get rid of that picture! Get rid of it! My eyes! Oh god my eyes!
5747416 I agree. Despite her radical views, I think Chrysalis truly has the good of Changelings as a whole at heart. She saved Twi and Dash earlier while they were retreating because she knows that they're at the forefront of changeling progress right now. She's culling the hives like this because she see's that they're holding them back, and making her own love producing changelings because she doesn't want the way of life at Phoenix's Roost to be the undisputed changeling way of life. Chrysalis is a perfect example of how the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
5863185 Wanna hear something tragic? So was Silandrus.
5976417 But that's the mentality and fate of their entire race. It's why Twilight and dash are so vital to the changelings continued survival. Every one of the changeling queens Thinks that their way is best for their race. Every one of them wants to improve and better the changelings as a whole, But they are all so focused on the others being wrong that they refuse to acknowledge the reality that, So are they.
Every one of them from silandrus to kreesus to Chrysalis Truly believes that what they are doing is best for their race, the only one who had it right was Cadista, and now Phoenix roost.
Sadly, Chrysalis is the closest any of them have come save for Cadista, but her ideal of "changeling master race" Where she wants to essentially exterminate everything else makes her more problematic not less. She could be such a force for the right things, but she's too hung up on being the Apex predator.
5780878 I wonder if Rolled Scroll likes Quesadillas... or any of her brood.
We need art, now!
'thestral'
6857539
Well exterminate all other Lings (excluding her sisters). The other races she wants to enslave to feast on their love.
Finally we get a character (Rasua) who can properly voice the, until recently, silent argument against changelings, however, she is depicted as a nervous wreak, constantly paranoid and easily prone to severe panic attacks. I don't get the impression that she is a strong warrior or a capable metallurgist. Even in the previous chargers, Rausa doesn't appear cool headed at the sight of the battle, despite being a "warrior" that is use to using lightning and black magic as effective weapons.
Secondly, we finally get proper debate on the morality and ethics of changelings ( when compared to another race) but Rausa is shot down immediately. Not because her arguments are inferior, but because she's inferior in status. Grant it, I like the fact that she realises her lower status and backs off, but it done in a way which makes her seem as if she's panicking. Ageis isn't much better. She's arguing as if she's speaking to another changeling, as if her opponent understands changelings. But, in truth her arguments mean nothing without the proper context (she flatly refuses to add any context) her arguments are hollow to non-changelings. And to top it all of she's pleased with herself. She's smug, Like she just won legitimately. In fact Rausa backed off due to her status, as well as Ageis's raised temper.