Chapter 8: Going to Buggyland
Cloudsdale, like most cloud cities, is known to move across Equestria as needed for things such as major season changes or water collection. However, because of how difficult it is to deliver mail and point tourists to a constantly moving city, all cloud cities have a designated “resting point” where it will remain unless it has reason to move, with a small permanent outpost remaining on ground level to direct any travelers to where the city has gone.
This apparently had something to do with why the entrance of Scootaloo’s hive was only a few meters away from the Cloudsdale outpost. Apparently, the first queen of the hive insisted to her deathbed that she hadn’t realized the small clearing she’d chose to build her hive in was the resting point for a cloud city until they'd already dug it out.
Not that many changelings bought it. Most had come to believe that she was probably just reckless enough to build her hive right outside a major city. There wasn’t a changeling alive who thought this was a good place for a hive. Even the Manehattan hive, reckless fools its changelings were, was a half mile out of its city.
There wasn’t a pony alive who thought it was a good idea, either.
“So, because the entrance to your hive is so close to the outpost, you’ve had to make sure that it was a changeling stationed here ever since you built your home?” asked Sweetie Belle with a raised eyebrow.
The three of them were standing in front of said outpost. Cloudsdale was near Plowsberg for more water collection, hence why this was the perfect time for them to visit.
“Yes, though it’s not as difficult as it sounds. The job has to be done by a Cloudsdale citizen, and no pegasus wants to just sit in one place on the ground and tell anyone who stopped by which way Cloudsdale went. It’s a boring, low paying, thankless job, so it’s really easy to get one of our own into the position,” explained Scootaloo.
“Yeah, and the fact that no one ever visits the outpost when the city’s in place means we don’t get a lot of traffic down here most of the time anyway,” said the disguised changeling at the outpost desk.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared a uncertain look and shrugged.
“Well, whatever. Y’all been doin’ this for thousands of years, so Ah guess we should just accept that it works and move on,” said Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, you’re the experts here, not us,” added Sweetie Belle.
“Sounds good. Well, I won’t keep you here any longer. Hope you two have a pleasant visit. And don’t let me hear about you messing things up, Scootaloo,” said the changeling with a bemused smirk.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“Oh don’t worry, Uncle Pepper. I won’t. It’s everypony else inside I’m worried about,” said Scootaloo.
Uncle Pepper chuckled. Scootaloo ignored him and lead her friends toward the entrance.
Alright, we’re coming down. Hope everypony is ready, thought Scootaloo.
There were many responses. Not all of them were good.
Horseapples! I’m still putting on my make-up! came the voice of Goose.
The clover isn’t done yet! added Butter.
Why hasn’t somepony cleaned up this mess?! exclaimed Poppy
Everypony calm down! called out Scootaloo’s mother.
The hivemind went silent, relatively speaking.
We’re not undergoing an inspection here. It’s just two curious fillies who want to learn more about us. I might not get back to the hive until tonight, but there’s still no reason to panic. Goose, I must once again remind you that you don’t have to wear make-up. Butter, it’s ten in the morning. Nopony is eating anything for awhile. Poppy, that’s not…
Scootaloo toned out her mother’s instructions to her siblings. She already knew what her role was. As the friend of their guests for the day, she was to be their tour guide. The job itself didn’t bother her. The fact that she would have to introduce her siblings to her friends did. Especially when she had to introduce Twitch.
The hive entrance was unassuming by design. It looked more like a small cave than the entrance to an underground civilization, though Scootaloo’s experienced eyes spotted the symbol on the ridge that marked it as a changeling hive. Scootaloo dropped her disguise, and turned toward her friends.
“Alright, our hive is built as a large number of open caverns known as chambers connected by a network of tunnels between them. When we reach the end of this tunnel, we’ll arrive at the entrance chamber. we have a tour plan all ready for you, and I’ll explain things as we go, but if you have any questions, I promise I’ll answer them as best I can, OK?” said Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded.
“Alright then, in we go,” said Scootaloo as she lead her friends down into her home.
As they descended, the air began to get damp, though not musky. It was more like how the air is when it’s raining than the humidity inside of a cavern. In fact, a sweet scent was beginning to surface. The cave was also well lit, not just from the torches or glowing plants, but from several holes in the roof that let in sunlight. It wasn’t long before they turned a corner to reveal the real entrance. Unremarkable rock gave away to carved stone that opened up to a great chamber. The sight made Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasp in awe.
“Welcome to the Cloudsdale Changeling Hive, girls,” announced Scootaloo.
The chamber was easily three times as large as Ponyville’s town hall, but not as open as one would think. It was full of large stone platforms, making it less of a giant cave and more like a large building with no walls. The sweet smell was now very apparent, and the lighting had gone from a few holes in the roof to a large one that had a series of mirrors beneath it. The mirrors reflected the sunlight in a way that made the whole chamber just as bright as it was outside.
But perhaps most awe-inspiring of all were the changelings themselves. While their coats were too shiny to be hair, they looked a lot like normal ponies as they went about their business. The air was full of the familiar buzz of numerous conversations, though it was joined by the hum of countless insect wings beating around them.
To an outsider it all seemed very chaotic, but Scootaloo recognized the signs that everything had been cleaned up and prepared for their guests.
Looks like we’re making quite the impression, noted one of Scootaloo’s siblings.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were looking around in wonder.
Yeah. So far so good, replied Scootaloo.
“Wow…” mumbled Apple Bloom.
“What is all this?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, it might look kind of confusing, but it’s actually pretty straightforward. Just think of each platform as a separate building. See, that one with the fierce looking changelings is the guard platform, and that one over there with all the paperwork is the administration platform,” explained Scootaloo.
“And this is just the entrance? Just how big is this place?” asked Sweetie Belle as she tried to take it all in.
“Well, we do have a pretty decent number of changelings living down here, so the hive’s almost as big as a small city. Not that I know the actually scale or anything. It’s kind of hard to guess with how many tunnels we have going around, ” answered Scootaloo.
“Ah don’t supposed ya have a map, or somethin’, then?” asked Apple Bloom with a nervous look on her face.
“No, but I am going to be leading you guys every step of the way, so as long as we stick together, you shouldn’t get lost,” reassured Scootaloo.
“So, uh… where do we go from here? I get the feeling this place wasn’t designed for ponies without wings,” said Sweetie Belle as she nervously glanced down. The nearest platform was a bit far to jump.
“It wasn’t really, but we have a few full grown changelings who’ll be helping you two get around. By the way, we’re actually working on installing an elevator system for the royal visit. We’re just having some problems with...” Scootaloo paused as there was a loud snap from above them.
“Look out below!” someone called out.
A moment later a small wooden platform with a rope attached fell down past them before smashing onto the ground below. Several changelings stopped to look, before glaring up at whoever was above them.
“Son of a… Beetle! What hay did you do to the elevator?” Scootaloo called out loudly.
“Sorry Scoots! The rope got stuck, and when I tried to pull it loose the whole thing came off!” said a turquoise changeling colt as he flew down to meet them.
Scootaloo sighed and turned toward her friends.
“Well girls, I guess it's time to introduce you to one of my siblings. This is Beetle, the youngest of our clutch. He’s known for his skill with a hammer, and for being the third clumsiest changeling in the hive,” said Scootaloo.
“Yeah, well you're the second worst flyer in the hive!” countered Beetle.
“Only when I’m disguised!” objected Scootaloo.
Yeah! Besides, it’s not fair picking the chicken, added another of Scootaloo’s siblings.
This only made her angrier.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sighed as they watched the siblings argue.
“This might take awhile,” mumbled Sweetie Belle.
The changeling hive, as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly realized, was built more for practicality than beauty. Most of the walls of the hive, while stone craft instead of natural rock, were simple and plain with the occasional decorative splash of changeling wax. Everything was certainly large and impressive, but most of the chambers and tunnels looked the same. Not that they were getting bored though, as there was plenty of interesting things to see and learn about.
For example, as they made their way down a tunnel, Scootaloo explained that while only chambers close to the surface were fully lit by natural sunlight from the magically disguised holes, the mirrors at the top of these chambers also reflected light down every connecting tunnel. In order to keep this light shining down to deeper chambers, changelings avoided flying through the middle of the tunnels so that there would always been a large beam of light that ran straight to these lower chambers, where additional mirrors made them just as well lit as the higher ones while also sending light down to even lower chambers.
“Just because we live underground doesn’t mean we enjoy living without sunlight. We went to great lengths to get it down as far as we could, though there are limits. The deeper we go, the more we have to depend on lanterns and other sources of light,” explained Scootaloo.
“Ah get ya. It ain’t natural to go days on end without seein’ the sun, after all,” said Apple Bloom.
Because the tunnels’ centers had to remain clear for the sunlight, Changelings instead only moved across the surfaces of these tunnels. This included the walls and ceilings as changelings could move along them with ease. This also resulted in surprisingly straight-forward traffic laws: if you’re going deeper, you’re on the floor; if you’re going higher, you’re on the roof. With so many changelings using these tunnels on a regular basis, it was crucial that nopony slowed down the line, though there were numerous routes to any given chamber in the event of a blockage.
“It might not seem too crowded right now, but that's’ just because we were expecting you guys. Everypony wanted to make sure you’d be able to get around freely during the tour,” clarified Scootaloo.
“The whole place seems a bit complicated. Are you sure it's rare for changelings to get lost?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“It is kind of complicated, but it's not too hard to get the hang of. I bet if you stayed down for a week or so you’d be able to get around no problem,” said Scootaloo.
Most standard chambers had platform structures similar to the entrance. There were store platforms, business platforms, platforms designated for soldiers, and countless others. Sweetie Belle even spotted what looked like a garbage disposal platform as they passed it. Though it was apparent that certain features of a functioning economy were left to designated chamber for one reason or another, such as medical service and housing.
Oh, and there were bathrooms, too. They were basically mini chambers, and could be found everywhere.
Yes, they had plumbing.
“This is a medical chamber. It’s basically the changeling equivalent of a hospital. We have several of these spread all around the hive, making sure no changeling is more than three chambers away from medical assistance if there’s an emergency,” explained Scootaloo.
“Yeah, it does have a hospital feel to it,” commented Sweetie Belle as she looked around the white-tiled chamber.
The medical chamber was flatter and wider than the other chambers, but it was apparent why, as this meant that nopony had to be flown up to a platform if they needed medical treatment.
They paused to watch as a nearby changeling nurse rubbed some kind of green fluid on an injured changeling’s leg.
“Uh, that’s not the same slime the changelings at the wedding used, is it?” asked Apple Bloom.
“It’s wax, Apple Bloom, not slime. Yes, it can be used to trap ponies and spin cocoons, but it’s also makes an effective bandage. That guy won’t be getting an infection with that thing on,” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“But isn’t wax made with bug sweat?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo shrugged.
“Well, changeling sweat, so it’s an effective bandage for changelings at least,” she admitted.
And really, honey is flower guts mixed with bee spit, but nopony complains about that, commented Beetle.
“Uh… no offence Scootaloo, but ew. Just ew,” said Sweetie Belle.
“None taken. We are part insect after all, so it’s not like we can help acting like it at times,” said a nearby purple changeling filly in a nurse’s outfit.
“Right. Girls, this is another one of my siblings: Poppy. She’s a bit absent minded at times, but she’s proving to be one of the fastest learning medical apprentices we’ve had in years,” introduced Scootaloo.
“Thank you for your kind words, Scootaloo. You alway know how to make me feel important,” said Poppy with a roll of her eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Poppy. So you’re learning to be a doctor, then?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a tradition for at least one changeling of each clutch to become a medic. Someone needs to make sure my siblings don’t kill themselves doing something stupid after all,” said Poppy.
“How many siblin’s do ya have, anyway?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Counting me and Poppy, sixteen. Five of them don’t live in the hive, but we’ll probably run into most of the others as we go,” said Scootaloo with a sigh.
“Yeah. Promise me you won’t beat up Twitch, though. I have plans this evening, and I don’t want to have to put up with him stuck in one of our beds again,” said Poppy.
The tour continued without incident, unless you count every time they ran into one of Scootaloo's siblings.
First, they ran into Bubbles. Bubbles was a friendly changeling who was always humming some song or other. She even tried to entertain them all with a song and dance number that was well done, but also so girly even Sweetie Belle thought it was too much. Her friendliness didn’t stop her from teasing Scootaloo about her dancing skills, either.
Next they meet Goose on a spa platform. Goose was the second oldest of the clutch, and was learning how to be a fashion model. She was pleasant and cheerful, though she did accidentally spill a bowl of some kind of herb by waving her hoof for dramatic flair. She also forgot who they were twelve seconds after they left her. Scootaloo insisted this was a good thing.
They caught Lynx running past them. She was the most athletic of the clutch, and was always making little challenges for herself to see just how fast she was. Right then she was trying to break her record for “time to reach medical chamber G from the throne room.” Scootaloo assured them that that was one of the more reasonable records she kept. She only provided one other example: “Time from drinking a glass of lemonade to finishing in the bathroom.”
Dust was next at a construction zone, where several changelings were working to fix a large crack in the tunnel wall. Dust wasn’t there as one of the workers or anything, she was just watching her long-time crush move around heavy objects with ease. Apparently she was a painter, but everypony who saw her work said it was best not to ask. Not because they were bad, but because they tended to be a bit repetitive in what they were depicting.
Later, they walked right past Quilt, and Scootaloo didn’t point her out until she’d turned a corner because she was almost as shy as, well, Fluttershy. She was the loner of the clutch, always minding her own business with her nose in a book or working on some project or another. She was apparently very good with a needle and thread, though. They even saw some of her work being displayed in a few chambers.
Finally, they ran into Twitch near one of the underground farms. Twitch, well, he was one of those kinds of individuals whose favorite thing to do was insulting others. They managed to avoid beating him up, but only because Apple Bloom got to spend twenty minutes yelling at him for insulting her bow, her accent, and, well, pretty much everything except her earth pony heritage. Twitch didn’t discriminate. He insulted everypony equally.
They were certainly an interesting bunch, but in the end Apple and Sweetie Belle came to agree that Scootaloo’s siblings were just like anypony else: each had their own unique talents, quirks, and instinctive desire to get on their siblings' nerves whenever possible.
Well, except for Twitch. He just liked getting on everyone’s nerves.
“... and that tunnel leads to the nursery, but it’s the one place I’m not supposed to show you,” said Scootaloo as she pointed toward said tunnel.
“Why not? I know we aren’t exactly skilled babysitters, but I think we can avoid hurting any baby changelings,” said Sweetie Belle.
“It’s not the babies we’re worried about. You know how the magic of babies is really unstable? Well, for changeling babies it’s worse. Not only do they cast spells willy-nilly and fly all over the place, they instinctively suck any and all love that comes near them. We actually have to keep guards by the entrance to make sure none of them escape and find our love reserves. Now, can you imagine what would happen if somepony full of love walked into a crowd of baby changelings?” asked Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shivered.
“Yeah, exactly. It might takes weeks of draining for an adult changling to suck somepony dry, but over a dozen babies changelings, you wouldn’t last more than a few hours. So yes, we’re skipping the nursery,” explained Scootaloo.
“Agreed,” said Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
Nicely handled sis, though I wouldn’t have minded the distraction down here, called another sibling.
I don’t want to hear it, Dove. You knew what you were getting into when you decided to become a nanny, chided Scootaloo.
Well, duh. I just wanted to meet your friends. They must be pretty special to want to still spend time with you after how many brilliant ideas for cutie marks you’ve suggested, said Dove.
Scootaloo decided not to dignify that with a response.
They stopped for lunch next on a diner platform. The place seemed a bit crowded, but they didn’t have to wait for their food since Scootaloo’s brother Butter had volunteered to cook for them.
“I hope you’ll like this. I don’t have a lot of experience cooking for non-changelings, but I think I did a good job,” said the yellow changeling as he levitated over their plates.
“It’s smells delicious! Is this roasted alfalfa?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, mixed with seasoned clover and a few lily petals. Please enjoy!” said Butter as he backed away with a bow.
The Crusaders quickly dug in.
“Mmm… your brother is a great chef, Scootaloo,” commented Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, he is. He also has no concept of a regular sleep schedule. If I had a bit for every time he woke the rest of us up way too early...” mumbled Scootaloo as she bit down.
It’s not my fault! I cook best when I follow my muse! Butter objected privately.
Yeah, well your muse sucks at getting a good night sleep, chided Lynx.
Scootaloo toned them out.
“Ah. Well, it can’t be that bad if ya get to wake up to food this good every mornin’,” said Apple Bloom.
“I don’t. I live in Ponyville, remember? Just because I can hear him announcing breakfast doesn’t mean it’s for me,” replied Scootaloo.
“Oh. Yeah, that sounds like it could get on your nerves. How do you put up with that whole hivemind thing, anyway? It must be really annoying the be hearing so many voices all at once,” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Well, first of all I can tone it out when I want. Second, I've had it my whole life, so I’m used to it. Third, I can only really hear my clutch and my mother. The rest of the hive sounds a bit fuzzy to me until I’m older, and by then I’ll have learned how to only hear those I want to listen to, and any important announcements from the higher ups,” explained Scootaloo.
They ate in silence for a bit, until Apple Bloom noticed a bright yellow crystal on Scootaloo's plate.
“Wait, is that gem what Ah think it is?” asked Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo followed her gaze and nodded.
“Yep. That’s solid crystallized love,” said Scootaloo.
“Really?” asked Sweetie Belle as she glanced over to look.
“Yeah. We can carry a lot of love in our bodies, but it’s not very convenient to have to keep passing it between changelings everytime we eat. So instead we crystalize it, store it, and then pass it out,” explained Scootaloo
“I didn’t know love could be crystallized,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, well, changeling magic doesn’t always makes sense, but it works,” said Scootaloo with a shrug.
“Er… Ah don’t suppose non-changelings could eat some, could we?” asked Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo actually giggled.
“Oh, we don’t eat the crystals. We just turn them back into energy and absorb them. And yeah, you can try some. We have plenty in reserve, after all. Here, hold on a second,” said Scootaloo as she lit up her horn.
A moment later, the love crystal seemed to turn into pure light, before it split into three pieces, two small and one large. Scootaloo took the large piece, and sent the other two to her friends.
Scootaloo knew what they felt as smiles appeared on their faces. To a changeling, absorbing love was like eating a warm and filling meal. For non-changelings, it was just a small energy boost, but one that felt like you were on the receiving end of a caring hug.
“Wow, that felt really nice,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah. And ya feel that everytime ya eat?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Well, it’s less powerful for us since we need to use the stuff, but pretty much,” said Scootaloo.
“Aw, sharing your lunch with your friends? You’re so darn cute, Scootaloo,” said a red changeling colt as he slid up next to them.
Scootaloo groaned, telling the other crusaders that this was another one of her brothers.
“Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Uno, Scootaloo’s oldest brother. I’m also the coolest changeling in our clutch, so you can rest assured that I’m the best thing you’ll see today,” said Uno.
“If by coolest you mean ‘the one with the biggest head,’ then yeah, sure,” said Scootaloo.
“Uno? You’re named after a card game?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Uno chucked at that.
“Nah, the word ‘uno’ means one in another language. I got the name because I was the oldest,” explained Uno.
“Ah figured, but it’s not very often somepony is named in another language. Did your mom travel a lot or somethin’?” asked Apple Bloom.
Uno winced. Scootaloo winced. All of their siblings, even the ones not at the hive, winced. They’d promised to answer any questions, and that meant they had to spill the beans. Uno and Scootaloo turned toward each other. In a rare moment of family unity, they silently agreed on what had to be done: it was Uno’s fault for bringing it up, so he would have to come clean.
“Well, uh… it’s a nickname, actually. My real name is One. Not ‘One Note,’ or something like that, just One. The twenty-eighth One in the family, actually,” admitted Uno.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at him in disbelief.
“You see, while we love our mother dearly, she sucks at coming up with names for her kids. Like, really, really sucks. Not even one of us is happy with our birth name. As such, we’ve all adopted the policy of addressing each other only by our nicknames, and never telling anypony else our real names. Ever,” explained Uno.
“Then Scootaloo is...” said Sweetie Belle as she pointed a hoof towards her friend.
“Yeah, Scootaloo is a nickname. And I will go to my grave without telling anypony what my real name is. Yes, that means you two as well. I’m sorry, but no. Just no. I trust and love you guys, but still no,” said Scootaloo with a shake of her head.
Uno nodded in agreement. Siblings may argue and drive each other crazy, but there are some lines they simply never cross. For these changelings, sharing each other’s birth names was one of them. As much as Uno loved seeing his sister squirm, he would not let her suffer the horror of her friends knowing her name.
Seriously; nopony deserved to be known, in any shape, way, or form, as Schmoopy Coopie Toopa Loopy.
The tour resumed and it remained uneventful, though they saw some very interesting things.
The changeling library, for example, was full of books that Sweetie Belle had never seen before. Apparently, while changelings were willing to share their stories with other races, any books that hinted at their existence were kept out of the public eye. They even agreed to let Sweetie Belle take a few home as long as she was careful to hide them.
There was a public bath in the hive, though it was used as a swimming pool these days since the invention of indoor plumbing let every changeling in the hive get their own bathtub. Apple Bloom had been hoping to go for a swim, but unfortunately the pool was closed for cleaning that day. Apparently Twitch had done something disgusting in there again. Scootaloo only said that it didn’t involve a candy bar.
They even caught a glimpse into one of the love storage chambers, and Sweetie Belle silently promised to make sure her sister never learned about the heaps and heaps of crystallized love the hive had. They clearly had plenty to go around, but it was still a worrying thought.
They eventually found themselves poking around the housing chamber that all of Scootaloo’s siblings lived in. Housing chambers had actual walls installed, so there was some degree of privacy. Scootaloo showed them the now mostly empty platform she’d used while she still lived at the hive, as well as Bubble’s rather sizable plush collection.
“So, why did you chose to move to Ponyville anyway? This place seems homely enough,” asked Sweetie Belle as she looked at a cute little plush shark.
“Partially because I wanted to get as far from Twitch as possible, but also because it’s just something changelings do. Most of us stay at the hive, but some of us head out and see the world instead. There just isn’t enough room down here for all of us, and we do want to stay connected to pony society, so every clutch has changelings that are taken care of by infiltrators outside the hive instead of our mothers,” explained Scootaloo.
“Which is why you and five of your siblin’s don’t live here. Ah see. So those changelings who go around as your parents aren’t actually your parents?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, they’re my aunt and uncle. And while they’re the ones raising me, I’ve always been closer to my mom. All changelings are, really,” said Scootaloo with a shrug.
Speak for yourself, turkey hips, said Twitch.
He was promptly booed out of the hivemind.
At last, they reached the final step of the tour.
“...and this is the throne room. We were hoping to let you two meet our queen, but she had head out for another queen council meeting that was announced only this morning. Sorry about that,” said Scootaloo.
“It’s OK. I’m sure we’ll get the chance to meet her later,” said Sweetie Belle as she looked around.
The throne room was certainly impressive and, as it was located close the surface, well lit with sunlight. It wasn’t as lavish or large as Princess Celestia’s throne room, but it was still awe inspiring with brilliant colors and beautiful changeling sculptures. There were also numerous changeling portraits that lined the walls.
“So, these were your older queens, right?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, starting with queen Pupa the first over there. A royal changeling can live for a century or two, but they’re far from immortal,” explained Scootaloo.
“Yes, though such longevity does have it’s share of ups and downs,” said a calm and regal voice.
Everypony turned around to see what looked like a changeling Princess. The changeling’s coat was baby blue with green highlights, making her seem to outright glow. Her wings were large and sparkled in the sunlight. She was tall, though not as tall as Celestia or Luna, and held herself high with a regal confidence. And yet, her eyes shined with the gentle kindness of a loving mother.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom thought she looked beautiful. Scootaloo had only one word to describe her.
“Mom?! Why didn’t you tell me you were already back at the hive? You said you wouldn’t get here until this evening!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“I managed to catch an early train. I figured I’d surprise you, my little firefly,” said Scootaloo’s mom.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle giggled at the pet name. Scootaloo sighed. She had hoped she’d be able to avoid this. Now there was nothing stopping her mother from teasing her non-stop in front of her friends.
May the all-mother have mercy on my soul, thought Scootaloo.
“Alright, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, this is my mom: Blue Monarch. Mom, these are my friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle,” she said.
“It’s really nice to meet you, your Highness,” said Sweetie Belle with a bow.
“Yeah. Guess that meeting went really fast then, huh?” said Apple Bloom.
“Meeting?” asked Blue Monarch with a confused look.
“Well, ya had to go to that queen meetin’ thing, right?” asked Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo tilted her head.
“When did I ever say my mom was the queen?” asked Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle blinked in surprise. Blue Monarch just giggled.
“Oh? You never told them how royal changelings work? My, my, how very careless of you, Scootaloo. Well, to answer your question, no, I am not the queen. I am a changeling princess. The queen's duties are many, and quite demanding. She cannot rule her hive effectively and also be there to provide the care and love her children need. As such, it falls to the princesses, such as myself and my sisters, to birth and raise the citizens of our hive. Well, except for other royals, of course,” explained Blue Monarch.
“Yeah. I mean, could you imagine if Princess Celestia and Luna had to raise over a thousand kids while ruling Equestria?” added Scootaloo.
“Enough! Your bedtimes... shall last... FOREVER!”
“Point taken,” said Sweetie Belle with a nod.
“So, how many Princesses are there, anyway?” asked Apple Bloom.
“It varies from hive to hive, though the average is three. We have three ourselves, for example, but the Manehatten hive has four and the Trottingham hive has two. There are a total of seven hives in Equestria, so that’s a total of about twenty-eight royal changelings,” explained Blue Monarch.
It was an interesting development, but it also brought a rather troubling thought forward as well.
“So… where does queen Chrysalis fit into all this? Does she have princesses that could try to avenge her?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Blue Monarch sighed.
“Despite what she claimed, Chrysalis really isn’t a queen. She was a princess from the Las Pegasus hive who began to have delusions about ruling Equestria and embracing our corrupted nature. I’m not aware of the details, but apparently her attitude eventually led to her making a right spectacle of herself before abandoning her home.”
“Changeling queens aren’t crowned willy nilly. When a queen is nearing the end of her life, she’ll announce one of her princesses as her successor when she dies. The new queen’s siblings will remain princesses unless a significant majority of the hive demands one of them be crowned queen instead. That said, a princess can set off and make her own hive, but only with the approval of all active Queens. We have to be careful not to let our population grow too large, or we risk being detected.”
“Even if Chrysalis became the queen of her own hive, it was a hive created without authorization, making Chrysalis a queen only by technicality and a wanted criminal. We’d been trying to locate her for years before she launched her invasion plan, but for all her faults Chrysalis knows how to avoid detection. It was little more than dumb luck we caught wind of what she was planning and were able to warn Princess Celestia of the upcoming invasion,” explained Blue Monarch.
“So you guys were the reason Celestia had that shield raised,” said Sweetie Belle with a nod.
“What happened to her anyway? Ya mentioned somethin’ about a trial, right?” asked Apple Bloom.
“We finally have her in custody, and every changeling in her hive has been administered into medical treatment. Keeping a changeling’s body in such a state for so long can have severe long-term consequences. Not to mention Chrysalis didn’t bother moderating her royal jelly intake, meaning a large number of her changelings are partially royal changelings, making their bodies even more unstable. Chrysalis has a lot to answer for,” said Blue Monarch with a shake of her head.
“So she’ll be found guilty for sure then, right?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Blue Monarch looked a little nervous.
“Well… she’s definitely not going free, but the trial hasn’t been going a well as it could. Now, I’m not saying she’s going to be found innocent or anything, even her lawyer has admitted that she must be punished for her actions, but it's a real possibility she’ll be cleared on an insanity plea,” admitted Blue Monarch.
“What?!” exclaimed Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Well, she did break every single changeling law aside from injecting our venom. She also tried to invade Canterlot, despite that fact that even if she’d won all the other hives would have immediately charged in to stop her. To be honest, all signs suggest she really has completely lost it. But don’t worry, even if that’s the case, she’ll still have her power removed and her hive distributed among the rest of us. The only real difference is that she’ll be spending the rest of her days in an asylum instead of a prison. She’s not making a return, I promise you,” reassured Blue Monarch.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle breathed sighs of relief.
“Alright, that’s enough about changeling politics. By the way, Sweetie Belle, I’ve spent the last week visiting other hives. We were hoping that one of them might of learned something about your condition, but nothing came up. That said, every changeling in Equestria is now keeping an eye out for any clues about fully functioning robots. We’ll be sure to let you know if we find anything,” announced Blue Monarch.
Sweetie Belle gave a gasp.
“Really? I… Thank you! I mean, it’s not very likely there’s anything to find, but, just the thought that there are so many ponies out there helping me is... Wow. Really, thank you,” Sweetie Belle stuttered out with a smile on her face.
“It’s no problem, dear. And really, it gives us all something else to look for now that Chrysalis has been captured. Now then, how about I show you two some of Scootaloo’s baby pictures?” suggested Blue Monarch with a smile.
“Mom!” cried Scootaloo in horror.
And so the hive visit came to an end, with the only real casualty being Scootaloo’s pride.
“Welp, that was fun. And quite insightful,” said Apple Bloom with a giggle.
“I can’t believe she showed you two the noodle incident. Not even Twitch teases me about the noodle incident!” groaned Scootaloo as she and her friends made their way back toward Ponyville.
“But you were so cute, all covered in sauce,” said Sweetie Belle with a smirk.
It’s true, Scoots. You were so pwechus and cwute, added Dove.
Scootaloo grumbled, but didn’t reply.
“Still, we’ve been pretty busy this past week. I don’t know about you girls, but I think I’ve done enough learning for a while,” said Sweetie Belle.
“You sure about that? We still haven’t seen what other neat tricks Sweetie Bot can do,” pointed out Apple Bloom.
“Well, aside from that, I guess. I mean, I love learning new things, but I think we should take a break and get back to having fun for a while,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah! We've gone almost five days without a good crusade!” remembered Apple Bloom.
“But we’re not the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore, remember?” reminded Scootaloo.
“We are until we come up with a better name,” objected Apple Bloom.
“Not this again,” moaned Sweetie Belle.
And so the three fillies made their way back home after a long week of learning and embarrassment. Some answers had been discovered, though some mysteries still remained. What was next for these young hearts in the days to come?
I don’t know, but you’re not going to be narrating it, mom. That would get annoying very quickly, said Uno.
Hush, Uno. You’re ruining the moment! chided Blue Monarch.
You kind of ruined it first, mom, added Lynx.
Yeah! You always ruin everything, mom! said Twitch.
SHUT UP, TWITCH! yelled everypony else.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
1,053 users online
1,630,714 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Sounds like Changeling royalty works a little like the Hivers from Sword of the Stars.
Might want to go through and do some point-by-point editing. The last section with the changelings is entirely in bold, even the parts with the speakers' names and the author notes.
so scoots had a "noodle incident". how unfortunate. and funny!
Bad news I'm afraid.
Another sentence needs your help.
Here I'll mark it on your story.
Changeling communication is like a social media site that you can never leave
Twitch being annoying... I can see that , if he keep streaming every bad joke he feels like doing across the hivemind
The Noodle Incident eh , Why does that remind me of som...oh , hello Calvin
Also , One or Uno isn't such a bad name compared to the horror that Scoot must endures as a name. You know , even if every changeling had for name a number , it wouldn't be as bad as that ! Now , when I read a changeling fic where changelings are refered by numbers and claim to want a "proper" name , I know what to link.
(Also , what they cooked up for changelings is crap compared to what most authors , including you , created , so as far as I am concerned this episode is on my "ignore" list , same as the Star Wars Christmas Special and the Teen Titans reboot)
7808395
I think the bolding is to differentiate Changeling telepathy from normal speech.
***
Hmm... Now we see the Changelings! Interesting explanation for Chrysalis! And nice OC changelings!
Woah. Scootaloo's real name! That's some terrible naming...
Typos:
buyed -> bought
really name
quickly,said
[Some sentences need end punctuation.]
So I'm guessing Scootaloo's 'siblings' are only her brothers and sisters from the same clutch, and not everyone hatched by her mother? Since there are thousands of changelings in the hive and only three princesses.
7808463 The point I was making was that EVERYTHING in the last section was bolded, even the speakers' names OUTSIDE of the hivemind dialogue.
7808492
Do you mean:
'Cause that's Blue Monarch narrating:
Is the average three or four? You said both here.
bought.
fur?
Bought is the correct past tense of buy.
"Tune it out"
All in all, great chapter and I like your explanation on how Changeling royalty works.
Is it wrong I feel the need to take a baseball bat to Twitch's head and not stop until he's seeing stars and birdies??? Then let Scootaloo have a turn????
Interesting set of siblings for Scootaloo, will they visit her in Ponyville at all or stay at the hive??? I can also totally see Blue Monarch coming by for a visit as Scootaloo's 'Aunt' and getting a gorgeous dress made by Rarity.
Death would take me first if I had a name as shit as that.
oh my god scoots name
great chapter keep um coming
'
A literal noodle incident? *snerk*
And here I was thinking he was going to be insane. Walking into walls, shouting non-sequiturs, praising spiraling rocks...
But instead he's just a jerk with no filter.
No, that was just Chrysalis' hive. And her hive is crazy because she's crazy - just like you said.
Noodle incident, noodle incident. What movie did it reference? Aha! Kung Fu Panda 1!
Calvin and Hobbes reference for the win!
Hey I just realized something Scootaloo it's probably going to live for a very long time and until now there's a chance that she thought she would outlive her friends but now it seems like since sweetie belle is a robot she doesn't really age the same way as a pony and Apple bloom is Undead which pretty much means she'll be in the same place for a while or something like that, just an interesting thought
To be fair, staying in one place on the ground without being able to do much is boring as hell.
Who dat?
Fascinating.
Yikes.
So Derpy.
Looks like it. Also, a while. 2 words.
Unless you're noctural.
Fascinating.
Smart.
You're not wrong.
I like you.
Pinkie Pie expy...
Rarity expy...
Rainbow Dash expy...
Fluttershy expy...
So he's Alucard. A guy who delights in being a dick because he can, and hates everyone equally.
I'd rather not...
Heh!
Fascinating...
Sounds like a smaller version of the Crystal Heart.
I like that.
Huh...
I see.
Fair enough.
Dear god...
I won't ask...
Interesting design.
She's right.
Yeah that's about right.
I see...
Great...
Phew.
Of course you would.
I love that trope.
She's right.
Scootaloo's birth/hatch name… I see what you did there.
That was an awesome chapter. My favorite parts were:
-Scootaloo's hive's interior design. The fact that there are platforms stationed for various purposes and that there are medics all over the hive was pretty interesting to me.
Yeah, I would be all like, "NOPE!" if my name was "Schmoopy Coopie Toopa Loopy" as well. 
-Scootaloo's siblings. I liked them, except for Twitch. I can see why Scootaloo wanted to leave the hive because of him.
-Scootaloo's real name.
-The crystallized love. I like how changelings crystallize love for later use. I also liked how Scootaloo shared a bit of it to her friends.
-Scootaloo's mother. Glad to see that the changelings have capture Chrysalis. And I loved how she embarrassed the heck out of Scootaloo by showing her baby pictures to the other two members of the CMC.
The CMC definitely deserve a break after learning about themselves.
Remind me of the news article I read long ago. LINK
i officially reject the show canon and accept yours
Average is 3.
So sum of all together, divided by the number of hives, is 3.
28 / 7 = 3?
Yeah that final sure mess up a lot for changeling's head cannons. And it's really a pity, a lot of fan authors create much more interesting changeling backstories. The changelings comic origin and their evolution in the final are just awful.
7808470
Exactly.
7809292
That includes the queens. It's twenty-one princesses.
The colorful carapaces do work well with the faerie-deer changelings and Moose-King Thorax. This worldline isn't as far from canon as you might think.
In any case, with the exposition trinity completed, I'm not sure where the Crusaders will go from here. I look forward to finding out. (Maybe picking out a new name...)
"Schmoopy Coopie Toopa Loopy." My brain just stopped for a full minute just staring at that.
7809287
I stopped accepting the show's cannon a long time ago. The fan fictions are honestly far more interesting.
XD that's my new nickname for Scootaloo
The Turkey Hips Schmoopy Coopie Toopa Loopy!
...My dog, Twitch is Jerry.
I shall call him Twitch the Bitch and he will be voiced by abridged Alucard
This makes changelings sound awesome! And the love crystals are a great idea! Mind if I use that idea for my own fanfic? Lol
keep up the good work!
This story is coming along nicely
Huh, I'm surprised they betrayed Chrysalis to Celestia. I'm also surprised that bug ponies do not make babies like bugs.
Scootaloo's actual name is 7 of 9.
Eh... this is one of those cases where I don't actually care, since the canon has screwed itself over as badly as the last season of "Lost".
In theory, you could make the claim that Chrysalis did escape somehow, and that the entirety of her hive wasn't found.
And just a side note, the insanity plea almost never works in real life. In fact, it's actually not even allowed in some states. But to be fair, Equestria isn't America. So maybe the insanity plea does work there.
But with that, they got the chance to meet the family and hive of Schmoopy Coopie Toopa Loopy. (I'm wondering if Blue Monarch was under the love poison when she named her that.)
Regarding numbers, there's this sci fi fic I edit for, where the "Queen" does actually just go by numbers. Its quite amusing. Said queen is a Pinkie Pie who made clones of herself, and decided to make more after they started calling her "mom."
At first I thought that was supposed to be a swear.
That's... nice?
That wouldn't be a problem anymore.
In other words: Time to breed and expand!
She will come back, will she?
Nice chapter.
: "Yes, but we could have left some things out."
It seems the visit went good enough.
I'm curious what will happen next.
7808431
Is your comment a reference to Preston Garvey?
If yes, I don' get it. If no, it get it even less.
7814724
Sadly yes.
But I was pointing out the spelling mistake, really should be real.
Is this mean we not going to see that colorful eyesore neo Changeling in this story, right? I'm really fine with that. But that mean we not going to see Thorax as well. But that raise some question...If Chrysalis's power and title was removed. Than, who rule her hive now? Thorax?...But since it seem only female Royal Princess Changeling can rule the hive. So I guess that not going to happen as well...
The noodle incident is that a Calvin and Hobbs reference
7812231 more likely just shaking off none DOOZY of an epidural
For a moment there I though Twitch might have some history with AB. Maybe too a Ponyville infiltrator with a simlar name. Like Twist for egzample...
That would be too priceless.
So names aren't bug puns?
Okay, Beetle best pony.
SHUT UP TWITCH
Schmoopy Coopie Toopa Loopy/Scootaloo
what does the noodle incident look like? (anyone got a pic for that?
what number is she out of the sixteen?
not the first two and not the last