Queens to Check, Dragon to Mate

by dracone

Meeting's First Night: N

Nymph looked about the room that had been prepared for her, it was more spacious than she had thought the ponies would be willing to surrender to her. Her private restroom took up almost as much space, the spacious tub was very much appreciated. She also found a strange device sitting on her bed with a note attached to it, the note said the device was called a “humidifier” and was designed specifically to make the room it was in more humid or moist and even had a small list pamphlet that explained how to operate it. She herself had not anticipated such a thorough prep work regarding her personal comfort. She could care less if her drones were comfortable, but remaining optimal was a different story entirely.

The ponies seemed to have everything covered for her stay, she even had a little note on the bedside table telling her where all the best places to find “acceptable” marine-based food. The note also told her what creatures were to be considered off-limits during the entire time she was in the area, even going to go as far to explain why they were off limits. Nymph was not happy, as long as she was in Equestria’s defined territories she couldn’t act on her usual choices because of fear of the ramifications. The Accords didn’t state outright that while in another nation’s defined borders that one should follow the rules and laws of that area, all of that was implied. She had not anticipated actual retaliation and punishment for one disregarding the leniencies of the sociopolitical position she and the other queens were granted, that all changed when Cicada and Vespa had crossed the line and were to be placed in detainment facility for an extended period of time.

The foolishness of Cicada and Vespa meant the other queens had an opportunity to claim those hives, Nymph wasn’t usually the kind to just wait things out like this. She actually felt a sense of euphoria about it all, Chrysalis had shown her there was a way to provoke things in one’s favor by just sticking to the script and allowing others to deviate from it in unacceptable ways and just let the safeguards take care it all. A sound strategy that forces the target to waste its energy while you do not, Chrysalis always had been the most intellectual among them.

What Nymph didn’t know was that Chrysalis wasn’t adhering to any sort of script, merely allowing the visitors to believe she was and having their choices influenced by that perception. Nymph didn’t really grasp that kind of subtlety, the only one that really did was Arachne. Nymph wasn’t about to just go and ask anyone about anything, to queens those sorts of questions were akin to showing weakness. Chrysalis may have allowed herself to become corrupted by the ponies but that was only out of her desperate need for survival, with that same corruption practically permeating her hive, if the sample drone she brought along was any indication. To make matters worse, that drone had some strange ability Chrysalis stated was a term used by ponies, a drone that makes it so other drones or queens have no choice but do everything to keep it safe is a danger of the highest order. The fact Chrysalis was the first known queen to have one made things even more aggravating, that fact in and of itself would taint the historical shaming of Chrysalis, something that should not stand. Culicidae likely shared her views on this, Arachne was another story.

Arachne being one of, if not the, oldest established queens meant she had far more influence and power than most other queens. Arachne was also eying the drone as if she had plans to make it her own, which meant regardless of how this whole event played out Arachne would likely call a meeting of queens to bring all the knowledge regarding this new kind of drone to the attention of all assembled queens. If the queens doubted her claims, along with Nymph and Culicidae discrediting the claims, the very thought of this drone being potentially out in the world and not part of any of the hives in attendance to such a meeting would get some queens thinking and wanting to further investigate. Besides, the discredited plan had a slim chance of happening, given how many potential changeling spies were doing their best to listen in on the proceedings. Not to mention Chrysalis had the drone give a live demonstration of her resource finding abilities out in the open, the idea of such a drone having a natural defense to keep harm from itself in service of the hive wasn’t too far fetched. The drone having such a natural ability meant that the queen of its hive wouldn’t have to waste as much energy allocating military type drones to its protection.

No matter how she looked at it, Nymph could find no reason for terminating this drone that would be a suitable or reasonable excuse that would be considered acceptable. Nymph was many things, but reckless wasn’t one of them anymore. Chrysalis had been right about a few things, the biggest being preparation and waiting meant a much higher chance of success. Of course, that had been the proper Chrysalis, this new Chrysalis had allowed herself to be affected by the very emotions she should be dominating. The farce of a personality Chrysalis had was not something Nymph liked seeing, and the fact that said farce seemed to be genuine was another infuriation.

Nymph needed a soak, thankfully her tub was more than big enough to hold her form. When she closed the door, which was an act more about keeping moisture in the room than privacy concerns, she noticed an outfit that looked like a one piece version of what Chrysalis had been wearing under her dress when Cicada and Vespa had attacked her with a note, with a noticeably different color. The note said that Rarity, the white unicorn with mono-purple hair (it really did say which pony, mostly because Chrysalis and the princesses had very big feeling that the queens were highly likely to not pay attention to names of most of those in attendance), had made this outfit called a “bathing suit” for her and that the outfit was specifically designed for use in the water. Said outfit was seafoam green, which was a sharp contrast to her dark colored carapace, with a lighter shade of ocean blue acting as the bordering color. The note went on to further state if Nymph wished to have adjustments made to her existing choices in attire, including the new outfit she was now staring at, or desired to make an outfit order, Rarity would be more than happy to assist in that regard. The worst part of it all was Nymph actually liked the outfit, especially the fact it was tailored for aquatic use. That in and of itself made her desire to destroy Chrysalis and dismantle what remained of her feel like it was no longer viable. Next to the outfit was a fluffy item that looked like it was meant just over the torso and hangs down a bit called a “bathrobe”, which had its own note explaining what was for. The “bathrobe” struck Nymph as something she wasn’t likely to ever use at any point in the future, even if its dark green color with sea foam blue pearl pattern was pleasing to her eyes.

Chrysalis was literally in a self-imposed exile, she would never be safe outside of Equestria’s borders and showed no intentions of willingly leaving them. But the kill-on-sight protocol wouldn’t be extended to any queens she might produce, those potential queens in the nebulous future Nymph was thinking of could potentially contaminate any number of hives with their very interactions. It looked like Arachne was actually considering allowing the contamination into her own hive, willingly.

Nymph decided to take her mind off such things, she needed to stop thinking such things. She was afraid that continued thinking on such things might actually have her considering contaminating her own hive as well, a bit of time in the water should hopefully wash such thoughts away. Nymph filled the tub almost to the point of overflowing before shutting off the running water, such an odd convenience to have within one’s reach. Nymph felt quite relaxed in her tub, for a period of time that felt somewhere between relaxing hours and tense minutes, when her security drones, which were at the entrance to her room just by the hall where her room’s door was, informed her that Culicidae had appeared with no escort. Confused, intrigued and unsurprised Nymph had one of the drones escort the red queen to her.

When Culicidae entered the room, to see an unworried Nymph soaking in the tub, she said, “I see I’m not the only ‘guest’ to have trouble resting here. This place is too relaxed, not one assassination attempt from our hosts has been made.”

“That would be worrisome,” said Nymph, “if it weren’t for the fact that such things are a massively rare event in this nation’s culture. Politics in this nation are uninteresting and border on dull, while a surprising number of monthly and weekly occurrences prove more entertaining.”

“Don't tell me that you’re falling for this nation’s ‘charm’ as well.”

“Never,” said Nymph, “I just took the time to study up on the happenings of this nation over the past decade or so, it’s why I wasn’t surprised to see news articles pertaining to Chrysalis and the dragon being married. Chrysalis has entrenched herself in Equestria’s culture, much to the shame she should of had all this time.”

“All mildly interesting...but not why I’m here, we need to put an end to this farce quickly.”

“Agreed, but the fact Chrysalis is using The Accords to her favor is making that much more problematic. Their use to this sort of level has…”

“Been done all the time, it’s just the correlating circumstances that have not been seen before in regards to The Accords.”

“So you did review The Accords, that should make things easier on us. We got a demonstration on what happens if we manage to cross the line earlier today.”

“And a wonderful demonstration it was, not just of what happens if we step out of line while here.”

“Yes, Chrysalis does seem to have dragon inspired properties, which supports her claims that she is the dragon’s mate. But enough with the pleasantries, what sort of proposition have you come to me about?”

“I have yet to find a way under current...constraints, in regards to having her leave her supposed sanctuary.”

“As have I, she’s not foolish enough to just wander outside the boundaries of her supposed haven without weighing the costs. Her offspring, however, are not bound by the same rules. If she genuinely does care for them, as repulsive as that thought is, that means we can force her rational mind to the background with the proper approaches when her offspring are outside this nation’s boundaries.”

“I hate waiting, but right now it’s our best option. I will assist you in the endeavor when it becomes more feasible.”

“The aid is not fully wanted, but appreciated nonetheless. Have you propositioned Archne about this?”

“No, she seems to be too busy entertaining the ideas Chrysalis brought up earlier today.”

“I was just thinking the same thing, I suggest you head back to your designated quarters during this time. If you spend too much time here we might run into further undesired elements.”

Culicidae said nothing and departed, Nymph’s drone returning to its post and shutting the door as Culicidae headed down the hall. Nymph knew that she wasn’t alone her thoughts, Culicidae’s visit just reinforced that notion. It was good that Culicidae came and distracted her, otherwise, Nymph would have been focused on how incredibly comfortable her soak was and started thinking things she was “taught” a queen is better not thinking of.

This was going to be a long night, Nymph was not happy about that. She got out of the tub, not even bothering to make a go at drying herself off, and entered her main room and positioned the “humidifier” by the door before turning it to its highest setting and activating it, after making sure to check the operation manual again, before flopping her moistened body on the very clean and dry bed. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep, but being rested for the next day would be important. This wasn’t like a “traditional” changeling meeting where it was expected to have at least several attempts on your life in the first fifteen hours. All that was happening here was being watched by various parties for some sort of slip up, at least that’s how Nymph saw it. She had studied up extensively about how dealings in major cities such as Canterlot and Manehattan had a number of backroom deals going on, which were more in line with how changelings liked their meetings to go. Ponyville was just barely into its large town phase, such practices were seen as the exception rather than the norm.

The town was still growing, likely due to the fact that one of the nation’s rulers was a resident. The town had been built with the Town Hall as the central focal point of the location, it was obvious to see that focus was shifting to the castle with how the newer complexes in the community were being oriented. Nymph couldn’t believe she was even thinking about such things, there was clearly something about this region that caused one’s mind to become addled. If that were true, Chrysalis’s massive personality shift and the Dragon's distinctly less dragon properties could be explained away that way. The questions here were, how far did the influencing force extend? Where was its central distribution point? How could it be neutralized?

With so many questions and no hint in regards to where to find the answers, Nymph found herself in an unfamiliar position that was both undesired and uncomfortable. She knew this whole thing would be trouble, if not a complete waste of time. The worst part of it all was she was starting to find some aspects of this place endearing, a changeling queen should never have such thoughts.

Comments

[omeaga911]

I'm first? Well… interesting chapter. Nymph can has confusion? Next chapter progress? What is arachni stewing over? And whenever I picture spike getting deadly angry it is accompanied by the Final fantasy 10 rock/metal soundtrack lol

[Mrof]

wait i thought the red queen was the one to strike with vespa not the green one.

[dracone]

8445259
No, I wrote it as such that it was Cicada and Vespa. You're probably mixing the content of some of the prior story in there.

[dracone]

8445056
I started it, but it's barely up to 3 pages

[rikusorasephiroth]

8445056
Really? Because I can see his rage being accompanied by something more along the lines of a Metal Gear soundtrack.

[dracone]

8445056

8445749
Would you care to give some examples of which musical pieces in particular you think would fit Spike's rage?

[rikusorasephiroth]

8445775

[omeaga911]

I hear
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IsHPMJBHuuE
Mostly the beging though lol

[dracone]

8445816

8445056

8445259
Did any of you check out the link in the Author Notes of the prior chapter? You'll have to move your mouse over the words, for some reason links are hidden in the Author Notes.

[rikusorasephiroth]

8446766
The only link in the prior chapter's AN was about wanting to do a spin-off.
What's that got to do with coming up with an accompanying song for Spike going berko?

[dracone]

8447585
Not much, just wanted to make sure you guys found it because someone in the chapter before it left a note in the comments about not being able to notice there were links in the Author's Notes.

Be advised I am considering all these comments regarding Spike's potentially justified rage.

[Razzy]

Give in to the cuteness...

'telling her where all the best places to find “acceptable” marine-based food' - marine-based food were

'had a slim chance happening' - chance of happening

'in service the hive' - service of the hive

'filled the tub almost the point of overflowing' - almost to the point

'informed her Culicidae' - informed her that Culicidae

'shame she should of had all' - should have had

'supports her claims she is the dragon’s mate' - claims that she

'becomes more possible' - feasible

'not even bothering to make a go at dry herself off' - drying

'and entered her main room' - remove and

'before turning to its highest' - turning it to

[dracone]

8465571
I will make the necessary correction as soon as possible. Anything else to say?