Tales from the Ruby Hive

by Zoljen

Brimstone Part 2

The world of consciousness slowly crept into Brimstone as he became aware of his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was hitting a cloud and falling, so it came to no surprise when he felt warmth underneath his side. But the surface was flexible, like a waterbed of sorts.

His entire body ached as he just laid there, letting out a soft groan as he heard soft chittering. Was that source from changelings? Was the past week or two just a horrible dream? He was certain of it, but why was the chittering of a different dialect?

He slowly opened his eyes, getting rewarded with the sight of a familiar brown wall. He was underground! He slowly looked around and saw he was in a chamber similar to his old hive chambers. The warmth underneath was a gel-like bed, flexible and warm at the same time. It certainly brought a familiar feeling to it.

As he looked around, he started to look himself over. While he wasn't under a blanket, he was certainly under a lot of bandages. All of his limbs, save for his tail, were covered, and as he glanced towards his horn, he noticed it was wrapped up too. He concentrated to conjure up some magic, just as a hoof landed on his side.

“I would recommend you not do that.” He heard in a soft and gentle voice. He squeaked and looked towards the source, a pair of orange eyes looking down warmly at him. “You stretched your magic pretty far young one.” The voice was gentle, warm, and reassuring to him. He could tell just from the changelings face alone that it belonged to a Queen.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the Queen just reached up and gently silenced him. “Save it for when you are more rested. You have been asleep for days and I am sure you have questions. I have my own about you, but I will answer any you have.”

Brimstone nodded weakly at that and laid his head back down, closing his eyes as he felt the hoof leave his side.

“Rest well, I can tell you have been through a lot.”

Brimstone soon fell asleep once again, this time by choice.

---

Brimstone was currently sitting on the bed, staring at the dish of food before him. These changelings were weird, at least compared to him. He had heard of other changelings in the world, but he suspected they’d look like him. Instead, these orange carapaced changelings had more horse-like qualities. They each had a frayed deep orange horse-tail and a pair of deep orange insect wings. He certainly stood out with his dragon-like appearance, that much was for sure.

He had enjoyed the hospitality of these changelings, though, and the food they provided was almost as good as Tinders cooking! He had been mostly resting in silence the last few days, with the strange looks he got from the other changelings had been somewhat annoying. Not to the point to disturb him, but mainly that feeling of being watched by friendly eyes, constantly.

“I trust that you are ready to talk to our Queen today?” The changeling before Brimstone spoke. He looked somewhat stocky and well built. If ranks were a thing in other hives, he looked to either be the Queen's right hoof or a captain of the guard.

“Yes sir, I am.” Brimstone spoke around the fish that he had his mouth and was currently enjoying. The changeling nodded and turned to leave, he stopped at the door as Brimstone spoke up again. “Thanks again for helping.”

“Your welcome.” He said, before leaving. Brimstone took his time with the fish before him. His first day that he could move and eat, he nearly choked himself with how fast he did.

By the time he had finished the meal before him, the queen was already sitting in the room, just watching him. She waited patiently for him to finish eating before speaking up.

“I see that you’re not choking yourself with food this time.” She giggled softly as he nodded back to her.

“Yes, and I can't thank you enough for helping me.” He let out a soft sigh as he looked down. “I thought I was done for when I hit that cloud. I had been gliding for so long that I just felt the world pass me by.”

“Maybe you can explain why you were doing so. And why you decided to give Flix a heart attack. And where you are from, I do not recall ever hearing of a changeling with dragon traits such as yours.” She gestured to the still bandaged wings and tail.

Brimstone let out a long sigh and nodded. “I am from the Ruby Hive, located in the Dragon lands under Mt Volash. As far as I am aware, I am alone. My hive was…” he paused, looking down and sniffling softly. “...attacked by the dragons that we had co-existed with. I was captured along with a dozen or so others after returning from the back lines of their stupid blood feud. It was when we returned to our hive that we were captured. One managed to flee during the chaos, and we saw a thin rainbow shockwave leave the mountain. It didn't destroy it, but we could hear the screams of horror and pain in the hive mind.”

Brimstone laid down quickly, tears starting to trail down as he recalled the events, but he continued. “I and the dozen changelings were to be taken to the emperor, turned into slaves. Our wings to be clipped and our magic restrained to keep us in a dragon form. That night, we made our escape. I know others fled, but I don't know where to, or if they even did.”

By now, the Queen had moved over and laid a wing over him. She tried her best to comfort him.

“I had been flying as fast as I could from there. Hopping and gliding from cloud to cloud, only stopping long enough for a short bit of rest, and diving under the water to get a fish to eat. I just kept going, and when I saw a cloud of above land, I made my way towards it. My disguise fell halfway to it, and it threw me off. Please tell Flix that I am really sorry for scaring him.” Brimstone sighed as he snuggled up under the wing.

“That explains far more than I was hoping to hear, and explains your dragon traits as well.” She grinned down to him. “To know that we had a sister hive in the dragon lands is certainly good news. But the fact it's gone now isn't.” She let out a soft sigh as she felt him curl up more under her wing. “While I can't provide the same comfort your old Queen could, I can help you get started here in Equestria. Where do you wish to go?”

“Someplace quiet and safe,” he said without hesitation.

“I know of a place then. How about Ponyville? It's small and one of the safest places you can be. It is also very close to Canterlot. I know of a friendly hive there you can help out too.” She grinned as he looked up at her slightly, giving a slight nod.

“You can ask me questions another time. When you are feeling better, and I am sorry I had to bring up your past. But I wanted to know where you came from.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, your majesty.”

---

“Thanks again for taking care of me.” Brimstone looked down as the changeling guard he met before floated a tray of fish down in front of him. He glanced at the small bowl of green jello next to the fish and raised an eyebrow at it. He could sense emotional energy from it, and it seemed like a mix of emotions, but the energy it held seemed tremendous.

“Something wrong Brimstone?” The changeling guard asked calmly, as he watched Brimstone looking over the gel.

“Just, uh. Doesn't this seem a bit much to give strangers?” Brimstone pointed to the gel. “I mean, I'm thankful and all, but… this seems like a lot of energy.”

The guard raised an eyebrow, “I’m surprised you noticed now, but that is a standard amount for us.”

“Well, I had been rather starved before, but are you sure, Vix?” Brimstone looked up at the guard questioningly.

He nodded back. “You might be more different from us than you realize.” Vix shrugged slightly.

“More than just my appearance? You mean my consumption of the emotional energy might be…” he trailed off, struggling for the word.

“More efficient, I’d say,” Vix grinned slightly. “You require less than we do, it seems. You crossed an ocean on one feeding. Yes, it was forced so therefore, more raw, but it was still just one feeding. At least from what you described.” He waved a hoof as he spoke.

“I… guess that's true. The dragons never really gave us much, in fact, us harvesters hardly had to leave the hive. We might have left once a week for a day or two and came back with enough.”

“I would consider yourself lucky Brimstone. Especially since you don't have to worry about a hive to maintain with energy.”

“Are all changelings here in Equestria like that? I mean, needing a lot of energy?”

“We are bigger in number than what you are used to. While we don't know the exact number in each hive here in Equestria, we do know that a good number of them are well over 100 drones, some even more.” Vix shrugged faintly.

“That does make sense, more drones means more energy needed.” Brimstone looked at the gel again. “And I guess that means ponies give off more energy, eh?”

“Would be an accurate assumption.”

---

“Where am I again?” Brimstone asked as he looked across the room at a deep orange pegasus with a pink cut mane. The pegasus was packing up a few supplies for Brimstone.

It had been a week since he crashed into that cloud, and he found his recovery to be quicker than he expected. Mainly because of the extra energy, but the rest and magical assistance helped.

“You are about a mile west of Baltimare. We are going to walk there since your wings still need to rest. From there, you are going to take a train to Ponyville.” He paused as Brimstone gave him a confused look when he mentioned a train. “You do know what a train is, right?”

“Nope,” Brimstone shook his head. “One of those pony things I'm going to learn, Flix?”

Flix nodded. “It is a series of carts chained together and pulled by a rather impressive piece of machinery.” He grinned. “A few members of this hive help maintain it and can tell you how it works if your interested.”

Brimstone shook his head and slowly stood up.

“Oh, uh. Do you have a pony form you can… take… “ Flix trailed off as Brimstone engulfed himself in red fire, leaving behind a deep blue pegasus with a short blue and green mane and very short tail. “Okay, that answers that.” The pegasus leaned to the side a little, looking past the other pegasus whose wings were still wrapped up. “How’d you hide your tail?”

Brimstone chuckled softly. “Notice how I'm a little taller now?” Flix nodded slightly.

“Oh….”

“Yup. So, what should I call as a pony?”

“Sky Blitz.” The pegasus grinned. “And you?”

Brimstone bowed, sweeping a hoof out as he did. “Feather Dust, at your medical service sir.”

“Medical service?” Blitz raised an eyebrow as Feather straightened back up.

“Yeah, I specialize in herbal remedies mostly.”

“Specialize?” Biltz tilted his head, sounding even more confused.

“Er… One of the many quirks of the Ruby Hive. We each had a specialization. Like herbal medicines for me, Talon was able to make blades for himself, etc.” Feather shrugged slightly. “It’s kind of long and complicated to explain it, I guess.”

“Yeah, that seems confusing. But each hive does function differently I suppose. Anyway, are you ready to head out?”

“Yup, I assume you aren't joining me?” Feather Dust asked as he trotted up to Blitz’s side and followed him out.

“Nope, I'm going to drop you off at the train station and go back to what I was doing. You have enough bits in your bag to get a decent start, pending you can find somepony to live with. I’d suggest you start with the hive first and go from there. If anything they can help.”

“I suppose that will have to do. Thanks again for your help, and I am sorry I scared you.” Feather hung his head for a moment as he walked.

“It’s fine, I needed to report back anyway. Although you are kind of heavy for a changeling. Guess it’s that dragon tail and wings that add to your weight.” Sky Blitz stuck his tongue out at Feather Dust for a few seconds who chuckled and shrugged in response.

---

Finding the train station was easy enough, though it felt like they took a really weird path to get to it. But Feather Dust suspected he took the fastest route to it, which led him through various back streets. After Sky Blitz explained what he had to do at the station, he gave him a little book, that had his own address in it, along with the address of a few ponies in Ponyville. He mentioned he could see about staying with one of them until he got a home of his own or something came up.

After getting to see one of the many marvels of pony kind, he was now on his train ride to Ponyville. He let out a small content sigh as he watched the rolling landscape go by from his window seat. He was on his way to a new life, and he had already met a few new ponies that were kind to him.

As such, he was currently sharing a cabin with a pair of young stallions. A light brown unicorn stallion sat next to a blue pegasus stallion, snuggled up under one of his wings. Feather sat on the opposite bench, leaning against the wall and staring out the window. Feather could feel the love flowing the between the two stallions and silently enjoyed it, chuckling mentally.

“So,” the pegasus started, with a grin. “I don't believe we’ve been introduced.” Feather looked over at the pegasus, who was slowly scooting towards him and the unicorn was somewhat glaring at the pegasus. “I'm Purple Rain, and this is my partner, Magic Mug.”

“You’re flirting, Rainy,” the unicorn said, having the accent of a high-class noble who was attempting to relax.

“I am not! I am merely saying hello!” Rain extended a hoof towards Feather.

“And for you, that is flirting!” Mug huffed, puffing out his cheeks a little as he watched Rainy grin back at him.

Rain chuckled softly and looked back at Feather, “And you are, fine sir?”

Feather took the hoof and shook it softly, “Feather Dust, and trust me, good sirs. I wouldn't be able to pry you two apart if I tried.” He grinned softly, before looking out the window again.

“That is a weird thing to say,” Rain commented, looking over Feather for a few moments. “So, what happened to your wings?”

“I used them…” He trailed off, pausing for a few moments with a soft sigh and flattening his ears. “I used them for far too long. I was running because my home was taken from me.”

“Oh… sorry, I was just curious. It's not often I see a pegasus whose wings are so wrapped up like that.”

Feather turned back to look at the pair, who were frowning at him. “It's okay. It's my fault really. Now I am looking for a new home, and I heard Ponyville was a great place to start up.”

“So are we!” Rain grinned, “We are getting away from his stuffy uncle because our lifestyle isn't… what word did he use?”

“‘Proper’ for a pony of the high class.” Mug did the air quotes with his hooves, before leaning on Rain. “But really, I took some funds, plan on getting a home, and go into the good part of the family business: running a bar!”

Feather nodded slightly, grinning faintly. “You two will enjoy it, I bet.”

“Yup!” Rain grinned, moving from Mug’s side and sitting next to Feather. “So, what are you planning on doing in Ponyville?”

“I…” Feather flattened his ears, looking back out the window. “Don't know.”

“Well, for now. Why don't ya join us? Your Cutie Mark there says you're good with herbs, right? We can open up a similar place that Mug’s sister runs!” Rain grinned, moving to lean on Feather, only for a glow of magic to stop him, lift him, and then sit him down next to Mug.

“You’re flirting again, Rainy,” Mug said with a huff.

“Awww! Are you getting jealous of the other stallion?” Rain cooed as he leaned on Mug.

“As much fun as going into a business for a bar would be. I'm afraid my talent isn't quite like that. It's more towards healing remedies, then getting ponies drunk.” Feather shrugged with a chuckle.

“Well, you can live with us then, until you get your own house or something else comes along.” Rain wrapped Mug up in a wing.

“If you can handle a weirdo like him, that is,” Mug nuzzled at Rains shoulder softly.

“You two remind me of friends I used to know, so. It won't be a problem now.”

“Oh, and where are they now?”

Feather sighed, flattening his ears again and looking down. “I don't know.”

“You’re not going to be like this constantly, are you?” Mug asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, just a rough past that I’ll try to forget, that's all.”

Author's Note:

Look, an equestrian hive! I randomly picked Orange and I don't know if i somehow picked the location of Goldfur's Orange hive.

Anyway, Magic Mug is Calm Winds.

Comments

[Goldfur]

The location of the Orange Hive has yet to be revealed, and at this point I have no particular need to pin it down, so it could be out that way. I'm surprised that you didn't name the queen though.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

[erictheblue]

this reminds me of one of my favorites, "shifting melodies" where different colors of Changelings had different favorite emotions.
Red and Yellow like honor and courage, Pink liked Happiness (and were as weird as Pinkie Pie) and Violet liked...Lust!