5 - The Regalia
Queen Draco’s Hive
The journey had been long and tiring, but relatively simple and routine. Queen Draco had travelled to and from her hive many times throughout her life, the longevity of the journey was no longer of any consequence to her.
While her escort returned to their families and their beds for well-deserved rest, Draco did not. There was important business to attend to, business that she would not delay.
“Have there been any issues?” Queen Draco asked her archmage as they walked up the mountainside pathway, several other drones moving up and down as well.
“If there was, I promise I would have informed you immediately over the hive mind,” the archmage assured.
“And none have yet entered?”
“No,” the mage responded. “The doorway is unlocked and without the wards that protected it previously, but we have waited until your return as per your own orders, your highness.”
“Good. We know not what lies within, it’s the reason why I had my friend wait before joining us here.”
The mage nodded. “How far do you want us to go? I know you wanted Queen Twilight to share in this.”
“Just far enough to ensure all is well,” Draco commanded. “That is, no traps, no giant Ursa Major rampaging out at us; just a ruin to be explored.”
“I understand, your Highness,” the mage responded as the two approached the two large doors carved into the mountainside.
A large contingent of guards were waiting, along with a small team of specialised mages to help disarm any magical obstacles they might encounter. The guards were all stood to attention smartly in their red armour, the unarmoured mages bowing as their queen approached.
The changelings parted around their queen as she approached the doorway, examining it with a keen eye. What was once an object covered in enchantments of all types was now inert and defenceless, and gave no resistance as Queen Draco grabbed onto it with her magic and slowly began to open the giant doors. The doors were outwards opening, meaning the changelings had to take a few steps back as the giant objects turned on their ancient hinges. Within was a massive entrance hall crafted with very recognisable changeling architecture, unlit torches hung silently along the walls. A second far smaller door sat at the end of the entrance hall.
“Light those torches,” the archmage commanded, the others quickly sparking their horns to life. Soon, they caused green flames to spring forth from the torches, throwing the darkness back, and illuminating everything in a light green hue.
The changelings cautiously entered, each and every one of them keeping an eye out for trouble as Queen Draco led them inside. Seven of the guards moved to secure the entrance as the others, about a dozen changelings, continued with the Queen towards the second doorway. This door opened with no issues, revealing a long pitch black hallway beyond.
“No wards detected thus far,” the archmage commented, horn alight with a detection spell. “I don’t think whoever built this place ever expected us to get this far.”
“Or they were corroded by time,” another drone suggested.
“Don’t get complacent just yet, stay on alert,” Queen Draco commanded, entering the corridor and lighting a few of the torches along the walls with her own magic.
The Queen peered down the hallway now it was lit, trying to spy anything she could.
“It’s just a hallway, and it goes deeper into the mountain, much deeper,” Draco noted. “I do not see any other doorways or passages along the edges.”
“If this were a hive I would expect at least some other passages and tunnels,” the archmage commented. “What is this place?”
Draco glanced back at the changeling, but the Queen didn’t answer for she did not know. She had expected it to be a long lost hive, but the theory of it being a tomb was still not out.
“It could be a changeling’s final resting place, the central chamber being at the end of this hallway,” Queen Draco stated. “We shall have to press on.”
“Why bury the main chamber so deep though?” the archmage asked.
“Ever heard the old story of those dwarf ponies digging too deep,” one changeling commented. “I’m getting that feeling right now.”
The archmage’s glowing blue eyes rolled in bemusement. “One, this place was built by changelings. Two, you have been reading too much Equestrian fiction.”
“Enough!” Queen Draco commanded. “Stop your bickering and stay close to me, we are going further in.”
They continued on in silence after that, the corridor going deeper and deeper into the mountain as the way twisted and turned, but always steadily moved downwards. The whole time there were no other paths to take, no doorways leading to other destinations; just one singular path leading them to one final destination. A destination they had yet to set eyes upon, and had no indication of when it would be reached.
“Whoever built this place wanted whatever it contains buried deep,” the archmage finally stated. “Very deep. We’re spiralling deeper under the mountain, we have to be approaching its core.”
“The centre of the mountain…” Draco mused. “That sounds like the location our destination would be found in a place like this, the deepest point in the rock.”
“Anything at the entrance?” Draco asked over the hive to the changelings they had left behind.
“No, your highness. All is quiet here, we await your return.”
Queen Draco hummed, and she was about to ask the archmage something when the corridor suddenly ended. There was nothing, just a wall to greet them after all their efforts.
The archmage blinked. “What? That can’t be right! A dead end?”
“So it appears,” Draco thoughtfully stated. “Is this an illusion?”
The archmage cast a few spells on the wall to test it, even placing a hoof on the wall to be sure, groaning at the results. “No, my Queen. It’s completely solid.”
The changelings looked between one another, confused. Meanwhile, Queen Draco just continued to examine it. As she looked at the wall, she could swear she could hear a feminine voice whispering from beyond the wall. Something was calling out to her, something from beyond the current barrier that blocked the way.
The archmage sighed, dejected. “What do we do now?”
“Simple,” Queen Draco stated, lighting up her horn and unleashing the full force of her raw magical power against the wall in front of them.
The drones ducked downwards as dust blasted down the hallway, small harmless shards of rubble spraying against their hard chitin. When the drones looked up again, they saw the wall had been obliterated, and beyond was a gigantic magnificent chamber, an open cavern that contained a single staircase leading on to a raised platform in the centre of the rounded chamber. Atop the stairs they would find a podium, wherein was the contents somepony had been so desperate to keep hidden away from the world. Their destination had been reached.
“How did you know?” the archmage enquired.
“A… feeling,” Queen Draco responded, moving on into the chamber and examining the staircase with great interest, the whispers increasing while encouraging her to ascend.
Draco grew concerned, but something about those whispers were extremely compelling. “Do any of you hear that?”
The changelings looked towards the Queen in confusion. “Hear what, your majesty?”
Draco’s concern grew, she had a bad feeling creeping up on her.
“All of you, stay here as I move up the staircase,” she commanded.
“B-but your highness, we don’t know what’s up there!”
“Which is why I want you down here!” Queen Draco snapped. “I am a Changeling Queen, I can handle myself.”
Despite their protests and hesitation, the drones did as they were commanded as Queen Draco moved on forwards. She began to ascend the stairs one careful step at a time. Her horn was alight, scanning for any obstruction she might encounter. Nothing blocked her way as she reached the top, stepping onto the central circular platform as her gaze landed on a singular podium in its centre. On the podium sat a simple piece of regalia, a chest piece to be exact. Its shiny surface was a deep black with silver detailing, a single gleaming green gem sat snuggly directly in the centre, and Draco could see her own reflection looking back from the short distance.
She wanted it.
Her gaze was fixated, the whispering goading her forwards, encouraging her to take it. A pressure on a specific section of her mind was building, the part of her mind allowing for the hive connection with all of her changelings, the very source of her hive mind.
All of the drones began to feel it too, and the ones at the bottom of the staircase began to get worried, moments from following the Queen up despite her command.
Draco now stood just in front of the regalia, part of her wanted to flee, to run as far away as she could while sealing the vault up tight once more; but the whispering and pressure was too great. Draco reached a hoof out, but recoiled when one of the wards surrounding the regalia gave her a warning shock. The Changeling Queen’s horn glowed as she scanned the podium, finding the wards were decayed and weak. It was a simple matter to disarm them, freeing their prisoner at long last.
“Put it on.”
Draco levitated the regalia up with her magic, studying it in a zombie-like daze.
“Place it upon your chest.”
In one swift motion, Queen Draco latched the regalia onto herself, the chest piece erupting into a red glow on contact as Draco clutched her head, screaming in pain. The pain was felt throughout the hive mind, all of Draco’s drones no matter of their location all dropping to the floor with their hooves held to their heads.
Draco’s tried to stand, only to fall, and she tried to pry the regalia from her but found herself faltering in the attempt. Her eyes glowed red, and she felt the presence of another invade her hive.
“You’ve done well, my subject, you shall prove… useful.”
Draco screamed.
At that moment, far away in the Crystal Empire inside the palace, several ponies were surrounding two changeling couriers who had been delivering goods in trade for love from the Crystal Heart. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor were among them, having been talking with the two couriers moments earlier.
“What’s happening?” Cadance shouted towards her husband, scanning the pained changeling with her horn.
“I don’t know, get a doctor!” Shining commanded.
Then, they stopped. The two drones began to relax, their breathing laboured. However, panicked looks began to descend onto their faces, their eyes darting left to right.
“Are you alright?” Princess Cadance asked. “What happened?”
“It’s gone,” one of the changelings responded. “The hive mind, it’s gone.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Something happened,” the other shakily stated. “Our Queen was in so much pain, and then she cut us off. She cut us all off from the hive mind. Why… why would she do that?!”
Shining Armor looked towards his wife, worry written on his face.
“We need to contact Twilight, now.”
The Equestrian Hive
Twilight yawned. Night was falling fast, and she was retiring to her chambers to get some welcome sleep. She had just come from a meeting with Prince Blueblood that he had been pushing for, that she had had to delay due to Draco’s visit and revelation of the ruin. Still, it was done and the unicorn was on his way back to Canterlot at that very moment, so she could rest.
Her chambers were in sight, the two guards outside saluting as she approached.
“Your Highness! I take it you’re retiring for the night?”
Queen Twilight gave the guards a small smile. “I am, make sure I am not disturbed unless absolutely necessary.”
“That may be now,” Spike stated as he approached from the opposite end of the corridor, presenting Twilight with a letter with the royal seal of the Crystal Empire emblazed upon it. “I just got this sent through my dragonfire, it's apparently quite urgent.”
Twilight sighed, stifling another yawn as she took the unopened letter. “What could be so urgent to warrant a letter at this time of night?”
Twilight opened up the message, eyes quickly skimming through the words imprinted down onto it. Her expression fell dark, a mix of confusion and worry evident on her features.
“That… that can’t be…” Twilight muttered in disbelief. “Why…?”
“Twilight?” Spike called out in concern.
“It’s from Cadance, she says some of Draco’s drones of been cut from the hive mind… by Draco herself.”
The two present changeling guards exchanged looks, while Spike tilted his head.
“Cut? What do you mean?”
“It means they are no longer a part of her hive, she cut them off.”
Spike went to respond to the explanation, but just then green flames erupted from Spike’s muzzle, another letter falling to the floor. This one held the seal of the royal sisters.
Twilight wordlessly picked up this second message, quickly opening it up and reading what the message had to say.
“I don’t believe it…”
“What now?” Spike questioned.
“The same thing happened in Canterlot. Draco’s entire embassy in the city… Every single changeling there has also lost their connection.”
The dragon’s eyes widened. “But why would she do that? Don’t changelings have a reduced lifespan without a hive connection?”
“It’s true,” Twilight confirmed. “But there’s more. Apparently, each drone has described the same thing. My friend was in pain, terrible pain. One that spread throughout every single drone.”
“She was in pain?” Spike questioned. “Then… did Draco cut them off to save them from something?”
Twilight looked up from the letter and towards Spike, her features serious and urgent.
“Something has happened to Draco and her hive, something terrible.”
And thus the main storyline for this sequel kicks into full gear! Hold onto your flanks, its all downhill for our heroes from here... 
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The empress ah.
Well shits about to get real
and the empress take over draco and start a war of the world
I kinda saw this coming. Gonna be interesting to see where this leads.
DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPRESS!!!!!
Draco should have stuck with her original plan.
Shit..... This can't end well...
hail empress draco, hail empress draco.
*save me luna*
7752592 Empress Draco? That's not quite what happened...
7752629 i dont remember the original empresses name.
7752650 Empress Immortalis
7752651 i like empress draco better, but thats just my opinion.
*Grabs bucket of popcorn*
7752772 i dont know lord of the rings/hobbit that well, so i didnt think of that. good comparison though.
7752772 I wouldn't describe her as a spirit. A 'spirit' implies she's dead...
As for the regalia, it only works on changelings, the Empress needs a hive connection to exert her influence.
I have a very bad feeling about this. Draco seems to have been "possessed" by the Regalia and being possessed by an artifact of doom never goes well for anyone.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!1!!!!
I got the feeling from World of Warcraft whare Arthas takes the gear of the Lich King!
Also,
7752755 mate, can I have some too?
7754478 *throws entire bucket*
7754859 They've (Twi and Draco's hives anyway) been doing more what Thorax did when he lived in the Crystal Empire before the finale. Just without the sparkly wings.
7753185
Really, just ask Golum how that went, eh?
7755052 I rest my case. Evil artifacts never work for anyone.
7752394 As soon as she heard a voice she should have turned away. As soon as she mentioned it to the Drones, they should have pulled her away to protect her. First one could be overlooked, but I'm surprised at the second one. Why didn't the drones there to protect her react negatively to her suddenly hearing things they couldn't and try to pull her back so they can study and understand WHY she was hearing voices suddenly.
7754600 Cheers bud!
7756311 You forget the voice was already manipulating them by that point, just like how it almost made Queen Crepuscule put it on in the prologue.
7756788 True, but only the Queen could hear the voice, not the drones. That's why I said Draco hearing the voice and turning around probably would never happen. But her drones couldn't hear the voice. And suddenly being told your Queen can hear something you can not, from a mysterious cave/tomb/place not seen since before discord messed with the world? You'd think they would have been much more careful and overprotective of every little thing with the Queen involved.
7757492 Initially they were just following her orders, but after Draco reached the regalia...
They couldn't hear Immortalis, but they could feel the pressure on their minds through the hive, and while they wanted to go after Draco at that point, something (Immortalis herself) made them hesitate long enough for it to be too late.
Dammit!!!
I knew Draco would be possessed, why am I always right about these things!!?
7763035 Perhaps because it was set up right from the prologue?
7763436
Maybe...
Lol
Hmm... Centurion tanks sent.
Well, Draco's dead. Now or later, she will be dead.
nuuuuuuu Dracoooo
Don't like that I called it, but...
CALLED IT
This reminds me of the Mask of Jack the Ripper from the Fable games. "Wear me..."
Well this just went from bad to worse.
And so hitler rises once more to dictate equestria.
Everytime I come back to read another chapter I keep thinking 'man, Draco found it, she's totally going to fuck up and put it on and get mind fucked...' and I also keep going 'come oooon, don't be 'that' cliche D:'
ah...
7855424
Ah, that song takes me back.
Do not ask questions you don't want the answer to.
You don’t know the power of the dark side...
Why is that this place have a ton of defenses, but don't have warning, like: "Don't enter! If you enter you will unleash doom and suffering upon Changeling kind! Do Not take anything from here! If you did dig this thing out then bury it back or the entire world will be skrewed! For the sake of everything saint, holy and important, STOP!" In other stories the bad guys or desperate and deceived or power seeking guys would ignore such warnings, like Crudelis, who either think that they could control this power or just don't care, but if it isn't reveal exactly what is inside, only that it could destroy their race (through enslavement) then it at least would make them cautious (or not), and peoples like Draco who didn't wanted such power could learn about the danger, especially since that Queen herself experienced how powerful the temptation of the regalia is and she KNEW that something was amiss. So a Queen who is unaware of it, without a warning, at the time they would suspect that something isn't right it would've been too late. Just place the warning at the doors or somewhere in the hallway, far enough that the Queen would still be out of range.
10030856
Hubris. They never expected it to be found at all.
this thing should not have been put behind locks and seals, too removable. since they already went to the effort to put it half a mile under the mountain go the extra mile to bury it under molten rock and rubble, even the most determined people will never think to dig out a tunnel that long that has no traces it existed, at least not without specific information of exactly what and where it is.