• Published 16th Jun 2012
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Back to the Swarm - PointlessGizmo



The sequel to The Braggart and The Bug. Leech is recalled by his swarm. Doesn't go well, of course.

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Chapter 2: Departure

Leech awoke early the next morning, after a sleep which had offered no benefit to him whatsoever. Still incredibly tired, he peered out of the wagon's windows. The sun had not yet fully risen, with only the merest hint of sunlight radiating from the horizon brightening the sky. Sleep had not bought Leech answers as he'd hoped - he usually had his best ideas whilst asleep (like that dream he once had about drizzling peanut butter onto apple slices - a taste sensation! Nopony else had agreed with him thus far, but he knew he was onto a winner.)

Still thinking about the feeling he got whenever Liebesauger was present, he got up and stretched his legs. Being careful not to wake Trixie, he headed over to the wagon door and stepped outside, hoping that the cool, clear early morning air would refresh him enough to get through the day. As he slowly walked around the still-sleeping village, passing by the silent huts, he once again buried himself in what little capacity for thought he had. The feeling he got... it was familiar somehow. He got the impression he somehow knew Liebesauger from somewhere, despite the fact he'd never been to Ger-mane-y, nor had any in-depth interactions with anypony other than Trixie. Being so lost in thought, Leech did not notice the figure standing directly in his path...



Bump!



Leech suddenly snapped out of his thinking-induced trance and quickly began to apologize.

"Leech izz zzsorry! Leech did not zzsee you..." he trailed off as he looked at the figure he had bumped into.

There before him stood Liebesauger, looking down at Leech with a serious expression on his face. The serious expression soon gave way to an unsettling smile.

"Oh it's quite alright..." he said quietly, minus his usual accent. "Perhaps I shouldn't have been standing in your way... right, 1017?"

Leech gasped. Nopony knew his swarm rank number. Heck, even he had trouble remembering it, since it was so long since he had used it himself. His mind finally put two and two together, and he realized what the feeling had been. All changelings had the capacity to sense the presence of others in the vicinity even when disguised. It was how they were able to differentiate their own kind from whatever creature they were disguised as. Leech, being of the lowest possible rank and naturally dimwitted, had only partially developed this sense, and had left the hive so infrequently he'd rarely had to use it. Leech hadn't recognized this sense activating during the times that Liebesauger had been within range.

"L-L-Liebezzauger izz changeling like Leech?" gasped Leech.

With this prompt, Liebesauger smiled as a familiar green aura surrounded him. As it subsided, the stereotypical Ger-mane-ic pony was gone, and in its place stood a changeling. Standing a full head taller than Leech, its body clad in a more heavily armored exoskeleton and possessing the normal changeling blue eyes, it looked down at Leech once again.

"Oh, I'm a changeling alright, 1017," it whispered maliciously, leaning in closer to the smaller changeling's face. "But make no mistake... I'm NOTHING like you, you feeble wretch!"

"G-G-General S-Switcher!" stammered Leech, backing away instinctively.

"Right you are, hatchling!" sneered Switcher. "And it's only taken you several months to figure it out! Your sickening abandonment of your swarm and palling around with that pony has dulled whatever changeling instinct you may have had. Not that a useless laborer like you would have had much to begin with."

Leech immediately forgot to be scared, and instead glared angrily at the General.

"Trixzzie izz not juzzt 'that pony' - Trixzzie izz Leech'zz bezzt friend!" Leech snarled, taking Switcher aback somewhat. The senior changeling soon gathered his composure and grinned smugly.

"Abandonment of the swarm, being friendly with the enemy and now answering back to a senior... you're racking up the charges thick and fast, 1017!" he laughed cruelly.

"Why are you here, ZZSwitcher?" asked Leech, backing down somewhat. "Why hazz General been following Leech?"

"First of all, stop calling yourself by that ridiculous name." Switcher began. "Only higher ranks get their own names. Names are a mark of respect and status, of which you have neither. You are a maintenance drone, and as such you are known by your number. You are 1017 - refer to yourself as such!"

Leech looked dejectedly at the ground as Switcher continued.

"As for why I am here - as unbelievable as it may sound, 1017, your hive needs you. I am on a mission from Queen Chrysalis herself to round up those who are still lost or have sought new lives away from the swarm. You aren't the only one I've been tracking these last few months, I've taken scores back to the hive and scores more still roam. The Queen is especially interested in you for some reason." he explained, disdain permeating his speech during the last part.

"ZZSorry. Leech not interezzted in going back to hive." Leech said plainly. "Leech hazz new life here now, not ever go back to zzstupid zzswarm!"

"I'm sorry." said Switcher coolly. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear... you don't have a choice in the matter."

"What?!" exclaimed Leech.

Switcher leaned in closer to Leech once again. It seemed that Liebesauger's personal space issues weren't an act after all.

"I said..." he seethed through gritted teeth. "You are coming with me. I am authorized to use lethal force to bring you in if necessary - not that it'll make much difference in the long run..." Switcher quickly stopped himself, realizing he had said too much. Fortunately for him, Leech was too shocked to notice.

Leech, his mind still racked with shock and fear, considered his position. He had a choice - he could die here and now, or he could abandon his only friend and his new life in exchange for his old one. Either option was a losing choice, and so he ultimately decided for the lesser of two evils.

"Give Leech chance to zzsay goodbye to Trixizze..." he pleaded, attempting to fight the lump in his throat. "... and Leech will come with you."

"You have ten minutes." replied Switcher sternly. "Any longer than that and I'll be looking for you. If you try to run, I WILL find you."

As Leech trudged sadly away, Switcher once again reverted to his Liebesauger disguise and concealed himself behind a hut. A green aura once again appeared around his head, and his eyes closed in concentration.

"My Queen, 1017 has been apprehended. We will begin our journey back to the hive shortly." he reported.

The aura pulsated brightly, as the General received a telepathic reply to his message.

"As predicted, he utterly failed to see through my disguise, despite it being hideously out of place in every environment I wore it in. Additionally, his innate changeling senses are severely blunted. Add this to his low rank and previous record of incompetence, and I don't think there's any need for further testing. " he continued.

More pulsating magic signaled a response from the changelings' ruler.

"Of course I'm not questioning your judgement, exalted leader. I merely think that we're wasting time on this one. Whilst some of the others may have uses, I think this idiot should be immediately assigned to the N.R. After all, we're nearly out of casualties and don't yet have enough Necr-"

Switcher was cut off at this point by an even more intense round of pulsating magic.

"Y-yes, my apologies. It is not my place to think on your behalf, you must do what you believe is best. I shall bring 1017 to you by sundown today." Switcher ended his message, and began to walk to the outskirts of the village to wait for Leech.

----------

Leech stood outside the wagon. He could hear movement from within, indicating that Trixie was awake. His mind raced with exactly how he was going to tell her he was leaving, possibly forever. He didn't understand why the hive was so desperate for him anyway, he'd caused nothing but problems there since hatching. With this thought, the vestiges of a plan began to formulate in his mind. He smiled to himself and buzzed his wings with excitement.

"Yezz!" he said to himself. "That'zz what Leech will do, Trixzzie not be upzzet and Leech get away from hive again in no time!"

With this, he threw the wagon door open and went inside.

A few minutes later, Leech had explained to Trixie that he was heading back to the hive, but only on a temporary basis.

"So let me get this straight," enquired Trixie suspiciously. "You say you're going to visit your old swarm?"

"That'zz right." buzzed Leech. "They're still in ruinzz after Canterlot invazzion, Leech want to lend a hoof to help them get up and running."

"Oh, well, why don't I come and help?" asked Trixie. "As the greatest practitioner of magic since Starswirl the Bearded, Trixie is sure she can fix the hive up before their very eyes!"

"N-no!" responded Leech in alarm. "Changelingzz don't like poniezz knowing where hivezz are."

That part at least was not a lie - the few ponies that had stumbled across changeling hives in the past had suffered a terrible fate, one which Leech didn't even want to think about.

"And you say you'll be gone for a week maximum?" asked Trixie.

"Yezz, shouldn't take too long." said Leech with a smile. "Trixie could stay here with zebrazz for the week, they zzseem friendly enough."

Trixie tapped her hoof to her chin. An entire week of being near-worshipped by the Zebra as an honored guest? What was not to like?

"Very well then." she conceded. "Trixie wishes you the best of luck on your mission, and if in doubt - ask yourself what Trixie would do, and you will not go far wrong!"

The two friends exchanged a gentle hug, and Trixie stood on the wagon steps, waving her hoof until Leech had flown out of sight. She turned and headed back into the wagon, and began to prepare for her week's worth of admiration and praise from her Zebra hosts, giggling happily to herself just thinking about it.

----------

Leech felt somewhat guilty for lying to Trixie like that, but needs must - if he had told her the truth, she would have been heartbroken. Worse yet, she may have tried to challenge Switcher - of all Chrysalis' generals, Switcher was by far the most fearsome. He was a cold, calculating sadist, and had absolutely no qualms in using deadly force against opponents, be they changelings or ponies. Leech could not allow Trixie to put herself in harm's way like that.

"Eazzy part of plan izz done." thought Leech as he flew towards the outskirts of the village. "Now for harder part - Leech muzzt make sure he gets out of hive in lezz than a week!"

The scatterbrained changeling had an idea to ensure that this would happen, and in theory it wouldn't be too difficult either. Presently, he saw Switcher waiting for him, hidden among a small group of dusty desert rocks. He touched down next to the General and addressed him.

"Maintenanzze Drone 1017 reporting for duty, General ZZSwitcher!" Leech said enthusiastically, standing to attention.

He figured he could make the flight back to the hive more bearable if he simply toed the line and acted as the General wished him to.

"You are four full seconds late, maggot. " replied Switcher gruffly. "So we'll have to fly even faster to make up for lost time. Get those wings moving, you worthless runt! Go! FLY! NOW!"

Leech quickly buzzed his wings again and took off, Switcher doing likewise and flying slightly ahead to lead the way. He called back to Leech.

"You call that flying? Stop dawdling and put your wings into it! Flap harder! Hup-down, hup-down, hup-down, hup-down!"

Leech rolled his eyes, and resigned himself to having to put up with Switcher's drill-sergeant routine for the whole journey back to the hive.

----------

Hours later, the two changelings touched down in the barren, rocky wastes of the Badlands. Ahead of them was what appeared to be a huge ball, crafted from a green-hued substance, not unlike paper in texture. The key difference was that it was around a foot thick, and was easily strong enough to withstand the harsh climate of the changelings' home nation. It was attached to a large cliff face composed of black and grey rock. The nest itself, with its green tint, stood out among the otherwise bleak scenery. Changeling drones of all kinds buzzed in and out of the various entrances and exits, each focused on nothing but their assigned tasks. A scout drone emerged from one of the exits and touched down near the two new arrivals. It saluted and addressed the General.

"General Switcher!" it began. "Queen Chrysalis is expecting you. Please go to the royal chamber immediately, and bring that maintenance drone with you." it finished, gesturing towards Leech.

Switcher nodded, choosing not to say anything as his voice was still hoarse. As Leech had predicted, he'd been barking orders at the little changeling for most of the flight.

Flapping their wings once more, the two changelings flew into one of the nest's entrances. Making their way through the various corridors and chambers of the nest, they finally came to the grand-looking entrance to a chamber which was larger than most. Two Sentry drones, one at each side of the entrance, stood to attention as General Switcher and Leech passed by.

Leech gazed upward, a mixture of fear and trepidation coursing through his body. There, upon a raised throne, was Queen Chrysalis herself. She looked down upon the comparatively tiny drone that had been brought before her and smiled wickedly.




"Ah, 1017. So nice of you to grace us with your presence again."