Strange Happenings in the Hive

by ZealousHeretic

Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Updates will be every 2 weeks now, I haven't been as productive as I should be.

I am bad and I should feel bad.

“—and henceforth, in accordance with international treaty guidelines, in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, armed or otherwise between the sovereign kingdom of Equestria and the Chrysalis hive and such other hives still loyal to Chrysalis as their sovereign ruling authority and ally. In accordance to the cessation of hostilities between the kingdom of Equestria and the Chrysalis hive(s), sustenance and provisions required by the allied changeling hives will be provided so long as this treaty remains in force and practiced between the Kingdom of Equestria and the Chrysalis hives and her allies. In exchange for the delivery and production of the needed monthly rations of love magic, Queen Chrysalis agrees to the cessation of hostilities between her subjects and her allies and any investigative team, ambassadorial delegation and any tourism and intermigration that such a treaty might cause. The investigative team, in addition to whatever military personnel that might accompany them, by this treaty has express permission of Equestria’s sovereigns and Queen Chrysalis and her allies to perform periodic searches of the Chrysalis hive and that of her allies for the presence and evidence of materials which would violate the terms set herein by this current Treaty.” —excerpt from Third Treaty of Canterlot, which marked the end of the week long war with the Changelings, which consisted of the unprovoked invasion of Canterlot by the Changelings, their swift defeat, and the search by the Equestrian military for the fugitive, Queen Chrysalis.

__________________________________________________________________________

Train rides always seemed too long, even when there was good company and conversation it was hard not to count the rattles and bumps of the train on the tracks. Train rides to the badlands, however, were an entirely different beast. They were a deadly combination of “This is a very long train ride” and “I don’t really want to go here.”

There as no one to talk to on this journey, Cadance was without any of her friends and all the ponies accompanying her were too afraid to sit near her, let alone make conversation.

Cadance sighed, she could understand why her husband Shining didn’t want to go, what with that awkward history between him a Queen Chrysalis, but that didn’t help her current boredom and loneliness.

It really sucks that Shining is weaker than me, Cadance thought, I can’t convince him to come along and protect me because I’d end up being the one protecting him.

She sighed again, Twilight would’ve been an option, but she was quite busy with her map thing and whatever else she does, so Princess Celestia told Cadance not to ask Twilight.

Why was Princess Celestia so insistent that I be the one to go? Twilight could probably learn how to form love magic with a little training. She frowned There’s no reason for it I can think of, but I guess the princess sees something I don’t.

The train continued to rattle along on the tracks.

Cadance let out a third sigh. “Would somepony please come over here?”

The other delegates all glanced around at each other, until they all focused on one, an earth pony mare with thick, black rimmed glasses wearing her saddlebags. The bespectacled mare nervously scurried over, bowing and awaiting command. She kept her head down, unable to see the deadpan look Cadance was giving her.

Cadance took a calming breath. “Hello, my name is Cadance,” she said slowly, “What’s your’s?”

“C-Crystal Vision, miss--er, ma’am--, princess.” The mare barely managed to get out before bowing her head again.

Crystal Vision, Crystal Vision, Crystal Vision, I’ll try to remember that. Due to the lack of eye contact, Cadance allowed her brow to furrow, “So are those glasses for fashion, or—”

“Oh no, princess,” Crystal replied quickly, “I need them to see.”

Wow, she went from stuttering to interrupting me, how refreshing, Cadance thought, mentally smirking. “Hmm, what’s that over there?” Cadance said, after which she waited Crystal turn so she could get a look at her cutie mark.

“Do you mean the bench?” Crystal asked, “Or did you mean something out the window, which would mean, due the speed of the train, we’ve already passed whatever it was that you saw out of the train’s window, and due to my focus being on your Majesty’s radiance, I therefore didn’t get to see whatever it was that you saw?”

Oh my, we’ve progressed to overly formal full sentences, how exciting. “Nevermind,” Cadance quickly changed the subject, “So I noticed your cutie mark was a crystal ball, how did you get it?”

“Oh— well, my brother was playing on the roof,” Crystal began, “ and I told him that he was going to fall.”

Cadance lean in, eager to hear something other than the rattle of the train.

“And then he did, and my cutie mark appeared.”

“Well that’s certainly ...” Cadance searched for an appropriate adjective, however failing to find one that didn’t come across as incredibly insincere, she then gave up for a generic one, “exciting.”

Crystal raised an eyebrow and pushed up her glasses with her hoof. “Um, thanks princess.”

Cadance, unwilling to accept any awkward silence, put on a smile. “So do you have some sort of future vision?”

“No.”

“Get odd feelings or intuitions when something is about to happen?”

“None that I’ve noticed,” Crystal answered, her expression blank.

“Do you have really good foresight?”

“Not in particular.”

What in Tartarus does this mare’s cutie mark mean then? Cadance shouted internally, though her princessly facade didn’t break. “So what’s your special talent?”

“Erm,” Crystal’s face contorted in thought, “I’m pretty good at guessing, I—uh—guess.”

“So how’d you end up working on this delegation team?”

“Not to sound rude, princess,” Crystal asked, shifting uncomfortably, “but why are you so curious about me?”

“Well, Princess Celestia taught me to be express interest with regards to all my subjects,” Cadance said with a bright smile before the smile drooped a bit, “But she also taught me to be honest. I’m really bored and wanted someone to talk to. If you don’t feel comfortable then please don’t force yourself, I’ve survived worse than a boring train ride.”

Crystal sighed and hopped up on the seat next to Cadance. “I’m not comfortable,” Crystal said, “but I’ll survive.”

“I appreciate your sacrifice,” Cadance chuckled, “Would you happen to have questions for me? Since I’ve asked you so many already.”

“Hmm,” Crystal rubbed her chin and thought for moment, ”Not really.”

Cadance’s brow furrowed. “Nothing? What about relationship advice? Everypony needs that.”

“I’m not currently pursuing a relationship.”

“Oh, but you must have your eye on somepony.”

“I really don’t,” Crystal replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

Cadance sat up straighter and took a regal pose. “I’m sure you know, it is illegal to lie to your princess.”

“No it isn’t.”

“Drat,” Cadance gave her a sheepish look, “I didn’t think anypony actually knew the laws.”

“Why wouldn’t I know the laws?”

Cadance focused on the imaginary circles she was drawing on the seat with her hoof. “There are just so many, I only read them because Auntie Celestia made me.”

“That really fills me with confidence for the state of our government,” Crystal deadpanned.

“I do a lot better when I’m not bored out of my mind,” Cadance gave her a smirk, “I promise.”

Crystal sat silently for a moment. “Princess.”

“Yes?”

“May I speak freely?” Crystal asked, not meeting Cadance’s eyes.

Cadance chuckled a bit. “ Sure, though I think you sort of have been already.”

A tinge of a blush appeared on Crystal’s face. “I—I apologize if I—”

“No, no, I didn’t mind,” Cadance reassured, “It’s nice to talk to somepony who isn’t petrified.”

Crystal giggled. “I’d probably be more scared if not for the medication.”

“What?”

“I took something to help me relax so I wouldn’t be petrified about the fact that we’re going to see the chan-” Crystals eyes widened and her breathing sped up.

Cadance reeled back a bit. “Oh, uh—maybe you should take a bit more of that stuff.”

Crystal nodded quickly and pulled a pill bottle from her saddlebags and downed a couple pills, dry.

“Sorry about that princess,” Crystal said, slowly returning to normal, “I had an unpleasant time during the invasion and haven’t quite gotten over it yet.”

“That’s really ok,” Cadance consoled, “I think pretty much everyone ended up having a bad time during that whole debacle, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

They were interrupted by the train slowing to a stop at their destination.

“Thank you,” Crystal replied, “I hope we finish this delegation mission as fast as possible.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Are you going to stand there gawking?” Chrysalis snarled, “Or are you going to answer your queen’s question?”

Camo and Illusion stared wide-eyed for several seconds, pondering how the queen managed to sneak up on them despite her size and the ruckus that normally accompanied her entering a room.

“There was no secret my queen, we were simply joking,” Camo said quickly.

“I don’t believe that, drone,” Chrysalis glared, “You have five seconds to tell me the truth, then one of you dies and the other will be banished.”

“We swear,” Illusion cried, “We were only joking.”

A changeling ran into the room. “The Equestrian delegation has arrived, my queen.”

Chrysalis growled in frustration. “You two,” she said, looking at Camo and Illusion, “If the Equestrians find out about this creature, then I’ll make sure you regret ever being hatched! And trust me, you don’t want to even imagine the tortures I could inflict upon you.”

The queen strode out the chamber to meet the Equestrians, leaving Illusion and Camo too scared to breathe for several seconds.

“We almost died,” Illusion whispered.

Camo nodded, not trusting his voice. All the onlookers stared silently, half-expecting the queen to waltz back in and end the pair.

“We best get to hiding the creature, then,” Camo said finally, “If we want to live, that is.”

Illusion nodded. “Where though? She also never said she would kill us, she just said she’d make it painful if we failed to hide the creature.”

“It’s not like you to be such a downer,” Camo replied.

Illusion sighed and shook her head. “Might as well go out on a win.”

“Yeah, but a win for whom?”

“Only one of us can be a downer at any given time,” Illusion said, bumping Camo, “And I’ve got permanent dibs.”

“What a wonderful burden to put on me.” Camo chuckled. “Next, I suppose, since you’re so sad and all, you’ll ask me to hold up the corners of your mouth whenever you feel like smiling?”

“That’d actually save me the trouble of moving five muscles or whatever it is,” Illusion retorted, “And you can be sad sometimes, just not at the same time as me.”

“If that’s what you want, Illy, I’ll do my best.”

“We’ve wasted enough time, let’s take him out into the tunnels,” Illusion suggested, moving to shoulder the creature, Ae-aron. “No way the Equestrians will search all of them and if they do then we’ll be able to avoid them.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry him?” Camo asked, looking concerned.

“Touching him did nothing to you, plus I won’t have him that long,” Illusion assured, “I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” Camo watched as Illusion slung the creature across her back. He had to stop himself from reacting when the creature wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug.

“Let’s go, Camo,” Illusion said, chuckling at her rhyme despite everything, “I doubt we have much time.”

The pair, plus the creature, set out into the tunnels.

__________________________________________________________________________

Chrysalis eyed the princess coolly. “To what do I owe this ...” Chrysalis said, her voice monotone, “delightful visit?”

Princess Cadance gave her a well practiced smile. “Oh, a lot of things really,” Cadance replied, “Trying to ruin my wedding is up there pretty high though.”

Chrysalis’s eye twitched for a split second. This pompous buffoon, she wants to get sassy with me? “Oh you’re still on about that? You really must let that go. I think the pent up resentment is contributing to your weight gain.”

A flicker of annoyance shot across Cadance’s face. “It’s nice to see you have some jokes, you’ve always been a better comedian than invader,” she said stepping towards Chrysalis.

“Don’t forget, I’m also quite the wedding planner,” Chrysalis said, closing the gap until they were almost nose to nose. “Yours was going so well until someone interrupted it.”

Chrysalis and Cadance kept up their staredown for several seconds. For a while it seemed neither would back down, until Cadance finally stepped back.

“Alright, enough with the backbiting, I’m here to give you your love ration and then the delegation team and I will explore your hive. Any objections?”

“Many,” Chrysalis quipped, “But all of them would violate that damned treaty, so you may proceed.”

“Thank you,” Cadance replied, walking past Chrysalis into the hive while the delegates hesitantly followed.

The group walked in silence for the majority of the trip. Many of the delegates would trip over themselves in the dim red lights that line the walls of the main tunnels. Once in the throne room, they all stopped and waited for Cadance to give Chrysalis the hive’s ration of love magic.

“Are you going to stand there all day?” Chrysalis jeered, “We don’t have the means to feed you or your delegates, so you’ll probably want to get this over with quickly.”

Cadance betrayed no emotion as she mechanically said, “Queen Chrysalis, do you solemnly swear—”

“Must we go through this every time? Surely you’ve gotten as tired of saying that damn thing as much as I’ve gotten of hearing it.”

“It’s your fault we all have to go through this,” Cadance retorted.

“Bah, get it over with then.”

“Queen Chrysalis, do you solemnly swear to only use this gift of love magic to sustain your hive and not use it at all for personal gain, or to amass an army larger than needed for the defense of your hive and your allies, or to amass an army with the intent of hostile incursions within the sovereign kingdom of Equestria, and that aside from sustaining yourself this love magic will not be used in any other way than as agreed upon within the outline of the provisions of the treaty?”

“I, Queen Chrysalis of the Chrysalis Hive and her allies, do so solemnly swear.”

“Great,” Cadance deadpanned.

Chrysalis and Cadance crossed their horns and the glow of magic lit up the room. Cadance’s blue aura swirled around before changing to the color of Chrysalis’s green aura and was absorbed by the changeling queen.

Chrysalis sighed in contentment, trying to savor the moment while it lasted, for she would have to give up almost all this power to sustain what was left of her hive. “I still hate you, but thank you.”

“A princess refuses to hate,” Cadance replied, “but she will maintain a strong dislike.”

“Hmm, cute, will you be following me while I feed my hive or will you be exploring on your own?” Chrysalis asked, already leaving the room..

“I think we’ll be fine on our own this time,” Cadance responded, “So long as our guides know where we’re going.”

“Well, if I don’t see you before you leave,” Chrysalis said as she reached the exit, “I hope your train breaks down and you have to fly all the way back.”

The delegation team and Cadance watched the queen leave the room. As soon as she was out of sight, Crystal shuffled nervously towards Cadance. “Is she always so rude?”

Cadance turned and gave Crystal a confident smile. “This time was actually pretty tame compared to some previous ones. Hopefully it’s a sign that she’s calming down a bit.”

“That’d sure be nice,” Crystal said before muttering, “Maybe she’ll calm down enough so that I never have to come back here again.”

“If this is really uncomfortable for you then you can go wait back on the train,” Cadance said, sounding concerned.

Crystal winced and blushed. “I’m sorry princess, I didn’t think I said that out loud.”

“We’ll be fine, don’t worry, nopony gets left behind on these diplomatic excursions, we check everyone to make sure their not a changeling in disguise, so they don’t even bother trying to ponynap and replace the delegates anymore.”

Anymore? Crystal thought. “T-thanks princess, knowing that helps a little.” So little it’s practically unnoticeable. She followed Cadance out into the tunnels of the changeling hive with the other delegates close behind.

__________________________________________________________________________

Heavy hoof steps, made by Illusion, echoed in the tunnels. Camo’s much quieter steps were comparatively undetectable. They had been walking for eleven minutes and fatigue was beginning to get to Illusion.

“So how will we know when to go back?” Camo asked.

Illusion was breathing heavy, feeling the weight of her unconscious passenger. “If you could just not ask valid questions,” Illusion said, panting, “I’ll be less likely to hit you.”

“You’ll have to let me carry the creature for a while if you want to have a chance at hitting me,” Camo said, smirking.

“I said I was fine the last two times,” Illusion growled, “I’ll be even more fine if you stop with the sass for a couple minutes.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just worried,” Camo replied, staring at tunnel wall away from Illusion, “You’re in better shape than this, you shouldn’t be this tired, and you know perforated legs aren’t great for carrying burdens.”

“This boy might be a little heavier than he looks,” Illusion said quickly, “But don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life,” Camo shot back, looking directly at her, “ It’s too late for me to not worry anyway, something is wrong and you’re keeping it from me.”

“It’ll be fine, Camo, just be quiet.”

“How about we quit with that nonsense and just tell me what you’re trying to do instead of keeping it a secret.”

Illusion sighed. “Fine, you’re probably right. I had another theory about the creature. I thought the experiment we did had too little contact for it to work. That’s why I volunteered to carry the creature.”

Camo’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying—”

“Yeah, I was right,” Illusion interrupted, before stumbling a bit, “Yay me.”

Shock and fear filled Camo’s face. “Why didn’t you split time with me then? Why didn’t you tell me to bring a magic suppressor along? Why—”

“I thought I could handle whatever effect he seems to have, I’m a lot stronger than Drone 124,” Illusion replied, already kneeling down to set the creature on the floor beside her, “Apparently I was only about a minute stronger, but I think it’ll be enough.”

“You need a magic suppressor, now,” Camo asserted.

“Just give it a bit, the equestrian delegation will leave in a little while and then you can get me what I need, I don’t think they’ll come out this far into the tunnels, so we just have to wait them out.”

“You need one now, you can’t wait for them to leave.”

“Trust me, Camo,” Illusion pleaded, looking directly in his eyes, “Please.”

Camo looked at his friend who couldn’t even stand and was laying on the floor with the creature. “You’re not capable of making that kind of call in the state you’re in, Illy, I’m going to get you a magic suppressor. Stay put.”

“Camo, don’t,” Illusion called after him, but he didn’t look back, leaving her to pant and sweat beside the sleeping creature.

Camo raced back to the medical room in the most direct route. When they had been taking the creature out into the tunnels the first time, they had wound around a bit and circled back to pass the time. If he kept his pace, then he would reach the medical room in about six minutes, take a minute to make the magic suppressor, and then take six minutes to get back to Illy.

Easy peasy, nothing to worry about.

He arrived in the medical room, breathing a bit heavy, and was greeted by a couple of perplexed looks since he was supposed to be helping Illusion with the creature. No one asked what he was doing however, it wasn’t any of their business if he had a death wish.

Camo jogged up to his alchemy station and began to prepare the magic suppressor.

“Has your medical bay got lots of use since we were here last?” the voice Camo second least wanted to hear.

“No princess,” the drone guiding Cadance replied.

“That’s good, the last thing you guys need is downed brethren.”

Her guide drone nodded, looking rather zoned out.

Camo finished the magic suppressor and gritted his teeth. I can’t wait for the princess to leave, it’ll take too long, he thought, trying to stealthily edge his way towards the exit.

__________________________________________________________________________

The visit was going more or less how it always did. It was strange seeing the progression of the drone’s attitude towards her. The first visit had two distinct groups, the ones that hated her, and the ones terrified of her. Over time everything just smoothed out and none of the drones paid her any mind unless they were ordered to or she spoke directly to them.

Which is why Cadance quickly noticed, even in the dim lighting, the nervous looking drone trying to sneak away. She pretended not to notice, but shot a tiny tracking spell which luckily missed his probably sensitive wing and hit the drone directly on his shoulder, where one of his thicker chitinous plates should be, where he wouldn’t feel it.

When the drone finally exited Cadance turned to the delegation team. “Everypony, sit tight here until I get back.”

“Princess?” Crystal Vision asked.

“If I’m not back in ten minutes,” Cadance looked her dead in the eyes, “Wait another ten minutes and maybe send our guide drone after me.”

Before Crystal could process what Cadance said and formulate a response, the princess was already gone.

Cadance rushed through the pitch black tunnels to catch up to the suspicious drone. Her steps were silent from a spell and she followed the trail of light her spell left, which was unnoticeable without a special night vision spell. Twilight would be proud of all the spells she was maintaining simultaneously. The drone wasn’t winding through the tunnels or circling back, so it was safe to assume that the drone didn’t know it was being followed.

What is this drone even doing way out here? Last time we were out in the tunnels, all our scans came up empty. There shouldn’t be anything here but empty tunnels. Cadance thought. She was getting closer to the drone, probably less than a minute behind. She’d catch him in the act of whatever he was doing for sure if she timed this right.

She followed the drone’s trail for a while longer, he was close. She could hear a scuffle going on just around the corner. Cadance held her breath and charged an illumination spell.

She released her spell and jumped around the corner. “What is going on—” Cadance began, but her words got caught in her throat. Before her there were two changelings, a female on her back, face flushed and sweat glistening, and the suspicious changeling from before straddling her. Their lips were locked together but their eyes staring straight at Cadance. “Here,” she squeaked.

The changelings broke their kiss and the male cleared his throat. “This isn’t against the treaty or something, is it?”

“I— erm, no,” Cadance began, before shaking off her shock enough to form words, “Why were you acting suspicious back in the medical bay?” she said, pointing an accusing hoof at him.

The changeling avoided her gaze and mumbled something under his breath.

“Speak up,” Cadance commanded.

“I’m not supposed to use hive resources to make lube,” he replied, “so I tried to get in and out of there without anyone noticing.”

Oh, eww, Cadance thought, years of princess training kept her face clear of emotion, I didn’t need that image. That’s so gross. Pony intimacy, I can handle, but not changelings. Do they die when their done like bees or—Nope, these thoughts stop now.

“You’re not going to report this to the Queen are you?”

I’m already trying to forget this happened. “You don’t have to worry,” Cadance replied, turning around and stiffly walking away. I think I’m going to try and teach Twilly how to make love magic, I’m not sure how many more of these visits I can take.

Cadance followed the trail her tracking spell left back to the medical ward. Crystal hurried up to her as soon as she entered the room. “Are you alright, princess? What did you have to do out in the tunnels alone?” Crystal asked.

“Oh, nothing important.”

“You weren’t gone for ten minutes like you said you might be ...” Crystal trailed off, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

Sweet Celestia, what if everypony thinks I went out there and did something gross like use the bathroom or something? Oh no, I have to think up a lie. Cadance thought, But princesses aren’t supposed to lie. “Please don’t try to guess,” Cadance said finally.

“If you say so, princess,” Crystal replied. Did she really go off and use the bathroom in the tunnels like everypony said? That’d just be gross, not to mention rude, what drone is going to have to clean that up?

“Let’s get a move one,” Cadance called out, “I think it’s time we head home.”
__________________________________________________________________________

Camo raced through the tunnels, vial of magic suppressor in his mouth. He could feel the weight of the love princess close behind him. He couldn’t hear her, but whenever she used her magic her presence was announced to any nearby changelings like a strike to the face.

Not now, Why is this happening now? Camo screamed internally, knowing that her couldn’t lose the princess in the tunnels since she probably had a tracking spell on him. At least he doubted she wouldn’t blindly follow him without one.

He picked up his pace a bit, not enough to let her know he knew, but enough to give himself a bit more time to prepare. He’d have one shot, whether he succeeded or failed, he’d probably die.

He reached Illusion and the creature.

“Camo, I told—”

“Shut up, don’t talk, love princess,” Camo interrupted Illusion. He dragged the creature around the corner of the tunnel, just out of sight.

Camo ran up to Illusion, moved her from her side to her back, and straddled her.
Illusion frantically whispered. “What are you—”

“Please don’t hurt me after this,” Camo begged, before quickly locking lips with Illusion.

Comments

[Razzy]

Well, that was close. Nice thinking on Camo's part. And Cadence is stupid for not realising that her magic is like a beacon to changelings.

[Always Breakfast]

Why didn't Cadence just tell her retinue she thought she saw something suspicious and investigated?

That is literally her job right now.

[NexusFrost]

O dear me, that ending!!!!!