Silver Lining
"Hey, Lieutenant."
Lieutenant Olive stepped through the broken entryway into the Testing-Hive, noting Doctor Vahlen and Chief Shen quietly talking with one another.
"Hey, Maurice." Olive waved back at the camera technician, "Any reason we're re-decorating in here while the Queen is away?"
Vahlen was the first of the two to greet the officer, "We've reviewed the footage retrieved from your helmet cameras. They were far too incoherent to gather any meaningful data from, so we've opted to instead secure these stationary cameras within the testing hive for better clarity and resolution."
Shen smirked, "It should also save us the hassle of repairing any broken cameras from when you all get swarmed again in any future tests."
Olive folded his arms in front of his chest. "Well that's nice of you. Have you figured out anything that would help against the drones? Not much else we can do aside from coming in here with super-soakers, is there?"
Shen nodded and pointed to the hive's flooring. "This material- Dursine or whatever we'll end up calling it- seems to be highly resistant to the energy that changelings naturally emit." Reaching into his pocket he produced a small pocket knife and clicked the blade open, slicing away at the slimy ground. "Now, this material is respectably durable and light. With a bit of tinkering and some assistance from a Tunneler drone... I might be able to put something together in the short term; just to see how it performs in the field."
"You think that slapping all of that on us is going to work?" Olive questioned while gesturing to the chunk of material in Shen's hand. "It's not exactly going to fit into a carrier vest."
Vahlen nodded. "I've noticed a miscalculation in my own studies, Lieutenant." Flipping her electronic clipboard around, she showed a diagram of two different changeling drones. Pointing her stylus to one on the left she explained, "This one is the drone that I based my original report on." Moving to the right she emphasized a much smaller, less armored drone. "This, however, is the more standard drone our allies in China and India have been facing."
Squinting, the Lieutenant noticed something right away. "They don't have nearly as much armor."
She nodded again, retracting her clipboard. "This will require a new line of study, but it is safe to say that for now, standard munitions should be feasible against these more common drones. As for Blue Sun's drones and this test hive; they present a wonderful opportunity to not only meet our enemy's ability to perform in combat, but to exceed them."
"Because Blue's drones are stronger than the average?" Olive guessed.
"Like special forces compared to reservists," Shen explained. "If our equipment is able to defeat Queen Blue Sun's drones we should have no trouble with most of the invading forces from that point onward. It would be a matter of supply and availability of materials; so long as we keep as many allied hives on our side as possible, we'll be able to win."
"Speaking of that, what's going on with Queen Catalyst?"
Vahlen scrolled through various electronic pages before finally coming to another photograph. "The 'Orange Queen' as noted in my logs is in a sort of hibernation at the moment." She flicked the page and a different picture showed on screen, "The defective drone has taken a special interest in Queen Catalyst and has begun organizing the various Caretakers for the comatose queen's benefit. As of a few hours ago, before Blue Sun's meeting with the six additional aliens on site, the defective was mentioning something about a Cocooning."
Olive's brow furrowed with concern, "Don't you think you should be monitoring Catalyst instead of these cameras, then?"
"Doctor Vahlen and I were discussing how to best study future Queens and hives to avoid this sort of thing from happening again," Shen explained politely. "I understand your concern, but we have staff working to fill in for us. We'll stay informed, Lieutenant."
"What of Queen Blue Sun's meeting, Lieutenant?" Vahlen asked, "I haven't heard any alarms yet."
The officer scratched the back of his neck, "Well, It could've been a better first encounter. It was more awkward than anything; most of the arrivals were apparently victim to an invasion of their capitol by Changelings so they weren't too trusting."
Shen and Vahlen shared a smirk, "I don't suppose its very uncommon for them to be aggressors, then?" Vahlen questioned while motioning to the hive wall, "From what little information we have on them, Changelings seem to be a war-like species."
Olive shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. They say they need love to survive, but why cause war if that's the case?"
Maurice, the camera technician working on a perilous step ladder nearby, tapped his gloved hand on the side of his latest work. A green light soon flickered on. "Hey, there we go!"
Shen raised an eyebrow, "The cameras are working?"
The tech nodded, "Yes chief, all of 'em are up and running now."
"Alright, I suppose that leaves us free for now," Shen summarized, clasping his hands together. "What say we all get a good look at the new visitors that have shown up?"
"Does this place look kinda familiar to anyone else?" Maurice questioned, "I mean, there's sticky walls, spines along the ground... It reminds me of Aliens, you know?"
Olive shook his head immediately, his face pale. "Don't you dare show those changelings the Alien movies, Maurice. I don't want to fight a Xenomorph in a place like this; I have nightmares enough already with the last test run!"
The tech shrugged, "I mean it's not that bad. You know they're on our side, right?"
Shen chuckled and Vahlen smirked as the two scientists took their leave from the test-hive's entrance.
Olive pointed from his own eyes to the technicians, "Not a single word, you get me?"
Doctor Vahlen, Chief Shen and Lieutenant Olive were directed to a large tent that was currently housing the new visitors while a more proper accommodation was being constructed. Entering in through a folded flap in the tent's wall, Olive was first through. The blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash, was busy looking in a footlocker when the Lieutenant came around.
"Finding everything alright?" Olive inquired while holding open the tent for his colleagues.
Rainbow's head jolted out of the footlocker, startled at the sudden question. Vahlen was the next through, followed by Shen.
"We have very little information on your species," Doctor Vahlen began, "though any information you can provide as to sleeping arrangements, food, cleanliness and related subjects would be very helpful."
"Do you have any hay-fries?"
The scientist's attention was drawn to an almost obnoxiously pink alien in the background, "Hay fries?"
The pony reached into her mane, pulling out a box of cold french fries. "They're like this, but with more hay and less potatoes. You know that potatoes are poisonous, right?"
Writing down a note on her clipboard, Vahlen leaned in to whisper, "What is that one's name again?"
"Pinkie Pie," Olive explained. "She's the most likely to be a security risk."
"Pardon my askin', but I don't think I caught any of your names?" The three humans looked down to spot a pony wearing a stetson. "Name's Applejack," she added with a polite nod.
"I am Doctor Moira Vahlen and these two are Lieutenant 'Olive' and Chief Engineer Shen."
The purple pony with wings and a horn moved forward. "Pleased to meet you! My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pi-"
Vahlen held up her stylus, "I apologize for the intrusion, but we've been informed. Thank you for the courtesy."
Twilight was a bit thrown off, her hoof still held in the air part-way through pointing at her friends.
"If you have any other dietary needs, health concerns or the like, you may notify the soldier outside of this tent until we can provide a more suitable environment." Vahlen concluded with, "If you have any other questions before I have to check on a few things, now would be the time."
Pinkie Pie raised her hoof, "Oh! Do we get to meet the big scary blue queen again?"
"That would be up to Queen Blue Sun for the moment," Shen explained as Vahlen quickly exited at the call of her clipboard's alarm. "She's been very busy managing her drones, rebuilding Cheyenne Mountain and helping our own research efforts as well as keeping a fellow Changeling Queen alive."
Twilight was intrigued, "What can you tell me about either of them?"
Shen raised an eyebrow as he saw the Alicorn produce a clipboard and quill of her own as she listened intently. Looking to Lieutenant Olive for confirmation, the soldier instead chose to answer.
"Queen Blue Sun," Olive began slowly, collecting his thoughts, "Well, she's not exactly hostile, I would say. She's extremely protective of her hive, her drones and her friends, and I really wouldn't want to cross her after messing with any of those; especially her eggs."
Rarity's mouth curled with a small measure of disgust at the mention of eggs filled with changelings.
"Queen Catalyst on the other hand... She's a bit more difficult to interact with, but she's not threatening either."
Shen held up his own hand, a pointed finger to the tent's roof. "Except for their energy manipulation abilities, or 'magic' as they call it."
Twilight looked up from her notes with confusion, "What's so bad about magic?"
Olive and Shen shared a surprised glance before the engineer continued. "In our world, on Earth that is, There is no such thing as magic. Any time one of the Queens or enough of their drones use this energy in an area, the hotter the surrounding environment becomes. Use enough of it and..." He gestured to the excavation project of Cheyenne Mountain, "Bad things happen."
The Alicorn then lit her horn, her clipboard and quill hovering in a lavender glow. "I don't get it; I haven't seen anything happen since I've been here."
Shen and Olive backed away for a moment, before realizing that they weren't melting into a puddle. Olive cautiously reached a hand out to Twilight clipboard only to pull away quickly.
"That's really cold..." He mentioned, an idea dawning. "Hey chief?"
Shen was already nodding, a smirk growing on his face. "This is an outstanding discovery..."
Fluttershy chose that moment to ask, "What's outstanding?"
The engineer pulled a slim device from his other pocket and aimed it directly at Twilight's clipboard. "Would you mind holding that still, for a moment?"
Twilight shrugged before looking to see what was wrong, her eyes going wide as she spotted small crystals of frost falling from her notes. "That's... I didn't cast an ice spell; what's going on?"
"That explains so much! How you were able to fend off a changeling invasion so easily!"
"Hey Olive," Rainbow interrupted while hovering next to the lieutenant, "mind cluing us in?"
"Well, look at it like this." One hand went to himself, the other to Rainbow Dash. "You're from an alien planet where everything is crazy, we're from our alien planet where everything is boring. Your crazy comes in different flavors; so far, cold and hot. The changelings are really heated and you ponies are really cold. Changelings hate the cold, so you're able to defeat them better than we can."
Rarity raised an eyebrow, "So you want us to help make things cold with our magic, and you'll help us with King Sombra?"
Shen and Olive shared a glance before nodding. "That's pretty much it."
There was a small hopeful shimmer in Twilight's eyes. "Does that mean you want to learn magic?"
The Chief Engineer scratched his neck, "I'm not sure that's entirely possible for our species, but we can certainly make the attempt."
"I'll grab my notes!"
"You called me?" Vahlen asked as she entered the Caretaker Spire, her eyes soon going wide as she came to a stop. "Good god!"
Having been paged through her electronic clipboard, Vahlen was now standing in front of a very large cocoon of white that positioned itself over the top of the Love reservoir, a large gathering of worried drones surrounding it.
"You're here!" Blue chittered, the large queen moving quickly over to Vahlen. "Do you know what this means?"
She shook her head in astonishment. "At best guess... the 'defective' drone was something that we didn't anticipate." Checking her notes she asked, "That is the defective's cocoon, isn't it?"
"It has to be."
"Where is Queen Catalyst?" Vahlen asked while checking around the spire. "She isn't trapped underneath that cocoon, is she?"
Blue's ears folded down, "Uh oh. That's probably bad, isn't it?"
The doctor looked through her notes, pulling away a tab on the ponies before finding Queen Catalyst's file. "Hmm...."
Blue Sun's attention shifted from the cocoon to Vahlen as she buzzed anxiously.
"No, she should be fine."
Her buzzing stopped, "Really? Won't she drown?"
Vahlen held her clipboard up for Blue Sun, "She doesn't have lungs to drown with."
The image that the doctor presented showed an X-ray of Queen Catalyst. There was a large central mass in her chest- Blue guessed it might be the heart- with a smaller mass further down near the middle of her body. The rest seemed to be mostly uniform in shape with very little deviation throughout her carapace.
Blue studied the picture intently, "That's all?" She looked past the clipboard as if more would be hiding behind it, "Doesn't she need more insides to live than that?"
Doctor Vahlen shrugged, "It's all alien to me."
Blue's attention refocused on the cocoon. "Can you do the same thing to that?"
Moira was a bit disappointed that her small pun had gone unnoticed by the queen. "I could, though I wouldn't want to risk harming whatever is developing inside."
Blue Sun chittered with mild annoyance, "Is there any way to see what the defective is becoming? I don't want to somehow deal with another queen coming up out of nowhere when we can't even keep Catalyst on her hooves."
The doctor switched into note taking mode. "How long has the Defective stayed around the Love Reservoir; if you know?"
"Most of its time, I think." Blue shrugged and added, "I think my Caretakers might know more about what's going on."
Vahlen looked up from her notes to the pale white cocoon. "There isn't much that can be done until that cocoon bursts open."
"Have you visited the ponies yet?" Blue asked, looking past the doctor to the field of tents behind her. "Have they said anything?"
"I'm sure Chief Shen will tell me if anything actually important happened. One of them seemed interested in Hay-Fries." She gestured with her stylus towards the cocoon. "Inform me of any changes, Queen Blue Sun. If no one knows what is going on with the defective, it is best to remain on the side of caution."
Blue Sun nodded, "I'll send a drone the moment something happens."
A new chapter! Waaat?
Also, the picture in this chapter was done by me! If you'd like an easy poster or something you can hop on my discord channel and send an @Sanny to get my attention about it. I don't really know what I'll do for pricing, but it won't be that expensive; maybe five dollars? Who knows, I'm just starting out.
Anyway, let me know what you think of the chapter! I'm eager to write the Sequel to Necromancy for Foals but I just have to finish this story first. Don't want to leave any of you hanging for the rest of time on what happens next 
Help support me on Patreon and Paypal, Follow on Discord for sneak peeks and previews!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SannyWriting
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/Brianpasquali
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Thank you all for reading!
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8545335
Thank you
8545335
Seconded.
Blue sun is best tunneler/queen.
Ohh.... I think I have a theory on what will happen to the Defective.
With so much Love that even an unquenchable thirst for it was Slaked.
The Defective will become the Omega Queen.
or
Combine with Catalyst forming a powerful fusion.
But what great threat will they face with this kind of advantage?
Or maybe they will become the threat?
Interesting that the pony's magic is like that. Curious indeed. We chalk it up to this universe being unable to fully naturally cope with magic in general.
Wonder what would happen if Twilight tried to boil water?
Keep going! ;)
Okay, 1) someone has to get the ponies and changelings to watch Alien movies together. 2) someone needs to eat potatoes right in front of Dash without breaking eye contact. Show her who’s boss on poison potatoes
Things are moving along quickly now, another good chapter; and at long last, the "Defective's" true purpose shall soon be revealed.
It seems the good guys is finally able to catch a break. However, what this ‘break’ means in the long run is still pretty much in the air. And another mystery arise in the form of our delightful ‘defective’. Can’t wait to see what that is all about, as well as more interaction between the three party.
C&Cs will be PM.
Great work and picture! You never fail to impress!
In "ownl", looks like the "l" doesn't belong.
"To be perfectly Honest, Humans can eat most things, even lots of the poisonous stuff"
I take local Thermodinamic Laws aren't happy with magic being around.
8545739
Tomatoes are poisonous for horses too, yet Equestrians don't seem to have problems eating them.
For the purpose of this fic, how resistant are ponies to Solanine?
Thats going to be intresting. Twilights using negative energy levels. Then again, they do use a Rainbow Laser of realighnment.
Vahlen is going to be so happy when they finally work out how to make and charge magic crystals of both kinds. And then combine them into a super Naquada reactor.
8545739
"Yeah, 'poisonous' is more of a subject of taste rather than a matter of fact. I mean, have you ever heard of McDonald's?"
Still waiting for Changelings to discover the internet.
8545936
Except of course that when it ISN'T asimply a matter of taste but actual physiology! Such as CHOCOLATE that very favorite food of humans that is POISON to dogs! How do you know the potatoes are not poison to the ponies? They ARE aliens after all.
hot and cold magic this is interesting.
some how i feel the defective is working super hard to save Queen Catalyst.
cool art work for this chapter.
8545597
I really want to know if it's true about ponies and potatoes. I have a feeling it's just RD being RD and exaggerating because she hates the taste. I mean, I find squash poisonous (it's vile, nauseating, and should be considered poisonous). Broccoli is just nasty.
Still need to slip them bacon and watch them have moral breakdowns, heh.
Twilight made sweet potato muffins in the show. I'm doubting the poison claim.
8546310
Unless pinke is referencing Minecraft's poisons potatoes.
8546174
I'm talking about poisonous to Humans. I've seen people eat some pretty horrific stuff and say it's delicious.
Yay, update!
Then why were there potato chips available as food in Sugarcube Corner? It has to be canon to this story because it appeared early in Season 1. Granted, the concoction they were added to did cause food poisoning, but someone still packaged it and it was on the shelf with the food, so they have to be edible by themselves.
I really like this story, but I can't help but lament how long it will take to get book 2 of Necromancy for Foals. I really got attached to those characters and so much time away kind of made me forget half of the characters in this story!
8547035
I have the same problem,
8547055
I feel for you. I was so pumped by the ending of the first book until I realized you'd have to focus on the other story to appease the unwashed masses. Such sadness!
yikes! i noticed the resemblance, but the idea of Changelings imitating Xenomorphs...
The laws of magic really need to schedule a meeting with the laws of thermodynamics and work things out...
So, the ponies' magic is a polar opposite of the one the changelings' use. Not surprising, but still a nice touch.
I liked the quip of Dash where she said if the humans know that potatoes are poisonous - no, Dash, they're not poisonous to us (except for special situations). Good thing the scientists are getting dietary feedback, stuff might have went downhill otherwise.
I wonder what the 'defective' is doing, or what it will turn out to be.
It will be quite amusing if that one is actually a natural evolution
I have one small problem with the poisonous potatoe statement and it's something I'm pretty sure the doctor would've checked out already. Potatoes are just as poisonous to humans as they are to equines for the same poison. Until we figured out that after proper ripening and cooking (which removes the poison) they become edible it used to be considered a useless weed asides from certain soil practices done by farmers and even then they have to be cycled out otherwise they cause issues for the soil. So the fries would be safe the eat.
8548329
Then why would ponies bother with making hay-fries if potatoes are just fine?
8548337
It just another shtick/novelty they came up with for the show like most things in the first season. Mlp ponies have been shown to eat potatoes chips on multiple occasions, not to mention other foods that equines wouldn't eat as well. If you want a reason that makes more sense it could be something as basic as it not being as useful for sustenance. Then again fries are technically a junk food that functions mostly as a filler depending on how they are cooked.
Edit: Hay is probably also a cheap and readily available food for the ponies which is technically the same reason potatoes became so commonly used if I remember it correctly.
What the defective changling will look like
8548337
I dunno, but they do eat both.
Proof at 0:19
That picture was awesome!!!
So the defective is finally gonna show us what happens when the get enough love, so much excitement waiting to find out! Lol
Least we have an explanation on how the ponies had better luck fighting the changelings then we did. Xd
How did you do that pitcure!?
8548794
It was made in Source Filmmaker ^.^
Well, I can safely say that this is as good, if not better than Necromancy. Good job.
I look forward to any new chapters that are on the way.
8548809
Whoo!!! Lol
Do more?
Pinkie has a point there.
Potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes are among the plants that contain solanine, which is mildly poisonous. However... Most of the solanine is in the green parts (the leaves and stems) of the plants. If a potato is exposed to sunlight, its skin will turn green and the solanine content will increase.
So the definite and conclusive answer to "Are potatoes poisonous?" is a positive "maybe, sometimes, but not usually."
But then, hey... Humans. Is there anything on this planet that our ancestors haven't tried to eat? Tapioca is made from cassava root, which contains trace amounts of cyanide, and so do almonds. Rhubarb contains oxalic acid, and cashews contain urushiol which is the same stuff that makes poison ivy a bad neighbor. The trick is to eat the safe bits in safe amounts, and to cook things properly.
8546665
True, but rarely is it something that is truly a poison (except that one fish dish served in Japan where if the fish isn't cooked just right it kills the diner). On the other hand there are many things that are thought by one group or another to be a poison when they really aren't -- for example tomatoes were considered to be toxic to humans until the 1700's in America,
8549807
Interesting.
Can't wait until Karol (that's Timid's people name, right?) takes her camera to see the ponies and finds Timid Horse.
8549132
And then there are the things you can't control, such as arsenic in the water supply. Arsenic is naturally occurring and depending on where you live is can be in your water. India, for example, has a low-level of arsenic in ALL their natural water supplies. The only way to get non-tainted water is to buy distilled water. There is a current marketing ploy where one particular soda company in India claims that all their sodas are made from distilled water and thus have neither arsenic nor any other contaminant pollution. Unfortunately, most people take the attitude "it didn't kill my parents or grandparents so it must not be that bad, ignoring that constant exposure to low levels of arsenic does reduce your lifespan.
8552694
WELL THE YEARS START COMING AND THEY DON'T STOP COMING
...and I'm up to date on both, pet changeling and foal necromancer.... Now what?
A white cocoon.. this literally reminds me of the pokemon evolution screen where they have a glowing white in-between frame to show the change
8552852
Same down here too!
8553738
I know right? Like what do I do now while I wait for chapters!?
And finally, the Defective emerges, feeling more hollow than ever before in its new, immensely powerful form.
pre00.deviantart.net/be61/th/pre/i/2012/085/9/5/my_little_ulquiorra_by_afunny-d4u1dwk.png
It then had to fight a talking strawberry that was wearing a weird mask and carrying a sword.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ed/a8/15/eda815557f50d4a970f53c5eb58f4ade.jpg