A Chrysalis of White
The base of Cheyenne mountain had become a completely alien landscape to the humans who were stationed there. Tall pillars of sticky dursine rose into the sky as hundreds of changeling drones buzzed and zipped across the area. Warrior drones had become accustomed to the soldiers that frequently visited and mingled with the Tunnelers and the Caretakers, and the Infiltrators had been perfecting their bipedal craft to the degree of a toddler taking their first steps. Impressive progress for only a month's time. However, not everything was quiet and scenic in Cheyenne mountain. The defective had been looking after Queen Catalyst the entire time, and its body had begun to change from a drone into something else entirely.
Queen Blue Sun paced back and forth, her wings chittering with nervous energy as she monitored the bulbous cocoon in the main spire. The Defective had formed around Queen Catalyst, something she had never seen before or heard of. Blue had been worried that the Defective might be harming Catalyst somehow, but Doctor Vahlen assured her that the orange queen's life signs remained as stable as they had been for the last month. The Caretakers knew nothing, of course. The rest of the hive knew little else, and the six from Equestria had little experience with this kind of thing. It was only now, today, that any change had occurred.
It began with a sharp crack followed by an oozing of cream colored slime from the top of the Defective's cocoon. Scientists and drones alike moved to study the phenomenon and they were met with the pale holed hoof of some new kind of drone breaking through the cocoon's walls. Every crack, crunch and snap broke off another piece of the hardened barrier between the Defective and the outside world. At least, Blue hoped that it was the Defective. A final tearing of fibers and a hiss of effort came from the cocoon, and a new kind of drone emerged. Its carapace was entirely white, so Blue suspected it might be the Defective from before, yet it was also... different.
It stood just under Blue's own height, roughly six feet or so, and shook its body to flick off slime and gunk from its cocoon. A lining of silver went along its chest and a stripe of blue color went down the center. The legs and hooves were unarmored, but the chest and neck had armoring just like a queen's own carapace.
Blue's eyes narrowed in both curiosity and suspicion. Queen Catalyst was supposed to be inside of that cocoon as well, wasn't she?
The white defective held a hoof to its head. "Oh, for the sake of love, why does my head have to hurt this much?" The voice sounded female, that much was certain. She also spoke with the vibrations of a queen; two voices in one.
She turned to squint at Queen Blue Sun and wiped the cream colored slime from her eyes. "My Queen," the Defective smirked, "Is that you?"
Blue glanced at Doctor Vahlen, Doctor Shen, and the various other scientists and drones that had assembled. They equally gave pointed looks to the changeling queen and gestured to the defective.
"Go on, answer her!"
"Eh," Blue cleared her throat in a vain effort to get the metaphorical cobwebs to come loose, "Hello?" Great job, Blue. Very regal and queen-like.
The defective shook her leg and flicked more of the slime off of herself before walking towards Blue Sun. "I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I?"
"Wait, you knew what was happening?" Blue blinked in surprise, her earlier bafflement about what was going on having been replaced with the casual manner of speaking from the defective.
The newly morphed defective nodded, "I knew I had to do something to help Queen Catalyst, but I couldn't think of anything other than trying to feed her as much love as possible. It took me a while, but... I was able to talk with her for a few seconds each day. They were mostly mumbles and groans, but she knew she was dying."
Queen Blue's gaze moved over to the cocoon in the center of the spire, worried now that there wouldn't be a certain orange queen climbing her way out of it.
"When I got closer to Queen Catalyst, my hooves started oozing." She even held up a hoof for demonstration. "It was like I was compelled to get as close to her as possible, and before I knew it, my body was breaking down along side hers into chunks."
"Is she still alright?" Blue gestured with her head to point at the cocoon behind the defective. "I didn't see her leave."
The Defective shook her head, "I think we're the same changeling now, actually..." She tapped her head as emphasis, "It's really strange. On one half I want to speak with you like we're equals, and on the other it's all I can do to stop myself from kneeling in front of you every time I say something."
Doctor Vahlen was transcribing all of this down as quickly as she could. Even the changelings themselves had never encountered something like this in their species history. If she were able to accurately record it alongside the visual records of the cameras stationed throughout the base, this could be a gigantic breakthrough for not only Xenobiology, but science as a whole!
"My queen," the defective abruptly asked, "what do you call a queen and a defective that merge together? Is that like... a defective queen, or a queenly defective?"
Blue put one of her hooves into the air while looking as queenly as possible and proudly decreed, "I have absolutely no idea, but we'll think of something!"
Doctor Vahlen motioned with her pen towards a very large scanning device. "In through there, just stand as still as you can. This should only take a few moments."
The Defective, now standing much taller than a drone, assumed the same position as Queen Blue Sun had when it was her time to be scanned. "Like this?"
Vahlen nodded and began tapping buttons on her electronic notepad. "Yes. Doctor Shen, you may begin."
A flash of white light announced that the machine had turned on. A sweeping beam went over every inch of the Defective and recorded its findings onto the local computers in the room. After roughly an hour of intense boredom from being forced to stand in the same spot as still as it possibly could, the Defective was released.
"I will have a report in a week or so, should you be interested in receiving a copy," Vahlen mentioned to the Defective. "Come back tomorrow for more tests and studies."
The large white changeling nodded and quickly thanked the doctor for her help.
Date: Redacted
Location: Redacted Redacted
Codename: Ripley
Subject: Changeling listed as 'Defective'
Project Lead: Dr. Moira Vahlen
Project Assistance: Dr. Shen, Consultant Twilight SparklePreface: Having emerged from a cocoon barely twenty-four hours ago, 'the defective', now identified as female, presents an entirely new evolution of changeling biology. Judging from Queen Blue Sun's hive having no collective memory or knowledge of this development occurring before, it is safe to say that this unexpected outcome could be seen as a blessing in disguise for us. I can only imagine how this would have affected the war with Queen Chrysalis, were this discovery to be made with her hive instead of 'ours'.
Subject: 'Defective'
Classification: 'Empress', for lack of a better term
Coloration: White carapace with blue eyes. White wings, blue vertical stripe along chest chitin. Chitin is silver in color. A flowing mane of silver with streaks of blue that fall down to shoulder height.
Height: 1.85 Meters
Weight: 80 Kilograms
Gender: FemaleQueen Blue Sun had spoken previously of a 'third stage' to the development of a Queen's body. A proto-queen, the queen, and a mystery. As far as can be seen, the 'Empress' is the third stage of a queen's evolution. The Defective, referred to as 'Deffy' from this point forward, is capable of laying eggs. She is also capable of refining 'love' to a more potent and solid form. This new material is as durable as steel, a vibrant pink in color, and is easily shaped by Deffy's magic.
As for Queen Catalyst's disappearance, it seems that Deffy and the orange changeling queen have fused together. Presumably this occurrence is a natural progression of the changeling hive's life cycle. The 'Defective' variant of changeling comes from the Caretaker sub-species. It then drains the hive's storage of 'love', as well as the other drones in the hive, causing the queen to become weakened and vulnerable. At that point, the Defective and the Queen of the hive fuse together in order to become a new hive. All of the love previously drained is refined into solid form. An entire nest of eggs can be hatched, in addition to the grubs being nourished, by a thimble of this newly refined material. It is unknown if the appearance of a 'Defective' is related to the amount of love currently stored, or the amount of changelings present in the hive.
The material behaves closer to uranium, in that it emits a low-level radiation that changelings are sensitive to. Those few humans that were in close proximity to this material report feelings of bliss and contentment. It is not recommended to remain near this 'refined love' for longer than a single minute, as humans exposed to this radiation for extended periods eventually fall asleep. It is unknown at this time if the radiation emitted by 'refined love' is addictive or harmful to the human body.
Changelings exposed to this concentrated material seem to be quickly sated and become lazy, almost sluggish. Queen Blue Sun has consulted with her advisers and implemented new additions to her hive to lessen the drop of productivity introduced by the material. Possible uses of weaponizing the material are being discussed and theorized as of the publication of this report.
The Empress' body is armored in a similar manner to the Queen. The chest appears to serve a more decorative function than protective. Deffy has a crown of her own, similar to a Queen, with a wider crest and a flowing mane of silver with streaks of blue. though Deffy shows a strong ability in the use of 'magic' as discovered by our alien consultant, Twilight Sparkle.
Strong shielding; strong ability to manipulate objects and to project bolts of white-blue plasma; extremely high control of magic relating to the manipulation of mind, and of communication.
Deffy appears to have absorbed, or perhaps retained, Queen Catalyst's ability to communicate via a hive mind. As of the publication of this report, Deffy has laid and hatched four eggs, each with an unexpected amount of ten changelings. No report has been made thus far, as these drones appear to be similar in function and ability as Queen Blue Sun's drones, excepting for the ability to operate via a collective hive mind.
For now, Deffy and Queen Blue Sun appear to maintain a special alliance. It appears that Deffy's ability to produce eggs is at a much slower rate than Blue Sun, leading to possible implications that are noted by Twilight Sparkle:
"If Deffy and Queen Blue Sun are working together, this presents a very interesting difference between the changelings we've seen in Equestria. That's the place I'm from, by the way. In any case, I'm not sure which is a better path for changelings as a whole. In Equestria the changelings under King Thorax no longer need love, but they're socially lost. Here, with Queen Blue Sun, they look happier and more... at-ease? I think that's the best way of putting it." -Twilight Sparkle
In Conclusion, this new development could prove to be a global game-changer and the force multiplier we've been hoping for. I am confident that should this alliance between Deffy and Queen Blue Sun continue, that our conflict in the Asian theater should end in our favor, though I cannot speculate as to a definite end point.
-Doctor Moira Vahlen
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Yeah a new chapter, finally!
Yeah! Update!
Wouuld like to see an illustration of Empress(?) Deffy!
Yay welcome back!! We all missed you!
Welcome back.^^ Interesting plot twist.
Was Worth the wait, Great Job! No offense but i guess the merged changeling must look terriying/horrible at First sight.
9069449
Seems pretty clear to me, they both turned into soup, mingled together, and reformed into a completely new body.
Fascinating. Good to see some action over here. Looking forward to more.
Split personality changelings are GO.
9069598
Yeah, though i can't Imagine its a pleasant sight at First.
Mmmm, like a suit of armor isn't really useful until worn, the detectives defective's true enhancement capabilities can't be realized without another. We wonder if the transformation is compatible outside Queens or even changeling kind? It could be really useful...
Amassing love crystals would be a good idea. But shielding is apparently an issue. Radiation indeed. But at least nobody's getting burned this time.
Keep going! ;)
Love metal behaves like Uranium?
The first nuke was such a simple, gurenteed to work design, they only ever built the one and never bothered testing it.
Until they dropped it.
And then it worked even better than they expected.
Looks like Chryssy is going to be seeing Delibird in the very near future.
Candylovegram for Chryssy. Candylovegram for Cryssy.
Glad to see this story back and now I'm interested in seeing that this is now a XCOM crossover. You have picked my attention again.
9070241
This story used Shen and Valen since the moment any tests were involved. It is not an xcom crossover, just uses those characters
9070175
Not true.
and
9070271
Read the story's description. It now says "(Crossovers with XCOM, Men In Black and Stargate: SG1)"
9070299
...WELL...UHHH.
Look here.
<flashes you>
9070373
Who are you? What was I doing?
a grate chapter with a awesome new story ark forming.
if memory serves, blue had 400 little lings after her eggs hatched and deffy here had 40. i find this an interesting diference.
So, I'm confused on one detail...both Deffy and Blue are laying and hatching eggs, and apparently both result in more normal changelings akin to Blue's preexisting...but who do those respective sets of changelings answer/belong to? Do they answer to Blue, are they a new set belonging Deffy in a sort of...accompanying hive, or do they answer to both and it ultimately doesn't really matter beyond that? After all, it's indicated that Deffy's 'lings bear a hive mind, but Blue's do not, so that's gotta cause a distinctive division between them, right?
Funny how I just finished this up like a week ago, and then a new chapter gets released. Yay timing!
9071547
I think Deffy's children are subordinate to Deffy, and Blue Sun's children respond to Blue Sun. It said they had a "special alliance", so I assume that has to mean there are two separate parties to make an alliance in the first place.
Hey, welcome back! And with such a great entry, too.
So awesome to see this again! Hope to see more!
Welp... going to miss Queen Catalyst and her personality.
Empress...Deffy? A better name is needed.
The name Catalyst means "something that causes activity between two or more forces without itself being affected". Now that Catalyst is combined with the supposed Defective, she should now be called Empress Synergy since they are now a greater being combined than when they were separate.
Can't wait for more chapters!
PS Please bring back some of Catalyst's personality to the Empress? PLEASE~~~~!
That is SO Blue. I love it.
This and other things mentioned make me think that her position in the hive is akin to Princess. Like a Queen, but subordinate to a Queen still.
Fusion of characters is weird to me, haa. Least the Defective has a new development. Though it does make me wonder back from earlier chapters what the defective really is.
9073513
Well from the chapter, the newly fused Catalyst is still making her own hive as well as Blue Sun having to create an agreement, so it's basically two separate hives living in one is what it sounds like.
9075383
I know there are species of ants that will allow more than one queen and create super colonies. Blue could become the Queen of Queens, whatever that'd be called.
Glad to have you back.
9075513
Well, I didn't know about ants, but stars.. Blue Sun would become Blue Supergiant
Come to think of it, the classification of a white star is simmilar to Catalyst as well
Apparently, the name of a queen is just a queen but the type of colony is changed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_colony#Organizational_terminology I would assume that this is a bit different for changelings since they have sentience and an internal hierarchy though
Its been a hecken long time, Glad to have you back!
Yay, update!
Ah, always good to know when FimFic glitches and you don't find out one of your favourite stories came out with a new chapter THREE MONTHS AGO!
I hate FimFic sometimes. I mean, I love its stories, but every now and again something happens and its just... ugh.
Caught up on this now. I love this story thus far. The reactions of the Earth governments are sensible, the changelings are charming and relatable while still being alien, and when characters have made mistakes it has not felt contrived.
Looking forward to the next update.
Oh no I'm caught up D:
It was fun while it lasted
Aaaaah....
Dangit!!
Well... I'll still be keeping it, hoping it resuscitate.
CANCELED!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *runs away in corner crying*
CANCELED?! OH GOD WHY???
Can't you just change the title if it's causing that much of a problem? Cancelling the entire story over something like that seems a bit extreme, especially when it's been so successful so far. Don't give up just because a small minority of people can't keep their minds out of the gutter. it is a minority, too, considering the comments and the like/dislike bar.
9320051
The title isn't the reason for the cancellation of the story, it's my lack of inspiration for it. I have no will or drive to continue writing the story, and rather than have people wait with baited breath for a new chapter, I've cancelled it.
9320167
That makes more sense. It happens quite a bit. Still, there is the possibility that you're simply burned out; that your brain gave up because you were trying too hard to get things out in a timely manner. I was never waiting with bated breath; I was simply waiting.
In any case, it's clear that, at the very least, you do need a break from this. On the other hand, judging by various factors like the length of each chapter compared to the time between each posting, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong and you have indeed hit a dead end.
Dammit. Well should you ever come back I will know.
9320167
Awwww... darn. Well, it was a fun fic while it lasted, but I totally understand canceling a fic you simply don't want to force yourself to continue. I'm thinking of doing that to my on-hiatus fic soon, honestly, so I can just focus in on my Screwball fic that I genuinely enjoy writing for.
9320167
Well, dang. Was looking through my tracker of unupdated stories. Sorry to hear you’ve lost inspiration. Best of luck on your other stories.
9612105
ok sorry. 
I do not remember. Thanks. I will read that chapters
Oh,
Absolutely loved this story, it will always be one of my favorites, and will be one I am thankful was on this site
One thing have to say is why cancel your story when it have 57 chapters I don’t if you are getting sued for it or you have gone as far as you can with it that okay but they will not know how the story will end but that I have to beside saying that it is amazing