Alternate Chrysalises

by Diamond Sparkle

The Old Hive

The Old Hive is the only publically known to non changelings Hive in Equestria, and at least officially nobody lives there now.

It is rumoured that not all who enter manage to leave again.

For those who do, a secure source of light, magical or otherwise, is vital to avoid getting lost within the myriad of twisty tunnels, lit only by the faint glow here and there of long dried changeling silk. And it also helps to avoid tripping over the bodies. Many of the changelings did not survive being magically catapulted from Canterlot, and for those who did, because they landed in deep water, managed to grab onto the treetops or just managed to use their dragonfly wings in time to fly to safety, there was very soon another big problem.

Hive Chrysalis was far from the only changeling Hive out there, and Queen Chrysalis's public attack using uncloaked changelings had broken the Masquerade, the ancient pact between all the Hives signed when Discord had barely been defeated that said that no changeling and most certainly no Changeling Swarm would ever even reveal themselves to the other races, let alone attack the pony capital. Because of their thoughtless actions, new spells would sooner or later been made to detect changelings, hidden changelings from every Hive in Equestria and the surrounding lands would be ferreted out, and it would be a lot harder for every Hive to find love to feed upon. So the Council of Queens met in secret and declared House Chrysalis to be Infidel and Unsanctioned forever more, and it was the duty of every other Swarm to destroy it root and branch.

They laid siege to her great castle of black stone in the centre of the Badlands and found and entered many of the hidden outer passages and no quarter or mercy was given either in those hidden battles down in the darkness or in the siege in the open air. Hive Chrysalis gave as good as it got and slew many of the attackers, who trapped the remaining members down underground in the central chambers and pulled the castle down tower by tower and brick by brick, blocking most of the exits and besieging the rest, until with neither solid food of any kind nor love to sustain them, the survivors died of starvation. On the surface, all that remains are piles of dry dusty black bricks from broken walls and toppled towers where little lizards bathe in the heat of the sun and feed on insects, but it is different deep underground.

In the outer tunnels, the bodies are scattered in twos and threes where they fell. Many of the gossamer wings, now dry and brittle to the touch, still lie where they were torn or cut off in battle long ago. But in the central underground regions that were never successfully invaded by the rival swarms, things look very different indeed. There the dead lings are carefully positioned in a sad mockery of Changeling life.

In the birthing chambers, carer changelings stand hunched over dozens of eggs of dusty green jelly that never hatch. Changeling guards in armour and armed with halberds stand unflinching at their posts with a perfect stillness that would make the drill sergeants of the Equestrian Royal Guards envious. Other changelings sit at the counters of empty underground shops, cuddle together, or hang in hammocks of fine changeling silk. At the Queen's Council Chamber, the nobles of Hive Chrysalis sit unmoving day after day after day in their once strong and gleaming armour, armour that is now covered with dust and rust.

The changeling shells that were once iridescent and gleaming are now a dull grey and gently pulsate throughout the Hive as maggots much away at their insides. With nothing to eat and no love to feed upon either, they starved to death, and the weak love of eating given off by the many maggots inside them provides only just enough love for the place's only living changeling left, Queen Chrysalis herself. Every day she makes new plans with her dead Royal Council, visits the birthing chambers to gaze upon her unhatched eggs, and makes speeches to the remains of what were once her faithful drones, seemingly unknowing of her true situation. Then she reads, rests to conserve her strength, and makes dark plots of reconquest and revenge for her expulsion

Any who dare penetrate the remains of her Hive, in search of any gold or jewels that somehow avoiding being looted earlier are driven away by bright green blasts of ferocious fire magic fired from her horn, if she finds out about them, and as she blasts she issues orders to her drones to rise up and destroy the invader, orders that her long dead drones are of course totally unable to obey of course. Although most of the Hive's rich treasures were either looted by the other Hives or destroyed in battle, there are still enough in the inner chambers of the Hive to keep the would be looters coming for some time still. Most of them are well armed griffins or brave and hardy Diamond Dogs, with only the occasional pony who is brave enough to dare to enter what was once a thriving Changeling Hive.

No changeling ever enters the ruins as their Council of Queens have unanimously forbidden them from entering the place anymore even to loot it. To the other Hives, Hive Chrysalis and it's maniacal Queen have been added to the list of topics that one is forbidden to talk about even in private, as banned as talk about overthrowing a Changeling Queen. After a few incautious changelings had their love rations reduced for a month-or got even worse punishments-for breaking that rule, the others got the message. Hive Chrysalis has been simply written out of Changeling history as a huge embarrassment to the entire Changeling race, and future generations of grubs are not to be taught anything about it.

Comments

[Hoofprintz]

I don't know why but it find this devastatingly sad. Such a cool concept. Reading on.