From the Ashes

by Dark0592

Chapter 17

It only took another hour for the Equestrians to reach the hive. Twilight should have expected the pile of hugs that she was now at the center of the second they entered, but after her conversation with Crystarium she was just a little surprised to be surrounded by so much love. Or maybe it was the lack of contact with them. She received the expected scoldings an rants about the temporary separation but the mood didn’t suffer too much from it. The Princesses and the other queens watched until the friends had finally settled down enough to get to business.

“Thanks for coming right away, it means a lot.” Twilight said with a smile, though the reason for her asking Celestia and Luna to come caused it to be more of a somber smile. They caught onto it.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia asked with a hint of concern in her tone. Twilight shook her head and untangled herself from the pile her friends had created around her and everyone followed suit.

“I think it’s time for that last resort…” She said softly. The Queens and Princesses frowned at that, understanding. The Elements understood too and were stunned into silence, at least at first.

“WAAAAAIT wait wait… You’re telling me that you want to go and get yourself banished for a whole YEAR?!” Dash exclaimed. Twilight just nodded. The Valkyrie looked like she was about to start yelling more, her angrily fidgeting wings revealing that much at least, but Celestia spoke before she could.

“The ritual will take time to prepare, and we’re not sure what effects it will have on you and your people to be separated. This isn’t just a distance thing, Twilight. The Primordial Abyss is a whole other plane of existence.” Celestia explained.

“I know, and I had planned to run experiments… but this needs to happen sooner rather than later. There are so many feral hives out there now, they’re sprouting up like crazy. Not even the other sane queens know how or why, but if we can’t figure out how to produce love again soon then we’ll be forced to war with the ferals to not only protect ourselves, but the other races. And even if I’m completely cut off from the hive, Mother will still be here. She will take time to adjust, but she has already agreed to take up the role as queen of the hive should that happen, and she’ll have the guardians to spread the burden between.” Twilight explained without skipping a beat. She had already thought this through. The silence was almost palpable before Luna broke it this time.

We have been finding many more feral love collectors…” She said softly. She looked like she wanted to continue, but thought better of it. The room returned to silence.

“What about Chrysalis?” Celestia asked. They all looked at the sleeping queen just a few feet away, oblivious to the whole spectacle.

“All progress has hit a wall, in every regard. We need to more about our history, and so much of it has been lost to feral or disinterested queens. Our only hope, for everything now, is to find the first queen. Even if she refuses to help us, if she is destroyed then the current queens will no longer be secondary to the development of their hives.” Twilight replied. Even the other queens seemed surprised by that.

“What are you talking about, secondary to the development?” Bela asked.

“Our research has told us that should major changes affect the queen, the changes will trickle down into the hive. Under normal circumstances, this happens in the timespan of generations like normal evolution or through rebirth. With our transmutation array, though, we’ve found that extreme changes like the advancements we’ve made and shared are included in this joint evolution. When we perfect a transmutation strain, I apply it to myself and the whole hive changes. At least that was the first theory.” Twilight explained. Normally some of the elements would hate sitting through what’s more akin to a school lesson silently, but the subject caught enough of their interest- in the subject or in the results- that they let her speak.

“But, due to Chrysalis still being alive, it’s slightly different.” Mira finished the line of explanation. Twilight nodded.

“For the changes to be immediate, we would both have to be changed. But over these last few months, we’ve dug deeper into that particular connection. There are some things we just cannot change or replicate. We discovered most of the genetics and magic necessary to maintain a hive mind as advanced as ours, and even how I and other races produce love. When trying to implant that into my drones or replicate it otherwise, it simply failed. A few of my brood have even died due to the failures.

“We went deeper into the research and discovered similar problems arose when attempting to change something core to our brood in a drone, but not myself. Core aspects of the queen can never be changed in individual drones, and so we’ve put two and two together...We are all connected to Efialtis, the progenitor of our race. She is not only the source of our curse, but also the reason we can never escape it. The only reason I’ve been able to bend around that fact is due to my human genetics mixing and diluting the genetics, just enough to give me some wiggle room in that respect. It’s why I’m not dead due to being able to produce love.” She went on.

“But wait, how come Yours and Bela’s hive minds are so advanced and the others like myself and Crystarium’s were so limited?” Mira asked, genuinely confused.

“Chrysalis, and so myself, as well as Bela are more directly related to Efialtis. They have undergone little rebirthing, if any at all, and so they are far less diluted. I think that this dilution through rebirth may be the cause of why there are so many ferals now, but we haven’t been able to test it.” Twilight answered. Bela nodded when the others looked at her. It was true, at least to her knowledge.

“Chrysalis was the oldest among those sane. Chrysalid was centuries, if not millennia, younger. I’m afraid I know nothing of her mother though, and attempts to get that knowledge from Chrysalid have been met with aggression” Bela started. “Even my hive mind is not quite as advanced as yours.” She added. Twilight nodded and sat down on her bed, hands folded neatly in her lap, to look at her assembled friends.

“Then why are you going alone? Like hell we’re not going with you!” Applejack said this time, Dash quickly agreeing. Twilight shook her head.

“I won’t be alone, not anymore at least. Crystarium has agreed to be my escort. And I can’t let you sacrifice a year of your lives for this, and it will be incredibly dangerous. Even if I die in there, unless I am wholly and permanently severed from the hive mind, I’ll live on as a Guardian. The same can’t be said about you.” The Lavender Queen said somberly. There was a lot of protests about Crystarium joining her in their expressions, but none of them said anything. The room was uncomfortably silent again, but this time it seemed everyone was either in thought or waiting for someone else to say something.

“Alright…” Celestia finally broke the silence. She sighed deep and pinched her sinuses before looking back up at Twilight.

“If you feel you need to do this, I can’t stop you. The ritual will be prepared in three days’ time, get yourself to Canterlot before then… I refuse to send you in there if it permanently severs you from the hive mind, though, so we will be performing tests first.” The Princess said. Twilight wanted to argue, but by the woman’s tone it wasn’t up for negotiation. She just nodded.

“Damnit Twi! Why do you have to leave again? We already lost you once…” Dash almost hissed out. The other elements’ faces seemed to mirror the sentiment. Twilight just stood and walked over to them, this time it was her turn to start the group hug.

“It’ll only be a year, or less if we find her quicker than that. And whatever that place has in store I’ll make it through, I always do.” She said with a smile. As she finished she was almost crushed by the desperate love they all pushed out as they pulled in closer to her.

“We should go and… prepare… It was a pleasure seeing you again, Twilight.” Luna said. Twilight gave what acknowledgement she could through the new pile, which consisted of a lightly flailing hand.

“We shall take our leave as well. Do say goodbye before you leave though.” Mira said, looking to Bela who nodded in agreement. The four rulers left the room for the friends to be alone for a while longer.

“Guys, I think you might actually crack my carapace…” Twilight wheezed out before long. The group slowly untangled itself once more, but only just. There were no more words after that. There didn’t need to be. They were all worried, but they’d all be here for her when she gets back. They stayed like that for a while until Twilight was inevitably needed elsewhere. The elements stuck around for the next day. The mood was a little somber throughout the hive. They all knew what was coming, they’d lose their queen. They all knew it would be for the best, though, so they kept smiles. They knew things would be better when she returned.

They had to be.

Author's Note:

Sorry this isn't much after such a long hiatus, but until I get to the point where I'm not just filling in the blanks there's going to be mostly shorter chapters, because if I had to stop halfway in between it won't get finished. So I'm just ending the chapter as appropriately as I can.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Why'd you change the cover art?

[AbyssDragon]

Yes,Yes, Yes! an update, and it's still good! Thank you so much for an update! oooohhhh even knowing more are most likely coming has got me excited!

[Razzy]

Welp, this is gonna be interesting. And potentially deadly.

'She received the expected scoldings an rants about the temporary separation' - scoldings and rants

'We have been finding many more feral love collectors…”' - add quotation mark at the beginning