“Wake up, my child…” A muffled voice brought you to consciousness, its sound so soothing and welcoming.
“Can you hear me, my child?” the voice asked in a motherly tone. You tried to answer but found out you couldn’t. You were trapped in some sort of viscous liquid, without much room to move. You began to struggle against your prison, panic creeping up your mind as you felt a thick membrane embracing you in some sort of chrysalis, your lungs beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen.
“Open your eyes, my child,” the voice came again, calming your nerves. You slowly opened your heavy eyelids. Your gaze wandered all around, taking upon your black, holed legs and iridescent mane. Looking through your chitinous prison, you spotted a black and silvery blur passing by the other side of your confining pod.
Colorful sparks danced around the creature as it lit up its horn. “Come to me, my child…”
Its horn, you thought, raising a hoof to your head to see if you also had one. Finding a small, pointy bump on your forehead, you reached for the back of your pod and pushed it with your hind legs, dashing forward and puncturing its membrane with your horn.
The puncture widened into a tear as the suffocating ooze gushed out of your chrysalis. You laid down on the cold hard ground, your legs shaking and your lips gasping for air, coughing the remaining slime out of your system.
You could feel a hoof tenderly patting your back, comforting you. “Are you alright?” the creature called, her voice much clearer now.
You forced your holed legs beneath you to stand up. You nearly tipped over, but the creature caught you, helping you stand straight.
“Do you know who I am, my child?” the creature asked, raising your chin with her hoof to meet her rainbow-y gaze.
Your thoughts wandered deep within as you searched for an answer to that question. She was a changeling, like you, that much you knew… But she was different, she felt different. She was about a head taller than you and had a regal aura surrounding her. Her iridescent slitted eyes and mane matched the opalescent crown on the top of her head. She was a Changeling Queen, but there was something more… she felt so… familiar, like she was connected to you, deep within…
“M-mother?” you asked in a shaky voice, your lungs still recovering from the shock. You noticed that your voice carried an echoed undertone much like her own.
The Queen smiled dearly at you, nodding. It almost felt like her smile was seeping into you, charging you as all the exhaustion faded away.
“Yes, my child, and even though you just awoke, I am in need of your aid. But first, why don’t you go meet your brothers and sisters? They are eager to meet you,” the Queen suggested, walking toward the room’s exit tunnel. “Please come see me in my chambers when you’re done.”
“Yes, my Queen.” You bowed until she left. Now completely alone, you made your way to the exit. Time to meet my siblings.
You followed along the dimly lit tunnels toward what seemed to be the main chamber of the hive, you didn’t know how, but you felt like that was the correct direction. Effortlessly navigating the labyrinth of tunnels and passages, you’ve reached the Gathering Chamber.
It was a huge room with several floors, a huge golden crystal hanging from the ceiling serving as a light source to what looked to be hundreds of changelings buzzing around and having a good time with their hivemates.
As you descended the stairs that led into the room, you were tackled by a black and light pink blur. A high pitched voice assaulted your ears as the weird changeling with pink carapace hugged you tight in glee. “I can’t believe it! You’re the princess! You’re the princess right?! Are you?!”
“I-I… I...” you tried to reply, the sudden barrage of questions staggering you.
The pink changeling gasped, buzzing its wings in excitement. “It is you! We’re so happy to see you!”
You could feel a small pain in your head as all the changelings in the room turned to you in cheers, buzzing their wings in celebration. It almost seemed like you could hear distant voices in your head, but you couldn’t make out what they were saying.
The pink changeling got off of you, allowing you to stand up, and gave you a quick bow. “Allow me to introduce myself! I’m a Cicada-Changeling drone CC-0152 of the Pink hive, and my brood is over there!” the drone said, pointing a hoof to the room’s third floor on the other side of the room where a mass of pink changelings was gathered. They all waved their hello’s as the drone waved back frantically. “Hi, everyling!”
Taking some time to sort your thoughts, you explained, “Mother asked me to meet my brothers and sisters…”
The pink drone jumped into the air, buzzing her wings. “I know! Come with me, I’ll show you around!”
She knows? you thought, confused, still hearing those faint voices in the back of your head. Pushing those thoughts aside, you began beating your own wings and followed the energetic changeling.
Drone CC-0152 led you to another room connected to the Gathering Chamber. The hardened slime that composed the hive’s structure turned a dark shade of pink as you got near the room’s entrance.
“This is the Cicada-Changelings’ hanging spot, we like to come here to practice our singing and sound imitation. We’re really good at it!” the drone explained.
Feeling the drone tugging at your mane, you left the room’s entrance and followed the drone to the next room. Nearing the red chamber’s entrance, you could smell the faint scent of melted slime. Noticing your reaction, the pink drone said, “This is the shooting range of the Bombardier beetle-Changelings, they can shoot boiling acid at you! They were kind of banned from training in the open after they nearly collapsed a barrack chamber when they melted its supports pillars…”
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, you decided that it’s better to stay clear of that room and proceeded to the next. Nearing the orange chamber’s entrance, you could see some beautiful and intricate designs carved into the slime. “Pretty neat, hum?” the pink drone said. “This is the work of the Paper Wasp-Changelings, they are master sculptors and they know some pretty cool origami with their special paper.”
You were about to leave when a yellow changeling accidentally bumped into you. The pot it was carrying went flying through the air as the pink drone dove to catch it. “Careful, BC-032! You might spill your honey!”
The yellow drone shook its head and took the honeypot back from her. “Sorry, CC-0152, I’m late and didn’t notice you two.” The changeling bowed to her and then you before buzzing away. “Sorry, Princess.”
The pink drone rolled her eyes. “Hum, Honey Bee-Changelings, always working.”
The two of you continued down the path deeper into the hive, passing through the blue and purple chambers. “These are the wingless changelings, the Spiders, and Scorpions respectively. The Spider’s web can really mess with your head while the Scorpion’s venom can really mess you up in general, just be careful around them.”
You passed by a changeling couple in the corridor on their way to the next chamber. They were a green and white changeling.
“Oh, come on MC-403! Just one more lap at the gym, I know you can keep up with me!” the green one pleaded, flying beside its white companion.
The white changeling rolled its insectoid eyes. “Ugh, you Locust-Changelings are all the same, only care about flying…”
“Fine, what do you want to play them?” The green changeling gave up.
With a grin, the white changeling replied, “Hide and seek.”
Confused, the green changeling turned around to look at its companion, only to find that he completely vanished! “Oh, come on! Camouflage isn’t fair!”
As you approached the gray and the black chambers, a freezing chill ran down your spine, a creepy aura emanating from the black chamber.
“These are the Moth and Firefly changelings respectively. They’re mostly nocturnal, the Moth-Changelings can put you to sleep while the Firefly-Changeling can cause some horrific visions with their black light… Queen Mother, I hate those guys…”
The pink changeling’s explanation was interrupted by a heavy armored, brown-carapaced changeling with a long, razor-sharp horn patrolling the corridor. The pink changeling quickly threw herself on the brown changeling’s hooves, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“But this handsome gentleling will protect us from the creepy fireflies, right?” the pink changeling asked, fluttering her eyelids seductively toward him.
“Not now, Cicah…” the brown changeling replied, trying to hide his strong blush.
“Uhm.” The pink changeling moaned teasingly. “His strong hercules beetle muscles and hardened carapace can stop almost anything!”
“Cicah…” The brown changeling tried to get her attention. To no avail.
“And that horn! Look at it! It reminds me of his…”
“CICAH!” The brown changeling threw her away, who was laughing hard at his expense as she fluttered next to him.
Feeling a little embarrassed yourself, you decided to leave the couple be and return to your mother. But then you realize that you didn't know where exactly she was…
“Uhm… can you point me in my mother’s direction?” you asked the brown changeling, trying to get his attention away from Cicah, who was still teasing him.
“What do you mean? You can find Queen Elysia through the hivemind,” he replied, confused at your request.
“Hivemind?” you asked, unsure.
Cicah stopped her teasing and looked at you worriedly. “You mean you haven’t heard the hive this whole time?”
Maybe she’s referring to those faint voices in the back of your head? “Barely.” you finally replied. “I felt something, but it was distant… like it was behind a closed door.”
The couple stared at each other for a couple of seconds. “Maybe Queen Elysia has already disconnected her from the hive…” the warrior suggested.
“But it’s so soon! We barely had time to meet!” Cicah said, visibly deflating. She turned her attention back to you with a weak smile and continued, “Well, I’ll guide you to her, follow me.”
After a couple of minutes, you’ve reached the heart of the hive, the throne room. Cicah gave you a tight hug and a bow before giving you privacy. You knocked on the ornate black and silver door to announce your presence, even though you suspected she already knew you were there.
“Come in, my child.” Your queen called you.
As you entered the throne room, you took in all its beauty. Intricate glyphs carved in the pillars seemed to glow softly in a synchronized array of colors, the ceiling had an enormous stained glass depicting all the different changelings coming together in unison under the same hive, while the floor had a black, silver and golden carpet leading toward the ebony throne where your queen was resting.
Queen Elysia got up from her throne and walked toward you. Giving you a small hug, she asked. “How was the tour, did everyling like you?”
“Y-yes, Mother,” you replied, but then you remembered Cicah’s words about your hivemind. “But I think there’s something wrong with the hivemind, I can’t hear it for some reason…”
A frown took hold of your Queen’s expressions. “I’m sorry child, I had to sever your connection to our hive, so you could develop one of your own.”
“I don’t understand…”
Queen Elysia walked back to her throne, grabbing a small ebony crystal that sat on the seat’s arm and brought it to you.
“A storm is forming between the changeling hives, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect my subjects alone, I won’t be able to protect you…” the Queen said, hoofing you the crystal. “That’s why I need you to build your own hive, I need you to grow and prosper so that you can succeed me and be a beacon of hope for the lost changelings when I’m gone.”
“What?!”
The Queen took her crown and placed it on your head. Suddenly, a surge of energy and knowledge ran through your mind, you could feel every single being inside the hive as the hive itself. Everything in perfect harmony.
“I wish you wouldn’t have to bear my burden, but I’m afraid there’s no other way…” Your Queen's voice broke you out of your stupor, her sad tone piercing a hole in your heart.
You reached out to her and snuggled her neck reassuringly. “I won’t disappoint you, my Queen.”
You could see a small smile creep up on her face as she returned the snuggle. “Thank you, my child.” She got up and beaconed you to follow her to a crystal table. “Here.” She lit her horn and fed her magic to the table, powering up to project an image of a map. “This is Equestria, I’ve connected this table with the location of good hive locations that my scouts have found all around the world. When you’re ready to leave, just touch the desired place with your magic and you will be teleported to that location. Choose wisely, this spell will only work once.”
You took a deep breath and nodded, worry still looming over your head. “But, what will I do once I reach my destination? How will I build a hive on my own?”
Queen Elysia smiled and nudged you encouragingly toward the enchanted map. “You’re a changeling queen by birth, trust your instincts and you’ll find your way. Besides, you won’t be going on this journey alone.”
With newfound confidence, you approach the enchanted table. Time to find my new home.
Appleloosa
Ponyville
8624451
Thanks for participating!
8624461
hey there, thanks for your participation!
Thanks for the fave btw
Appleloosa.
Clearly pre season 6 so Chrysalis still controls the badlands swarm, so setting near there has additional risks. Course she's going to be a issue no matter what.
I would pick Ponyviille as a good location, it's got Pinkie pie so lots of love to feed on, the ever free to hide in.
I vote for Ponyville.
I say Ponyville. I'm going off the idea of going into a brand new game, with no prior knowledge. Ponyville seems to be a tutorial city and would be a good starting point until we learn the finer points of the game and feel ready to tackle harder locations.
I'm gonna go with Ponyville. It doesn't have that many guards so, the hive will be safe and it has tons of love to feed on. The population isn't too high, but not low either. As long as we play strategically and carefully, we should be able to feed our hive without being noticed. However, we would need to be excerise extreme caution of the Main 6 since one of them has direct contact with Celestia. The last thing we need is to have the princess of the sun come and destroying us before we got started. Ponyville has its pros and cons, but it is the best place to start our hive. Here goes hoping that we don't die in the first week.
Manehattan.
Having high population offsets the low love income. Medium guards may prove problematic at times, but it's manageable. After the city is charted, it should be easy enough to lose any guards chasing lings and having tunnels made in the sewers would facilitate easier escape. Hidden tunnels that lead to various places with illusions to fool ponies traversing them. More can be done once the hive has grown and it can set up smaller outposts in other places like Ponyville to make up for the low love income in Manehattan.
Ponyville is close to Canterlot, so it can quickly become a hotspot and the hive will be in danger.
Baltimare has high guards and population, but very low love so long term it is not suitable as the hive grows larger.
Appleloosa has too low of a population to make it worth much.
Las Pegasus is risky, but short term it is too dangerous when the hive has low ling power and resources. The high guard presence makes it more more riskier.
Canterlot could be made into a small outpost and it could mend the low-medium love income so that the hive can be upgraded and strengthened further quicker. But that is after the primary hive has grown enough to warrant outposts. The very large guard number is too high to make a larger outpost. But long term it can be worth it after the primary hive has grown.
I shall begin with subterfuge and when the primary hive has grown, i shall make outposts that will decide the location of when the time comes. After i have managed to do this, i will look into getting an audience with Celestia and try to get on good terms with her so i might try integrating the hive to pony society.
More plans are to come after more intel has been acquired.
Queen Misthal
Ponyville
Also there's the everfree forest to hunt and hide in.
CANTERLOT
I'm going to agree with the others and say Ponyville would be best place to start.
8624483
good points. Thanks for participating
8624504
Thanks for participating and for the favorite
8624552
Straight to the hardest difficulty I see
hollywoodredux.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/06/dark-souls-welcome/3828873118.png
8624556
Thanks for participating, and thanks for the fave!
8624483
8624510
8624515
8624536
I see our master strategists have arrived
Thanks for participating!
Ponyville.
Ponyville. And love the story.
8624599
I'm glad you enjoyed it so far!
8624593
thanks for participating!
I would like to point out that setting up a hive in a city is a bad idea a sudden increase in the population is suspicious, replacing pony's attracts unwanted attention therefore I will leave the surgeston of the Mountain range in between ponyville and clouds dale because it's got 3 sources of love which will reduce suspension
8624635
I was actually planning on having smokey mountain as a possible hive location, but chose otherwise in the end
Thanks for participating
I would chose somewhere near a rail or airship depot.(although the locations of those aren't indicated)
Why? It makes moving the hive much easier should the need arise.
Why a depot and not a station? It would make it easier to get an entire train/airship for oneself without as much suspicion as hijacking one that is already in use.
I suspect that the large cities will have train or airship depots.
If it were an option I'd have suggested building the hive on/in a train. A target that constantly moves is harder to subject to a brute-force attack than a stationary target. It would also allow a wide distribution of love-collectors, increasing the area from which the hive could farm, while keeping changeling concentration in settlements low, reducing detection chance there.
The only problem: how do you keep an entire train hidden from the guard, or at least camouflaged as a normal train.
I'll likely read this in the car or something, but I'm crossing off Ponyville as the location you head to. That's the last place I want to be, with all the disaster's that befall that town. Even if you're going for a pacifist run, you could very well end up dead when the demigod of the week shows up and throws down with the local superheroes.
Ponyville. Low Guards, high love, and decent though not stellar population. It probably won't be too difficult to establish a hive in the woods nearby (unless you're in the Everfree Forest, but that's not recommended). I'd have gone for Appleloosa, but the population isn't big enough to gather enough passive love to feed a hive of thousands.
8624695
I was planning on having Cloudsdale as an option since it's a mobile city it would be the closest to your suggestion, but I eventually chose otherwise 'cuz it would be really weird to build a hive in the clouds...
But hey, there will be an opportunity to expand the hive to other locations in the future, keep your idea close to you when that moment arrives. It was a good one
8624723
Please be careful
You made a good point against Ponyville
8624728
Thanks for voting!
8624536
I agree with your assessment of Manehatten. In addition to the points you made, it is also a hub for information and commerce.
Also, Ponyville would be easy mode. I would prefer a challenge. Not to mention, a Hive in Manehatten? If pulled off successfully, such a move could garner respect amongst the other Hives.
8624772
Respect goes a long way in politics. But not as far as one may think. It will also paint a target to your back.
But allying a few hives together might be ideal. More ling power and more ways to use subterfuge and misdirection. More soldiers to protect the hive as well.
Ponyville
Ponyville seems the logical option, given the stats, however I think more story-related problems might crop up in the future.
With that in mind, I vote for Las Pegasus.
Ponyville. Due to the Everfree Forest we will have acess to rare alchemical ingridients in the future (if we need them). And old castle will give us opportunity to obtain information of exotical forms of pony magic, some dark magic trinkets and probably some other resourses. Also we could mine gems here to sell them/create artifacts (if we learn how to do that). So, it is perfect location not only for starting hive but for developed hive too. Also, later we could dominate minds of forest monsters, and force them fight for the Hive or, if we discovered and ponies assemble their forces to strike us, lure some of monsters into populated area to by us some time.
Settle in Appleloosa. Not only is Ponyville a deathtrap (canonically), but with the easy access to the rail line and the low guard population give you an easy way to basically ship love in with minimal worry. A tight knit group of "Family" moving into town will be welcomed with open arms, ensuring a bounty of love to use in construction. Small towns trying to grow need more workers. Become established, prove yourselves trustworthy, wholesome neighbors. Anyone comes looking for trouble, the townsfolk will stand up for you. Trust begets trust.
8624858
8624864
8624896
Thanks for participating!
With your votes Ponyville hit 14 votes!
8624744
No problem
Merry Christmas, and God bless!
I think ill rule out Baltimare/ Las Pegasus/ Canterlot
Ponyville has good values but the added risk of the mane 6.
on the other hand the presence of them means will be well informed about certain happenstances and a great possibilitys for official and inoffcial diplomacy also everfree forest is a exelent and well hidden location if you can handle the wildlife.
Appleloosa is very safe but possibly too small. Also it might be close to the badlands and thus Chrysalis hive (but im not sure about that) wich WILL cause problems althought it might offer opotunities once King Thorax happens, who will probably help out if you arent a douche.
Manehattan has large population and an urban envioment wich offer quite some advantages but one would need some cash to throw around too really prosper there.
I think ill choose ponyville.
Ponyville
Ponyville seems like the best option.
Question: Which a timeline this take place? In the past ( before the events of the show. ), In the middle ( Which Chrysalis planning invasion on Equestria. ) or in the future? ( When The changelings are facing the civil war between the Reformed and the original changelings. )
Ponyville seems like the obvious 'pick me' choice presented to us, and while I'd like to be a rebel and pick something else like Appleloosa or Manehattan, I think Ponyville is the best and most interesting choice plot wise.
Manehattan's guard population shouldn't be too much of an issue, but the low love yield and high population worry me. Yes, the high pop technically offsets the low love, but it makes discovery all the more likely, which is something that we want to avoid early on.
Appleloosa would be a decent starting point were it not for the woefully low pop count and it's remote location. We want to be hidden, yes, but not at the cost of being isolated. And if the hive grows quickly, it'll be difficult to explain away the additional inhabitants without getting the locals suspicious.
Baltimare, Los Pegasus and Canterlot aren't worth considering with their high guard counts unless we were doing a YOLO run. As such, while things may get hectic in Ponyville, it gets my vote.
If you wanted to thrive I would choose Ponyville but only if you could get at least the main (the mayor/Twilight) or unofficial (Apple clan/Pinkie) authorities permission due to the number of incidents that happen particularly after the start of session 1. If it was after the invasion then this permission is vital unless you want the population and heavy hitters against you when you are inevitably found out.
If you wanted obscurity them Manehatten as despite the low returns few would bother to look in to the occasional disappearance particularly if it is a less moral world you set this in.
Appleloosa You could scrape by in but now live well. You could supplement with traveling changelings acting as independent merchants and performers but keep such enterprises small to prevent being summon or forced to work ing places where scrutiny is high like Las Pegasus or Canterlot.
As someone who like co operation I would vote Ponyville but ask for a unique spin to separate this story from the various others
Based purely on stats I say ponyville since it's got very high love compared to others given its medium population and low guards.
Like 8625155 says, I'm worried that the Mane 6 may become a threat. Of course, that's what makes it fun!
I'm interested by how higher population increases the spread of rumors/the truth about changeling activity, wouldn't a lower population mean knowledge would spread faster? Sure, more ponies would end up knowing in a larger population, but it is your rules.
8625641
Like I mentioned in the story descrption, the story is set after the invasion of canterlot, so its between season 1 and 2
8625683
Leeeeroy Jenkinnsssss!!!
8625818
A smaller pop would know about you quicker yes, but the Anonymity "meter" in the game is a global attribute. Think about it like a pandemic, once it hits a highly populated city, it spreads like a zombie apocalypse while a smaller town still can be contained.
8625729
Noted, I'll try my best to keep things interesting