Love is Forever, so is Blubber

by MetalBrony20

Celebrations and Developments

A harsh wind whipped through the dust and gravel of the Badlands, kicking up great clouds of choking material into the air. Dried, shriveled bushes, bereft of any leaves still clung to the cracked ground. These lands hadn’t seen rainwater in centuries, the remnants of ancient river beds the only clue to their existence. Within a natural basin, surrounded by scrubby vegetation and low mesas, the Changeling hive erupted out of the ground. Harsh spires stretched upwards into the sky, the pointed tips hanging menacingly against the yellowed sky.

Though the outside of the structure was lifeless, inside was a different story. The howling wind was instead replaced with the chitter and buzz of the insectoid inhabitants. Queen Chrysalis beamed, her jagged teeth forming a cruel, predatory look. Standing atop a parapet, she gazed upon her subjects assembled in the vast internal courtyard of the hive. They obscured the normally grey green floor, covered by hundreds of drones, all eagerly waiting. Additional drones clung to the walls, some hovering and buzzing in the air. All were cheering, cheering at the prize she held aloft.

“We have captured the Crystal Heart!” She bellowed, receiving an even greater roar of approval from below. “With the brilliant actions of our most esteemed operatives, they took this right from under those Crystal Ponies’ snouts! Even that insufferable Princess Cadence could do little to stop us from fleeing with it. From this day onward, we shall never again go hungry, never again shall we suffer starvation!” Her voice boomed, raising higher and higher in volume, reaching a crescendo, whipping the Changelings into a frenzy of excitement.

“This stone is saturated with pure love magic. An unending reservoir of love that the ponies so selfishly hoarded for themselves! No longer. Now, we shall never have to skulk through the back allies, scrounging up meager drops of love. No, the Changelings will live the rest of their days full and satisfied, like Kings and Queens of the world, we shall endure forever more!” Cheers and shouts of jubilation rolled over her, grasping the jewel in both hooves above her head.

“My loving subjects, witness now, as I unlock the full potential that the ponies so blatantly ignored!” Hundreds of pairs of eyes watching, Chrysalis’ magic enveloped the Heart, the deep, sickly green energy intensifying as the gem shrank in size, low groans emanating as it compressed. From head-sized to bite-sized, the Changelings gazed on as she popped it into her mouth, swallowing it with an audible gulp. For a moment, nothing happened, the drones exchanging confused expressions, before a sudden burst of blue erupted from Chrysalis’ mouth. Her stomach banding too glowed, turning into the same shade of blue as the crystal. Before their very eyes, she changed.

Her many holes across her body closed up, additional matter filling them rapidly, leaving only tiny dimples where they once were. They too could feel the waves upon waves of energy gushing from her. Awestruck, unable to say anything, basking in the rejuvenating emanations. All the while, the Queen was cackling with joy.

“Ahahahah! You see now? We are unstoppable! Feel the power coursing through you. I expect our love storage pods to be groaning with all the excess. Now is the time to stock up, to repair and to prepare for retaliation. Make no mistake, the Equestrians will want their precious Heart back! But we’ll be ready for them. And we will prevail, for the Hive!”

“For the Hive, for the Queen!”

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In the days following the Crystal Heart heist, the hive’s inhabitants looked significantly more healthy than they had before. Following Chrysalis’ forceful acquisition of the artefact that once was the Crystal Heart, her body had been radiating intensely powerful blasts of love energy. Because of the properties of the jewel, it had refused to digest, instead fusing with the Queen internally, Changeling and pure love magic mingling as one.

This merging of the crystal with Changeling biology had forced it to expel all the energy it contained. A reservoir which was bottomless. And so, this had seeped through the entire hive, everyling able to rejuvenate and feed. Imitating their Queen, their bodies had made a startling recovery. Their limbs were now almost completely smoothed over, their membranous manes, tails and wings too patching up. In addition, they were constantly full of energy. The result of which had increased hive productivity.

With the abundance of food, the Queen had decreed that the drones must expand and develop the holding they already possessed. They had expanded the underground section of the hive, increasing the space available to house more of their kind. A new, more expansive tunnel had been dug to the underground lake that hydrated the hive, alongside the increased food storage. The larders, once heavily guarded and restricted, were now seeing dozens of drones flitter in, offloading excess love into the tanks attached to the walls.

At this point though, the room was becoming exceedingly full. Pods upon pods of the pink energy were packed together, enough to bathe the entire room in a rose tincture. It was getting rather excessive. Already, plans to create another storage room were in the works. It was getting absurd with the amount of love they possessed. And yet, it kept on flowing. Most Changelings were glad that they no longer had to fight for their food. Some though we’re getting just a tad worried.

The decadence they now existed in felt alien to them. Their bodies, so used to scrounging off the barest scraps of love, were instead being pumped to capacity. They could barely stop moving from the amount of excess energy in their system, leading to them spending hours on end fruitlessly topping up storage containers to feel something other than being full. Constantly morphing forms, using spells, flying fast and erratically. Nothing seemed to work.

Chrysalis herself sat upon her throne, basking in the aura. As a literal fountain of love, her entire being was cracking with untold mountains of power. The Heart and her were one, a second heart beating alongside her own. Each pound sent a cascade of nutrition across her. She cackled and laughed. The once vulnerable creature, now a glowing beacon of light. Her horn crackled with arcane might, easily able to pick up room-sized boulders, casting them aside with the ease a foal does with their toys.

“Oh, my… if I’d known this had so much power, I’d have tried to grab that trinket years ago.” Her eyes flashed with malice. “But the protective enchantments stopped us from getting close, those accursed Alicorns halting our progress. Well, up until the newest alicorn did the job for us. That hideous foal, with it’s powerful, yet still pitiful wails shattered the crystal. And, along with its temporary destruction, the permanent erasure of the spells too…”

She snarled, her horn wreathed in baleful energies. “Damn those ponies! How dare they hoard all this love when my subjects are starving!” Pointing it at one of the large stone sculptures, she unleashed the power. For a brief second, it bathed the room in a cloak of blinding green light as the power traveled the short distance. As it smashed into its target, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Then it was over. Panting heavily, she surveyed the damage. What was once a faithful replica of herself, carved from the finest granite, was naught but bubbling, glowing lava sloughing onto the floor. What it had also created was a neat hole that tunneled through the outer hive walls, the walls of it glowing red.

Her guards, normally so stoic, were staring in wide-eyed amazement. They could feel the raw heat and arcane power washing over them. So awed they were, that they almost missed their Queen gesturing them over. “Huff… tell the caretakers to prepare my bath. My body is so tense right now. These magical outbursts are getting worse and worse, if they don’t stop, I’m going to collapse our hive by accident.”

“At once, my Queen.” They spoke in unison, before buzzing away at a great speed, leaving the exhausted, yet still energised monarch to sprawl in her throne, flying gently to the ground. Her steaming horn cooled, she flicked her mane side to side, a curious feeling blanketing around her. Looking back to her destruction, she shook her head, marking it as just her body’s reaction to the immense displacement of arcane energy.

She was sure nothing had happened. From her jagged fangs, to her blue glowing centre, to the ever so slightly rounded plot cheeks that had suddenly developed. No, it was just fatigue. She expertly navigated the network of tunnels, heading straight to her room. Now was the time for warm suds, delicately washed carapaces and soapy, flowery smelling manes.