18- Morpheus
Infiltrator Sclerite had clued me in on the basics of how to extract love. In concept, it was very similar to taking a disguise, only instead of imagining a form, you imagined what emotion you were extracting. In addition, you grasped the String of Emotion, rather than the String of Change. Simple concepts were required for the basic survival and functions of your species, after all.
Evolution doesn’t do “over-engineered,” just “good enough.”
Queen Chrysalis spent little time going over this distinction. Instead, she led me on a trip through the hive. Our destination was the storage section. Specifically, the secured storage where our food sources were kept.
‘I am going to meet my first pony. In a manner of speaking, at least.’
Ponies. Our number one, two, and three enemy. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies. I had been lectured for many hours on their danger, their importance, and their place in the world. Beneath our hooves.
Now, I would get as close as I could to seeing this for myself. For better or for worse, I was going to see just exactly the future Chrysalis had in mind for the population of an entire continent.
I wondered what I would see. Small cells, with minimal luxuries, surely. Their diets would be poor, consisting of what we could grow in the farms in the Greencave. Still, the captives would probably be eating better than the average changeling.
‘It’s not going to be pretty. Too many red flags for it to be anything good. But for the survival of our species? No cost is too great.’
‘.... Our species. There’s no going back to being human, is there? I’m 100% changeling, whether I like it or not. These are my people now, my changelings. Their problems are my problems and their suffering is my suffering. They put their faith in me to help them as their prince.’
Some are born great. Some become great. Some have greatness thrust upon them.
‘Seems to be a case of the first and the third.’
We were close now. The ambient temperature of the hive was rising and there were less changelings moving about in the hall. Those that were present were moving materials back and forth. Changeling concrete– I gotta come up with a name for that, the changelings just refer to it as hive-gel, and that makes things confusing when our main foodstuff is also called gel– as well as said love-gel both transported in sealed jars. There were some other materials, such as the scant piece of paper or a cart of different plants and lichen that had been harvested.
As we passed a door labeled as Storage 012, my mind wandered to the First Fang.
‘Coxa will be back to working in one of these, if he is not apprenticed to an infiltrator. It should be easy to get in contact with him again if he’s back here. Lacewing too, the Greencave is not too far below this spire. I wonder what they’re up to right now?’
Chrysalis stopped at a large door, flanked by two royal guards who saluted as we approached. Wordlessly, their smooth, curved horns lit up with a green hue as they opened the doors for us. Immediately, I was hit by a wave of hot, stale air. Blue light filtered in, in stark contrast to the light green that most of the hive was awash in.
The air was filled with scents of emotions. I knew one by heart, and others by study. The tang of happiness. The bitterness of anger. The zest of pride.
I snorted air out my nose to try to flush out the scents. The air itself was a flurry of different… tastes. I had no point of reference in my past life for this, but I recognized one taste.
‘Love.’
My eyes became adjusted to the bright blue lights as we entered, and I saw the room before me.
It was a large hive cavern, at least a hundred hooves across, and two hundred deep. Periodically, large blue globes of moss hung from the ceiling, seeming to almost drip from their hive-gel mountings. Between each upside-down light was a sea of glowing green pods. Forms in each pod twitched, shook, or sat limp, their shadowed form revealed by the blue light.
I saw the outline of ponies, yaks, sheep, cows, griffons, and more. There were at least five hundred in this chamber, with the ceiling only visible in the spaces between pods. The pods themselves had about a hoof of distance between each one. The room seemed to be half filled.
‘Room for another five hundred, at least.’ The analytical part of my mind worked faster than the rest.
Between the rows of the green pods, changeling drones flittered to and fro, checking on the status of each pod and its inhabitant. Occasionally, I saw one carrying a large pot, sometimes weighing the changeling down as the drone buzzed down to the ground level where carts with pots were waiting.
My stomach started to twist in on itself.
‘So this is what it looks like, what we must do to survive’
“Yes, Prince Phasma,” Chrysalis spoke to me. I realized I said my thoughts out loud. “This is the natural order of the world. We prey upon those beneath us.”
“This is what awaits every pony in Equestria?” I had to listen to myself speak, making sure my voice didn’t crack.
“Yes,” was all she had to say.
I heard a bang. Instinctively, I pressed a hoof to my heart. In the distance, a changeling was being berated for dropping an empty jar, which lay shattered on the floor.
“There's no other way?”
Chrysalis disregarded the question. “Our techniques have been practiced for millennia.”
“Why,” I struggled to keep my voice steady, “have alternatives not been pursued? Our gathering could be perfected yet. Surely, if the hive was closer, we would not struggle as much for food.”
“The hive used to be closer. We are the Fourth Hive Dynasty, but our blood goes back to the first changeling King.”
‘An unbroken chain? Then why…’
“...Not the fourth dynasty, the fourth hive,” I whispered.
Chrysalis picked up on it. “It took generations for our survival to reach this level of efficiency. We are hidden from the world. We are in a defendable position. We have a food supply within the hive itself. We are far away from the reaches of scrying spells. These ways kept our species alive. Come My Prince. It is time for your extraction lessons.”
Her wings flittered out from their cover and buzzed. She lifted from the ground, not bothering to look back at me as she took off. After a moment’s hesitation, I followed. We flew to a pod near the center of the room where a changeling drone was waiting. When Chrysalis came close, the drone gave an upside-down bow as he stuck to the ceiling.
“My Queen, this one here is ready for harvest.”
She landed next to the pod and waved him off with a flick of her hoof and the drone did as he was ordered, leaving immediately. I came up behind her, steadily floating in the air.
I could see the shape in the pod clearly now. It was a pegasus, the blue light showing a huddled green form. Her hooves were pressed close to her chest, her legs were half straightened beneath her.
Now that I was close, I could pick out her emotions from the rest of the room. I tasted the sweetness of happiness as well as the soothing blend of contentment.
‘She is having a pleasant dream,’ was all I could think.
”Eat,” Queen Chrysalis commanded me. I flew close to the pod, touching it.
‘This is where love comes from. Who love comes from.’
It was one thing to hear about what’s going on. To see it yourself and to take a direct role in it…
‘For the survival of our species.’
I let out a shaky breath and focused on the String of Emotion. Immediately, the tastes of emotion that lingered with each breath made themselves known. My mind cast out and I felt the emotions stirring within the pods around us.
Fear. Hate. Anger. Sympathy. Love. Happiness.
I focused on the pegasus in front of me, her emotions making saliva pool within my mouth. Then, I pulled.
“-Chaser, why don’t we-” “-got you something as well!” “-ever let go-”
The pegasi twitched in her slumber as tendrils started to weave their way through the green slurry she was interred in. When the tendrils reached the hard exterior of the pod, they pushed out, the blue light coloring them a pastel purple.
‘An end to all our suffering.’
I drew in a shaky breath, the wisps following the intake of air and made their way into my muzzle.
I felt the familiar warmth embrace my whole body as my mind drifted. I let out a sigh of content and happiness as my worries melted away. I wobbled in the air as my balance was thrown off.
A muted voice drew some of my attention back to the present. Chrysalis was speaking, “...deposit in a jar for distribution. But this harvest is all for you…”
Chrysalis’s words brought enough presence of mind for me to taste emotions once more. Close by, I tasted pain. The pony within the pod had stopped twitching. Her fur coloring seemed to be a bit faded, her breaths more shallow.
‘For the survival of our species…’ I thought again, swallowing bile, ‘.... a monument to all our sins.’
I somehow knew her dream was no longer of weaving between clouds on a warm summer’s day. She was dreaming of a winter’s chill, a killer of the flower moon. A similar chill clutched my beating heart.
‘This is the fate I promised to bring upon everyone outside of the hive. Is this how we will rule the world? Is there truly no other way? I don’t... I can’t believe this is the only way.’’
My teeth silently clattered in my closed mouth as I felt my face go numb. I looked to Chrysalis; she was going on about logistics of collection, how around 60% of the network was dedicated to collecting food and the very rare isolated individual.
‘The vault holds the records of our entire species. If Chrysalis won’t consider alternatives, then I must find them myself. I shall bring the end to Equestria as ordained. I will secure the survival of our species. But this will not continue any longer than it has to. These violent delights have violent ends.’
The chill would not leave my chest for hours.
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Phasma needs to become more thick-skinned, he must understand that if he regrets any pony it can lead to changelings, nymphs can not only starve and die, I understand that even for eggs you need love for hatching, and about the alternative, Chrysalis said that it is not, after all, it is more than hundreds of years old, can look for it but do not give it Too much faith. I am waiting for the continuation, and sorry if that for grammar, not my native language
10548388
And to survive is one thing, Phasma can suffer but the hive is quite another, happiness and prosperity is what is required, the rest have already suffered, the time of the pony has passed
Chrysalis has become stagnant, leading her race slowly off the cliff. Hopefully phasma will become the leader the changelings has been hoping for.
Oooh, I'm loving his empathy. Top notch.
Feeling torn. We started with a sociopath who was all set to conquer and was really selling "made from evil" bit and then; he remembered his humanity.
10548476
Yeah, this is the most interesting thing, right now he is going through then he will gather, lead an army, invade Canterlot, then doubt, think about it and maybe not, or everything will be decided differently or go according to the Canon with Torax. But everything is at the discretion of the author, waiting for his story development
10548476
How many Nazis knew about the Holocaust, but since they didn't see it firsthand, were not going to do anything about it? IIRC a few of the key members of the party acted exactly that way.
And yea, Phasma is not very, uh, stable.
Now I'm imagining him with notecards filled with things like "Remember: killing people is wrong."
I'm very interested to see how this all turns out.
With a chapter name like Morpheus, the god of dreams, I was really expecting a visit from Nightmare Moon.
It is interesting watching Phasma's internal struggle with both his nature and responsibilities, versus his morals which see this as wrong. I do wonder how he will shape up in the end. HE may have the mind of a mature adult human, but he's got the body and biochemistry of a very young changeling prince. That's got to be adding to his internal struggles as well.
Where will you go now, oh prince? What will you do?
10548510
Tbh that would not suprise me one bit,
10548582
Ah nevah knew my father! sobs uncontrollably
In body only, his mind and thinking is human.
His concern shouldn't be how they treat them
He should be concerned about that if they place every pony in Equestria into a pod they will run out of ponies, when they will start to die out eventually ,while their own numbers will grow
They still are dependent on ponies' existence in a major way, which is a major weakness that needs to be eliminated, fixed, patched so eventually if they have to live without ponies(away from them or without their existence) they will survive on their own.
He should find a way to create artificial love, emotions
What about making trees, flowers, plants to use photosynthesis to create it?
10548565
I chose the title Morpheus for two reasons. You were close on guessing one of them.
10548454
How the holy hell is conquering an entire species and wanting to change everything about your current ways of living ¨stagnant¨??
On the contrary, she seems like the most ambitious Changeling to have existed for millenia.
10548674
Shes also uncaring and doesn't see that by attacking Canterlot it'll throw the changelings into a negative limelight and all the other races will work to destroy them. Just look at Nazi Germany, Chrysalis is practically changeling Hitler and the ponies are Jews in her eyes. Look how that turned out for them, it was not a good outcome was it?
10548701
So you agree stagnation is absolutely not the word? Because everything you describe is not stagnation.
Also no, don't bring the Third Reich here, it's a terrible comparison.
10548709
Its stagnation in that she hasn't done a single thing to change how her people survive nor try to find a way to have the world see them in a better light. And Chrysalis on this story is everything like the Nazis, she doesn't give a flying fuck about ponies other than as a food source, and doesn't give a shit about ripping them from their homes and families. She'd have every single pony in a cocoon and wouldn't bat an eye. And after shes cocooned all them and drains them dry what then? Griffins? Dragons? Who's next? Shes perfectly happy keeping the changelings as they are so long she remains head honcho.
10548709
I may have modeled one of Chrysalis's speeches after a fictional Himmler one....
10548715
Stagnation means unmoving, it means keeping things as they are. It can be either good or bad depending on how things currently are.
The extremity of what Chrysalis plans to accomplish is NOT stagnation, stagnation to the changelings would mean keeping to their hive as they have been doing for centuries. No matter how you look at it, world conquest is NOT stagnation.
Simply because you disagree with someone's means, it does not makes them ¨stagnant¨.
Something being good or bad does not make it stagnant either.
10548725
Look guy, you got your opinion, I got mine. I'm done clogging the comment section in a opinion war. Continue to insult others opinions if you want, I ain't wasting anymore time on this.
Thanks for the great chapter, I cant wait to read more!
10548736
I mean, you should just accept that your wrong, Stagnation does not mean what you think it means, and that's ok. Now you know. It would be like me saying gravity means you have aids. It makes no sense, and is obviously wrong. It is not an opinion, the word gravity has an actual definition. Same with stagnation, the word MEANS something. Unless the majority of people who speak the language decide the definition should be changed, someone's opinion on the subject doesn't matter. The current actions of chrysalis and the changelings does not fall under stagnation. This is not an argument or an attack on your opinion, this is a fact. This is an explanation.
10548942
The whole point was never about the definition of stagnation, it was about how chrysalis had a view similar to Hitler, Soron just wanted to attack my loose using of the word and went with it, completely deviating from what I spoke about when I used it. I don't know why everyone seems to be jumping all over my ass when even the author said part of her speech was from Himmler, which everyone seems to want to completely ignore, and while fiction is still nazi based in origin. And for the record stagnation also means to stop growth and development, which Chrysalis most certainly refuses to do anything about, instead shes content to keep the changelings as they are. For Christ's sake she even mentioned once she wanted to keep phasma addicted to the euphoria from pure love just so she could keep him under her control. You guys have taking one thing I said and turned it into something else.
Princess Celestia sits upon her throne, looking down upon Phasma.
"Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness, a Mother's sins, passed to her son."
I have before and always will maintain that changelings are meant to by symbiotes to other races, especially ponies.
10548990
¨Chrysalis has become stagnant, leading her race slowly off the cliff. Hopefully phasma will become the leader the changelings has been hoping for.¨
How the hell is one supposed to think this post is about Hitler and not about Stagnation? Only on your second post did you bring up hitler. stop lying.
¨And for the record stagnation also means to stop growth and development, which Chrysalis most certainly refuses to do anything about, instead shes content to keep the changelings as they are. For Christ's sake she even mentioned once she wanted to keep phasma addicted to the euphoria from pure love just so she could keep him under her control. ¨
She is not letting Changelings as they are, she is planning world conquest for crap's sake.
Also how is drugging phasma any way related to stagnation? While we are at it how is Hitler related to stagnation? So much confusing links you are making here.
10549076
On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons.
-Sorry, had fun thinking of changelings :3
The best alternative for changelings I could see is if they somehow not only manage to conquer Equestria but also lose more than half their population In the invasion (to avoid weird rationing problems), capture the remainder of earth ponies left (Pegasy and unicorns are far too pesky), and somehow construct a selective breeding farm.
The goal of this farm is to then breed the dumbest, slowest, and most loyal/obedient ponies together. This will slowly but surely create an easy to manage food source. Then allow your changeling hive and changeling built pony "communities" to slowly grow, letting the ponies farm for there own food whilst paying tribute to their new changeling overlords. AND.. voila problem solved! Just for the low low price of your humanity. :D
OR
You can somehow let the magic of friendship prevail! Yay?
Reminds me of
i.pinimg.com/originals/33/91/24/339124491e8c8c385d6f39c4d8f6f0fc.jpg
10549545
"What's in the vault, Queen Chrysalis? I know our salvation lies within!"
"The complete DVD collection of FRIENDS. It was the ponies' most coveted treasure, the fools hid the secret to their power in plain sight: FRIENDship is magic!"
10548990
? No one is arguing that chrysalis is being terrible and hitler like in this. Mine and the other comments are about you being wrong about chrysalis making them stagnate. Becuase she isnt. Her starting a WAR, which is NEW, is not stagnation. Stagnation is a lack of change. She is STARTING a war. That is change. She is changing things. She is not just staying in the hive doing the same thing. She is not doing nothing, she is STARTING a war. I repeat. She is CAUSING A CHANGE. Is it a good change? No. She wants to enslave and cause pain. The direction she is taking the changelings is a terrible one. But she IS taking them in a direction. This is not her maintaining the status quo, this is her cause a change. That is why it is not stagnation. Not arguing its terrible, not arguing its Hitler like. I'm just saying you're wrong about it being stagnation. Which is what you first talked about. Not hitler, you first talked about her causing stagnation. Which she is not doing. She is not stopping growth, she is causing growth for the changelings. By getting more food and territory. Again, this is a bad thing. But it is not stagnation.
Not the path where I thought this story would go, but it is a direction that interests me.
Carry on, Author.
So... no one going to talk about how what Chrysalis wants to do would just lead to the extinction of their species?
Or about how it was said they could sustain themselves with normal food but it isn't used even as a suplement to the rationed emotions? (Since the whole point is to not starve normal food should be used even if it is not as fufilling as emotion).
Really, no one is seeing the obvious?
10564884
*Shuffles through notecards labeled Bullshit Excuses*
So essentially, what very little food can be grown out here in the Drylands is of not much use. There's also no hunting, because there's no game. What food that they do have is used as supplement, but strictly for high calorie diets, meaning reserved for very active changelings (ones who train in the military, for example).
In other words, it's a plot hole.
And she's not leading them to extinction, but instead to control their food supply. Not every pony would be podded, there would have to be some horrible breeding program or something, but that's a future problem. Why address that when you're starving right now?
I wonder about few things here...
Why not fill the places of Orphanages to care for the fillys that want attention and give love freely?
Why not fill schools with teachers that can take the accessible emotions of students?
Why not try to make popular characters like artist of every aspect ( music, picture etc. ). If that dont work than only because noone cared to study and explore this harvesting grounds.
Called it.
Ah yes, the good old, "but this is how it's always been done" syndrome..,
10549545
Doesn't look like anything to me
10548454
That or they will suffer extinction . . .
10548471
Empathy from a emotion smelling, tasting, feeling race of emotivores... Neat . . .
10548510
Sad and comedic at the same time.
Why? Because its wrong or the cant harvest from corpses...
10548518
Welcome to the club. Cookies are on the far right and cake on the far left. Avoid the cucumber sandwiches the bread taste stale.
10548565
Indeed a vexing problem.
10548709
Im german and i found it actualy not to far off...
10548715
Seems accurate... One can only hope she get more character development.
10548722
Damn...Nice turn of event ( that was sarcasm btw )
10548942
I think the context was just badly explained. His actual view can be guessed rather easy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
10549076
Ouch... Pretty heartless...
10549287
They have always been. There nature
( benefishal or parasitic was always the question )
10549545
PRICELESS comic ( i still hate rainbow puke bugs )
10549967
* mind = blown *
10564884
More like its never so cut and dry. Just like my current job. You have a simpel order to deliver and set up the wares but you arrive on ypur destination there a lot of thinks noone see coming to deal with until thunks are 'acceptebel'.
10564951
Filling plotholes... Always very fullfilling
10651045
Traditionell folks always so hard to bring into the new age
10786097
You might want to display the comic abd enjoy the joke
Yeah and its disgustingly socialist. National-socialist even, what with all the "we gotta conqueror equestria for more living space and resources." I know the feeding on love thing makes it a bit tricky but can't these changelings learn basic economics?
Usually, people say things are going south when this shit happens. I say it's going West.
10846765
And socialism. They are all cousins to each other
This chapter created a lot of questions...
As a lover of dated, stupid memes, I must add one of them to this part of the story, since the title of the chapter fits it. It will no doubt be forgotten and cause many a groan, but I felt it necessary to be the one to do so, along with the first to keep others from doing it. Hopefully my sacrifice will not be in vain, but now I'm rambling.
Ahem...
"It's Morbin' Time!"
Can't top my suggestions from last time i read and commented in this chapter.
This reminds me of the Matrix saga, movie one to 4 including Fan service material.
Don't say it don't think it don't say it don't think it don't say it don't th
I know the show (this story) has finished, but in reality, he miscounted.
He forgot his Sun Tzu lessons there.
There were supposed to be four in that number, with alicorns topping the list.
After all, underestimating the "enemy", no matter the propaganda as to who's right or wrong, is the first step to losing to that enemy.