Chapter 56
Amie returned to her bedroom a few minutes later, brimming with nervous energy over what she had just done. It felt like a successful negotiation, like she had just made the first steps towards broadening the pool of prospective hunters who could aid the camp.
She wouldn't know she had succeeded for sure until Bud actually accepted new bugs ready to work. Until then, it was just one more item on a long list of steps she was taking to keep Stella Lacus alive. That was another easy one out of the way—the much harder obstacle remained.
I have to take back the camp.
Thankfully there were no soldiers waiting for her in the hallway. Bud might not be happy with her, but she was far too useful to the Rent-a-Friend to want to remove. If that ever changed, she was screwed.
Wes was already there, along with the rest of her expedition. Along with a considerably more dramatic change. Slime.
Amie had seen its like before, a waxy orange substance used all over Sonoma. They used it in their windows, and to divide otherwise empty cavern sections into individual cells. She'd even seen tools made from it.
No such order guided the structure she saw now. A thin layer of green covered everything. The window was caked over with so much of the goop that it was probably as sturdy as a wall. It covered the tables and chairs, a thin film that hardened like glass in some places, and solidified into thick green chunks in others. Worst was the bedroom, where it filled the closet almost solid, ruining every bit of pony clothing Amie had acquired.
Wes sat in that doorway, staring at the wreckage of the bed he had slept in since moving in. "You're wondering what I was," he said, radiating his frustration. "What the hell?"
I should've used that mind-transporting to check on Rick and Beth. "Basically that, yeah." She spun, facing the changeling expedition behind her. They had already removed their bags, spreading out to relax near the shut window. She wasn't imagining things—Natane had a chunk of goop in her magic, and appeared to be eating it.
Amie had seen the insect nursery, but this was a little too far. Her stomach turned, and she choked back a mouthful of hot bile. Now that she was eating food again, her stomach was vulnerable. Unfortunately. "What my brother said" She gestured around the room. "What happened in here, Pachu'a?"
Far from upset, the hunter seemed amused. "If I didn't know better, I would say you must have larva crawling around here somewhere."
"You do know better," Amie said. When Bud finds out about this, we're screwed. She better hope the goo was edible, because there might not be any other way to get rid of it.
Natane chewed slowly, and her wings buzzed. "Interesting. Curiosity, joy, affection. I never tasted these."
Amie ignored her—whatever that meant, it didn't help her understand. She focused her attention on Pachu'a, tapping one hoof impatiently.
"What happens when a bug holds too much magic? They spin it into propolis. It's very rare for drones to hold so much—our hive uses larva. A nurse can carry them, spinning as they go, without the cost of much glamour. What you see here—about the same as one of our relief saddlebags."
"I'm guessing they didn't know what was happening to them," she began. "Rick and Beth are both working... they must've picked up some glamour on the way. And they've been... spinning it all this time. How do they stop?"
The other hunter laughed, grinning at her. Her name was Si'tsi, Amie was fairly sure. "Forgive me queen, but you don't need to exaggerate your hunters' talents! It would take at least a dozen to gather all this since you left—seven days?"
Pachu'a raised one wing to silence her. There was no rebuke—clearly he agreed, even if he didn't want to say so himself. "They need to fill another vessel. Use a thin layer of propolis, as I've shown you. It can be spun intentionally, though—no sane bug would waste so much. A drone holding such a large quantity of magic would feel bloated to bursting with magic. It is neither safe nor wise."
Amie nodded. "We'll have to explain that to them when they get back. And store this glamour. We can bring it with the relief expedition.
The room was empty otherwise, though still had signs of occupation. Rick and Beth's things were roughly separated into different areas, with a few bits of disassembled tech covering the kitchen table. Amie couldn't exactly guess what Rick was doing, but a little tablet screen was on, showing the intranet logo on the corner that meant it was connected to camp.
His rooftop antenna was still working, and apparently solar too if he didn't care about it dying.
"This is the first step," Pachu'a said, as soon as she shut the door. Only her brother remained in disguise—the others were already changelings again. "How should we bring the relief to your swarm? If my hunter and I are to do it, it would require multiple trips."
Amie locked the door behind her, checked the curtains, then abandoned her pony illusion. That made her the largest in the room, though not by much. She couldn't be much more than an inch taller than Pachu'a. More than the other females... how fast was she growing?
"Before you do, I wonder if there might be... can I speak openly with you, Pachu'a? You've been this way your whole life. I feel your knowledge of changelings might help me solve a... problem I'm facing."
Every bug in the room was now staring at her, almost as hungry as when powerful pony emotions were nearby. The hunter approached her, then lowered his head in a slight bow. "I am honored to assist. But I should not need to remind you whom I serve. If you wish for true loyalty, only one of your own can provide it."
Amie nodded. "That's... kinda the problem here. Where I am—hunting for information, gathering food, that worked fine when I was just another bug. But I'm not one anymore, I'm the queen. My swarm is dying right now, under leadership that doesn't understand what it means to be a changeling. I'm younger than Albrecht, I'm not as well-educated, I've never had to be in charge of as many people as he is—but I can't just sit here and let him destroy us."
"You're saying that a swarm would do better with a queen leading them?" Natane asked, her tone light and amused. "What a shocking revelation you've come to! It isn't as though every tribe on the planet already made that same discovery before you."
Amie raised an eyebrow—or she probably would have, if she still had them. All this time traveling with that bug, and she didn't even think she was capable of so much independence and bravery. Unless it wasn't her talking at all. Kaya could be listening in the room with her at that moment.
"I did not think it strange when we met," Pachu'a said. "Because you were not a queen then. I did not even know it was… possible, to change caste that way. But you are the first generation from our homeworld, you may not obey the same rules that other bugs do. Now that the green swarm has a queen, it does seem strange that she wouldn't be ruling. You conducted negotiations on behalf of your bugs, did not you not? How will you enforce those treaties while living here?"
It would be easy, right then. No bug from inside the camp was hunting, unless they were with her. She could be confident that her companions would obey her. The same would not be true if Stella Lacus eventually got past the blockade on their own.
"I don't need to rule with an iron fist—I don't need total control, like what your queen has. But I need to be there, I need to be in charge." Something groaned under her, a gurgling sound loud enough that she actually fell silent in embarrassment. That wasn't her stomach. Agate isn't a safe place to build a nest.
"Has Kaya ever had to deal with disobedient bugs before?" she asked, speaking a little louder and faster. Anything to stop Wes from pointing out the obvious. "How would she deal with a problem like Albrecht? He has... I'm guessing about a dozen soldiers. I don't know the state of camp leadership, but he must have their loyalty if they still do what he says. Basically, he set himself up as queen, without knowing what he was doing."
"Don't forget that he already has people convinced that you're the devil," Wes added. "They think we murdered people on our way out. Pretty sure the ponies did all the killing, technically speaking."
Including my boyfriend. He saved my life by killing Garcia. Amie was counting the hours until evening whistle. When he got off of work... she had an awful lot of stress that needed relieving. A royal sum.
"Easy," the other hunter said. She didn't say much. "Kill him, then display his body as an example to others who might do the same. Anything less than absolute loyalty to the swarm is unacceptable. Incompetent leadership costs lives."
It sure did. Amie would never get that lonely graveyard out of her mind, with its row of little wooden crosses. At the same time, the thought of killing Albrecht and his soldiers to take over didn't sit right with her either. When she left the first time, she'd seen him as a good, desperate man, trying to hold his camp together against impossible odds. Maybe he still was.
"My student is too eager for blood," Pachu'a said, resting one wing on hers. "We cannot command you, Queen Amie. But I warn against simple violence. There was a time for that—when the first act of treachery occurred. Now he is entrenched. The simplest violence will prompt resistance from those who served him. Many of those may be skilled drones, with talents and knowledge that are difficult to replace.”
He walked past her to the tablet computer, inspecting it for a second. He seemed to lose interest quickly, turning back to her. "If you ask my advice, it is to move quietly. You must kill him in secret, and only when you are in position to become his natural replacement. That may take time, but it will make for rule that is secure."
They're so eager to kill. Hearing them talk like that, Amie couldn't help but think back to her conversation with Bud only a few minutes before. You can't tell me history didn't happen. I know how you really are.
"It's a male," Si'tsi said. "And you're a nymph about to be queen. Can't you just take him as your mate? Then you'd inherit all his power, and you could gradually replace him."
Wes broke down into strangled laughter, trying and failing to cover it with his mouth. "I don't think she'll try that."
Amie fought back the heat around her face at that suggestion. Of course, if she wasn't going to use violence, she would naturally use sex instead. What a great idea! "That is not happening. I... Pachu'a, can I ask you to wait here a night before we make the relief mission? I believe I would be better at fairly distributing it than Albrecht is."
The hunter's expression hardened. "I will wait one night, Queen Amie. But we will not see you use these supplies to fight a war. Many bugs in Sonoma donated them knowing there were starving children that needed to be fed. I will not see it used for any other purpose."
Amie nodded. "I won't use it to empower an army, or myself." Camp Stella Lacus doesn't have candidates to make an army even if I wanted to. "But I don't think Albrecht has to be the one to give it out. I can do a better job."
"We will see," Natane said. "Whatever your plan, you should move quickly. Your bugs weaken by the day. It is far easier to feed a drone than to revive one from torpor."
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I knew that she would have to kill him. Bad leaders have to be taken out of the picture or they will cause trouble. She can gain time by working with her people and getting them to show the others the truth. Without followers his power will be nothing. He probably starving like everyone in the camp.
I once mentioned this in one of my comments but I'll say it here again: I don't think Albrecht had what it takes to remain in power for this long, even without Amie as a contender. He didn't have special magical abilities. His leadership clearly hasn't been effective. He didn't really have much that he can give to his subordinates to ensure their loyalty. He wasn't even particularly strong and intimidating. It seems the only reason he was ruling was because he was originally the leader of the summer camp, which in the grand scheme of things really didn't mean much. People, especially those who held weapons, were bound to have second thoughts. After all, they could replace him with ease.
Either I'm getting confused or you are. Is her name Natame or Natane?
Seems like Amie is already coming up with a good plan. Become the one to feed the hive, make them know it's her who's feeding them, ingratiate herself. It's basically what I suggested earlier.
Apart from that, if the hunters think it would be so easy to kill Albrecht, then it shouldn't be that much harder to overpower and contain him. Changelings have those prison cocoons, right? Of course, that's also a question of whether Amie can figure out how to make one. Firearms are a problem no established changeling would consider, of course, but if you can turn that goop into projectiles, it could gum up some firing mechanisms real nice.
It's also incredible to see Rick and Beth have so much success gathering food. How did previous changeling arrivals never manage to make peace with ponies? I mean, sure, they all have very specific dietary needs, but at least the joy changelings would have had a good chance.
Amie has everything in her favor to replace Albrecht with ease. She's the one with power, food and has an effective system in gathering and has knowledge and partnerships in the outside world while he has dead changelings on his side.
Amie is clearly the better leader, it's not a competition anymore.
I think Albrecht having a mental breakdown he was an adult trying to help kids to the best of his situation but it was too much and so alien to him kids death on his hands a memory to strains someone and isolated from help in a dangerous and really hostile world not surprised that his breakdown is having kids go down with him type of tragedy either being knocked out taken to a safe place be better or mercy killed is best for him...
Dunno. Simply coming into camp with a feast should win many over. 🤔
Albrecht clearly needs to be replaced as a leader but killing him might not be the best way. Amie has to at least prove to the majority of the camp that she's better suited. At this point too many bugs don't know that yet.
At least for now, killing Albrecht is off the table. It's going to take a bit more guile and wit to replace him if they don't want blood (and it'll definitely be more than just Albrecht's) spilling. That being said, being the side with the most food will put Amie in a powerful position over the camp. Though I wonder if it's possible to bring Albrecht and his faction back into the fold. He certainly has experience in running things and it would be a waste to exile him. Most of the problems resulted from desperation due to a lack of food. Maybe with a little supervision, Amie could readapt their system for the good of the camp. If nothing else, she'll have a close eye on her biggest rival.
I wonder if Rick and Beth pulled an Amie and revealed themselves to whomever their client is (I assume they're sharing a client, because Bud didn't know they were even different than just Amie). The reason I'm suspecting this is the "curiosity, joy, affection" comment from Natane plus that, as far as I'm aware, Rick and Beth shouldn't have been able to replicate Amie's massive food collection without their client knowing their identity.
Yeah, this won't be a simple transfer of power by any stretch of the imagination. I hope Amie knows what she's doing with that extra day. Especially since it's that more time for the local authorities to come cracking down.
Natane is right Albrecht is entrenched and the only way to remove a infection like him is to cut it out and all of the infection around it.
in short the needs of the many out way the needs of the few.
in short stop him and his followers in to the ground and hang there heads on a pike.
I say you should keep moving out the kids in secret, then when the camp is empty and they're all safely out of harm's way, Amie can approach Albrecht and let him give that last "I was so close" speech. If he dies then...oh well
11522019
You sound like the CIA.
11522109
You sound like you think Albrecht is a Disney villain rather than a guy literally starving along with a militarily encircled camp with zero intel.
11522148
at lest i don't sound like a tree hugging eco freak.
11522207
True, at least you don't sound like that.
11522292
Oh i don't know my X will tell you i was born a asshole and love to mess with her mind.
to be honest she does not have much to mess with and it was just to easy.
11522432
Gee, I wonder why she left you. /s
11522554
wrong i tossed her she likes to spend money and turned out to be a Karen.
i broke my own rule always look at the mother first and the father second.
11522150
Okay, sorry, geez...
11521734
As far as firearms, some kind of automated shapeshifting could work wonders against them. firearms create narrow tubes of damage, so if a shapeshifter could instantly reseal the wound... It'd take skill, but it's feasible.