1 - The Peasants Due
The Hive- my Hive, was a hub of activity.
Changelings buzzed around and worked various menial tasks that were beyond my understanding, most of them doing... something with the walls of the Hive. Molding them? Reshaping them? Opening new holes?
I had no clue; I didn't know.
What I did know, however, was that each and every one of them took the time to pause and bow or hurry out of my way as I walked through the twisting and honestly implausible halls and corridors of the Hive.
A gaggle of drones followed behind me, a stench that I have quickly come to associate with fear wafting off of them, and a pair lead from the front, those two terrified most of all.
An outside observer might have thought it strange for a Queen to follow after drones, but anyone capable of seeing this was scared out of their minds. They all were ever since I got over my initial panic-attack and left Queen Chrys- and left my room.
Their fear was unfounded, however, as I was simply having them lead my to the Love Storage Room.
All in all it was a pleasant walk.
When we got to the room, I discovered that their fear was very much founded.
What I expected was some sort of monstrous mix between biological and industrial; rows upon rows of living creatures forced into translucent green pods, maybe some tubes sticking out of them too. A big wall of pots or something, shimmering with pinkish smokey liquid or something similar - a healthy stockpile hidden from the common drones.
What I got was... disappointing, to put it politely.
There was a bunch of mostly ponies in green pods just as i imagined, but there was only a couple dozen at most. Like, enough to probably just qualify for a village. And they looked skinny, too.
The pots filled with smoky pink liquid was bang on the money though, except for the fact that the shelves were mostly empty. Some Changeling was hovering around the pods somehow extracting what I assumed was Love and handing the filled containers to another drone.
The room faintly smelled of what was probably Love, but I was associating the aroma with disappointment.
The gaggle of drones with me tensed as I finished that thought, reminding me of their existence.
The fear of the drone besides me slammed into me like a howling gust of wind as I placed a foreleg over his back.
The others all took a step back.
I tapped the drone i was resting my limb on. "How much Love would you say we have, here?"
He looked around, first at what was presumably his friends and then at the working Changelings within the room.
"There... isn't a lot, my Q-Queen."
Okay, that was good. Well, not good good, but at least I knew what sort of scale we were working with here.
I tapped him again.
"And how long would you say this Love would last the Hive? Be liberal with your estimate."
The working Changelings slowed down and obviously started listening in on the conversation. The drone I was holding swallowed before answering.
"I'd say three mon- I mean, I'd say half a year. With rationing."
That few pots, for an entire Hive, and it'll last half a year?
"Half a year, with rationing." I parrot and give him another tap. "And without rationing?"
He tensed. The gaggle tensed. Even the workers tensed, though they quickly recovered and went back to work at an even more sedate pace.
Eventually he found his voice, soft as a whisper. "I'd say... a month, my Queen. Maybe less."
A month without rationing. 30-ish days. Could i fix the problem within 30 days? Scratch that, could my Changelings fix the problem in 30 days. Probably not. If they weren't hungry from rationing?
...maybe?
Not even here for a full day and I'm already gambling mu subjects on a half-planned scheme, I really am a Queen!
I nod and raise my voice.
"Cease rationing."
All movement stopped. The smell of fear was replaced with an entirely new one as all attention in the room was now fully on me. Someone in the corridor outside swore as someone ran into them.
One of the Love room workers dropped a pot, shattering it and letting the Love seep into the floor.
I waited patiently, and then it got awkward.
I slapped the drone I was talking with perhaps a little too hard, but his chitinous hooves quickly found purchase in the floor.
The hoof which slapped him was pointing at the pitiful reserves my Hive had.
"Go! Feed! Your Queen commands it!"
A moment of hesitation... and all of them all but leapt at the stores. Changelings flooded in from the corridor behind me, taking special care to avoid me but pushing past their peers with little care or restraint.
I watched then feed with a smile on my face, and it twisted into a grin as a new smell wafted through the air. Whatever emotion my Changelings were feeling was deliscious.
The drones distracted, I loudly gave the order to spread the word before retreating back to my room.
I had a month, probably less, to fix the situation at hoof. Might as well get started planning properly.
It was the next day, and my planning hit an unexpected obstacle: I knew nothing about the world.
I mean, sure, I had a basic grasp on MLP but it wasn't like I watched it religiously or anything. Equestria was the first world country, if I recalled correctly. The Griffons were... I think across the ocean? And poor as dirt?
The Changelings lived in some sort of desert - looking out a convenient window proved that easily - but I didn't know if they- if we even had an economy.
We had to, right? The money that harvesters or infiltrators or whatever needed to blend into Ponydom had to come from somewhere.
And so I went to check the treasury... and had no clue if the amount was impressive or not. 100,000 Bits. Probably enough to last the Changelings blending in, but did it have any value on the industrial scale? Could I buy a boat with 100,000 Bits, or would I be left with a decades-old rusted heap used by only the most desperate of fishermen. Or ponies, I guess. Fisherponies? Fishermares? Whatever.
And so, as.the great Queen I was, I summoned all Changelings of note in the Hive to my throne room.
Then I dismissed 80% of them because they were some kind of soldier and desperatly needed to rest and heal their injuries.
What remained was what I guessed made up the 'civlian' side of the Changeling administration: a couple cliques of Changelings that represented their respective workforces.
A long and very scared - on the drone's part - overview/debate later, I had my conclusion.
The Changelings, and thus me, were broke, backwards, and generally unknown as a people, half because of the secrecy and half because there was nothing if note in the desert we claimed to live on.
But that was fine! Rome wasn't built in a day, and Las Vegas was built in a desert! Great funding - which I don't have, A respectable reputation - the Changeling as a whole did not have, an eager workforce - a numerous one at least, and a Grand Vision - this I had in spades, were all.I needed to transform this isolated people into a powerhouse!
In with only 100,000 bits.
...and the lives of my subjects to spend.
I slumped on my throne of hard stone.
I'm going to need to learn very much, very fast...
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Time to beat these Ponies in their own game
meanwhile, Thorax chirping and running in Happiness
So far so good.
Interesting start. Looking forward to more!
Strengthening them?
#DungeonKeeper
The proletariat, you might say.
well this is definitely a start. A good one.
Good start, but the various spelling errors and accidental placements of punctuation could easily fixed simply by skimming through the chapter in less than a minute.
Always good to proofread :D
11582402
Seems you ate a "be" between could and easily...
...kidding, kidding. But you're right. So far it's enjoyable, but needs little polish. As you said, always good to proofread ;)
11582823
I forgot to proofread *facepalm*
Starting from nothing is easier because you don't have previous garbage to clear out, yeah? 😅
The punctuation and spacing need review in this paragraph. Other than that, an intriguing start to an intriguing story. I'm looking forward to seeing a gentler, more intelligent, Chrysalis.
Love this.
While I do think having someone completely unfamiliar with MLP woud be more interesting, the person taking over Chrysalis having some knowledge is not a problem, and I understand why it was done.
Bravo, word-smith.
Hmmm, if I only came before the wedding, I'm sure I could have set up "Las Vegas" there and get food from there, just keeping up as usual, In the dark and drag a certain drunk group of tourists and after a few hours leave them lying there abandoned, Pretend that there is some kind of drug that leaves them in that state and wash their minds of the matter
11580771
) is probably part of the plan.
Pretty sure he's already hiding in the Crystal Empire. Finding him and convincing him that you're a new changeling (
11582957
Good ol' Muphry's Law.
11828640
This story takes place just after Season 2's ending and (presumably) before Season 3 starts. Which means the Crystal Empire hasn't returned yet.