Chapter 19
Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
March 19th, Gregorian Calendar
"Leaving? Already?"
Taranis barely spared Klarien a glance as he finished packaging the last of his armor, "Full operations here are due to cease by week's end. I am being sent to London in two days."
Klarien blinked twice, and sighed, "Well. It was nice working with you. More or less."
The blue Dragon finished securing the lid to the final crate, and lumbered sedately towards the bay door.
"Good luck with your next posting."
"Thanks! You---" Before Klarien could finish, Taranis had already vanished around the corner.
The green Dragon huffed.
"Crazy old coot."
"No survivors?"
Lantry's brow furrowed.
Hutch sighed and shook his head, "We did recover a data drive. It's in working condition, and they didn't have time to initiate failsafe purges."
Lantry leaned in towards his screen, magnifying his image slightly on Hutch's end. The smile on his lips offset the chastising tone of his voice.
"I thought I told you to bring me back a live souvenir."
"Well, you know how Dragons are. And you did allocate nuclear ordinance," Hutch shrugged, and sat back, "We're lucky anything at all survived, living or otherwise."
The older General grunted as he downed a sip of something from a battered silver canteen. Anyone who didn't know Lantry would have assumed it was something alcoholic, but Hutch knew that it was most likely the General's favorite brew of natural Equestrian tea.
Hutch steepled his hands as he continued.
"We're due to stand down here by the end of next week. Evacuation Command is splitting us between the Bureau, and a temporary staging camp in Harrisburg. I've asked that the crypto staff be allowed to stay on until the end, so we can finish working on the drive as soon as possible."
Lantry nodded, "Keep me in the loop. We're all very tense over here. If you read the action report I'm sure you know why."
Hutch nodded once sharply, "Yes sir."
"Then you know that any actionable signal intelligence on the HLF is effectively as valuable as a brick of solid gold. Make this your top priority Hutch. Something doesn't sit right with me about finding a bunch of the sun-kissers camping out inside a liberation front base."
Lantry leaned in towards his screen again, as if to emphasize his point. In the harsh light of the screen, Hutch could make out thousands of wrinkles and worry lines. A testament to a long and stressful career.
"You'll be my first call Miles."
Lantry smiled slightly, "Take care. Don't let those namby pambies in the Evacuation Command push you around."
Hutch snorted as he severed the connection.
"Over my cold corpse."
Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
Fourth Month, Twentieth Day, Celestial Calendar
At first, Fyrenn thought that the horde had finally decided to throw caution to the wind and end it all. The bodies of the drones fell upon him in a sudden crush that generated a wave of claustrophobic panic, which threatened to overwhelm all his senses.
The Gryphon prepared to make his final stand, and sell his life as dearly as possible.
As he dropped his sword and tensed to lunge, talons splayed, he made a shocking realization. The first chitinous corpses to brush up against his wings and back were limp; They rolled off like sacks of dry goods.
Fyrenn's muscles remained tight as a coiled industrial spring for the better part of ten seconds, as Changeling forms rained prone from the sky.
At first the non sequitur was simply too overwhelming for him to react. But as the last of the Drones fell, the predatory instincts within awoke once more and pressed him to seize the advantage.
Fyrenn began digging through the pile in a frenzy. The Drones were light, and it didn't take him long to find the tan hoof he had been searching for. The Gryphon seized on his friend's leg, and with a mighty tug Skye's body came free.
Barely pausing to note that Varan was shaking himself out of a similar pile of corpses, Fyrenn laid Skye down on the clearest patch of gravel he could find, and placed one talon delicately to the side of her throat.
A flutter in her eyelids told him the same thing as his sense of touch. As Skye slowly began to wake, Fyrenn abandoned all attempts at reservation, and hugged the Unicorn firmly to his chest, encircling her protectively with both wings.
For a moment, Skye returned the embrace, nestling her head firmly into the warm, comforting feathers around Fyrenn's neck. After several seconds however, she began to pull away, "Ack! Ok ok ok bird brains! That's enough. I need to breathe at some point!"
Fyrenn abruptly released the equine, and stood back, ears flattening in an unconscious expression of mild embarrassment.
"Sorry."
Skye staggered to her feet shakily, and smirked. Her words came out with a slightly wheezy overtone, but she seemed otherwise unhurt.
"You know you don't need to be so worried, right? I've been dead before. So have you. It didn't exactly last."
The red Gryphon snorted. With his concern over Skye's fate alleviated, his thoughts quickly turned to the rest of his friends and family, followed by his gaze. Varan had already moved towards Kephic, and the two Gryphons were busy helping a squirming Carradan to free himself from a pile of Drones.
Fyrenn dashed towards the group in an undignified fashion, hop-skipping over groups of Drones in a series of bounding leaps. By the time he arrived, Stan was wriggling away from the last of the Changelings, "Eeeyech! I hate, I hate, I HATE BUGS!"
Kephic allowed himself a half smile, muttering as he helped Fyrenn dig into the remainder of the pile.
"At this point? I don't blame you. Not one little bit."
The two Gryphons worked swiftly to clear more Drone bodies, finally reaching IJ's prone form on the bottom of the heap.
Without prelude or pause, Fyrenn lifted the Pegasus effortlessly, and moved her to a clearer portion of the cave floor. When she did not stir, he placed a talon to her throat, and a cupped claw in front of her muzzle.
Though no one could see it beneath his red feathers, his face went as pale as a new moon, his ears flattened and his wings tensed.
Fyrenn raised his head and shook it slowly.
"She's not breathing."
Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
March 19th, Gregorian Calendar
"Ma'am, I'm flattered. Really. But honestly? I can't even begin to fathom why you'd bring me down here at this time of the night."
Astris cocked his head, and resumed walking at an accelerated pace to keep up with his companion. Councilor Martins continued at a swift pace, never so much as turning her head to make sure the Pony was keeping up, although she did allow a small smile to creep into the edge of her lips.
"Because, Astris, time is short and getting shorter. It was, admittedly, only a matter of time before the PER began to see our project as a threat to their ideals. It's just that no one expected them to react so soon, or so comprehensively."
The Unicorn swiveled his head, tilting it back to an even keel, then over to the other side.
"But we have contingencies in place...? Don't we?"
Martins finally paused at the end of the corridor, which terminated in a hardened titanium blast door. The Councilor placed her hand on the biometric lock, and held it there as the security system sampled her DNA.
"Yes, we do."
The locking panel let out a warm two-tone, and the door began to drop into the floor inch by inch on its hydraulic rams. At first, Astris couldn't begin to fathom what he was seeing.
The corridor continued several feet beyond the portal, widening out into a catwalk. There were levels of scaffolding above and below the platform on which they stood, but it was the center of the space that was confusing. It seemed to be nothing more than a metallic swoop filling Astris' vision.
Only after the Unicorn took a tentative step forward into the enormous chamber did he begin to comprehend the object it contained. He swiveled his head first left, then right, jaw askew in utter shock.
The ship was at least two hundred feet long, by his estimation, and three stories high at its center. It took the form of a silvery-gray arrowhead, with cylindrical formations tucked under the rear that Astris guessed were engine nacelles.
Aside from the Genesist emblem on one of the wing-like protrusions at the rear, the only other markings on the craft were the seams in its hull plating, and a designation painted in white near the nose.
'FTV-01 - Sylph'
Martins stepped up quietly behind her friend, and gestured expansively with one hand as she spoke in an almost reverent tone.
"FTL Test Vehicle number one. The Sylph. When the last of the instrumentation palettes and drone control packages go in tonight, she will be ready to fly."
Astris worked his jaw for a moment before finally managing to turn air into meaningful words.
"This... Isn't supposed to be ready for---"
Martins smirked, finishing his thought for him.
"Three months, two weeks, and four days. To be honest? We built a great deal of cushioning into that estimate to give the engineers time to be as prepared as possible. Unfortunately at this point, we don't have that luxury. So we improvised, within acceptable risk limits."
The Unicorn sat down hard; his rump producing a resounding thud against the metal crisscross of the catwalk.
"She flies tomorrow?"
Martins nodded slowly, sweeping the craft with her gaze as she elaborated.
"Aside from the two-dozen engineers on the core team? Only eight other people know about this. Four flight controllers, myself, two other board members, and you."
The Councilor clasped her hands behind her back, and sighed.
"If we are to succeed security is of the utmost concern."
Astris cocked his head, and his muzzle turned down, "And if we fail?"
Martins' lips hardened into a thin, firm line, "Then it is best no one else be the wiser."
Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
Fourth Month, Twentieth Day, Celestial Calendar
"Make your report. Has your Hive completed its preparations for the event?"
For a long moment, IJ found herself unable to speak. She was able to recognize the voice, even without the presence of the menacing silhouette that gave birth to it.
She cast her head swiftly to the left, and then the right. Skye was nowhere to be seen. The constrictive mental sphere that had previously been their world seemed to have dissolved into a complex lattice of obsidian bridges and arches, linked together in an immense void.
The air was thrumming with information glyphs. Thousands upon thousands of times more than had previously manifested.
IJ's focus, however, remained on her imminent problem.
She had been part of multi-Hive communications more than enough times to have become familiar with the form, and voice of her Over-Queen. The leader of all Changelings.
Chrysalis.
Sensing IJ's panic, the Queen turned, and fixed her sickly green eyes on the fear-filled Pegasus. Chrysalis' voice dipped into the lowest octave it could sustain. The world was spat, more than spoken.
"You!"
IJ took an instinctive step back, and crouched into a defensive position. She noted, with growing concern, that her spell-armor was no longer present.
Chrysalis began to cross the space between them, framed by a distant sourceless ghastly blue light.
"You are the drone who was to bring us the Gryphons' lifecode. You are the betrayer! Where is Hive-Queen Nymphis?! Did she send you to me?"
When IJ's silence persisted, the Queen darted forward like the stench of death carried on a swift wind. She crossed the remainder of the distance that separated them in less than a second.
The immense Changeling leaned in over IJ. The Pegasus tried to muster the energy to roll, run, leap into the air, or to escape in any conceivable way. But she found herself inexplicably rooted, as a dull roar filled her mind and her muscles.
Chrysalis hissed.
"You *will* answer me, one way or another."
Before IJ could react, a green miasma of energy arcs erupted from Chrysalis' misshapen horn, slamming into the Pegasus' head with a fury that sent her skidding across the bridge into an upright pillar.
She writhed as hard as she was able, but the tendrils remained, snaking into her eyes and ears, bringing with them the pain of an electrified branding iron.
Her world began to dissolve into a haze of emotions, images, and sounds. For what must have been only a few seconds, but what felt like ten hours, the Pegasus struggled mightily to regain her faculties.
Memories, both her own, and those of other Drones, bombarded her senses with a fury equitable to a summer typhoon. She was on the verge of submitting to the storm, when something brushed past her mind's eye. A tiny scrap of an image.
It was enough.
The very presence of the knowledge in her mind brought Chrysalis up short. The deluge ceased momentarily as she stood stock still in shock, trying to evaluate what had happened.
"How is that possible...?!"
The queen's voice manifested as a whisper that emanated from everywhere, and nowhere, simultaneously. IJ realized with a start that she was hearing Chrysalis' musings directly from her mind.
The Changeling's eyes narrowed to fierce slits, and her next words came directly from her muzzle, laden with enough hatred to seemingly melt iron.
"Unless... You have the codesong within you..."
Chrysalis straightened to her full height, and glowered, "This changes matters. I had hoped to perhaps break you of your flaws. Enfold you back into the collective. Bring you home."
She bared her fangs, and IJ winced, "But you are too much a danger to the order of the Swarm. You know that which is reserved only for the over-Queen. And so you will die."
Time seemed to elongate into an impossibly stretched moment. IJ had several seconds to wonder if the experience was anything like what the Gryphons described as 'combat time.'
She watched as Chrysalis began her leap, lethal green sparks erupting from her hooves and horn. The expression on her muzzle embodied pure twisted hatred and revulsion.
IJ stiffened. Any thought of giving in evaporated like dew under the desert sun. Her rage leapt from an ember to a roiling fire that seemed, in the moment, equal to the fury of an entire Hive, with more to spare.
She knew, in that moment, that she had been deceived. And she refused to accept her fate.
As Chrysalis' form descended towards her, she glowered up into the Queen's eyes with unbridled defiance. She knew she was incapable of facing the monarch directly, and more than anything she yearned for an escape. A way to rob Chrysalis of her victory. To buy time.
Others needed to know what she knew, of that she was convinced beyond any hint of doubt. To escape, to spread the truth, would constitute its own victory.
As if in response to her desire, the world around her began to fragment into blocky chunks, which themselves began to blur away into darkness and silence.
IJ only began to realize that her desire had indeed manifested as some sort of event, when Chrysalis' face began to change.
The triumphant rage began to melt away into frustrated fury. As her hooves neared IJ's head, the entire illusion collapsed, abruptly severing her from the Queen with a veil of darkness.
And then the veil expanded.
Skye grit her teeth until she felt as if her jaw would burst from the pressure. She had never been particularly skilled at medical magic, and IJ was taxing her meager skills many times beyond their limits.
The Unicorn had long since shut out the painfully mournful expressions of Stan and Fyrenn, and even the more stoic melancholy of Kephic and Varan's downturned beaks.
She knew the chances that IJ would breathe again, that her heart would ever beat again, were slim to none even under the horn of the best surgeon. As the blue halo of her thaumatic energy probed the Pegasus' chest cavity, she leaned in and whispered into one ear, "Don't you bucking dare. I was just starting to like you. You can't go now!"
The words had even less effect than her magic.
At last, she sat back, and allowed tears to roll silently down her cheeks. She let the magic dissipate, and hung her head. It had been nearly ten minutes. There was no point anymore.
Fyrenn sighed, and winced, closing his eyes against the pain. Wordlessly, he moved to sit beside the tearful Unicorn, extending one wing over her back in a gesture designed to comfort him as much as her.
Kephic dipped his head in respectful silence. Only Varan could bring himself to watch as Stan hesitantly stepped towards the corpse of his friend. The Gryphon saw the streams of tears pouring from his friend's eyes, and had to fight for several seconds internally to keep his own plethora of emotions off his beak.
Stan collapsed beside the unmoving white Pegasus, and began to weep freely. His wracked sobs were the only sound in the cavern, and the echo made them seem that much more melancholy and heartfelt.
Kephic couldn't bear to watch Stan's lonely form shudder any longer. The speckled Gryphon wordlessly moved to stand beside the salmon Pegasus, reaching out a claw to pull him to his feet.
Carradan winced as he rose, making a failing effort to stem his tears. Kephic placed a comforting claw on his shoulder, "We can't stay here. More of them will come."
Stan nodded, unable to speak past his grief. He motioned towards IJ's body with his head, forcing his eyes shut momentarily so that he wouldn't have to confront reality so blithely.
Varan rose, speaking softly as he approached.
"I will carry her."
Carradan nodded his thanks, and began to pick his way back towards Fyrenn and Skye under the comforting impetus of Kephic's claw.
Fyrenn pushed Skye towards Kephic and Carradan, gently turning her so that she would not force herself to watch as Varan completed his grim task.
The red Gryphon, however, kept his eyes locked on his brother. He had no intention of letting the moment pass without paying his respects in his own small way. Someone had to remember.
Varan arrived at the corpse, and paused, closing his eyes. Fyrenn knew he was saying a prayer inwardly, and he fired off a silent invocation of his own.
The golden Gryphon's eyes opened, and he knelt, extending his claws to receive IJ's body for the first leg of its final journey.
Fyrenn thought his eyes were deceiving him at first. The glimmer of blue energy around IJ's head couldn't possibly be anything more than an illusory artifact of his own restrained tears. But as the effect began to spread over her body, and as Varan paused, then stepped back in alarm, Fyrenn realized that something was indeed amiss.
He was on the cusp of calling out to Kephic, Skye, and Stan, but before he could, the light abruptly intensified, and they turned of their own accord, their curiosity reflexively piqued.
IJ's body began to emit an audible thrum as it rose into the air. The light intensified further, until only the Gryphons could stare directly into it, and continue to see the Pegasus' form. Fyrenn's beak began to slacken in shock as IJ's shape began to change before his eyes, for the second time in the years he had known her.
Her size doubled abruptly, and then increased slightly more. Her proportions sleekened subtly into the elegant curves of a larger Equinid, and her legs punctuated themselves with a series of peculiar holes.
From her head, a horn slowly erupted; First as an ethereal helix of light, and then as a more solid construct. Fyrenn thought it resembled some sort of combination between a Changeling horn, and a Unicorn horn.
Her body retained it's familiar white coloring, but her fur vanished abruptly, replaced by the smooth reflective glow of armored chitin.
Her mane and tail remained a shocking blue, but burst forth into much larger emanations, and seemed to take on a more translucent striated sheen. Finally, her wings rippled, and blurred, at last taking on a shape that resembled their previous Pegasus form, but also hearkened to the insectoid wings of a Changeling as well. Feathers, but somehow wrought from exoskeletal chitin.
The light began to dim, and IJ began to drop back towards the floor. As she reached the gravelly surface, the last of the energy dissipated entirely.
There was a protracted moment of silence.
Before any of the shocked companions could think to break it, the cavern was filled with the sighs and groans of wakening drones. The ones closest to IJ began to stagger to their hooves first, and as they did so, an incredible change swept over them.
Where once had been identical emotionless black platforms for the Hive, there now stood beings which were not unlike the former in shape, but vastly different in their color and eyes.
Unlike the pupil-less, solid, shark-like orbs they had formerly possessed, the Changelings now had eyes that were more similar to those of Ponies. Fyrenn could easily see, however, that the irises were not entirely circular, but rather faceted. Most of them seemed to have between ten and twelve sides.
Like the Changelings' new bodies, they came in many colors. Most of them bright and engaging. The bodies themselves were more muted, but displayed uniqueness nonetheless. In the absence of manes, it seemed as if some of their spikes had acquired different colors and patterns as well.
The spikes themselves were becoming less like spikes, and more like swooping crests all the while.
The changes swept through the cavern slowly at first, but then gained momentum like a tidal surge. Within moments, Fyrenn found himself standing in a sea of confused beings; Each as unique from one another as conceivably possible, within the bounds of a single species.
Fyrenn swiftly realized they would not be a threat. For the most part, they seemed too dazzled and dazed to even speak. The Gryphon abruptly refocused on IJ, and darted between the standing groups of Drones towards her still-prone body.
He arrived at nearly the same time as his other compatriots, and for a moment they stood in wordless shock over their friend.
Just as Stan was about to open his muzzle, the prone shape took a single shuddering breath.
The shock was palpable, as if the group had been strung together by a million-volt electric current.
Carradan was the first to break free of it. He dashed forward and bent down, placing his muzzle in front of IJ's. Fyrenn inhaled sharply as he caught the shining expression on his friend's face. He wasn't sure he could cope with seeing Stan's hopes dashed, let alone having to face the same sadness.
His fears were instantly obliterated as IJ's eyes snapped open. She seemed to be stuck trying to process for a few moments, then she glowered.
"Listen carefully, because I will only say this once. Get. Out. Of. My. Face."
Skye snorted, "Yeah. Her brain is definitely intact."
Carradan seemed to be considering his options for a moment. Then he grinned slyly. Before IJ could protest, he snagged her neck in a crushing hug, pulling away at precisely the right moment to avoid getting a hoof to the head.
Kephic shook his head slowly, and chuckled wryly as he spoke.
"I don't mean to break up an absolutely *precious* moment for the scrapbook here... But can anyone tell us exactly what just happened?!"
IJ stood, shakily at first, but then with growing resolve. When her legs had finally reached full and stable extension, she looked up. Her eyes burned with a fire that seemed equal parts anger, triumph, and determination.
Her voice, when she spoke, was still her own, but it took on a resonance, as if being projected partly through the other Drones.
"Yes, I can. I have learned the truth."
Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
March 19th, Gregorian Calendar
Veritas' expression remained inscrutable. Everything from the diameter of her pupils, to the tension in her muscles, exuded a preternatural calm and precision.
"Explain this."
The Unicorn dipped her head towards an active DaTab on the desk before her. Her assistant would have paused indefinitely, her brain locked in an endless terrified fight-or-flight cycle, had Veritas not pierced her with an unusually malevolent glare.
The chilling expression miraculously jumpstarted the human woman's speech processes, much to her unexpressed gratitude.
"Uh... Well... It is exactly as the report says ma'am. The base we took in Vancouver was raided, and we weren't prepared for it. There really was no way we could have avoided---"
Veritas waved one hoof lazily in the air, "Yes yes. I'm not concerned about how we lost it. That much is clear, and it obviously couldn't have been helped."
Her assistant mimed a stammering gesture silently as Veritas continued.
"What I want you to find out for me is how we came by the asset in the first place. A JRSF raid is not unusual. The Human Liberation Front abandoning a forward operations base is most definitely unusual. What have I told you about this in the past Clarice?"
"Err... Ahhh..."
Clarice suddenly found that she had lost her ability to cogently form phrases once again.
Veritas sighed, "Open your damnably clogged ape ears and hear me; When the unusual happens, when 'coincidences' arise, or when something even *seems* wrong..."
Clarice nodded cautiously, "...Then nothing is ever as it seems?"
Veritas smiled, "So you do remember. I knew I kept you around for something."
The Unicorn's visage abruptly shed all indications of anger, instead reverting to a coy grin.
"Be a dear and run this to ground for us. I want to know every last particular, no matter how insignificant it might seem. Understand?"
Clarice nodded mutely.
"Good."
Veritas turned back to her desk, and began toying idly with a holographic menu. When Clarice made no move to exit, the Unicorn glanced up. A slight tinge of steel returned to the Unicorn's eyes, and tone.
"Was there something else?"
Her assistant didn't answer. She merely backpedaled out of the room, occupying the entirety of her free and clear thought processes with the mere effort.
Earth Calendar: 2117
Equestrian Calendar: 15 AC (After Contact)
Fourth Month, Twentieth Day, Celestial Calendar
"You wanna run that by me again? And... I can not believe I'm saying this... Make it a bit simpler for us? You're saying that until right now, this very minute... None of these Drones were actually Changelings?"
Skye could not restrain herself from staring at IJ, while she spoke with an emotion best described as shell shocked curiosity.
IJ huffed, and rolled her eyes as she tried to keep a patronizing aspect out of her voice.
"Yes and no."
She paused, glancing around at the muted din of activity in the cavern. Fyrenn followed her gaze. Everywhere groups of newly remade Changelings were talking, whispering, laughing, and crying in the throes of animated emotional interactions, all pervaded by an overwhelming sense of joy and wonder. Many had begun to experiment with tweaking their new forms, changing every last detail about themselves to suit their individual wish, as they stumbled helter skelter into new and wondrous revelations of self.
After several seconds, IJ managed to re-collect her thoughts. Her gaze remained fixed on the Changelings in the distance as she spoke.
"From the time we are spawned, we are taught... Imprinted... that we have one goal, and one goal only. Serve the Hive for the good of the many. The first truth of practicality impressed upon us is this; To hunger is to die, to feed is to live. And the only way to feed is on the emotions of others."
Stan squinted in confusion, "So you're saying that's... Wrong? Aside from the obvious moral issues... Logistically wrong?"
IJ nodded slowly, her new wings rustling reflexively as she continued.
"The truth is that we are meant for something more. Chrysalis has always known this, just as her predecessor did. She controls the flow of information in the Hive, and she conceals the truth for her own purposes, just as her predecessor did."
Varan's eyes widened slightly in understanding, an unmistakable sense of awe creeping into his voice.
"You are implying that Changelings were originally symbiotic, rather than parasitic."
Skye's muzzle lit up, as the train of thought expanded out of control under the coaxing of her analytical mind. Her ears perked up, and her tone spiked into an excited squeal.
"That's incredible! That would mean that your biology is a function of the emotions your species takes in over time, combined with the genetic predispositions selected by the Queen!"
Kephic shook his head, and raised an eyebrow, interrupting as Skye stopped to take a breath.
"As fascinating as I'm sure all this is, I think there are more pressing questions here. How did this happen? How are you..." The Gryphon faltered, and gestured wordlessly to IJ's entire body with one claw.
Fyrenn cocked his head, chiming in abruptly.
"And did you learn anything else? Did you find what we came for?"
IJ dipped her head, nodding as she responded.
"And more. But it will make more sense if you all maintain a modicum of silence, try to pay attention, and let me finish."
The Changeling glanced from face to face around the circle of friends, then took a deep breath.
"You can't just suddenly become a Hive Queen, or the Overqueen for that matter. There is a specific strain of codesong... Sequence of Genes, you might call it, that appears in a very small number of us. This strain allows us to become Queens. Of those few, fewer still have a further strain that would allow them to rise to the position of Overqueen."
Carradan could not resist the urge to interrupt, "So you have some of those genes, and... That means you're a hive-queen now?"
IJ raised one eyebrow, a hint of sarcastic disdain working its way into her voice.
"What does it look like to you?"
She gestured with one hoof towards Skye as she went on in a less prickly tone.
"When you severed the connection, I had already begun to change. Killing the Hive Queen left a void, and the Hive needed someone to fill her role. I have the genesong. Celestia is powerful, but the spell she bound me with was nothing compared to the power of the Swarm."
A moment of silence followed her declaration. The gravitas of the statement was not lost on anyone. All but Skye had been present when IJ was bound to her Pegasus shape.
After several seconds, IJ dismissed her recollections and continued.
"Chrysalis was just as unaware of this as I was. I was inadvertently drawn into a link with her, and she attacked me. In her haste and anger, she failed to notice the changes. She did a poor job of defending and filtering her own thoughts. That is how I discovered the truth she conceals."
Fyrenn sighed, and blinked in astonishment. The emotion pervaded his words.
"How do you even go about lying to an entire race?"
Varan raised an eyebrow, and offered his own explanation calmly.
"You and I would trust any other Gryphon to tell the truth without thought or concern. How much more for a Hive mind? But with corrupted morality, it would be possible for the one at the center of the web to reshape the structure in her own image, for her own benefit."
IJ nodded, continuing the golden Gryphon's train of thought.
"And she has done so for long enough. Starting today, the creeping festering lie ends. We were never meant to feed rapaciously. To take without giving."
Skye smiled, and gestured with one hoof, directing her words at IJ.
"You're living proof. Changelings can be... Were *meant* to be symbiotes."
IJ turned to fix her gaze on the Unicorn. To Fyrenn's surprise, her expression was soft. A smile tugged at the corners of her muzzle, and the Gryphon could have sworn he caught a glimmer of gratitude in her eyes.
"Yes. We were meant to be symbiotic. To feed from positive emotions, but also to magnify and reflect them for the benefit of those who provided them originally. This way there is less for the Queen, but more for the whole, and more from smaller sources."
Kephic raised a claw, and tilted his head slightly, "You said you had learned more? Something about why we came here?"
IJ's face hardened. The slight smile vanished, replaced by a harsh glower.
"Yes. And it is not good news."
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This isn't even IJ's final form!
IJ's got no strings...
I’ve really been enjoying the story so far, and all of the thought and detail you put into making it. I look forward to finishing the story and seeing you finish the trilogy! Congrats on predicting reformed Changelings almost two full years before they even appeared in the show! The similarities are incredibly similar.
9147888
Thank you!
I found the Changeling similarity quite amusing; Apparently some concepts develop in parallel naturally. For me, the primary motivation was to shy away from the idea that a species is always 'all bad.' I'm generally ok with a species being 'all good,' if there's room for some limited flaws, but I find that all bad species are too simple a literary shortcut, unless you're talking about something that's more a force of nature like the Borg, or in this case the Wisps.
9147888
9154611
It is unlikely that the show writers have read such an obscure fanfic. I find it much more likely that these are two independent accounts of an actual, historical Equestria.
11482256
I always did like to think that MYST was on to something with the idea of writing the descriptive books being that you're making a connection to something that already exists, somewhere, in the infinity of it all...
5143531
If she starts talking about collecting all the Dragon Balls, Fyrenn needs to give her a very stern Gokuing.