> The Nameless Queen (Legacy)
>  by AniMun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 01 - Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wake up, my child…” A muffled voice brought you to consciousness, its sound so soothing and welcoming.

“Can you hear me, my child?” the voice asked in a motherly tone. You tried to answer but found out you couldn’t. You were trapped in some sort of viscous liquid, without much room to move. You began to struggle against your prison, panic creeping up your mind as you felt a thick membrane embracing you in some sort of chrysalis, your lungs beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen.

“Open your eyes, my child,” the voice came again, calming your nerves. You slowly opened your heavy eyelids. Your gaze wandered all around, taking upon your black, holed legs and iridescent mane. Looking through your chitinous prison, you spotted a black and silvery blur passing by the other side of your confining pod.

Colorful sparks danced around the creature as it lit up its horn. “Come to me, my child…”

Its horn, you thought, raising a hoof to your head to see if you also had one. Finding a small, pointy bump on your forehead, you reached for the back of your pod and pushed it with your hind legs, dashing forward and puncturing its membrane with your horn.

The puncture widened into a tear as the suffocating ooze gushed out of your chrysalis. You laid down on the cold hard ground, your legs shaking and your lips gasping for air, coughing the remaining slime out of your system.

You could feel a hoof tenderly patting your back, comforting you. “Are you alright?” the creature called, her voice much clearer now.

You forced your holed legs beneath you to stand up. You nearly tipped over, but the creature caught you, helping you stand straight.

“Do you know who I am, my child?” the creature asked, raising your chin with her hoof to meet her rainbow-y gaze.

Your thoughts wandered deep within as you searched for an answer to that question. She was a changeling, like you, that much you knew… But she was different, she felt different. She was about a head taller than you and had a regal aura surrounding her. Her iridescent slitted eyes and mane matched the opalescent crown on the top of her head. She was a Changeling Queen, but there was something more… she felt so… familiar, like she was connected to you, deep within…

“M-mother?” you asked in a shaky voice, your lungs still recovering from the shock. You noticed that your voice carried an echoed undertone much like her own.

The Queen smiled dearly at you, nodding. It almost felt like her smile was seeping into you, charging you as all the exhaustion faded away.

“Yes, my child, and even though you just awoke, I am in need of your aid. But first, why don’t you go meet your brothers and sisters? They are eager to meet you,” the Queen suggested, walking toward the room’s exit tunnel. “Please come see me in my chambers when you’re done.”

“Yes, my Queen.” You bowed until she left. Now completely alone, you made your way to the exit. Time to meet my siblings.

You followed along the dimly lit tunnels toward what seemed to be the main chamber of the hive, you didn’t know how, but you felt like that was the correct direction. Effortlessly navigating the labyrinth of tunnels and passages, you’ve reached the Gathering Chamber.

It was a huge room with several floors, a huge golden crystal hanging from the ceiling serving as a light source to what looked to be hundreds of changelings buzzing around and having a good time with their hivemates.

As you descended the stairs that led into the room, you were tackled by a black and light pink blur. A high pitched voice assaulted your ears as the weird changeling with pink carapace hugged you tight in glee. “I can’t believe it! You’re the princess! You’re the princess right?! Are you?!”

“I-I… I...” you tried to reply, the sudden barrage of questions staggering you.

The pink changeling gasped, buzzing its wings in excitement. “It is you! We’re so happy to see you!”

You could feel a small pain in your head as all the changelings in the room turned to you in cheers, buzzing their wings in celebration. It almost seemed like you could hear distant voices in your head, but you couldn’t make out what they were saying.

The pink changeling got off of you, allowing you to stand up, and gave you a quick bow. “Allow me to introduce myself! I’m a Cicada-Changeling drone CC-0152 of the Pink hive, and my brood is over there!” the drone said, pointing a hoof to the room’s third floor on the other side of the room where a mass of pink changelings was gathered. They all waved their hello’s as the drone waved back frantically. “Hi, everyling!”

Taking some time to sort your thoughts, you explained, “Mother asked me to meet my brothers and sisters…”

The pink drone jumped into the air, buzzing her wings. “I know! Come with me, I’ll show you around!”

She knows? you thought, confused, still hearing those faint voices in the back of your head. Pushing those thoughts aside, you began beating your own wings and followed the energetic changeling.

Drone CC-0152 led you to another room connected to the Gathering Chamber. The hardened slime that composed the hive’s structure turned a dark shade of pink as you got near the room’s entrance.

“This is the Cicada-Changelings’ hanging spot, we like to come here to practice our singing and sound imitation. We’re really good at it!” the drone explained.

Feeling the drone tugging at your mane, you left the room’s entrance and followed the drone to the next room. Nearing the red chamber’s entrance, you could smell the faint scent of melted slime. Noticing your reaction, the pink drone said, “This is the shooting range of the Bombardier beetle-Changelings, they can shoot boiling acid at you! They were kind of banned from training in the open after they nearly collapsed a barrack chamber when they melted its supports pillars…”

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, you decided that it’s better to stay clear of that room and proceeded to the next. Nearing the orange chamber’s entrance, you could see some beautiful and intricate designs carved into the slime. “Pretty neat, hum?” the pink drone said. “This is the work of the Paper Wasp-Changelings, they are master sculptors and they know some pretty cool origami with their special paper.”

You were about to leave when a yellow changeling accidentally bumped into you. The pot it was carrying went flying through the air as the pink drone dove to catch it. “Careful, BC-032! You might spill your honey!”

The yellow drone shook its head and took the honeypot back from her. “Sorry, CC-0152, I’m late and didn’t notice you two.” The changeling bowed to her and then you before buzzing away. “Sorry, Princess.”

The pink drone rolled her eyes. “Hum, Honey Bee-Changelings, always working.”

The two of you continued down the path deeper into the hive, passing through the blue and purple chambers. “These are the wingless changelings, the Spiders, and Scorpions respectively. The Spider’s web can really mess with your head while the Scorpion’s venom can really mess you up in general, just be careful around them.”

You passed by a changeling couple in the corridor on their way to the next chamber. They were a green and white changeling.

“Oh, come on MC-403! Just one more lap at the gym, I know you can keep up with me!” the green one pleaded, flying beside its white companion.

The white changeling rolled its insectoid eyes. “Ugh, you Locust-Changelings are all the same, only care about flying…”

“Fine, what do you want to play them?” The green changeling gave up.

With a grin, the white changeling replied, “Hide and seek.”

Confused, the green changeling turned around to look at its companion, only to find that he completely vanished! “Oh, come on! Camouflage isn’t fair!”

As you approached the gray and the black chambers, a freezing chill ran down your spine, a creepy aura emanating from the black chamber.

“These are the Moth and Firefly changelings respectively. They’re mostly nocturnal, the Moth-Changelings can put you to sleep while the Firefly-Changeling can cause some horrific visions with their black light… Queen Mother, I hate those guys…”

The pink changeling’s explanation was interrupted by a heavy armored, brown-carapaced changeling with a long, razor-sharp horn patrolling the corridor. The pink changeling quickly threw herself on the brown changeling’s hooves, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“But this handsome gentleling will protect us from the creepy fireflies, right?” the pink changeling asked, fluttering her eyelids seductively toward him.

“Not now, Cicah…” the brown changeling replied, trying to hide his strong blush.

“Uhm.” The pink changeling moaned teasingly. “His strong hercules beetle muscles and hardened carapace can stop almost anything!”

“Cicah…” The brown changeling tried to get her attention. To no avail.

“And that horn! Look at it! It reminds me of his…”

“CICAH!” The brown changeling threw her away, who was laughing hard at his expense as she fluttered next to him.

Feeling a little embarrassed yourself, you decided to leave the couple be and return to your mother. But then you realize that you didn't know where exactly she was…

“Uhm… can you point me in my mother’s direction?” you asked the brown changeling, trying to get his attention away from Cicah, who was still teasing him.

“What do you mean? You can find Queen Elysia through the hivemind,” he replied, confused at your request.

“Hivemind?” you asked, unsure.

Cicah stopped her teasing and looked at you worriedly. “You mean you haven’t heard the hive this whole time?”

Maybe she’s referring to those faint voices in the back of your head? “Barely.” you finally replied. “I felt something, but it was distant… like it was behind a closed door.”

The couple stared at each other for a couple of seconds. “Maybe Queen Elysia has already disconnected her from the hive…” the warrior suggested.

“But it’s so soon! We barely had time to meet!” Cicah said, visibly deflating. She turned her attention back to you with a weak smile and continued, “Well, I’ll guide you to her, follow me.”





After a couple of minutes, you’ve reached the heart of the hive, the throne room. Cicah gave you a tight hug and a bow before giving you privacy. You knocked on the ornate black and silver door to announce your presence, even though you suspected she already knew you were there.

“Come in, my child.” Your queen called you.

As you entered the throne room, you took in all its beauty. Intricate glyphs carved in the pillars seemed to glow softly in a synchronized array of colors, the ceiling had an enormous stained glass depicting all the different changelings coming together in unison under the same hive, while the floor had a black, silver and golden carpet leading toward the ebony throne where your queen was resting.

Queen Elysia got up from her throne and walked toward you. Giving you a small hug, she asked. “How was the tour, did everyling like you?”

“Y-yes, Mother,” you replied, but then you remembered Cicah’s words about your hivemind. “But I think there’s something wrong with the hivemind, I can’t hear it for some reason…”

A frown took hold of your Queen’s expressions. “I’m sorry child, I had to sever your connection to our hive, so you could develop one of your own.”

“I don’t understand…”

Queen Elysia walked back to her throne, grabbing a small ebony crystal that sat on the seat’s arm and brought it to you.

“A storm is forming between the changeling hives, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect my subjects alone, I won’t be able to protect you…” the Queen said, hoofing you the crystal. “That’s why I need you to build your own hive, I need you to grow and prosper so that you can succeed me and be a beacon of hope for the lost changelings when I’m gone.”

“What?!”

The Queen took her crown and placed it on your head. Suddenly, a surge of energy and knowledge ran through your mind, you could feel every single being inside the hive as the hive itself. Everything in perfect harmony.

“I wish you wouldn’t have to bear my burden, but I’m afraid there’s no other way…” Your Queen's voice broke you out of your stupor, her sad tone piercing a hole in your heart.

You reached out to her and snuggled her neck reassuringly. “I won’t disappoint you, my Queen.”

You could see a small smile creep up on her face as she returned the snuggle. “Thank you, my child.” She got up and beaconed you to follow her to a crystal table. “Here.” She lit her horn and fed her magic to the table, powering up to project an image of a map. “This is Equestria, I’ve connected this table with the location of good hive locations that my scouts have found all around the world. When you’re ready to leave, just touch the desired place with your magic and you will be teleported to that location. Choose wisely, this spell will only work once.”

You took a deep breath and nodded, worry still looming over your head. “But, what will I do once I reach my destination? How will I build a hive on my own?”

Queen Elysia smiled and nudged you encouragingly toward the enchanted map. “You’re a changeling queen by birth, trust your instincts and you’ll find your way. Besides, you won’t be going on this journey alone.”

With newfound confidence, you approach the enchanted table. Time to find my new home.
> Chapter 02 - The New Hive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After careful thinking, you’ve made up your mind. Ponyville.

You were about to touch the projected image with your magic, when an idea occurred to you. You quickly ran to your mother and gave her a tight hug, catching her by surprise. You didn’t know if you would have another chance to see her, so you wanted to give her a proper farewell.

With a soothing voice, she calmed your worries, returning the hug, “Don’t worry little one. It’s not a goodbye, it’s just a goodbye until next time.”

Queen Elysia’s attention was brought to the throne room door as she noticed something through the hivemind. Smiling, she let go of the hug and nudged you toward the door. “It seems that there’s someling that wants to say goodbye too.”

As you wondered what she meant, the throne room door opened, unleashing a bolt of pink and black energy that dashed straight to you, tackling you to the ground.

Cicah held you on the floor in a crushing hug, her monochrome eyes and cheeks soaked with tears as she cried hysterically, “Please, don’t go!”

Struggling, you managed to free one hoof from her embrace, patting the crying cicada. “I’m sorry, Cicah, but I have to…”

“But you didn’t even have the chance to properly meet my broodmates! They would love you so much!” the pink mess of a changeling exclaimed, crying even more.

“I know… Why don’t you visit me in Ponyville once everything is settled? I would love your visit!” you offered, trying to console your friend.

That seemed to work, as the changeling’s crying began to calm into a sniffle. “You mean it?”

“Of course I do.” You smiled at her, getting a faint smile in return.

“Okay…” Cicah said, getting off of you and helping you get up. You gave her one last hug before returning to the table, finally touching the mirage with your magic.

As a surge of energy began enveloping you, spinning rapidly as it prepared you for the teleportation to your new home, Queen Elysia and Cicah waved you goodbye. “I’ll see you soon!” the pink changeling said before the whole world disappeared.





After what felt like half an hour of falling, you woke up nauseated and disoriented, lying on what seemed to be grass covered dirt. Shaking your head to force the world to stop spinning, your eyes hurt under the oppressive brightness of the sun. After a few seconds, you finally managed to stand up and look around you, your vision finally adjusting to the bright, clear skies.

You were standing a couple of meters away from a steep gorge, a frail-looking rope bridge connecting the two sides. Taking a glance over your shoulder, a dense and shadowy forest greeted you, a sense of dread crawling down your spine. Creepy eyes stared back at you from the distance. In front of you lay the ruins of an ancient castle, a thin, blue glowing thread tying its doors close.

Not wanting to meet your creepy neighbors, you flapped your wings to cross the gap, not trusting that bridge one bit. Landing on the other side, you approached the castle doors to inspect that weird thread. Feeling it strangely familiar, you touched it with your hoof. Suddenly, a barrage of senses took hold of your mind as the phantom image of two spider-changelings formed behind you. They looked similar to the image projected by your mother’s crystal table but different… like their image had been implanted in your memory, it felt like a deja vu.

An echoing voice broke you out of your stupor as the changeling on your right seemed to speak to you, “Greetings, Princess, or should I say, Queen.” The changeling bowed. “I’m drone SC-2223 and this is my broodmate, SC-2224, but you can call us just Twenty-three and Twenty-four.” The older looking changeling said, “As you can see, we’re spider-changelings, that means that we can weave memories of others like we weave our webs! We’ll give you a tour of your new hive location, so follow the threads!” said Twenty-four, the younger changeling.

With that, the changelings faded. Follow the threads… Opening the double doors, you found out that most of the castle’s ceiling had collapsed, chunks of stone filling the main hall. Dark blue and golden banners stood proudly at its end, carrying the symbols of a crescent moon and the sun respectively.

As you navigated through the debris, you saw six corridors branching from the hall. It must be really easy to get lost in this place, you thought. Noticing another web near the lunar banner, you flew up to it and touched it, activating the memory, but suddenly the whole wall began to spin, throwing you into another part of the castle.

As you landed not so elegantly on the floor, the two spiders returned. “As you can see, this castle might be a mess, but it has a lot of trapdoors that make for great security or additional chambers if your changelings ever need them. Follow us,” Twenty-three said, crawling on the wall and hitting the center of the banner before fading through the wall.

Cautiously, you levitated the banner with you magic, revealing a small stone button. Tapping it, the wall turned again, throwing you back where you came from and swinging the banner out of your magic, slapping you with it right on the flank.

“Oh, just a quick warning, don’t raise the banner with your magic! It’s too heavy and it might swing and hit you on the other side!” warned Twenty-four before dissipating. A little too late..

Blowing a strand of hair out of your face in frustration, your eyes followed the thin string leading to another web just ahead the corridor. Getting up as cautiously as you could to not activate anything else, you walked to the web.

The spider-changelings returned, walking down the corridor as Twenty-three continued her explanation, “Your workers will love these spinning walls as they give them nice shortcuts to travel around the hive to do their chores.” Turning around, Twenty-four continued, “There are also some hidden chambers that may be of use, like the one you just activated a few steps back!”

What? you thought. Looking back, you saw a sunken stone on the floor as you stepped on a pressure plate. A faint click could be heard, and the floor slid open beneath you. With no time to react and flap your wings, you fell.

“Come on!” you whined in annoyance as you landed on your face for the second time. The ceiling sealed itself again, leaving you in a pitch black room. You lit up your horn so you could see your surroundings, finding nothing other than stone walls and a small hole. Peeking through the hole, you saw a hall full of pony hooves holding unlit torches and another blue web.

You reached for the web with your magic and the changelings were summoned once more. “You can use these chambers as prison cells in case you want to capture some ponies for love,” Twenty-three suggested. “Whatever you do, just don’t let Cicah know of these rooms! The whole hive knows she plans on visiting you in the future at this point. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice changeling, but she has some real problems regarding guards, especially beetles. I don’t even want to know what she would do to them in a room like one of these…” Twenty-four warned, earning a jab from her sister. Rolling her eyes, Twenty-three continued, “Anyway, just pull the lever and you’ll free yourself.”

A little bit disturbed after Twenty-four’s warning, you quickly searched for the said lever so you could get away from that room. Finding and pulling the lever, the wall spun around, throwing you out of the chamber, but this time you were ready, quickly maneuvering with your wings to land on your hooves, the small victory bringing a sly smile to your lips.

“Well, meet you at the top of the tower!” Twenty-four called to you from the end of the corridor, pulling herself up with a string of silk.

Visibly deflating, you let out a heavy sigh of defeat as you flapped your wings and began your flight up the stairs, forgetting your previous victory.

Completely exhausted, you reached what appeared to be a library. Thousands of ancient books lay forgotten on the shelves and the floor as the room accumulated more and more dust. Why didn’t anypony try to recover these books?

Noticing a blue web at the corner of the room, you activated the next memory. “This library will be the heart and soul of your sorcerers. One of the problems that we changelings face is how to translate unicorn magic to our changeling magic, but I’m sure your researchers will be able to translate some useful pony spells with the aid of these books. You could even trade some of these with other hives if you deem it appropriate,” Twenty-three explained, stopping next to an inviting set of chairs and a table.

You decided to take a seat on the chair to rest, but like everything else in this castle, it leaned backward and sent you tumbling to the floor, revealing a secret room behind two bookshelves.

“And the cooler part is that there’s a hidden room right there that contains a book written by the pony princesses themselves! You could even make it your personal chambers if you’d like to have a nice view from the tower window!” said Twenty-four, dangling from the wall next to the room’s entrance.

You just accepted your fate and facehoofed at this point, this castle hated you...

“To the second tower we go!” you heard Twenty-four squeak as she bungee jumped down the tower stairs.

…or maybe you hated the spider sisters.

Thoughts of just flying through the window to the next tower ran through your mind, but the spider sister didn’t do that. Maybe this castle will shoot magic fireballs at you if you tried! Who knew at this point?! So, you decided to follow them in pursuit.

As you traversed the aisle between the towers, you mindlessly activated a nearby web and continued your arduous journey. “These walls have weird old pony painting frames with hidden chambers in them, but why would you need something like that is beyond me…” Twenty-three said nonchalantly.

“They make for cool hide-and-seek spots too,” Twenty-four added.

Why would ponies need this kind of stuff anyway? you wondered, confused as well.

Reaching the top of the other tower, you could feel the faint signature of a long gone, but powerful magic. Passing by the broken door, you found a strange statue; a stone pedestal containing a big orb in its center and five smaller empty pedestals branching from it.

“A strange artifact indeed,” Twenty-three said from behind you. “We don’t know what it is, but it’s somehow connected to a weird crystal tree a few meters away from the castle, hidden inside a cave. It would be wise to study it and be careful with it. Only a few rooms remain now, follow me outside,” Twenty-three said before simply crawling out the window.

You mean I could just have flown up here from the other room?! By the Queen Mother, why didn’t they tell me this before?! you yelled in your mind, banging your head against the wall in defeat. Of course, the wall spun in place and you ended up dangling from outside the castle tower!

You quickly grasped a nearby gargoyle statue for support when you saw the phantom of Twenty-four swinging at her web and phasing through the wall just beneath you. I’ve come this far… you thought, before taking to the skies and charging against the wall. Your impact sent the wall spinning, throwing you on top of an old pony armor set that flipped itself, sending you and the heavy metal armor rolling down a long flight of stairs to the very bottom of the castle.

Every inch of your body felt like you’ve just been thrown into a blender and mixed together. You thanked the Queen Mother that Changeling Queen carapaces were as hard as those of beetle-changelings.

Checking the room you’ve just fallen into, you found an enormous pipe organ on the far end of a darkened hallway with a web next to it. You activated the web, bracing yourself for impact.

“According to the journal of the two pony princesses, this pipe controls all the traps and hidden passages inside the castle. It would be a perfect place to station some workers so they could manage the castle with more ease. And according to some local pony legends, the few ponies that dare to enter the Everfree Forest think that this castle is haunted by what’s left of Nightmare Moon’s dark magic. You’ll be able to keep your hive hidden, even if you use this pipe organ. Still, remember that the more you change the outside of the castle, the more potential attention you’ll draw,” Twenty-three warned you.

“Now, this key will activate a spring trap that will launch you back to the throne room where we left you your last parting gifts! Why don’t you go on and press it?” Twenty-four asked you with a gleeful smile.

“No way!” you shouted, despite knowing that they were pre-recorded messages and couldn’t hear you.

“Well, okay then…” Twenty-four said, shrugging. A devious smile crossed her face.

“What the…?” You heard a clunking sound coming from the staircase. The pony armor helmet rolled down the stairs at high speed, you barely ducked out of its course. It landed on the pipe organ, a clicking sound coming from beneath you.

For buck’s sake… you thought before being forcibly launched into the air by the spring trap.





At the end of your ride, you landed in the middle of the throne room on your rump, beaten and defeated. This was your home now.

Forgive me mother, but I’ve failed you… you thought through your pain.

You noticed one last web dangling right next to you. Almost throwing your body, you slumped toward it and activated it.

Twenty-four’s phantom seemed to be caressing the air just a few centimeters away from your head, a miscalculation from your trajectory it seemed. “Hey there, sorry if the ride was a bit rough, we just wanted to pull a prank on you.”

“We?” Twenty-three asked her sister with a raised eyebrow and a frown.

“Okay, I wanted to pull a prank on you…” Twenty-four corrected.

“But there was also something to be learned here,” Twenty-three interrupted. “Now, you know the castle in its entirety and now you know how it is to be a lone changeling; you get beaten and defeated. Queen Elysia took it upon herself to make sure that no changeling had to live like that, and now it’s your turn to do the same, with the help of her last parting gifts.”

Confused, you rose from the floor and followed the phantoms as they guided you toward the two old thrones of the pony princesses. Sitting atop the lunar throne was a fragment of a dark crystal, similar to the crystal that composed your mother’s throne and on top of the solar throne was a small cluster of changeling eggs.

“Now, there’s one more trap that flips the thrones to the outside of the castle. Could serve as a good escape route if things get messy…” Twenty-four said, but you completely zoned her out. Your instincts hit you in full force as you dove toward the solar throne to keep the eggs safe.

Nothing happened. Twenty-three’s phantom hit Twenty-four’s head as she laughed. “Don’t worry, we disabled that trap so it wouldn’t damage the eggs. You can activate it again in the pipe organ room,” Twenty-four said.

“Now, pay close attention, even though we call ourselves siblings, we aren't actually from Queen Elysia’s hive like you. Queen Elysia only had one royal egg and egg cluster in her entire life, you and your brothers and sisters,” Twenty-three said, pointing toward the eggs on the throne. “She did everything she could to help you in your journey since the beginning, now it's up to you. Make sure that you balance well the units of drones you will spawn and choose carefully so your mother’s legacy wouldn’t go to waste.”

Noticing Twenty-four beckoning you to a mirror on the other side of the room, you gently placed the egg cluster back down.

“Of course, part of being a Changeling Queen is providing for your subjects so they, in turn, provide for you in the future. One of the most important things every changeling must have is a default pony form, name and story! You can always steal somepony else’s identity, but a smart changeling always has an identity of its own, so why don’t you create one for yourself and go meet your neighbors in Ponyville? This will give your siblings enough time to hatch and be ready for work!”

“We have to get going, remember; a changeling is nothing without a hive as much as a hive is nothing without its changelings, keep both in check and you’ll be alright,” Twenty-three said with a bow and faded away.

“Bye!” Twenty-four waved and joined her sister.

This was it. It was all up to you know.

You threw a quick glance toward your siblings. I won’t fail them… Then your gaze returned to the mirror. I won’t fail myself!
> Chapter 03 - Meeting the Neighbours
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your mind wandered through the infinite possibilities of disguises you could create for yourself. There were so many things to consider! Your pony race, eye color, magic color, and even your cutie mark! Overwhelmed by the pressure, you decided to go to the library, maybe there was something that might help you.

As your eyes jumped from book to book of the ancient and extensive collection, you tried to organize your thoughts so you could more easily decide your fate.

Since I’m living in a forest, should I become an earth pony? You thought, looking at the natural beauty of the Everfree Forest through the window.

That doesn’t explain why I live in a ruin though… Plus, I want to be able to fly, or use magic, you countered. A unicorn then, maybe I could be a sorceress or something.

But then, another problem came to your mind. What if somepony wants to visit me here?

Trying to think of an excuse, your mind returned to the thousands of books residing on the library’s shelves. Maybe I could be a hermit? An old mare trying to escape the busy life on the big city? Certainly nopony would want to disturb the peace of an old lady, right?

Flipping through the pages of an open book resting on the table, a chapter title caught your attention. “Equestria’s most mysterious legends and enigmas”

Enigma…

The pieces fit together like a puzzle. A great sense of pride filled your mind as your very own pony form was starting to take shape.

How should I look? I don’t know if I would ever reveal myself to the ponies, but if I do, it would be easier if I already looked a bit familiar, you pondered. Charging your horn with magic, a circle of green flames burned away your old image as it gave way to your new persona.

Your holed, black and iridescent carapace was replaced by dark grey fur. Your twisted horn straightened and shrank to that of a normal unicorn, your iridescent mane turning silvery white. A few wrinkles creased your cheeks and snout, turning you into a wizened, yet regal old lady. Your appearance transmitted an idea of wisdom and experience, kindness and strong will, all the qualities you wished to harness as the queen of your new hive.

Shapeshifting a pair of saddlebags, you took the book that inspired you with you, it might be useful during your visit. Adding one last touch, a cutie mark of a grimoire and quill decorated your old flanks, completing your disguise.

Time to meet the neighbors.





As you ventured deeper into the Everfree Forest, you found it difficult to focus on the task at hoof with all the wonderful sights and sounds of its inhabitants. As a changeling, you were born into the hivemind, and through this shared consciousness, you learned anything and everything you needed to know about the hive, your fellow changelings, and the world that awaited you. But now that you’ve been severed from the hivemind, you had to discover the world through your own senses. It may be a bit overwhelming, but it was an amazing prospect nonetheless.

You continued down the path toward Ponyville, your thoughts flying like the birds, whose songs guided your path. I’m glad I chose Ponyville as my new hive’s location, besides the fact that the old castle provided the infrastructure on which to build the hive right away, this forest is lovely!

Your wandering stride was interrupted by a sudden, bright flash of orange and red hitting your eyes, blinding and dazing you. You could hear a majestic screech as a mysterious bird flew past you toward the east.

What in the Mother’s name was that? Curious, you decided to follow the creature.

As you followed the periodic cries of the bird, you eventually found what appeared to be a clearing just ahead. As you passed the last conglomerate of trees, your mouth fell agape at the sight before you. The clearing led into a gorgeous oasis: the carpet of grass was dotted with a whole rainbow of flowers. A small grotto housed a river source that fed into a pool a little down below. As you followed the water flow, you found dozens of animals drinking and bathing in the water together. Rabbits, foxes, bears, even a cockatrice, all of then offered a moment of truce to enjoy it.

Another cry snapped you out of your haze as a magnificent phoenix nested itself on the rocks on top of the grotto.

“This is incredible…” you muttered, getting a bit surprised at the sound of your new voice. It sounded a bit husky, but also calming and caring, like an older version of your Queen’s voice.

You were about to test the water when you caught a glimpse of a sudden movement from the corner of your eye. A giant purple serpent with orange mane and mustache surfaced from the deeper portions of the pool, frightening you. You charged you horn with a purple aura, ready to defend yourself, but were caught off guard when the creature suddenly spoke to you.

“Oh, pardon me, miss, I’m sorry I spooked you,” the serpent said politely. “I’m Steven Magnet the sea serpent, what’s your name, dear?’

“I-I’m Enigma.”

“Excuse my rudeness, but, what is an old lady like you doing so deep in the Everfree Forest?”

“I-I was walking by a-and…” you stammered, the gears of your mind still trying to get back on the rails.

“You walked all the way here?! Oh dear, you must be exhausted! Please come in in the water, it’ll help you rest,” the serpent interrupted you, beckoning you to sit at the edge of the pool.

Following his instructions, you took off your saddlebags and sat near him at the edge of the pool, placing your hind legs into the water. The coolness surely is pleasant on your coat, suddenly, you feel the stress put on your joints after minutes of walking slowly disappear. Curious, you went deeper into the water until it reached your neck. Sure enough, your whole body began to feel numb, and then revitalized, like the water was washing your exhaustion away down the river.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Steven asked, diving into the water himself. “This river source has incredible healing effects, wounded creatures from these woods come here all the time to heal and rest peacefully,” he explained. “They respect this place as a safe ground, so you don’t need to worry about predators.”

As you processed his words, you couldn't stop wondering why he was bathing in the pool. “Why are you here, then? Are you hurt?”

The serpent laughed. “Me? Oh no, darling. You see, these waters do wonders for my complexion! It’s not easy to keep these scales so shiny and gorgeous, you know?” Steven winked at the end, making you giggle.

Examining you closer, the serpent continued, “Oh, you do know what I’m talking about, look at you! Your body is so slender and elegant, your fur looks simply divine! I bet you used to be a supermodel when you were younger!”

You blushed at his compliment. Changeling Queens were naturally taller than normal changelings, and consequently, ponies. Since you built your persona based on your own body, these traits carried over and made you retail your regal shape.

“I used to be a sorceress, actually,” you corrected him, waving a hoof dismissively.

“Really? How interesting, tell me about it,” he said, leaning forward to rest on his elbows.

“Well, I used to live in Manehattan. I was a scholar at the at the Academy of Ancient Magic and Arcane Studies, I loved to research ancient legends and magic. But as I was getting older, I grew tired of the life in the big city, so I began traveling the world as a hermit, researching the myths and legends of the places I visited,” you told him, proud of the story you made for your persona.

“I know what you mean, life in the big city is so stressful! It was a good thing you decided to leave, all that stress would completely ruin your soft mane.” The serpent shivered at the thought, caressing his mane like it was his beloved child.

His child! You must get to Ponyville quickly if you want to get back in time to help your changelings hatch!

Getting out of the water, you shook off the excess water and strapped your saddlebags back on. “I’m really sorry, but I must reach Ponyville as soon as I can.”

“That’s perfectly fine, it was a pleasure!” The serpent waved his goodbye. “Oh, be careful about Timberwolves! Their numbers have grown these last few weeks!”

Nodding, you took your leave.





The sun was almost at its peak so it was still early in the morning. If I keep this pace, I’ll be able to reach Ponyville and get back in time for my changelings to hatch.

As you walked down a denser part of the forest, the heavy tree coverage obscured your path, it was almost like you were walking at night. Thinking back to the discovery of the oasis and how your hive could take advantage of it, a wandering thought crossed your mind. It would be nice to have that oasis annexed to the hive, how cool would it be to be able to relax in the cold water while birds sang all around you…

As you thought about it, you began to miss the songs of the birds, in fact, this part of the forest was completely silent. Too silent…

A freezing chill ran down your spine as you heard the rattling sound of wood hitting wood behind you. Turning around, you saw six pairs of menacing glowing eyes leering at you behind the trees. As they approached you, the eyes proved to belong to wolf-like golems made of wood, like the forest itself had risen to hunt you.

Timberwolves!

You ran as fast as you could, even though your apparent form may have been an old lady, you still had the strength and endurance of a Changeling Queen. A newly born Changeling Queen…

Letting out a deathly howl, the Timberwolves chased you. Their sharp claws dug into the dirt, giving them a better grip so they could launch themselves forward. The pack neared you with the speed of a lightning bolt. Dividing their numbers into two groups of three, they surrounded you from both sides.

Two Timberwolves, one from each side, pounced on you. You managed to skid to a halt, making the two monsters crash into each other, disassembling into hundreds of pieces. Jumping over the pile of wood, you ran again.

Your mind filled with dread as the two Timberwolves assembled again and resumed their chase. How do I get rid of these things?! You panicked.

Distracted, a Timberwolf managed to hit you in the face, leaving a nasty claw mark on your left cheek, making you tumble over. Two other Timberwolves tried to bite you while you were down, but you quickly charged your horn with magic and shot them down.

You backed yourself against a tree, dropping in a defensive position as you awaited your next attacker. The Timberwolves retreated behind the dense tree line. They were gone!

As you searched frantically for any sign of them, you heard a stick snap right next to you. Dodging the incoming attack, a Timberwolf pounced right on top of you, missing by a few inches. Without giving it time to maneuver, you shot the Timberwolf, disassembling it.

The fourth Timberwolf charged you head on, pointy teeth aiming at your throat. You raised your legs to protect yourself. The Timberwolf bit deep into your leg, the sharp pain clouded your mind, dissipating your magic.

The last two Timberwolves pounced on you. Everything seemed lost, all the changelings that depended on you… your Queen…

Suddenly, the Timberwolf let go of your leg, the whole pack running away with their tail between their legs. Your vision was getting blurry, the deep gash on your leg losing too much blood. You dropped to the floor. As you were about to faint, you heard a weird chanting beside you, trying to identify its origin, you drag your head toward it. A creepy looking wooden mask was the last thing you saw before everything faded away.





You woke up with a pleasing scent of incense gracing your nostrils. Your head pounded like you’ve been beaten to death, and you almost was. Raising a hoof to your head, you noticed that your disguise was still active. You shot up straight, remembering the previous events as your charged your horn with magic.

Searching your surroundings for the weird masked creature, you noticed that you were in some kind of a wooden hut. There were countless potions and herbs on shelves carved into the walls. A huge iron cauldron stood in the middle of the room. A full set of alchemical tubes and vessels sat on a workbench beside the bed you were at.

You heard the clip-clop of hooves coming down a set of stairs on your right. “Ah, you’re awake, I hope my potion has cured your ache,” a striped, black and white earth pony said. She wore some really exotic golden jewelry and a high mohawk that almost touched the ceiling as she walked downstairs.

You checked your bitten leg for the injury. It was wrapped in gauze and felt really numb, maybe that was the effect of the potion she talked about? You didn’t really know, and after that whole ordeal with the Timberwolves, you didn’t want to take any chances.

The mare noticed your defensive posture and reassured you, “No need to worry, your wounds will be healed, though your mind might be a little blurry.”

Her rhyming was really throwing you off, maybe she wasn’t a pony?

“Is this Ponyville?” you asked the strange mare.

“No, you’re in my hut in the Everfree, you’re lucky I was harvesting some herbs, or this conversation would never be,” the mare said, smiling.

“Yeah, thanks for that.” Curious, you decided to find more about your exotic savior. “So, you live here alone?”

“Yes, indeed, though some ponies from Ponyville come seeking me when they’re in need,” the mare replied, searching for something on the workbench. “Oh, I forgot it upstairs,” she mumbled. Climbing the stairs, she continued, “I have a trinket for you, it’s very useful, and I have some spares.”

A couple of minutes have passed while the mare searched for her “trinket”. During this time, you pondered on how to proceed.

She lives alone in the woods… she would be an easy target. I don’t know what she’s capable off, and I don’t feel comfortable having her near my hive. The thought was tempting, you could capture her to feed your changelings, or simply drain her dry and replace her with a drone of your own…

You direct your attention to her potion-filled shelves. Or maybe I could just grab some stuff and leave…

But she helped me with the Timberwolves and healed me after. She could prove to be a powerful ally, maybe even a friend… Your inner debate was interrupted as a torrent of thoughts and voices invaded your mind, the sudden intrusion was so violent that almost made you fall out of bed.

My Queen, can you hear us?! the voices asked in unison. Despite never hearing these voices before, you instantly knew who they were.

My drones?

Yes, my Queen, we have been awakened early due to your distress, and our forces are composed of two gatherer units, one warrior unit and one worker unit. We’re sending the warrior unit to your aid! the changeling replied, fearing for its queen’s safety.

It’s not necessary, my child, I’m okay, you reassured it, to no avail.

Are you certain?

Yes, no need to worry.

In that case, what is your command, my Queen?
> Chapter 04 - Weird Ponies... And Someling Else?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I need all the gatherers harvesting love as soon as possible, I'm headed to Ponyville to scout the area, send them here at my clearance with the warriors’ assistance. Meanwhile, have the workers build a new hatchery, you instructed your drones.

Yes, my Queen!

Oh, one more thing. What's your name?

N-name, my Queen? the changeling stuttered, worry and confusion on its mind.

Uhm… yeah? Now you’re confused… What’s the matter about names?

I-it's not my place to decide, m-my Queen… The changeling said meekly.

Of course it is! Everyling deserves their own name! Besides, it would be easier for me to remember all of you by. If you don’t want a name of your own, at least come up with a persona you can disguise yourself as, you lectured your drone, not fully understanding why such a reluctance to pick a name for itself.

Y-yes, my Queen. Then what should we call you?

That question caught you off guard, a little bit of guilt invaded your mind as you thought about how you were complaining about your drone’s reluctance to pick a name for itself when, in fact, you don’t have one for your own.

Your guilt was picked up by your drones through the hivemind. Don’t worry, my Queen, you’ll earn your name soon enough, we know it! They encouraged you, quieting your troubled thoughts.

Thanks… you replied sheepishly.

We’re going to work right away, my Queen, and we’ll come up with something…

True to its words, you could feel your drones starting to buzz their wings, zipping to and fro around the ruined castle, searching for the perfect spot to execute their commands. Maybe if you concentrated enough, you might even be able to see and feel through their minds?

Your wandering thoughts were scattered to the winds as the reality of your current situation took hold of your attention. You still needed to reach Ponyville to give the clearance for your gatherers to work, and what about this rhyming mare?

There's no reason for me to treat her as my enemy. You finally concluded, the black and white pony has only been kind to you so far, it was only fair of you to return in kind.

Your mind returned to the mare’s hut as you heard the clip-clop of her hoofsteps coming from the second floor, it only took a few minutes before she returned, wearing a dark gray cloak and carrying a small, ornamented wooden chest in her hooves.

Opening the chest, the mare revealed a pair of plant fiber necklaces with beautiful greenish-orange stones embedded to their center, they were shaped like a seed and emanated a soft magic glow. “This is a Timberwolf’s seed,” the mare explained. ”It will keep lesser Timberwolves away, if you're ever in need.” She put one of them on and handed you the other.

You furrowed your brow in confusion. “You're giving me this?” you asked, taking the necklace with your magic.

The strange mare only nodded, smiling.

It was so weird. You always had this notion that ponies were these dangerous and suspicious creatures that would take all your cunning to fool and feed from, but this mare was being so nice. You start feeling kind of bad for having to lie to her and for having such misconception. You make a silent promise to yourself to never commit these same mistakes again!

“Thank you, miss…”

“Zecora is how I'm called.” The mare bowed her greetings. “Though your name, I can't recall.”

“Oh, sorry, my name is Enigma. Nice to meet you.” You smiled back at her.

“Well, Ms. Enigma, I can escort you to Ponyville, if you so desire. I was going there anyway to buy some ingredients I may require, ”Zecora, offered, putting on her hood and enchanted necklace.

“Oh, that would be lovely, thank you.” You smiled, you put your own necklace and followed the mare out the hut.





The declining sun signaled the start of noon. As you two traveled through the Everfree Forest, you and Zecora engaged in a pleasant, small conversation. You felt you were starting getting used to her rhyming, but you still wondered if she’s going out of her way to form these rhymes, or if it’s just how she talks.

“So you left the big city life to wander? What made you take such decision, I wonder?” Zecora asked as you explained to her how you arrived in the Everfree Forest in the first place.

“Well, after years of researching magic and legends, I grew tired of the busy city life, so I decided to pack my most essential things and travel around the world, searching for all the legends I’ve studied for so long. That, and beauty and tranquility of the nature brought me here, to the Castle of the Two Sisters,” you explained to her. Your persona’s story felt so natural to you, you didn’t know if it was just a changeling thing or if you and your persona just seemed to “click”, either way, this familiarity also brought a sense of security, since it would be harder for you to slip up and compromise your disguise.

“Oh, so you’re staying her for a while? That’s lovely!” Zecora smiled. “I’ve been traveling by myself for a long time since I left Zebrabwe, and it was getting really lonely.”

Oh, so she’s a zebra… That probably explained the rhyming and the exotic jewelry.

“It’s wonderful to have a traveler friend living nearby, maybe someday I could pay you a visit, and say “hi” ?” the mare asked hopefully.

Well, that was to be expected, sooner or later somepony would stumble upon your hive. She did say she received visits from time to time, but it must be on very sporadic occasions.

I better keep the hive discreet if I want to avoid prying eyes… you thought before smiling and replying to the zebra, “Sure, just give me some time to set things up and we can arrange a visit.”





The conversation continued for a while as you talked about your interests and hobbies. You found out that Zecora is a master alchemist and can replicate almost any unicorn complex spells with only a few ingredients and then some! You thanked the mother to have such a powerful witch doctor at your side. Your little chat died down as you two arrived at the edge of the Everfree Forest.

You could see a big clock tower near a cozy looking cottage on a hill nearby, and just a few feet farther, your destination, Ponyville.

Zecora would greet some ponies as you two navigated your way among the colorful houses and shops toward the marketplace at the heart of the town. There, just down the street after a  fountain with a statue of a rearing pony, you found dozens of ponies going to and fro through several stalls and shops. The multitude of shapes and colors of all these ponies brought you memories of your short time within your mother’s Hive. If only a little bit less crowded.

Feeling homesick, my Queen? your drone asked, sensing your emotions through the hivemind.

Yeah…

Don’t worry, I’m certain you’ll return someday. We wish we could have seen the hive… I-I wish I could have met mother… your drone said, sadly.

Your drones never had the chance to meet their mother, your mother…

Concentrating, you focused your memories of your time with Cicah, broadcasting it through the hivemind for your fellow changelings. You could feel their joy and happiness as images of the hive and Queen Elysia flashed through their minds.

T-thanks, my Queen. You heard the voice of your hive echo in unison.

You might be far from your Queen, but your family was right here with you. With your homesickness gone, you made a promise to your drones, We will return someday, but for now, our Queen is counting on us, we can’t fail!

Yes, my Queen! your hive shouted back, you could feel a newfound motivation driving their actions.

Your thoughts were interrupted as Zecora abruptly stopped ahead of you. She turned around toward you and gestured toward a flower stall down at the marketplace. “We have arrived, I have some tasks to do, so I must leave your side.”

“Oh, thank you, Zecora, have a nice day!” You waved her goodbye and walked toward the marketplace.

Now alone, you organized your thoughts and trace your path. Alright, I need to search for key points of interest; popular places ponies like to gather, well-frequented shops, soldier garrisons, and law offices.

Looking around, it didn’t take you too long to notice a big circular building standing right in the middle of town, its enormous, four-story hight made it easy to spot, even from out of town!

Hum… Big and right in the middle of town, like a Royal Chamber. It must be the town’s hall, you pondered, trotting towards it.

Passing through the big, open doorway, you found lots of fancy-looking ponies trotting around the big structure, carrying loads and loads of scrolls and other parchments. You were about to approach them when a beige earth pony mare walked into the room, she wore a pair of glasses and portrayed a tied up scroll as her cutie mark, her grey mane and tail giving away her advanced years. She staggered from side to side, struggling to balance a big pile of scrolls on her back.

You ignited your horn and lifted the weight of the scrolls away from her back, earning a relieved sigh as the mare recomposed herself.

“Thanks, Ms, those were really heavy…” The mare huffed, adjusting her glasses.

“Where should I put them?” you asked, pointing toward the scrolls that were now levitating above your head.

“Could you put them on the counter over there, please?” the mare asked, guiding you to a counter next to the entrance. Once the scrolls were set, the mare properly greeted you. “Thank you, now, I’m Mayor Mare, what can I do for you?

“Well, I’m new in town and…” you started explaining, but was cut off by the Mayor.

“Oh, so you’re moving in? That’s wonderful! Would you be interested in meeting the town’s foster care? I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with their great accommodations and services!” Mayor Mare rambled.

“W-what? No no, I just wanted some information on some of the hot spots of town, that's all.” You halted the mare before she pushed more advertisement your way.

“Oh, well, we have a library just at the end of the street to our left, our hospital is near the town’s plaza, you can find a marketplace just down the street with all sorts of stores and stalls, and at the end of the marketplace you’ll find Sugarcube Corner, the town’s favorite confectionery and just out of town you’ll find Sweet Apple Acres, its residents, the Apple family is the oldest and probably most well-known members of our community and they sell the best apples and cider of all Equestria!” the Mayor ranted, pointing her hoof to their general direction.

Taking your time to process all that information, you pictured a crude map of the town and broadcast it through the hivemind.

“Alright, thanks for the help!” You smiled and waved your goodbye.

“You’re welcome!” Mayor Mare waved back at you before returning to her duties.





You decided that your first stop should be in the marketplace, it would be useful to know what ponies liked to acquire. It wasn’t before long that a low grumble resonated from your stomach and stopped you in your tracks. It had only been a couple of hours, but you did spend a lot of magic fighting those timberwolves, and that healing potion might have affected your metabolism, no matter the cause, you were hungry.

‘It's too risky to try and feed off somepony here…’ you pondered, searching for an easy target, but failed. In your weary state, you could feel the faint smell of love emanating from somewhere nearby.

‘Strange… this doesn't seem to come from a pony, what might it be?’ you wondered, following the sweet aroma.

The trail of love led you to a cheerful red and white Apple stall, behind it, a big orange-maned, red stallion was arranging three barrels full of apples, each weighing probably half-a-ton, but despite that, he moved and maneuvered them with ease. Suddenly, a small yellow filly with red mane and a big pink bow jumped from behind the stall with a bucket full of apples on top of her head. Noticing you, the filly smiled. “Hey there! Care ‘bout some apples? Ah bucked them myself! Right, Big Mac?” the filly offered cheerfully.

“Eeyup,” the stallion confirmed the filly’s claims.

You could feel the care and hard work put into those apples, that's what attracted you to them. And they did look pretty tasty...

But then it hit you. Ponies used those round, golden pieces of metal to trade, and you didn’t have any nor knew how to fake some…

“Sorry, little one, I’m out of… currency…” You didn’t know its name…

Really smooth, Enigma. You mentally facehoofed.

The filly pouted. “Well, that’s a shame, but here, take this one as a free sample!”

Grabbing the apple with your magic, you take a small bite out of it. Immediately the strong flavor of the apple mixed with the sweetness of the love imbued on it intoxicates your taste buds, shooting sparks of pleasure down your spine.

“Holy mother, it's so good! Thanks, little one,” you exclaimed in bliss, sure that wasn’t enough to really satisfy your need for love, but it sure as Tartarus was worth it!

“Thanks, come back someday, yah hear!” the filly called as you left.





Your next target was Sugarcube Corner, since apparently, it was a very popular area, it would be a great target for your gatherers.

As you walked down the streets, you noticed how nonexistent security appeared to be, you’ve been wandering for about half an hour by now and not a single guard was to be seen, it was almost too easy…

Your thoughts were halted as you caught sight of an interesting store, Quills and Sofas. The store itself had nothing out of the ordinary, but its weird logo caught your attention.

“Once you get in, you’ll never get out,” you read aloud. ‘Is this some kind of trap or disguised prison?’

Deciding it was better to make sure the store presented no harm to your gatherers, you entered the store. True to its name, the store held an incredible collection of different shapes and sizes of sofas all around it. An as impressive collection of quills sat on display on a nearby shelf, they even had a phoenix feather quill!

A beige earth pony stallion with brown mane and green eyes walked towards you, he was wearing a tie and his cutie mark depicted a quill and a sofa, so he must be the owner of the establishment.

“Hello, Ms, the name is Davenport. What can I get for you today?” he greeted you, he had a low voice filled with confidence.

“Hello, Mister Davenport, don’t mind me, I’m just looking around.” You dismissed him politely, but being the business pony that he was, he insisted.

“Would I interest you in sampling some of our best sofas? One hundred percent guaranteed satisfaction or your money back!” he offered.

One hundred percent guaranteed, hum? That sounds interesting. You decided to take upon this as a challenge, nodding to the salespony.

With a smile on his face, he led you to a matching set of two-seats green sofas, their polished dark wood giving them an elegant look.

“This is our medium foam sofa set, perfect for that get together with old friends or some tea with your loved one.” The stallion presented the sofa, gesturing you to try it. As you sat on one side of the sofa, the salespony sat on the other side. “As you can see, even if occupied by multiple ponies, the special foam maintains its form and spread their weight equally, providing enhanced softness and comfort for both occupants.”

An interesting offer, but not enough to defeat the Queen.

“Eh, I don’t know… what else do you have?” you asked, a small drop of venom teased in your voice.

With a grin, the salespony led you to the next sofa. This was a three-seat sofa with thick seats and a high back with soft looking pillows. The salespony suddenly threw himself on the sofa and started jumping up and down on it.

“As you can see, this oak wood sofa has a reinforced frame and stronger springs so your grandchildren can play all day long on it without damaging it,” The stallion explained between jumps.

Well, at least this one seemed fun. With a defiant grin, you asked the salespony. “Is that all you got?”

Now that was war.

Getting down from the sofa, Mister Davenport fixed his tie. “I can see you’re a mare with fine tastes, please follow me.”

This time, the salespony led you to a secluded section of the store, where the most valuable items were kept safe. He presented to you a simple looking red and pink upholstered chair. Pointing with his hoof, he announced, “This is: The Comfy Chair.”

What? No long introductions this time? Hah, this will be easy, you thought triumphantly.

As you rested your haunches on the chair’s seat, your eyes went wide as you were suddenly overtaken by an indescribable sensation of comfort. The seat was so smooth and soft that even a cloud would feel hard and crooked. Snuggling deeper into the chair, you could feel its back relaxing every single fiber of your being. Resting your head on the chair’s back, it took a godly level of concentration to maintain your disguise as relaxation took hold of your mind, the comfiness was so extreme that it seeped into the hivemind, turning every single drone into a mushy mess of relaxation as the entire hive experienced true tranquility, like you’ve ascended into the Iris...

Managing to regain control of the minimal functions of your mind and body, you dragged yourself out of The Comfy Chair and went into a mad sprint out of the store.

Dropping on the street in defeat, you warned your drones through the hivemind. You’re never to enter this store. NEVER!

Still, in the back of your mind, only one thing remained, That chair shall be mine!





After recomposing yourself, you managed to reach Sugarcube Corner, apparently, The Comfy Chair sucked hours of your life as the sun was almost setting, its orange rays providing only enough luminosity to barely avoid the need for night lamps.

True to the Mayor’s words, Sugarcube Corner was full of ponies even at this late hour. As you entered the store, you were, once again, assaulted by that same aroma of love, but this time, it wasn’t coming only from the food… Looking around, you could see all the happy faces of the ponies chatting, eating, and overall having a good time, you could feel their love toward this very establishment.

“Thanks, Mrs. Cake, see you tomorrow!” You heard a blonde, grey pegasus say through gritted teeth as she held a pack of freshly baked muffins. You two froze as you crossed glances, her walled eyes conveying the feelings of shock, worry, and fear… You could feel something different about this mare, a faint familiarity that you simply couldn’t figure out why.

The mare slowly scooted around your right as you kept your guard up and scooted to the left. Once the path was clear, the pegasus sprinted out the door and took to the skies. You ran after her, following pursuit, you had to catch her.

Despite your efforts, the pegasus soon proved to be a great flyer, her speed and maneuverability proving too much for you to keep up on hoof. It would be too risky to break out of disguise, but maybe a little magic could help!

You concentrated your telekinesis onto your hooves, creating a small “rift” on the sole of the hooves that pushed you up, strong enough to make you hover on the floor, allowing you to skate your way to your target. Noticing you catching up, the pegasus began flying more erratically, trying to lose you. But with a little help of your magic, you managed to keep up with her.

The two of you were almost at what appeared to be the Ponyville schoolhouse, sitting on top of a small hill. Noticing a small bump on the dirt road, you decided that that was your chance. You fed more energy into your spell, gaining more and more speed. When you hit the bump, you jumped, the momentum and strength of the spell sent you close enough to the fleeing pegasus that you managed to catch her with your magic.

With a tight grip, you brought the struggling mare to the ground, pinning her against the wall at the side of the schoolhouse.  You looked around to check if there were anypony spying on you, you were safe.

“P-p-please, d-don’t hurt m-me!” the pegasus pleaded, teardrops forming in her eyes.

“You ran away from me as soon as you noticed me. Who are you?” you asked, looking the mare straight in the eyes. At least, as straight as you could.

“I-I’m Derpy, Derpy D-doo,” the mare stuttered, struggling to free herself.

Looking deep into her eyes, you knew there was something else. “Who are you?” you asked again.

With her ears glued to the back of her head, she was suddenly enveloped by a bright flash as green flames burned away her grey fur and blonde mane and replaced them with changeling chitin and a green carapace, her feathery wings gave way to long membranous insect wings. The only remaining feature were her crossed eyes as they remained that way after the transformation.

“You’re a locust changeling!” You gasped, reverting to your own changeling form. “What hive are you from, drone?”

The now terrified drone struggled even more against your grip, to no avail. “I-I’m not with anyling! I’m an outcast, I swear!”

“Look into my eyes,” you commanded the drone. She tried her hardest, but her eyes wouldn’t focus. Not wanting to torture the frightened changeling, you decided to calm it down.

“Shh, don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.” You pat the drone. “I’m gonna let go of you, I want you to look into my eyes and explain to me what happened to you, ok?”

“Y-yes, Queen…” The drone waited for your name

“I’m the daughter of Queen Elysia,” you provided.

The mention of Queen Elysia seemed to help calm the changeling. As you let her loose, she transformed back into her pegasus persona and took a deep breath to calm down. “I once was part of Arch Queen Chrysalis’ hive. I always managed to mess things up back at the hive, I was born an infiltrator that couldn't change a simple thing as its eyes. I was defective. One day, Arch Queen Chrysalis ordered me to scout the area around Canterlot and when I arrived at my destination, I was severed from the hivemind.”

“She cut you out of the hive? Why?” you asked in repulsion, the notion of simply casting your drones out on the world felt so nefarious to you.

“I don’t know. Maybe she was tired of me messing up, maybe she couldn’t feed me anymore. Our hive was always in a constant state of starvation, so when a changeling failed to return home, it meant that more love would be distributed among the hive…” the mare explained, sadness for her fellow hivemates still in her voice, despite being cast out. “I ended up here in Ponyville a long time ago, I built my life here as the mailmare “Derpy” and managed to go by, but since I was severed from the hivemind… the sudden silence that its absence leaves your mind, it's torturing.”

“Why didn’t you asked my mother for refuge? I’m sure she would take you as part of her hive,” you asked her, confused.

“Well, I was going to, but then…” Derpy was suddenly interrupted by the ring of the schoolhouse bell.

You quickly shapeshifted into your persona as the school kids ran out of school in a mini stampede of laughter and joy. Among the herd of playing children was a pale purple unicorn filly with blonde mane and yellow eyes. She was looking around her, searching for something, upon spotting you and Derpy, she ran toward the two of you, a wide smile on her face.

“Mommy! Mommy! You won't believe what I did today!” she squeaked, tackling Derpy and giving her a big hug.

“What was that, sweetie?” Derpy asked, embracing the filly with her wings.

“I’ve managed to levitate my math book for ten seconds!” the filly shouted with pride at her accomplishment.

“Really? That’s great, sweetie, three more seconds than your previous record!” Derpy praised her, nuzzling her cheeks.

“Yeah, isn’t that awesome?”

Their love was so strong, so pure, that it was almost palpable… the unconditional love of a beloved filly.

“Sure is, sweetheart, now Dinky, why don’t you greet my friend Ms…”

“Enigma, how you’re doing, little one?” You provided as Derpy put Dinky down.

“Hello, Ms. Enigma, I’m doing fine, thanks!”

“Now dear, why don’t you go play with your friends while I have a little chat with Ms. Enigma? I’ll be with you shortly, okay?” Derpy asked, nudging Dinky with her muzzle.

“Okay, bye, Ms. Enigma!” The filly waved at you before running off to play with the other kids.

“Mommy?” You asked, definitely curious.

“When I first came to Ponyville, I had a hard time doing my job as a mailmare, lots of ponies were mad at me for delivering the wrong mail by accident or damaging important packages, a few ponies even mocked me because of my eyes. But every time I came to deliver mail for Miss Cheerilee, the Schoolteacher, Dinky would always come up to chat with me. You see I always ended up coming here at their lunchtime by mistake and Dinky would stop playing with her friends to come and talk with me.”

“Then what?”

“Well, one day, when I couldn't take being lonely anymore, I flew by the orphanage to meet with Queen Elysia and saw Dinky through the window, getting ready for school. So I’ve gone and adopted her and never met Queen Elysia, I chose to take care of Dinky. I chose her not as a replacement for the hivemind, she’s so much more…” Derpy concluded, a single teardrop running down her cheek.

The sun was hiding behind the mountain, the stars began painting the dark sky as a drone called to you through the hivemind. My Queen, we have completed the hatchery without any complications, the workers are a bit tired but able to work on your next assignment, also, the gatherers and warriors are ready for deployment at your command.

Understood, Ponyville is secured, you can deploy the units. I’ll be back soon. You instructed your drones.

“So… what now?” Derpy asked, a tinge of worry in her voice.
> Chapter 04.5 - Hivemates (1K Views Special)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, one more thing. What's your name? the Young Queen asked, the question catching all her drones by surprise.

N-name, my Queen? a drone stuttered, worry and confusion on its mind.

Uhm… yeah? Now she seemed confused… The drones looked to one another anxiously, not knowing what to do.

I-it's not my place to decide, m-my Queen... the drone said meekly.

Of course it is! Everyling deserves their own name! Besides, it would be easier for me to remember all of you by. If you don’t want a name of your own, at least come up with a persona you can disguise yourself as, the Queen lectured her drones, not fully understanding why such a reluctance to pick a name for themselves.

Y-yes, my Queen. Then what should we call you? the drone asked in earnest curiosity.

That question caught her off guard, a little bit of guilt invading her mind as she thought about how she was complaining about her drones’ reluctance to pick a name for themselves when, in fact, she didn’t have one of her own.

Her guilt was picked up by her drones through the hivemind. Don’t worry, my Queen, you’ll earn your name soon enough, we know it! they encouraged her, quieting her troubled thoughts.

Thanks… the Young Queen replied sheepishly.

We’re going to work right away, my Queen, and we’ll come up with something… the drones said before cutting their connection to their Queen’s mind. An eerie silence filled the crowded throne room as all the drones tried to process their Queen’s wishes.

So, she wants to give us names? one drone finally asked through the hivemind, confused.

She wants us to pick a name for ourselves, another drone corrected, still unsure of its queen’s decision.

I guess she doesn’t know about the name traditions of changelings? a drone offered its explanation.

She didn’t spend as much time as an egg like we did, maybe she wasn’t able to receive much knowledge from Mother Elysia? Or maybe Mother Elysia didn’t transmit her knowledge to our Queen… the first drone mumbled, theorizing.

Well, it doesn’t matter, for now, our Queen gave us instructions and we are to follow them, a fifth drone interrupted the discussion. The workers can begin the preparations for the new hatchery and the others are free to do as they please while waiting for our Queen’s signal, let’s get to work, ‘lings! it rallied its brothers and sisters who took to the air and spread around the ruined castle, ready to fulfill their Queen’s wishes.





Buzzing through an empty corridor, two gatherers and an infiltrator roamed aimlessly around the castle while pondering what names to claim for themselves.

“Names, huh? That sounds like fun! Have you thought about something yet?” one of the gatherers asked its siblings.

“Well, I recall some pretty common names around mother’s hive, like Nymph or Pupa... Well, at least I think they’re common since they appeared a lot broadcasted through the hivemind,” the infiltrator mentioned.

“Ohh, Pupa sounds cool, I think I’ll take this one!” The gatherer smiled, clopping her holed hooves together in excitement.

“I’ll take Nymph then,” the infiltrator said, chuckling at her sister’s antics. Noticing how quiet the other gatherer was, she decided to bring it to the conversation. “What about you? Have you thought of something yet?”

Hiding a bit under its mane, the gatherer replied, “N-not, really. I don’t know if I want a name, to be honest…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, maybe you could create a persona for yourself instead, like our Queen suggested? Ohh, I would love to have a pony form of my own! Why don’t we go to the library and search for some inspiration?” Pupa suggested, even more excitedly.

“That’s a great idea! I’ll broadcast my readings throughout the hivemind to help our siblings out too!” Nymph agreed, smiling.





Arriving at the library, the trio spread around and collected random books scattered among the shelves and began their research. It didn’t take long for Pupa to find a book that caught her attention. Her book of choice was a historical documentation of the Nightmare Night celebration and how it changes among different regions of Equestria.

As she enthusiastically read through the withered pages of the old book, she took inspiration from various Nightmare Night traditions and pieced together her pony persona. Igniting her horn, she turned herself into a violet pegasus mare with a pale white mane and orange eyes. A bucket filled with candy decorated her flanks while a beautiful skull painting adorned her face. She added a purple jacket with a hood as the finishing touch.

Happy with her disguise, she shared her findings with her siblings. “Hey girls, did you know that in southern Equestria there is a variant of Nightmare Night called ‘Dia de Los Pesadelos’ and that they paint these really cool looking skulls on their faces in honor to the dead spirits that are rumored to be allowed back in the land of the living during the holiday? That’s so cool!”

“Really cheerful, I think it suits you,” Nymph said, smiling. “I found a really cool archive with tales and legends of Equestria’s greatest warriors, the book was really damaged and I couldn’t find any relevant names, but at least I think I can take the form of one of these warriors…”

Putting the book aside, Nymph ignited her horn and focused on every information she managed to extract from the book. She turned herself into a grey coated unicorn mare with black and white mane and tail. Her eyes were of a greenish blue color and she had a shield and twin sabers as a cutie mark.

“Ohh, I like it!” Pupa cheered.





A big pile of open books sat in front of the gatherer’s frowning face. It didn’t find anything interesting. Giving up on the books, it decided to go to the window to get some fresh air. Looking through it, it found a beautiful flower field filled with pink and white roses just outside the castle. The flowers’ beauty captivated its thoughts as it mindlessly began shapeshifting to match their colors. The gatherer turned into a light pink earth pony with white and pink short mane and tail. A blooming white rose cutie mark decorated her flanks.

Deciding to go outside and appreciate the flowers, ‘Rose’ trotted out of the library and reached the armory corridor. The corridor was blocked by three drones disguised as earth pony stallions.

One was a bulky, charcoal pony with a black mane done as a ponytail. He had a cutie mark of two battle axes crossing each other, flanked by a tower shield. He was inspecting a heavy-looking battle axe that he took from one of the armor racks set in the corridor.

Meanwhile a light tan stallion with aquamarine mane and a bow and mixing spoons as a cutie mark held a set of metal boots in his hooves while chatting with the other drone, a light orange earth pony stallion with a darker shade of orange in his mane, tail, and hooves. He had a cutie mark of a blazing flame and held a pair of regal looking horseshoes.

“I mean, look at these shoes, they fit perfectly on your hooves, are easy to care for and look pretty comfortable,” the orange pony argued.

“Still, these iron boots not only keep you hooves from dirt, they also give you added protection in case you need to buck something, right Onyx?” the tan pony asked the stallion with the battle axe for support.

The charcoal pony just huffed his reply, it seemed like they were doing this for a while now.

Hey, Balto, I found some more books about baking. Want me to read them for you? Nymph’s voice could be heard through the hivemind as it was projected toward the tan stallion.

Oh, sure, please. Is there anything more about cakes or pies in it? Balto asked, his mouth watering at the prospect of those baked goods.

Do rodeos have cake? the orange pony asked, intruding in the conversation.

You really liked rodeos, huh, Black Star, Nymph teased him.

Well, they sound like a good challenge, and they have horseshoe throwing competitions!

Rose skidded past them and headed for the nearest exit. Noticing her leave, Onyx left the axe and followed her. Noticing her pursuer, Rose asked, meekly, “Uh, why are you following me?”

Onyx looked at her for a second before returning his gaze to the path ahead. “You’re going outside,” he stated, simply.

“Uhm… yes?”

“I’m a warrior, I keep the hive safe, that includes you.”





Three drones were hanging out around the throne room. One was throwing away the empty eggshells, the other was cleaning the mirror and stained glass windows and the last one was just lounging in a corner, watching its two siblings working and chatting.

“How exactly did you come up with your name again, Evening Star?” a white unicorn mare with a cutie mark of a red sun asked her sister in the corner. She had a dark blue coat with a silver mane and silver eyes, looking almost as if she was blind.

“Well, just like the evening star is the first star to shine after the sun is out, I too like to just keep my distance and watch the others around me,” she explained.

“You already chose your appearance, what about your name?” the other drone asked, he was disguised as a blue pegasus stallion, had a black mane and red eyes with cutie mark of a shield and telescope on his flank.

“Well, I haven’t decided upon my name yet, but I guess I’ll come up with something eventually. What about you, Farsight? What gave you the idea for your name?” the white unicorn asked, cleaning the stained glass window with her magic.
“Well, to be honest, I got pretty good eyes, and can spot an invader from pretty far away. That’s pretty much it, actually,” he confessed, done cleaning the eggshells and now sweeping the floor with his tail.

“That’s why you make an excellent cleaning buddy!” the white mare joked. While cleaning the last stop on the window, she moved it a little bit. This change of angle focused the sunlight that shone through the glass, hitting the mirror in full force and blinding her pegasus brother, stunning him out of the skies and into the floor.

“Not so ‘far-sighted’ now are you?” Evening Star mocked him.

“Oops, sorry,” the white mare apologized, she turned the window again, making the focused sunshine ricochet between the two mirrors of the room, illuminating the whole room.

Observing her sister’s prowess manipulating sunlight, Evening Star proposed, “Why don’t you call yourself ‘Sunstrike’?”





A male worker drone with reddish-green eyes named Redwood sat in front of the old pipe organ at the back of the castle. He was about to start playing when the buzzing of wings interrupted him. Turning around, he saw his brothers Lazy Mist and Apathy. “What are you doing here, Lazy Mist? Weren’t you supposed to be helping with the hatchery?” he asked, scowling in disapproval.

“Eh, that room is boring, besides, since Phengaris sent you here to make sure all the traps at the future hatchery room are found and disabled, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to find out how they work,” he explained, bobbing his shoulders.

“What about Apathy then?” Redwood asked, pointing a hoof at the other changeling.

“He’s my assistant,” Lazy Mist stated dismissively. Directing his attention to Apathy, he instructed, “See those pipes? They’re connected to all the traps on this castle, I need you to follow the pipes and tell me if anything happens when I give you the signal, you got that?” He pointed at the organ’s pipes who ran all the way up the wall and through the ceiling.

Apathy nodded nonchalantly, not paying much attention to the crazy drone, and left the room.

As they both watched Apathy exit the room, Redwood shook his head in irritation. “You know that Phengaris will come here and catch you if you don’t return, right?”

“Nah, she’s busy preparing that room for the…”  Lazy Mist was cut off by the booming voice of Phengaris over the hivemind.

Lazy Mist, get back here right now or I’m gonna find you and drag you back myself, you hear me! she cried in anger.

Startled, Lazy Mist shapeshifted into a creepy-looking pony mannequin to try and hide from his pursuer.

Rolling his eyes, Redwood began playing the pipe organ, its pleasant song echoing throughout the entirety of the castle ruins.

Meanwhile, just outside the room, Apathy ran into a weird drone who seemed to have disarmed a spring catapult trap from the floor and was mindlessly chewing on its cogs while tampering with the dismantled trap. What’s with these crazy workers? he thought, rolling his eyes and continuing on his way.





In a few rooms just outside the throne room, Phengaris, a drone disguised as a green unicorn mare with dark chocolate mane and a blue pacifier as a cutie mark was inspecting every single inch of the future hatchery room with her two recruited drones, Farris and Devian Mality.

“Alright, Farris, I need you make ten lines of seven point eighty-seven inch diameter holes that are three point ninety-three inches deep and one point ninety-six inches away from each other. I also need you to construct a chandelier whose total weight doesn’t surpass a safe margin of one point seven pounds. While you’re at it remember that the luminosity of the bioluminescent lights should be around two hundred lumens to make the little larvae comfortable. Oh, and the building goo on the floor should be maintained liquid at a viscosity level of one poise to facilitate the larvae movement and minimize their attrition against the stone floor. Understood?” Phengaris blurted out, completely running over every semblance of a previous thought that permeated Farris mind.

“Uh…” was the most coherent sentence the dark teal unicorn stallion was able to muster after that onslaught.

Facehoofing more at herself than her assistant, Phengaris grumbled, “Ugh, at least make sure there are no active traps in the room please.”

Just as she asked that, High Tides, a drone disguised as a blue unicorn stallion with darker mane and tail strolled by, greeting everyone in the room. “Hello everyling, I just wanted to know if there is anything I can…” he was suddenly cut off as he stepped on a pressure plate by the door. He managed to dodge in the nick of time as the whole floor below him sprung up and forward. Losing his balance he skidded toward the wall on the opposite side, managing to regain his hoofing just as the wall slid around, almost kicking him out of the castle and into the garden where Rose and Onyx where. “...help with,” he finished his sentence.

Chuckling, Phengaris dismissed him. “Well, I guess you just did, thanks High Tides.”

“Glad to help.” He smiled and left.

Returning her attention to her assistant, Phengaris continued her instructions, “Alright, let’s just begin with the chandelier, just make sure it’s not heavy enough to crush the younglings if it ever falls, and that its lights aren’t bright enough to blind the poor kids, okay?”

Now with a simpler objective in mind, Farris nodded and went to work. Now turning to Devian, Phengaris found the worker trying to punch the holes she previously asked with little success. The poor drone had some complications while incubating that led him to be born with an incomplete carapace, his exoskeleton was soft and sensible, and he lacked the back shell and wings that came with it. He was also silent to the hive, the incubation damage proving to run deeper than his body, but also affecting his mind and magic.

Phengaris carefully stopped him with her magic. “It's okay, dear, I can do the holes, can you cover the floor with the building goo? And once we're finished, I'm sure our Queen will be able to heal you,” she comforted him in a motherly tone.

Nodding, he went to his work as instructed. Satisfied with how things were going with Devian, Phengaris charged her horn, she was about to cast a spell when Farris interrupted her focus.

“All done,” he said with a sense of pride for his work. He weaved the building slime like delicate but resilient threads across the entire ceiling. Four thick, anchoring threads bound the structure to the corners of the room, fortifying its entire structural integrity. Its center was a mess of well-weaved threads that kept the bioluminescent droplets of goo even-spaced and well-distributed, bathing the room in a soft iridescent glow. A work that would leave even a spider changeling jealous.

“Damn Farris, that’s pretty good!” Phengaris praised his great work. “I guess you’re dismissed for now, thanks for the help.” She waved him goodbye. Recharging her horn, she enveloped her hooves with magic and began punching the required holes in the walls like they were nothing.





A grey coated earth pony stallion with black mane and emerald eyes named Athro, strolled around the library, swaying to the music of the pipe organ while humming his own tune and carrying some old espionage fiction books on his back. Alongside him, Mask Charade, a feminine looking earth pony stallion with a blue sky coat and blonde mane, and Pencil Sketch, a tall light blue pegasus mare with a curly yellow mane, had just recently joined Nymph on her reading.

Charade was captivated by an old Equestrian map filled with airship trade routes and some old airship schematics while Sketch was just power-reading everything at the pile of books Rose left behind, only taking a few seconds to appreciate some of the old free-hoof drawings and illustrations or to fix her glasses that would slip from her snout from time to time.





Just outside the library, Largo, a large stallion with a purple coat and deep blue mane with golden strips, tried to appreciate some of the paintings of the old nobles of ancient Equestria by the banner of the two princesses while his brother, Insectsidous, a tan pegasus, pestered him about how the warriors should secure a perimeter around the hive to protect it from pony invaders.

“I’m telling you, the ponies must already know we’re here, our Queen could have been captured for all we know!” he argued.

“Again, Insectsidous, we would feel throughout the hivemind if our Queen was in danger. Besides, nopony knows about us yet, and they’ll never think about coming to this place, especially since it appears to be timberwolf season out there,” Largo countered, his deep voice giving off a sense of nobility.

Their discussion was interrupted when a drone suddenly darted past them, rubbing itself against the banner’s fabric, charging up with static. Searching for an easy prey, the drone found a distracted light gray unicorn stallion with a messy black mane with a yellow stripe in a form of a lightning bolt. He pounced at its target, releasing all the static into a powerful shock.

However, the shock seemed to cause no effect. The gray unicorn turned around, grinning. He rushed to the nearby banner and rubbed his horn on it, lighting up his horn with magic, he began chasing his attacker, shooting lightning bolts at him.

Largo and Insectsidous had to duck out of their way as some lighting bolts went wild. Before they could destroy what remained of the castle, a blue magic aura caught their ears and pulled them to a painful halt. The magic aura belonged to Facade, a light blue coated unicorn mare with a brown mane and a stitched up heart as a cutie mark.

She dragged them both to her with her magic, a fierce scowl on her face. “Cold Iron, Max Volt, what in Tartarus is wrong with you two?! You want to tear down the hive before even a single chamber is built?!”

“S-sorry, Facade,” Max Volt apologized, his horn’s yellow magic flickering out.

The mare’s scold deepened. “No sorries, go do something useful and help finish the hatchery!” she commanded the duo, who quickly ran to the hatchery room as soon as she let them go.

Chuckling, Volkarnor, a black stallion with orange messy mane and tail, who was observing everything transpire, rolled his eyes, smiled at Facade and said, “I’ll look after them.” And so he went to the hatchery as well.





Pencil Sketch was laughing her flanks off at the scene outside the library. Her laughter was soon heard by Facade who gave her a menacing glare, strangling her and making her drop her glasses.

Being so short-sighted, she couldn’t see a thing. She could feel someling touch her shoulder as it placed her glasses back in her snout. “There you go,” Mask Charade said, giving her a warm smile.

The stallion’s cute and delicate feminine look and their close proximity proved too much for the hopelessly romantic, yet shy mare. Her wings shot yup straight as she could feel her nose bleeding and a deep blush form on her cheeks.

But before anything else happened, Phengaris’ voice was broadcasted throughout the hive, announcing that the hatchery was complete.

My Queen, we have completed the hatchery without any complications, the workers are a bit tired, but able to work on your next assignment, also, the gatherers and warriors are ready for deployment at your command, Phengaris alerted her Queen.

Understood, Ponyville is secured, you can deploy the units. I’ll be back soon, the Young Queen instructed her drones, who dropped everything they were doing to prepare for their assignment.

Even though she was not present, the Young Queen was able to sense everything going on in the hive, and with a little smile on her face, she couldn’t help but think, What a peculiar, yet wonderful collection of changelings.
> Chapter 05 - A Job Fit For A Queen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You stopped to think about Derpy’s question for a short moment. Sure, her high consumption of love might hinder your hive’s development, but she managed to survive all this time by herself, and you knew first hoof how hard it is after what Twenty-three taught you.

“I have an offer for you, Derpy,” you said, raising her head with your hoof to look into her eyes.

“I can link you to my hivemind. You can still live your life here in Ponyville with your family, but now you’ll have the support of my hive to help you,” you proposed. You could almost feel sparks of joy emanating from disguised changeling by your proposal.

“But—” you interrupted her thoughts before she said anything, “—I ask that you act as my scout and guide, feeding the hivemind information about Ponyville and its ponies in exchange, deal?” You tilted your forehead towards Derpy.

“Deal!” Derpy squealed in excitement, touching your horn with hers.

You sent a spark of magic through the contact, assimilating her to your hivemind. Immediately, you gained access to all of Derpy’s memories of her time in Ponyville and its inhabitants, the overflow of information leaving you staggered for a moment. Likewise, the reconnection of Derpy to a hivemind seemed to hit her in full force as she lost her balance and almost dropped to the floor.

Welcome to the hive, Derpy, you said to her through the hivemind, testing to see if her connection was complete.

It worked! Oh, thank you so much, Ms. Enig— I mean, my Queen! Oh, it’s been so long! Derpy blabbered through the hivemind, quickly introducing herself to all your other drones.

Noticing the starry sky above you, you felt your previous magic exertion caught up with you as you began to feel a bit drowsy. “I’m going back to the hive, I still have to meet my drones. I’ll return to Ponyville tomorrow.”

“Alright, sleep well, my Queen!” Derpy said her goodbyes and returned to Dinky.

You turned around and walked down the main street until you reached the edge of town. Looking around to make sure nopony was spying on you, you released your disguise and flew back to your hive, eager to finally meet your drones.





The full moon lit up the night sky with its beautiful, soothing silver light, when you finally arrived at your hive. Eagerly climbing the steps to the front door, you threw them open. Your eyes went wide in surprise as you saw multiple ponies casually strolling around the castle’s main hall, your heart skipping a beat at the thought of being discovered so early.

All the ponies stopped in their tracks when a blue pegasus noticed you standing in the doorway and greeted you, “Welcome back, my Queen!”

Your mind went in full damage control as you finally realized what was going on. ‘Oh, it's just their disguises!’ You mentally facehoofed.

Soon enough, all your drones gathered in the main hall to greet you, their overwhelming happiness of finally meeting you only strengthening your own joy of meeting them.

“It’s so good to meet everyling, and I see you’ve already come up with your own disguises,” you commented. “I’m glad you’re so well-prepared, but there’s no need to keep your disguises in the hive.” As everyling dropped their disguises, you felt much more comfortable and began recollecting your thoughts and organizing your hive.

“Alright, now that I’m here, all the gatherers and warriors can go to Ponyville, but once we get our initial love boost, one unit of gatherers may return to the hive and rest so they can take turns with the other unit and keep a steady, and safely harvested, flow of love,” you instructed your gatherers, who readied their wings to take flight.

“The warriors should keep their watch on Ponyville until further notice, the gatherers’ safety is your top priority,” you instructed the warriors as well. Saluting, everyling took off and went to their assignments.

“What about us, my Queen?” Phengaris asked.

“Well, we need to make our drones stronger. Build a Gene Pool so we can start some upgrades once our new larvae are born,” you commanded the worker.

Eager to work on something to help the young, Phengaris quickly went to her assignment, rallying all the workers in the room.

Now alone, you decided to take a look at your new hatchery before searching for a place to sleep. Walking down the corridor toward the throne room, you quickly found the newly built hatchery right next to it.

Entering the hatchery, you felt immediately at home, the hardened slime structure and holed walls reminding you of your mother’s hive. You walked around the chamber, inspecting every nook and cranny to see if it was suitable for holding your next generation of changelings.

You halted your wandering by that thought, how exactly would you expand your hive? Maybe mother will send me another egg cluster? you thought, even though that seemed unlikely. Maybe my drones can have their own larvae? As you tried to figure out how exactly your hive would grow, you noticed the small holes uniformly dug into the walls, the future cradles of your little lings. You ran a hoof over one of them, inspecting it and noticing how resilient, yet comfortable they were, they would surely provide a great resting spot for the young. Your mind couldn’t help but entertain the thought of having dozens of little grubs wiggling around the couched and cozy floor of the hatchery, playing with each other and making their cute noises. You would spend all the afternoon with them, gathering in a pile of squishy and adorable pajama larvae while you fed them your purest love.

The thought warmed your heart, but was interrupted by a spark of energy running through your spine, making you shiver. “What was that?” you muttered to yourself, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing, you shrugged it off.

Well, it's probably just tiredness, time for me to sleep.





You went to the hidden room at the library and lay down on a dusty old couch. Time has not been kind to it as you could feel its rusty springs sticking out through the seat’s foam. You wish you had that comfy chair…

With that thought, an idea came to your mind. I should probably find some work amongst the ponies, it will not only earn me ‘bits’, it may also build up my reputation with the townsfolk…

That seemed like a great idea, if you could find a work where you could only show up from time to time, it would give you enough time to tend to your hive, earn you reputation, and you could finally buy that marvelous chair!

Alright then, I guess my first stop tomorrow would be at Zecora’s place… You began to plan before dozing off, your consciousness giving way to a much-deserved rest.





You woke up in the morning to the gentle warmth of the sun caressing your chitin. Sitting up on the old coach, you yawned the drowsiness away as you stretched your sore limbs and buzzed your sleepy wings. Blinking your eyes, you noticed that the small room was filled with beautiful colors as the sunlight shone through the stained glass window behind you. Maybe the rough sofa was worth it after all, you thought, admiring the light show.

Flying down the staircase back to the main hall, you decided to take a look at the new Gene Pool to see how it was going. It didn’t take long for you to locate your workers through the hivemind. As you neared the chamber under construction, you noticed how quiet things were. Landing so you didn’t make too much noise, you snuck to the chamber’s doorway and peaked in.

The gene pool seemed to be about halfway completed, its hardened slime walls already installed and a giant hole in the middle of the chamber occupied most of the space. Within it, you found all your workers gathered in a big pile, taking a nap. Apparently, they had been working all night.

Poor things… You blew them a good night kiss, charged with love to make them more comfortable. Leaving your drones to their sleep, you headed outside the castle ruins. Checking to see if you had your necklace, you activated your disguise and began your walk towards Zecora’s hut.





Your walk to Zecora’s was an uneventful one, you could feel the Timberwolves stalking you from a distance, but none of them dared to come closer. That necklace surely was useful.

Finally arriving at Zecora’s hut a few minutes later, you knocked on her door, but nobody answered. You were about to knock again when a loud explosion could be heard from inside. Worried, you frantically knocked on the door once more while calling,“Zecora? Are you okay? Let me in so I can help you!”

A few seconds later, a lightly singed Zecora opened the door, a huge cloud of dark smoke leaving through the opening. “Ah, my friend, would you help me open the windows so the smoke can vent?” she asked, coughing. Her face was slightly burned, making her white fur even darker than her dark grey stripes. Her eyes were red and teary.

You quickly got inside and opened the bottom floor windows while Zecora went to the upper floor to do the same. After most of the smoke had cleared out, you fetched some water for Zecora, which she quickly downed.

“You have my gratitude, I was concocting a very volatile brew and, unfortunately, missed my exactitude…” Zecora explained, pointing towards her alchemical workshop, its contents all spilled on the floor by the explosion. “Well, how can I help?”

“Well, since I’ve settled here, I was thinking about getting a job to occupy myself,” you explained, keeping in mind your disguise’s story. “I was wondering if you could teach me how to make some potions?”

“Ah, so you want my leasures? It would be my pleasure!” Zecora said, enthusiastically.

“Thanks, Zecora. I’ll be checking Ponyville for other options and I’ll return with an answer, alright?” you said, heading for the door.

“Alright my friend, I’ll be waiting for your answer until noon’s end,” Zecora said her farewell, waving from the doorway as you left to Ponyville.





Arriving at the town, you decided to make a stop by the town hall, surely Mayor Mare would have some job for you if her busy schedule from yesterday proved anything. Entering the hall, you quickly found Mayor Mare signing some documents on a table by the window.

“Hello, Mayor,” you greeted her. It took her a few seconds to notice you approaching, her mind lost in the wall of text before her.

“Oh, hello, Ms. Enigma. Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” she apologized, putting her reading glasses away. “How can I help you?”

“Well, since I’m settling here, I was wondering if you had any job for me? Something to distract me a little?” you asked.

Mayor Mare perked up at the prospect of acquiring more help. “Oh, of course! We had so much paperwork to do these last few weeks, I’m sure my secretary would love an assistant!”

“Oh, sorry, Mayor, but I was thinking more of a part-time job maybe? Just something to earn a few bits when I’m bored.”

“Ah, I see… Well, I’m sorry, but we don’t have that kind of job here.” She visibly deflated, her hopes of relieving the weight of paperwork from her shoulders slipping from her grasp. Suddenly, she perked up again as an idea seemed to hit her. “Oh! You may find what you’re looking for at Twilight Sparkle’s library! She’s always studying magic, maybe you two could share some of your findings?,” she suggested.

That sounded like a good idea. “Okay, thanks, Mayor!” You thanked her before leaving.





It didn’t take you long to find Twilight’s library, Golden Oak. It was a large tree turned into a house, quite similar to Zecora’s hut now that you thought of it, maybe it wasn’t that uncommon architecture?

You knocked on the door to check if someone was inside. Not before long, you could hear a distant voice calling you in.

As you entered the building, you couldn’t  help but notice that all the first floor walls were completely filled with books from top to bottom, all in pristine condition. Nevertheless, your hive still contained way more books than this rather small library, even though you didn’t know how many books were still salvageable from the old ruins…

Your wondering was interrupted by a big pile of books walking in your direction. From behind the books peeked the head of a small, purple and green dragon, smiling at you. “Hello there, Ms. My name’s Spike, how can I help you?”

You were surprised by meeting your first dragon. All the thoughts and memories you had access to from before you were born told you about the fearsome and dangerous creatures dragons were and how dangerous they were to changeling hives as they sought caves to store their hoards of gems… You were beginning to doubt those memories.

“Hello Spike, I’m Enigma. I’m searching for Miss Twilight Sparkle, is she here?” you asked, kneeling down to meet the dragon’s height.

“Oh, sure, just a sec,” Spiked said, leaving the pile of books on a counter in the center of the room. He walked back to a doorway at the far end of the library and called, “Twilight! Ms. Enigma is looking for you!”

From the doorway came a lavender unicorn with a dark purple mane and the cutie mark of a sparkling star. She was reading a book held by her purple aura. “Who?” she asked, looking up from her book. Upon noticing you, she put the book on top of the pile that rested at the counter and smiled. “Oh, hello Ms… Enigma, right? I’m Twilight Sparkle, what can I do for you?”

“Yes, hello, Miss Sparkle. You see, I just recently moved in and I was told by Mayor Mare that you might be able to help me find a part-time job,” you explained. You could feel a great power within her, it was somewhat frightening, but you couldn’t help but feel like you didn’t need to worry about her.

“Is that so?” she asked, confused.

“Yes… Y-you see, I’m a graduate of Ancient Magic and Arcane Studies from the Manehattan Academy of Arcane Sciences. Mayor Mare mentioned that you liked to study magic, and I thought that maybe I could share some of my knowledge with you from time to time,” you told her, your persona’s story already feeling natural to you.

“Really? That’s fantastic!” Twilight squealed in excitement. “Tell me, who is your favorite wizard?”

That was a question you were not prepared for…

Panicking, you sent a plea for help through the hivemind.

Your sudden plea woke up your workers, who were still napping at the future gene pool, with a rough rough start as they fumbled around trying to figure out what was going on. ‘W-what’s the matter, my Queen?’ Redwood asked.

Go to the library, search for anything about ancient wizards, quickly! you instructed.

Right away, Apathy replied. You could feel your drones buzzing their wings frantically as they went to the library. You tried to maintain the best poker face you had while Twilight just stared at you, anxiously waiting for your reply, trying to buy time for your drones to find anything useful.

A good two seconds passed and Twilight’s stare was almost piercing through your soul at that point. Your drones frantically searched for anything talking about ancient wizards, but with little success. We can’t find anything solid, my Queen, but there are a lot of books written by Starswirl the Bearded around here…

That would have to do!

“Well, I really enjoyed Starswirl’s works…” you offered your response to Twilight with a weak smile, praying to the Mother Queen that she would buy that.

Twilight’s maniac stare was replaced by a wide smile, she was overflowing with admiration. “I love Starswirl too!” She gave a little jump in agitation. “What is your favorite theory of Starswirl?”

Buck…

Broadcasting your conversation through the hivemind, your workers were already searching for an answer.

This is a sorcerer’s job… Lazy Mist whined.

Just focus, Devian shot back, speed-reading through a pile of books.

Try the Magic Spin Theory, my Queen, Phengaris proposed, relaying the information to you.

“Well, I particularly enjoy the Magic Spin Theory, where he describes how a unicorn horn spiral may affect the spellcasting process,” you said to Twilight, your voice filled with confidence as you reinforced your persona’s alleged faculties.

Twilight’s mouth fell agape at your answer, apparently surprised that you knew about that theory. “Yes, that’s an amazing theory! It’s a shame there’s so little record of it...” She pouted at the notion of missing out on so much information.

“Well, the place I am currently residing, the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters, has some books on the subject, I could share them with you if you’d like,” you offered, totally unprepared for what was about to come…

Twilight almost burst into joy as she began prancing in place. “Oh yes yes yes yes yes! I would love to study magic with you! Can we go to your place right now?!”

Now that was getting out of hoof…

“You know, I’ve been traveling for years now, I wanted to rest a bit before anything else. I’m still looking for other options to pass the time, but I’ll come back to you with an answer later, okay? I’ll even lend you some books,” you offered, trying to dissuade her.

Noticing her over-enthusiasm causing you discomfort, Twilight cleared her throat and tried to recompose herself. “O-of course, I-I understand. But please do come back, okay?” she asked as you began to backstep your way to the door.

“I will!” you reassured her one last time before leaving. Once outside, you let out a deep sigh. That was a close one…

Deciding on taking some time to relax, you found that Derpy was at the Sugar Cube Corner throughout the hivemind and decided to meet her there.





Arriving at the Sugar Cube Corner, you took a seat at one of the empty tables, waiting for Derpy, who was ordering a big batch of muffins. Noticing you, she smiled and waved, sitting next to you when she fetched her breakfast.

“How is it going, my Queen? I’ve heard through the hivemind that you got into trouble?” she started, a bit of worry in her voice.

“Yeah, I was searching for a job and Twilight Sparkle caught me by surprise,” you explained, laying your head on the cold table’s surface.

“Yeah… sometimes Twi asks too many questions, but she’s a good mare, and a fine friend,” Derpy said with a warm smile, you could feel a tinge of appreciation in her voice. “So, what did you find so far?”

“Well, Zecora agreed to teach me how to make potions. I’m sure they could sell for a good price, and having a potion or two with me could prove helpful,” you started, stopping to munch on a muffin that Derpy offered you. “I also managed to convince Twilight to study magic with me. Since she’s so well-known, it will certainly help me build reputation, and I might even learn a new spell or two.”

“That’s certainly a good start,” Derpy complimented you, trying to make you feel better after your mistep.

“Still, I think I could try to find some other option…” you mumbled, taking another bite of your muffin.

Thinking for a bit, a rhetorical light bulb seemed to light up in Derpy’s mind as she came up with an idea. “I know! Why don’t you visit the Ponyville clinic? There is a lot of sick foals there that would love someone to read stories to them. It would be mostly a voluntary job, but I’m certain somepony will throw a few bits your way for the help. Besides, their affection could certainly be useful, especially since you’re covering my, uhm, ‘expenses’,” Derpy offered, a bit of guilt punctuating her last comment.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Thanks, Derpy, glad to have you with us.” You smiled at her, trying to make sure she knew she was, indeed, welcome in your hive.





As you entered the Ponyville clinic, you found its halls to be mostly empty, aside from the occasional nurse or a coughing pony. It appeared to be a calm day at the hospital. You approached a white earth pony mare with blue eyes and pink, tied up mane wearing a nurse cap behind the reception counter.

“Hello, miss. I’m Nurse Redheart, do you require medical assistance?” the nurse asked as you approached.

“Huh? Oh, no dear, I’m fine.” You feigned your old age. “My name’s Enigma, and I have been told that there are some poor foals that could use some cheering up?”

“Oh, that’s great! Follow me please.” Nurse Redheart guided you through the hospital corridors to the pediatric isle, dozens of colorful childish drawings decorating the dull white walls, trying to liven up the place.

“You see, we had a nurse, Candy Stripper, that always spent some time with the foals, but since she moved to Canterlot, we didn’t have anypony to substitute her, so the foals have been pretty down lately,” Redheart explained, showing you a room occupied by eight sick foals, boredom and sadness stamped on their faces.

The nurse opened the door and greeted the children, “Good morning, everypony! We have a guest! Say hello to Ms. Enigma.”

“Hello, Ms. Enigma,” the kids echoed. You could feel a bit of hope building up in them, as the prospect of some entertainment came to their minds.

“Well, what do you think?” Nurse Redheart asked hopefully.

“They’re adorable.” You smiled. “I need to go back home soon, but I’ll give you an answer as soon as I can, alright?”

“Alright, I’ll accompany you out. Say bye-bye everypony!”

“Bye, Ms. Enigma.”

“See you soon, children!”

Leaving the hospital, you pondered about your job opportunities, trying to decide which one to pick. However, your thoughts were interrupted as your workers called to you.

My Queen, we’ve finished building the gene pool as you requested!

Thank you, my drones. I’ll give you further instructions soon.

Uhm… My Queen?

Yes?

I was wondering if we could dig a tunnel to the healing spring to feed some of its water to our hive. It would be an arduous task, but I’m sure its regenerative waters would help us rest and recover a lot faster!

I see…

So many choices to make, the right job may prove to be extremely beneficial to you and your hive as a whole, as does the healing spring, but is the cost worth it?





Meanwhile, Derpy just finished her breakfast and was about to leave to begin her own work when she noticed three of her hivemates, Pupa, Evening and Rose standing disguised as their pony personas in front of the shop, staring through its window.

“Uhm, what's up, everyling?” she asked, confused by their actions.

Her question seemed to break them from their stupor as they shook their heads to clear their minds.

“Oh, hum, hello Derpy.” Evening greeted her, not really know where to go from here.

“What are you doing?” She asked them.

“W-well, we were gathering love for the hive when we found this place...” Pupa explained.

“Everything here looks delicious but we don’t have any bits…” Rose completed her sister’s sentence.

“Oh! Well, come on in, I’ll buy you some milkshakes.” Derpy beckoned them, happily strolling back inside.

Milkshakes? They all wondered in unison.
> Chapter 06 - Work Hazards
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After pondering for a few moments, you relayed your new commands throughout the hivemind.

Alright, you may begin working on the Healing Oasis.

Thank you, my Queen! It’ll help us a lot, you’ll see! the workers thanked you with glee, hurrying to work.

As for the rest of you, you may return to the hive with me at the end of your shifts to rest.

Understood, my Queen, the rest of the drones confirmed their new orders.

Now the only thing left to do was to decide what job to take. I guess that working with Miss Twilight might prove very advantageous, she appears to have a highly esteemed reputation with the Ponyville residents. Befriending her might be worh it, you concluded.

Well, I can always switch jobs in the future, if necessary.

With your path set, it was time for you to return to your hive to fetch some of those old arcane tomes. If you were going to work with Twilight Sparkle, you had to make sure that your knowledge of arcane sciences was as keen as possible. Plus, judging by her reaction at the prospects of acquiring such ancient relics, she would appreciate the gesture.





Your journey back home was quick and uneventful, you easily found a couple of books about some interesting subjects and loaded then in your saddlebags. But the same couldn’t be said about your journey back…

It appeared that the Timberwolf season was still in full effect. Dozens of menacing eyes followed you as you walked down the path to Zecora’s hut through the Everfree Forest, choosing to remain disguised to avoid being spotted by her.

Most of the vicious creatures only glared at you from the distance, but some dared to face you closer, growling and baring their wooden teeth. None got too close though as Zecora’s gift warded them off from doing so.

By the time you reached the hut, the Timberwolves had vanished back into the woods. You knocked on the door, keeping an eye out for any overly pesky Timberwolf that might still be lurking around.

Zecora opened the door a few minutes later. She was wearing a pocketed beige apron and carried a big wooden spoon in her mouth. Judging by the smell coming from inside, she was cooking some delicious soup. She placed the spoon in the apron’s pocket, allowing her to speak freely.

“Ah, Ms. Enigma. Please come in, the soup is almost ready, I might be able to serve you something,” she offered, but you refused her invitation, raising a hoof in apology.

“Sorry, Miss Zecora, but I won’t be staying. I just wanted to ask if we could postpone our classes until a later date. If you don’t mind, it would be great.” You paused for a second, noticing your unintentional rhyming at the end of your sentence. “Hehe, sorry,” you apologized sheepishly, causing Zecora to chuckle.

“It’s alright. Well, whenever the lores of alchemy you wish to explore, all you have to do is knock on my door,” she offered, waving you goodbye as you waved back and went off.





When you arrived in Ponyville, you decided to pay a quick visit to the hospital to apologize to Nurse Redheart and the sick children. You easily found the nurse in the hospital’s reception. She was bringing a box of tissues to a sneezing earth pony stallion who was waiting for his appointment with his doctor.

“Miss Redheart?” you called, clearing your throat to catch her attention.

Her face lighting up upon seeing you, she trotted towards you with a big smile and greeted you. “Hello again, Ms. Enigma. The children will be so happy that you’re here!”

“Oh, um, sorry, Miss Redheart, but unfortunately I won’t be staying long, but I promise I’ll come back to play with them when I have the time, okay?” you explained the nurse, a bit sad yourself.

“Oh…” Miss Redheart visibly deflated, her hopes for some entertainment for the sick children washed away by the news.

An idea came to your mind, a way for you to make up for leaving them hanging. “Uhm, may I talk to them for a bit?” you asked the nurse.

“Sure, you know how to get there, right? I need to take care of some patients here.” Redheart gestured to the small crowd of sick ponies waiting in the reception room.

“Yes, I can get to them by myself. Sorry for interrupting.”

“Don’t worry about it. Have a good day, Ms. Enigma.” She said her goodbye before returning to her patients.

You easily navigated through the corridors of the hospital toward your destination, finding your way in a labyrinth of twists and turns being almost second nature to a changeling.

You entered the bathroom just a few meters away from the children’s room, checking to see if anypony was there. Once you were sure you were alone, you locked the door.

Closing your eyes in front of the mirror, you concentrated your magic in your horn. Gathering enough energy, you created about a dozen blobs of changeling slime, one for each child.

“Okay, now for the hard part…” Concentrating again, your magic began to envelop each and every blob of slime, slowly molding it into a rough teddy bear shape. Once you were satisfied with their form, you enveloped them with an iridescent fire. The fire burned the slime, leaving behind the soft plush as the slime turned into the stuffed animal.

The process was a bit tiring, it was one thing to shapeshift yourself, it's changeling biology, but shapeshifting something else was another story. It required a lot of concentration and skills to nail it.

Wiping a bit of sweat off your forehead, you let out a sigh of relief. You inspected your work with pride, a whole rainbow of fluffy and cuddly teddy bears sat in front of you. Satisfied with the results, you grabbed them all with your magic and went to the children’s room.

“Hello everypony, I have a gift for you!” you said in a sing-song voice. All the children immediately got out of their beds and wobbled towards you, eager to receive their presents.

“Now now, back to bed everypony, or Miss Redheart will kill me!” You joked, helping the foals climb back onto their beds and giving them their plushies.

Once everypony was back in their beds, you waved your goodbye and said, “Bye kids, I’ll be back to play with you sometime!”

“Bye, Ms. Enigma!” they shouted back, the appreciation for their new toys enough to compensate the energy you spent to create them.





Once everything was taken care of, you proceeded to Golden Oak Library, where your future co-worker awaited you.

“Oh, hello, Ms. Enigma!” Twilight called from her balcony when she noticed you approaching. She ran inside and opened the door, levitating the heavy saddlebags off your back. “I’m glad you decided to return!”

“I’m glad as well, I think we will have a lot of fun researching magic together,” you replied, smiling at her enthusiasm.

“Sure we will! Working with someone with your experience will be great!” she said, laying your saddlebags on the table.

You reached for them and fetched your books, presenting them to Twilight. “I brought some pretty interesting tomes that I thought you might like to examine,” you said, levitating a red and silver tome and a blue and black one. “This one is about ‘Metaphysics and how to mess with it’ and this one is about ‘Advanced levitation and other applications to telekinesis’.”

“Oh, I think I’ve heard about these before, they were written by that famous, pre-Equestrian sorcerer, Time Shift, right?”

“That is correct…” you started to say but were interrupted by Twilight, who began to prance in place excitedly.

“Oh, yes yes yes! I’ve had my eyes on these books for such a long time, do you know how hard it is to find a modern copy of them without mistranslations from the old ponish?!”

“W-want to start with these, then?” you asked, almost defensively, preparing yourself in case she tried to pounce on you.

And she technically did. “YES!” Twilight cried, jumping and grabbing the books from your magic.





After Twilight managed to calm down, it didn’t take long for both of you to dive deep into the pages of those ancient books. Translating them was easy with the help of one of Twilight’s trusty dialect dictionaries

You now sat in an emptied living room, all objects had been moved to the sides to clear space. Each of you held a small scroll that contained a new spell you spent most of the afternoon developing.

“You think it’s going to work?” you asked Twilight, a bit of worry in your voice.

“I hope so,” she confessed, not more confident than you. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Three…”

“Two…”

“One…”

You both lit up your horns and cast the spell. Suddenly, you felt you hooves being swept from beneath you. Losing your balance, you braced yourself for impact, but instead of falling, you completely turned upside down in the air as you began to “fall” towards the ceiling.

You landed in the ceiling with a soft “oof”. The spell worked, you actually reverted how gravity affects you!

“Haha, this is amazing!” Twilight cheered from the other side of the room.

You began pacing around, testing to see if the spell would hold. Each step felt just like walking on the ground, there was no difference in the gravitational pull at all!

“Huh, I really doubted this was going to work,” you said.

“I know right...” Twilight started saying but was interrupted as Spike entered the room, carrying a tray with tea and cookies.

“Hey, Twi, Ms. Enigma, I brought you some…” He derailed, finding the room empty. “Uhm, Twilight?

“We’re over here, Spike!” Twilight called, waving her hooves.

The drake’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Woah, how did you get up there?”

“We managed to develop a personal gravity reverter spell,” you explained to him.

“I see. That’s cool and all but… how will you two get down?"

"..."

"..."





The sun was beginning to set when you finally managed to get down. It turned out that because all the excitement of developing that complicated spell, both of you forgot to write a counter-spell.

You sat with Derpy at a table in Sugarcube Corner, three empty glasses of chocolate milkshake sat in front of you as you were already halfway down the fourth one.

“Sweet Mother, I’ve never drunk milkshake before, why I craved it so badly?!”  you asked Derpy in annoyance. After you left Twilight’s home, you began to feel a strong and weird crave for the cold drink, even though you didn’t even know the name of it at that point.

“He hehe, I wonder why…” Derpy replied quietly, nervously munching on her muffin, like if she was guilty of something… “So you spent the whole afternoon stuck on the ceiling?” she asked you, changing the subject.

“Yeah, and let me tell you, that really sucked. We had to spend hours holding those heavy books with our magic because the darn spell only affected ourselves… I’m spent.” You whined, letting out a heavy sigh of defeat. You laid your head on the table and chugged on the spiraling straw with gusto like it was your lifeline.

Behind the counter, Mrs. and Mr. Cake were decorating the shop, hanging little orange and black paper banners, pumpkins and bats everywhere.

“What’s that?” you asked Derpy.

“Oh, the decorations? It’s for Nightmare Night!”

“Nightmare Night?”

“Yeah, it’s a celebration where everypony walks around with cute or creepy costumes asking for candy! It’s one of the most popular celebrations ponies have, the town gets so crowded that even a changeling could walk around undisguised without raising alarm!” Derpy explained, eating another muffin.

“Is that so?” you wondered. ‘This could be a fun break for my drones to enjoy, they do deserve it after working so hard lately.’

Suddenly, a crazy idea came to your mind, an idea so crazy that it might even work.

‘Maybe they could even go undisguised… It would be a good way to ease our real forms into the ponies if we were ever to attempt peaceful negotiations in the future, or maybe if we were to be discovered…’

Your thoughts were interrupted by Derpy as she gestured towards your neck and asked, “Huh… did you leave your trinket at the hive?”

“Trinket…” You patted your neck and chest, but Zecora’s gift was nowhere to be found. “Oh, no! I may have dropped it when I turned the reverse gravity spell off!”

You got up from your seat and was about to go search for your necklace when you felt an agonizing dread take over your body.

Time slowed down and every fiber of your muscles locked down as a sickening cry echoed through the hivemind; ‘HELP!’

Your head snapped toward your hive, ears pointing forward in attention. You could feel the distress spreading through the hivemind, alerting all the other drones. Your workers were in danger!

Your instincts kicked in in full force. You wanted to drop your disguise, to fly away as fast as possible to their aid, and you were about to do so but Derpy dashed in front of you, snapping you out of your desperation.

You can’t do it here, there are pegasi managing the weather today, you would be spotted! she told you through the hivemind, pointing a hoof up towards the clouds. Sure enough, there was a team of pegasi taking control of some rogue clouds that wandered away from the Everfree Forest.

You didn’t even take the time to reply, you took off in a mad gallop.





Your lungs burned as you ran through the grass fields of the forest, you’ve been running at top speed for minutes, deciding to keep the disguise to avoid being spotted by any pegasus that wandered too deep into the forest while cleaning the skies. Derpy was flying just a few meters ahead of you, her locust heritage bestowing her far greater stamina than a normal changeling.

Your mind was on autopilot, cursing yourself for taking so long to reach your drones. You could feel their worry and desperation like they were your own, and that horrible feeling kept growing stronger and stronger as you almost reached your hive.

You tried to talk to them, to calm them and to learn what happened. Apparently, in their tired state, they had an accident while finishing the tunnel to the Healing Spring. Now they were trapped and the water was rising fast.

You kicked yourself mentally for allowing your drones to work for such a long period of time. How could I let that happen?!

Suddenly, a loud and spine-chilling howl completely froze all other thoughts passing through your mind. Your heart skipped a beat upon realizing that a pack of what appeared to be almost twenty Timberwolves was in hot pursuit.

When did their numbers get so high?! you thought, panicking. You’ve only seen a few Timberwolves here and there over the past few days. You didn’t know their numbers could grow so fast! If only you’ve sent your warriors to scout the surrounding areas when you had the chance, maybe this threat could have been avoided…

Your first instinct was to fly as far away as possible, but then, a hard realization hit you like a carriage; You were leading them directly to your hive.

Derpy, go to the hive, the workers are trapped in a tunnel on the lower level of the ruins, see if you can help them! you instructed, turning around and going into a defensive stance.

What are you going to do?! she asked, landing on the grass with a short skid due to the sudden stop.

I need to prevent the Timberwolves from reaching the hive!

You crazy?! They’re gonna shred you to pieces!

There’s no point in rescuing the workers if the Timberwolves get in! The rest of the hive will be here soon, I can take them. Now go! you ordered her one last time. You could feel her disagreement, but she obeyed you nonetheless. Now it was only you and the Timberwolves.

You dropped your disguise and lit up your horn. You were not about to give them any space. You began firing your magic bolts to the nearest wolves, hitting two of them in the head, causing them to dismantle. The whole pack ran toward you, they were not going to give you space either.

Two wolves got to you first, they tried to bite your front legs, but you managed to avoid them by casting your kinetic skates spell and dodged to the side. Taking advantage of the speed, you circled around the two wolves and shot them down. Four down, fourteen more to go.

Another Timberwolf got behind you and pulled you by the tail, making you lose your balance and fall. Three Timberwolves were about to bite you while you were down, but you quickly shapeshifted into a squirrel and climbed one of them. You jumped from wolf to wolf as the others tried to catch you, stumbling on top of each other in a messy pile of scattered wood.

You reverted to your original form, appreciating the chaos you caused. A new Timberwolf jumped on your back, its sharp wooden stakes of teeth cracking you carapace and sinking into your back. Another wolf took the opportunity and bit your hind leg, pulling it and dropping you to the ground.

You instinctively rolled into a ball, protecting your neck and sensitive underbelly. You tried to create some space with a small kinetic blast, but the wolves’ attacks were relentless. As soon as the first layer of timberwolves was blast off of you, more piled up on top of you, biting and scratching everything they could.

Your hardened carapace and fetal position made it hard for the wolves to get a good angle to bite. You felt a sharp jab at your back as one lucky scratch ripped your wings off. Pain clouded your mind, your vision beginning to blur. The only feeling besides the constant burn from all the scratching and biting was your fear, but not your fear of being eaten alive, it was your fear of what these wolves would do to your drones.

Suddenly, you felt a strange spark of energy running through your spine. It was a similar feeling from what you felt yesterday, but this time it went up, from your belly and into your head. This new-found energy helped you clear your mind as you cast a new, and stronger, kinetic blast.

The Timberwolves retreated a few meters, their numbers reduced to only half a dozen. More than enough to finish you off. You steadied your hooves and got up, only to tremble and fall to your knees a few seconds later. There was no more strength within you, you have lost the fight.

The Timberwolves inched closer and closer, savoring the taste of your glowing blood on their maws. The biggest wolf, the alpha, was about to pounce you, but out of nowhere, five iridescent flashes of energy hit the Timberwolves as your warriors used their bodies as a living artillery, launching themselves into the vicious beasts. The sixth timberwolf barely had time to react as your gatherers swarmed it, beating it into a pile of splinters.

After the threats were gone, your drones rushed to your aid, their overwhelming worry completely taking over the hivemind.

My Queen, are you alright?!

Help me... reach the hive… you said, weakly.

Your drones quickly helped you up and supported you as you stumbled your way to help your workers. You finally reached the steps to the Castle of the Two Sisters when a thunderous howl made the ground shake, almost throwing you off balance.

You watched in shock as a giant Timberwolf emerged from the trees, his green eyes glaring daggers right at you.

Quicker than your abused body could react, your warriors took off to assault the invader. They swarmed the great wolf’s face, flying around his attacks and firing magic bolts at it. Every time a piece of wood was hit by your warriors, it would fly back to its place a few seconds later.

“S-should we help the warriors, my Queen?” your gatherers asked, not knowing what to do.

You couldn’t help but stare at it in horror, how would you be able to defeat it? You tried to find any opening, any weakness, but the Timberwolf was completely armored by its magical wood, which pulsated with green magic every time it re-grew a new piece.

Wait… An idea surfaced in your mind. Warriors, focus your attacks at the creature’s chest, you commanded your drones.

Yes, my Queen! They confirmed your orders, swiftly looping around another of the creature’s attacks and firing all their magic bolts at the same spot at its chest.

True to your suspicions, the hole formed by the attack revealed a giant seed, pulsating with magic like a heartbeat, feeding the creature.

Don’t let it regrow, keep that hole open! you instructed your warriors. “You, get inside and help your siblings quickly, and you, I need you to feed me your magic,” you instructed your gatherers as well. The first unit reluctantly obeyed your orders and went inside while the others began to siphon their love to you, empowering you.

You channeled their magic to your horn, enveloping you with a powerful force field of iridescent flames. Charging all the energy you received into one single attack, you combined your reverse gravity spell with the living artillery and launched yourself like a bullet.

You ordered your warriors to clear the area. Faster than the Timberwolf could regenerate, you pierced its wooden armor, tearing its heart through its back.

The wolf exploded into thousands and thousands of splinters as you fell limply behind it, with no wings to break the fall. But before you hit the dangerous wooden pikes that formed after the Timberwolf’s explosion, Derpy, now undisguised, dashed to your rescue and broke your fall.

“Thank you… Derpy…”





A couple of minutes have passed. Your mind slowly came back into consciousness as you woke in the newly built Healing Oasis. Upon realizing where you were, you quickly shot up in distress, trying to find your drones.

Relax, Your Highness, your workers are fine. A bit shaken, but fine, Derpy assured you with a smile.

This news brought you a deep relief that you’ve never felt before. You slumped back into the welcoming healing waters as your body demanded you to rest. “Thank the mother…”

“No, thank you,” Derpy corrected. “You’re a very brave queen, you know? If you haven’t stopped to fight the Timberwolves, they might have gotten to your drones as they returned to the hive. You granted them safe passage to help your workers.”

“I’m just glad they’re all okay,” you replied, inspecting your back for the missing wings.

“Don’t worry, they’ll grow back, thanks to this Healing Oasis. But a barrack would do a better job, I suggest you should consider having one in your hive sooner than later,” she said, shapeshifting into her usual disguise. “Well, I gotta go now, I’ll be late to pick up Dinky from school if I don’t hurry up. Goodbye, my Queen.”

“Goodbye… and thank you.”
> Chapter 06.5 - Family (2K Views Special)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has been a couple of days since the Timberwolf incident. The Young Queen spent most of the first day bathing in the rejuvenating waters of her new chamber, and just like her drones said, it was really worth it. Aside from the nasty bite in her back, most of her injuries were adjust gone, and her wings had begun to grow back.

The next day, she returned to her newly acquired job with Twilight Sparkle, slowly building her reputation and wealth towards her ultimate prize, the comfy chair!

However, not all things have really returned to normal. Much to Derpy’s displeasure, the Young Queen bombarded her with questions as some unexpected things began to happen in her body;

Derpy, why does the hivemind feel so strongly vivid all of a sudden? Is it normal?

Derpy, I'm beginning to feel some strong headaches, is there a way for me to tone the hivemind down?

Ugh, why am I having some weird cravings out of sudden?!

Uhm, Derpy? The soft chitin in my underbelly is expanding over my barrel… Am I okay?

Ugh, for Mother’s sake, now I'm getting nauseated. What in Tartarus is wrong with me?!

Sorry about that… I don't know why I got so moody, I'm probably tired. I'm going to sleep early today, good night, Derpy.

Now it was the third day after the incident. Derpy woke up around six in the morning, her disguise already in place. After spending years living undercover, she got accustomed to never letting it drop, even during sleep. Today, much to her relief, the Young Queen was sleeping in. Don't get her wrong, she loved to be back in a hivemind, but the constant barrage of questions and whining was really distracting recently…

She dropped her disguise for a few seconds, buzzing her sore wings and letting a few sparks off her horn. After the extreme flight three days ago, she really began to feel self-conscious about how tired she got. She was a locust changeling, flying like that shouldn’t make her tired at all!

I think I'll start doing some workout flying in the mornings…

She put up her disguise again, it was time to get out of bed and start the day. Yawning one last time to chase the sleepiness away, she threw up the covers and jumped out of bed. Paying a quick visit to the bathroom, Derpy brushed her teeth and freshened up a bit, since she took a bath before going to bed yesterday, she didn't need to take another one now.

From there, she left her room and crossed the corridor to Dinky’s room. Her room was much like Derpy’s; a small suite with light yellow wall paint and a beige carpet covering the floor. However, her room also had lots of dolls and plushies scattered all around, the remainder of yesterday's meet up Dinky had with a few friends.

Dinky lay in her single bed, buried under a mountain of pillows. Derpy walked carefully towards her, crossing the toy filled room like it was a minefield. She removed the top pillow with her wings to reveal the sleeping face of Dinky underneath. She giggled at her daughter’s expression, sleeping with an open mouth while hugging her pillow, a pool of drool forming besides her.

Derpy kissed the filly’s forehead, causing her to shift to the side. “Wakey wakey, my sleepy bed bug! It's almost time for school!” she chanted. Dinky loved to sleep all day, earning her ‘Bed Bug’ nickname.

“Just five more minutes…” the filly pleaded, still half asleep.

“Nu-hum, I want you to clear your room before you go to school, and you wouldn't want to be late for the pre-nightmare night party with Miss Cheerilee and your friends, right? Come on now, I'll prepare your breakfast in the meantime,” Derpy insisted, nudging Dinky with her muzzle.

“Humm, okay…” she groaned, rubbing her eyes, sitting up.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Derpy kissed her one more time before going down to the kitchen.

With practiced dexterity, Derpy quickly gathered all the ingredients she needed from her fridge and started to make some hay waffles. She mixed the hay, eggs and milk in a bowl with her wings while preheating the stove.

Fetching a plate from the cabinet on the wall next to her, she placed four steamy waffles on it and smeared them with a lot of maple syrup, Dinky’s favorite. She placed the food on the dining table near a glass of fresh apple juice. Derpy could hear the clip clop of tiny hooves running down the stairs, their movement being guided by an empty stomach.

“Remember what I told you about running on the stairs, sweetie, you might trip and hurt yourself,” Derpy reminded her, taking a seat at the dining table.

“Sorry!” the little filly apologized, slowing down her pace. “I finished cleaning up my room, Mom,” she continued, climbing on the chair in front of her waffles.

“Thank you, dear. Now, have you decided what Nightmare Night costume you’ll be wearing tomorrow night?”

“Hum, I was thinking, since you like to call me bed bug, maybe I should go with some scary bug monster costume tomorrow!” the filly announced with pride, her mouth dripping with syrup.

“But what about your princess dress you used last Nightmare Night? That looked great on you,” Derpy argued.

“I checked it yesterday, it’s too tight, I’m a grown up filly now, you know! Besides, I wanted to use something scary!” Dinky claimed, raising her hooves in a threatening manner.

“Hehe, alright then, I think I might have an idea of what you may like…” Derpy teased her, laughing at her cute antics.

“Can you help me with my costume, Mommy?” Dinky asked with big, puppy eyes.

“Sure, we can work on it after you’re back from your party at school.”

Suddenly, the filly gasped in shock. She was so distracted that she was late for her party! She downed her apple juice in one big gulp and stuffed her mouth with as much waffles as she could fit in. She jumped down the chair and ran to the front door. “Thanks, Mom, gotta go!”

Rolling her eyes and smiling, Derpy proceeded to wash the dishes and finish her chores at home, her mind wondering how cute Dinky would look like if she was a changeling larva. She couldn’t help herself, she simply had to make that happen!

After finishing the dishes and putting her washed clothes to dry, Derpy put on a fitness outfit and took off for her newly added workout session. She flew around town for a few minutes, purposely beating her wings harder than she needed to so she could build up her stamina.

Deciding to take a quick break, she landed in front of Sugarcube Corner to buy her own breakfast. The bakery was mostly empty this early in the morning, most ponies that shopped here at these hours tend to have their orders place the previous day so they only had to pick it up, but others, like Derpy, were frequent customers, so their goods were already waiting for them.

From behind the counter, a pink earth pony with pink, curly mane carried a tray of cupcakes from the kitchen, a huge smile forming on her face when she saw Derpy.

“Hi Pinkie, glad to see you’re back! How was your trip to your parent’s farm?” Derpy asked, leaning on the counter.

Pinkie placed her tray on a balcony and greeted the pegasus mare. “It was super fun! I even convinced my sisters to decorate the farm for Nightmare Night!”

“That’s great news.” Derpy smiled, sympathetically. “Do you have any muffins?”

“Of course I have, silly! Four muffins coming right up!” The pink pony laughed, bouncing to the kitchen to fetch Derpy’s order.

“A-actually Pinkie, make it two, please,” Derpy asked her with great level of difficulty.

“Only two?” Pinkie skidded into a halt. Her eyes went wide like she had heard the most profane thing ever. “Are you feeling okay?”

A deep blush took hold of Derpy’s face. “I-I’m trying to lose some weight… I’m getting too tired too easily, and m-my rump is too big…”

Pinkie knew all too well how hard it was to keep in shape, the fact that she had such a sweet tooth and that she worked in a bakery didn’t make things easier, but she would never take away her goodies, never!

“Pff, that’s nonsense! You don’t need to take your muffins out! I’ll bake you some diet muffins tomorrow so don’t go losing your faith in them, you hear me?!” the crazy pink mare proposed, hoofing her a bag with the two muffins.

“O-okay, thanks, Pie.” Derpy picked up the bag with her mouth and took off again.

She landed on a cloud just above the town square, eating her two muffins like they were her last. From up there, she could see that most of the preparations for Nightmare Night were already done, only the game and food booths were still missing, but those were usually installed early in the day of the festival.

After she finished her breakfast, she flew back home, took a quick bath, and put on her mailmare uniform, time to go to work.





The rest of the day was very uneventful, too uneventful to be more precise. Derpy expected the Young Queen to bombard her with questions once more, but alas, she never did. She would ask her hivemates if the Queen was alright from time to time, but everytime she asked, the only thing they had to tell her was; “She’s still sleeping.”

The sun was just above the horizon, slowly making space for the moon and the stars. Derpy had already picked Dinky from school and they had spent about one hour in the living room floor, making her costume. But the Young Queen was still sleeping…

Something wasn’t right…

“Mom? Mommy!” Dinky cried, waving her hooves in front of her mother.

“W-what? Oh, sorry, Dinky,” Derpy replied, shaking her head vigorously.

“Is everything okay? You were dozing off?” the filly asked, worried about her mom.

“I was just… thinking about something, don’t worry about it,” Derpy dismissed.

“Okay… Can you pass me the grey paint please?” Dinky asked, pointing to a can of spray.

“Here it is…”

Suddenly, a rather unregal shriek echoed through the hivemind, ‘AHHH!’

Derpy shot up straight, her ears turning in the hive’s direction. It was the Young Queen, something must have happened!

“I-I’m sorry, Dinky, I forgot to do… something, in the office. I’ll finish your costume when I get back home, alright?” she apologized, quickly gathering everything up and placing it on the living room’s table.





Derpy arrived at the hive a few minutes later, panting hard due to the exertion. When inside, it was almost like a glimpse into chaos itself. The drones zoomed in and out of the chambers, gathering everything they could find and piling it up at the Queen’s room.

“What’s happening?” she asked a passing gatherer.

“T-the Queen is…” she started to say, but was interrupted by the Young Queen bursting out of her room. Her belly hung low from her barrel, the frail chitin coverage stretched to its limits, almost completely see through. Inside her belly, dozens and dozens of glowing dots pulsated in synchrony like a heartbeat.

“You’re expecting eggs!” Derpy cheered in joy, it has been years since she last had the opportunity to watch over her old hive’s eggs, one of her favorite activities.

The Young Queen wasn’t as excited though, panic and anxiety clearly painted on her face. “H-H-How could this happen?! I didn’t even…” she derailed, making a lewd gesture with her hooves, causing Derpy to giggle.

“You don’t need too, every Changeling Queen lays her eggs eventually, with a mate or not,” Derpy explained, patting the distressed changeling on the back.

“But I’m too young to be a mother! It’s barely been weeks since I hatched myself!” the Queen countered.

“Well, your body says otherwise…” Derpy pointed to her swollen belly. “Don’t worry, this is wonderful news! Come, let’s get you in the Hatchery, there you can rest and lay your eggs without having to worry to transport them later.”

The Young Queen was escorted to the Hatchery by the entire hive, like she was the most precious thing in Equestria. And at that moment, she was. Once there, the workers and gatherers build a simple bed made of half-hardened slime. Comfortable and malleable, perfect for egg laying.

“Good luck!” Derpy wished as she closed the chamber’s door to give her Queen some privacy.

“W-what do you mean good…” Was the only thing she managed to say before being left alone in the Hatchery.





The following minutes were the most intense exercise the hive ever experienced. The Queen, nervous and afraid, spat a torrent of questions, requests, and commands over the hivemind in an attempt to get her mind out of that horrifying situation.

Should I lay them in the water?

I don’t think so…

Is it too hot in here? Or maybe too cold?

Quick, someling find a book about maternity!

There’s probably nothing about changelings there…

The eggs are pulsating faster, is this normal?!

Bring back the Timberwolves! It’s way less terrifying than this!

“Is she going to be okay?” A gatherer asked Derpy, worried about her Queen.

“Don’t worry, I think the most frightening part has passed. Well, at least if she’s not laying the entire Egg Cluster…”

AHHH MY BELLY IS FALLING OFF!

“Yeah… it was the Egg Cluster…”





A couple of more minutes have passed, though it felt like an eternity. The drones laid scattered along the hive, waiting patiently for their Queen to return. A wave of worry and doubt could be picked up on the hivemind as the drones thought about what comes next.

“Now that she has her own children, will she replace us?”

“Don’t be a fool! She would never do that!”

“But… we’re not her children, we were just sent by mother Elysia to help here…”

“But we don’t know where mother’s hive is… will she just cast us out to save love for her young?”

These doubts worried Derpy, so she reached for the crowd to soothe them. ‘Brothers, sisters, throughout all the years I spent living with my Dinky, I found out that there’s nothing more powerful than the love of a mother for her children. Even if the children aren’t directly hers, she will embrace them and protect them. I know for a fact that you can expect nothing less of our Young Queen.’

Her speech seemed to quiet down most of the worries, but some of them still lingered.

“H-how can you be sure? You have just recently been assimilated into the hivemind…” A warrior near her asked.

“Call it ‘mother’s intuition’.” Derpy replied, smiling.

The conversation was cut short by a powerful surge rippling through the hivemind, the impact was so strong that it even disrupted it’s broadcast for a few seconds. Soon after things finally calmed down, an immense happiness filled the emptiness left by the interruption, feeding into every single changeling in the hive, stronger than any love they collected over these few days.

The whole hive was silent. Everyling slowly approached the door to the Hatchery. Peeking inside, they saw the tired form of the Young Queen, tears of joy ran down her cheeks as she held a big, glowing Egg Cluster in her embrace.

My children, come in and meet your siblings.





The Egg Cluster was resting on its place in the Hatchery, the whole hivemind celebrated the birth of their new younglings, the new generation of changelings that would help the Hive to develop and grow, help the family, to grow.

The Queen rested on her sofa back in the hidden room at the library, her barrel significantly slimmer now that her chitinous membrane slowly began to regrow. Derpy sat right next to her.

“You did a great job back there.” Derpy complemented her.

“I was scared to death…” The queen confessed, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

“All of us were, it’s a very special occasion after all…” Derpy was interrupted by a bright flash that came from the Young Queen’s crown. It melded itself into the Queen’s head, melting and sculpting itself into a completely new crown, now part of her body.

“What was that?” She asked, confused, trying to find a reflective surface to see her crown.

“I’ve seen this before! A Queen or Arch Queen would gift her crown to its heir, and when they reached full maturity, the crown would fuse with their bodies, becoming their own crown. The laying of your first eggs must have triggered its transformation!” Derpy explained. “Hehe, I guess I can’t call you the ‘Young Queen’ anymore huh?”

“Maybe I should be the one calling you Queen, you know way more stuff then I do!” The Queen joked, as they both went into laughter.

Looking over the window, Derpy noticed how dark it was getting. She got up and went for the door. “I’m sorry my Queen, but I need to return to Dinky. I need to finish her Nightmare Night costume for tomorrow…”

But then, an idea came to her mind. “Hey, why don’t you and you drones celebrate Nightmare Night with us? It would be a great way to celebrate your official maturity! You could even go undisguised!” and then another idea ran over the other. “Oh, oh, better yet, why don’t you turn the hive into a Nightmare Night attraction? It’s the perfect place to set a scary maze, ponies would love it!”

Derpy’s excitement was contagious and the Queen really considerer these options. “Yeah, that might be fun, and my drones deserve the break. I’ll think about it.”

“Alright, See you later!”
> Chapter 7 - Nightmare Night, What A Fright?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With your injuries now healed and your belly’s chitin completely regrown, you woke up as soon as the library was illuminated by the colors projected by the stained glass under the sunshine. You’ve been grounded for longer than was comfortable, but now you were ready to spread your wings and fly!

You fluttered down the stairs leading to the main hall, exercising your newly grown wings, happy to hear their soft buzz again. You immediately turned to your right and went straight to the hatchery, where your eggs lay safe and sound. On your way to the hatchery, you noticed how eerily devoid of life the corridors were, your changelings must have gathered someplace else to sleep. You could worry about them later, now you had to check up on your eggs.

As you approached the hatchery, you could hear the little snores coming through the other side. Peeking your head in, you found your drones sleeping in a pile surrounding your eggs. The eggs’ glow slowly pulsated like heartbeats, synchronized with your drone’s breathing as if they were purposely trying to copy the rhythm. 

You could feel the eggs’ connection to the hivemind, their small, still developing minds so serene and tranquil, the presence of their grown-up siblings carrying them through pleasant dreams. They were the most well-guarded treasure in all of Equestria, nothing would be able to harm them.

You pondered for a second letting your drones sleep in today, but the hive needed to be prepared for tonight’s events and you wouldn’t be able to do it all on your own in time. So, with a heavy heart, you swayed your drones to awakeness through the hivemind.

Come on, my children, it’s time to wake up.

Slowly, your drones began to stir from their sleep, one by one. As more of them woke up, they would repeat your broadcast to their sleeping brothers and sisters, coaxing them to get up as well. Your drones carefully left the hatchery, following you back to the main hall, now more alert and ready to start the day.

“What are your commands, my queen?”

“You all have been working hard this past couple of days and thanks to that, our hive has grown. But now I believe you deserve a little break!” you announced, giving a short pause for dramatic effect.

“Tonight is Nightmare Night, and we’re joining the party! We’ll host a scary maze and show the ponies how it’s done!” You reared and threw a hoof up in the air. Your drones buzzed their wings and clapped their hooves again the cold stone floor of the castle ruins, their excitement flowing through the hivemind.

“What exactly are we going to do, my queen?” one of your workers, Apathy, asked.

You’ve been thinking about what to do for Nightmare Night for a bit, some basic ideas came to mind, but nothing all that concrete, you still needed something for the grand finale. But you could worry about that as you worked. “We’ll turn this castle into something straight out of a horror novel. It’s our goal to make things scary, but not too realistic, or ponies might freak out. Gather some information about haunted or cursed sites from the library. We could use that as a basis,” you commanded some of your drones.

“Yes, my queen!”

“The rest of you, follow their instructions. I have to visit the mayor to talk about this event. I’ll be back shortly to help finish the preparations,” you relayed your last orders before spreading your wings and taking off.





The Ponyville town hall was busier than ever as ponies went through all the permits and registrations of all the other booths for the night. It didn’t take you long to find Mayor Mare, buried under a pile of papers over her desk, heavy eye bags signaling a poorly slept night.

You approached the distressed mare with caution, worried that she might pounce at you at the slightest disturbance. “Uhm, Mayor Mare?” You cleared your throat to catch her attention.

“Gah!” the mayor cried, jumping a bit from the scare. The sudden movement sent all her papers flying to the floor. You picked them up with your magic and put them back on her table in a more organized pile.

“Sorry, Ms. Mare, I didn’t mean to scare you,” you apologized, putting the last papers on the top of the pile.

“Oh, that’s not your fault, I’m a bit sleepy and was taken by surprise by your call.” She rubbed her eyes, trying to make her sleepiness leave her in peace so she could finish her work.

“Woke up earlier today?” you asked, while the Mayor’s mind slowly recovered from the shock.

The mayor hung her head in defeat. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure all the permits were taken care off with enough time left in case something else show up. But don’t worry, I’ll take a nap after I’m done with this. Now, how can I help you?”

“Okay then. I was thinking about hosting a scary maze where I’m currently residing at the Castle of the Two Sisters. I have all that I need to set the event, I just need a permit and maybe a way to announce it to the town’s residents,” you explained.

Deflating at the prospect of even more work, the mayor pointed you towards an office room across you on the second floor. “Please talk to my assistant, Raven Inkwell, she’ll give you everything you need.”

“Alright, thanks, Ms. Mare!” You headed to the appointed office room.

Knocking on the door, you heard a voice calling you in from inside. There, a white earth pony mare with dark brown mane welcomed you in and asked you to sit. “How can I help you?” 

“I wanted a permit for hosting a Nightmare Night event. I'd also like to have it advertised, if possible,” you explained again.

“Oh, alright then, please fill these forms and your event will be announced by the mayor at the town's plaza during the festivities.” She hoofed you papers and a quill. 

Quickly filling out the form, you thanked her and left the town hall.

Alright, everyling, time to build a scare maze so creepy and frightening that these poor ponies will never dare to come close to our hive again! you rallied your drones, hearing their chittering cheers coupled with a wave of glee and excitement throughout the hivemind… with only a tiny amount of mischievous intentions thrown in as well. Just a tiny bit… 





Building a perfect scare maze was no easy task. A lot of love supply was invested in the project to produce building slime, but if what Derpy said about Nightmare Night was accurate, the influx of energy would be worth it. 

The first thing you did was hiding you eggs and crystal in a safe place, ultimately deciding that the organ chamber was a secure enough place to keep them. Then, you and your drones proceeded to seal and secure all the rooms that would not be used in the maze with slime, adding an extra layer on the organ chamber just for safety. With the castle secured and the maze path set, your hive spent all the remaining time sculpting giant slime spider webs along the halls, adding more flavor to the already creepy armors, sculpting some distorted figures in dark corners, always making sure that there would be enough room for ponies to run back to the exit in case they decided to flee midway through the maze. Judging by your drones’ diligent and amazing work, they would need the extra escape routes.

With all the work done and the full moon shining brightly in the sky, it was time to party. 

“Great work, everyling! Now, change into your costumes and enjoy the festivities! We'll return later for the scare maze!” you announced, rearing up in excitement. Your drones’ enthusiasm infected you as well.

Your changelings swarmed out of the castle, shapeshifting into various costumes as they flew toward Ponyville. Changing into your own costume, your usual persona wearing a classic witch dress and big pointed hat, you decided to meet up with Twilight. 





It didn’t take long for you to reach the town’s plaza. The place was packed with ponies, all adorned by a wide range of costumes that went from cute to spooky. Dozens of stands filled the streets, offering food, sweets, and games. In the middle of the plaza, a stage was set up and a country band, all in scarecrow costumes, played their lively Nightmare Night tunes for the folk dancing on the floor. Navigating your way through the crowd of happy ponies suddenly made you feel a bit restless, like their energetic glee was feeding onto you.

You shook your head, trying to clear your mind. Not wanting to take any risks, especially since you would be hosting an event really soon, you immediately relayed a report to Derpy, asking if she knew of anything that could cause this reaction.

Changeling Queens tend to be really susceptible to pony emotions, that’s how they find the best targets for harvest. Maybe you awakened this trait after you laid your eggs? And since you haven’t gotten out of your hive since then, the crowd of ponies might be overwhelming your senses. You just need to let your body adjust, there won’t be any problems, she explained, soothing your worries. Apparently, your fully developed body had more tricks than you expected.

Backpedaling from the crowd a little bit, you took a few seconds to adjust. A few moments later, you noticed Twilight and Spike walking down the street, the former ranting about something while the latter ate a huge pile of candy. You waved and trotted towards them.

“Hello, Miss Sparkle.” You checked her costume, she was wearing a dark blue, starry robe and hat with a fake, long white beard. It didn’t take you long to identify the costume as Starswirl the Bearded, Twilight’s idol sorcerer.

“Great costume, Miss Sparkle. It doesn’t surprise me you chose to dress as Starswirl,” you said, earning an excited squeal and hoof claps as a reward.

“Thank you, finally! Somepony who gets my costume!” she thanked you excitedly, doing a little spin to showcase the costume. Apparently, ponies were having a hard time identifying her character, understandably.

“What about mine?” Spike asked from behind Twilight, striking a pose like a mighty dragon claiming his candy as his treasure. He was wearing a dark purple and green dragon costume.

“Yours is… uhm… very original, Spike. Great job,” you commended.

You continued walking with Twilight as she went on and on about starting a group study about unicorn history in the hopes of teaching some Ponyville residents about classic unicorn and sorcery history. Eventually, you reached the food stands area where Twilight asked if you’d like to get something to eat. But before you could choose, a pink earth pony mare dressed as a white chicken, along with a bunch of foals approached Twilight, showing off their gathered candy.

“Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul! Ah! Can you believe it?” The pink pony pecked at her candy as if she were a real chicken. “And then, we went to Cheerilee's house, and got a bunch more goodies. Didn't we, Pip?” she asked a white and light brown colt dressed as a pirate, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Sure did!”

You unconsciously zoned out the pink pony’s chatter as you felt the group’s emotions. They were all happy and excited, eager to knock on the next door and ask for more candy. However, you noticed a new kind of emotion approach from above, it was a mischievous glee. Somepony wanted to cause trouble, but nothing dangerous or harmful, it felt like it was seeking a target for a prank.

Moments later, a dark cloud slowly crept towards you, a rainbow-maned, blue pegasus mare placing it right on top of the group of children. In one quick strike, she hit the cloud, causing a thunderous lightning bolt to spark out of it, startling the pink mare and the children, who quickly fled.

The lightning didn’t seem to affect Twilight all that much, just like you. However, the thing that caught your attention the most were the emotions left by the fleeing group. You could feel their fear, but also… excitement? The two emotions seemed to mix together, creating a surprising reaction.

A maniacal laughter brought you back from your haze as the blue pegasus kicked and rolled on her cloud.

“Rainbow Dash, that wasn't very nice,” Twilight scolded her.

“Lighten up, old-timer. This is the best night of the year for pranks!” Rainbow countered.

“Look what you did to Spike!” She pointed to the poor baby dragon, coughing and twitching on the floor, choking on some candy. You helped him get the candy out with your magic, leaving him winded, limbs splayed on the floor, gasping for air.

“It's all in good fun,” the pegasus dismissed. “Oh! Oh! There's another group over there!”

And with that, Rainbow Dash pushed her cloud towards the next victims, leaving an annoyed Twilight Sparkle carrying an almost passed out Spike on her back.





You proceeded to the game stalls near the stage. There Twilight greeted another of her friends, Applejack, who was also dressed as a scarecrow. Maybe the musicians on stage were her parents? you thought, pondering how the Apple family appeared to be as big, if not bigger, than your hive!

“While y'all are here, ya' feel like bobbin' for an apple?” you heard Applejack asking her friends. Following where she pointed, you found Derpy in a big tub, mistakenly pulling its plug instead of an apple. She was wearing paper bags on her head and hooves, the weirdest costume you’ve seen so far.

“Hey, Derpy!” you greeted her, lending a hoof to help her out of the now empty tub.

“Hello, my Quee… I mean, Ms. Enigma! Nice meeting you here!”

“Say, what is your costume?” you asked, giving up on trying to decipher it.

“Oh, isn’t it obvious? I’m a giant muffin! See?” She lowered her head, showing the Sugarcube Corner logo on the paper bag.

“Oh, of course. I see it now.”

Your exchange was cut short as a round of cheers and applause could be heard from the stage. Ms. Mayor stood up behind a stand, wearing a clown costume, she raised her hoof, asking for silence.

“Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!” The ponies cheered and stomped their hooves. “Tonight, we have two special events! Our newest resident, Ms. Enigma, prepared a special scare maze waiting for you later tonight! Would you dare cross the ‘Hive of Horrors’ and claim its rewards?” Even more cheers came from the crowd. 

You could feel their excitement and anticipation building up, some eager to see what rewards they could win, and others thrilled to take on a new challenge. Their emotions sure were infectious, as more and more ponies joined their fellows in at the prospect of adventure.

“Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of... Nightmare Moon!” the mayor continued, letting out a creepy laughter that didn’t work all that well with her costume. 

A green mist took over the stage. From within it, Zecora, wearing a dark cloak with a straight white mane filled with spiders appeared like a ghostly image. “Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon.” She beckoned the little ones, who followed her towards the Everfree Forest.





You already read about the tale of Nightmare Moon and the Nightmare Night festival. How foals had to make candy offerings to Nightmare Moon or she would come back to gobble them up. So you decided to stay in town and observe the ponies a little more, taking on their reactions to some pranks and their emotions. After a couple of minutes, you managed to take quite a number of notes that would help you fine tune your scare maze so it wouldn’t be too scary, nor too dull.

As you strolled through the city, you bumped into a couple of your drones here and there. All of them felt rested and relaxed, having the time of their lives as some played games, others pulled some pranks, and another few just took the opportunity to spend some time with each other and have fun, some of them even appeared to have made some pony friends! 

It looked like your more, friendly approach had echoed through the hivemind, causing your drones to be more at ease near ponies, consequently causing ponies to be more at ease around them. Surely, this demeanor would greatly intensify the amount of passive love collection as your drones started to form proper bonds with ponies. But maybe, it would also cause your drones to be too at ease, potentially lowering their guard in case an aggressive action was taken against the hive.

I wonder if this is the right path to take… you thought to yourself as the idea of meeting other changeling hives passed through your mind. Maybe you won’t be able to protect your drones… protect your eggs… alone. If you were to keep on the more peaceful path, you would have to find like-minded allies. Otherwise, you would have to toughen up and strengthen your army.

Your wondering was abruptly interrupted as a stampede of screaming children led by that pink mare ran past you. You could still feel that weird mix of fear and excitement emanating off of them, albeit, this time the fear factor was way higher.

A few seconds later, dark clouds covered the skies as a dark blue, almost purple chariot pulled by two bat-winged pegasi loomed over the plaza. A dark hooded figure slowly descended from it into the town. The hood turned into a swarm of bats upon landing, revealing a dark blue alicorn mare!

The whole town lay flat on the ground in fear, their emotions spreading thoughts in the hivemind as each and every pony bent their knees in terror of the image before them.

Even though you couldn’t feel any sort of dangerous or harmful intents emanating from the mare, you decided to lay down as well, just to keep a low profile, if nothing else.

The dark mare spread her wings as she walked towards the cowering crowd. Grinning, she shouted in a booming voice, “Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night!” Everypony slowly backed away from the Princess as she continued. 

“A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!” Her speech was punctuated by a frightening lightning strike in the background.


“Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!” the pink mare screamed to the children from within the crowd, causing them to flee. Again, you could feel the same weird mix of emotions, but this time there was almost no fear emanating from the pink mare, instead, it felt almost like playful fun?

What the heck? you thought to yourself.

Your attention was brought back to the alicorn, as she continued in a confused and surprisingly wounded tone, “What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror!” She punctuated her speech stomping her hooves, cracking the ground underneath her.

She suddenly turned to the Mayor, pointing at her. “Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived.” 

The mayor just curled into a ball, covering her eyes with her hooves in fear.

“What is the matter with you?” Luna turned to other ponies, but all of them just cowered in fear. She then curled her wings beside her body and began to smugly walk away. “Very well, then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell!”

Even though Princess Luna held her smug pose all the while walking away, you could feel her emotions clearly. She was insecure, she was nervous, but most importantly, she was sad, very very sad. You felt pity for such a wounded pony. Even though she was a Princess, she was all alone. 

You sent a quiet prayer to the Mother Queen, thanking her for never knowing true loneliness thanks to the hivemind. But ponies didn’t have the same privilege. You decided to try and talk to her, maybe try to cheer her up, or at least offer her company. But before you could move, you noticed Twilight following the Princess, apparently, she had thought of the same thing.

The commotion stirred up the hivemind as well, your changelings chattering with each other about what to do. Calm down, my children, you soothed them. No need to panic, the pony Princess is not a threat to us, yet. Go back to the hive to make sure everything is in order, being discovered with her around could prove catastrophic. Once that’s done, you can return and enjoy the festivities.

Yes, my Queen!





It didn’t take long since the Princess left for the festivities to resume. Ponies still were a bit uneasy, but most of them just pushed those feelings aside and enjoyed the night. Their uneasiness proved to be a very valuable research note, whenever someone was pranked, they would be scared much worse than before Luna had arrived, however, once they saw the prankster laughing at them, they quickly relaxed and laughed as well. You relayed that information back to your drones at the hive, adjusting some of the pranks at the maze to these new parameters.

However, soon enough, Twilight Sparkle had returned with Luna, and everypony they passed by dropped to their knees at her presence. For every pony that cowered when the Princess walked by, you could feel her depression growing and growing, and you noticed a small tinge of frustration starting to build up as well.

This is bad… you thought. You didn’t know what Twilight had done with her while they were gone, but it clearly didn’t work. If things won’t start to get better soon, the situation could escalate really quickly…

You decided to join them to help stabilize her emotions. Being a changeling, you could try and search for the source of her insecurities, and hopefully, help her overcome them. You approached the unicorn and alicorn, making sure that your presence was well-known from a distance, to avoid surprising or aggravating the already unstable mess of a princess.

“Ah, Ms. Enigma! Let me introduce you to Princess Luna,” Twilight called you nervously, her expression that of someone desperate for assistance.

You gave her a little wink to let her know that you got her back. You faced the Princess and kneeled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Luna.” You took her hoof and kissed it, adjusting to Luna’s old-time proper mannerism.

Already you could feel a sense of relief sparking inside the princess. The fact that someone seemed to remember the old ways she was so accustomed to lifted a considerable weight from her shoulders.

“Charmed,” the princess replied, a tinge of happiness in her voice. “But please, thou hast no need to kneel.”

“Alright then. Shall we continue toward the game stalls?” you asked, standing up.

“Great idea! Let’s go!” Twilight replied, taking the lead. She muttered a silent “Thank you” as she walked beside you, to which you nodded.

As you walked down the street, you decided to prod a little bit to see if you could get any hints out of Luna. “So, Princess, what sort of activities did you partake in during Nightmare Night back in your time?” You knew that Nightmare Night was a more recent event, but you wanted to find out what sort of reactions you would get from her.

Immediately, you could feel her mood drop drastically. Guilt, regret, and sorrow washing away what little bit of good emotions she had. “There was no such thing as Nightmare Night back in my age. ‘Tis a festivity that came to be after I… after I turned into Nightmare Moon…”

So that was it. She was still beating at old wounds, not allowing them to heal.

You finally reached the game stalls. Twilight led you to Applejack. She was taking care of a couple of bobbing apple tubs, catching that white and light brown colt that leaned too close and almost fell inside the tub. Once the farmpony noticed that Luna was right next to her, she also ducked and lay on the floor, covering her face.

“Uh... Applejack, the princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here,” Twilight said, trying to get her friend off the ground.

“‘Fit in’? Really?” Applejack asked, confused, receiving an annoyed grunt as a reply. She quickly got up and recomposed herself. “I mean... that's easy! All you gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, have some fun.”

“Fun? What is this ‘fun’ thou speakest of?” Princess Luna asked, confused. The duo pointed towards a game stall that had a bowl of plush spiders and a spider web set on the side. Luna approached the spider toys with curiosity.

“Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?”

You remembered that one of your drones played this game. Quickly going over its memories, you went over the rules of the game and explained it to the princess, “All you need to do is throw the spider on its web. The closer to the center, the more points you score, and you’re not allowed to use your magic or wings, only your hooves.”

She nodded, picking up a spider plushie and threw it, landing only a few centimeters away from its target. “Maybe a little higher, Princess,” you encouraged her. This time, the toy landed right on the web. You could feel a spark of joy lighting up in the princess’ heart, excitement running through her system like a sugar rush.

“Ha! Your princess enjoys this "fun"!” she proclaimed. “In what other ways may we experience it?” she asked Applejack, trying too hard to keep up her regal pose.

Applejack and Twilight then led her to a pumpkin catapult game, where you had a little friendly dispute with the princess. She proved to be quite skilled, beating you with ease. Slowly but surely, ponies started to relax and gather around her and as more and more ponies approached her, her heart warmed more and more. Things seemed to be going exceptionally well!

However, the little colt from before tried to grab an apple again, this time unsupervised, and fell in the tub. Luna quickly jumped into action, before Twilight and you could even react, grabbing the colt by the shirt with her teeth and pulling him out of the tub.

The timing couldn’t be worse as that crazy pink mare approached with her group of foals, searching for the missing colt. “Hey, gals. Anypony seen Pip? We lost him the last time we had to run–” As soon as she landed her eyes on the Princess, Tartarus broke loose. “Aaah! Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!” she cried. Again, you were left confused by that crazy pony’s antics, there was almost no fear in her, nor malice, only… thrill? Of the chase? Of being chased?

It was at that moment that you made up your mind for sure in a very important matter; Ponies were so weird.

Whatever appeared to be good progress was thrown right out the window. The princess lost her temper, causing ponies to back off, and things only spiraled out of control from there. Princess Luna tried her best to get earn their trust back, worsening the situation even more. Soon enough, ponies began running around in panic, causing all sorts of problems.

Luna tried to halt her subjects before anypony got hurt, but they wouldn’t listen. You could feel a deep worry on her on behalf of her fellow ponies, but an even deeper resentment took hold of her. With a thundering voice, she boomed, “Be still!”

All the ponies quickly threw themselves to the ground. Nopony dared to move a muscle.

“Princess, remember! Watch the screaming!” Twilight tried to calm the princess down but to no avail.

“No, Twilight Sparkle! We must use the traditional royal Canterlot voice for what we are about to say.” Luna silenced her. She conjured an eerie lightning storm as she flew up into the sky, looming over Ponyville. “Since you choose to fear your princess rather than love her, and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled! Forever!” she declared before vanishing into the clouds.

Everypony was speechless for a couple of minutes, their emotions, a complete maelstrom as they tried to process what just happened. Until their emotions finally settled into one, sadness. Foals cried along the plaza, their plans for future Nightmare Nights now lying in ruins.

But still, the deeper sadness came from Luna herself. It felt like canceling Nightmare Night struck a stronger blow on her than anypony else. You couldn’t leave things as they were! Luna needed help, and you knew you could help her! Besides, your drones worked their asses off getting everything ready for that damned maze and nopony, princess or not, would ruin their work!

You followed Princess Luna’s emotion trail to the edge of town. There, you found the princess, lowly crossing the bridge that lead out of town. Her head hung low in frustration and disappointment.

You approached her. “Excuse me, Princess?”

“Leave me be, Enigma,” she dismissed you with the most pitiful tone you’ve heard so far.

“Please, Princess, let me talk to you. I want to help you,” you insisted. She paused, then slowly walked to the river bed and sat there, looking at her reflection.

“It can’t be helped,” she said, softly, her voice wavering. “Ponies never liked me. And after today, they never shall…”

You sat next to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “That’s not true, Your Highness. We make ourselves into who we want to be. You can do it too.”

“But how? You saw what happened, they backed away every time I was nearby. They never trusted me!” she cried, a single tear running down her cheek. “They never gave me a chance… not then, not now…”

“That is because you didn’t trust in yourself, Princess,” you said, wiping her tears with your magic.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I’ve spent a good time with you tonight, just like Twilight Sparkle and everypony else. However, let’s just say that I can see… deeper… than other ponies. I could see through you, how unsure you were, how scared you were. How scared you still are,” you explained. Princess Luna stared at you intently, her gaze lost in your eyes. 

You continued. “You see, emotions are a very powerful thing. And just like a virus, it tends to spread. If you’re filled with self-doubt and fear, these emotions will propagate and infect those around you. However, if you’re filled with joy and self-esteem, it will attract other ponies towards you, seeking that same energy.”

You could almost see the gears turning in Luna’s mind, her turmoil of emotions slowly calming down. “But how can I overcome these emotions? After everything I’ve done as Nightmare Moon, I’m scared it might happen again.”

“By accepting who you are. The past is not today. Nightmare Moon was a horrible thing, but that’s still a part of you. It is you who decides if it will be your prison or just a cocoon from which you will break free and spread your wings.” You got up and offered a hoof to her.

“But nopony will give me another chance!” Luna insisted.

“Follow me, I have a plan.”




<Hivemind>




Back in Ponyville, the group of foals gathered near the stage. “Gosh. I never thought my very first Nightmare Night would be my very last,” Pipsqueak said.

“Come, little Pip. Now don't you fret. Nightmare Night's not over yet. We still have candy left to give, so Nightmare Moon might let us live,” Zecora said, cheering him up.

“Yes. Come on, little ponies. What's Nightmare Night without the annual candy offering? Oh, and Ms. Enigma still has her Scary Maze set and waiting for us!” Mayor Mare added.

“Come on, kids! Doesn't that sound like fun?” Applejack nudged them.

The foals followed the pumpkin lanterns set in the Everfree Forest leading towards the Castle of the Two Sisters. The ruins’ entrance was illuminated by some eerie dark blue, almost ghostly-like lit candles resting on the cold stone walls, their flames almost like a portal to the dark void of space. As the foals approached the steps, the doors were thrown open, violently banging the walls.

From within the destroyed halls, a booming, threatening voice spoke to them. “Mwahahahaha! Welcome to my domain, little ones!” the voice had a wavering undertone, almost insect-like, alien in nature. “Come, entertain me! Reach the end of my maze and you shall be rewarded! Back away now if you don’t have the courage to move on!” And just as it came, the voice vanished, leaving only a sinister laughter in its wake.

Some of the foals ran away immediately, but the few that remained marched forward. The doors slammed shut as soon as they stepped into the halls. An unsettling skittering could be heard from all directions, its source nowhere to be found. They cautiously trotted down the main hall towards the old thrones. However, midway there, a sinister symphony could be heard as giant stone walls came out of the floor, trapping the foals who wailed and screamed in fright. 

Shortly after, two paths opened, one leading into a creepy corridor filled with thick spider webs, and the other back to the entrance, now open. Another few fillies ran back to the entrance abandoning their quest, but the rest continued deeper into the maze. Movement through the webs was getting harder and harder, some of the younger foals getting trapped in them. As the young foals struggled in the web, the skittering became louder and louder. 

Suddenly, giant star spiders came crawling from the ceiling towards the trapped foals. The older foals came to the rescue, hitting the spiders with their bags of candy. Their assault caused the spiders to fall from their webs in a comical over-dramatic death. The little show drew chuckles from the children, who felt emboldened by their victory. Freeing their companions, they managed to power through the rest of the webs to a clean hall.

The foals reached a long corridor lit up by torches of the same blue eerie lights, creepy looking armors adorning its sides. Their metallic forms appeared to be overtaken by a gross-looking infection, like overgrown mold. The foals proceeded with caution, never taking their eyes from those creepy armors. Suddenly, the torches at the end of the corridor went out, and so did the ones in the back. More and more torches dimmed out until only the one above them was left. The fillies and colts shook in fear, clinging to each other for dear life. Suddenly, one of the armors bent down towards them and blew out the last candle. 

The foals let out a loud shriek and ran through the corridor as fast as they could, quickly climbing the spiral stairs of the tower as the haunted armors followed suit. One of the fillies took one of the torches with her magic, her little horn barely holding it close to her. She threw it at the feet of the armor in the front, causing it to trip and dismantle itself on the floor as more and more armors piled up on top of it. 

The foals cheered their success and followed the path up the tower. They reached what seemed to be a library, but all the books lay scattered on the floor. Nightmarish still images of creatures popped out of the books, like trying to escape their paper prisons. But there, at the end of the library, was a huge bowl of candy, just waiting to be claimed. 

Tempted by the prospects of even more candy, the foals quickly ran to collect it. But as soon as the last piece of candy was taken from the bowl, the sinister organ played once more. The bowl retreated into the floor through a trap-door. A pillar of rainbowy-iridescent flames took its place. 

From within the flames, a dark figure emerged with holed hooves, jagged horn, and insect-like carapace and wings. “My my, what have we here?” the freakish creature taunted the children, slicking her large fangs with her long tongue. “Little thieves stealing my guest’s treats?”

Suddenly, more iridescent flames appeared amongst them as some of the foals turned into smaller versions of the same monster! They laughed and giggled maniacally, flying circles around the frightened group, corralling them.

Before the children could even scream, another sickening laughter could be heard. A whirlwind of dark magic filled the room, designating the nightmarish creatures from the books and concentrating into a single silhouette. It was the fabled dark mare herself, Nightmare Moon!

Her fanged smile froze the foals in place as they shook in fear. “Don’t worry, my dear friend,” she replied, turning the other monster, slowly circling the children, surrounding them. “Let them eat to their heart’s content. Let them grow chubby and sweet so I can gobble each one of them!” Nightmare Moon threatened, chasing the children with her mouth wide open.

The children cried and screamed, fleeing through the other side of the library. As soon as they all left, Nightmare Moon turned back into Luna, who spat a set of fake fangs.




<Hivemind>




“I’m not certain that was a good idea, Ms. Enigma…” Luna stated.

“Trust me. They’ll return,” you assured her.

“I’m really having difficulties believing in--”

“Um... Princess Luna. I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?” Pipsqueak asked her, pulling on her ethereal mane.

Luna watched as the rest of the group peeked through the door. “Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?” she asked, confused.

“It's really fun! Scary, but fun!” he squeaked.

“It... is?”

“Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year,” Pipsqueak reaffirmed, wagging his tail.

“Well then. We shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!” Luna shouted with her thundering voice, excitement taking over her.

“Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!” The little colt hugged her before running back to her friends. “She said yes, guys!”

The foals cheered over the great news and ran down the staircase, leaving the ruins and returning to the city with their newly acquired candy.

You patted Princess Luna on the back, praising her. “See? You just had to embrace yourself fully-EEP!” You let out a very undignifying squeal as Princess Luna enveloped you in a tight hug, surprising you. You just realized that this was your first contact with a pony in your real form. You could feel the huge difference in texture as the princess’ soft fur was pressed tightly to your hard carapace. It wasn't unpleasant, just... different.

“Thank you, friend... Thank you so much…” you heard her say softly over your shoulder, sniffing.

“You’re welcome, friend.” You returned the hug.

Her happiness was unmeasurable, you’ve never felt anything like that before. It was like her one thousand-year-old dream finally came true. Her emotions fed into you, filling your energy supplies immensely, even leaking through the hivemind.





A few minutes later and Princess Luna had returned home. Everypony in Ponyville heard the news of how the cancelation of Nightmare Night was, ironically, canceled, and celebrated. While you, still at your hive, helped your drones with the cleanup. You were cleaning the spider webs in the main hall with a bunch of workers, happily chatting about how their Nightmare Night was and what they did. In your distracted chatter, you failed to notice a light pink pegasus with an off-white mane and tail looking at you from the entrance.

You and your drones froze in place as you heard the castle door closing behind the pink mare. 

Was your cover blown?! 

What should you do?! 

Can you salvage the situation? 

What the heck is a pony doing here this late?!

That and many other questions ran through your mind as the pink mare just smiled at you. Her smile eventually turned into laughter as she flew towards you. You braced for impact but was surprised as the mare was engulfed in pink flames and turned into a changeling right before tackling you into a tight hug.

“Ohhhh, that was so awesome! How did you manage to pull that off?! Ohhhh, you’re exactly the help I needed! I missed you so much! How have you been? Did you miss me?!” The changeling assaulted you with questions at such a rapid pace that only one creature could do.

“Cicah?!” you exclaimed, surprised.

“Yay! You remember me! Oh, I’m so happy to see you!” she squealed, hugging you tighter.

“I’m happy to see you too but, how did you find me?”

“Well, I heard from Twenty-three and Twenty-four that you established your hive here in the castle, so I decided to visit! When I arrived and heard that you would be throwing a party, I couldn’t hold myself and came in disguised as one of the fillies to see what it was all about! And it was awesome! Everything was awesome! You managed to throw such a big event without getting caught. That’s exactly the kind of talent I need right now. You gotta help me!”

“Wait, wait. Help out with what?” You tried to slow Cicah down, unable to process that huge amount of information that quickly.

“You see, there’s this big event coming up in my hive and I’m supposed to be the organizer, but I kinda lost my crew and I really really really need help to make sure this event runs smoothly!” Cicah explained as slow as she could, which was not all that slow at all.

“Wait, Mother is throwing an event?” That confused you on so many levels…

“No silly! My original hive!”

“Wait, I thought you were an outcast, just like the others!”

“What? No way! I and the other cicadas were on a tour. Queen Elysia is a good friend of our Queen, Arch Queen Sicaria.” She gasped. “You could even meet her! Ohhh, you’ll love her, she has such a great voice and sings so well!”

“Okay… where is this event taking place?” you asked, slowly getting the picture of the whole thing.

“In Manehattan! Isn’t that cool?!” Cicah exclaimed excitedly.

“Wow… that’s far…”

“I know, but it will be super worth it! And I really really really need it! Pleeeeease?” Cicah begged you, throwing her best puppy eyes at you.

You stopped to consider for a few moments. It would be a really lengthy journey, maybe even a week or so…

Could you leave your hive now?

What about your eggs?

Could you take them with you?

Maybe you should take the whole hive with you! Or at least a couple of drones…

Maybe you won’t need to, Arch Queen Sicaria appears to be friendly enough…

A lot of things ran through your mind. But in the end, Cicah was your friend, and as she said, she really needed your help. Plus, this would be a great opportunity to build your first alliance with another hive.

“Alright Cicah, I’ll help you!”
> Chapter 08 - Family Trip! (The Cicada Hive part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The remainder of the night was a wholesome one. After offering Cicah a place to stay, the whole hive gathered in the throne room, began sharing their Nightmare Night experiences. To your heart’s content, your drones seemed to have had a great time and a much-deserved rest. Cicah joined in as well, telling her own stories of the multiple adventures and misadventures she and her brothers and sisters went through that holiday.

As the exertion of the day finally caught up to you, you began retreating to your chambers at the library, but you halted halfway through, deciding instead to go to the Hatchery. You didn’t know for how long you would be far from your hive, and even though you worried about your eggs, you knew you couldn’t risk bringing them with you. 

As you walked through the entrance, you saw one of your drones, Phengaris, laying snugly around the egg cluster. That scene gave you a bit of a relief. You knew your drones would protect the eggs. Still, more worries clouded your mind, you’ve never been so far away from them, would you be okay if you were to go by yourself? Maybe I should bring some company with me, you thought. If anything, you wouldn’t be so lonely on your trip.

Letting out a heavy sigh and pushing as much of these thoughts away, you approached your drone and eggs, snuggling beside them like a big spoon. Phengaris twitched at the unexpected movement. You gave both her forehead and your eggs a little goodnight kiss and tucked your head in, soothing her. Mother give me luck, you prayed, before letting your mind drift away to the realm of dreams.

The following morning was as hectic as you expected it to be. The first thing you did was notify your drones of your absence and announce who you selected to accompany you; Evening Star, Max Volt, Sunstrike and Lazy Mist being the lucky winners. Then you went over every nook and cranny of the castle with your drones, checking and foolproofing everything that may cause problems in your absence. The commotion disturbed Derpy, who offered to go with you as well, but you refused, asking her to keep an eye on the hive instead and assist with whatever your drones may need.

After everything was said and done, you let out a sigh of satisfaction. Everything was going according to plan so far. Nothing to worry about, you thought.

Too early…

On your way to the train station, everyling put up their disguises, Star turning into a dark blue earth pony mare, Volt turning into a light grey unicorn, Sunstrike turning into a white unicorn, and Mist turning into… a mannequin. You saw a few memories flash through the hivemind of him turning into such a thing to hide from his fellow drone, but you didn’t expect him to use that as an actual disguise!

“The train is about to depart! We need to hurry!” Cicah called you from the side of the train station, her changeling self being replaced by a rosy beige pegasus mare with a reddish brown mane, tail and feather tips. 

With no time to argue, you grumpily balanced the mannequin between yours and Sunstrike’s backs and hurried to the train. As you passed by Cicah, she quietly whispered to you with a wink, “By the way, you can call me Nightingale.”

“Enigma,” you whispered back. In your hurry, you almost forgot to introduce your disguises.

Once on board, you quickly found your designated car and seats. You felt a bit of relief when the train took off and only a few passengers shared the same car with you, Star seemed pleased as well. The trip was relatively quiet and peaceful, much to your surprise. You kept a small chat with Cicah while your drones added something here and there but mostly listened. 

A steward pony walked in and out from time to time, offering goods. You had to move Mist out of the way so she could pass, but every time the train would pass through a tunnel or something would obscure the view, Lazy would move to a new spot within the car. 

Some ponies were starting to be creeped out by the seemingly haunted mannequin, so you called him out over the hivemind, That disguise is not working, Mist.

Of course, it is! It’s simple and effective! he shot back, unaware of the ponies’ stares.

You’re scaring the ponies, you tried to reason, to little avail.

That’s good, that way they’ll keep clear of us.

That was it. You waited for the next tunnel, snatching Mist and dragging him to the cargo car at the back as soon as the shadows fell upon it. The sudden absence of not only the mannequin, but also an elderly pony scared some of the passengers even more, to the point some decided to leave the car and seek refuge at the front car.

Once in the safety of the cargo car, you dropped your disguise, Mist dropping his soon after.

“Come on, Mist, stop messing around!” you scolded him, stomping your hoof impatiently.

“I wasn't, a simple disguise helps save love, and since we don’t know for how long we’ll be out, that would be a good idea,” he argued. His argument had some merit to it, but saving love was not worth drawing unwanted attention.

“It won’t matter if we end up having to waste love trying to flee should we be discovered. Now, please behave!”

Letting out a sigh, he bobbed his head. “Alright. What should I turn into then?”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a living creature, preferably a pony.”

You later exited the cargo car and returned to your seat, Mist following behind you as a light gray, black-maned pegasus.

Now that you were drawing less attention, the trip returned to its quietness. Some of your drones wandered the other cars to pass the time while Mist just lay on his seat, mumbling and asking strange questions about even stranger things, somehow, someway, he ended up being more talkative than Cicah when bored.

After an hour and a few minutes, Cicah jumped off her seat, calling you to look at the window. “We’ve arrived, guys!” she squealed in excitement.

The sight amazed you, the big city was nothing like Ponyville. You were crossing a long metal bridge with cool, horseshoe-shaped arcs. Innumerous gigantic square buildings reached for the sky, some even higher than the clouds! In the distance, a huge statue of a mare holding a torch could be seen. Lots and lots of carriages ran to and fro as your train sped through the streets, nearing its destination.

“Come on, everypony!” Cicah beckoned you as she ran out the door when the train stopped. The station was a massive building lit by electric lamps on enormous chandeliers. A big, four-sided, golden clock sat in the middle of the station to help its passengers find to keep track of their appointed trains. There were more ponies buzzing around the station than in the whole Ponyville square!

The crowd was a bit intimidating, maybe too intimidating for Star, who had her ears almost glued to the back of her head. You ran a hoof on her shoulder to calm her and walked her out of the train. Cicah guided you out of the station and into the street. To some extent, the exterior as even more intimidating than the interior. The buildings seemed even taller up close and the carriages darted madly through the streets. How could anypony try to cross a street like that?!

The sidewalk wasn’t much better either. Ponies would bump and push each other as they tried to move through the crowd, the occasional swear word thrown here and there. This is pure madness! you shouted unintentionally through the hivemind, earning the silent agreement from your fellow changelings.

Apparently, Cicah noticed your uneasiness. “Oh, come on guys, I know that the big city might be a bit intimidating at first, but there’s nothing to worry about.” Suddenly, her eyes glimmered as an idea crossed her mind. “I know, I’ll show you around! This way you can get acquainted with the big city while visiting some cool places! What do you say?”

“Can’t hurt, I guess,” you replied, still somewhat reluctant.

“Let us go!” Cicah jumped into the air in excitement.

She navigated you through the sea of ponies and dashing carriages deeper into the city. The more you walked, the more you noticed your drones growing more nervous, especially Star. She couldn't take her mind away from the sheer number of ponies around her. Images of her dropping her disguise and drawing attention seeped to the hivemind as her imagination and worry ran wild. You confessed that the amount of prying eyes were really intimidating, so was increased presence of security ponies.

Don't worry Star, no need to be afraid, you tried to calm her through the hivemind. We're here with you. 

T-that's one of the things that worries me, my Queen, she replied, her ears flat on her skull and her tail between her legs. What if they capture you as well?! 

They won't, because they will not find us, you reassured her, patting her back. You quickened your pace a little bit to reach Cicah, leaning in, you asked, “Cicah? Can we get a carriage there instead?” 

Cicah stopped to think for a while. “Humn, a carriage for six is going to be hard to find, but I'll try!” 

You thanked her as she ran to the side of the sidewalk, eyeing the passing carriages like a starving husk stalking its prey.

You took your drones to rest near a store's showcase to clear the sideway. True to her word, most of the carriages had space for just a passenger or two, but after a few minutes, Cicah found an empty carriage. Throwing herself in front of it to make it stop, she gave the stallion directions and a few bits as everybody climbed on the back. 

The ride was relatively short, but the time spent in the confined space of the carriage was enough to help calm the nerves down, even you let out a sigh of relief for being out of that never-ending sea of ponies pushing and bumping into you all the time. It reminded you of the brief time you spent at your mother’s hive and how that, even though there were a lot more bodies moving around, there was always a sense of order among all that chaos. Changelings rarely bumped or ran into each other, they always knew how to navigate, minding their fellow hivemates.

The carriage left you in front of a bridge that led to a giant statue of a rearing mare sitting on a tiny island, the mare sported a robe and a crown, a torch in one hoof and a stone tablet in the other. Cicah jumped out of the carriage with a bounce. “Here we are, guys, ‘The Mare’ statue!” she singsonged.

The bridge to the island was littered with other tourists, taking pictures of everything. As Cicah walked you by, a few ponies recognized her and soon enough a small crowd formed around her. 

“Nightingale! I love you!” 

“I'm your biggest fan!” 

“Can you sign my shirt please?!” 

The admiration from her fans was very much palpable. You could see and feel the energy feeding into her. It wasn't love, nor was it any real deep feeling, but the sheer volume of it was enough to surpass all of your gatherers’ output. Now you knew how well the Cicada hive was able to maintain itself.

Cicah greeted her fans, signing a few things here and there for a couple of minutes, but when she tried to leave, it seemed that her fans still wanted to spend a little more time with her. She tried to push through the crowd, but they simply followed her. You were beginning to consider stepping in to help her when she covered up her mouth with her wings, feigning a yawn.

“Is that Sapphire Shores?!” you heard a voice of a crowd echoing nearby, followed by the sound of stomping hooves and screaming fans. You searched around to see from where that noise was coming from, but you couldn’t find any other crowd. Still, that was enough to capture the attention of the mob surrounding Cicah, who took the opportunity to swiftly sneak away.

You followed her to a souvenir shop where she fetched some shades and “The Mare” statue-like cap as an attempt of a disguise. The notion of a changeling disguised as a pony having to wear a disguise was very amusing to you. Cicah noticed your giggling and smirked, sticking out her tongue. Checking herself in a mirror and finding her disguise sufficiently adequate, Cicah paid for the goods and you continued to the statue’s entrance.

“You have quite the fanbase,” you teased Cicah.

“Not really, I only performed in a few shows here and there, nothing major. Those tourists must have met me in one of those. Nobody from here knows me though, this city is a tough crowd.” She giggled. “Good thing they were easily distracted!”

“Ah, so it was you who made the sounds of those crying fans?” you asked.

“Yup! We Cicadas are great at imitating sounds, remember?” She gave you a proud smirk, puffing out her chest.

I wonder if I have any special talent like them. You remembered your little tour of your mother’s hive, and that each changeling hive had their own specific color, maybe that was linked to what powers they possessed? But your carapace didn’t have any specific color, it was an iridescent sheen that reflected all sorts of colors as light shined through it, kinda like your mother’s…

No, you corrected yourself. Mother had a translucent carapace with only the faintest signs of colors, it was almost see through… But then, another thought came to mind. Now that I think about it, I never knew what sort of powers mother had… what we may share… The more you thought about it, the more you realized how little you know about Arch Queen Elysia. You were her daughter, and yet, she felt so distant to you... 

In your inner turmoil, you failed to notice that Cicah had taken you to an elevator that led you to the crown of The Mare. The crown was, in fact, a huge balcony with binoculars for ponies to spy the horizon and appreciate the view. Volt quickly darted towards the edge of the balcony, leaning out. He was looking enthusiastically at the tip of the statue’s torch, noticing a few lightning rods. His mind was ecstatic at the thought of what an amazing light show would it be to watch the lightning cracking down from the skies, dancing as it reached for the rods on a stormy day. “We need to come back here when it’s raining!” he squealed in excitement.

You leaned against the railings of the balcony, mindlessly gazing over the horizon as you thought over and over about Queen Elysia. Star leaned in next to you, observing the city below. “It’s interesting how the many streets and avenues of the city resemble the hive’s tunnel network from up here,” she commented.

Her comment went straight over your head as you maintained a somewhat blank stare, only letting out a simple “uhum” of acknowledgment. Your lackluster response was not unnoticed by Cicah, who placed a hoof over your shoulder. “Princess? Are you okay?” she asked.

The title dragged you out of your stupor. You haven’t been called “Princess” since you left Queen Elysia’s hive… 

“I… I don’t know.” You faltered, letting out a sigh of frustration. “It’ just that, I’ve been thinking about my mother and how little I know about her. Maybe my time with her was cut too short…”

“Aw, don’t be sad! Sadness is too sour! What you need is something sweet, something to make you happy!” Cicah exclaimed, spreading her wings wide. “I know, let’s visit the city park! It’s a beautiful place full of flowers and critters. The park always made me happy, maybe it will make you too!

You laughed at Cicah’s chirpy demeanor, her joyfulness sure was infectious.

“Alright, thank you, Cicah.”

“No need to worry, I got your back!”





After another carriage ride, you arrived at the city’s Central Park. It truly was a beautiful sight. The park consisted of wide, flower-covered fields of grass with a gentle river cutting it in half. Ponies sailed cute, yet goofy looking swan boats up and down, passing beneath  moss-covered stone bridges. Squirrels skittered among the trees, hopping from branch to branch. Colorful birds flew among even more colorful kites pulled by young colts and fillies playing in the fields. The whole place emanated peacefulness, an escape from the exhausting life of the big city.

You ran your hooves slowly through the grass as you stepped in, feeling it caressing your sensitive flesh after spending so much time walking on hard concrete. All the worries you had gave way to the relaxing sensation, allowing you to rest for a moment.

You and your drones quickly found a cool shade near the river bed and nestled there, flattening the grass just right to make it into a comfy bed. You placed one of your hooves on the water surface, mindlessly playing with it, appreciating the fresh air and pleasant scent of the flowers all around you.

A few minutes later Cicah brought everybody some milkshake. Your drones dived in right away, proving that milkshake apparently became a hive favorite, but after a few gulps, they  seemed less enthusiastic. Curious, you take a few sips yourself and surprisingly, you didn’t like it that much either. It tasted so… bland, it wasn't as sweet as the milkshake from Sugar Cube Corner.

“Tastes bland, right?” Cicah asked you, almost as if she heard your thoughts through the hivemind.

“Yeah…”

“It’s one of the problems of this city.” She nodded knowingly. “The ponies that live here are so worried about work, keeping a good image or following trends that they forget to take a moment off, enjoy some company and have fun. Everywhere you walk around town, you only see these deflated, mindless shells walking to and fro, hoping for the day to end just so they go to bed and repeat the process the next day.”

You could feel a bit of sadness within Cicah, but also, hopefulness and... determination?

“You know, the Cicada Hive have almost no gatherers, the amount of love they can collect is not worth the upkeep. Instead, we have changelings like me! We try our best to cheer ponies up so we can feed the hive!” she said with pride, striking a valiant pose. “Still, most of us act as traveling musicians instead of performing here. Like I said before, tough crowd.” She giggled at the end.

“That’s why you and your siblings were at Queen Elysia’s hive, correct?”

“Yup! We were just about to come back after a long tour!” she chirped.

“Oh? How was it?” you asked, taking one final sip of your milkshake, happy to see Cicah gleeful again.

“Oh, it was great! We ran all along the coast, performing at Fillydelphia and Baltimare, making a final stop at Hollow Shades before coming back to organize the Queen’s…” Cicah, trailed off for a few seconds, the gears in her mind screeching to a halt before speeding backward, a loud gasp escaping from her shocked expression. “The Queen’s performance! I almost forgot!”

“The what?” you asked, confused and worried.

“We gotta get back to the hive right now!” Cicah suddenly grabbed your hoof and dragged you with frightening force. You tried to ask her to let you go and calm her down, but there was no stopping her. She flew away as if her life depended on it. At that moment, it kind of did.





Cicah carried you to the entrance of a fancy building. Two pink flags hung on the sides of the glass doors. A bellhop pony stood at attention beside a golden sign. 

Manefair Hotel.

Cicah walked over the red carpet to greet the bellhop pony. “Hiya, Luggage Cart, how you doing today?”

“Hello, Miss Nightingale! I’m as fine as always, thank you. If you’re looking for Miss Songbird, she’s at her suite,” he greeted back, tipping his hat.

“Thanks! By the way, this is Ms. Enigma and her friends, they’ll be staying with me and Songbird for a while!” she introduced you, pulling you closer.

“Welcome to the Manefair Hotel! I hope you enjoy your stay!” The stallion waved as Cicah dragged you into the elevator, your drones following closeby. The elevator was so spacious that all six of you easily fit in it with room to spare.

The elevator stopped at the twentieth floor. The doors opened to reveal a gorgeous living room, its walls light beige with golden adornments. The floor was covered in a soft, dark crimson velvet carpet extremely soft to the touch. Pink roses sat on a nearby window. Cicah guided you deeper, passing through a corridor that led you to an open space with a big glass pool. Across the pool were a couple of ponies preparing some drinks behind the counter of a small bar. In front of it were multiple pool chairs, and on the farthest chair sat a pegasus mare with beige fur and black and yellow mane and tail, drinking a coconut cocktail and relaxing under the sun. 

You immediately felt a powerful presence as you approached the pool. She must be Arch Queen Sicaria. An unexpected nervousness slowly began to make itself known. This was your first contact with another changeling hive beside your mother’s. You could not afford to screw things up if you wished to have any semblance of an boost to your diplomatic endeavors. You tried your best to still your nerves. Putting up a smile, you began to circle around the pool to approach, her but were interrupted by Cicah, who raised a hoof to stop you.

Cicah slowly sneaked behind the mare with a devious grin. She pounced at the mare, covering her eyes with her hooves, making her yelp in surprise.

“Guess who?” Cicah sing-songed, giggling as the mare struggled.

You couldn’t help but think of how silly that game was. She was a changeling, they knew exactly who each other were, and yet, you could feel the joy of their play. Cicah let go of her, burning away her disguise and returning to her original self. 

“Hey, mom, I’m back!” she buzzed her wings in excitement, a large smile on her face.

“It’s good to have you back, Cicah!” The pegasus mare was replaced by a big changeling Arch Queen. She had a small, soft and squishy looking exoskeleton and a bright pink carapace. Her legs had pink musical notes decorating her holes and her hot pink mane and tail were styled like the ones of actresses and performers you saw on multiple billboards around town. She had two pairs of wide wings and she wore a beautiful and detailed crown, it grew in the shape of musical notes, forming a tiara, its silver coloration making it look like silver jewelry when, in fact, it was changeling chitin.

“Tell me, how was your tour? I bet you dazzled everypony with your voice!”

“It was a lot of fun, but we can talk about it later ‘cause I brought a guest!” Cicah pointed at you, all your mental preparation seemingly melting as you were not expecting such a sudden introduction.

As soon as Sicaria locked her neon pink eyes on you, something seemed to have clicked in her mind, her expression one of surprise and joy.

“Is she…” she asked Cicah, trailing off.

“Yes! She’s Queen Elysia’s daughter!”

You gave her a meek wave, the only thing you could muster.

“I can’t believe her eggs finally hatched…” You heard her mutter to herself. “P-please, come closer! Let me have a look at you!”

You circumvented the pool, dropping your disguise as you walked. You sat a couple of meters away from Sicaria, your iridescent eyes avoiding hers. “H-hello, Arch Queen Sicaria, I am--” You bowed to greet her, cut short as you were suddenly lifted off the ground by a hot pink magic aura and brought to Sicaria’s arms. She gave you a tight hug and snuggled her cheeks with yours.

“Mother be praised, you look just like my sister! I can’t believe her eggs finally hatched! I’m so happy to meet you! Your iridescent carapace is gorgeous! Ohhh, you’re already a Queen! Your tiny crown is so cute! Who are those? Are those your drones?! Are they my sister’s as well?! 

Like mother, like daughter, apparently...

“Y-yes, they’re my siblings…” was the only answer you could give from the onslaught of questions.

“No way! Come in, let me see you!” She beckoned your drones, who were waiting at the entrance. They approached her as asked, dropping their disguises.

“Ohhh, you’re all so cute! I wish I could have seen you as tiny little larvae!” Sicaria squealed in joy, her hug tightening around your neck. You tapped her hoof in surrender, catching her attention.

“Oh, I’m sorry dearie! Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, just give me a moment…” you pleaded, your body limp at the edge of the pool.

“Look at me, such a horrible host! CC-1232? Please bring us all a coconut drink, please?” she asked her drone at the bar, who nodded and began preparing your drinks.

“Please take a seat, there’s so much I want to talk about!” She levitated the pool chairs closer, forming a circle.

You took a seat right next to her, Cicah sitting on her other side and your drones took the remaining seats in between.

“So, tell me, dearie, what’s your name?”

“I… don’t have one yet.”

“Oh…”

Her drone finished preparing the drinks, an awkward silence taking hold while he served them.

“Then… how’s Elysia doing?

“I… don’t know.”

Sicaria’s expression went from awkward to worry. She turned to Cicah and asked, “What happened?”

“She was cut off from the hive the moment she hatched,” Cicah explained.

“What?! Why?!” Sicaria asked, baffled.

“I’m not sure, Mother said that something was going to happen between the changeling hives, she asked me to build my own hive so that I can help her,” you elaborated, recollecting you mother’s words from your first day.

“‘Something between the changeling hives’? What does she mean? The hives have been in peace for nearly a millennia now,” Sicaria said, confused.

“I don’t know, but I wish to fulfill my mother’s request and to do so, I’d like to ask you to form an alliance with me, I don’t have much to offer at the moment, but I’m sure our hives would benefit from our friendship!” you pushed on, praying that your good will would be enough to convince her to join you.

“She’s also going to help me with my problem with the show!” Cicah blurted out, with pride of her friend.

That completely overtook Sicaria’s attention, the queen asking worriedly, “What problem with the show?”

“Oopsie… hehe.” Cicah giggled nervously, shrinking on her chair.

“Wait, I thought she knew about this.” 

“Knew about what?!”

Cicah crumbled under the pressure, taking a deep breath and blurting everything out, “I’m so so so so sorry! You charged me with organizing your next show and that made me so happy that I wanted to make the greatest show ever so I talked with that Svengallop fellow and hired him to set everything up. But when he learned the show would be for charity he bailed on me and I had no idea who to call, but I didn’t want to worry you so I went to Ponyville and visited her to chill out a little and then I saw the Nightmare Night event she set up at her hive and thought that was amazing and that she could help me so I brought her here and I planned to fix everything before you knew, but I let it slip. PLEASE DON’T BE MAD AT MEEE!" 

Mother make her stop! your drones cried over the hivemind, covering their ears. Somehow, Cicah was talking multiple things at once! Powering through the deafening noise, you noticed that her neck had two pairs of almost gill-like incisions near where her vocal cords must be. They were vibrating and opening at different intervals. Maybe that was the source of the sound? That would explain how she imitated the sound of a crowd of fans earlier. That must be the special ability of the cicadas.

Sicaria shoved her hoof down Cicah’s throat, silencing her. “Good grief, Cicah, calm down!” She removed her hoof, allowing her to take a deep breath. “So nothing for the show was set? Not even the permits?”

“I took care of the permits, but the stage, lights and the special effects are all gone…” Cicah explained more calmly.

Sicaria let out a sigh. “Don’t worry, we can still salvage this. Can you take care of at least one of those problems?”

“Yes!”

“Then we’ll be fine.” Sicaria turned towards you. “Dearie? This is your time to shine! If you can help us get this show on the road, you’ll more than earn our friendship! Will you help us?”

Stage, lights and special effects… You had no idea how any of these work! This was a much bigger problem than what Cicah let on when she asked you! Your fear quickly spread throughout the hivemind, but your drones were quick to respond.

Don’t worry, my Queen, we can tackle this challenge! I can take help you with the lights! Sunstrike encouraged you.

I can set the stage, seems simple enough, Lazy Mist added.

And I’m sure I can make some cool effects with the right amount of electricity! Max Volt offered as well. 

You could also feel the support coming from your drones back at the hive, their praise and encouragement pushing you forward. You may be young and inexperienced, but you have the entire hive at your back all the time. Together, you could accomplish anything!

You smiled at Sicaria and said, “We won’t let you down!”

...





 <Hivemind>





Everyling was hard at work back at the hive. The warriors were patrolling the area around the hive to make sure nothing came too close unnoticed. They were carrying the timberwolf seed to ward off potential threats. The first group of gatherers was collecting love around Ponyville while the second group was watching the eggs. Meanwhile, the workers were finishing construction of the Arcanium. 

The chamber had a large pinnacle made of hardened changeling slime coming from the ground and the ceiling, almost touching each other. Each pinnacle had about a dozen of clear, crystalline-like slime resin feeding energy into it. Once the room was finished, the workers charged the resin with their magic, powering up the pinnacles. This caused them to shoot magically charged sparks between each other almost like a neuron synapse. With a job well done and exhausted after spending too much magic, the workers decided to join in with the gatherers at Ponyville, maybe paying a little visit to Sugarcube Corner to grab a few milkshakes.

As the hours passed by, the drones would tune in to the hivemind and feel the distress of their Queen. This caused them to be more worried by the hour, the Young Queen’s confidence dwindling more and more.

“She’s doubting herself,” Pupa commented.

“Would you blame her? She was literally kicked out right after hatching. There’s not much for her to cling on to,” High Tide said. 

“What if we were to give her something else to identify herself with? This way she may get her mind out of Queen Elysia for a while,” offered Redwood.

“I know! She received a black crystal when she arrived right? Why don’t we sculpt her a nice throne? Every Queen needs a throne, plus it would add to our defenses,” Mask Charade suggested, buzzing its wings.

The whole hivemind agreed on that idea. They fetched the black crystal and placed it between the old thrones of the two sisters, igniting its growth with magic.

“There, it will take a few minutes before the crystal is big enough to be sculpted, meanwhile we could--” Rose was interrupted as the warriors warned the hivemind.

There’s a pony approaching the hive!

Twilight Sparkle trotted happily towards the castle ruins, the prospect of meeting a friend and maybe borrowing some new books being more than enough reason to venture into the Everfree Forest.

She knocked on the doors, causing it to creak open slightly. “Hello? Is anypony home?”

Hearing only her own echo, Twilight decided to step inside, surely Enigma wouldn’t mind, right?

The drones stalked her like a predator under the full moon, ready to strike if she made the wrong move.

What should we do? Should we attack her? one of them asked.

No, our Queen has been trying to live peacefully with the ponies, let’s not ruin that. But be at the ready.

Twilight slowly walked through the castle ruins, admiring the architecture and decor, or at least what was left of it. She passed over the thrones of the two sisters without paying too much attention, she didn’t want to pry on Enigma’s new house for too long, she just wanted to fetch a book to continue her studies, her knowledge of old pony architecture guiding her to where she deduced to be the royal library.

With only a few backtrackings, Twilight quickly found her target.

“Wow, so much hidden knowledge!” she admired the seemingly limitless amount of books, everywhere she turned, she would find a new shelf or corner filled with books.

It only took a couple of minutes for her to find her desired book. She pulled it off the shelf with her telekinesis, but her magic failed soon after, dropping the book.

“Huh?”

Twilight tried to ignite her horn again but had some difficulty, after a few attempts, she finally managed to focus her magic and pick the book from the stone floor. She brought the book closer to inspect her magic aura but found nothing out of place.

“Weird…”

Twilight wanted to investigate further, but decided that it would be best for her to leave, she didn’t want to upset her friend by prying around her stuff while she was away.

When she left the castle, the drones came out of hiding.

“Do you think she suspects anything?” Insectsidous asked, warily.

“Maybe, maybe not, gotta pay close attention to her,” Onyx Axe replied, watching as the pony vanished among the trees.
> Chapter 09 - Welcome to the Show! (The Cicada Hive part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

...

Sicaria’s grin stretched all the way across her cheeks, her wings fluttering in excitement. “Splendid! We’re gonna rock this city tonight! 

Cicah and her sibling cheered with their Queen, sitting on their hind legs and clapping their hooves. Sicaria gave a quick bow in mockery before returning her attention to you. “We still have plenty of time before the show. Say, would you like me to give you a tour of the hive? I’m sure us queens can share some notes, right?” She winked.

That was a great idea! Every tip you could get from this visit was one less thing for you to worry about screwing up back at your hive. You were about to reply before another subject crossed your mind. A much more important matter to you.

“I’d love to, but…” You hesitated for a bit, a tinge of guilt and shame permeating your mind as you put your own desire on top of what would be best for the hive. But still, you wanted to know more, you needed to know more… “Before we go, could we talk more about my mother?”

The question caught Sicaria off guard, you could feel as her grin turned into a worried frown that you touched a sensitive subject. But why was it a sensitive subject? It’s been days since you left the hive and your mother never tried to keep in touch so far, even Cicah visited you before you heard from her!

“Please…” you pressed on. Sicaria gave a quick glance to Cicah, looking for advice. You could feel their silent discussion through their hivemind on what to do. A few moments passed and you were beginning to worry they wouldn’t agree, but then Sicaria gave you a warm smile.

“Of course, my dear. Come with me to my chambers, there are quite a few things we need to talk about,” she said, gesturing for you to follow her back to the elevator, but before she picked a floor, she called out to Cicah, “Cicah, dear. Why don’t you give her drones a tour around the hive instead? I’m sure they’re more than capable of learning everything our little Queen will need while we have a little talk.”

Cicah gave her a salute while the elevator doors closed.

The elevator only took you one level below Sicaria's personal chambers. It was a huge room filled to the brim with pillows and clothes scattered all around. The room was filled with pink everywhere! There was pink on the carpet, on the pillows, on the bed, even in the walls.

“Wow…” you muttered, not really sure if it was in amazement or in pure cringe due to the pink overload.

Sicaria seemed to pick up on your reaction, chuckling. “What? I like pink.” She showed you her tongue jokingly. She walked to her bed and lay on it, asking you to sit on a pile of pillows that sat in front of her. 

After you made yourself comfortable, Sicaria's expression turned into a more concerned one as she asked you, “Tell me, darling, what's afflicting you?”

You slumped back on your pillows, feeling like you wanted to just sink in and be absorbed by the comfy pile. You thought about that question for a moment, gathering everything that was on your mind. “It's just that… Ever since I woke up, I was tasked on establishing my hive and I was so preoccupied with it that I'm just realizing how little I know about my mother, even my drones know more about her than me! And now, Cicah came to visit while I haven't heard from mother since… it feels like she threw me out…” you said, tears beginning to form in the corners of your eyes as you processed all of that. 

Sicaria reached out to you with her magic, wiping away your tears. “Now now, dear, it's nothing like that!” She got up from her bed and slumped on the pillow pile next to you, giving you a hug. “Life is just… complicated, you know? Heh, I still remember the simpler times back in the day, more than a thousand years ago. A time when there were no crowds of ponies to entertain, no hive to keep up… It was just me, my sisters, and… our Mother.”

Your ears shot up, picking up on the way she mentioned “Mother”. It wasn’t like the common expression your drones would use, or how the ponies would use Celestia’s name, you could feel the weight of past history present in her words. Like she actually met this holy figure all those years ago.

“Tell me about her,” you asked, struck by a spark of curiosity. Has she actually met Mother? And if so, has Queen Elysia met her as well?

Sicaria gave you a saddened smile, her gaze distant like if her mind was sailing through a long lost sea of buried memories. She shifted around in place, tuckering you close to her as if she was about to tell a tale to a newborn grub, yet somehow, you felt like she needed your contact more than she let it show.

“Once upon a time, long before this land was called Equestria, there lived a lone creature, the only member of her kind. Her colorful chitin shone with all the colors of a rainbow after a rainy day and the flutter of her wings spread her colors all throughout the earth beneath her, bringing awe and admiration from the critters that witnessed it. She was a magical being made of the purest emotion, yet, the one emotion that always stalked her everywhere she went was sadness, for she felt lonely.

“One day, she reached her limit. She wouldn’t be alone any longer. Casting a powerful spell, she split her essence into twelve, sharing her powers between them, and from those pieces, her daughters were born.”

The gears of your mind ground to a shrieking halt as you took all that in. Twelve pieces… Twelve Hives…

“Wait, you’re saying that-” you began to say, your eyes wide in realization before Sicaria interrupted you, raising a hoof and asking for silence.

“Indeed, me, your mother, and our sisters, ‘The Great Arch Queens of the Great Changeling Hives’, we’re all Mother’s daughters, her legacy.” She gave you a knowing smile. Knowing that your mind was overflowing with questions, she allowed you a moment to speak.

“But my mother’s hive doesn’t look like yours, she has multiple colors and they’re all faded, almost translucent!” You thought back to your earliest memory of your mother, the moment you hatched. You remember her tall and elegant figure of an Arch Queen. But you also remember her hive and how each drone she took care of had the color of their original hive while you and your drones had an iridescent mix, no defined trait. Now that you thought about it, your mother looked even more out of place than you do. She had an array of colors just like you, but hers were faint and segregated, unlike yours.

But then, another thought came crumbling over your mind, burring everything else. “What happened to Mother?”

“After she gave birth to us, she was left weakened. We lived happily together for hundreds of years, but then a… misfortune took her away from us. And when she left us, we lost a part of ourselves, ever since then, our bodies were stripped of our colors and we now need to feed on the emotions of others to maintain us,” she explained, sadness returning to her face. 

“Your mother blames herself for what happened to us, and ever since that day, she hid in exile, taking on any lost drone she finds as a way to atone for her mistake. I haven’t seen her for almost a thousand years now…” Tears began to run down her cheeks as she buried her head in the pillow pile to wipe them away.

“Why would she blame herself for what happened? I don’t understand!” you cried out.

“I’m sorry, dear. But I believe that’s something for your mother to talk about,” she told you, sniffing a little. She could see the despair in your face as you thought about if you would even ever get to see your mother again, even when her sisters haven’t seen her for a thousand years. But before you could say anything, she enveloped you in a tight hug, chasing away your dread with her warmth.

“Now now, dear. I know it has been tough for you, being apart from your mother from such an early age. But if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that if there’s anyling that would make Elysia come out of hiding, it is you! Every drone is precious to their Queen, but nothing compares to the love of a mother to her daughter. Have faith in yourself and be confident, and when the moment of Elysia’s return finally comes, she’ll be greeted by the strongest hive ever made, her daughters’!” she encouraged you as she struck a fierce pose, shooting neon pink sparks out of her horn for special effects.

“Heheh, thank you, Auntie, for everything,” you said, fluttering your wings as you got up from the pillows.

“Awn, come here!” Sicaria captured you in a bone-crushing hug, endeared by the nickname. In her embrace, you could already feel your heart being filled with determination. Your mother would meet you again someday, and when that day comes, you’ll have fulfilled your promise and established a prosperous hive worthy of her lineage!

The hug went on for longer than you thought it would. Feeling like your chitin was about to crack, you changed the subject. “So, how can I help you show those ponies how to party?”

Sicaria’s eyes filled with stars as she remembered the big show tonight, quickly letting go of you. “Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!” She ran back to an abstract painting she had at the far end of her room and pulled the frame to the side, revealing a large safe behind it. Putting on the right combination, she retrieved a heavy bag of bits with her magic and hoofed them to you. “Here, take these bits and buy the best lighting equipment you can find, I want to see that bag empty when you get back!”

“Leave it to us!” you said with a mock salute, rallying your drones through the hivemind. 





Back in your disguises, you and your drones trotted around the streets of Manehattan once again. Volt and Mist walked beside Star with you right in front of them, acting as a buffer between her and the crowd. That seemed to help her relax a little bit, the fact that this part of town wasn’t as busy as the one you first arrived in also felt like a blessing. Sunstrike led the march in full stalker mode, her eyes peeled for the fabled items that would be deemed worthy as light equipment in her eyes. 

You’ve been trotting around the market district of the city for what felt like an hour and so far, said items seemed to be nothing more than that, a fable. During all that time, the only thing you bought so far was a mirrored spotlight, which in and of itself was admittedly a very impressive thing. In the time you spent in Ponyville and now Manehattan, you grew to find interest in how weird pony civilization was. On one side, you had castles and soldiers with spears and on the other, there were skyscrapers and electric machines such as this spotlight, where a tiny lamp in a mirrored casing could produce such a powerful and intensely bright light.

An annoyed huff distracted you from your wandering thoughts. Sunstrike marched on, looking from store to store with a little more strength put on her pace, almost stomping her way around. “This isn’t working, these stores have nothing of value!” she exclaimed in aggravation. You were on the electronics and equipment street of the market district, presumably the right place to find good lighting paraphernalia, and you did find quite a few pieces of equipment, but alas, none proved to be enough for Sunstrike.

“Let’s try another street, maybe we can find something interesting there,” Volt suggested, excited to see what other devices they could find.

With no better options, you decided to follow his suggestion and began making your way across the streets. You passed by clothing articles, party items, even beauty products, but nothing fitting your search. You were about to call it quits and think of something else when Sunstrike made a sudden, sharp turn around the corner of the street.

“Woah!” you yelped, skidding to a halt, your drones bumping into your rump, caught off guard by the sudden stop. Following after Sunstrike, you found her staring intently at a big shop billboard. It was a jewelry shop called “Magnifique”, its name written in fancy golden letters with a huge diamond as the first i’s dot.

“Sunstrike?” Star called in concern.

“It's perfect~” she muttered before darting inside the store.

You ran inside after her. The shop had a very elegant and refined look about it, the mirrored walls giving a feeling like the store was way bigger than it actually was. Beautiful pieces of jewelry sat proudly in display on pony mannequin heads and busts, promising an air of status to everypony that would buy them.

Sunstrike made a beeline for the shopkeeper, a tall and gorgeous white unicorn mare with golden locks and the cutie mark of a diamond ring. When she saw you, she gave your group a big smile and greeted you with a unique foreign accent you’ve never heard before.

“Ah, bonjour, madame. How may I help you today?” she addressed Sunstrike, who reared over the counter to try and get to her eye level.

“I want to buy that big diamond on your billboard!” she blurted out within the second.

“Pardon?” the mare asked, visibly confused.

Sunstrike retrieved a hoofful of bits from your pouch and placed them on the counter, fiery determination in her eyes. “Is that enough?”

“I’m sorry, madame, but the diamond is not for sale, it’s-” Sunstrike cut her off, dropping another hoofful of coins on the counter.

“Again, I’m sorry, but the diamond is not-” This time, Sunstrike dropped the whole bag of bits on the counter. The mare stood there in shock for a good minute, her eyes wide at the size of the bag. Judging by how skinny she was, one could wager that the bag contained about one-fourth of her weight in bits, anypony would take a moment to reflect on an offer that big.

“... W-would you like me to wrap it as a gift?” The mare finally gave in with a sheepish smile.





Sunstrike trotted back to the staging site with a smug smile on her face, full of pride by feeling the weight of the diamond she carried on her back. The sun was almost setting when you got back on the stage. There were a lot of working ponies finishing up the stage with Sicaria and Cicah overseeing the project in their disguises.

“Hey, Nightingale!” you called for Cicah, happy to see that everything went smoothly on their end.

“Hey, guys! Glad to see you back! Got everything you needed?” she asked with a huge smile, Sicaria following right behind her.

“Yes! This baby here will be the sickest prism when I finish installing it!” Sunstrike replied with pride.

“Great, the stage is yours, dear, make us proud with that diamond!” Sicaria cheered her. “You can ask around for help if you ever need it, everypony here are my drones, so you don’t need to worry about anything. If you could help them out with the final touches, that would be great!” she said, directing the last part to your other drones.

“Alright, everyling, it’s your time shine. You’re in charge, Mist,” you rallying your drones.

“On it.” With that, they went off to install the lights and finish the stage.





The show was just about to begin. Every changeling of the Cicada hive worked hard to set the stage and, with the help of your drones, they made a wonderful job. At the backstage, everyling was warming up for the upcoming show. You watched as they trained their choreography and singing, surprised at how amazing the Cicadas’ traits were. With only a couple of specialized drones, they could simulate an entire orchestra of hundreds of instruments with ease. You doubted you could tell the difference form a real orchestra and their performance. 

But of course, the star of the show was Sicaria. Her voice was on a whole another level. The sheer range and volume of her notes made her entire hive run for their money. She wore a fake microphone with her disguise, but in fact, she sang so loud that they didn’t even need speakers! The only changeling to get somewhat near her level was Cicah, but it was still a very noticeable difference.

“Alright, everyling, it’s time to shine as bright as a shooting star!” Sicaria rallied everyling who made their way on stage to the loud cheer and applause of the massive crowd that gathered outside. Before Cicah could leave, Sicaria pulled her off to the side.

“Alright, Cicah, the stage is yours, dazzle them!”

“What?!” Cicah might as well have lost her soul there and then when she heard that. 

“Did I stutter?” Sicaria teased, showing her tongue. “You’ve been touring all this time for this moment, dearie. I’ll be your backing vocal and you’ll be the lead singer. Show me what you got!”

“You can’t throw that at me so soon! I’m not ready!” she cried, holding onto her mother’s leg, pleading for mercy.

“Of course you are, this is not your first show and I’ll be there to back you up if the crowd gets too nasty,” she reassured her, picking her up from the floor.

Cicah looked at you for backup, but all you could do was give her a reassuring smile and gesture for her to go at it.

“A-alright…” Cicah took a deep breath. “I can do this...”

“Of course you can, now let’s get moving!” Sicaria took hold of Cicah and unceremoniously pushed her towards the stage.

“Good luck!” you called out to her before making your way to your VIP balcony Sicaria set up for you and your drones.





Sicaria’s Songbird started off the show with a solo song before bringing on Cicah’s Nightingale. It took a while for her to clear her mind off the nervousness, but when she did, she let herself go free. Picking up the tempo with every song, the crowd cheered louder and louder as more and more ponies danced to her rhythm as if they were entranced.

Sunstrike’s spotlight shone directly into the diamond which dispersed the light in a rainbow of colors in all directions, reflecting off of strategically placed mirrors put up by Volt, Mist, and Star to create a truly amazing light show. 

Cicah’s voice echoed throughout the park as Sicaria quieted herself more and more, letting Cicah take the wheels fully without realizing it. Soon enough news ponies started to gather to cover the new shining star of the show.

The show went on and on until the late hours, but eventually, much to the disappointment of the crowd the show was about to end. Finally back at their hive everyling popped a bottle of sizzled apple cider charged with love to celebrate the great performance. You and your drones gathered by the pool at the roof to celebrate Cicah’s grand debut into the next level of her singing career.

“Cheers!” Sicaria called, raising her glass of champagne. “Cheers!” Everybody downed their drinks.

“I’m very proud of you, Cicah! You’re finally ready to take your place in the new hive!” Sicaria let it slip, almost spitting her drink when she noticed she talked too much.

“What do you mean?” Cicah asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well… this was meant to be a surprise, but I’m planning on expanding the hive to a new location, maybe Baltimare or Fillydelphia. And of course, every hive needs a queen, and you have just proven to me that you’re the perfect candidate!”

There was a long silence between you three. Cicah would shift her stares between Sicaria and you, doing her best “is she joking?” expression every time she looked at you.

“Am I missing something here?” Cicah finally said.

“Nope. In fact, quite the contrary, you have everything to make the perfect queen for the new hive! I’m very proud of you, my daughter!” Sicaria fluttered out of her chair and embraced Cicah in a tight hug, the younger changeling finally starting to digest everything she just heard.

“No way, you want to make me a queen?! Oh, Mother above, thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s an honor!” She hugged her back, proving to have a hug just as strong as her mother.

“Congratulations, Cicah! I bet you’ll do a better job than me!” you cheered for her, clapping your hooves.

“Ohhh, thank you! Now we’ll be queen besties!” Cicah let go of her mother and picked you up off your chair in another hug.

“Alright, dearie. Please try to stand still, let’s proceed with the coronation!” Sicaria laughed, peeling her daughter off of you. 

Cicah couldn’t contain her excitement. Her wings buzzed and she would almost hover in place as she tried her best not move. Focusing her magic, Sicaria plucked off one of the orbs from her crown and brought it close to Cicah’s head, charging it with magic. During that process, you could feel a weird sensation growing within you as if you were being filled with energy. When the orb was ready, Sicaria pressed it against Cicah’s head. The orb seemed to phase through her chitin, planted inside her head. 

Slowly, Cicah was enveloped by a bright pink cocoon, carried away to the realm of dreams. Once again, you felt bathed in a weird energy as if the cocoon was seeping its magic to you. A good minute has passed and Sicaria kept feeding her magic into the cocoon, the more magic she fed to it, the more you began to feel that strange energy swell inside you. You began to feel a little distressed as you your belly extend, revealing the soft chitin underneath your plate.

Your mind shot straight back to the time you had your eggs as the feeling was pretty similar. “But I just laid my eggs!’ you exclaimed throughout the hivemind, not wanting to disrupt the process going on in front of you. You tried to feel for any new minds forming inside the hivemind, but nothing came out, maybe it wasn’t new eggs…

Suddenly, the cocoon dissipated in a flash of powerful energy, showering you even more in its radiation and extending your belly further. Now it felt like you were really ready to lay eggs. Disturbing as all that was, you got distracted as Cicah emerged from her transformation. Her eyes lost their monochrome look in favor for a slitted pupil just like her mother’s, her wings and horns grew in size as well as her body, now she was as tall as you were. At the top of her head sat a tiny crown with a single “pearl”, her receptor and transmitter amplifier to her own hivemind.

With a big yawn, Cicah fluttered her wings, sparks flying off of her horn as she got accustomed to its new powers. She quickly flew to the edge of the pool to look at her reflection. “No way! I look so pretty!”

“Just like your momma!” Sicaria joked, letting out an exhausted huff, her horn flickering a bit after its exhertion.

Cicah flew up to her and gave her a big kiss on the cheek, and a hug before zooming around to greet you. “Don’t I look pretty-” She cut herself short when she noticed your bulging belly.

“You have more eggs?! Wow, that was quick!” she exclaimed, landing by your side. A hue of pink escaped from your thin membranes as you held your belly with worry.

“I don’t think those are eggs…” Sicaria pointed out, approaching from the other side. 

“I don’t know what's happening!” you said, panicking.

“Calm down, dear. Take it slowly.” Sicaria leaned closer to your belly to investigate. You could see what appeared to be a swirling pool of energy inside your belly. You’ve never seen anything like that before. 

Sicaria lit up her horn, charging it with magic. Much to everybody’s awe, the energy within you seemed to reach to it, shining brightly every time Sicaria would focus her horn. “Hmm... I think I may know what that is. Cicah? Do you feel weak or drained if you light up your horn by any chance?” 

Cicah lit up her horn to test it. “Nope, nothing at all.”

“Hmm... Okay, dearie, I need you to try and do something for me. Try to imitate our sound abilities, like the beatboxing or singing while focusing your magic. Whatever feels natural to you,” she asked, you giving you some pointers for breathing techniques and vocalization.

You had no clue how to do all of what the Cicadas could do, but you tried anyway. Focusing your magic, you thought about how to transform your body to mimic their unique anatomy. Suddenly, you were engulfed in the usual flame effect of changeling transformation, but this time it was a bright pink flame!

As the flames went out, you were surprised to find your body transformed past what you had in mind. Your iridescent mane and carapace turned into various shades of pink, your black chitin turned into a dark pink hue and your wings grew larger and rounder, similar to Sicaria and Cicah’s. On your neck appeared all the extra organs the Cicadas used to make their songs. Taking a deep breath, you tried to imitate the various beats of the show and you managed to do so almost perfectly!

“Oh, wow! You turned into a Cicada just like me!” Cicah bounced with joy, fluttering her wings excitedly. 

“I didn’t know I could do that!” you said, just as excited.

“Heheh, you look more like your mother by the hours!” Sicaria teased. “She had a similar power to yours. That means you inherited her abilities!”

“So I can copy other hives at will?” you asked, confused.

“Not quite. Your mother used to have the ability to store energy from other Queens. Though hers’ had some… side effects, yours apparently lack that problem.” Suddenly, a big smile came to Sicaria’s face as an idea passed through her mind. “That’s it then! You’re the Nameless Queen of the Yuma Iridescent Hive! Congratulations!” she cheered.

“Nameless?” you asked, a bit unsure about that name. “That’s not really a name.”

“Why not? Until you find your own name you think is worthy, that’s the perfect placeholder!” She laughed.

You laughed with her, happy to finally have something to be called as. But then, a realization came to mind, even though it seemed as you burned through some of the energy you had stored, your belly still held a good amount of it. Also, for how long would that transformation hold? Was it permanent, was it burning through your special magic reserves? You pushed those thoughts aside, however, at that time, you were just happy to celebrate your and your friend’s new transformations.





You continued to chat on the roofs for a bit longer before tiredness crept its way to your eyes, weighting them down. You asked if you could spend the night at the hotel and go back home in the morning, to which they were more than glad to offer you and your drones a room. You were about to take the elevator down when a sudden ping through the hivemind completely froze you in place.

“What’s the matter, Nameless?” Cicah asked, already at the elevator with her mother.

“My eggs are hatching!!!

“What?!” Sicaria and Cicah cried in unison.

“I-I can’t stay here tonight! I have to get to my babies!” In your panicked state, you started to buzz your wings and take off, but were yanked back by Sicaria’s magic.” 

“Calm down, girl, you can’t fly that distance in this state, we’re not Locust Changelings!”

“Let me go! I wanna see my babies!” You fought against her pull but then a better idea came to mind. “I know! I learned a teleportation spell from a pony friend of mine, I think I can pull that off!”

“C-can you teleport all of us?” Evening Star asked, worried that might be too much to handle.

“I have no idea! And I don’t care!” Before even giving the chance to reply, you overcharged your horn with all you got, enveloping you and your drones in your magic. With a powerful burst, you vanished, leaving Sicaria and Cicah alone on the roof.





<Hivemind>





It was late at night when the warriors returned from their last patrol around the perimeter of the hive. Thankfully there were no real threats detected in the vicinity. When they finally landed back home, they were greeted by the workers who just finished building the Covert Network, the hive was almost fully functional! The gatherers that returned from Ponyville helped them relax,  feeding them their recently collected love supply from the afternoon.

“Any word on when our Queen will return?” Farsight asked.

“It appears she’ll pass the night at the Cicada’s Hive and return to us by morning,” said Rose, walking into the main hall.

“I don’t like the idea of our Queen spending the night away…” said Insectsidous. “What if she’s betrayed and captured by the Cicadas? O-or what if that pony comes back and lays waste to the hive while she’s away?!”

“Calm down, Insectsidous, there’s nothing in the perimeter, and nopony would risk wandering around the forest at night!” countered Black Star.

Suddenly, Mask Charade came rushing down the corridor, crying out in his feminine voice. “The eggs are hatching!”

In an instant, there was mass panic throughout the entire hall. Everyling zoomed to and fro, trying to make their way to the hatchery. As they stormed their way to the hatchery door, they were faced by a dangerous looking Phengaris gatekeeping the door with a scolding face. Slowly but surely, they all calmed down and were allowed entrance inside with the other gatherers that were watching over the eggs.

In the hatchery, the eggs sat neatly on their little sockets, squirming and wiggling around as the babies were ready to hatch.

Suddenly, the drones felt the presence of their Queen spawn near their location. She was off target by a couple of meters but turns out her group teleportation spell worked! Without delay, she rushed her way to the castle, arriving at the hatchery door within seconds. Everyling noticed her different appearance, but noling dared to comment, for this was a very special occasion, especially for her.

She slowly walked to the wall the eggs were placed on and laid in front of them, tears of joy forming in the corners of her eyes. She watched every single egg intently. Every time they wiggled around but didn’t manage to break their shell was excruciating torture for her. The seconds ticked by and her worry grew more and more, the little larvae not able to break free yet, some of them were squirming more weakly each time. She wanted to help them out by ripping open their membranous shells, but deep down she knew she shouldn’t.

Suddenly, she could hear a faint echo of her mother’s voice whispering in her ears, as if she was there with her, watching over the birth of her grandchildren. ‘Open your eyes, my child’ Where some of the first words she heard when she was born. Closing her eyes, Nameless put her new form to use and softly whispered to her little larvae in an inaudible frequency that traveled through the viscous protective liquid of the eggs more easily. 

“Wake up, my children…”

“Can you hear me?”

“Open your eyes…”

Her echoing voice reached out to the little grubs and, hearing the call of their mother, they doubled their efforts. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the first larva burst out of its egg, slipping out of its socket due to the slippery fluids and falling to the floor. Phengaris almost dove in to catch the baby before stopping in her tracks. Nameless caught the baby with her magic, bringing it close to her. The baby wiggled around in her aura, taking a deep breath as its lungs expanded for the first time. Slowly the grub opened its big, monochrome eyes and squealed with happiness upon seeing its mother for the first time.

With her tears now running freely, she brought the baby close and gave it a kiss on the forehead, infusing it with energy stronger than love collected from other creatures, her love.

“Happy birthday, little one…” She wished her child, crying openly.

One by one her eggs would hatch and one by one she would wait for them to wake up and give it a kiss, welcoming it to the hive. After a while, finally, all her eggs had hatched as healthy and squeaky changeling grubs. The day’s exertion and emotional stress took its toll on her, and when her last larva found its place in her warm embrace she laid her head down and passed out. Her changelings gave her the privacy she deserved, sleeping by the hatchery’s entrance. 

Before fully delving into the realm of dreams, Nameless gave out one last thanks.

“Thank you, mother.”
> Chapter 9.5 Changeling Parenting For Dummies (3K Views Special)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nameless sat defeated at a table at Sugarcube Corner, her heavy bags under her eyes adding at least a couple more years to her usual old mare disguise, a side effect to the very stressful past month she went through since she returned from Manehattan and her eggs hatched. Who would have thought that looking after fifteen larvae would take so much work?!

“Hello, Ms. Enigma! How’s your evening going?” asked Pinkie Pie, who bounced to her table with her usual energy, an energy that Nameless envied to no end at that moment.

“I haven’t collapsed yet, so I think it has been nice,” you grumbled. “Pinkie? Could you bring me a big milkshake with extra vanilla, please?”

“Of course! Big vanilla milkshake coming right up!” Pinkie bounced back behind the counter with a big smile.

Now to wait for Derpy and Dinky. I wonder why she insisted so much on us meeting here… Not that I’m complaining, really, I need that milkshake… Nameless thought, slumping on the table with a pained moan as she felt her back aching. Tiredness crept up to her as her eyes slowly fell shut, and as she drifted to sleep, she couldn’t help but give a small smile as she recalled the past weeks.





Only a week had passed since her eggs hatched. Nameless had spent the entire time in the Hatchery, looking over her offspring but she wasn’t alone, almost half the hive took some time off to rest and recover. They couldn’t help themselves but to come by every now and then to watch the little grubs, some even almost refused to live the Hatchery. Even though the workers were working hard to build a new Slime Pit for the hive, Phengaris would take every opportunity she had to sneak back to the larvae’s side, much to her co-workers’ annoyance. Nameless couldn’t blame her though.

As the days passed by, the tiny larvae grew and grew, almost doubling in size. Nameless could feel their weight increase every time they piled up on her as she lay down next to them. She was amazed by how fast changelings grew! Was it because of the surplus of supplies her hive had? She didn’t know, but she really wished they would take their time to grow up. She loved watching them cutely wiggling around the room too much to see them growing so fast!

Nameless would ask her drones to bring her some books from the library to pass the time while she stayed there. They would try to assure her that they would take care of the younglings so she could return to her bed to sleep but she was having none of it. A sizable pile of books had gathered there by the end of the week. Besides her usual reading topics, she also asked for a couple of foals stories for her to read to her children. They would fondly fall asleep every time they heard her sweet voice telling them old pony tales.

She woke up one morning like any other, sneaking out of the Hatchery. While her grubs were still asleep to tend to her morning routine before returning to wake up her children, however this time, in her groggy state, she forgot to close the door behind her. She proceeded with her morning rituals oblivious to her mistake. She took a nice and warm bath, combed her mane and stretched out her sore muscles a little bit, giving her wings a few buzzings. Feeling refreshed, she finally made her way back to the Hatchery. 

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the wide-open entrance to her most valuable chamber. She rushed inside in search of her babies, but all she could find were books scattered around.

“Children? Where are you?! Children!” she called out. No reply. Immediately she sent a warning of danger through the hivemind, waking all of her drones with a kick. ‘My children are gone! We have to find them!’ She mobilized her search party, who swiftly scattered throughout the hive, searching every nook and cranny inside and out.

A good couple of minutes had passed and she could swear she had seen their shadow or heard their giggling around corners but every time she would run up to them, they vanished. She was beginning to question her sanity when she finally had an idea on how to find them. Concentrating, she sent out a ping through the hivemind and waited for an echo. Since her babies were already connected to the hivemind, she would probably be able to locate them through it, at least in theory.

She caught up the faintest of feedback around the throne room, but couldn’t pinpoint their exact location. Due to being so young, their minds haven’t really developed their presence on the hivemind, so locating so many larvae would be almost impossible that way. But that wouldn’t keep Nameless from trying! She kept sending pings every thirty seconds or so, following their general direction in an intense game of hot and cold. She tried almost all the rooms in the castle ruin, getting warmer and warmer until she finally reached her chambers in the library.

Sending a prayer to Mother, she burst through the library’s door, and what she saw surprised her to no end. Her little larvae gathered by one of the shelves, changing into random objects they saw around the library to allow their brothers and sisters to stack up on them, building a crude staircase so they could reach some books at the top. The structure wasn’t that stable though, and soon enough it began to wobble as the little grubs tried to climb to the top. 

In a swift movement, Nameless flew to their side, holding their staircase with her magic. Now with the balance restored, the last little grub made its way to a faded light purple book, pulling it from the shelf and holding it proudly towards Nameless.

“Humn?” she inquired, picking up the book with her magic as her children began to change back to their normal selves. Inspecting the book, she found it was the magic theory book she had asked the night before through the hivemind before going to sleep. 

“You wanted to fetch the book for me?” she asked in surprise, to which they nodded happily.

“Awww, thank you, my dears! I love you so much!” she squealed, scooping them into a big hug, feeding them enough love to last a week in the process. Despite the massive fright she just went through, she couldn’t bring herself to scold them, recognizing their achievement in not only managing to shapeshift for the first time but also dodge her entire hive in the process, a great skill for a changeling to have.

Little did she know that things would only get worse from that moment forward...





Nameless slumped awkwardly on her black crystal throne, a secret present her precious drones so generously made for her. The crystal sprouted from between the old thrones of the two pony princesses, melding them together into a bigger and mightier throne worthy of an Archqueen. Now Nameless could claim to have a full-fledged changeling hive!

Tired, she found herself almost falling asleep on her throne when a youngling zoomed above her out of nowhere, forcing her to dodge. It has been a little more than a week since her little larvae shapeshifted for the first time and now they developed into cute little young nymphs. She was so overjoyed to see her children grow for the first time, especially since she didn’t have the chance with her brothers and sisters because they had plenty of time to incubate beforehand, skipping directly to fully grown drones after her first encounter with the timberwolves. But there was one thing she wasn’t counting for… their wings…

Ever since they started buzzing they haven’t stopped! The entire hive was total mayhem with over-energetic nymphs flying all over the place! Nameless and her drones tried their best to contain them, but the little buggers proved to be formidable opponents, draining the hive of its energy. Thankfully, Nameless opened the Healing Spring for all to relax and recharge, otherwise, they would be all passed out from exhaustion by that point.

Derpy… help me… she pleaded through the hivemind, lying lifelessly on her throne.

I’m sorry, my Queen, but I can’t help you with this one. When I adopted Dinky, she was already a filly, I have no idea how to look after nymphs… Derpy said apologetically.

“Mother, please save me from this cruel fate!” she cried out loud, striking a rather dramatic pose. 

As if answering her prayer, Nameless felt a very strong and very familiar presence nearby that shot her up straight on her hooves. A few seconds later, she could hear someone knocking on the hive’s door.

“Nameless, my dearie, auntie has come to visit!” She heard Sicaria’s voice echoing through the hall, like the sweet song of her salvation. 

Nameless made a mad sprint to the front door, yanking it wide open. “Sicaria! I’m so glad you’re here!” she yelled with a crazy smile on her face like she just escaped from a mental asylum.

Sicaria took a step back in surprise. “Wow, what happened to you, girl?”

“Kids! Come meet your auntie!” she called her drones, who stopped in their tracks to look at the newcomer.

Sicaria’s eyes lit up with stars as she saw them. “My nephews!” She ran right past Nameless, flying straight to the nymphs with wide-open arms. They tried to flee from her but capture was inevitable, no one could escape her spine-breaking hug.

“Oh, Mother, it has been so long since I last had nymphs buzzing around my hive! They’re all so adorable! I want to take them home!” she cried, embracing the struggling nymphs even tighter.

The idea appealed to Nameless for a fraction of a second but was quickly brushed off, instead, something else sparked her curiosity.

“You don’t lay eggs anymore?” Nameless asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not really. I’m still able to, of course, but changeling anatomy is a curious thing, it’s almost as if it knows that the hive is at full capacity so it halts involuntary egg production. Pretty neat, right?” she giggled.

“Huh, interesting. Is there a way to purposefully stop laying eggs for a while? Don’t get me wrong, I love my babies, but I don’t think I can keep up with that rhythm…” Nameless asked, sitting on the floor close to them.

Sicaria landed next to Nameless, nymphs still in her arms. “Yeah, it can be a grueling task, no doubt. I can teach you some tricks to help you with that.” She gave her a wink.

“Thank you.” Nameless smiled. “Say, how is Cicah?”

“Heheh, busy, and stressed out, just like you,” she jested. “She really wanted to come with me, but she had some duties back at her own hive that needed her attention. She asked me to tell you to visit her soon though.”

She giggled. “Yes, I will.”

The two spent the rest of the evening chatting. Sicaria’s hugs proved to be an effective weapon at calming the nymphs, who were so tired after their struggles that quickly fell asleep. After putting the kids to bed, Nameless took Sicaria to the Healing Spring, where she got to meet with her other drones and resume their conversation.

“Ahhh, you should look into investing in a water heating system. If you manage to heat up this marvelous, crystal clear water spring, I think I would never be able to leave!” Sicaria said, submerging her head underwater for a couple of seconds before coming back up, shaking the excess water off her mane.

“That sounds like a good idea, though I’m afraid that if I were to do so, I would never be able to leave either!” They laughed.

“Say, have you heard from any other hives recently? I was thinking about putting myself on the map, you know? Meeting my other aunts,” Nameless asked, swimming to the edge of the pool close to Sicaria.

“Actually, I did! Apparently, my sister Mel, the Archqueen of the Bee Hive ran into some sort of problem as of late,” Sicaria said, turning to Nameless.

“Oh? What sort of problem?”

“I’m not sure. But, you see she and Kami, the Archqueen of the Wasp Hive, were as close as two can be. I know for a fact that she’s trying to help Mel. If you manage to solve their problem as well as you did mine, you’ll be getting two allies for the price of one!” she explained.

“Humn… I guess I should pay them a visit,” Nameless wondered.

“If you’d like to meet them, Mel’s hive is located in the Hayseed Swamp, I can send word of your visit in advance to help sooth Kami’s overprotective side,” she joked.

“Thanks, I would appreciate that.”





About a month has passed since her eggs hatched, and Nameless’ children have grown into adorable young fillies and colts. They’ve begun to help the hive in their assigned work class and have learned a lot from their older brothers and sisters but still, despite all of that, Nameless’ trials were far from over. 

Because she would never leave their side as larvae, the young nymphs had difficulty sleeping alone. She tried everything, reading a bedtime story, putting them to sleep with other drones, she even asked her drones to bring some food from Ponyville to see if they would sleep better with a full belly. Nothing worked. So every night, she gathered everyling to sleep with her in her chambers, which now have been converted into a massive pillow pile to make room the little grubs. Since then, there hasn’t been a single night where she managed to sleep all the way through.

She stumbled her way to Twilight’s library to finally reunite with her pony friend after spending such a long time secluded in her hive. Straightening her saddlebags with her magic, she knocked on the door.

A light purple magic glow enveloped the doorknob as it opened. Twilight let out a gasp of excitement upon seeing her friend. “Ms. Enigma! It’ so good to see you again, please come in!”

Nameless made her way to the closest chair, sitting down with a tired smile. “Thanks, Twilight. Here, I brought some books, I’ve been reading those and I thought you would like them.” She fetched the books from her bag and levitated them to Twilight

Twilight took the books in her magic, bringing them closer to take a look. “Ohhh, Magic Theory and old Transmutations! They sound great! I can’t wait for us to try some of their spells today!” she cried excitedly.

“Sorry, dear, but I’m a bit tired from my family visit, I’m afraid I only came for a quick ‘hello’ today,” Nameless apologized, having no energy to deal with magic mishaps what so ever.

“Aww, it’s okay, let me get us some tea. Spike, could you make us some tea, please?” she called.

“Us? Oh, hello, Ms. Enigma. Sure, right away!” The little dragon waved you hello before making his way to the kitchen.

It didn’t take long for Spike to come back with two cups of mint tea for you and Twilight. He served you your drinks and returned to the second floor.

“So, what happened while I was gone?” Nameless asked, taking a sip from her tea.

“Oh, we had a couple of accidents here and there. Poor Applebloom contracted a nasty disease called ‘Cutie Pox’ after meddling with some of Zecora’s ingredients. Thankfully Zecora was able to cure her before things got too dangerous,” Twilight said, taking her own sip of tea.

“Ah, good. It’s always nice to know that we can count on her in this sort of problems.”

“Sure is. Also, my friend Rainbow Dash got her first pet the other day.”

“Is that so? What pet did she get? A falcon, perhaps?”

Twilight giggled. “Funny enough, she got a tortoise.”

“A tortoise? But doesn’t she live in a cloud house? How would she be able to keep the tortoise?” Nameless raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“We actually managed to get a flying contraption for him so he can follow her up to the clouds, it is a pretty interesting machine.”

“Oh, I see.”

The conversation went on for a few more minutes as they updated each other on the going ons. The sun was about to set when Nameless took notice of the time. “It was nice chatting with you, Twilight, but I must leave for today, I hope you enjoy the books.” She gave her a smile, packed her things, and got up.

“Goodbye Ms. Enigma, hope to see you soon!” Twilight waved her goodbye.

Fastening your saddlebags back on, you made your way to Sugarcube Corner.

Now to see what Derpy wanted to talk with me about.





Back in the Ponyville school, Derpy awaited patiently for Dinky at the exit. A couple of minutes later, the school bell rang and the students stormed out in a hurry. Dinky walked out of school with some of her friends, upon seeing her mother, she waved them goodbye and rushed to her side, snuggling against her chest.

“Hey, sweetie, how was school today?” Derpy asked, picking up her daughter’s saddlebags.

“It was fun! We had an arts and crafts class today!” Dinky said enthusiastically.

“That’s great. Say, Ms. Enigma is back in town but she looked a bit tired, how about we go meet her in Sugarcube Corner to cheer her up and I get you some milkshake?” Derpy offered, knowing that Dinky wouldn’t refuse a milkshake.

“Oh-oh, can I get a big one?”

“Now now, if you get a big one you’ll have trouble sleeping. I’ll get you a medium one, deal?”

“Deal!”

Derpy and Dinky strolled their way to Sugarcube Corner, but along the way, Derpy felt a sinister chill running down her spine, her eyes shot up straight as she looked around worriedly. She could feel a terrible presence nearby, a familiar presence…

“Why, hello there, Forty-two.”