Cimmerian chuckled as he left his own dream, the queen being returned to her own form and Luna taking her leave for the night. The smaller alicorn's question had left him in tears as he laughed uproariously. When wasn't there an unstable psychopath running around wrecking the world's shit? The difference, as he'd had to explain to Luna, was that Earth psychopaths weren't monsters that possessed people and made them do crazy things. Not most of the time, anyway. If someone had told him demons actually existed a year ago, he'd probably have patted them on the head and went on his way. Now his very existence on this planet was caused by such a creature trying to escape its exorcism, so who knew for certain any more?
Because Earth monsters were still people, he told them the solution was to either wait for Time to remove the idiot, or a particularly pissed off enemy to speed up the process. Pandinus was understanding of the process, claiming queens often did such things to unstable rivals who were threatening the race's invisibility; Chrysalis was an unfortunate case of a single changeling queen wandering into the woods and launching her attack without any other queens noticing her. Luna was...
Okay, Luna had looked a bit upset at the prospect. Apparently she was a big fan of redeeming everyone, especially after her so-called fall. When he'd try to point out that it wasn't so much her going crazy as her being possessed, her mood had dropped even further, claiming that she'd let herself become weak enough for that. He'd stop trying to justify it after that and just settled for a few hugs; sometimes someone just wanted to feel guilty.
Currently Cimmerian was wandering the dream realm, looking for the orb that would be their sneaky queen, hoping to either learn her location, or maybe even open up dialogue with her. The difficulty in finding her was a monument to just how many people were now living at the Temple. Eventually he managed to figure out the perimeter of the temple in the dream realm and find an orb that wasn't near any others. The only thing that worried him was that it was weak, so weak it reminded him of something.
'Din's dream was like that before she recovered,' he realized, carefully touching it. Such a dream was unstable, the mind not really having the strength to form its own world and working with simple images for dreams. Deciding to take a chance, he inserted images of his own.
Changelings wandering the Temple without disguise, walking right past ponies and griffons as they went about their lives. A nymph chasing after two foals, all three wearing smiles as they played. The fountain, yes the queen had seen it, but he showed what was in it, felt the queen's gnawing hunger when she realized such a thing was just sitting outside, free to any who approach. Finally, he grit his teeth in concentration. This would be the most difficult part. The world seemed to solidify into an actual dream, the alicorn's magic holding together what the changeling couldn't. That was when he got his first good look at his target.
That she was thin was no surprise, but the colors were a shock. A deep forest green was her primary color, her chitin covering every possible inch of flesh in stark contrast to Queen Pandinus. Her short and slick mane was a brown usually reserved for trees, lending the queen a natural camouflage color scheme that likely allowed her to move almost unseen in forests and jungles. She looked around in confusion for a few moments before her amber eyes locked on his approaching figure. He slowly walked up to her with an expressionless face before gently nuzzling her cheek, sending one last image to the confused queen. The cities half-completed southern gate with the morning sun just peaking over the trees.
"Meet me there. We'll help you," he whispered softly.
Even then it was too much of a shock, the dream shattering around him and leaving him in the dream realm once more. The first few times it had happened, he'd actually woken up, the shock of the transition pulling him from the dream realm as well. He shook his head, desperately hoping she got the message before returning to the residents. Many, especially the griffons and the few thestrals, were often plagued by nightmares. Sometimes it felt like his work was never done.
He watched the world around him, even going so far as to brush against a few of the more removed dreams, ending the nightmares of those in neighboring areas. He felt Luna pass him several times, the mare brushing against his own presence gently before returning to her travels, offering advice and encouragement as she'd done for so long before. He avoided such things. He was only in his twenties no matter what was added to his mind, he just didn't feel like he was worthy of such a task. Besides, why step into Luna's territory any more than he had to? The work kept her busy, it gave her something to do.
<-(0)->
They were up and eating breakfast before the dawn. Queen Pandinus was absolutely miserable, following after him in her preference to sleep until noon if she had the opportunity. They ate in companionable silence, enjoying a large, warm omelet for each of them with the queen dozing off against him when she'd finished. After the meal they rose, walking out into the courtyard as the first rays of sunlight hit the Temple of the Shadows. The residents still couldn't decide on a proper name for the town, and he was preparing to throw his own choice into the mix just to end the debate.
The two waited at the gates for a few minutes, the alicorn growing increasingly worried that his message didn't go through or drove her away when Pandinus walked into the forest with a determined grimace on her muzzle.
"Din? Din talk to me, what's going on?" he asked as he trotted after her.
"I can feel her, them. This way, and keep your emotions in check," she called back before picking up her pace. He had to hurry to keep up and eventually nearly bowled into the queen when she came to a stop in a small clearing. Where he expected to find a single changeling queen in a stare down with Pandinus, he instead found a three-way confrontation. In the first corner was Pandinus and himself. To his right was a second queen, this one different from the one in the dream and in an aggressive stance. The hissing changeling had an amber mane and royal blue chitin. The second queen was more focused on the other group at the moment though. Two more queens stood across from them, both squared off against the single changeling. One of the group was the one from the dream but she stood close to her palette-swapped partner, both wearily eyeing the newcomers and keeping the second queen in sight.
Din immediately set about speaking to them, a series of rapid clicks and wing-flutters drawing the attention of all three queens as she laid down on the ground. The one from the dream's eyes widened upon noticing him, then she looked to her partner for a moment before replying in a way that shocked her ally. The green queen then also laid down, pulling her friend with her as the other mare clicked a fierce retort. The second queen didn't respond verbally, however, merely hissed and snapped at both groups.
"The lone queen is feral, Cimmerian," Pandinus whispered "I don't think we'll be getting through to her."
"Don't think or know?" he replied, moving forward and mentally preparing a few offensive spells.
"That was a general truce. It was one of the first things I learned, as sometimes changelings do get lost or have to work with other hives. The other two recognize it even if one objects, but that one didn't even respond," the queen took a steadying breath. "Do you see the second black spike on her head just behind the horn? Her crown has degraded. She no longer has the capacity to work with others, she won't lay eggs, and any drone she finds won't be claimed, it will be cannibalized for energy."
Cimmerian sighed in defeat. "If you're certain, we should put her do-"
The feral queen hissed upon tasting the surge of sorrow and pity, her eyes focusing on the dark alicorn. He tripped while backing away from her lunge, catching her with his hooves and launching her behind him. He was on his hooves again quickly, cursing the ridiculous situation; he couldn't even be resigned when dealing with changelings, could he? Scratch that, she could probably taste his irritation too.
"Fool, I told you to watch yourself, but you had to focus on her," Pandinus said. She clicked something to the other queens and they backed away, almost disappearing into the forest beyond. "It's the duty of queens to put the mad out of their misery. They will help us."
"If you're certain, I think I've got a plan. She's going to keep trying to feed on me, so we use that," Cimmerian said, focusing on the feral queen in his mind. The response was instantaneous, the queen barreling out of the trees with fangs bared only to be batted aside by a log surrounded in a dark glow. It flailed about for a moment before its hunger once more drove it to look to the alicorn. Without hesitation the feral queen rushed at him, only empty hunger in its eyes.
The lunge was intercepted by a tree branch encased in an ashen aura being used as an improvised spear. The branch shattered on impact but the queen's flight path was altered, sending her flying into a tree to the alicorns right. He immediately launched a shadow blade, drawing a line of green blood as the feral rolled out of the way of the lethal spell. Pandinus struck next, dropping from above in an attempt to crush the beast with her hooves. She missed, earning a cut from a horn swipe even as the feral queen backed away from them. It prepared to charge again when two horns pierced its side and throat.
The two other queens quickly removed themselves from the proximity of the flailing queen before they resumed positions at each others side. Din nodded to the other two before slowly approaching the beast. Using her aura to hold the queen still, Din reared up and brought her hooves down on the queen, ending her.
"What a waste," the stallion muttered before turning to the other two. The other queens were once more reclining on the ground in the pose Din had taken. Both sides faced each other and waited for the other to start.
"Uh, Din? Do I sit next to you, or..."
"No, this is between rulers of- on second thought, yes. Sit here, just a little behind me," his queen said, motioning to her right. As soon as he was seated the older queen hissed and clicked something at Pandinus, obviously not liking the message.
"Equish, he doesn't know our language." Din told them.
The younger was much calmer. "Why include him, why put him beside. Follow you, yes? Queen lead."
"Cimmerian leads the Temple of the Shadows. I, Queen Pandinus, rule the hive but he rules the town the hive is a part of," the healthy queen said simply. "That means that you will be under my rule if you choose to join and I report to him, and I really don't advise against turning down this offer. I can taste your cycling from here."
At the alicorn's look of confusion she explained. "They're cycling emotion back and forth. It allows two changelings to last much longer on the same amount of emotion, but it often ends with the changelings becoming ill and needing to go through a cleansing. They can't even touch love at the moment without getting sick, not of the potency we have back at the Temple. They'd become violently ill."
Turning back to the two queens, Din continued "You will also limit your laying as much as you can. Our changeling population is quite large at the moment, and Cimmerian would like more sources of emotion before we increase our numbers too much more. True drones are fine, as they don't eat much, but limit yourselves to your minimum clutch. Finally, the two of you will fill the role of operators in the hive once you've recovered sufficiently. I don't have any at the moment, and the hive has grown large enough that I can't keep track of everything."
The brown queen jumped to her hooves, pacing back and forth for a few moments while spitting, hissing and generally not acting very pleased at the terms. A few more stomps and a pleading look from her counterpart, and she slumped. The deal was sour, but it was that or death. The smaller queen looked curiously at Cimmerian and Pandinus.
"What about link? Mad Queen always find links, what different?" she asked. She stood up, slowly circling Din and taking note of her form. "So safe, willing to be weak? Why help?"
"My presence interrupts the array she uses to detect magic and links. The hive is over one hundred strong and none feel the pressure of Her array. The lack of chitin is for me," Cimmerian answered, grinning at Din. "Don't think I didn't recognize what you did that for. You made yourself easier to cuddle," he joked before turning back to the queens. "Why help? Because about two months ago she looked like you do now and she's learning to empathize, not just be empathic. Here you have a future, first as, operators? Yes, first as operators, then later as full queens over your own hives," he trailed off, gesturing for Pandinus to continue.
"I'd like to deny that, but he's right, there is a difference between being empathic and having empathy. Put yourself in another's situation, and you may find yourself much more willing to help them. You both know as well as I do that in any other instance the idea of helping another queen in your condition would be laughed at and thus has never been done, so we're going to be using the same rules as lost drones. Give yourselves to my hive, and you will be cared for. Once you repay the emotion it cost to recover, you may leave if you wish," she said before giggling. "I don't think that will be happening though."
At the older queen's angry hiss, Din broke into laughter. "I don't mean paying back the emotion won't be happening, that's easy; I mean breaking off won't happen. Why would you return to just surviving when you could be well fed and sleeping soundly at night? I'm certain you're taking shifts to watch while the other sleeps, what if you were both able to sleep the entire night? Sleep in a nest full of other changelings, your bellies full and the buzzing of the link at the back of your minds? Walk through the hive, knowing that your eggs are safe, and that they will not go hungry? That is the offer. Your aide and loyalty for food and shelter you will find nowhere else."
The queens stared at each other for a moment before the senior queen pulled her junior after her, both walking into the jungle and out of earshot.
"Din? Aren't you worried they may try something?" the alicorn asked.
"They'll accept. Agreements and meetings between queens are the only times lies and deception are prohibited by tradition, otherwise the hives would be in constant war and nothing would be accomplished. If the meeting was between drone proxies, then lying would be acceptable, but we're face to face. Also, they can't look at me and think my health is a trick. Even a disguise that would hide holes would be detectable by other queens at this range. As for betraying once they're linked? It would be betraying the agreement, and no queen would do that as no other hive would ever deal with her again," the queen answered.
The stallion hummed thoughtfully for a moment, "Speaking of other queens, they all had crowns. Didn't you say yours would be coming in soon?"
Pandinus looked back over the trees the others had left through, then turned to face him. She bowed her head, and used her magic to part her mane, exposing a small crown just sprouting on the top of her head.
"It's trying to grow, but I keep growing as well, and I believe that's slowing its development."
It looked odd to the dark alicorn, almost like a sea anemone growing in her mane. He leaned in for a closer look and she giggled at his breath touching it, pulling her head back.
"Is there anything on you that's not sensitive when it first comes in?" he asked, shaking his head in exasperation.
The healthy queen smiled in response, pressing up against him and basking in his warm flow of emotions. He wrapped a wing around her, nuzzling her gently as they waited. When it became visible he'd probably have people asking why she had one and he didn't, and that would most likely lead to his people making him a crown of his own. That would be neat, a king among aliens, wearing a silver or gold crown. He snickered, the idea of him sitting in a throne room with first a cardboard crown, then wearing a bottle of alcohol on his head. Too bad he'd probably be the only one to understand the jokes.
After nearly ten minutes of waiting, the two reverse-colored queens came back out, both looking at the couple in confusion. The younger one trotted up to Pandinus and with one last glance back at her companion, bowed her head.
"Accept. Ask only that treat well. Am Queen Zelus, other is Queen Lestidae."
Pandinus nodded, gesturing to the queen to lay down. "Cimmerian, could you please lay there? And I want her to sit there," Din directed them, having the two lay down on either side of the alicorn. She then directed him to hold a wing over each and begin focus on each of the queen's condition, allowing a little of his emotion to flow over them.
"While I'm linking with them, you will begin their cleansing. It's going to be messy, so hold their heads up if they get weak. Their bodies will need time to readjust to using the fresh emotions."
The alicorn did as was requested, and after about two minutes the queens began wheezing, then sputtering and heaving, a thick glowing green gel being spat out every now and again. Suddenly the younger queen, the first to be linked, shuddered and heaved a large mess of the gel onto the ground at the other queen's hooves before nearly passing out into it. Even as Din finished her work with Zelus, Lestidae was valiantly attempting to contain herself. Pandinus waited for a second, likely hoping the queen would just make her mess before she came too close. She lost her patience however, touching her horn to the older queen. A flash of emotions being transferred pushed Lestidae over the edge; with a whine, the older queen also vomited some of her cycled emotions in front of her, the dark glow of the alicorns magic now keeping both their heads up as Din linked them to herself.
Queen Pandinus slumped slightly, the joining of such powerful entities to her hive leaving her reeling slightly. The other two were asleep, their bodies desperately at work repairing an untold amount of damage they'd sustained over the years. Catching her breath, Din turned to the stallion, levitating the smaller queen onto her back.
"I'll carry Zelus, you can take Lestidae. This was only the beginning of the cleansing, and it is not a pleasant experience. The medical room will be their home over the next week. I'll have a changeling medic staying nearby, ready to remove the cycled emotions as they are ejected."
"Uh, shouldn't we do something about-" Cimmerian's question died on his lips, the form of the feral queen already disintegrating.
"She's similar to the feral drones," the changeling explained, "Nothing holding her together except magic and hunger. By tomorrow, you may not even be able to find any trace of her besides ash and a bit of residual magic. Come, we're putting these away, and I'm going back to bed. I hate mornings."
'Just when I thought I couldn't love her anymore,' the stallion thought with a exaggerated dreamy sigh.
<-(0)->
The queens were dropped off in the medical room and Din left to return to her bed. Cimmerian waited a little longer to make sure they were comfortable, then began to head out the door. He was nearly bulled over as the door was flung open, a small tide of changelings rushing in and looking over the newest additions. Several soon moved closer, earning the ire of the medical staff while some of the changelings realized they knew who was before them. In a flash many were blazing out the door again, spreading the news of the identity of the mystery queens. Some looked disappointed, others were jubilant.
'Didn't even think of what that would do for changeling morale,' He thought, 'Some of them will be happier than ever, knowing their queen or princess survived, others will keep hope that their mother is still out there somewhere. Then there will be those that learn about the feral queen, whose name I never learned. Wait, Zelus. I've heard that name before.'
He was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of children, following their caretaker as she cautiously walked into the room. They stopped by the alicorn, playing and joking quietly , some attempting to draw a reaction out of him, but his eyes were on Mirage. The matron was slowly approaching the younger queen, as if her advance may scare the sleeping queen away. Gently, the mare reached out a hoof, softly stroking the mane out of the ragged queen's face before moving closer, hugging the insensate changeling. Realizing what was happening, the alicorn led the younglings out the door, leaving the gathered to celebrate the reunion. Mirage would probably be back at full capacity tomorrow, and Zelus wouldn't be going anywhere even after she'd recovered. Not with a familiar face to keep her here.
He led them to the nursery, several looking disappointed at being returned there so quickly, and shut the door behind him with a resounding slam. Several of the kids looked around in confusion before they met his gaze, their eyes widening in realization as several loose feathers were pulled from his wings and began to dance around him. An evil grin spread across his muzzle; he had at least an hour before Miss Goodhooves and Lady Thrisha arrived with the supplies for basic reading and writing classes. There would be no escape for them now.
<-(0)->
Another day, another report of lost supply caravans and resources. It was starting to shake her grip, both on the world in general and her grip on her host. The Mad Queen had dragged the first few messengers off to her own personal entertainment room, but by now she was becoming increasingly dead to the reports. Honestly, if not for the continued love being directed at Twilight from somewhere, she'd have already subsumed the mare, but Celestia never gave up on her. Now the white alicorn's faith was unshakable, the Queen's charade having been uncovered. Luna didn't seem connected, citing ignorance, but was she truly as out of the loop as she implied? It was impossible to know, and her host had now taken up her old position, constantly heckling her and telling her how things were slipping out of her grip.
'Celestia knows something you don't.'
'Cadance is still out there, so is somepony else who is willing to stop you.'
'He wants to help me, he'll save us. I know he will, he'll stop us, stop you, and everypony will be happy again!'
'Everything you've done will be for nothing!'
She grit her teeth, causing the soldier who'd delivered the report the squirm in fear. As much as she relished such reactions, indifference was preferable. Even if she killed Celestia and Luna, there were others out there holding out for her host, in fact in the last month she'd felt the number almost triple. It was a stab in her gut, and a breath of fresh air to Twilight. Love was being directed at her once again, her body grasping at it desperately amid the miasma of hatred and fear she'd been drowning in. Why? Why was it the most powerful creatures on the planet, those most likely to fall to a Nightmare's possession, were fueled by love? She couldn't start feeding until she'd properly possessed the mare, as the pain of her feeding on such emotions would have driven Twilight away from her instantaneously. She could attempt to destroy everything here, letting the minotaurs destroy the army and unleashing the changelings on the world, her brood queens pumping out egg after egg and constantly reinforcing a mindless swarm of fear and death that would descend on the world, but they would burn out quickly and she'd be left defenseless. Magic was becoming more difficult. Even some of the spells she'd pulled from the mare were no longer available to her, Twilight having separated herself enough mentally to no longer give the Nightmare access to her plethora of spells and knowledge, and the Nightmare hadn't bothered memorizing anything from the mare, figuring she was as good as gone.
"My Queen! Urgent report from the border against the minotaur lands!" A courier shouted as she flew into the office. The mare hoofed over the report and saluted. The Nightmare sighed, breaking the seal and reading the message.
Minotaurs launched probing attacks against patrols. Changeling screens ineffective. Border units request immediate reinforcements as well as supplies to fortify positions. Casualties unknown ATT. Awaiting further orders.
Cunning Linguist, HRH Communications Unit Commander
To the surprise of both individuals, the Mad Queen burst into laughter, tears rolling down her eyes. She slammed a hoof on the table, unable to breath for a few moments before the Nightmare managed to wrest back control, terrified by her sudden loss of control. She slapped her hooves over her muzzle, eyes wide in shock.
'No, there's no way it's gotten that bad!' Nightmare thought. It was just a lapse, just a desperate push that likely took every ounce of Twilight's mental fortitude to push past her control.
"Draft. I need more soldiers if the changelings wont work," the Mad Queen muttered. Her eyes widened, a grin on her muzzle.
"Put a notice out to the thestrals. Join the Equestrian military, and I won't have to cleanse them. They have to prove themselves though; if they do really well, I'll even pardon their families. I also want a general recruitment drive. Our enemies will be attacking, and the changelings may not work against this force. Shining, I want you to grab a large group of specialists, and I want you to find out where He is. We crush whoever it is that's sabotaging us, and we'll have a much easier time of things. I want His skull, do you hear me? I want to take it to Celestia, and shatter it on the floor in front of her! I also want supplies moved to the warfront. We'll crush the minotaurs, we need to hit them yesterday. Anything they ask for, get to them, understand?"
The cost was inconsequential, because as soon as every other major power was dead, she'd let Equestria tear itself apart as well. Everyone would place the blame at her hooves, and then not even Celestia's unshakable love could save Twilight. In the meantime she'd have to find a threat to keep the mare in line. She was really starting to regret throwing away Cadance. If she still had the mare, she'd be able to threaten the pink alicorn's life to keep Twilight in line.
Ah, that was perfect, perhaps the idea of moving a few changeling units to various towns and cities. Most had empty caves and warehouses nearby, they'd never know the changelings were there till they 'escaped her control'.
Twilight immediately withdrew, and the Mad Queen grinned again. Minor setbacks. She wouldn't lose where it counted.
Another new chapter, and another satisfied reader.
Thanks for writing chapters so consistently Reykan. I love getting surprised when I wake up and see an update from you.
Reykan da real MVP.
Man, that is a really unfortunate name.
What joke? I didn't get it...
I wonder when that coin is going to get flipped. A thought occurred to me; can Discord be possessed by a Nightmare? In that case, with Fluttershy in the Queen's possession, maybe a new host is just a brutal murder away.
... I like to think the name is what did it for Twilight.
Aw, if that feral Queen was Chrysalis then I'm kinda sad for her. I've always liked reading about her turning over a new leaf.
Looks like Nightmare Books is dumb enough to spread her resources thin, looking for Celestia's mysterious ally, with nothing to go on but the word, 'He.'
That means Celestia is off the hook.
Books has shown a fondness for getting to people by hurting the ones they care about. I suspected she'd start publicly torturing Celestia and Luna to see who came charging to the rescue, right into a trap.
It worked for Vader, in Empire Strikes Back.
6413326
so crown removal is kinda like a lobotomy? eesh poor queens, hopefully they can all get along now
So, assassin bug and damselfly queens. I have to wonder if the former will be of any significance.
6413346
Except she likely told Equestria the Diarchs were dead... a simple, believable story that would cement her place as their ONLY option...
Publicly torturing them at this point would have the opposite desired effect.
Nightmare was so set on having Twilight's mind, that it didn't bother to write the good stuff down...
Now it cannot use her smarts and is showing its failings.
I foresee a sudden coopting of the changeling arrays...
...either that or a massacre that will lead the remaining peasants accepting that certain death is preferable to current conditions.
6413365
I read it as the crown utterly deforms as they starve into permanent psychosis.
And since the insane ferals cannot lay eggs, Nightmare's egg factory is still salvageable...
...Theoretically.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6413343 The one Pandinus executed wasn't Chrysalis. Several times she has mentioned a queen that, in desperation, created a crapload of the stupid type of drone, using animal emotion, and attacked Equestria. Obviously that was Chrysalis. I'm pretty sure Pandinus said either that she died directly as a result of her defeat, or indirectly when the mental/physical shock of losing all those changelings hit her.
Aw. Was that chryssie?
6413359
I still don't get it. Why is it funny?
6413314
Seconded. While I'm kind of sad that Reykan doesn't update as frequently as before, I appreciate that Reykan knows how to pace the updates in a manner that has remained satisfactory regardless. Cheers to this story and it's author!
6413448
Try saying it quickly out loud. If that doesn't work, look it up on Urban Dictionary.
Yes, yes you are. NOW TELL US THE DAMN REFERENCE! That sounds hilarious as fuck and you can't just admit in the story that it's a reference then not give us the details so we can look it up!! That's sick man!
6413471
So, a cumulonimbus? What do clouds have to do with this and why is it funny?
6413479
No, it has nothing to do with clouds. "Cunning Linguist," is an old dirty joke. I'm not sure if a worthwhile explanation would be acceptable under FimFiction's rules—this story being rated Teen—so I'd suggest you just look it up on Urban Dictionary.
6413487
So, I just found out what cunilingus is. Thanks for that...
6413491
You: 0
Internet: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
6413496 Internet: dongers.
Ya know something... I think it is time to remove this from Tracking. I realized I am placing far too high a priority on reading this when it updates. Definitely belongs in Priority Tracking.
Luna wants her pity party and Tantibus.
Really describing the colors here I see. Maybe for when I forget and question it in the future? Just a little something to rub in my face later I can tell.
I can understand the griffons, but why the thestrals? Cause their race has been slowly exterminated by Nightmare?
Stop making Din so likable! Who doesn't want to sleep in till noon when there are drones to do the work?
Noting this so I don't forget colors. The Temple is like a freaking lighthouse of love and it is drawing in queens like a bugzapper. Hell, it the Nightmare had love pools set up she wouldn't have to pay for queens at all. They would just walk to her.
If she is feral like Din once was, doesn't that mean they can just bring her back by stuffing her with emotions?
If I remember right, just about all the changelings at the temple became violently ill just from Tuna railing Din into the ground.
Hmmmm, do I detect another nibble point?
I don't get this reference, could be TF2, maybe if it was a boot...
An assassin queen and a damsel queen. Wonder how they are related.
I like Pan too. Still wonder what the difference was between a feral Din and feral second queen.
I haven't. And how large are these queens?
Like completely erasing who Twilight was?
I am not getting this. Feeding on Twilight now would make Twilight reject the Nightmare? But doesn't Twi already want to reject it or are we talking about before? Also, how far along is this possession compared to Luna's case?
Hurr hurr, guess this pony is really good at oral.
How big are the new queens in comparison to Din and why couldn't the feral one be saved like Din was? Was it cause Din was a proto-queen?
I love the little ripples from the characters actions in this. Twilights gaining of some strength, the changeling responses to the sickly queens. Its really cool to read.
6413491
I still remember when I first ventured onto the internet as a preteen. It was the days when Dragon Court and Arch Mage were the greatest games available for free, especially if you joined a guild for unlimited ginseng roots. However, I could not for the life of me figure out what anyone was saying in the chat rooms. It was all "brb", "lol", "rofl", "afk", "ikr", and so on, randomly placed within horrible grammar like some kind of code.
This strange new dialect baffled me. Should I play along and pretend I knew what these people were saying? Should I have asked them what those letters meant and risk ridicule? I eventually found salvation and answers for all of these questions and more in what is now known as Google.
Gah! I really want to enjoy this story, but... those changelings! The unsoundness of their existence is hurting my brain!
First off, how has no changeling done what pandinus did? Even if only queens could get powerful off of an abundance of love, why wouldn't any queen make a pony fall in love with them? If any queen ever did that in the past thousands or millions of years, this story makes it seem like that queen and her hive would be able to obliterate all of the other hives, easily. If you carry that over generations, it strongly suggests that the changeling species would integrate itself with ponies, undisguised, and destroy anything that hurt changeling kind's reputation. In other words, the best option for their species as you've created it is to set up changelings or changeling queens as celebrities or rulers. That way, ponies would view changelings in a positive light, worship them, and give them love freely. And there would be tens or hundreds of rulers sharing power, all as powerful as alicorns, so if one queen tried to switch things back to the old ways, she would be outnumbered. Eventually, they would have no need for disguises, as the ponies would prefer the changelings and their good reputations, just like how humans worship angels or gods.
Second, why would things you could find in a 'ettiquette for dummies' book be better than the words of a queen of a shapeshifting race that specializes in integrating into other species and getting love from them? It sounds like a queen of such a species would know everything in that book by heart and would probably be able to prove several things wrong and naive.
That cycling thing also seems illogical. Why would there need to be two changelings to do it? If Bear Grylls can drink his own pee, why can changeling's only drink each other's pee?
And Why couldn't the changeling link be encrypted and kept from the mad queen? Cryptography has a long history with war and business because there's so much to gain in both keeping and hiding secrets, so I'd be more surprised if hives didn't try to find out stuff about other hives, if only to determine where the best place to feed is or how to feed in the best way possible. For the stuff Twilight is doing to them, you could say that the link is biological and can't quickly be changed or encrypted, but even if it was biological, you have enough changelings that at least one of them would have already evolved in a way that a link couldn't be detected, similarly to how some people are immune to the black plague. Actually, it being biological doesn't fix things either: how come no changeling found out about magic similar to Cimer's? And if they did, why would they let the rest of their race die in such horrible ways? Having a cure for such a thing and keeping it to themselves would go against altruism if they had it, and it would also let a powerful enemy stay in power. Sure, they might think keeping such a thing to themselves could be safer, but even then, how could they keep such a life saving secret from the rest of a race that specializes in infiltration? Heck, ignoring all of that, why didn't one of the hives try the magic control that Twilight did? They could use a lesser form of the magic and help themselves to more love without killing the other hives.
And what is this tradition that everyone goes by? It would be so easy to lie during one of those meetings and say that the other party was lying if they brought it up. Then the hive that lied would be able to get more love than the other hives. The hives aren't really cooperating as much as not getting in each other's way. I don't see any factors that would drive them to work together, unless they mate with changelings from other hives. However, it looks like they mate with ponies in this fic, so there doesn't seem to be any pressure for them to cooperate.
I had been hoping Cim would have captured the feral queen and tried to heal her - he's already done the impossible several times, so it would have at least been worth the attempt.
My first thought was Silestia; but that can't be it, can it:
orig15.deviantart.net/5c17/f/2014/145/0/0/silestia_by_silfoe-d7jpp7b.png
But... Zelus is a guy!
huh, this is gonna get MESSY.
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Getting greedy are we? Heh, two new queens aren't enough? I'm a little surprised at the situation since everyone was convinced it was just a single target out there, not three. Ted might want to reevaluate his early detection system if such a thing can happen because if it can happen once, it'll happen again and the results might not be as fruitful.
It does make me wonder who the feral one was and if there are any drones related to her. At the very least it'll give them some closure.
And has anyone else noticed the similarities between Changelings and Alicorns? Again it is mentioned that both are empowered by love. The difference being alicorns cannot forcefully take it while changelings can. Are Changeing queens corrupted alicorns? Would this make it possible for Queens to evolve back into alicorns given enough time and love, and vice versa? Or are they just two sides of the same coin, alicorns and Changeling Queens descendants of an earlier species so very long gone? If that's the case then maybe not even Discord would know. Dwelling on it, I tend to believe they are related species rather than any corruption. You could almost say alicorns/ponies and queens/changelings balance each other in the overall nature of the world, keep each other in check to prevent overpopulation.
...Mmm, interesting speculation. I love world building in my fiction.
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Nah, he's powerful enough already, don't need another Gary Stu now, do we?
Celestias gamble seems to be paying off so far, but the insane when pressured often do things no sane person could comprehend. Because it would drive them insane.
Poor feral queen, who given she died like a drone, effectively meant she was already dead, her behaviour didnt want to accept it.
Nightmare is getting desperate. Will the Thestrals use this as an excuse to sign up and move out, to get information as to where ther families are, so the Diamond Dogs can get in and pull them out through the stealth arrays?
Thanks for story! And there video for you!
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All I can think of is Lord Archibald, King of The Hobos. That's probably not it though.
6413346 Nightmare Books, eh? Sounds good. Headcanon accepted.
ah yes the cardboard crown and the whiskey bottle. don't you think that a soda bottle and two chocolate covered
cookies with marshmallow filling in honor of Luna would come between them ( RC and a moon pie) ?
Quick question, is Cunning a guy or a gal? One gets regular sex, the other can barely leave their bed due to various muscles being abused. I ask because that is telling of how long the report took to be sent. Armies may move on their stomachs, but morale is kept up by minor infractions of the rules.
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Cardboard crown is Burger King reference.
Broken bottle crown is VG Cats reference
Cunning Linguist? Sounds like an activity unsuited for use outside of a bedroom? Hee hee!
... I'm waiting to see the temple get destroyed by the mad queen's forces and a massive strike back
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Paper crown = those silly Burger King hand-outs to kids.
Bottle of Liquer = Crown Royal(tm) The brand is well known to Gamers like Ted/Cimmerian. The purple velvet bags the bottles come in are highly sought after by RPGers for dice bags...
6413568 and I remember when Google itself was in Beta. It cropped up my freshman year in high school, and A-TECH had unfiltered Internet access. (I don't know if that's still the case, though) They told us that the White House was a .gov site, but there were those that didn't listen. That, and when the Vin Diesel movie "xXx" came out, that was fun looking for in free time in class.
6413473 Burger King and Crown Royal whisky.
6414054 The booze is a refrence to Crown Royal, a Canadian Whiskey that has a high-quality purple bag that D&D players love to get for dice bags.
6414054 6414220 6414297 Ah. I was thinking it was something specific that had both, like someone started out with one then upgraded to the other.
6413343 Chryssi's been gone for years, dood.
6413416 *rolls eyes* dammit, I'll get that in a sec.
6413460 Having to think more about the chapters as things get more involved. As I've said, there is no plan for this story.
6413491 My pleasure.
6413645 Celestia also spent the last millennia around ponies, and I can't say she'd take the isolation very well. Torture would be preferable to solitude.
6413661 Several times I've had names I've used come back as being already used in other areas. I pick one, and run with it.
6413692 Discord is both a known danger to the Mad Queen, and Cimmerian/Ted's memories of the lord of chaos are Luna's memories. He's not going to think fondly of him at first, and he's not going to mention the teleport grid in respect to the trust the Talon's just placed in him.
6413772 Technically, Ted didn't do much for this event. This was all Pandinus.
6414220>>6414297 A winner is you!