The next fights had been a wide variety of styles with all manners of rules that Twilight had to learn on the fly. She had watched multiple battles between two changelings in their base form or transformed. She had watched a Minotaur and Griffin battle one another with blade and claw, seen an aerial battle between two Pegasi, each trying to avoid touching the ground by any means they could. She had seen sword duels and battles where the warriors would transform into new forms for each attack. Eventually finding herself getting swept into the energy of the arena around her, much to Pupa’s amusement.
Pupa found a kind of humor in seeing the student of Celestia cheering for Changelings she neither knew nor would likely see again. Glad that she had made the decision to show Twilight this side of her Hive, even if she did cringe at every moderate hit, worrying about the combatants.
Pupa looked down at the current duel, watching as her Changelings clashed with each other, using their weapons to block and deflect strikes from their opponent as the two waited for an opening. Torai, a more nimble fighter wielding a simple short sword in her magical grip was facing down against Kirves, a stockier fighter wielding a large axe. Both fighters were starting to tire out; Kirves from his over exertion throughout the fight and Torai from her needed evasion of the crushing blows from her opponent.
All around her, Pupa could see and hear the excitement of the crowd, watching these two do battle was one of the headlining fights of the day and they were not disappointing thus far. Moments of the fight swung in each fighters favor and even Pupa herself was unsure where the battle would go.
Torai dodged another wide swing at her side, jumping up into the air and flittering her wings as she moved closer to Kirves to land a strike. But Kirves had anticipated this, swinging his’ axe handle back to catch Torai’s blade against its head, following through with his movement, he managed to throw Torai’s blade away from her.
Torai had a moment to notice her attack being parried as Kirves was surrounded in red fire, taking the form of a Minotaur, throwing a punch with his right arm, knocking Torai away from her weapon. The impact creating a light cracking sound as Torai was flung a few feet away from Kirves. Her chitin, damaged from continuous hits throughout the fight, finally gave in and broke.
Colliding with the ground, she felt the fine sand of the arena enter into the now bleeding opening of her chitin. Her head ringing lightly as the chants of the crowd echoed in her head. “Kirves! Kirves! Kirves!” She heard as her opponent walked closer to her, still in the form of a Minotaur.
Torai struggled to rise, the stinging pain of her open wound and the irritation of the sand within burning her body, yet she refused to yield. Managing to right herself as Kirves got closer, raising his fist to deliver what could very well be the final blow of the fight.
Twilight, meanwhile was nervously watching over the fight, seeing the red blood dripping onto the white sand and looking up at Pupa’s seemingly unbothered expression. She couldn’t help but sympathize with Torai as she watched on, wondering why she had not yet yielded despite her injuries. Regardless she added her own voice to those of the crowd, cheering on Torai.
Torai’s horn lit up as Kirves finally threw his punch, knowing that she had only one chance to end the fight in her favor. She quickly transformed into the form of a Pegasus, launching herself just above Kirves’ punch; the fist grazing her hind leg as she flew just above Kirves’ head, using her front hooves to grab his bull horns. She used her momentum from her quick movement and Kirves new weighty and imbalanced body to pull him with her, bending his back and further unbalancing him, just before transforming into a Yak, and using her now heavier weight to flip the Minotaur over her shoulder
Kirves had but a second to realize what had happened before he found himself quickly slammed into the ground, face first.
A loud thud resounded through the arena as the crowd had grown silent during what they believed to be the final act of the fight. A plume of sand had been kicked up as the heavy body of not only a Yak but a Minotaur had slammed into the ground. The crowd retained its silence as they waited to see the outcome of this unorthodox maneuver. Through the smoke there was a burst of red light, followed shortly by another.
It was a tense couple of seconds as the sand cleared up, but once it did, it showed the form of Torai, breathing heavily and clutching her injured side as Kirves lay on the ground, face first in the sand.
Seeing an end to the match, Pupa stood up from her seat. “The victor is Torai!” She proclaimed, leading to the entire arena erupting into cheers, chanting the name of the victor as she let out a relieved sigh, waving to the crowd before stumbling slightly. While she tried to keep standing up, she fell onto her haunches as the adrenaline that had been keeping her on her hooves finally ran out.
Twilight looked nervously at the unconscious form of Kirves, worryingly, before after a couple more seconds, he began to try and push himself up on his front hooves, spitting sand and some red blood onto the ground before falling back into unconsciousness. This prompted the Medical changelings waiting in the wings to rush out and quickly move both fighters onto stretchers in order to mitigate any further injuries they might sustain, with a member of each group going to retrieve their fighter’s weapon.
Pupa spoke up again. “With this victory, Torai has achieved an impressive 6-2 record in our arena. Despite her youth, I see Torai becoming a mainstay of our Gladiators. What about the rest of you?” She asked the crowd.
Much of the crowd erupted into cheers and a few chanting Torai’s name to show their support for the warrior.
“We will be taking a short interlude before the next fight begins. Use this time how you all see fit; fill up on snacks, place bets on the next few fights, or even take the time to go and give your congratulations to some of our newest fighters. We’ll reconvene in thirty minutes.” Pupa stated as the crowd began to mill around, many of them choosing to do just that.
Twilight, who was happy to see Torai win, also felt bad for Kirves, conflicted feelings about her enjoying watching what amounted to the pain of another. Pupa looked down at the Unicorn and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Are you alright, Twilight?” Pupa asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah… I’m fine, just… I’m worried for Kirves.” Twilight admitted.
Pupa nodded knowingly. “I understand that it’s a fairly big leap for you, but trust me, Kirves will be just fine. He’s taken heavier hits than that, besides, we have the best looking after him, he’ll be back on his hooves in no time.”
“I sure hope so.” Twilight replied, thinking back to the final moves of the fight. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was like wrestling.” She said with a chuckle.
Pupa smirked at the joke, sitting back down in her chair. “Torai’s always been a smart one when it came to transforming, I’ve always wanted to see how she’d fair in a fight where she was restricted to her natural form though.”
“Couldn’t you make that happen?” Twilight asked.
“I mean,” Pupa began, “I could. But what would be the fun in that?” Pupa asked rhetorically. “Much more interesting to see how each fighter adjusts to the situation on their own terms, don’t you agree?”
Twilight thought about it for a moment, before nodding. “I suppose it helps make the fights more interesting. Though I have one question.”
“Go ahead.” Pupa replied, lounging a little in her seat.
“I can’t help but notice how little I’ve really seen of magic in these fights. You’d think that there would be at least a few magic centered fights, but I can’t remember seeing any, why is that?”
Pupa let out a small raspberry. “Don’t get me wrong when I say this, but magic just isn’t as important to us.” Pupa stated. “While it is important to be aware of magic and how to combat it, we are far from the most magically gifted hive out there, with a few exceptions, of course.” She said, lighting her own horn to emphasize her point. “But even still, my magical abilities are so far below some other Queens that if I were to try to fight them with it I’d be creamed before I even got off my first spell.”
“But Equestria is a land of magic, isn’t it?”
“Well, sure.” Pupa replied. “But only one-third of the population can really use it offensively, unless of course we turn every Pegasus into an Alicorn. Now if you want magic, the Enchantment Hive in Saddle Arabia might be more what you want. Lots of magic with them, especially rune crafting. Shame they tend to crumple if you get too close.” Pupa said, looking at her hoof. “Aside from them, not a lot of the Military Hives are actually that magically gifted. In fact, I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Pupa said, motioning for Twilight to come closer.
Twilight leaned in towards Pupa as Pupa leaned slightly closer and whispered conspiratorially into Twilight’s ear. “The Pride Hive can’t even teleport without the help of another changeling, and some can barely even use levitation.” She said with a wink.
“But didn’t the Pride Hive Queen beat you in a fight?” Twilight replied.
“I told you, she got a few lucky hits in. While not very magically powerful they can hit like a damn train if you let them.”
“What about the other military hives?” Twilight asked, curiously.
Pupa opened her mouth, but closed it, thinking. “Actually, probably best I don’t, some of them might not want me blabbing about them and getting them found out before they want to be found. You understand right?”
Twilight let out a sigh and nodded. “Then what about the Shadow Changelings?”
“What about them?” Pupa asked, taking a drink from her cup she had brought up earlier.
“Does your hive use them at all?”
Pupa nodded. “We use them a bit, but as to what they do, I’m gonna have to tell you the same as every other Queen you’ve asked and tell you it’s classified.”
Twilight let out a sigh, expecting this but hoping to get at least a little more information out of the otherwise open Pupa. It was at that moment that her ears perked up to the sound of some kind of commotion happening down in the fighting pit. Pupa had no doubt heard the same thing as she turned to look at the pit as well.
In the center of the arena was a large changeling, his eyes a deep pink color, two spiral horns sprouted from the sides of his head, pointed forward, much like a minotaur. To his right and in front of him was a pair of Warrior Changelings trying to hold back or dissuade the larger changeling from whatever he was doing. A large hammer with intricate patterning lay on the pink changeling’s back as he looked up at where Pupa was with determination evident in his eyes.
Twilight looked upon the changeling in surprise, unsure who or what this changeling was and why he was so noticeably different from the others she had seen until now. Pupa, meanwhile, was looking at him with interest in her face, a small smile spreading over her face.
“We’ve already told you that you can’t just barge in!” One of the warrior changelings told the pink changeling as he carried on regardless.
“And I told you that I am tired of waiting!” The pink changeling replied in a gruff voice, a light snort punctuating his sentence as he pushed his way past the Warrior Changeling in front of him as the one to his side flew up towards Pupa.
“I’m so sorry, my Queen.” The changeling said to Pupa. “We tried to tell him you were busy, but he refused to listen.”
Pupa shook her head. “He’s a Prideling, Botin, he probably wasn’t going to listen in the first place.” She said to the changeling, who bowed in apology as the Pride Changeling began to speak loudly.
“Queen Pupa!” He shouted up towards the Royal Suite. “I demand an audience with you!”
Twilight looked around the Arena’s audience as many of them had stopped what they were doing, a few of them filing back into their seats at the interruption, a curious quiet had spread over the area.
Pupa stood up from her seat and leaned against the railing as she addressed the Pride Changeling. “While I would absolutely love to give you an audience, I am unfortunately busy with a duty that Celestia herself gave me.” She motioned at Twilight. “In case you are unaware, this is Twilight Sparkle, student of Celestia, she’s here to observe my Hive for the day.”
The Pride Changeling snorted. “Her being here changes nothing!” He retorted. “I have come here to-”
“If you came here to reveal your Hive prematurely to the world, than you have done a Tartarus of a good job at that.” Pupa retorted, clapping her front hooves a couple times, mockingly, before waving off the Pride Changeling. “Whatever business you have with me can wait for another day.”
The Pride Changeling seemed to get angrier as his horns glowed and he picked up the large hammer from his back, causing the Warrior changeling close to him to back away.
“I have come to challenge you for your hoof in marriage!” The Pride Changeling declared, glaring up at Pupa, who had suddenly straightened her posture in interest, a smug smile spreading over her face. Twilight, meanwhile, looked between the two in confusion, but chose not to speak up due to the situation.
“Oh, have you now?” Pupa questioned with a wry smile, looking back at Botin, who looked embarrassed.
“We both told him that you were very busy today, your majesty, but he forced his way through us and-” Botin began, but Pupa cut him off by raising her hoof.
“I don’t blame you, Botin.” She said to the nervous changeling before turning to address the Pride Changeling. “If my memory is correct, Harbis makes a very strong distinction between Pride and Hubris. Are you really sure you wish to proceed with this?” She asked the Pride Changeling.
“Of course I am sure! I have spent the last twenty years of my life fighting the best changelings from each hive all for the chance to face you and distinguish myself amongst my peers. I will do so by taking your hoof in marriage!” The Pride Changeling stated confidently. “How do you respond?”
Pupa tapped her front hooves in front of herself a few times, contemplating her options. The crowd of the arena, by now, had caught on that something interesting was happening and many that had left started making their way back to their seats. In the brief pause, Twilight took the chance to speak up.
“What does he mean by ‘winning your hoof?’” Twilight asked, slightly confused by this as it never came up in any of the other Hives she had visited.
Pupa turned to Twilight. “Remember when I said that our hive has something of a tradition in regards to Princesses?”
Twilight nodded, before connecting the dots and looking between the Pride Changeling and Pupa. “You can’t be serious.”
Pupa nodded. “The right to marry and breed the Queen of the Warrior Hive is reserved to those who can defeat her in single combat.”
Twilight paused briefly, stammering slightly as she tried to wrap her head around this extremely divergent custom compared to the other Changeling Hives she had visited. “But… You said your mother was undefeated! How could you have been born if she wasn’t?”
Pupa let out a sigh. “As we get older, and I mean old, and I am going off of what my mother told me; we tend to get… softer.” Pupa replied, unsure if that was the correct term. “A Warrior that distinguishes themselves with some great deed can tend to get into our good books. Hell, my father, Kova, took a spear for my mother and nearly died.” Pupa spread her hooves apart in a curving motion. “Sparks fly.” She said with a tinge of sarcasm evident in her voice.
“But… You said yourself you’re far too young to have an heir!” Twilight retorted.
Botin took this opportunity to speak up. “She’s right, Your Highness. You are still very young, you can always deny his challenge.”
Pupa thought over it for a few more seconds before smiling and standing up from her chair, opening her wings and slowly flying down to where the Pride Changeling was standing, despite Botin’s protests. Both Twilight and Botin watching nervously as she slowly walked up to the Pride Changeling, still brandishing his mighty hammer.
“I believe I am owed the right to know the name of any challenger.” Pupa stated confidently. “Let’s see if you are known enough for me to recognize you at least.”
The Pride Changeling smirked. “My name is Aragatsa, hailing from the Pride Hive of the Minotaur Republic.”
There was a murmur that quickly ran through the crowd, many of them questioning if this changeling was telling the truth or not.
Pupa, meanwhile, looked slightly excited. “The Shield Cracker? Last I heard you were still in Saddle Arabia.”
Aragatsa planted his hammer on the ground before responding. “Yes, I was sadly prevented from entering Equestria due to the Invasion of Canterlot, but now that the travel restrictions have been lifted, I was finally able to travel to your Hive. Now, will you accept my challenge?” He asked once again, seemingly getting impatient.
Pupa took a look at the crowd in the arena, many of them having returned to their seats and were looking on with mixtures of excitement and apprehension. Pupa flared her wings out and lifted herself into the air to be level with the first row of seats for the crowd.
“Since we’ve already got an audience, how about we put it to a vote?” Pupa asked Aragatsa, spinning slowly to look at her subjects, the Minotaur Changeling snorting and agreeing. Pupa, seeing this, lit her horn once again. “Well folks? All those in favor of this interruption, speak now!”
There was a brief pause before a large group of cheers could be heard from the audience, many of them sending their support for the action to their Queen, eager to see this challenger be defeated by their Queen. There were a few changelings that were more hesitant about the challenge, and made their distaste for the risk known, but they were drowned out by those who supported the challenge.
After a moment of letting the crowd decide, Pupa floated back down to the ground. “Seems like you will get your wish, Aragatsa.”
“Finally.” Aragatsa stated, his two horns glowing as he picked up his hammer once again.
Pupa, eager to take up the challenge, put on a false air of disappointment. “Though, it would be a shame to end this battle too quickly by going all out right away, don’t you agree?” She asked rhetorically, a red flame covering her body as she turned her Regal form into that of a normal warrior changeling. “This should spice things up a little, don’t you agree?”
“Fine by me, your highness.” Aragatsa said with a slight snort, clearly disliking being talked down to, even by the Queen of the Warriors.
“So then, I’m sure you’re aware of the ruleset?” Pupa asked as she conjured a glowing saber with her magic. Twilight looked at the glowing weapon before recognizing it as a near exact replica of her mother’s sword she had seen in the Mausoleum.
“Knockout or yield.” Aragatsa said with a smile, pawing the ground slightly as he leaned forward, his stature reminding Twilight of a raging bull. “I’d have it no other way.” He said with a hint of excitement in his voice.
“Then by all means.” Pupa replied, getting into a stance of her own. “Let’s put on a show.”
The air was filled with a tense quiet as every onlooker waited with baited breath for the first move in this battle to determine the future of their hive. Neither fighter making a move, each one analyzing their opponent to try and find any clear weaknesses or flaws they could take advantage of. It was a grueling thirty seconds before Aragatsa pawed the ground a few times before letting out a loud snort and charging with his hammer raised in his magical grasp, lowering his head slightly during the charge, forcing Pupa to choose which of the two equally dangerous weapons was a bluff and which was the true attack.
Pupa, however, quickly deduced which attack was true, ignoring the hammer as a threat, she waited until Aragatsa began to swing down with it, expecting the feint and replying in kind by dodging slightly to the right, taking a quick swipe at Aragatsa’s side, her blade only leaving a grazing blow against his toughened carapace, the crowd cheering for their queen. “You are going to need to be less obvious about your plan if you actually want to win.” She said as Aragatsa slid to a halt turning to glare at Pupa, Pupa spinning her conjured blade in the air.
Aragatsa snorted as the two fighters began to circle each other. Aragatsa clearly annoyed that his opening gambit had failed, instead swung his hammer at Pupa’s side, only for her to leap over the swing easily, buzzing her wings slightly as she did, slowing her descent slightly to avoid Aragatsa’s back swing.
As Pupa landed, Aragatsa attempted a downward swing, hoping to catch Pupa off balance and deliver a decisive blow, only for Pupa to redirect the hammer with her Saber, causing the heavy weapon to slam onto the sandy ground and kick up a small plume of sand, allowing Pupa to get a quick slash onto Aragatsa’s chest before backing off to avoid his retaliatory hoof.
Aragatsa touched his chest, feeling only a small chip in his chitin from the blade as he pulled his hammer from the ground and cast another angry glare at Pupa, who had already returned to her defensive stance. “I have to say, for someone called ‘Shield Cracker’ you aren’t doing a good job of getting past my guard.” Pupa stated as the crowd cheered their queen on.
Aragatsa simply snorted in annoyance, gritting his teeth.
Up in the Royal suite, Twilight continued to watch the battle, Pupa easily seeming to evade each and every one of Aragatsa’s swings and attempted blows, but instead of going on a full counter attack, she simply did a small swipe and backed off. To her right was the messenger Botin, watching the battle nervously. “I don’t get it…” Twilight spoke up, breaking Botin out of his odd trance.
“Huh… Sorry were you talking to me?” Botin asked Twilight as Pupa effortlessly dodged under another hammer swing before kicking Aragatsa back with her hind legs.
“No, no… It’s just that… I don’t understand why Pupa is using a saber.” Twilight wondered to herself, not really expecting an answer.
“What’s so strange about it?” Botin questioned.
“Well it’s just that, Pupa’s symbol is a lance isn’t it? Why isn’t she using that?” Twilight asked. “She uses it as Crimson Lance and from what I’ve heard she is rather skilled at using it, even in a combat scenario.”
Botin looked back to the battle going on below them as Pupa jumped into the air to avoid another charge by Aragatsa, staying in the air above him as she flew around his head, throwing the odd swipe at him, which he blocked with the shaft of his hammer. “While she does prefer the lance, Pupa has trained with a variety of weapons throughout her years, I think she chose this one for… well… the sport of it.”
Twilight looked back at Botin, slightly confused. “The sport?”
Botin nodded. “I have faith that my Queen could have easily defeated this challenger had she wanted, she is, as she said herself ‘putting on a show.’” Botin said with a sigh. “I just hope it doesn’t come to bite her in the flank…”
“Why do you say that?” Twilight asked as a loud slam sounded from Aragatsa trying to swat Pupa from the sky with his Hammer, only to miss and allow Pupa to dive down and swipe him across the back.
“I’m just… worried for her is all.” Botin replied. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Don’t mind me.” He said as he turned his attention back to the fight below them.
Twilight turned back to the fight, herself, seeing Pupa having pinned Aragatsa’s hammer under her saber. Undeterred, Aragatsa began swinging punches towards Pupa, who kept dodging or deflecting the heavy punches from the Minotaur Changeling, after a few more punches, Pupa responded by grabbing his hoof and pulling him through to continue his momentum behind her, tripping up one of his hind legs as he fell into the sandy ground.
Aragatsa let out a loud snort and grunt of annoyance, his teeth clenching so hard Twilight swore they must have begun cracking by now. Pupa dispersed her Saber and reformed it closer to her as she turned back to look at Aragatsa. “You know, if you ever get tired of this, you can just yield.”
Aragatsa pounded the sandy ground with his front hooves. “I will never yield! To do so would dishonor me!”
Pupa sighed. “Whatever floats your boat, Bullhead.” Pupa replied as Aragatsa got up from his position, levitating his hammer back over to him.
Aragatsa snorted before attempting to rush at Pupa again, who simply rolled her eyes. However, before getting to close, Aragatsa slammed his hammer down onto the ground in front of Pupa, the resulting plume of sand obscuring the changeling from Pupa’s view as he was surrounded by pink fire as he swung a punch in Minotaur form at Pupa.
Pupa, caught off guard momentarily, moved to avoid the punch, only for Aragatsa to stop the punch before it would have ever made contact. His free hand having grabbed the shaft of his hammer and moved to swing it in the opposite direction of his fist, shifting his bodyweight into the swing.
Pupa’s eyes widened as her horn glowed bright, moving her saber in front of the incoming swing, trying to block or deflect the heavy hammer. Her magically constructed blade taking much of the hammer’s swing but not stopping all of the momentum. The Hammer connected with her side, causing her to lose her concentration on her construct, the blade shattering as she was knocked back a few feet.
Pupa shook her head as she regained her senses, hearing the furious stomping of the Minotaur in front of her charging towards her, her horn quickly glowed bright as she surrounded herself with a red barrier, Aragatsa’s hammer colliding with the barrier, though this time not breaking through it, Pupa took the brief time of respite she had as Aragatsa threw another few swings of his hammer at the magical barrier to compose herself. After a few more collisions of the hammer on her barrier, Pupa dropped the shield, reforming her saber and sliding to Aragatsa’s side, delivering a swift hit to the back of his knee, causing the Minotaur to let out a loud cry of pain as he attempted to swat at the changeling queen.
Pupa quickly spun around, her stance more rigid than before, seemingly taking the fight more seriously than previously. Her eyes glued on Aragatsa as he stood back up and turned to her, his hammer clutched in one of his large hands, looking far more natural than it did previously. The two fighters simply watching each other, waiting for one to make a move.
As they did, Aragatsa pawed at the ground with his legs, almost daring Pupa to get close to him, while Pupa’s wings buzzed lightly, ready to take her to the sky if needed. She began to walk in a circle around Aragatsa, who refused to budge from his current spot, his hammer and large body providing him with an advantage should the queen try to close the distance.
Pupa looked at Aragatsa’s leg that she swiped at earlier, seeing his turning lagging slightly when she circled around his back. Seeing this, she picked up the pace of her circling, hoping to force an opening as the Minotaur struggled with a pain in his leg. When she noticed Aragatsa wince at the pain in his leg, she began her assault. Her horn glowing bright.
Knowing that Aragatsa was unable to use his magic in his Minotaur form, she created two orbs of magic on either side of the Minotaur, hoping to either force an opening or create a distraction for her attack. She made the balls of magic close in on Aragatsa as she charged forward.
Seeing her plan, Aragatsa used his hammer to block one of the orbs of magic, but instead of moving out of the way or attempting to block the second orb, he simply allowed the ball of magic to hit him in the side, causing him to let out of huff of air at the stinging in his side. Undeterred he reached out with his free hand towards Pupa, who by now had figured out his plan, tried to correct her movement by taking into the air. However she was not fast enough at correcting herself, leading to her hind leg being grabbed by the Minotaur before she could get out of his reach. She felt herself quickly be pulled to the ground and slammed into the sand.
Aragatsa raised his hammer to deliver a heavy hit to the changeling queen, but she quickly used her horn to shoot a beam of magic at his now injured side, causing the Minotaur to pause for a second as she put up another small barrier in the path of the hammer swing before rolling out of the immediate range of the hammer.
Aragatsa stumbled back slightly, clutching at his side as Pupa regained her footing. A pink flame surrounded Aragatsa as he transformed back into his changeling form, snorting in annoyance at the advantage Pupa’s magic was giving her. Pupa, meanwhile, kicked the leg that had been used to slam her into the ground, trying to shake away the sudden stabbing pain she was feeling from it.
Twilight meanwhile was looking over at Aragatsa’s hammer the Minotaur changeling close enough for Twilight to see the details on his hammer, thinking to herself that she had seen the pattern somewhere before, but unable to put her hoof on where. “Hey, Botin?”
Botin, who had begun biting on his hoof in worry, looked over at Twilight. “Hm?”
“Why isn’t Aragatsa using magic aside from his levitation? He could have used that to defend himself.” Twilight asked, both of them watching as the fight progressed, Pupa’s reactions slowly as a result of her bruised leg and Aragatsa’s swings leaning more into his uninjured side. Neither fighter able to get the other into an advantageous position.
“Changelings from the Minotaur Republic tend to be weaker magically than other changelings, they make up for it with being tougher though, as you could no doubt guess from Aragatsa taking so many hits and not slowing down.”
Twilight looked at the Minotaur Changeling, watching as, despite the number of bruises he must have suffered to both his leg and side, he was looking no worse for wear than he did earlier in the battle.
“I suppose that makes sense, given Minotaurs can’t normally use magic.” Twilight replied, her eyes focusing on Aragatsa’s hammer once again, wracking her brain for where she had seen the symbols before. She began to focus on that over her the main fight. Taking out one of her notepads and making a quick sketch of what she thought the patterns looked like, even as the battle continued on , both changelings clashing several more times. When she had finished, she looked up to see the progress of the battle.
Aragatsa had attempted a charge at the Warrior Queen once again, having just barely been stopped as Pupa caught his horns with her saber. His horns glowing a bright pink as his hammer came in from the side, only for Pupa to put up a barrier on that side of her body, stopping the hammer’s swing, but losing just enough focus on her saber for Aragatsa to push closer to Pupa, enough for him to twist his head and fling the conjured saber away from Pupa, letting the physically larger changeling to land a few hits to her chest before getting blasted back by Pupa shooting a blast of magic directly under her, knocking both fighters a couple feet apart.
“I am getting sick of your barriers!” Aragatsa shouted, emphasized with a snort.
Pupa, regaining her footing and resummoning her saber, looked back at Aragatsa. “Well ‘Shield Cracker’ you aren’t doing a very good job of breaking them, I have to say.” She retorted. “I was expecting you to break through these no problem, especially with your reputation.” She stated, using one of her hooves to touch her chest and assess the damage, seeing no blood she got back into a defensive stance.
Aragatsa snorted, his magical grip of his hammer pulling it closer to himself as he glared over at Pupa, a small smile appearing on his face.
Twilight looked at the Minotaur changeling in confusion for a moment before looking back up at the hammer, seeing the intricate pattern glowing with a faint blue. Her eyes widening as she saw it, looking back down at the drawing.
Botin, noticing her concern, looked at the drawing Twilight had made. “What is it?” He asked, looking between Aragatsa and the drawing as the Minotaur Changeling began to charge, covering himself in pink fire as he grabbed the hammer with both hands, rearing back for a mighty swing.
Twilight looked up, suddenly her face covered with worry. “It’s a Saddle Arabian Breaching charm.”
Botin’s eyes widened as he quickly stood up from where he was sitting. “MY QUEEN, WATCH OUT!” He shouted as loud as he could.
Pupa had just barely heard the warning before she put up a barrier to block the hammer swing, as she had before, readying herself to counterattack at the opening that would have been created. However, once the hammer made contact with her barrier, she heard the sound of shattering glass as her eyes widened, spreading her wings to shift her position.
The sound of the shattering barrier echoed throughout the arena, mere moments before the hammer connected with Pupa. Time seemed to freeze for all involved when the Hammer made contact, a gasp of shock spreading throughout the crowd. A sickening snapping sound rang out as Pupa was launched across the arena. A wisp of flame covered her body as she flew, returning her to her natural form.
Pupa skidded to a halt just before slamming into the Arena’s wall. The previously uproarious crowd had suddenly fallen deathly silent as their Queen was hit directly with the full force of the hammer’s swing.
“Pupa!” Twilight shouted in worry, standing up and looking over the balcony, seeing if there was a possible way for her to jump down there to check on her. She had almost resolved to simply use her gravity spell before someone grabbed her and pulled her away from the ledge.
“Botin, let me go!” Twilight replied, wanting to go and help Pupa.
“If you jump down there now you will invalidate the challenge.” A feminine voice said to her, causing her to stop as she turned and saw Botin looking towards her in surprise as another changeling held her back. Looking behind her, this changeling had dark red eyes, bordering on black.
“What?” Twilight replied in surprise, trying to pull out of the Changeling’s grip. “What does it matter, she’s injured!”
“She will be fine!” The Shadow Drone spat back. “Look!”
Twilight looked over at where Pupa was laying, Aragatsa smiling confidently and relaxing, believing the challenge to be over. Pupa, however, sat up on her hind legs. Attempting to push herself up with her front legs, but stumbling as she put pressure onto her left hoof, she let out a small yelp of pain before gritting her teeth and pushing herself up onto her four legs. As she got up on her legs, she pulled her left foreleg off the ground slightly, Twilight noticing that it had a large crack where her hoof connected to the rest of her leg.
She turned to Aragatsa, a look of determination and focus on her face as she looked up at the hammer, clutched in his hands.
“I thought something was up,” Pupa began, turning to face Aragatsa, a bit slowed down by her injured hoof. “Pride Changeling don’t make a habit of spending months in the Enchantment Hive for no reason.”
Aragatsa let out a confident snort. “I spent most of my life in the Pride Hive, but my mother was originally from the Enchantment Hive.” He stated, spinning the hammer in his hands. “Can be a nice surprise. You got a little too confident.”
Pupa tried to stand on her left hoof, wincing slightly in pain before pulling it back up. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t prepared for that.” She stated, looking at her broken hoof for a second before keeping her gaze locked onto Aragatsa. “I’ll admit that I didn’t think there was anything special to you and wasn’t taking it too seriously. For that, you have my apology.” She said with a light bow of her head ensuring that her eyes stayed locked onto Aragatsa.
“You can show me your apology by conceding.” Aragatsa said with a snort, reverting to his natural form. “Fighting with a broken leg will only put you at a disadvantage.”
Pupa let out a scoff. “Neither of us would be happy with the results if I did.” Pupa’s horn lit up as she flared her wings, buzzing into the air as she teleported a spear next to her with a pop. Twilight looked closer to see it was the spear she had seen in Pupa’s personal study. “Shall we continue?”
Aragatsa let out a snort. “Let’s.”
No sooner had Aragatsa spoke than Pupa had dashed towards him, spear held besides her in her magic, heading directly for his chest. He opened his small wings and buzzed them quickly, shooting him to the side as Pupa’s dive barely grazed his right foreleg, the bladed wings near the spear’s tip cutting into his chitin. As he landed, he quickly pivoted to face Pupa’s new direction, seeing the Queen hovering in the air with her wings. Her eyes drilling into him, looking for any kind of weakness she could exploit.
“I don’t get it…” Twilight thought out loud, watching as Pupa began another dashing assault.
“Get what?” The Shadow Changeling asked having let her go and taken to watching the battle next to her, less bothered by the battle than Botin had been, who was still nervously watching the battle unfold, doubly so now that Pupa had gotten badly injured.
“Why is she still fighting? Isn’t she just at risk of injuring herself further?” Twilight asked the Shadow Changeling.
The Shadow Changeling looked back at Twilight with a hint of confusion before sighing. “Right, you aren’t in the Hivemind.” She stated, thinking for a moment as she watched the fight below. Aragatsa having retaken the form of a Minotaur in order to try and snatch the Queen from the air, but being unable to manage it.
“As a Hive, we seek to protect Equestria,” the Shadow Changeling began. “We are the protective shield and spear of Equestria and her Hives. We strive to show the very best of what changelings and ponies are capable of.”
“But what does this have to do with Pupa?” Twilight asked.
“Who do you think shows us the best we can be?” The Shadow Changeling asked rhetorically as she turned to focus on the fight.
Aragatsa had still been trying, and failing, to keep up with Queen Pupa, despite his larger size, he was not getting anywhere and wearing himself out trying to catch the more agile Pupa. Small cuts and injuries were showing through his coat as he panted. He still clutched his hammer with one hand, waiting for the next attempted pass Pupa would make. Hoping to catch the Queen with another, and hopefully final, devastating hit. All the while Pupa flew around above his head, looking for another opening.
Seeing her chance, Pupa launched her spear at Aragatsa’s injured leg. The Minotaur moving out of the way, eyes following the spear as it was stuck into the ground. As he quickly turned back to Pupa, the Queen had already closed the distance and landed a punch to the Minotaur’s face. Using her magic she quickly pulled the spear from the ground and moved it behind Aragatsa’s legs, causing him to fall to the ground, dropping his Hammer as he fell.
Upon landing, Pupa quickly stepped over him, her spear held up beside her as she placed her good foreleg on Aragatsa’s arm to keep it pinned. “Yield, Aragatsa!” Pupa commanded, standing above the Minotaur.
Aragatsa started trying to move his still free arm, only for Pupa to use her Spear to stab through the hand, pinning him to the ground with a shout of pain. “Yield!” She commanded again, Aragatsa simply snorting in response.
“You want me to yield? You would be better served knocking me-” Aragatsa began, only for Pupa to take her injured hoof and begin punching the Minotaur in the face repeatedly, still pinning down his other hand with her hoof.
With each punch the crowd around Twilight let out small shouts as Twilight looked on with a worried expression, both for Aragatsa and for Pupa.
After several punches, Aragatsa was covered in a pink flame as he returned to his natural form, Pupa’s spear having gone through one of his body’s natural holes. However, unlike previously, Pupa continued to punch Aragatsa a few additional times, making Twilight worried that she might accidentally kill the Minotaur Changeling.
After a few more punches for good measure, Pupa got off of Aragatsa, panting lightly as she looked at her hoof, inspecting the damage. All around Twilight, the crowd had begun to chant, counting down from ten as Aragatsa stayed on the ground, small specks of pink around his head. When the crowd finally reached the end of the countdown, there was loud applause from the crowd, Pupa letting out a sigh as her body relaxed. Her horn lit up as she pulled the spear from Aragatsa. Already a group of Medical changelings, flanked by a few Warriors, ran up to where Aragatsa was. Quickly checking on him, likely to determine the severity of his injuries before bringing him for medical attention.
When Aragatsa was taken off the field, Pupa addressed the crowd, her usual less serious demeanor returning to her, trying hard to ignore the throbbing pain in her hoof. “While it was unexpected, wasn’t that a great fight?” She paused, letting the crowd answer with their cheers. “Well worth the price of entry I’d say!” Pupa responded. “Now, unfortunately, I likely won’t be able to officiate the remaining matches. As such we will have a thirty minute delay while we get one of the other announcers ready to take over the rest of the fights” Pupa explained, trying to stand on her hoof and instantly getting a shot of pain straight through it, quickly picking it up off the ground. “Now if you’ll all excuse me, I can hear the medical changelings rattling around in my head. Farewell.” Pupa said with a small bow as the Crowd cheered for Pupa, some replying with their own farewells and others simply cheering to their Queen.
Twilight watched as Pupa walked out of the Arena, holding her hoof close to her chest, the spear she used floating beside her in a red aura. After Pupa walked off, she turned to the Shadow Changeling, who had already left, and Botin. “I have to go see her.”
Botin turned to Twilight. “I’d agree but…” Botin bit his lip, contemplating what the correct way to explain why Twilight couldn’t see the Queen.
“I’m worried about her!” Twilight replied, “She seemed really hurt and I want to check on her.”
Botin stammered for a second. “I-I understand but it’s just that… She’s with the medics….”
“I’ve seen Medical Changelings before.” Twilight replied, slightly annoyed.
“It’s not… Quite…. The same” Botin explained shying away from Twilight. “L-Look I’ll ask Pupa. But I can’t do anything else.”
Twilight let out a worried sigh. “Alright, fine.”
Botin sighed. “J-Just a moment.” He said.
Twilight looked out at the Arena, seeing some Warrior changelings going around the arena and cleaning the sand of blood. Most of the audience had begun speaking amongst themselves or already going to get additional snacks or food during the interim, having been interrupted due to Pupa’s fight. The atmosphere in the arena turning to a more jovial one than the tense air that followed during Pupa’s fight. Twilight found herself looking over at where Aragatsa had been laying as a changeling came to clean the pink blood from the sand below.
Twilight let out a sigh and simply watched for a couple minutes as Botin conversed with Pupa over the Hive Mind. Using a bit of the time to think about whether she should even include what she had seen in the Arena in her notes. Going back and forth with herself in her thoughts, unable to find a satisfying conclusion to her question. So enraptured in her thoughts, was she, that she didn’t hear Botin speak up at first, until the changeling tapped her on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Twilight asked, shaking herself out of her thoughts.
“Pupa said it would be all right for you to visit her. If you’ll just follow me.” Botin said with a small bow.
“Botin, do you mind if I ask you something while we walk?” Twilight asked as she followed Botin out of the royal suite.
“Not much to say, really, but I’ll answer you if I can.” Botin replied as he held the door open for Twilight.
“Oh it’s nothing really that big. I just wanted to know what your job in the Hive is?” Twilight asked, thanking Botin as the two began to walk side by side, Botin leading Twilight towards where Pupa was.
“Me? Oh I’m nothing special. I’m just a messenger drone. My job is to help Changelings that aren’t a part of our Hive Mind get information that we share through the Hive Mind.” Botin explained. “I was assigned to Aragatsa to help him know when it was his time to fight in the Arena. Sadly, he didn’t really want to listen to me.” Botin let out a sigh.
“Do all Hives have messenger drones?” Twilight asked, fairly sure that the job would fall onto Caretakers more than another class.
“I’m sure there are other Hives that use messenger drones, but I’m here because we get a lot of hoof traffic from other hives, mostly those coming to participate in the Arena. We handle a lot of the logistics with the Hive Mind, so it makes more sense to just have someone like me help to relay information.” Botin explained as they passed by a few warrior changelings discussing the fight Pupa was just in.
“Can’t any changeling connect to Hive Minds?” Twilight asked.
“You can make a small group Hive mind, sure, but usually you can’t do it between Hives, it can get a little bit, muddled.” Botin explained. “Between a few individuals? Sure, but trying to connect to the whole Hive Mind can cause complications.”
“What kind of complications?” Twilight asked, curious as to how the Hive Mind worked, being unable to actually observe it herself.
Botin thought about it for a moment, trying to think of how to explain it. “Imagine there are two faucets, and think of the water as information.”
“Okay…” Twilight replied, not fully sure where this was going.
“If you turn on one faucet all the way, the sink might start to fill up a little bit, but most of it will drain out. But if you turn on both faucets at once.”
“The sink would overflow…” Twilight finished. “So you could theoretically overload your brain?” She asked.
Botin nodded. “Going that far is very rare though, you’d need to be basically holding up both Hive Mind’s by yourself for that to happen. Most of the time it can get disorientating and cause confusion. Imagine playing three songs in your ears at once and trying to discern anything from them.”
Twilight thought about it for a moment and shuddered. “It would be nearly impossible.”
Botin nodded. “Not only that, but the Hive Mind has a range between individuals. If a Changeling is too far away from any other members of their Hive, the Hive Mind won’t be of much use.”
“So it’s kind of like a radio?” Twilight asked.
“A bit, I guess.” Botin replied. “It’s a bit hard to explain to someone who never experienced it, you understand right?”
Twilight nodded. “It’d be like trying to explain how you transform to me. It’d likely just go way over my head.” She said with a chuckle.
Botin chuckled back. “I imagine so.”
Twilight and Botin continued to chat as they walked through the building, Twilight overhearing a few conversations between the Warrior Changelings. Most of the conversations involving Pupa in some way, though she did overhear a few changelings talking about placing wagers on certain fights.
As the two of them continued to walk through the halls, gradually the chatter of the warrior changelings was replaced with quiet as they entered into a restricted area, likely meant for the fighters and medical staff. Two warrior changelings blocked the way until Botin told them that Twilight was here at Pupa’s request.
There was an almost eerie quiet as they walked through the back halls, Twilight could see a few medical changelings walking through the hall and a few pained shouts from some of the closed doors, likely Changelings being treated for their injuries.
When they came to the door that Pupa was being treated in, Botin bid Twilight farewell as he was being called back to help with the remaining fighters. After a brief goodbye, Twilight grabbed the handle to the door in her magic and opened it. As soon as she did she heard a shout of pain.
“Do you have to be so rough with it?” Pupa asked.
“Did you have to use your broken hoof to knock Aragatsa out?” another voice asked.
“How else was I supposed to knock him out?” Pupa asked annoyed. “He wasn’t going to yield.”
“Why not just use magic.” The other voice suggested.
“But that’s way less fu-OW!” Pupa cried out again as Twilight peeked into the room.
“Queen Pupa, may I come in?”
“OW! Twilight, come on i-AH! Stop twisting it!” Pupa said in pain as Twilight stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Inside she saw Pupa sitting on an examination table, being overlooked by another changeling, she didn’t even bother to look at what she believed was just another Medical changeling, instead looking at Pupa.
Pupa’s leg had several large cracks running through it, none of them passing her knee. The closer you got to the end of the hoof, the more cracks and damage appeared, each crack in the chitin emphasized by dark red seeping slowly from the wounds.
“You have an endoskeletal fracture straight through your Middle Phalanx, your Distal Phalanx is nearly shattered and you have several Exoskeletal fractures running up to your Proximal Phalanx. You’re just lucky you didn’t dislocate your elbow, I doubt you’d be able to cover that up.”
Twilight, having turned to look at what she presumed was another medical changeling speaking, found herself frozen in place at what she saw.
The Changeling currently inspecting Pupa’s hoof was much different from any type of changeling she had seen until now. She was only a head larger than the standard warrior changeling, with two upward facing horns with a slight curve to them, longer than many other changelings she had seen, each one ending in a sharpened point. Despite being taller than most average Equestrian Changelings, her build was not as stocky as that of Aragatsa; she was rather thin, not nearly enough to seem emaciated but enough for it to be noticeable.
Her eyes were a pale gray, bordering on white as she looked over Pupa’s hoof, trying to see all the angles from which it might be injured. What had caused Twilight to pause initially was her large fangs, easily twice the size of others she had seen, even Queens, with a smaller fang visible just behind it. The image of these sharpened fangs made Twilight think of some kind of predator. Her frill looking more like plated spikes than fins, the connecting tissue between each barely visible. After seeing the fangs, Twilight’s eyes scanned to the rest of this new Changeling species, and found her eyes widening upon reaching her main body.
Instead of the small insect-like wings she had seen in many other changelings, what she instead saw was the wing of a dragon, with each bone visible. Between each fingerbone was a ghostly, ethereal white membrane letting only the faintest of light pass through it, making it almost twinkle.
The strange draconic changeling, having not registered Twilight’s entrance, continued to overlook Pupa’s hoof, twisting it lightly, resulting in Pupa letting out a small pained shout.
“Aren’t you supposed to stop it from hur- AH!” Pupa asked as her Hoof was touched by the draconic changeling.
“My job is to help you recover, not make it painless, you only brought the pain on yourself by not taking Aragatsa seriously.”
“He didn’t seem like such a big deal to me.” Pupa stated simply. “Just another Prideling flying too close to the- Fffff.” Pupa stopped mid-sentence as the draconic changeling put her hoof on Pupa’s upper leg, seeing if there was more damage further up. Resulting in Pupa biting her lip.
After a couple seconds, the changeling let go of Pupa’s hoof. “Luckily it looks like you managed to avoid any serious injury to your humerus, just some bruising, if that.” The changeling stated, Pupa not looking much happier with that, slowly pulling her hoof back towards her as the Draconic changeling turned to write something down on a clipboard.
Pupa chose to instead turn to Twilight. “So, Twilight, Botin said you wanted to see me?”
Twilight, still looking over the draconic changeling, turned to look back at Pupa. “I was just worried that you went a little bit too hard in that fight.”
Pupa chuckled. “Nah, I’m doing fine, as you can see.” Pupa said, motioning to her body, making sure to avoid her injured hoof.
Twilight simply looked at the injured hoof, whose cracks in the exoskeleton were slowly becoming more visible as a bit of red trickled through the cracks in her chitin and dripped to the ground.
“Yes, but what about that?” Twilight pointed at Pupa’s injured hoof.
“Oh this is nothing, it’ll be healed up in no time, isn’t that right Mis-Koten?” Pupa replied, looking at the draconic changeling.
The Changeling, who had largely managed to ignore Twilight’s presence, glanced over at her with an affirmative “Hmm.” Then, sensing Twilight’s emotions, did a double take before her eyes widened in fear. “Twilight Sparkle!” She said in a panicked voice. Her form quickly covered in a bright white flame as her wings and fangs were replaced with far more conventional changeling wings and fangs. She quickly turned to look at Twilight and let out a sigh. “Please um… l-let me explain what you just saw…” She said nervously, trying to make herself look smaller.
Pupa rolled her eyes as Mis-Koten began to stammer over her quickly cobbled together explanation.
“I-it’s just something that I… um… do when I’m on duty, yes that’s it! I-It helps me stand out a-a-and it… umm.” She continued nervously, clearly not preparing for the possibility meeting Twilight.
“Koten…” Pupa began.
“-S-so you don’t need to write anything to Celestia about me, right? Cuz I’m just a normal changeling.” Koten continued nervously, trying to come up with something to say on the fly.
“Koten.” Pupa said slightly louder.
“Certainly not some big scary nightmare creature, nope, I’m just an ordinary…”
“Koten!” Pupa said loudly, putting a hoof on the panicking girl’s shoulder, causing her to stop mid-sentence. “It’s alright, Koten.” She said with a reassuring tone to the still panicking changeling. Pupa mimed breathing in and out slowly with her injured hoof, hoping to calm down the worried changeling.
After about thirty seconds, with lots of encouragement from Pupa along the way, Koten was back to standing up and still taking deep breaths with Pupa. After a few more seconds, during which Twilight thought it best to simply stand still and seem as non-threatening as possible. When Koten was finally fully relaxed she turned to Twilight and bowed. “I’m very sorry you had to see me like that, Miss Sparkle.”
“Oh it’s no big deal.” Twilight replied, waving off the incident. “I’m sure you have your reasons.”
Koten pressed her ears against her head in embarrassment. “I-I wasn’t expecting to… umm… See you.”
Twilight nodded, putting on a smile to show she meant no harm. “I assume your Hive isn’t from around here?”
Koten nodded. “I-I’m from the Osteal Hive of The Minotaur Republic. My name is Mis-Koten, I’m one of the local Orthopedic Doctors.” She said with a small bow. “My job is to help heal injuries that members of the Warrior Hive suffer.”
“And their Queen, clearly.” Twilight joked, looking over at Pupa who cracked a small smile.
“Only when she gets sloppy~.” Pupa replied in a lightly sing song voice, trying to rest on her injured hoof and instantly recoiling.
Koten, having noticed the Queen’s reaction let out a sigh. “Let me patch that up for you, Pupa.” She said, before looking over at Twilight and nervously speaking up. “C-can she leave?” She asked Pupa.
Twilight pressed her ears against her head a little, saddened by the fact Koten wasn’t comfortable around her.
“I don’t see why she shouldn’t be allowed.” Pupa responded, much to Koten and Twilight’s surprise.
“B-but my Queen said that-”
“And who says she needs to know?” Pupa replied conspiratorially. “After all, we are in the Warrior Hive. You just happened to be sick today, isn’t that right?” Pupa said with a wink.
“B-b-b- but, She said she’d exile us!” Koten exclaimed, Twilight’s ears perked up, this being the first time she had heard of such an action outside of Spine, which was an egregious example from what little info she had heard.
Pupa shook her head and mumbled something under her breath. “I get that Kaltsii is worried about her Hive being revealed, but exile is a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“Even so, she’s still my queen.” Koten replied. “I can’t let her down.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve already seen a few other Changelings from the Minotaur Republic.” Koten looked at Pupa in shock.
“You let her watch?!” Koten exclaimed.
Twilight paused for a moment as Pupa shrugged at Koten, who was halfway between glaring and slack-jawed.
“What I mean by that, is that if it’s something that you’d rather me omit, I can do that.” Twilight finished.
Koten’s ears perked up. “Y-you would?”
“Of course.” Twilight said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to destroy any ties Celestia, or Equestria for that matter, have built” She said casting a glance at Pupa, “Besides, Celestia is very understanding.”
Pupa looked at the still nervous Koten. “If it makes you feel better, Mis-Koten, if Kaltsii tries to exile you, I’ll stand up for you.”
Koten looked back at Pupa is surprise. “You would do that for me, Queen Pupa?”
Pupa smiled. “Of course, who else would deal with my shit while helping heal me up like you?” Pupa said reassuringly. “Speaking of which.” Pupa said waving her injured Hoof.
Koten cleared her throat. “Of course, yes.” She said her horn lighting up as she opened a box on the nearby counter, pulling out a jar full of white powder and a knife. Twilight looked at the knife uncertainly, wondering what possible use it would have. Perhaps to cut a sling or bandage? Twilight also saw a locked box on the wall open as she noticed it was full of glowing red syringes, similar to those she had seen in the Joyous Hive.
“Now, your majesty you are going to feel a little prick.” Koten began.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just stab me and get it over with.” Pupa said holding out her injured hoof.
Koten rolled her eyes as she floated over the syringe. Finding a crack in Pupa’s chitin was hardly an issue, given how much of it was broken open. Quickly finding a good spot, Koten pressed the syringe into one of Pupa’s lightly red cracks, causing the Queen’s face to tense up as the needle entered her body. Once the red liquid had fully left the syringe, Koten pulled it from Pupa’s hoof and opened the container of white powder. Spreading the white substance over Pupa’s lower hoof, applying it rather conservatively, making Twilight wonder how valuable the powder must be.
It was then that Koten’s body was covered in a white flame, returning to her natural form once more, allowing Twilight to see that her backplate appeared to be made of bone. Just as Twilight was looking over Koten, she saw the blade in her magical grip float quickly over to her wing, which had been extended. Twilight’s eyes widened and she let out a gasp as Koten used the blade to cut through her own wing’s webbing with little more than a small flinch as the blade sliced through the membrane.
Koten had cut a sizable strip from the webbing between her wing’s fourth and fifth finger, taking the thin membrane and quickly using it to wrap Pupa’s hoof; covering up most of the damage. When she was finished, she sprinkled a small amount of the white powder over the new lightly glowing spectral white bandage before closing her wings and looking over Pupa’s hoof.
“There we go, with any luck it’ll be good as new in a week.” Koten stated. “Does it still hurt?” She asked.
Pupa spun her hoof around a little and tried to put a bit of pressure on it, only to cringe and pull it back. “Still a bit sore when I put pressure on it, but aside from that, I think I’ll manage.”
Koten nodded, then froze slightly as she felt Twilight’s eyes looking at her. “So… How should we…” Koten motioned with her eyes towards Twilight.
Pupa rolled her eyes. “I’ll handle it, now how much do I owe you?”
Koten waved the question off. “I know you are good for it, Pupa.” She said, floating her knife back to her medical box and throwing the syringe into a biohazard receptacle.
Pupa turned to Twilight, who was still looking at Koten’s now injured wings. “Twili-”
“Why did she just cut her own wings?” Twilight asked with concern in her voice, worried about Koten.
Pupa looked over at Koten and let out a sigh before explaining. “Members of the Osteal Hive can use the membrane of their wings to assist in the healing process.” Pupa stated, gesturing to her own hoof, which had an eerie white glow to it. “Their services are indispensable to Military Hives around the world, helping to heal major injuries in a fraction of the time it would take normally.”
“It doesn’t… hurt does it?” Twilight asked, Koten, who was flexing her wings lightly.
“Not very much, no.” Koten admitted. “It stings a little when I make the first cut, but I can barely feel it now.”
“But… then you can’t fly.” Twilight stated.
“It is a shame.” Koten admitted, flapping her wings lightly. “However it should regrow in a couple of weeks, so provided Pupa can avoid breaking another leg, I should be fine.”
“if anyling has the guts to try and swing at me now, I’m not going to be pulling punches.” Pupa said seriously. “Any of the actual challengers will wait at least a month before trying anything.”
“Any particular reason?” Twilight asked, curiously. “If their objective is just to beat you, then wouldn’t it make sense for them to just keep trying after a defeat?”
Pupa scoffed. “The only thing they’d prove to our Hive is they need to use underhanded tactics to get the upper hoof. Besides, I can always say no to a challenge.” Pupa stated simply, pausing for a second. “Though generally we welcome any challenger, and what’s the prestige in beating a crippled fighter?” Pupa waved her injured hoof in front of her.
Twilight thought about it for a moment then shrugged. “I suppose that makes sense, at least for a society built on proving yourself.”
Pupa nodded. “Glad you’re starting to get it.” She paused, looking into the Hive Mind for a moment. “Sounds like we weren’t the only ones making waves today.” She said with a smile.
“Huh?” Twilight asked, uncertainly.
“Sky Chaser seems to have made a big splash with the cadets.” Pupa said with a laugh. “Not many of them have seen a Pegasus in pony before and certainly not one that can hold her liquor as well.” She let out a laugh.
Twilight and Koten let out sighs. Twilight worried what the opinion of the Royal Guard must be and Koten because she might have to deal with the drunken consequences.
“We should go pick her up before she eats something she’s not meant to.” Pupa stated, her horn lighting up as she pulled her spear closer to her, placing it on her back. “Come on, Sparkle.”
Twilight walked closer to Pupa as Koten spoke up. “Pupa, remember to contact me if anything happens with that hoof!”
“I’ll be careful, Mis-Koten, trust me.” Pupa replied. “I’ll see you next week.”
Koten let out a sigh and then smiled at the Queen. “Good luck to you, Miss Sparkle.” Koten said with a small bow.
“You as well, Mis-Koten.” Twilight replied as Pupa smiled and her horn glowed brighter, in a flash of red light, they had vanished from the medical room.
It didn’t take the pair very long to located where Sky Chaser was. She was found in one of the lounge areas, a group of about thirty to forty changelings around her as she hoof wrestled various members of the Cadet’s ranks. A line of overturned shot glasses lay on the table in front of her, a testament to how many challengers she had beaten. Despite the possibly large amount of alcohol she had ingested, she was still proudly accepting other challengers, all while changelings placed small bets on who would eventually defeat the tipsy Pegasi.
Unfortunately they never found out, as Pupa came to collect Sky Chaser so that they could return to what Pupa mockingly described as “The world above.” Sky Chaser not at all looking forward to the return trip, remembering the effects of the last time she used the teleportation gems. After they made their way out, said gems were quickly brought to them by Xiphos, who remained as stoic as he had earlier in the day. After a quick farewell, both ponies vanished in a red flash leaving both Pupa and Xiphos alone.
“So, what do you think of her performance?” Pupa asked Xiphos.
“In terms of speed, she was easily able to outpace the cadets. On top of that, despite being a Pegasus she showed a good amount of strength and endurance, she was able to, at the very least, keep pace with the cadets and at best outmatch several of them.” Xiphos explained. “Whether this is due to her training or not remains to be seen.”
“High praise coming from you.” Pupa stated as the two began to walk back to the Hive Proper. “Anything else of note?”
“She got along quite well with the cadets. Even getting invited to their little drinking party.”
“Given how much of a stickler for rules you are, I’m surprised you allowed it.”
“The cadets had a double training day today and many of them were trying to show off to the Royal Guard. I thought it best to let them unwind a little.” Xiphos explained.
“You must be growing softer in your old age.” Pupa remarked, nudging Xiphos slightly with her elbow.
“My Queen, I have to ask if you are serious about your proposal?” Xiphos asked, uncertainty in her voice. “While Lieutenant Sky Chaser did well, I still believe we would be best to keep our military tightly knit. Any ponies we would bring in would be disconnected from the Hivemind as well.”
Pupa let out a sigh. “I’m not sure about it, entirely. You make a good point about the Hivemind, but the ponies entrust us with their safety. Perhaps one day we will be able to do the same.” Pupa stated as the two reached the Hive proper. “Maybe not in my lifetime, but I hope to see the bonds we share with Equestria strengthen, if that means a few ponies serving as guard for the Hive, I’d say that’s more than worth it.”
Xiphos bowed slightly. “While I may not understand it, entirely. I hope that one day your vision will come true.”
Pupa nodded to Xiphos. “Thank you, General. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and get ready to speak with an old war buddy of mine. I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”
Xiphos gave a small salute to his Queen. “I shall ensure the safety of the Hive in your absence.”
Pupa gave a salute back. “Make sure the place doesn’t go to Tartarus while I reminisce, alright?” She said as she turned and started to walk back to the Hive proper, careful not to put too much pressure on her injured hoof.
“As you command, My Queen.”