For A New Dawn

A light green glow from a fluid tank lit the room around D2 as she lay on the ground, cold and trembling in sporadic bursts. Several lacerations covered her back, each trailing lines of crimson across her sides, and a large gash ran across her cheek. The taste of blood still lingered in her mouth from the wound penetrating through, but despite what had felt like fire a moment before, her wounds otherwise only felt icy and numb.

“I hope you understand why I had to make an example of you… D2.”

A little ways off in the dark murk of the room, Chrysalis lay on a soft pad, the side of her face lit by the light from the fluid tanks. She stared off into the alien aquarium set in the wall, watching the small bubbles rise, taking in the silence of the room.

“I’ve always seen you as a kind of daughter, D2,” she said. “You’ve done so much for the collective.” Chrysalis turned, her eyes narrowing in a glare. The whites of her fangs glinted slivers of green as she turned to face D2. “But I can’t ignore failure, not when the eyes of our whole hive are on it. I would have buried this if I could have, D2, but I wasn’t given a choice. Progress with strain SS25 has been dissatisfactory, and the swarm is getting restless. We need food yet we’re pouring our energy into this special experiment that I personally would have scrapped months ago if you hadn’t said it held so much promise. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you had some sort of attachment to it.”

“I-I don’t…” D2 coughed. “He’s just one more. I would never...”

Chrysalis eyed her for a moment but said nothing, instead turning her attention back to the glowing liquids pulsing through the walls. “Give it the memory. We need to advance quicker.”

D2’s eyes flashed wide. “My queen, he is just a child! The trauma would break him.” She stopped and choked for a few seconds, blood hitting the ground in a fine spray.

Chrysalis watched, eyes unwavering. “D2, you know full well the danger of a doubtful changeling, especially one with the power we think 25 could one day possess. Captains have to be able to think freely to make decisions, there’s no way around that, but it’s because of this that we need to show them why we are the way we are, that we are not the image of the cruel insensitive race our enemies like to propagate. Our way is one that shuns weakness because it’s what is needed for survival—for strength, and unity above all else. 25 is no exception. You will show him what ponies do to our kind, what they are capable of deep down. He must understand.”

D2 braced her legs against the ground and pushed herself up, her eyes pleading. “Please, it could kill him. Chrysalis, I won’t—”

“You won’t what?” Chrysalis said, rising up, her eyes glaring. “Somehow I feel you’re forgetting everything I ever taught you, such as manners for your queen. I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt for now, but don’t overestimate my kindness. Even you have limits in my favor.” She tossed an orange blob over to D2’s side. “Treat your mouth wound for infection with the medicine gel. Otherwise, no healing for three days.”

D2’s head sunk down, her eyes brimming with new tears. She picked up the gel with a bladed tendril and coated her cheek. All the while, the wound stung like nails were being dragged across it. She slowly put the remaining gel down after she finished and waited for her next order.

“Go now,” Chrysalis said.

D2 turned to leave, keeping her eyes pointed down.

“And D2.” She stopped her back still turned to Chrysalis. “SS25 is a weapon for the hive—not a ‘he’ but an it. I don’t think I have to remind you what happens to breeders who forget their role. Affection is not required, and that kind of filthy behavior will earn you more than just a few lashes, regardless of how much I favor you.”

D2 felt a cold sensation along her back. “...I understand.”

“Good."

D2 opened her eyes to a veil of darkness. It had become a familiar sight. Things would always start out this way as she moved forward into SS25’s mental threshold. Just darkness... nothingness...

Emptiness.

D2 let out a breath and closed her eyes. We need something with a bit of space this time. Maybe a forest with a clearing… she thought.

D2 concentrated and imagined a deep, lush wood with tall oaks. Boulders spread across the leafy floor, and a round clearing about the size of a house surrounded her, the flooring made up of soft grass. Her mind projected the image, and the world mirrored it, each piece growing into place in seconds. A sun burst into being above with a deep, echoing ‘ffip’. Rays of golden yellow light beamed in through the tree canopy above, painting spots of grass and pine needles with a light yellow hue. Birds spawned from thin air and flew up to nest in pre-ordained homes among the bark, chirping on their way. Their light ambience, along with fine particles of dust only visible in the rays of light, soon filled the wood with its final trimmings.

D2 studied her work and found herself smiling. She had never considered herself an artist, but she had definitely been getting progressively creative with her projections. Nature was indeed a beautiful thing.

D2!

Before she could react, a small dark foal tackled her to the ground, laughing with glee all the way. The two rolled down to the soft grass with a ‘thump,’ kicking up light blades with the impact. The colt pinned her belly up with his hooves and smirked. Ha! Caught you off guard, D2. You should be more… Hey, what’s that? he said, pointing a hoof at her cheek.

D2’s turquoise eyes trailed down to the large, blood smeared cut in her facial carapace. “Oh—I almost forgot about that...” She lowered her eyes and almost seemed to deflate a bit. “I’m surprised that projected here.”

The colt stepped off and D2 stood up, revealing the cluster of gashes on her backside, each with its own trail of red stained across her stomach.

25 edged forward, the sides of his mouth pulling down in a frown. D2, are you hurt? What happened?

She stopped, opening her mouth to speak, but nothing came. There was no way to explain it really. Not at his age. Not yet.

D2 sighed. “It’s okay, 25. Queen Chrysalis, the one we talked about before—she’s upset with the progress recently. It—It’s not something you’ll really understand until you’re older. We’re going through a difficult time and she needs to show the hive that it’s important everyone does their part. Especially me.” D2’s gaze dropped and she hooved around at the grass beneath her. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary really. Punishment is just part of how the hive maintains success.”

D2...?

“Yes?”

Are you mad at me?

D2 jerked her head back and quirked a brow. “No... Why would I be? You’ve done nothing wrong, 25.”

He kneaded his forehooves, looking to the side. B-But... wasn’t it because... because I… I can’t…

D2 stared at him for a moment then gave a chuckle and put a hoof under his chin. “Don’t worry about the real life stuff until you get there. I’ll handle the outside. You just do your best and keep on your lessons.”

25 stared up at her, his eyes shifting back and forth across her face. He gave a nod and settled himself to a sitting position. Okay. If you say you’re alright.

He was worried about me… she thought. What am I thinking? Remember your duty to the hive. D2 shook her head in an effort to dispel the awkward feeling in her stomach. “Get ready for algorithm review. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

25 snapped a smile and bounded back a few feet. He turned and planted his hooves, the front right slightly in front of the other with his head down.

D2 suppressed a laugh at how serious he looked, the sound coming out more like an awkward snort more than anything. 25’s physical body would be fully grown in a month or two more, and with it his mind, but for now it was pretty adorable to watch him snap right into fighting mode with his small body—all 20 pounds of it. I think I’ll miss this soon… she thought. “Now as usual, we won’t do any specific spell work. The Arcanna should let you cast without weaving mana anyways.”

25 gave a sharp nod and narrowed his eyes. “Ready.”

D2 closed her sight and focused. A royal guard appeared to 25’s left with a spear level with the ground. He stood frozen in a charge, angled at the young changeling with an opaque blue tint.

“25, what is the answer to a spear charge from the side?”

“Roll back to keep target in sight when available.”

D2 smiled. “Good job. Execute.”

The false guard lunged forward spear first, as if coiled by a spring. 25 bent his head back and watched the spear glide just out of his peripherals. Dirt flicked into the air as he rolled and popped back on his hooves with a thump. 25 snapped his gaze to the guard, who had his back turned. The pony disappeared in a flourish of blue particles.

The particles circled above and flew behind 25, and he moved to turn around.

“Ah-ah-ah,” D2 said and shook her head at him. “No looking.” 25 bit his lip, almost seeming to fight the instinctive urge to face his attacker but eventually settled back into position. The particles amalgamated into three pegasi frozen in a dive holding gladiuses.

D2 watched 25 tense, his legs almost seeming to tremble faintly. “Pegasi in a divebomb from behind. Non spear,” she said.

“Aerial dodge to either side.”

“Execute.”

The pegasi cut forth like missiles as they angled down on their prey. 25 bent at the knees and jerked left with his whole body. The aerial trio swooped low, little pieces of grass getting nicked in their wake just as 25 cleared their flight path. He spun and landed on his hooves, only to topple with his momentum, going end over end. His side hit the ground with a thud, stopping him.

D2 blinked and dissipated the pegasi as they turned for a second wave. “You’ve got to remember how to land that better, 25. It won’t matter if they miss the first time if you’re on the ground.”

25 picked himself up and brushed the grass from his colorless mane. His ears folded back against his head and he looked up at D2 with a frown.

D2 shook her head, smiling. It was funny how hard he took things with his training. He’d stumble and fall while romping around her worlds all the time and simply get back up with a confused expression, like he was trying to figure out what exactly had gone wrong. Take him into training or studying, and the smallest trip or misstep was like catching him in the act of doing something deeply wrong.

D2 sighed. It was admittedly a bit adorable. She immediately shook her head, shoving away the thought. What am I thinking… Keep focused. “Okay, 25, a full review now.”

25 froze for just a second then nodded with a slight hesitation. “Alright, D2, if you think I’m ready.”

“Are you not feeling up to it?”

25 bit his lip and looked down. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“25, you can’t get any better if you don’t—” She stopped and gave a playful smirk as an idea came to her. “What if I answer any question about the real world for you?”

25 kneaded his front hooves into the dirt and pursed his lips. “I-I don’t know. I can’t really—”

“They can be about ponies.”

25’s mouth dropped and he froze. “Really?” D2 nodded. A smile grew across 25’s face and he hopped back to position with a lick of his lips. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Without a word, D2 summoned a collaboration of guard stand-ins, each frozen in attack formations that she knew 25 had memorized and become proficient with. She allowed him a moment to look around, study the combinations, marking each foe and lining up the actions in his mind. She could see it too. Spear thrust from behind, roll to dodge downward stab from a broadsword above, a sweeping trip of the sloppy formed one to the left… There were maybe twenty moves to victory and a handful of guards that would turn and do a new action, all of which 25 had memorized to the utmost. He turned back at her and she watched through his eyes knowingly, seeing him put the last pieces in place just as he crouched low in the fighting form she had taught him and gave a nod.

D2 let the attacks loose, eyes trained on her faithful student but not truly watching.

She reached out with a tendril and whipped up a memory in the bladed palm. The memory manifested as a ball of flowing energies, like a handheld planet covered in bleached oceans, waves tossed to and fro in an eternal storm. A faint light illuminated from its core, giving the orb a soft glow.

D2 stared off into its ambience. I’ve wielded this a hundred times and will a hundred more, she thought. I’ve never hesitated before. Why now? Why am I having such second thoughts? Because I think he’ll die, that he can’t handle it? But he can… I don’t—I don’t get it. Ugh, what’s wrong with me?

“What’s that?”

D2 snapped her gaze up to see 25 sitting on the silvan floor. He raised his eyebrows when D2 looked up at him.

“Oh, I-I finished the routine,” 25 said. “Did I do okay? You look a little… unhappy.”

D2 paused, turning her eyes away. “Uh, nothing—It’s nothing. I’m fine,” she said, dissipating the sphere.

25 sat down and swished his tail against the grass. “Is it okay to ask my question?”

D2 blinked. “Oh right, I almost forgot,” she said. “Go ahead.”

“I want to know about the pony family unit,” he said. “Specifically, what is a mother? Like, what do they do?”

D2’s mouth dropped slightly, her voice barely a whisper. “A mother…? Y-Yeah, I can answer that.”

25 gave a wide grin and lay down on his belly, tail wagging back and forth.

D2 felt a cold pang in her chest, but she ignored it. Her mind was focused on moving forward, like an athlete sprinting through a painful burn—just pushing forward. It’d feel better when it was over.

“Uh, well,” she said and licked her lips, searching her words out. “In a pony family unit, there’s a father, children and… well the mother, like you said. And she’s a caretaker. She takes care of the fillies and colts, makes sure they do the right thing, teaches them how to be safe. She even heals ailments when the children come down with them, or stuff like small injuries.”

“Is it like a breeder?”

D2 paused. “Uh… Yes. In a way our roles are very similar. What I do could in fact be looked at like a kind of mother, but i-it’s—” She choked on her words. “Look, just, it’s not the same thing.”

25 tilted his head. “How?”

She swallowed. “It’s just not. A real mother has… she has these kinds of feelings that... I-It’s just hard to explain, 25,” D2 said, giving a half hearted smile. “Look, we need to get to work on something else today, okay?”

“Oh—alright,” he said, ears folding back and slumping down. “I didn’t mean to take so much of your time, D2. I won’t do it again.”

She reached out a tendril and flipped open the serrated tip into four sharp prongs. The ball of white flared back to life at the center with a flash of light. 25’s eyes widened at the glowing orb as he watched, fixated on the glowing entity in her palm.

D2 took a deep breath and held up the sphere. “This is a memory that we show to any changelings given the full emotional spectrum. That’s what separates the leaders from drones. No matter how much intelligence one puts into a being, it’s just a machine until it can think with emotions, with feelings. There’s just no comparison. That’s why we give captains and higher ranks full cognition and personality. But...”

D2 sighed and pushed a bit of her turquoise mane out of her eyes. “The thing you must understand is that… emotions are dangerous. It’s also why certain lessons are best learned through some reinforcement. We remember experiences best if they are attached to things like sadness, misery… pain.” D2 motioned to the cuts on her back. “25, what I’m about to show you might be difficult to understand at first, and I want you to know that I’m not doing it to hurt you. I… just…” She sighed and dropped her gaze. “There’s nothing I can do...”

The sphere burst out in great blinding rays, each beam tearing through the landscape around them. 25’s pupils dilated and he clenched his head. A scream tore from his throat as the world slowly washed out in a bath of white in front of him, burning his eyes. The light seared everything, turning the grass to shreds of ash in the air, rocks to useless power, trees to dust and splintered fragments. 25 fell on the ground and convulsed, still holding his head and crying out. Then, just when the horrible pain hit its apex… there was nothing. Just darkness... nothingness...

Emptiness.

A faint sobbing came through the deafening silence. “25… please… don’t hate me.”

25 blinked his eyes slowly and found himself staring up at a bright white light. His mind ached like it had been bucked by a minotaur and his throat throbbed. Why was it throbbing again? There had been a flash… and someone crying. They said something important, he could feel it, but the throbbing kept it just out of reach, like something on the tip of his tongue.

25’s eyesight blurred and he let out a groan. Something wasn’t right, didn’t feel right. He rubbed his sight clean and looked up. Above him stood a giant sun of pure white, rays circling like searing solar flares while equine faces swirled around in the mass. Their eyes and mouths gaped open, letting lose beams of light like three eyed lighthouses. 25 felt his stomach drop and limbs go weak. The faces weren’t smiling—they were screaming.

“It hurts. It hurts!”

“Please, I don’t want to be alone.”

“Not again, not again, not again.”

“Why did you abandon me?”

“I can’t take it!”

“My Queen...”

“We’re all dead. All dead-all dead-all dead…”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“Why?!”

They blobbed and distorted in the giant mass before him in a incessant outcry, each replacing the other in a roulette of suffering the likes of which he had never seen.

These are… changelings. 25’s breathing turned to short gasps and a cold sweat broke out across his back. Wh-What is this? D2, I don’t understand.

Tendrils of light burst out from around the sphere and surged toward 25. His heart skipped and his pupils shot down to pinpricks. He wanted to scream, wanted to move and get away, but his body refused to react. It was like it was just him and the mass of white, stuck in a sea of jet black ink. The arcs of light connected with the sides of his head, and 25’s eyes rolled back. His mind screamed as thousands of neuron impulses suddenly surged into him like a lightning storm.

“D2, help!” he said. “Whatever this is for, whatever I did, I’m sorry. Just please stop it, this hurts!”

He thrashed and squirmed, desperately trying to clear his head. It was like a thousand voices all talking, all screaming through him at once. Memories of pain and suffering flashed through his mind, and he struggled to find the clarity to speak.

Rocks cracked his chitin as a young changeling filly stoned to death outside a pony village. Steel cut through his chest as a drone slaughtered by a royal guard. Heat seared his flesh as an infiltrator burned at the stake by Gallopoli.

Please… I can’t. Drool dripped from the side of 25's mouth and his body fell limp. D2… help.

His chest surged with pain as a he felt a spear tip drive through him as a breeder class. The images of her young children being sliced apart in front of her in a pony raid were the last thing to meet her eyes. Panic and fear filled his mind as an infiltrator while a mob of ponies took him away. He screamed to stay with his family, who he had come to love even through the years of lies. If he had a choice he would have stayed with them and buried his identity forever.

25 recovered for just long enough to think clearly. I’m going to die… I can’t take this. His eyes lay open in permanent shock, and hot tears streamed down the sides of his face. 25 doubled over as he felt his stomach lurch and he unloaded its contents with a violent shudder. The fluid splattered across the ground, partially getting on his hooves. His mind burned as it slowly started to overload. He had been through what had felt like a thousand lives, and there were thousands more, each replacing the last in a constant flow that grew faster and faster.

But, for just a moment, 25’s focus zeroed in on one particular instance. The roar of voices just dulled to a low rumble, the conglomerate of pain reduced to a tickle in the back of his head. He didn't know why, and he didn't know how, but somehow, in eye of the storm where he lay, an ice cold dread gripped him in a vice.

He lay on the floor of a hive somewhere. 25 tried to move but stopped and winced as a wound running up his side sent agony through his system. He looked around and his eyes met with a blue maned and white coated unicorn. The stallion's silver armor clicked as he moved closer, two swords set on his sides. The pony passed without a word, a single, ice-blue eye tracing across 25. In the corner of the room, a tall, bloody and beaten changeling lay on the floor, panting and surrounded by the lifeless bodies of a dozen royal guards. Her four oversized wings lay back, twisted at odd angles and ripped to shreds in spots, and her mane had been partially burned on one side, leaving a blackened spot amidst the calm amber color of her hair and eyes. The soldier drew his blades with telekinesis as he moved over her.

25’s eyes shot open. Reflected in them was the changeling breeder. “No… no stop!” He pushed against the ground, dragging his broken body forward. 25 felt blood trickling down the side of his face.

The soldier raised his sword.

“Stop!”

The blade gleamed, and a spray of red splashed up into the air. In that moment, everything seemed to stop; the blood stuck in the air, suspended like little droplets of unholy rain trapped in a spider's web. The stallion’s stone cold mask gave way to neither hatred nor sadness nor pity—only duty, only a responsibility to do one job. But above all, his mind burned at the sight of her eyes... the eyes of the young breeder. Her deep pools of glowing amber traveled to him and reflected back the image of a bloody changeling, its eyes wide and a look of complete horror across its face. She slowly reached out a hoof, a weak smile gracing her lips. In that moment, he no longer saw an unfamiliar breeder or another suffering changeling. All that he could see was the one who had been there all his life. His one friend, his one companion. The one who cared for him.

His body shook and his throat tore from the scream. “Mom!”

The space around him ripped apart, emitting a loud muffled cracking as it pulled away. An overwhelming tingling sensation swam throughout his body as he felt himself being pulled through space by an unseen hand. Every single nerve in his body felt like it was vibrating and being charged with electricity. The feeling built higher and higher, sound deafening, touch burning and tickling and freezing and bruising. Just at the sensation’s height, a flash of light burst in front of him and every bit of feeling disappeared like a snuffed out flame.

25 took a sharp breath through his mouth like he had surfaced from deep water. He slowly raised his head up and saw the frozen figure of D2, her eyes shot wide open, mouth slightly ajar. Her legs trembled and she fell to her haunches.

“I—I stopped it...” she choked out. “I really just did that. Oh tartarus, what have I done? 25...” Her voice cracked at his name. “I couldn't watch it. I don't know why, I just couldn't. Not that last one. Not when you...” She clenched her eyes shut and turned to the side.

“D2?”

D2 looked up just in time to see 25 reach out and hug tightly to her. Her mouth dropped open and she looked down to see him burying his face into her chest, shivering and shaking with muted sobs.

D2 stared, dumbfounded and listening to the small sniffles coming from below. Emotions… are a very dangerous thing. She thought of Chrysalis catching her like this if she didn’t shove him away, thought of the pain, thought of the shame and consequence of it all. Years of loyal, distanced service would crumble in one moment. Emotions… are a very dangerous thing, she repeated in her head. D2 stared down at the frightened child, who turned and looked up at her with his large purple eyes. Her eyes flicked back and forth across his.

“D2,” he said. “I don’t want to go back there… but if it’s what you want, I’ll try again.”

She let out a sob and smiled as she wrapped herself around the small foal. But there is something wonderful about them too. “25, I’m sorry. I’m never going to do anything like that again. No matter what anyone says, okay? It’s alright now. I’m right here and from now on, I always will be.”

The foal’s eyes widened as the embrace was returned. He found himself slowly easing back and simply resting within her arms. “D2?” he said.

“Yes?”

“Your chest is actually kinda hard.”

D2 jerked her head back and quirked a brow down at him. They stared for a moment then both burst out laughing. “I suppose so,” she said. “Would you like me to build you someplace nice then?” 25 grinned and nodded his head up and down. D2 smiled as she began weaving together a beach, with fine white sand and rolling blue waves for the two of them.

25 leaned back against her and relaxed, the sounds of the crashing waves easing through his ears. “Thanks… Mom.”

D2 looked down for moment and pawed at the sand. A faint grin formed on her lips and she snuggled into him. “You’re welcome.”