"General Tydas." The queen of the swarm paced slowly in front of me, a massive and almost insane grin plastering her face. "The assault is almost upon us." I smirked, though my own grin was probably hidden below my helmet as my nose almost touched the ground while I bowed.
"Would you like me to inform the troops, your majesty?" I asked politely, remaining in my pose.
"No." She commanded as she stopped pacing. I tilted my head up slightly to allow myself a look at her face. My expression clearly told her I was confused. Chrysalis sighed. "I will be leading this assault personally." My eyes widened, but my expression burst back into a smile. She saw my joy in it, and quickly told me, "But there is one thing that I need you specifically to do."
I stood straight and saluted. "Anything, your highness!"
She walked away from me, looking out of the tower's window and out onto the city below. "I need you to stay here whilst we perform our strike."
My heart and mind sunk into the deepest pits of despair, barely allowing me to mutter, "W-what?"
She sighed once more, turning to face me. "In the case that we fail, I need to have at least a basic defense in case the Equestrians make a counter-attack."
I stumbled slowly toward her. "But...but-"
Chrysalis stomped loudly and glared at me. "No, Tydas. I know you were looking forward to this, but I need my best General in his top form in the case that something goes wrong."
I nearly growled, but I kept it to myself out of fear for my life. "Yes, Queen Chrysalis."
The Queen smiled softly. "Thank you, my son." I almost coughed. True, she was my mother, and I was a prince. But she almost never called me son. "You may go," she dismissed me, waving a hoof toward the elevator.
I nodded obediently before exiting the chamber and entering the small box. The queen watched as the door closed between us.
The elevator was nothing special, even for the queen. Just the simple stone walls that lined our entire hive.
The floor of the lift was made with a similar material, though powered by magic. It slid down easily, making little noise as it fell down the shaft. We were lucky magic wasn't based on love alone, or else we'd have died off long ago. The torches across the hive were powered by magic as well -- not the same type of magic by far, but powered nonetheless. The engineers who ran this place ran it admirably.
As I descended further down the shaft, the walls opened into windows, allowing me a perfect view of our city. The houses were composed of the same stone that lined the shaft I was in. There were other types of stone houses or furnishings, but my view pointed specifically toward the drone district. Not much happened down there; it was just where the general population lived. Crimes were committed -- they always are -- but nothing major ever happened down there.
Watching the district approach reminded me that I should have probably sent a team on patrol down there as soon as I reached the end of the ride. It was good for the troops: it gave them something to do. Nothing ever attacked the hive, so most of the military spent its time relaxing in the barracks.
In the case that Chrysalis failed in her mission like she said, it was up to me to keep this colony alive. And in order to do that, I had to have everybody at their finest. And for those who were at their finest, to stay fine.
Now, I thought, which squad do I send down there?
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Xyno. My name was plastered onto the shelf that suspended my helmet, and next to it: my brother's name, along with his helmet.
I grabbed both helmets from the counter with my magic and walked toward my brother's bunk-room. Tydas hadn't given us a job for the past week or two, so everybody in the squad was starting to get lazy. I slipped my helmet on as I opened the wooden door to the room. He was asleep in his soft bed, dreaming of lilies and whatnot. He was always a bum. "Hey, Ceph!" I tossed the helmet at his head, making a loud clang as it bounced off of his head and hit the ground.
My brother flailed his limbs from the surprise attack, all the while yelling gibberish.
"We've got a job to do. Get dressed." He glared at me before grabbing the helmet and slamming it onto his head. I left the room, knowing he would get himself dressed without me "helping" him. I headed to my locker and wrapped my breastplate around me, then slid into my boots. Putting on my armor reminded me of what Queen Chrysalis had said to the troops when she had announced an invasion of Equestria.
"We will take only a select few armored soldiers; we can take the capital faster if we aren't burdened with the extra weight."
I could see her reasoning, even if I didn't entirely agree with it. They would not be expecting an attack to come in such a way; with the queen taking the place of one of the princesses, and the drones hiding inside the mountain's caves. When the time comes, she will summon the drones, and the invasion will begin.
I had already been informed that I would not be taking part in the attack, which was fine by me. As long as we got food out of it one way or another, I was willing to sit and wait. Nothing would happen while they were gone, so I would stay on my patrol with my brother until they returned.
I walked to the front door and waited for Ceph to get off his flank and join me.
The rest of the squad would join us when we reached the "Honey Badger", a night-club that didn't have many Changelings in it at night. It was more of a hang-out spot for civilians and off-duty guards. Ceph and I usually went there with a couple of friends when we knew we had nothing productive to be doing.
Or when we were trying not to be productive.
Ceph stumbled from his bedroom donning his armor and yawning. "What have we got?" He inquired.
"Tydas wants a clean sweep of the Drones Residential District." I replied sternly. "Now." Ceph waved a hoof in acknowledgment as he grabbed our swords and tossed me mine. I caught the hilt in my teeth with ease and sheathed it perfectly. Ceph, however, in his drowsy state, slowly and carefully placed his sword in its scabbard.
I opened the door and stood aside as he approached me. "Ladies first," I pointed my hoof outside the door and nodded my head slightly.
He smirked. "Eff you too, buddy." He smacked my hoof as he passed, and I followed him out.
************
We scanned the walls of the houses as we passed, watching as some Changelings wandered the streets. Some even glanced our way, but easily dismissed it as our daily patrol.
As the Badger came into view, we saw our two squadmates laughing to each other.
Ceph whispered into my ear, "The joke about the butter?"
I nodded. "Probably." Psyllid and Weevil were an odd couple of Changelings. Physically and morally. Both of them had manes and tails -- though not frowned upon, it was a rare style to stumble onto -- Weevil's blue and Psyllid's green; their wings matching their respective mane colors.
When we reached them they had calmed down. I adjusted my helmet before speaking. "Anything seem off on your way here?"
They glanced at each other before Weevil replied in his snake-like voice, "Nothing more than a couple of trouble-making kids running in the streets."
Psyllid spoke up, his voice less unique. "And a bit of graffiti on the Queens Memorial. You see anything?" Ceph and I shook our heads.
Ceph then gasped lightly. "Did you see Riza while you were out?"
I rolled my eyes. Riza was Ceph's "to-be girlfriend". He had been planning on making a move for the past week, but either of them were always busy.
"Nah." Psyllid shook his head regretfully.
Ceph rolled his head and his eyes before looking to me. "I swear, man, it's like she's trying to avoid us!"
"I wouldn't be surprised." I teased. Ceph smirked and punched me in the shoulder.
I glanced up at the Conduit, our main source of light. It was like a miniature sun, and didn't give much of a shine. The thing was solar-powered, giving the whole cavern a unique glow. It hung from the ceiling directly above the Queen's citadel. We still had no idea where it came from, but we were glad it was there.
And, being solar-powered, it faded when it started to get darker outside, so it was easy to tell when night was approaching. At the moment, it was at full-glow.
"We should get this done so we can come back here tonight for a couple of drinks." I half-mumbled to myself. I saw the others nod in agreement in the corner of my eye.
Ceph started to canter down the street toward the citadel. "Then let's go." We willingly followed him, sure that he would lead us to our doom in one way or another...
____________________________
The Conduit dripped water constantly. The Changelings of the hive knew of this, but dismissed it as part of its mysteriousness, and that they would one day discover why.
If a creature had been standing close to it, they would have heard a minuscule popping noise as a small crack appeared on the very bottom, and more water began to flow through the aperture. At least, it was water...
Until the liquid turned black.
