Escape From the Hive

  As a Royal Changeling, I will admit my life had been rather soft. Being thrown in the dungeon, surrounded by hissing criminals who had escaped the hive mind and larvas who had broken out of their cocoon during metamorphosis and become disgusting combinations of pony and changeling, was a bit of a new experience. Shell immediately selected a spot for us and chased off the other prisoners. Her instincts to protect me were her only drive no doubt, though when she was done she offered me a smile, one which I didn't return.

  Mother's Royal Guards had never treated me kindly before, but now they treated me like any other prisoner in that terrible place. The treatment entailed pushing, shoving, and hissing fiercely when I tried to speak to them. The dungeon life was only temporary, and we had been told it was only for a few days, but it felt like an eternity. Shell didn't speak beyond short answers when I asked something, and sometimes she didn't respond at all. I suppose it makes sense, since she had only stayed with me to prevent this from happening to her. Royal servants got better treatment after all. Though that didn't matter at this point.

  "Think they'll let you choose your next servant?" Shell asked me one day. I gave her a confused look, not sure which words would be of best use in the situation. "Well, obviously they won't kill you," she said, as if that was explanation enough. When I still didn't respond she sighed and said, "They can't kill you. You're all royal and stuff. They can kill me, and they will. You'll need a servant, it's the law that you have at least one. Do you think they'll let you choose them?" I opened my mouth to say something, but shut it and looked away. "Well, if they do, make sure you don't choose a mutant. We don't fly as fast." I'm not sure if she meant for that to hurt, but it did.

  "Well, the gray looks nice on you," I said, not looking at her.

  Another day we talked about escape.

  "We could disguise ourselves as guards," Shell suggested, though she didn't sound very enthusiastic about the idea. I knew why. She wasn't as good at illusions, mostly due to her being a mutant but also simply because she hadn't had much practice.

  "No, that won't work," I mumbled, staring up at the ridged ceiling. "One, you can't transform as well. Two, they'll notice if two guards are suspiciously trapped in the dungeon and two prisoners are gone."

  "We could...dig? We're changelings. We were practically built for digging."

  "There are problems with that too," I growled, becoming slightly irritated with these suggestions she obviously hadn't thought through. "Don't you think they would have expected prisoners to try and dig out? The floor is made of the same stuff as the Royal Hive, not dirt like the tunnels. Also, I'm a Royal Changeling, we don't dig as well. Oh, and another thing, if we do escape, and that's a pretty big if, where will we go? They'll miss me since I'm an heir, they'll miss you since you're a Royal servant, and it's not like there's some changeling settlement out there. We aren't ponies, we have only one hive." Shell stared at me, an unimpressed expression on her face.

  "Wow, negative much?"

  "I'm thinking things through, which you're obviously not doing!"

  "I'm just trying to stay positive, Larva. You're shooting me down. I know these plans won't work."

  "Then stop suggesting them. It's annoying." I turned my head towards her, making sure she could see just how annoyed I was. She rolled her eyes (or as best as a servant can since they don't have pupils like a Royal).

  "Fine. Whatever. But maybe you should try being nice to me, we won't be together for much longer." Once more, she might not have meant to hurt me, but she did.

  I tried to convince myself during our imprisonment that after we were released everything would go back to normal. Obviously, when the day finally came that we were let out, everything did not return to the way it was.

  Shell and I were led by two guards through winding tunnels, each one lined with the same black material as the dungeon. We didn't speak, and the guards didn't either, we just followed them out of fear. Eventually, we came to an exit. The dusty air of outside was more welcome to me than it ever had been, and the light and heat of the pony princess' sun was a relief on my shell. Underground dungeons tend to be dark and cold, the changeling one is no exception. The guards quickly rush us through the oddly abandoned streets, to an area that Shell and I recognized almost immediately. The structure of spikes we had been caught near, that's where they were leading us. Shell nudged my side and when I turned to look at her I saw she looked worried, but there was an odd glint in her eyes.

  "What?" I whispered, careful to keep my voice quiet enough so the guards wouldn't hear. Shell extended her wings and buzzed them a bit then jerked her head up towards the sky. She was suggesting we fly away. The suggestion was tempting, as no one was around besides the two guards, but the more I thought about it the more risky it seemed. Finally I gave her a sharp look and shook my head. Shell narrowed her eyes and buzzed her wings once more. I shook my head again, more firmly. Shell hissed at me quietly then directed her gaze to the mass of spikes we were quickly approaching. In the glaring sunlight it looked even more imposing and we both shivered.

  Finally, I spoke up. "Where are you taking us?" I asked. The guards didn't stop, but looked at each other and seemed to have a conversation with only their eyes. Eventually, one turned their head to me and spoke.

  "The Queen has requested that we bring both of you to the new chamber she has built. The reason was not revealed, but even if it had been we would not tell it to you." I bared my teeth and stomped a hoof down. So much maltreatment for such a simple crime, it was ridiculous!

  "Just because I was out late at night is no reason for you treat me like a mammal-brained drone. I am the heir to the changeling throne and will be treated as such! What is the purpose of this new chamber? And do not lie to me!" My burst of fury evaporated as the second guard snickered.

  "Oh, the Royal grub demands an explanation," the amused changeling chuckled, "Come now, 7890, give our heir what he wishes." The other guard looked from his partner back to me then smirked.

  "The new chamber is the testing grounds for a new method of execution," he hissed, his smirk becoming a full fledged grin when my eyes widened. Shell remained emotionless next to me but I felt her wing brush against me as a sign of comfort.

  The building came ever closer but now I gazed at it with a new fear. One that entailed me walking out, but me walking out alone. Shell didn't speak, didn't move besides walking and the occasional wing rub.

  We finally reached the structure, and once there the guards fell behind us. I looked around, but didn't see any sort of entrance. Narrowing an eye, I looked back at the guards. One moved forward and suddenly shoved us. I expected for us to smash into the black wall, and maybe impale ourselves on one of the closer spikes, but neither happened. We instead fell through the wall and I instantly realized it to be a simple illusion spell. Complicated for a pony, but foal-play for a changeling.

  My balance was off and I fell completely forward, hitting my snout on the ground. I snarled, pushing myself up and whipping my head around to where the guards were. They hadn't followed us. The illusion had rematerialized, leaving us inside with no visible exit (though I knew it was there). It was then I realized how silent Shell was being. I looked at her and saw she was simply staring at something ahead. I followed her gaze, gasping when I saw what it was. The entire structure was full of changelings, maybe the entire kingdom. And there, in the middle of the room just in front of an extremely large spike hanging down from the ceiling, was the queen herself. I closed my mouth recovering from the surprise of the full building. Mother stared at us, smiling almost smugly.

  "Welcome, son," she hissed, walking towards us. I stepped closer to Shell.

  "You guards told us what this place is for," I said, managing to keep my voice straight and close to emotionless. "So you desire to kill us."

  "Us?" Mother repeated, her smile fading then quickly returning only with more malice. "No no, only one of you shall die." I tensed.

  "The law states that a Royal changeling cannot be killed without good reason. Sneaking out at night to your mystery building is hardly worthy of death. It also says that each Royal must have at least one servant."

  "And both of those laws shall go unchallenged," Mother said, nodding. "For you see, I have already selected a servant for you. You now have two. Or rather, had."

  "Once more, sneaking out at night is not a crime worthy of death," I growled, pushing my luck a bit with my tone.

  "That is my decision to make," Mother said, expression tightening. "Not an heir's, especially a heir as foolish and stupid as you." The words were out, and I heard the crowd of changelings buzz uncomfortably in the tense air. I myself didn't respond, having known how she thought of me for a long time.

  "And I respect that, I was simply suggesting what would be better for the colony. Killing an innocent drone, a Royal servant at that," I lowered my voice so no one but Shell and Mother could hear me, "not exactly the best way to raise your renown, is it? At least, not in a good way." Mother's mouth opened slightly, then closed to a thin line. I could hear her breath hiss as it came out through her clenched teeth and her wings hummed slightly.

  "Listen to me, Larva," Mother growled, bending slightly lower towards me to match my height a bit better. "I am the ruler, the Queen, of the entire changeling kingdom. It would serve you well to respect me, as your own position is hardly one to be proud about."

  "How is being an heir not something to be..."

  "The Royal servant Shell shall be executed for assisting in vandalism of the new chamber!" Mother suddenly proclaimed, cutting me off and straightening to her full height. A guard buzzed from the crowd over to us and roughly grabbed Shell, dragging her into the air along with himself. "The selected form of execution will be testing of the new chamber she and the heir, Larva, attempted to destroy!"

  "We did not attempt vandalism!" I snarled, having to hold myself back from attacking her right then and there. "This is a false accusation!" The crowd wouldn't have it and erupted into hisses of protest at my outburst.

  "Silence!" Mother commanded, locking me in place with her gaze. "The decision has been made, and you will not challenge it!"

  I watched as Shell was dropped underneath the the large spike Mother had been near before she came over to me. I stared at her and she stared back at me. I opened my mouth, wanting to scream something, order them to stop, but something in Shell's eyes made me stop. Was it...acceptance? Before I could really figure it out, Shell had turned her head away from me to look up at the spike. I took the opportunity to look at Mother, just in time to see her nod to a few drones hovering at the base of the spike, where it connected to the ceiling. They turned and raised their back hooves, then bringing them down to smash against blue and green bubbles poking out of the spike. They immediately started to glow, energy rushing down from the bubbles to the tip of the spike. For an instant, all was silent and immobile. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Shell turned her head to me once more, the acceptance still there, but I could taste something else in her emotions. Fear. Sadness. But those weren't it, what was it..?

  Screaming suddenly erupted through the chamber. A beam of green light came bursting from the spike's tip and crashed into Shell, covering her entire exoskeleton with it's sickly glow. My ears flattened against my head and I shrunk back, terrified by the screaming. Mother only stared, her emotions dry and tasteless. Not even the smugness was there. The screaming continued and I watched, unable to look away, as the gray chitin began to tear away from Shell's body. The shiny green plate on her back went first, shattering and settling to the floor beneath her in a pile of shining powder. Then, something strange happened, something that made the screams seem dimmer and the actual horror less horrifying. I saw fur. The exoskeleton was shattered and torn away, and I saw fur. Blue fur, to be exact.

  It was well known throughout the kingdom how changelings were made. An unsuspecting pony was captured, usually a filly or foal, and taken to the kingdom where it was then placed in a cocoon. Over time, a very long time, the pony would be changed into a changeling both internally and externally, physically and mentally. Memories were erased, organs replaced, entire personalities changed. They became something, someone, entirely new. This "beam" seemed to be reversing the process.

  I watched as Shell disappeared, gray giving way to more and more blue. Even her eyes began to change. Pupils became visible and the irises became golden. Her horn disappeared, and wings changed to feathers. It was almost like watching a simple transformation, only with screaming and there was no green fire to cover up the changing process. It wasn't long before a cutie mark became visible. A golden bow and arrow. There was a filly there now, screaming and crying in agony under the beam. I had no idea whether she was a different pony, or still Shell in her mind, but I would never find out. The beam didn't stop, and soon the new pony flesh began to tear. There was nothing underneath now, just red muscle being torn away slowly and painfully, eventually giving away to bone that began to turn to dust.

  I was finally able to tear my eyes away, not bearing the sight of her being torn at anymore.I fell to the floor, my hooves covering my eyes and feeling my tears. I willed myself to stop shivering, but couldn't stop the tears as the screams continued. eventually, they stopped, and I could only guess the beam had reached either the vocal chords or the brain, maybe the heart or some other vital organ. I let loose my own cry, the image of her flesh being torn away still bright in my mind.

  Finally, I heard the buzzing of the beam stop. Everything was silent and I tentatively moved my hooves from my eyes. I made a sound cross between a gag and a gasp when I saw a pile of dust on the floor just under the now smoking spike. My hooves covered my eyes and again my body was wracked with uncontrollable jerks. I heard heavy hoofsteps move past me and I heard Mother mutter something to drone. There was a grunt and I felt hooves grip my sides. I was lifted into the air but I kept my hooves over my eyes. Even when I felt myself pass through the illusion which was an exit I didn't move my hooves.