Daring Do sat across from me. The campfire roared in between us. It was the only source of heat we were getting at that moment since the sun had gone down. I shifted on the uncomfortable log I was perched on. Magenta eyes pierced through me. I squinted at her and finally voiced my thoughts.
"What?"
"Huh...?"
"Why are you staring at me?" Daring smiled nervously and turned away.
"I wasn't."
"You were. I saw you. What do you want?"
"You got me... I was just wondering... about your life before you came to Canterlot."
"Really?"
"Yeah. What's your story?" I thought for a moment. It would have been nice to tell some pony. I spread out on the log and patted the spot next to me with a multi-holed hoof. Daring hesitated for a moment before plopping down and getting comfy. Well, as comfy as you can possibly get on a rough log.
"Well it all started in Queen Chrysalis's hive..."
I was a Worker. I took care of the eggs and did various tasks for the under-queens. Some workers acted as nurses for the under-queens while others worked as personal under-queen servants. Some were lucky enough to work for the queen herself. There were also the Defenders. They were trained fighters that defended the hive and more importantly, the queen. They guarded the queens' quarters as well as the hive itself. Then, there's the Infiltrators. They get into the places where ponies thrive and collect food for the hive. They get the most fun out of life if any pony asked me. Meeting ponies and watching their silly reactions to the smallest of things. The best part was that they got to taste the feelings first hand. The blend of emotions handed to us from the Source was dull and mild.
Things were not bad as a Worker. We were the lowest class and considered slaves to the Defenders and the Infiltrators. That was, of course, if one counted the Stiffs. They were half breeds. Half changeling and half pony. No pony liked them. I certainly didn't. The Stiffs would often starve if they weren't fed solid food. This was a lot of work for us Workers. Thankfully, the Defenders and Infiltrators thought it was funny when we put the Stiffs to combat. They were weak and stupid. Too stupid to actually win. I had planned to go to a ssaum or fight. I had to finish my work first. I worked hard and was never carefree. There never was anything to be joyous about unless the queen found it amusing.
I was tending the eggs when Martyr, a fellow Worker, bounded into the nest. He gathered his breath and cleared his throat. I awaited his news while searching for answers within the hive. I felt through my bonds with other changelings for answers to my questions. I was met with confusion and annoyance. I licked my lips. I could almost taste the salty annoyance and the buttery confusion.
Almost.
"The queen...!" Martyr wheezed. I stared at him blankly. "The....the queen approaches!" I stood there for a few seconds before fully analyzing what he said. The Queen was coming. The queen herself!
"Now!?" I gasped. I stepped lightly over a clutch of eggs and brushed myself off just in case. The queen walked regally and quite smugly into the nest. She was flanked by a Defender and an under-queen.
"Kneel Workers." She commanded. I quickly groveled at her hooves. Martyr was shaking so hard. "You may rise."
"Why, my queen, do you visit us today." I asked.
"I come with great purpose." She turned from us. "I need a task done."
"Anything for you, my liege."
"I don't care what it is, it must be so important, your highness." Martyr looked so hopeful.
"I need a Worker to take care of a special egg. I need a very dedicated Worker." I felt Workers in different sections of the nest perk up at the possibility of one of them serving the queen herself.
I was speechless and confused. Why was the egg so special? There was a hum of annoyance and disgust.
How dare you question the queen!
We are Workers. We are to obey and help the queen any way possible, not question things.
We are dirt beneath her hooves! Who are you to ask questions!?
Stop thinking, Worker!
The hive thinks for you.
Only a Worker would be so stupid.
Defenders hear our apologies.
I cringed. The queen watched me with fire in her eyes. Martyr stared blankly at me. It was not normal for changelings to think individually. I tended to 'feel' things and question things that a normal changeling would just accept blindly.
"Who would you choose, mighty one?" the Defender asked, obviously the one to downgrade us Workers. The under-queen didn't bother to look at any of us. The queen peered at me. I had a sick feeling in my gut.
I stared at the egg in wonder. I felt the Workers dig through my mind for images of it and felt the excitement and disbelief. The egg was beautiful. It was a stunning blue that shimmered in the light. I had never seen a blue egg before. I took to caring for it immediately. I cleaned it delicately and made sure it was warm. I turned it over a number of times to keep the circulation of the hatching going. It was heaven. Working for the queen and doing my destiny born job. I was so busy enjoying the attention through the telepathic connection with the hive that I almost didn't notice a figure move behind me. I turned and there was a purple unicorn watching my every move. I froze, not knowing what to do. I wanted to run but I had to protect the egg. It was my duty to my queen. Something in the back of my mind told me I was being stupid. I ignored it and lit my horn. My filmy wings fluttered and I was off the ground. The unicorns pupils shrank and it lit it's horn too. I growled, low and menacing. It shot first. I dodged and flew forward to try and land a jab to the neck. It dodged and tried to throw a punch to my face. I moved quickly and shot at its stomach.
"Ahh!" It wailed as the beam made contact. The unicorn seemed untrained. I was secretly relieved at this. I had no training whatsoever. I only served my superiors. I heard the frantic Workers scream at me to protect the egg.
Stall it!
Find someplace to put the egg
You must protect it with your life, Syree!
Kill it! kill it!
How did a pony get through the Defenders!?
Ask a Defender how to deal with it!
The egg, the egg!
I was getting tired. The pony tried to get me with a beam of magic. I got hit in my side. Pain like I've never felt before welled up like a river. I clenched my teeth and charged. I caught it and tried to get a headlock like I had seen Defenders and Infiltrators do. The pony struggled. I didn't know what to do. I was so close to the neck. I sank my fangs into the soft flesh, hoping I hit the artery. The pony gasped and kicked me right in my chest. I wheezed and fell to the ground.
"You bit me!" The pony held a hoof to the wound. I held my hoof to my side. I felt my energy drain almost as fast as my blood. The pony watched me with wide eyes. "Oh nonononononononono!" It rushed to me.
I snarled.
"Don't die. I didn't want to kill any pony. This is bad."
"Twilight, did you find it....oh....." A rainbow haired pony flew through a hole in the hive wall I hadn't seen there before. "What do you do to it, Twilight?"
"Oh, Rainbow, I didn't want to hurt any pony." I coughed and tried to get up.
You're pathetic!
You might as well die now.
They'll have the egg!
What kind of Worker are you!?
Worthless Worker....
It was over. If they got the egg, there was no way I would be able to be a proper Worker. My whole purpose of living would be destroyed...
"The egg!" Martyr exclaimed as he galloped into the room. He stopped and stared at the intruders for a second before sending out a beacon for help. He didn't even look at me. He marched right past me and coddled the egg like it was a hatchling in need of comfort. I understood that I was just a Worker, nothing to fuss over. Martyr, however, was a fellow Worker.
Somewhere in my mind I struggled to accept that we had nothing civil between us. Nothing brotherly.
Nothing.....friendly......
The prisoners were famous. Every changeling in the hive knew of them. The queen had gracious words for me. Apparently, they were accomplices in the failure of the invasion of Canterlot, a pony city. Word got around that I almost died to save the egg. I felt so proud.
"Did you fear it?" Martyr asked me on my way to the royal nesting chambers.
"Fear what?"
"Death."
"...." Had I? Honestly I didn't know. All I could think about was my failure. "No." This was not untrue at least.
"To think you would've died protecting the egg. Isn't that just amazing!?"
Amazing?
"Yes." I wasn't quite sure if I believed that.
"A true honor for a changeling to die for the queens cause. Especially for a Worker."
"Oh yes." I agreed. This, I did not hesitate to answer.
I now cared for the egg with two Defenders standing guard. I often took breaks from the egg to tend to the Defenders' needs. One of the Defenders left on a task for an under-queen. The other Defender stared me down and... Displayed her wings!? The Defender stepped forward and connected my horn with hers. A spark ran through me as her mind, as well as the other many Defenders' minds, connected through a telepathic bond.
Saliyah, what is the meaning of this!?
Why is this lowlife bonded with us!?
I should have never left you alone, Saliyah. Now you've disgraced us!
Aren't you supposed to be with Saliyah, Hindor?
I froze. So did Saliyah. We parted and listened in silence, barely breathing. The queen almost never talked to any changeling through their bonds. It was rumored that only the strongest of under-queens were blessed with such a privilege.
Y-yes, my queen. It's just that the under-queen-
Get back to your shift. And who is the under-queen who under minded my orders!?
Ooh, some pony is in trouble now...
I wonder who!
It was me, my queen. I swear I didn't mean to...
We'll see in your ssaum.
There was a hum of anticipation and fear. When the queen ordered a ssaum, it was never good. The prisoners were there. The purple unicorn and the rainbow maned pegasus. They watched me intently. I rubbed my bandaged side with my hoof.
"To the left is our prized fighter, Pyre!" Cheers all around. "To our right is our lovely under-queen, Smitlilin!"
There were cheers and boos. Who would dare boo an under-queen? I looked around. A Defender and an Infiltrater. I wasn't surprised to see it was Saliyah and some other changeling I didn't know. She saw me staring at her.
She smiled. I looked around and pointed to myself.
I'm looking at you, idiot.
I gave myself a mental face hoof.
Oh...okay...
Saliyah wrinkled her nose.
Come over here.
With all due respect, Defender, I don't think that's a good idea.
Why?
Because I'm a Worker. Workers don't associate on such friendly terms with Defenders.
But I'm inviting you.
Oh look, I see martyr...
I blocked her connection so we could end our conversation. It was easy to do. It was only temporary, though. Martyr was standing right next to the prisoners, who were in chains and shackles. He looked like he was going to do a backflip when I approached him.
"Smitlilin, the under-queen is going to fight Pyre!" Oh... He was excited about the fight.
"Yeah I see."
"So, why were you staring at the Defender over there?" I nearly jumped in surprise.
"What?"
"I saw you eyeing her strangely."
"Saliyah was booing the under-queen." Martyr stared at me with that look.
"You're on first-name basis with a Defender!?"
"Uhh...."
"Be careful. She probably wants to get you killed or something."
"Maybe she wants to be my friend." Martyr gave the look again. Wow, twice in one day.
"Why would she want to be friends with you?"
"Because maybe she doesn't care about what my rank is. Maybe she cares about me!" I growled.
"No no no." Martyr shook his head. "You're a Worker, remember? The lowest of the low. No Defender will ever talk to you because they like you. We serve all upper classes. We're slaves. You should be proud of that, not create some fantasy friendship. I don't even know why I have to explain this. You're so odd. I've never met a changeling who acts like you."
I was silent as the ssaum started. It hurt to hear a fellow Worker say that to me. It hurt even more to hear a Worker put themselves down and smile about it. I felt like there was more to life than being a Worker. Martyr said we were slaves to the hive. That wasn't really true, was it? Slaves and Workers were nothing alike right? Loud cheers and a gag from behind me jolted me out of my thoughts. Pyre had knocked Smitlilin to the ground. She was on her back and Pyre was on top of her in an awkward position. He raised his hoof and his her square in the jaw. She shrieked. She rolled out from under him and bucked him right in the flank. He toppled and fell flat on his face. She kicked him in his ribs over and over and over. He groaned and spat out blood. It was red and shimmered silver in the light. Smitlilin fluttered her wings and grinned triumphantly. He headed out of the ring.
"Why do you do this? This is horrible!" I turned to see a distressed unicorn.
"What?" I asked. She stared at me.
"Are you talking to me?" she asked.
"I wanted you to repeat your question."
"I..." The unicorn exchanged confused looks with the pegasus. "I wanted to know why you fight here..."
"Oh." I looked around. Pyre had gotten up and snuck up behind Smitlilin. He wrapped his hooves around her neck. She gasped and struggled to get out of the hold. The position looked so awkward. I turned again to the prisoners. "Us Workers get bored when there no work for us to do so we find ways to be entertained. Sometimes Infiltraters join us since they go out in large groups and get breaks after gathering food for the hive. Defenders very rarely come here. They protect the hive and the queen all the time."
"Is this like, to the death or something?" The pegasus asked.
"I dunno. This is the first time I've ever seen the queen order a ssaum."
"A what?"
"Ssaum. It means 'fight' in Old Changeling."
"Can you speak Old Changeling?"
"Ne, oldeu byeonsin-eul malhal su-issda." I sighed. These questions were tiring.
"What?"
"I said "yes, I can speak old changeling" in Old Changeling."
"Oh my Celestia!" The pegasus called out and pointed a hoof at the ring. I turned.
Smitlilin had pinned Pyre down on his back. She was showering him with punches all over. He looked like he was losing but I knew he was just taking his time and looking for an opening. He must have found one because he leaned forward and grabbed her again. She shrieked in surprise. He opened his mouth and his fangs gleamed. I immediately knew what he was going to do. I wanted to turn away but I couldn't. The pearly white fangs pierced the hard exoskeleton of the under-queen and hit an artery. Blood spurted from the wound and into his mouth and onto his face. He let her go and licked his lips. I shuddered. The under-queen stumbled back and wore a look of shock. Whispers and murmurs went through the crowd. Martyr watched intently without a hint of emotion. He obviously felt no remorse for the under-queen.
"Sweet Crysalis..." I gasped.
"She deserved it, you know. I mean c'mon, really? Disrespecting the queen of all changelings?"
"B-but she's dying. We have to help her!"
"Relax. Besides, you can't help. The queen'll have your head and your not a nursing-Worker."
"I can try..."
"Stop being something your not! You keep acting like you're worth something!" I clenched my jaw. The under-queen collapsed into a shivering heap. I laid my ears back and closed my eyes. I could feel the prisoners' eyes on me.
"I-I can't take this anymore... I can't..." I opened my eyes and caught the unicorns eye.
"Wait what-" I took off.
Months. It had been months that I felt that way. I felt like I didn't belong. I felt like I was different and I felt so bad when I questioned things instead of following orders blindly. Was there something wrong with me? I felt so heavy with despair that I couldn't even feel joy when the egg hatched. I was clearing the hatchlings lungs and wrapping it in blankets while it cooed happily while all I could think about was how completely worthless I was. Even for a Worker. I couldn't even be a true Worker. I never responded to things the way I should. After the hatching was a few weeks old, I was taken off that task and put to care for the prisoners. I guess they sensed my state of mind because the unicorn damn near talked my ear off.
"You look depressed. Are you depressed?"
"I'm not entirely sure that the emotion your giving is what I'm feeling."
"Look, Mr. Changeling-"
"Syree. Call me Syree."
"Oh... I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Rainbow Dash. Anyways... Look, Syree, I see that your life seems to be hard. Harder than most changelings. Your taking care of the egg and I got you with my magic and obviously, your rank is considered worthless-"
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why I bother living. I'm more worthless than the most worthless creature. I'm a meaningless Worker and I can't even do that right!"
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself pal." Rainbow Dash started nervously.
"I might as well die..."
"Don't say that!"
"You should've finished me off when you had the chance." Twilight Sparkle strained on her chains and reached out. She wrapped her forelegs around me and brought me closer to her. I stiffened. This was unusual. I had a fluttering feeling in my stomach that I couldn't describe. This, I realized was what I definitely needed.
Twilight, Rainbow Dash and I had become good friends. Turns out, they were on a mission. They had planned to get caught and imprisoned by us. The egg, that had now hatched, wasn't of our hive origin. The queen and her select Infiltrators stole it from another hive. But get this, the hive was was made up of changelings of an ancient breed. I noticed the odd features of the hatchling as I looked her over. She was black instead of dark grey and had strange golden eyes. Her wings had a sparkling transparency with silver tips. Her mane was golden, just like her eyes and she had ruby red circular gems decorating the base of her horn.
"What should I call you? Maddy... Mitty... Mit... Mitzi!" The hatchling cooed and I grinned. That fluttering feeling happened in my stomach again as I gazed into Mitzi's eyes. She was absolutely adorable!
I didn't question why Hindor and Saliyah got antsy when I spent more and more time with Mitzi and the ponies. I would take Mitzi to the holding cell and Twilight would smile and Rainbow would offer to "Hold the little tyke." for me. Twilight started staring at me funny after a while. She asked if I wanted another hug. I found that odd but allowed her to wrap her forelegs around me. I felt a foreign magic probe my mind and I felt her feel all the bonds I had with the queen, the Workers, and Saliyah as well as the sub-bonds with the Defenders through Saliyah. I let out a growl and pulled back but not before she quickly, and quite painfully I might add, cut all my bonds. I let out a wail and collapsed on the ground. The emptiness in my head made my heart ache. I saw Twilight grab Mitzi and shoot off her chains. She and Rainbow bolted for the door and I could hear hoof steps down the halls.
It was a while before Saliyah could properly locate me. She was confused and didn't know what to do with me. I groaned and tried to explain to her what happened. She just gave me this puzzled look. She half carried and half dragged me down the hallways.
"Where are we going?"
"To meet an old friend of mine."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know what's wrong with you."
"Twilight... she cut my bonds! Damn it hurt..."
"Did you just say damn?" Saliyah chuckled. I grumbled. "Somepony's got an attitude."
"I don't have an attitude!" I snapped. Saliyah grinned. "I'm just not feeling myself." We entered a part of the hive I had never been to. A big male who I could tell was an Infiltrator greeted us.
"This is Caquai. He knows a little about this stuff. He goes out, you know?"
"A little?" Caquai smiled warmly. "I know a lot about ponies and lemme tell you pal, this pony cut all your connections with the hive."
"I know! I just said that!" I growled. Caquai clicked his teeth.
"Somepony's got an attitude."
I finished reciting everything and caught my breath. Saliyah and Caquai stared at me in confusion and horror. Saliyah gave a wilted, apologetic look to Caquai. He flattened his ears.
"So... Queen Crysalis stole the egg?"
"Yup."
"Why? How do you know the ponies weren't lying?" Saliyah asked.
"I don't know. I got this funny feeling in my stomach every time Twilight hugged me."
"So... Lemme gat this straight... Because you never experienced friendship-" I cut Caquai off.
"I was her friend? She considered me her friend!? Really!?" He glared at me then continued.
"So because you experienced friendship for the first time, you believed that our queen stole an egg from another hive?"
"Yes! I can think clearly now and my mind is telling me "Your queen has betrayed you, Syree." and I'm gonna listen."
"Alright but I'm sure she had a good reason."
"Probably for Mitzi to be a food source for the hive as she gets older." The Defender and the Infiltrator stared at me. Saliyah grinned. Caquai sighed.
"You named it..." he mumbled.
"I named her." I corrected.
"Awesome." Caquai face hoofed and turned to Saliyah. "I'll help you help him to get her back. However, we need a plan and strategy."
"Good. We're going to bring Mizzy right back here okay?" Saliyah said.
"Mitzy. It's Mitzy! We can't bring her back here. She wasn't laid here remember?"
"But the queen..." Caquai lowered his head.
"She'll be furious!" Saliyah gave me the hatchling eyes (I didn't know what a puppy or a dog was at that time.) I sighed.
"I forgot you're still under her influence... alright." I quickly concocted a plan to rid my two companions of the queens influence and their pesky hive bond.
We managed to escape the hive without raising any alarms. Saliyah's green, bouncy curls were in a pony tail and she seemed to secretly be enjoying herself. I was dying to know how she was feeling but I knew if I joined bonds with her, I'd create another connection with the rest of the Defenders. Caquai looked alert and cautious. I knew this wasn't the first time he had left hive grounds. We were running. I nearly tripped over several rocks and fallen branches. It was cold. They sky was a dreary gray and there were patches of fluffy, white stuff that was really cold. I was asking so many questions. What was that white stuff? Snow? What's it made of? Frozen water!? Why was the sky grey? There was going to be a storm? What was a storm? What was that brown little creature that scampered up the tree? A squirrel? Cool. Caquai didn't seem too annoyed that he had to answer most of my questions about his times in pony cities. While I didn't know what almost anything was, I still felt like I had been out there before. Hooves in the soil, wind in my mane, sun in my eyes, and the lovely, earthly scents of forest swirling in the air. I felt like deep down I knew what everything was. I felt like it was all asleep inside me like a dormant volcano. Then, I ran right into a tree. I didn't know what the green stuff on the tree was. (It was moss apparently.) Suddenly, the world started to spin and got a whole lot bigger. It was so cool. Caquai grabbed me by my neck and dragged me back to Saliyah. She giggled.
"You're like a newborn hatchling!" she placed a dark grey hoof on me. I jumped. "I know. It's so odd to be so close to a fellow changeling, right? Is this what friendship is?"
"I-" I felt my face go hot. Saliyah's smile got bigger.
"Your face is going all red!" she exclaimed. Caquai gave me the strangest look.
"Seems like you're having fun with your feelings."
"My what?"
"You know... emotions and stuff. Ponies have them for everything. Maybe it not so bad that you-"
"Ponies! Ponies ahead! Their in a shield or something!" Saliyah yelled. Caquai shot her a look. "Oops... Sorry..." Caquai ran a hoof through his messy green mane. It was strange. We had differences but seemed so alike. I never really noticed nor cared of these things before.
I saw Twilight, Ranbow Dash, and several other ponies gathered together, discussing something. Twilight held Baby Mitzi in her hooves. I felt a pang of some feeling in my chest. I needed to get Mitzi. Now. She seemed so far away yet so close. There was a unicorn stallion and an orange mare arguing.
"I say we take it to Celestia. She'll know what to do with it." the unicorn stallion said. The orange, earth pony mare stomped a hoof.
"An' ah say we bring 'er home!" The mare sighed. "Ah know how ya feel against changelings..."
"No, Applejack, you don't. I was mind controlled. You don't know how it feels. I hope you'll never have to."
"Mr. Armor. Ah know Twi might study 'er like a specimen and you'd like that but think of 'er family. That baby, no matter what breed, was foal napped. Can ya live with yerself for lettin' Chrysalis win?"
"Applejack's right, Shining." Twilight agreed. The white mare unicorn nodded. So did the pink earth pony and Rainbow Dash.
"Fine." Shining Armor lifted Mitzi in his magical grasp. "But I wouldn't know where to look for a changeling hive." At that moment, Mitzi looked up and I could've sworn she was looking right at me. She looked so sad and lost. A growl rose up in my throat. Shining Armor and Applejack jerked their heads in out direction. Caquai jammed his hoof into my side. Saliyah shook her head at me.
"Are you crazy?" I jumped for the bushes and headed right for the ponies. "What are you doing!?" Caquai demanded.
"Shut up and join him!" she said.
"Dammit!"
"Might as well. It's his quest." I lunged right at Shining Armor. I snatched Mitzi out of his hold and bounded away in a different direction. I needed to get her out of here fast. Caquai and Saliyah were right on my tail.
"If we were on a mission for the queen we would be in so much trouble...!" he groaned. Saliyah giggled. I kept running. It was odd that they were struggling to keep up with me. It was like I had practice running great lengths of distance, but I had none. I'd spent my whole life in the hive. I felt like I'd done this before.
The ponies were too far behind us. We'd finally lost them. Mitzi cooed and gurgled on my back. Caquai was panting and Saliyah collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. I was barely tired.
"Where'd you learn to run like that?" he wheezed. "I'd never expect a Worker to have that much stamina."
"I don't have that much stamina, that's for sure!" Saliyah laughed breathily. "We don't run that far from the hive."
I looked around. "Where are we anyway?"
"Probably outside of Chrysalis hive territory. We have to be careful now. We could be attacked by rival hives. Especially the one that the hatchling came from." Caquai helped Saliyah up and they started walking a little bit north of where we had come from.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to the hive. We've got Mizzy now."
"Mitzi. We can't bring her back. She doesn't belong there."
"I thought we went over this." Saliyah rolled her eyes.
"Guys... think of her mother... her father!"
"We aren't cared for by our paternal and maternal elders. That's what Workers are for." Tears welled up in my eyes. I had forgotten that they only agreed to go this far because it wouldn't nessisarily get them on the queens bad side. I had forgotten the only reason I was doing this was because I wasn't under the queens influence.
I went along with them... temporarily to see if I could find a way to ditch them. They seemed to get extremely hostile when I brought up the prospect of 'betraying' the queen. It was then that I realized we were being followed. I stopped suddenly and turned to Saliyah. She started to growl but stopped when she heard it.
Hooves.
Pounding hooves!
She barely had enough time to move when Applejack and the pink mare crashed out of the bushes and tried to tackle her. Caquai growled animal-like and was caught off guard as Rainbow Dash and Twilight tackled him out of no where. They wrestled him to the ground while Saliyah was held down by the two mares. I backed up a few steps as Shining Armor emerged. He looked like he knew how to fight. I would never win any combat battle with him. Especially with Mitzi in tow. I guess my fear wasn't well hidden because his eyes widened before his expression softened.
"Hey... hey... we're on the same side. We just want to return the foal to her rightful hive."
"If that was true, you wouldn't be attacking us."
"We're just going to do this." He made a gesture with his hoof. Twilight cast a spell on both Saliyah and Caquai. They let out wails of hopelessness and pain. I winced. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack, the pink mare, and the white mare stood up and stepped to the side. Saliyah held her head and sat on her haunches.
"Damn, that hurt!" she opened her eyes. "Oh my goodness! I can't hear the hive! Syree! I can't hear the hive!"
"Neither can I!" Caquai turned to Twilight. "Did you cut our bonds with the hive!?"
"I sure did." Twilight lifted her snout haughtily. Mitzi whimpered. I nuzzled her. Twilight saw me do this and approached me. "Sorry for cutting your bonds without permission but I couldn't get you to come out any other way. This is my brother, Shining Armor, and these are my friends. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and you already know Rainbow."
I nodded to each of them. I still didn't trust them.
"Why did you take Mitzi?"
"We need to return her to her hive." Shining answered.
"Why do you even care?" Caquai growled. "Ponies and changelings are sworn enemies."
"We were set up by Chrysalis. A direct rival of Chrysalis was told that we had stolen an egg from that hive. The rival queen declared war on us. Rainbow Dash and I broke into the hive to get the egg." Twilight explained.
"But you got in the way. Then, we got caught. You were pretty okay, though. Now we know that changelings don't hate us with their own will. Their mind controlled too!"
"Not necessarily mind control. More like, compulsions to keep you from doing certain things. Mind control takes more energy."
I lowered my head. Saliyah shivered. Caquai rubbed his head.
"So, all these years serving the queen... I was just another puppet...?"
"Do all the queens do this to their drones? Are the under-queens under compulsions too?" Saliyah asked.
"We don't know for sure but there is a possibility that all or most queens do this." Shining said. "Do any of you know where Queen Chiserae's hive is located?"
Caquai nodded. "I think I do. My memory is kinda hazy right now but I can help."
We approached a hive after almost an hour of walking through the forest. I felt my heart beat fast as fear creeped up on me. Saliyah bit her bottom lip. I knew she'd never experienced fear before. I gulped.
"S-should we check ourselves to make sure we don't look suspicious or something?"
"I have a mirror right here!" Rarity chirped. Applejack glared at her.
"Why in the wide wide world of Equestria would you have a mirror at a time like this!?"
"For emergencies like this. One must always look good." she handed me the mirror. I let out a breath of surprise as I gazed at myself. I was looking at a very skinny stallion with floppy bluish-green hair and wide, ocean blue eyes. Where a ponies whites would be, I had an extremely light blue. I had oval shaped pupils, like the queens eyes. My fangs were an inch and a half long and my right ear was torn from some fight I had with a Defender a few years back. My pelt was a dark grey, almost black and my horn, oddly enough, had no holes. I handed the mirror to Saliyah. She seemed to have the same reaction. Caquai refused the mirror and urged us on. The entrance of the hive was guarded by Defenders. They smelled us before we even got there and they were ready to fight. The ponies and us changelings got ready to administer some pain but then I had an idea.
"Guys I have a plan."
"Do you really?" Caquai asked. He didn't even look at me. He was focused on the danger. Saliyah actually turned to me. So did Twilight. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.
"What do you have in mind?" Twilight asked.
"Maybe I can talk to them."
"Talk to them!? You can't talk to other changeling hives when you're in their territory!"
"It could work." I said.
"You're not familiar to how different changeling hives react to each other. Maybe you should let me lead." He was talking down to me like other changelings of higher ranks. I guess Twilight saw the wilted look in my eyes because she stepped forward and glared at him.
"Let him try!" He gave her an annoyed look. He shrugged.
"Whatever." I trotted up to the Defenders and put out a hoof. They seemed confused at first but then realized that I was offering a hoofshake.
"What do you want, outsider?" The first one demanded.
"I... we... need to speak with your queen."
"On what grounds?"
"It's important. Urgent." The second scoffed.
"You smell like a Stiff."
The first agreed, "He does, doesn't he? Probably got kicked out of his hive." The second took a step forward.
"Or worse, he ran away."
"We've got a hatchling!" I blurted out. The two looked confused.
"What?"
"A hatchling! We think it... she... may belong to your hive. Please..." The changeling Defenders glanced at each other and sighed.
"Fine," said the first. "But you'll be escorted up." I smiled.
"Thank you!" I turned to everypony else. "C'mon!"
The inside of their hive was different from ours. The walls of the hallways were a translucent, silvery-green and the changelings were, of course, different colors than us. Many changelings stared at us and a few growled. We arrived to the queens' chambers and I fought the urge to cry. I had never been in my queens chambers before, you see. I was very much honored to be in their queens chambers. The queen was surrounded by all ranks of her hive. She turned to us when we entered.
"Speak, Worker."
"We have a hatchling from this hive."
"What!?" All the changelings buzzed in anger.
"We're returning her." There was a pause.
"What do you want?" the queen asked. I shook my head.
"Nothing. My queen stole this egg and even I don't know what she was really planning to do with it. You'll have to ask the ponies."
"Ah. The ponies." The queen stood, her eyes narrowed. "They were the ones to steal my egg."
"N-no!" Twilight spoke up. "Queen Crysalis was trying to start a war between us ponies and this changeling hive. We never stole anything!"
"It's true." Saliyah said. "I think she stole the egg herself. Our queen was gone for about a month at one point."
"She was? Oh wait, that was when she said she was getting food for the hive." Caquai added.
"But we're sorry for the mixing. Nopony likes to be frowny out of their minds!" Pinkie sighed. The queen appeared to be thinking. She walked up to me and bowed her head.
"Thank you, little Worker and friends." A Stiff ran up to me and gave me a hug.
"Thank you! You're so brave!"
"I am?" I was confused.
"You're the first Worker to leave their hive, I think!"
"You know you can't ever go back to your queen, right?" the queen looked at us rogue changelings. "You must run and never come back." I nodded and turned to my friends.
"Let's go."
"Meanwhile, I have a lot to discuss with Queen Crysalis." the queen growled as we left. Everypony stopped after we walked at least thirty feet from the hive. We all sat down.
"Are you guys going to come to Canterlot?" Shining Armor asked. Caquai stood and stretched.
"I'd like to go." he looked at me. "But I won't go with you unless Syree goes too."
Saliyah stood up and said in a firm voice, "Me too. It's your call, Syree. This is your quest. I'll support you no matter the choice." I stared at them like they were crazy. They were following me? The whole pony group stared at us in awe. I guess they never thought that changelings would be able to understand the bondage of friendship.
"I'd love to go to Canterlot with all my friends."
Canterlot was scary. There were a lot of ponies. We had to disguise ourselves and and I wasn't very good at that. Neither was Saliyah, of course. We had to meet the princesses before anything else and that alone was really stressful. I mean, they were really nice and welcoming but they were royalty. Royalty never really got along with the lower classes. I was a lower class. Twilight and the others kinda sensed my mood and they whispered to each other quietly.
"I think he may suffer from depression." Twilight said. Rarity stared at me and Applejack shook her head.
"An' who wouldn't? From what ah hear, Workers were treated like dirt and apparently, they were raised to believe they would be nothin' but dirt." Pinkie started to sniffle.
"I hope he gets happier..." Fluttershy, a pegasus that was timid and had not been in on the mission, clutched a white bunny to her chest and stared at me in a terrified way. Rainbow Dash simply shook her head and muttered to herself. I was about to say something, anything, to avoid their pity but then I saw a friendly-looking face. It was you, Daring, and you were smiling at me. I walked right up to you and said, "Hey. I'm Syree. I'm new here." You looked me up and down and said, "Well no duh." I laughed and everypony was staring. You offered me your hoof and I shook it. "I'm Daring Do. I've heard a lot about you." I tilted my head and asked, "How?" and you said, "I was eaves dropping." and you blushed out of embarrassment. I laughed again and said, "I've got a feeling we're going to be great friends, Daring Do." and you agreed, "The feelings mutual."
Daring wrinkled her nose. I stared at her.
"What?"
"Is that really how it went? I sound so sappy."
"Well, it was a sappy moment."
"Whatever. I'm tired." Daring got up and settled into her sleeping bag. "Goodnight, Syree."
"Night. We'll get the Angels Scribe tomorrow, right?"
"You know it."
"Great. Sleep tight." We fell asleep and dreamed of our adventures to come the next day.
