Illuminating Aegis: Tales of the Changeling King

"... You're serious?"

"Of course, we talked it over with our sisters an' they think it's a great idea!"

"Yeah! Rarity said it would be... Constructive for our energy."

"What about you Scootaloo? You seem to be relatively quiet regarding all of this." Namiro asked as he turned to the orange pegasus.

Said orange pegasus growled a little as she looked at the other two fillies. "They told me that Rainbow Dash thought it would be cool..."

The Changeling King stepped over to Scootaloo and knelt down, bringing him down to only slightly taller than most mares in ponyville. "Scootaloo... I want all three of you to realize that in order to learn how to use The Force, it takes dedication, intelligence and most of all, patience. If you three aren't willing to dedicate a large portion of your lives to the study and will of The Force, then seek a different option. This is the journey of seven thousand steps, by taking the first... you promise to take the last." All three of the fillies looked a bit nervous as he explained, it wasn't unexpected though, the path to becoming a Force User was definitely one that required discipline. "You need not answer now, I want you three to go home, talk to your families and guardians... I will speak with each of them and inform them of what kind of commitment this is as well as how much responsibility comes with it."

The three fillies nodded and walked back towards Sweet Apple Acres, leaving the large changeling to sigh as he watched them leave. "I just know Rainbow Dash is gonna be aggressive about this..." he groaned as he rubbed his face. "On the plus side... I can get that one unicorn to make the robes... ugh... but I have no money!" He continued grumbling to himself as he turned towards the secret hive entrance several trees down. The tunnels were a bit weird to get used to at first, but nothing that didn't make him recall his years of playing a block-oriented mining game to get just a little bit of enjoyment out of the mental planning that was going through his mind.

He stopped...

"...I actually have an idea for this... this could work." A smile slowly began to curl on his muzzle once more as he reached his mind over the link that had become so familiar to him, it was second nature to him now. The idle thoughts of just over a hundred drones and exactly ten infiltrators sifted through and merged with his own thoughts... it was kind of like social media, except that it was only your kids talking to you. "Huh... that got weird for a second there..." the changeling king mused as he slowed his pace. His mind worked seemingly on overdrive compared to what he was used to. "I used to struggle just to remember the names of coworkers... now I'm helping my... my Queen... direct an entire hive"

"You're a Royal-Caste changeling Namiro, it's what we do. We plan, we direct and we rule." Patina explained as her mind brushed against his. "You should come to our chambers though... it's gotten rather cold since you left to train. I hope you didn't spend all of your time over there bedding that wolf..."

Namiro sighed a little as he prepared to get into a conversation that he had been having with his Queen for quite some time. "She's a kitsune, and no... I think she's only interested in women and would consider it weird even if I did change into a female... I also am still getting around some of my mental boundaries myself thank you very much."

"Did she at least give you any juicy tips... perhaps supply you with food while you were there?"

Namiro pinched the bridge of his muzzle as he thought back to the training, the emotional cost alone had led him to realize how weak of a connection to The Force other worlds seemed to be, though the crystal he had given to Rin began bringing a better connection to her world with The Force... it was a weak link, like a faucet turned on the lowest setting it could in order to use a steady stream of water to fill a pitcher. The Force had spoken to him though, in a sense, the Midichlorians of his world were multiplying and traveling across the Void to Rin's world, there wasn't enough to truly have a Force Sensitive person yet but only time would tell if Rin would have Force warriors in her employ.

They had shared a completely platonic hug though... one that friends could comfortably say they would do. A lot about the Kitsune managed to unnerve him though, her practice of necromancy being one of the major features. No matter how much those who served her would defend it, the art itself turned his stomach. Even The Force itself nearly shouted in his ear at how much it disliked being used in such a manner. It was not his place to condone or deny though. "There is no emotion, only peace..." The Dark Side required emotions, but as a changeling he didn't naturally have them, The Force only had him simulate having them, it was the will of The Force for him to be full of emotion. "There is no ignorance, only knowledge..." he had made it his personal quest that should he encounter more Displaced, that he would learn why they do as they do, why they use what methods they have. He would no longer remain ignorant of the world. "There is no passion, only serenity..." Rin told him of Displaced that would take their fights to zealous extremes, the Holocron that Nick had given him led to an artifact known as the Genji Gauntlets, a pair of gauntlets that would summon a warrior who's sole purpose was to wage war without death. He would seek out this artifact, he would find this warrior... and he would begin learning once again. "There is no chaos, only harmony..." Balance, balance was everything. Without chaos, order would grow stale and crumble. Without order, chaos would fade to nothing. Without good there would be no evil and vice versa. He was here because a great evil was going to descend onto this land. "There is no death, there is only The Force." Once he finished the mantra of the Jedi Order Namiro took a deep breath. "These five tenets will be the core of my new order..." he pledged quietly in the dimly lit hallway. "With these tenets, this world shall become strong... we will endure, we shall thrive and we will stand together as one." He took a small breath as he looked forward, his eyes began to have a dim green glow as he held up the hilt of his newest saber. It was modeled after the Guardian style of hilt but the changeling chitin from his own body added a more organic curvature to the length of the hilt. "We shall not fall, in the light there is darkness... but within that darkness is yet another light." He grasped the hilt with both hands and used his right thumb to press the button that activated his emerald-green blade with a hiss before it began to emit a pleasing and familiar hum. "For that is how we all are, bound neither to darkness nor light... equal in the eyes of The Force."

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Namiro took a long, shuddered breath as Patina ran her hand along his uncovered chest. "You know... I've been meaning to ask. What kinds of old information have you been polishing in that hive mind of yours?" He chuckled as he ran his own hand through Patina's willow-like mane.

The slightly-smaller changeling Queen let out a small giggle as she nuzzled her lover's bare chest. "I've been uncovering some... interesting bits of information that fell out of practice a while ago due to the risk of some changelings seceding from the hive..."

"Oh?" Namiro asked with curiosity as he gently rubbed his leg between hers and caused her to blush. "What kind of information?"

Patina frowned a bit as she wrapped her legs around Namiro's leg, hugging him close out of comfort. "Well, you know how we... transferred eggs... right...?"

The male changeling blushed as he thought back to the very pleasing interaction between their tails. "Yeah..." he mumbled as he let his fingers on his right hand play with his Queen's mane while his left hand gently stroked her smooth, bare back.

Patina shivered a little as she felt herself instinctually feeding on the love that was practically seeping through the changeling King's skin. "Well... the canal in our tails is apparently a two-way thing for more than just changelings..."

"Yeah, I remember you saying something about how we recycle drones that are injured or are not able to work anymore... I'm pretty sure I have an idea on how that works but..." He quirked a brow as he looked down over the curvaceous form of the large Queen. "It works on more than just changelings?"

Patina nodded, her left index finger traced small circles on Namiro's pecs. "The memory is a bit fuzzy regarding what happens afterward... but the tail like we royals have used to be a common body part among drones and infiltrators as well."

"Why don't they have the tails anymore?"

"A few found out just how flexible it could be... so a few infiltrators experimented when they went out on a harvest... they found that they could engulf ponies just like the royals could with changelings, except that instead of recycling them and laying new eggs... they could absorb their targets, allowing them to shapeshift so perfectly that disguise-detection spells wouldn't pick them up and they would be able to be a perfect double, relationships would still spawn non-changeling offspring and sometimes the drones themselves would learn to adapt pony emotions into their understanding..."

"Let me guess, someone abused that power?" Namiro offered.

"Just the opposite actually." Patina replied. "They found themselves so enamoured with the pony lifestyle that they gave up their old identities as changelings and stopped responding to the hive." She let out a sigh as she rested her muzzle against Namiro's neck. "They told such perfect lies to the ponies that they began to believe the lies themselves, they stopped harvesting for the hive, severed ties to the hivemind, adopted their target's life as their own and were accepted by pony society... with the ponies none the wiser." The Queen hugged her King as close as she could, her entire body shook with barely held-back sobs. "The royals in charge back then knew that there was such a risk in future generations if the infiltrators and drones were to keep the tails, so they changed future eggs... bore the nymphs with a mane-like tail instead of the beautiful ones that we royals have... so that there would not be a risk of our children abandoning the hive again."

Namiro hugged Patina reassuringly as his mind quickly processed what she meant, sifted through the memories she brought forward and began to understand. "Patina..." He started quietly in order to get her to stop crying and turn her attention to his face. "...We can't change the past... we can only learn from it, I promise to help you see this hive grow... these are OUR children now, not just yours alone." He let his chin nuzzle her mane. "We'll show this world once again that Changelings can be a force of good in the world... okay..." A slow nod against his chin was her response. "Good, I've got a few drones clearing out a space that we could use as a new Force Temple, but we'll need to start charging ponies for service, since we'll need to buy certain supplies if we can't find a way to barter for them."

"I actually started talking to the Mayor and Celestia while you were gone... Since we harvest love as a food source, we would be able to be considered a business as long as we kept children away from our place of business."

"That's fine, I'm already planning out how the hive would be situated and am definitely keeping the temple on the opposite side of the hive."

The changeling Queen smiled. "Things are going to get better." She cooed.