Life isn't always a bed of roses...
The day's beginning was beautiful. At least, that was what the unnamed drone who was standing guard by his hive's main entrance thought. He looked over the desert landscape in front of him and smiled, even after everything that's been happening ever since Queen Chrysalis and her swarm of Changelings invaded, he knew he needed to smile and that simply smiling wasn't enough; no, he needed to find reasons to smile. Reasons such as watching a sunrise after spending all night inside the hive.
His smile proved the old saying right, as evidenced by his fellow sentry, a older brother from his mother's cluster who was claimed two years earlier, "You know, that'll be your last sunrise as a free Ling."
The unnamed drone rolled his eyes, making the light on his exo-lenses follow suit, "I don't think it'll be that bad, sure the Changeling nymphs are a little..." He trailed off, trying and failing to choose a word that wouldn't sound like he was against having a Changeling nymph claim him.
"Commanding, bossy, rude and abusive." His brother supplied without any of his fellow drone's attempt at tact and a grin before his smile was replaced with a scowl, "You sure you're not worried about today? The Changeling queen's plans are more than a little... cruel."
Flinching, the unnamed drone turned to his pod-brother and nodded, "Yeah, most of our nymphs don't fully support this and, by extension, most of us drones agree with them. I mean, I can understand her idea; Unclaimed drones for the first wave, Claimed drones for the second and once all of us secure the city, me and the other Unclaimed drones get five minutes to scatter before the nymphs go in and start laying claim. At least she isn't sending in her nymphs before ours are allowed to start."
"Heh, she may be a queen, but even she wouldn't want to face a few scores of angry Shiftling nymphs, even if her Changelings are the more combat capable of our two tribes, ours out number hers three to one." The named drone cracked his neck while chuckling, "Not to mention our tribe's higher nymph count, drone count and home turf advantage. Even if Changeling nymphs have a higher cluster size than us, they'll still have to deal with our Broodmothers."
"Ouch, can you imagine our three Broodmothers going against her!" The unnamed drone whistled as he pictured the scene, "There wouldn't be enough to bury in a matchbook, regardless of who won."
The named sentry shook his head and sighed, "Seriously, are you gonna be okay. Being Claimed by either them or ours isn't going to be something you'll ever forget. She, whoever or whichever she is, is gonna basically corner you, show off more than necessary (especially if you're gonna be her first mate), scare you to death and threaten to kill you, as well as telling you how's she is gonna kill you." The drone shuddered at the memory of his claiming, who knew one nymph could make that much fire? I never want to see her do it ever again!
The unnamed drone frowned at the thought, "Honestly, I'm terrified. Seriously, those Changeling nymphs have no respect for drones, the meanest of our tribe is still way nicer than the nicest of theirs. Hell, most of them don't even give their drones real names, just numbers."
"I have enough trouble trying to understand our nymphs," the named drone laughed a dry, forced laugh. "Changeling nymphs have very nearly zero respect for us or our tribe, they don't address a named drone by his name, insulting him and his nymph, boss other nymph's drones around, further insulting them and their nymph, and several of them were bragging about killing a drone they had tried to claim."
"They're practically animals," the younger drone replied, "sometimes I wonder if we're even from the same species."
"Yeah... Hey, if you want I can ask my Mistress to keep an eye out for you so that you don't get one of those crazy Changeling nymphs."
"You know the rules, no choosing before the queen declares open season on us." The unnamed drone replied, "I'm just gonna have to hope and see how today plays out."
First Ling Law; a drone is obedient to his nymph, protective of his cluster and loyal to the queen of the hive, in that order. He is to carry out his nymph's will without question alongside his cluster-brothers, he must be willing to lay down his life for his cluster-brothers and he shall only go against a queen on the order of his nymph's Broodmother.
The day's end was beautiful, Celestia's sun was shining down on the inhabitants of Equestria with equal parts warmth and light, hardly any clouds were in the skies and what few that were didn't dare try to reduce the sun's gift. Many ponies were heading home, some with the intent to relax with a good book, others were going to bars or parties to celebrate the royal wedding and still others were going from friend to friend to discuss the newest gossip; what happened at the aforementioned royal wedding.
Several rumors had already started by the time a young earth pony mare finally got her cart off of the Friendship Express, having chosen to spend a few bits to rest her aching hooves. Her coat was a shade of pale yellow, she had a two-toned mane of raspberry and lighter raspberry colouration with the colours inverted for her tail, all of which were slightly out of place from the earlier event. She took a deep breath before she started on her way home, the empty flower cart with a full bag of bits hidden away inside rattling behind her.
As the mare walked through the streets of her hometown, she politely returned the smiles and waves her neighbours gave her, all while thanking a certain princess none of them were asking her about the wedding. She smiled at the knowledge that everypony was too busy gossiping about the wedding to remember that she had gone to it, which made her smile as she was hoping to put the memories of the day far, far behind her.
As she approached the town hall, her peace was disturbed by one of her more eccentricfriends, "-and I said 'No its mine!' right before the weird shield/fix it spell hit us and Minuette slapped me and ran off with it! Thankfully, she didn't put too much force into it, so I don't have to explain to Bon Bon why I have a bruise. Anyway, me and Twinkleshine chased her, but when we caught up, Princess Mi Amore threw the bouquet for real! I almost got it, but Rarity beat me to it."
Roseluck sighed as she passed the group of mares, she couldn't believe how some ponies were reacting to this. Canterlot was nearly taken over by a race of shapeshifting parasite bug ponies and yet Lyra was still acting the same. Or maybe that isn't Lyra, but a Changeling!
She giggled at the thought once she was sure she was out of earshot, although her day had been hectic, the small smile she got then made it better. After several minutes of walking, she eventually got home and pulled her cart around the back, she removed her pay before she locked the cart in the shed that was used as her garage that doubled as storage for the excess of gardening tools.
With the bag of bits hanging from her neck jingling with every step, she turned towards and entered the house she lived in with her two roommates. Entering the kitchen, she called out, "Lily, Daisy? I'm home."
She looked around, the kitchen was spotless, one of the perks of living with a neat freak. Roseluck placed the bitbag in one of the cabinets before she went into the dining room, where she found a note that informed her that her two friends left to watch the fireworks, the house was clean and a certain mare's desire to keep it that way. "What does Daisy think I'm going to do, trash the place?" Roseluck muttered, rolling her eyes as she threw the note away, "Speaking of clean, I need a bath."
After a short trip up the stairs, down the hallway and through her room, Roseluck entered her bathroom. A small and simple affair, a counter with a sink, a vase full of flowers and a medicine cabinet/mirror to the left, a toilet and small window to the right and the bathtub was straight ahead. The walls were coloured in vertical stripes of red and pink with the occasional decorative rose made out of plaster.
After Roseluck had shut and locked the bathroom door, a habit she had since foalhood. She placed the plug into the drain, turned the hot water faucet to full and patiently watched the room slowly fill with steam. Once the water was a quarter of the way up, she grabbed a bag of bath salts from under the sink and added a liberal amount to soothe the stressful day away. The pleasing scent of lilac filled the room, an almost tangible feeling of calm came over Roseluck as she waited.
She looked behind her, watching as the monster gained on her, her eyes widen as she turned back to the more important half of running from something; where you are heading. Ponies instinctively knew that it's always more important to know what's ahead of you than what's behind you, although curiosity wasn't gifted to all species equally, ponies received just enough to have one of worst questions ever asked built-in.
The question in question being; how far away is the thing behind me that is currently trying to kill me? Not the wisest of questions for good reason (curiosity didn't kill the cat, wondering how close the dog was on the other hoof...), its answer is usually how long you have left to pray for a miracle. Although Roseluck did break the rules of survival a few seconds later again, she didn't pay too dearly for it-
-tripping onto a mattress that somepony had left outside, possibly in the process of replacing one, wasn't too harsh considering the hard sidewalk underneath. Before she could pick herself up, Roseluck felt the Changeling jump on top of her and flip her onto her back, pinning her with its wings buzzing to add additional force. She struggled as the Changeling sneered, several horrifying, traitorous thoughts flew through her mind which prompted her to try and cross her legs.
The Changeling suddenly stopped sneering as he took a look at the two of them and their position, looking back at the pony pinned beneath him with a disgusted grimace.
"What!? It's a legitimate fear!" Roseluck yelled in her defense, her anger overriding her fear. The Changeling shook his head and spat off to the side, "Hey, we're being invaded by you love eating, foalnapping monsters, is it so wrong for a mare to be scared of that!"
Before the Changeling could display his disgust again, a crash was heard above the two. Both of them looked up at a flower-planter that a pegasus had rammed into in a similar manner that Roseluck had went through moments ago, only with a wooden box full of dirt between the pony's head and a brick wall. The Changeling hissed at the pegasus' pursuer, as if telling its brethren off. Although the Changeling didn't notice it immediately, Roseluck watched as flower petals fell onto the two of them, triggering more than a few thoughts and feelings the Changeling couldn't help but sense.
The Changeling's rant slowly tapered off as he basically got much more than her gist, he glacially turned towards the mare beneath him, his expression was an absolutely perfect poker face. Roseluck blushed before the Changeling flew a few feet away, where he proceeded to attempt emptying his stomach, "Oh come on, that's insulting and overreacting!"
Before the Changeling could evict the foul emotions in his stomach, a wall of pink slammed into his face and sent him flying. Roseluck sighed before she suddenly came to a conclusion, "Wait, was he was about to vomit because of me? I don't know whether I should I feel insulted or thankful."
Roseluck broke out of her reminiscing as the overflow drain started making its noise, she turned the water off and got in, releasing a sigh as the hot bathwater and bath salts did their work. She laid on her back, idly splashing a hoof in the water as she relaxed, pushing the frightful, and strange, memory aside in favour of getting clean.
After about a half hour of soaking and not thinking, she eventually had to get out before her hooves started pruning. Once she had finished drying off and she was feeling more refreshed, Roseluck went outside and walked over to her greenhouse, as part of a routine she had established several years ago. Opening the door, she took a deep breath and smiled, the scent of growing flowers familiar and more calming than bath salts to her.
The greenhouse wasn't too large, it was a freestanding even span structure in the southernmost part of the back yard, twelve feet wide by thirty feet long with a wooden frame and glass windows. In it were two rows of two feet wide and just as high tables that ran nearly the length of the building next to the walls and a center table that was five feet wide and of the same height the the ones by the walls, all of them were covered in potted plants of the flowering variety. In the back was a wall that was covered with gardening tools as well as a water faucet with a garden hose attached.
Daisy, Lily and Roseluck were proud of their nursery, many different flowers were cultivated under its roof, much more than the three they were named for in fact, although Roseluck had more than her fair share of roses growing. Classic reds, gentle pinks, friendly yellows, pure whites, enchanting lavenders, passionate orange; really, her only missing rose colour was black, a colour she was glad to not have among her repertoire. Well, that and a Rainbow Rose, but few have ever seen one, let alone being able to grow the extremely rare and magical breed.
With a little hum, Roseluck walked towards the back and grabbed a full watering can. She walked over to the left side of the greenhouse and poured some of the life giving liquid onto the first plant in line. She continued this for a while, humming as she worked until she stopped, staring at one of her roses or, more accurately, something on one of her roses.
Sighing in relaxation, a drone laid on the wonderfully soft bed he had. He didn't know why he was on a bed or where he was, but he was more than willing to ignore that in favour of enjoying the practically forbidden comfort. Alas, his mind eventually started telling him to get up and go to work, something his body was feebly denying.
The drone opened his eyes slowly, as if he did it slow enough than he could go back to the blissful embrace of sleep. He yawned as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and stretched. Smacking his lips for a moment, he looked down at the red sheets of his bed, jumbled, crumpled and heavily perfumed. He smiled as he reached down to stroke the sheets, only to rip it.
Oops. He sheepishly thought. Just as he was about to turn away from it, he noticed something off, What the...
Some investigation revealed he was either A) on the weirdest bed ever made by ponykind or B), on a breed of giant flower, which could only be found in one forest in Equestria. The drone looked at the flower under him, trying to recall all that he had learned about it, which wasn't an impressive amount. Supposedly, the flower was big enough for a pegasus to lay down on and stank of rotting flesh to attract insects.
Well, I'm definitely small enough but... this dang thing smells good! The drone smiled as he smelled it again, I don't even care if this is speciest, to me it smells like roses.
Shaking his head, the drone stood up and froze. Okay, now I'm confused.
A few dozen meters in front of him was another of the giant flowers, on a massive stem that went counter to what little he did know about the giant flower. It was almost as if, that's a rose... annnnnd... this is a rose... and I don't think giant roses that grow in the everfree do so in pots...
The drone slowly looked over to his right and stared at a incredibly huge glass wall.
But what he saw in the reflection, almost brought him to his knees.
Author's Note
So, it begins...
Feel free to start the speculation!
but sometimes you can find something interesting...
The drone rolled to his right, falling off of the rose just as a butterfly net, which was as big if not bigger than some commercial fishing nets, came down. His mind raced as he drew closer and closer to the wooden landscape below him; questions, comments and sheer denial all filled his brain for several partial seconds.
None of it was helping. After coming to a conclusion, for the fifth time, he had spent almost all of his time except for the last second, which was when he opened his wings and flew away from the pony and her net.
Roseluck frowned as she removed the butterfly net from the rose, she knew that the there was a chance that the drone might get away from her sneak attack, but she also knew that there was no chance of escape for it either...
Until she remembered that it had to have got in somehow.
With a groan of annoyance, she went off with the handle of the net in hoof. The drone watched from behind a table leg as the huge pillars that were her legs approached, tremors shook the floor with her very steps while the sight of that much weight moving as effortlessly as it did frightened him.
Okay, my stomach hurts, I'm in some kind of well kept glass house with an admittedly beautiful bunch of flowers growing in it, there's a mare who I've had prior contact with and I've been shrunk somehow, possibly, but not likely, because of her, he thought, I need a way out, now. After a few seconds of planning, he ducked behind the leg and cast a few spells on himself.
Roseluck kept her eyes moving as she tried to find the drone, scanning for the smallest hint of his dark coloured hide. She looked under a table and was about to move on when she remembered something and thought, They can stick to the walls and ceilings.
She looked up, mentally adding the undersides of the tables to her search. As she was looking up, the drone cleared his throat and addressed her... from across the room, "Watcha looking for~?"
Roseluck jumped, whacking her head before she backed out from under the table, nursing a small bump, "Who's there?"
The drone bit down on his hoof, mindful of his fangs, in an attempt to keep his snicker under control. "Me," He said from the back of the greenhouse, "the drone that you tried to catch. Which reminds me, why were you using a butterfly net?"
"So you guys can do more than hiss, that's good to know." Roseluck commented dryly before she walked over to the back, looking at the wall and the tools that leaned against it, "Well, I heard that if something has wings and flies, a butterfly net can catch it. Why isn't your voice all, you know, high and squeaky, or buzzy?"
The drone paused mid-step and glanced back at the mare who was searching around the other side of the building, "...that is, quite possibly, the dumbest thing I've ever heard." He deadpanned, "What about my magic, or The Laws forbid if a Alicorn or dragon was in my place, I doubt they make fireproof butterfly nets.As for my voice, all of my kind are masters of controlling our voices, so no buzzy, squeaky voice. How did I get here, why am I so small or, even better, why are you trying to catch me?"
"I... didn't think about that." Roseluck chuckled sheepishly as she checked under the garden hose, "I don't know how you got in here, or what happened to make you so small, so I'll just chalk it up to currently unexplainable circumstances. So, you all can control your voices, that sounds useful."
She's dodging the most important question. The drone thought as he approached the door and felt an urge to give up at the size of it; the door appearing as an almost insurmountable obstacle.Shaking himself out of it, he looked up at the door knob and sighed before he replied from behind a spade, "Very useful. So why are you trying to catch me?"
"Would you have just sat there and talked to me if I didn't restrain you?" She frowned as she moved a few gardening tools to the side, "You would've screamed and ran off anyway, only I wouldn't have a chance to talk to you."
Curious, but what else is under it? "You're forgetting something," The drone told her as he started to enact his plan by flying up to observe the door knob, "Denial, I could've called you a figment of my subconscious and be asking Princess Luna why a giant version of the mare I chased down is stomping around in my dreams." I'd probably even bite you if I thought this was a dream, good thing I'm a realist. Who's currently in Equestria... damn.
Roseluck blinked a few times as she processed everything the drone had said and resisted the urge to facehoof, "You're that Changeling from Canterlot, the one that chased me before you tried to throw up."
The drone sputtered for a second before replying indignantly, "Okay one, I'm not a Changeling, they belong to a different tribe and two, I was unsuccessful and I feel like I was gut-checked by an overzealous minotaur." He told her as he rubbed his stomach He sighed as he prepared to fly down the the ground and look for another way out.
Only for the net to come down around him and the doorknob, trapping him.
The drone watched as the mare leaned in to observe him with a gentle smile as he pressed himself against the door and stood upon his hind legs on the doorknob in an attempt to gain as much distance as possible.
"I just want to talk a little," Roseluck gently told him as she sat down, holding the net in place, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want some answers."
Meanwhile, down on the ground to the side of the door, a smile crept onto the face of the drone as he watched his illusion perform a rather convincing deer on the railroad tracks impersonation. Light flowed around him, rendering him nearly invisible as he sat, mentally wishing for a bucket of popcorn. And everyling say transformation magic is the fun kind.
"W-what are you g-going to d-do with me?" His illusion asked as it started stealthily, but not too stealthily, looking for an escape.
Roseluck tapped her unoccupied hoof to her chin and looked skyward, "I'm just going to ask some questions and let you go, is" The drone rapidly nodded, prompting Roseluck to ask, "What are you?"
"W-what?" Gotta be careful with that stutter, "I-I'm a Shiftling. We're a d-different tribe t-than Changelings." The illusion replied as he started inching (milli-inching?) to the side.
"Ah ah ah." Roseluck warned him with a few wags of her hoof, "I'm not done yet. What makes a Shiftling different from a Changeling?"
Gotta keep a few aces in the hole, "We're similar in a-appearance but vastly d-different in biology and magic. W-we can only take emotions from an area, not individuals." He replied, before a thought came to mind, which reminds me...
The drone cast a spell on himself, the light from it being covered by his previous spell prevented any unwanted attention, but to him it was as if his magic flowed from his horn like water until it reached his eyes, where it started pooling. Giving a few blinks, the Shiftling drone smiled as his environment changed and the atmosphere itself was awashed in colours.
He looked from the mare and his illusion, both of whom were distinct opposites. Whereas his illusion resembled a pool of water whirling and swirling, without a single drop of magical energy leaking, the mare looked as if she was a violent beach, with her emotions, something his illusion lacked, and magic crashing and pouring out of her like a bottle of water being shaken. Upside down. From my point of view, it's like an entire lake's worth.
The drone turned to examine the greenhouse, noting the abundance of emotions that would fuel his magic at his current size for years, decades even. Ignoring the mouth-watering buffet around him, the drone turned back to the mare and started sorting her earth pony magic from her emotions, so as to better gauge her.
"Huh, that's rather interesting." Roseluck noted as she looked around the growing plants, the fond memories of all the hours spent inside bringing a smile to her face as she turned back to the drone, "So, somewhere like this would pretty much set you up for life?"
"N-no, althrough, if I had to guess..." With a few seconds of appraisal, the drone had his estimate, "maybe three or four years at my... normal size, and that's without taxes."
Roseluck tilted her head, wondering how somepony could tax love. The drone kept looking around, clearly nervous and scared, something that Roseluck didn't miss, I don't want him to have a heart attack and I did tell him I would let him go after a few questions.
With a small smile, she pulled the net away from the drone and placed it on the ground, causing both the invisible drone and his illusion to simply stare at her as she asked, "Is that any better?"
The illusion looked around, as if searching for a sneak attack, while the drone just watched Roseluck's magic and emotions; calm and curious. Neither indicated any kind of deceit or ill will, there was no angry lashing magic to warn him of an attack, nor any corrupt or perverse feelings in her, just curiosity.
Roseluck watched as the drone nodded, albeit a little bit shaky, and looked around. When the drone's eyes met hers, he asked, "W-why? You had me right where you wanted me... why did you just..."
As the drone trailed off, Roseluck frowned. True, he could've used his magic to escape but why didn't he, was it his fear making him not think straight, not even five minutes after telling her about it or was it something else. Either way, she decided that she needed to calm him down, "I just wanted some answers, scaring you wasn't going to convince you to give them."
The drone looked at the mare, he could see the suspicion rolling around, blending with her curiosity. He knew she wasn't dim by any means. If he wasn't as careful as he can be, he could be caught, which would end with... he didn't know, but he knew he didn't want to know.
"Th-thank you."
"You're welcomed... So, you guys have manners too?" Roseluck giggled as the drone glared at her, the sight of the few inches tall Shiftling being serious proved to be a amusing break in her questions, a welcomed one provided it seemed he wasn't being so intimidated by her, "Relax, I'm just teasing."
.
The drone rolled his eyes before idly looking at his hoof, watching as the positive emotions flowed into the holes of his leg and filled him. Another difference between us and them, He thought. Breaking out of his pondering, he looked back at the mare in front of him.
"How did you know about Changelings?"
Roseluck smiled, happy that the drone was calm enough to ask her something, even if he was still standing on the doorknob.
A Royal Guard ran past, screaming her helmeted head off, "Run for the hills!"
Another one following her, shouted at his partner, "We're on a mountain Dodo, now get back here!"
Dodo didn't even slow down as she ran around a corner, "Run for the valleys, love eating, foalnapping Changelings are invading!"
Roseluck chuckled before she replied, trying to keep from insulting the cowardly guard and her partner, "I guess the princess told some of the guards on her way to object."
The drone simply deadpanned, "I saw them too, remember?"
The drones landed in the middle of the street, just as the aforementioned guards turned the corner.
"Changelings!" Dodo yelled as she performed an impressive hairpin turn and ran back around the corner, only to crash into her partner.
The unclaimed drones shared a few glances before they heard their bachelor cluster leader hiss at the unclaimed drones in code, "Shiftlings are to go after the civilians, bite only if necessary, if the guards want Changelings then the guards can deal with the Changelings and their spit."
Everyling nodded, the comforting presence of order and purpose giving them the drive needed for their coming battles.
"-and I ran around the corner, saw you and off we went." The drone finished giving his brief side of the invasion, Roseluck nervously laughing at his recount of the two guards and the memory of their compromising position from the crash before a question popped up.
"So Changelings have that weird spit stuff, how come you guys don't have that?" She asked.
"Biology," The drone replied, "We just don't have the magic-manipulating organs needed to turn emotions into that thousand and one uses spit that they got." Although our bite on the other hoof...
The illusion looked around, simply trying to avoid looking at the elephant in the room, with said elephant being a massive mare whose eyes were larger than him, "Is there anything else you want to ask, or may I go now?"
Roseluck sighed, sure she had more questions, but she did tell him she would let him go. After a moment of thought, she narrowed her last question down to only four, "Do you think you can get home alright?"
...fuck, The drone thought, how could I overlook that?
Roseluck, without noticing the drone in thought, asked, "What's Queen Chrysalis like?"
The drone only had one thought on the matter of the Changeling queen, Bitchy.
"Why did you try to throw up?" Roseluck asked, although she really rather not know just what the drone knew.
The drone shuddered, understanding the plight of Shiftling extractors that stumbled upon similar scenarios, Emotional Sight plus filling up off of emotions that just shouldn't be felt in a certain situation can be rather disturbing when you can get impressions on where those feelings came from.
"And I'm sorry for not asking this sooner but, what's your name?" The drone frowned at the last question, but before he could even think of anything, Roseluck continued, "Sorry, I should try this again. Hi, my name is Roseluck, what's yours?"
Author's Note
Well, here's chapter two, I hope you all enjoyed and tell me your opinions on Roseluck. Personally, I'd think anyone would be asking questions about something like a strange unknown race that just invaded your capital.
Speculations should continue, just because the characters don't know something, doesn't mean I don't.
