[We Will Live On] Chapter: 2

We Will Live On

By: Michael Abell

Far away from the Celestia and Canterlot, Aurora, the tiny changeling princess, slowly emerged from sleep’s grasp. The first thing that became known to her was the horrible smell. It permeated the air and stank horribly, making her physically wince awake. Aurora blinked, thinking (and praying) she had only experienced a terrible nightmare—that what had happened yesterday, was only a bad dream. But as the smell continued to penetrate her nostrils, and she noticed where she currently lay, that was seeming less and less a possibility. Slowly, Aurora rolled onto her hooves and began to squeeze back through the entrance to her secret hiding place (which was a small, eroded cavern behind the Queen’s bedroom). But to her surprise, there was something blocking her path. With all of her strength, she pushed at the barrier, which eventually gave. As she began squeeze through the tiny opening she had created, she quickly realized that the blockage was broken bits of heavy, charred stone and mortar. Deciding to not focus on her realization, Aurora squeezed her body even more and made her way through the entrance.

        Stepping out, the young changeling almost fainted in complete shock at what she saw. The living quarters she had grown up in, spent her entire childhood in...her mom’s room, was completely destroyed. If it weren’t for the fact that this room was the only one connected to her hiding-spot, she wouldn’t have even been able to recognise it. Every piece of furniture was just… gone, and in their place were piles of ash. Random bits of metal and jewel were sprawled around the room, some sticking out of the ash, and some even embedded into the walls. Rocks that had fallen free from the ceiling were also laid around the room, making the once grand bedchamber look like nothing more than a simple cave. The whole room smelt of ozone and ash, along with whatever the horrible stench was that still filled the air. Aurora slowly trotted into the room, leaving hoofprints in the ash. She stopped, mouth agape, when she saw the shadowy outline of a changeling imprinted into the floor. The outlying would've remained unnoticed, if not for small, royal pendant that each of the royal servants wore in the center of the outline.

Aurora’s eyes began to water as she collapsed onto the scorched outline of the servant.

"Run!"

She could almost hear the servant say as blood poured from her mouth. That image replayed in the little changeling’s mind over and over again as she cried and shaked. It seemed like hours before she could collect herself enough to get onto her hooves. She picked up the blackened pendant and put it’s once silver chain around her neck. With one more sniffle, she walked out of the blown-back doors of the room.

The hallway greeted to the sight of dozens of dead changelings sprawled down the hallway. Each of them held marks of plasma damage, sword marks, or another battle wound. Their green blood leaked from the wounds, and was coating the floor of the hall almost completely green. The walls of the hall held many scorch marks and large cracks. Aurora looked on in disgust, her heart falling at the sight of her fellow Changelings. She walked forward, her hooves sticking slightly in the almost dry blood. She held back the bile that threatened to escape her throat.

The small changeling moved as fast as she could out of the hallway of death, the smell of the dead slowly filling the air. As she exited the hall, she skidded to a halt as she gazed into the throne room. The once grand carvings of the past queens were defiled and destroyed. Some showl damage of magical grenade damage, and others were simply destroyed due to countless plasma bolts. More dead lay on the ground, but not half as much that lay in the hall she had just passed. It was now she noticed the blood that covered her hooves, and she finally couldn’t hold back the bile in her throat.

She heaved as her stomach rejected its contents onto the floor. She continued to heave until nothing else would come back out. Even then, she dry-heaved until her throat hurt. She wiped her mouth with her shoulder and shook as she stared at her hooves. She was young, but she was smart enough to know what happened. In a state of panic, she did the only thing she could think of: scream for her mother.

“Momma!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, the throne room echoing her small cry. “I need you, Momma! Please! I need you!” She shook, curling up into a ball.

Everywhere she looked there was death. She couldn't sense her mother. She felt so alone. In her desperation, she tried to connect to the hive mind. Being young and her brain not being developed enough to handle the hive mind, she had been forbidden to connecting to it until she was more mature, as connecting now could possibly cause permanent psychological damage. But she didn’t care about that now, she needed to know she wasn’t alone, she needed to know what happened, and, most importantly, she needed her mother.

Aurora’s horn developed in a sickly green glow as she tried to connect to the mental link that all changeling’s shared. She did not need to be taught how to do this, as it was an instinct. She could feel herself connect and prepared herself for the surge of voices. But she heard none. No voices called out. Not voiced talked. There was just…silence. Aurora began to panic and mentally screamed out, “Momma!” She waited for a response, but not came. The silence cut into her like a knife, tearing apart her heart and soul.

She disconnected from the hive mind and began to bawl her eyes out again, shaking like crazy. She felt so alone, scared, and helpless. Her glossy wings chirped unintentionally as the pupa wept. Her sad song of her loss echoed throughout the entire hive, resonating off the walls, reaching every corner of the once densely populated hive.

The young princesses song continued, it's depressing tone continuing until Aurora could collect herself enough to stop crying. She turned onto her side and sniffles, wiping her eyes as best she could with her shoulder. The soft sounds of chirping still echo throughout the cavern… but Aurora couldn't feel her wings buzzing. The young princess's ears flicked up, scoping out for the source of the foreign sound. She sat up, her head rotating back to check on her wings. They were, in fact, flat against her back. Aurora looked at her wings curiously for a second… then her eyes went wide.

She scrambled to her hooves, running around in circles. Her ears perked up, and after some guessing and exploration, she finally though that she found the direction of the chirping. On tiny legs, the hopeful princess ran down one of the branching hallways, her once tired eyes now filled with hope.

The sound got louder as she seemed to get closer, but also softer, as if its origin was growing weaker. She ran faster, her hooves scrambling as she followed the sound. Finally, the young princess skidded to a stop in the middle of a large, circular room. The walls of this room were much like that of the rest of the hive, cracked and damaged from the previous slaughter. The sound resonated deep within Aurora’s ears, the source having to come from this room.

The pupa let out a chirp of her own, and soon after its twin that had let her here stopped as well. The young princess began to panic as the silence continued… Until she heard a soft, weak call, “Help…”

The pupa’s eyes went wide, her head turning from side to side, before falling upon a fallen chunk of cave wall. She let out another chirp.

“H-help…” The voice called out again.

Aurora’s hooves scrambled to find purchase as jetted towards the chunk of wall, jumping on top of it and scampering up and over it. As she jumped down and onto the other side, the little changeling let out a squeak of excitement as she peered into the eyes of another, alive changeling.

A mid-aged female drone lay on her side, a small puddle of green blood pooled underneath her. A large chunk of the toppled wall lay on top of her, covering her hind legs and most of her midsection, but her eyes shined with hope as she looked upon the young changeling.

“Hey, little one,” the Drone spoke, her voice soft and caring, but also forced. “What is your name?”

Aurora let out a squeal, jumping up and down with excitement.

The drone chuckled, a smile forming on her lips at the adorable display. She turned and frowned at the chunk of earth that pinned her down. “I don't supposed you could help me, could you?”

Aurora was unsure, looking at the rocks that covered her new friend, but she nodded anyways, wanting to at least try. The young princess closed her eyes, focusing her magic in the rock entrapping her new friend. Her horn glowed, the rock soon after shined with the same hue. Sweat poured down her forehead as she concentrated as hard as she could, and soon the rock slowly began to lift.

The female's eyes went wide at this, beyond surprised that the pupa was actually lifting her stone prison, but knocked herself out of her stupor, and began to scramble to try and get free. Inch by inch, the stone rose, and soon it was high enough for the drone to scramble out from underneath, crawling out just in time as the young princess couldn't hold it anymore, her magic dissipating as she feel tired on the floor, the rock slamming back down with a loud crash.

The now freed drone panted, laying down and relishing in her freedom, before trying to get up onto her hooves. Shakily, she got up, her back hooves hurting, but definitely not broken. She then turned to the tired pupa, who was panting on her side.

“Wow… You are one strong Pupa,” the drone muttered, limping over to the tired changeling, plopping down next to her. She then began to run her holed hoof through her tiny saviors mane. Aurora purred, shuffling closer.

The drone smiled. “Well, little one, it seems that I owe you my life,” she began, before tilting her head. “I wonder who’s child you are. I don't remember having you in any of my classes.”

The drone was actually the hive’s school teacher, Soft Wing, the room that the two now lay being her classroom. She looked down at the small pupa that purred in her lap, a frown soon forming on her lips as the situation soon began to kick in. She turned her gaze up to her once grand classroom, now crumbled and destroyed. The memory of how her world changed forever was burned into her memory. The screams, the cries of pain, the shouts of anger all could still be heard in the depths of her mind. She shuddered, pushing those memories away while she took care of the pupa in her hooves. She needed to be strong for this child, be an anchor for her forever changed world. There would always be time to cry later.

Soft Wing tried to connect to the hive mind, and again found it again to be empty. That meant one of two things: that the queen was dead, or unable to maintain the connection. She disconnected, sending a soft prayer to her queen, then returned her connection to the child in her hooves.

“Hey, little one?” she spoke softly, gently nudging her awake with her muzzle. “Can you tell me your name?”

Aurora yawned, letting out a soft squeak as she stretched her back, looking up expectantly at her new friend. “I am Aurora!” she giggled expectantly, then frowned. “Have you seen momma?”

Soft Wing bit her lip, sucking in a nervous breath. “I… I don’t believe so, Aurora. Can you tell me your mother’s name?”

She giggled. “Oh, silly me! My momma is Chryssie! She said she was gonna go and fix things and… and then she didn’t come back.” She dipped her head. “Then the bad ponies came and… and then Nanny told me to run and…” Tears began to run down the little changeling’s face as she looked up at the teacher. “Why is everyling dead?”

 The teacher froze, staring down in shock at the pupa, no, princess in her hooves. She had known that Queen Chrysalis had a daughter, but she had not known her name. Chrysalis had kept her pretty locked away, highly protected and isolated. This had probably been the reason why she had never had her in her class. But, that was not the only thing that shocked her. She stammered to try and think of a censored version of what happened, but came up with nothing.

Aurora watched as her friend seemed to contemplate an answer, and stood up to look as authorative as her mother. “I know that I am young, but mommy says that I am mature for my age. She said to make sure that everyling tells me exactly the truth, because… because, ‘one cannot rule under a throne of ignorance.’”

Soft Wings sighs, shaking her head. “Yes, your mother is right, my princess. We… I don’t know what happened. For some reason the ponies attacked and… and they hurt a lot of us. I don’t know why, but I do know that there is not a lot of us left.”

The tiny princess frowns. “Does that mean that mommy is gone?”

The teacher shakes her head. “I don’t know, princess… I don’t know.”

Aurora lets a few tears fall, and snuggles into her new friends lap, who immediately returns the hug, holding her close and protectively. “Don’t worry, child… everything will be… alright…”

The two had stayed there for a while, the teacher holding back her fear and sorrow to allow the tiny princess in her lap to let out hers. After all of the tears had been shed, and the princess could not cry anymore, and had been able to compose herself, Soft Wing had decided to search the hive and see if anyling else had survived. The teacher did not want to bring the young changeling along, wanting to keep her as far away from the death as possible, but also did not want to leave her alone, nor did she want to be alone. She was stuck between two horrible alternatives, and had finally given in to bring her princess along.

The two trotted through the destroyed hallways of their hive, Aurora resting on the teacher’s back and chirping her wings periodically, hoping to hear a response. Room by room they traveled, finding only death and destruction. More than once the two had to stop to deal with the situation at hoof, holding back waves of nausea or fits of tears. It was a lot to take in, to search for life within these dead hallways. Aurora took it well, far better than anyling her age should be able to, while Soft Wing… well, she held it all back to deal at a later time.

Finally, after almost giving up hope, they hear a sound that made their body’s fill with hope. A soft, desperate chirp sounded through the halls, responding to the princesses desperate call. With renewed purpose, the teacher and princess ran towards the direction of the cry for help, and eventually found its source.

A bloody soldier drone limped forwards, his body scarred and slightly charred, once glistening armor stained with shadowy marks of battle. He stared back at the two other changelings in front of him, a soft smile gracing his broken body. “Are you two alright?” he asked, his voice gruff and forced, his attempts in hiding his pain useless as it all could be heard through his voice.  He took a step forwards, before his hooves buckled underneath him and he fell onto his side, hissing out a cry of pain.

Soft Wing gasped at the soldier, placing Aurora on the ground besides her as she ran forwards. “On my Hive, you are hurt!” She cried, looking over the soldiers wounds. She then turned to Aurora. “Princess, can you run back to the infirmary that we passed a little while back and grab one of the first aid kits?”

The tiny changeling nodded, turning around and running as fast as she could towards her destination.

The soldier coughed, turning his head towards the teacher. “Did you just say… princess?” he spoke in shock, before breaking out into another fit of coughs.

Soft Wing glided to the falling guardian’s side, taking out his battle scarred armor. “Yes, our Queen’s daughter survived the… attack, it seems.” She shakes her head. “Poor child is too young to be dealing with this.”

“Yes, but it is good to know that she did. It gives me hope for our survival.”

Soft Wing shakes her head again, finally removing the soldier's helmet and begun doing as much fist aid that she could. She was a teacher, and had been trained to be able to handle most injuries. Not to this extent, but enough to make a difference. “But what did happen? Why did the ponies attack us? Speaking of which, how did they know where we were?”

“They attacked us because we attacked them,” he spoke, his words losing confidence. “You know that our hive was dying, right?”

The teacher nodded, her face filled with sadness. She and all of the rest of the hive knew that. She nodded. “So… she attacked the ponies to save us?”

The soldier nodded. “That is what they said in the briefing, at least. I was supposed to go and join the assault, but was eventually assigned to remain here in case… well, this happened.” His gaze fell, fear and terror filling his face. “They were better than us. Stronger than us. They came quick and fast, assaulting like a force I have never seen before. I tried to fight back, like everyling else, but… they were too strong.”

Sounds of tiny hooves clattering along the hallway signaled the return of their young princess. The teacher turning her head, and could not help but chuckle at the sight of Aurora carrying an oversized medical bag in her muzzle. The princess spat it out at the teacher’s hooves. “I found it!”

Soft Wing smiled and rubbed the Pupa’s mane with a hoof. “Good job, my princess,” she spoke, before opening the bag and using it’s contents to properly treat the wounded soldier.

Aurora smiled at being helpful, and trotted over to face the soldier. Her smile faded as she saw how rough he looked, his body covered in scars and wounds. “Does it hurt?” she asks.

The soldier smiles at the young changeling. “A little, but I’ll be fine.”

Aurora smiled a little bit. “What is your name?”

“Drone 924-343.”

She giggled. “No, not that, your real name.”

The soldier cocks an eyebrow. “That is my real name. All soldier drones are named like such.”

Aurora frowns. “That’s not a good name.” She pauses to think. “I think I’ll call you… Strong.”

He tilts his head. “Why Strong?”

She smiles. “Because! Only someling strong could even walk as hurt as you were.”

He smiles at the compliment, but then frowns. “I appreciate the compliment, princess, but I don’t think I deserve such an honor. If I was stronger than I could’ve saved more…”

“More?!” the teacher cries out, stopping her work. “Do you mean that there are more?”

He nods. “Yes. I was sent out to try and find more survivors. The rest are held up in Chamber: C.”

“How many?” the teacher asks, her eyes practically gleaming at the revelation.

        “About a dozen or so when I left. A few soldiers that survived and the General. The rest are just normal changelings that were lucky enough to either hide or just survive.”

        “After we get you patched up we are heading there. If anything it’ll make me feel better that we aren’t the only ones left.”

After Soft Wing had binded up Strong well enough that he could be transported, the tree changelings embarked on their journey to meet up with what remained of the hive. Soft Wing helped Strong along, letting him lean on her for support, while Aurora trotted along besides the two, medical bag held between her teeth. It wasn’t that much of a walk to Chamber: C, which was actually a currently unused part of the hive that had been abandoned due to lack of resources. It was originally supposed to be a grand expansion to the already enormous hive, but due to the Hunger, the project had to be abandoned.

As the tree approached the large hallway to the unfinished section, they were stopped by a single sentry that stood in front of the entrance. He was pretty banged up, showing that he had not survived the attack unscathed, but not as bad as Strong. The drone instantly recognized Strong, and rushed over to aid his fellow soldier, taking his weight from the teacher and helping him into the chamber. Aurora followed close after the teacher, not being used to new changelings.

The hallway lead to a large open room, the walls roughly carved with unfinished stonework. About a dozen changelings lay around the chamber in varying condition. Some looked like they had barely suffered a scratch, while others were missing limbs. A few soldiers were amongst the worst of the injured, and those who weren’t were currently tending to whoever needed aid, which was everyling. The three followed as the sentry that was guarding the opening lead Strong to the makeshift infirmary, which was a pile of blankets and scattered medical supplies. The sentry helped Strong onto one of these piles, before turning to Soft Wing and Aurora.

“Okay, you two. Follow me so we can have you check in with the General. He’ll be wanting to know that you’ve arrived,” the changeling said, turning around and motioning for the duo to follow.

The two complied, following the sentry to the General. General Ghost Step was the hive’s highest ranked general, second only to the Queen herself. He was slightly smaller than the average changeling, contrary to his skill and status. He had a light blue mane, and was easily distinguished by the large scar that ran over his left eye. The changeling in question currently stood in the middle of the cavern, trying to direct the survivors and keep some sense of order.

The sentry walked up to him, making his presence known before saluting the General. “General, we have two new survivors.”

The general turned to the sentry, saluting back. The sentry nodded, turning away and trotting back to resume his duty. Ghost Step trotted up too the two, and smiled when he noticed Aurora. “It is good to know that you survived, dear princess. I was beginning to fear the worst.”

Aurora smiled and waved to the general. “Hi, uncle Ghosty!”

The hardened general let out a quick laugh, shaking his head. “You truly are the definition of innocence, Princess.” He then turns to Soft Wing. “I believe it was you who found our dear princess?”

She shakes her head. “No, it was her who found me. If not for her then I’d probably still be stuck under a pile of wall.”

The general shakes his head. “The exact reason why I am sending so many to go out and try and rescue. Who knows how many are trapped like how you were, hoping for rescue.”

“Uncle, is momma okay?”

“I don’t know, little one. But, I do know that she would be proud of you for how brave you have been.” He pats her head, then sighs. “Aurora… I need you to do something for me?”

The little princess tilts her head. “What, uncle?”

“I… I need you to try to restart the hivemind. Only one of the royalty can start and continue the connection. I need you to try and do this so that we can try and contact all who are still with us. Please, Aurora, I need you to try.”

The young changeling stands up tall, puffing out her chest. “I can do it! Momma taught me how! She told me to wait until I was older, but I am older so it’s okay!”

The little changeling’s horn lit up as she started the spell, the dim light slowly growing as she continued to cast. Soon, the spell cast, and Aurora’s mind was instantly filled with cries of pain, fear, and sorrow. The little princess put her hooves to her hears, falling to her belly.