One hundred years ago in the land of Törg, six mighty heroes have assembled their army of the regional kings, chieftains and warlords. United under the banner of driving the sinister changeling horde from their land. For time immemorial the peoples of Törg fought to keep the insectoid swarm at bay with varying levels of success but in this time their doom seemed nigh as the skies darkened with changeling drones. Thanks to the sacrifice of many spies and daring missions from our heroes, the good people of Törg learned the location of the changeling matriarchs and in one last ditch effort to save Törg, have launched a desperate but united assault on the ancient cathedral from where the changelings have made their nest...
Deep beneath the catacombs it was impossible to hear the all-consuming carnage of the battle on the surface but in their hearts and minds the fear of war was alive in them, quickening their steps. Questor, the elven swordsman of Wandering Forests danced with his blade around the changeling drones who lunged and snapped at him with animalistic glee. His blade, elven in make, was too weak to penetrate their infernal carapaces.. but fistful of fire magic worked just as well as it incinerated one creature.
“One down, one thousand more to go!” He quipped, renowned for his carefree attitude in war. His snarky demeanor vanished when another drone tackled him. Questor struggled before the sleek-black drone was violently wiped away in one strong swing.
“Maybe you should get a sword and not a toothpick-” Came the burly rumble of Lornax, the minotaur as he extended a hand and helped his compatriot up. Lornax and his sister Faru were all that remained of their minotaur tribe and both joined Questor in his crusade. Lornax used a mighty battleaxe while his sister preferred a cruel toothed blade bigger than his body!
“We do not need to kill the drones! They are just a distraction! We have to find the matriarch!” Cried Celinia the griffon archer as she fire three golden arrows seamlessly and hit their targets. The griffon clans of Törg had little to fear from the changelings... for now but luckily Celinia knew to defy her father and join the fight while the changeling threat was still earthbound.
“Correct! The drones have no feelings. While we fight here the horde devastates the army above!” Said Frosty Hooves the wizard as he threw a spell from his lexicon that exploded in ice freezing several drones solid. From the distant land of Equestria, a land magical equines. Frosty Hooves was a wizard come to Törg to find magical artifacts but stayed to help Questor.
“Queens! Twelve o' clock!” Said Killgore the dragon. Barely an adolescent among his kind, Killgore had already distinguished himself in the Changeling Wars by slaying the matriarch that attempted to turn the port city of Tsulenheim into a new hive. The dragons were the only race that gave the people of Törg a fighting chance against the changelings.
Questor looked ahead and saw several changeling queens coming at them from above. They were similar to the drones in that they were quadrupedal yet these could talk and worse... would grow into matriarchs if given time and food. Another ability of the queens was their spells. In rapid succession the queens fired green arcane bolts of lightning at the six. Explosions tore the earth as they missed. Celinia rolled and fire her arrows. One queen went down as the arrow pierced her carapace but the others managed to raise their magical shield now!
“Frosty get those shields down- Killgore! Throw me at them!” Questor shouted and backflipped over his latest kill. The pony sorcerer flipped through his books while raising shields of his own. He found the spell and cast it! A boom and flash of light shook the room as the queens bounded off the walls, shields depleted. The spell had destroyed the shields but only made the queens personally mad. They soon flew back towards the six with wipsy wings with malice in their green eyes!
Killgore picked up his elven shield-brother and with a heave only capable by a dragon, threw the slender elf head first at the changelings. At his velocity, Questor's thin elven blade easily broke the black changeling carapace and decapitated one of them before landing lithely on his feet like a cat.
“Insolent fools! Your suffering will be legendary!” The queen roared in anger as she shot a bolt of lightning.
She did not see Faru beneath her but she felt her sawblade cut her in half...
Faru cheered at her kill when she saw the bolt had struck her brother who was too slow to evade!
“Lornax!” She cried and ran to her brother. The gruff minotaur with a missing horn was already picking himself up. His chest had a sizable scorch mark on it and he smelled of burned fur.
“It's nothing but a cool scar, sis.” He said to reassure his sister as he picked up his battleaxe.
The six fought valiantly as one through the literal horde of changelings, drones, queens and other horrid breeds....
Meanwhile...
In a large antechamber rested the matriarch, surrounded by her daughters. The matriarch was far, far larger than those in the queen-stage of life. In the matriarch-stage four legs were traded for three that arced across the room with several smaller limbs for other chores. All, covered in a nigh impenetrable black shell carapace. Atop the body convening at the fulcrum of the three giant legs was the matriarch proper. Her former animal-appearance of the queen-stage was now that of a person but all too undeniably a changeling. The long jagged horn of queens then turned into a crown in the form of a large obsidian color plate on the forehead with three jagged spiral symmetrically pointing outwards. In her arms, the matriarch held her latest daughter. A queen nonetheless but simply young. In due time this daughter could start her own hive and maybe even become a matriarch herself! But not right now... the nations of Törg had united for their destruction and in the matriarchs arrogance thought them a small threat and now their doom seemed nigh.
“Daughters...” She began with a silky smooth voice, “Take the young one somewhere where she will be safe until she can right what me and my sisters wronged in our time. Teach her our ways and keep her safe.”
She looked down at her sleeping daughter and ran her sleek fingers on the little one's new shell skin. “The knowledge of our people lives in you and the knowledge of your mothers, Chrysalis. Return and avenge us.” She gave her daughter a kiss on her tiny horn.
With that, she handed Chrysalis to two queen sisters who gently wrapped the youngling in their magic. “Now go. This is your final duty to me... as for the rest, prepare for battle. Our company approaches.”
Not long later the door to the underground antechamber was kicked open and in scurried the six heroes who rushed to close the door to seal off the rest of the swarm outside. The chamber was old, far older than the cathedral above with ancient stone murals depicting forgotten rites.
“That was too close.” Celinia proclaimed and wiped a wisp of feather from her face.
“Foolish warriors! You have ventured far and wide only to meet your demise!” The matriarch shouted in a booming voice. Everyone drew their weapons.
“You've lost monster! Enough chat, let's fight!” Lornax bellowed and he and his sister drew their weapons for the charge.
The large insectoid monster climbed on the walls and sent jabbing pincers easily the size of Killgore's parents smashing into the ground. Dirt and debris scattered everywhere but the siblings had dodged for the most part.
Meanwhile two queens carried their youngest sister through an ancient and derelict cobblestone passageway...
“Venoma this is unacceptable! We should be back there helping mother! Not fleeing with our tails between our legs!” She hissed in a low tone.
The other sister levitating the infant changeling retorted, “I know! I would want to be there too but mother instructed us to do this! The battle is decided sister. We lost. We have to make sure our species survives.”
She glared at Venoma with her gradient green and yellow eyes. She hated the realization the battle had turned against them. “We were so close. We fought at Tsulenheim and now we are running for our lives!”
“And Chrysalis's life.” Venoma added and paused to look at the baby. “Something about her, I can almost feel she's going to change everything.”
There was a long pause before the other sister began again, accepting of their plight. “.... Fine. But let's make sure she lives long enough to do that.”
The battle raged on! The heroes had gotten a few good hits but the carapace was as striking a mountain base. Only Lornax and Faru's heavy weapons had a chance at hurting her.
“Watch out!” Frosty cried as the apparatus beneath the humanoid body of the matriarch opened up to reveal and giant maw of metallic teeth in front of a black hole of a gullet.
“Gods above!” Faru cried. She ran from the matriarch as she charged from behind. The young minotaur girl screamed as her ankle twisted and she fell landing on her knee first with a gut wrenching pop! Faru glanced behind her to see her inky-toothed doom opening behind her!
“You're not making a meal out of my sister!” Lornax shouted and jumped at the maw headlong! Just as a tongue neared to grab Faru, her brother jumped and with a swing cut the tongue spreading dark green gore everywhere that simmered and smoked. Faru screamed as she desperately tried to get it off.
Lornax jumped into the maw and grabbed the teeth. With his incredible strength the bulky minotaur held the mouth open. “Run!” He shouted, strength fleeting fast. Faru clamored up and limped as fast as she could. Only then did she turn back to see the horrible maw snap shut and swallow her brother whole...
The tunnel had opened up to a large underground lake half submerged with old brown water hiding gods only know what secrets. With the power of flight however, this proved to be little hindrance.
“What will we even do once we escape? There are no hives except for the Törg hive.... until now.”Venoma wondered aloud to herself. She had always been the more level-headed of the two.
“We need to find people. Travelers on the road, harvest their love, then small towns. Rebuild what was lost.” Queen Orchidia offered with a militaristic glee.
“Sister you don't honestly think we can restart a war campaign with an infant do you? Besides, we'd need drones, resources and an unsuspecting population. The people here will still be armed for war. We must go south, far south. To Equestria. Regather our strength, raise Queen Chrysalis THEN entertain rekindling the fight.”
Queen Orchidia grumbled. The fight Venoma spoke of was the fight of the horde. Changelings lived to expand and take. They reached no homeostasis with their environment. They existed to reap and take. But it was their nature: grow or die.
“Brother!” Faru cried as the matriarch's giant body maw gave a mock belch.
“Don't fear. You'll join him soon!” The jet black changeling monster said.
“Join this!” Celinia spat from her perch away from the brunt of the action. The griffoness knocked a golden arrow and the ceiling. The arrow hit the ancient column reinforcing the ceiling but did nothing.
“Ha! Your archer is a hack.” The matriarch shouted and brought of her massive arachnoid like forelegs to a mighty sweep across the floor. Caught off guard, Celinia was smashed against the wall by the hard carapace leg.
“Celinia!” Questor cried and dashed to his friend after the matriarch removed her foreleg.
“Don't be too worried elf. She could not even hit me- she was no use to you.” The matriarch chided cruelly watching the elf hero grieve.
Questor picked up Celinia's crumpled body. She would not be surviving this battle.... but just as he began to lament Celinia coughed.
“Wasn't aiming for you.” Was all she said before her head dropped back. Questor looked at the ceiling and saw the ceiling crack and a heartbeat later a great piece of stone from the ceiling fell in a thunderous roar sending dirt and dust everywhere. The stone slab fell right on the matriarch. Her scream was something that could only be described as a chorus of the damned crying from the river Styx! When the dust finally cleared Questor saw the matriarch still lived but the ceiling had cracked her carapace severely exposing the acidic green gore underneath.
Dust tumbled down as the earth shook. The sisters stopped to look at each other. The tunnel had now opened up into a dark natural cave lit only by their magical green lights.
“What was that?” Orchidia wondered aloud.
“The battle must be getting worse. Come we haven't much time!” Venoma said and started hovering through the black expanse of the cave.
The sisters flew for a moment in silence before Orchidia piped up nervously. “Equestria huh? You think we'll be safe there?”
“I can't say for sure. There are no changelings in Equestria so they would not be expecting us in their midst. We'd have to live under disguise and raise Chrysalis that way as well. When she's old enough we'll ask if she wishes to continue the war.”
Orchidia's eyes widened, “What if she says no?! It makes me insides crawl just thinking of Chrysalis choosing to live the life of a pony and ignoring her true nature... yuck!”
Venoma eyed her sister. “Chrysalis will not say no. We will raise her right. Besides, she is a changeling and cannot change that.”
The matriarch was damaged! Already the remaining heroes had landed good blows to the vile monster! A great fissure ran from her face down to her body where the second mouth saw. Killgore landed a brutal punch sending more pieces of her carapace flying off.
“This whole place is going to come down around our ears!” Frosty Hooves shouted to the others. After the initial break more pieces of the ceiling began to fall in a cascading effect to spell the collapse of not only the antechamber but the very cathedral!
“Get us out of here!” Killgore demanded to the wizard as more rubble began to fall.
“I'm trying! I can't do teleportation!”
“Then we'll all be buried together! Haha!” The matriarch roared and sent two giant forelegs stabbing at their direction!
“Leave! I'm going to destroy the matriarch!” Frosty said as he sifted through his lexicon of spells.
“How?!” Killgore sounded annoyed even over the collapsing ceiling.
“The door! We have to try Killgore!” Questor answered and pointed to the door Faru was trying to open.
Killgore gritted his teeth and ran to help Faru. Frosty looked at Questor with a look of finality. “Tell Princess Celestia I did my job.” The pony said. Questor nodded and ran away.
A moment later the matriarch grabbed the pony with her hand and pull him up to her eye level. Her broke face gave him an equally broken smile of malicious glee.
“Your swarm ends here.” He whispered through choked breaths to her.
The matriarch leaned in close, “Survivors. Your princess will know our revenge.”
Frosty's eyes widened in terror! He did not know if she lied but if even one queen escaped then the changelings would return! He tried to cry for the others but her grasp was too tight. Just as the matriarch was finished strangling him his lexicon began to glow and from it came a shining light with an arctic chill that made the room feel like the polar regions. Snow and frost exploded from the book with a gale force wind that froze the soul. Frosty felt himself being frozen solid with the matriarch. Soon they would be solid ice to be crushed by the falling debris.
“That's not good...” Orchidia said as the two observed more dust falling from the cave ceiling.
“I think the battle is causing a tectonic event. Quickly sister! I can see daylight! Let's move!” Venoma whispered. The two changeling queens landed by a rockface and ran with their baby sister. The cave closed into more cramped passageways but it was not long before the duo could see daylight of the surface.
Screams was the first thing to be heard as the two stepped into the light. What had once been the heady cries of war were not the panicked pleas of fear. Carefully, the two huddled behind a hill and saw the courtyard outside the cathedral ablaze. Bodies of the slain, changelings of every breed and the citizens of Törg littered the ground. The battle had become a bloodbath. Then as a final crescendo to all the carnage and violence the spires of the cathedral fell into one another raining stone and masonry down on the trapped armies of both below.
“Mother!” Orchidia cried wings flapping. Venoma caught her with her magic.
“Stop sister! Mother is gone! It's all gone!”
“Let me go! I could save other queens!” Orchidia demanded with tears in her eyes as she tried to sound more enraged than broken.
“Mother- gave us our mission!” Venoma said trying to hold back her own despair for her younger sister. “We have to leave!”
To punctuate their scene, the ground underneath the courtyard; long since hollowed out by changeling tunnels to store larvae, could no longer bear the weight of the battle and collapsed. The rumbling of the earth as the cathedral turned into a giant hole of dirt, rubble and bodies. The screaming stopped.
Orchidia sat on the grass. Her breathing was labored as her drive was melting into despair and grief. “Our mission.”
“This is our mission...” Venoma said gently and unwrapped the infant changeling queen who stared at them with big green eyes.
