Year 3, day 2, March 12th

One cocoon started shifting in the hive, kicking about and bouncing around as the occupant started to come awake on instinct alone, wanting to escape the confines that held them. This was much like most of the Queen’s eggs, the small things wanting to come to life and be welcomed into the hive, except-

The Queen monitored the link often for this particular occupant, and as soon as this one’s activities had started, the link notified her. She rushed from where she was and made her way swiftly to the nursery, notifying Starlight Dusk and the others to meet her there. She wouldn't miss this for all the love in the world.

Zera, a royal caretaker, was also pinged and swiftly sent the request on behalf of the Legate’s mate to allow their presence. Chrysalis immediately granted permission as the Earth Pony had shown their loyalty and was practically a drone of the hive through her daughter. The queen’s mate’s plaything was also visiting with the pony offspring, and were also invited by being part of the hive through the Queen’s mate. Her only disappointment is that her mate was on a trip and wasn’t able to be present. They would be disappointed.

The occupant of the egg squirmed. Everything felt off, different. It was only capable of instinct in that moment, but it felt a desperate need to escape, to breathe as they pushed and squirmed, stabbing the inside of the shell almost anywhere it could, as if it began to realize that was its best chance to escape.

The Queen knew her hive well, and was soon standing in front of the cocoon without missing much more than the large egg’s wobbling. Stalwart and Storm stood at the edge of the room with a pair of soldier drones at his sides, in case the egg’s occupant was no longer herself. He would have a decent view of the hatching even if it was fifteen feet away. Light was provided by spells from both soldier drones so he would be able to see in the darkness.

Zera received reinforcements for the excited foals, getting two more caretakers to help manage them for the hatching period. They were smart for their age. Not as smart as Violet of course, but more than the average foal for sure. They probably picked up on Stalwart’s spike of happiness and thought mom is coming home.

The queen returned her attention to the occupant, whose instinct driven mind was getting more restless and legs were kicking about frequently.

‘Push.’ The queen commanded.

The occupant felt the order go through her, and after a small shake, it began trying to break free in earnest. Its hooves made no progress on the slippery insides. It pushed and then its horn caught on the egg once more. It stretched its legs, poking its horn and stretching the cocoon further until it finally burst.

The cocoon ripped like a balloon, the side that was poked formed a slit opening along one side and leaving the rest of the shell, standing but with pieces crumbling as the occupant slid out from the lower parts with the mix that had contained it.

The Queen did not move as the mix splashed around her hard hooves, chilling them mildly. She looked at what came from the cocoon with interest, as everyone in the room did. She could taste the flavor of hope in the room, giving it a vanilla tinge to the air, not that anyone minded. It was fitting, all things considered.

The changeling occupant slid on the ground through the mix until she was only a pace away from the Queen. It breathed lightly, gradually expelling the mix from its lungs as it sought a reprieve from the hard work of breaking free.

The queen had the best position in the cavern to view the creature before her. She assessed it cautiously, keeping it carefully isolated in the link as she viewed what she was dealing with.

It registered in the link as a changeling, yet the creature was not fully covered in chitin. They gave the appearance of an overgrown nymph, molting into early adulthood, but it only had chitin in some places. It had wings reminiscent of a Pegasus’ but they were mildly bigger, stronger, wings of a predator. Lime green feathers adorned the front, lightening to a pale color before having the wingtips displaying a faint yellow. It had temporarily soft chitin on its legs, going up its flanks around the cutie mark to the spine, going up to where the two-hoof length mane began.

Her attention was briefly split to its mouth as it pushed out more of the mix, small fangs showing in its mouth. Its eyes were closed but still had its colorful mane laying over its face. Once she was sure they were in good health, having finished pushing out the rest of the mix in their lungs, she returned to looking over their form for further details.

The chitin was strange, forming small plates rather than being one continuous piece. Some parts were larger and had more fibers indicating their future density on the less flexible parts of their leg and flank. Other parts around the joints and spine had smaller pieces, reminding her of some of the more primitive armor prototypes that ponies had made a long time ago and abandoned for being too difficult to reproduce. Thankfully all of it seemed to be tied to a single carapace throughout that was standard in her hive. It seemed the body knew exactly what happened to it and made very certain it would not suffer the same fate again. Even their front hooves were covered in chitin, seeming to emphasize the hoof where the fur made a kind of collar where it met chitin.

The queen stood there for a minute, continuing to take her time with this hatchling. A small part of her feared the inside had changed just as much as the outside, causing her to need to be cautious. Their wings meant they weren’t good in closed spaces, but it would be excellent in finer flight and power at the sacrifice of speed. The chitin would make them harder to injure in those areas, yet was still as vulnerable as a pony everywhere else.

Slowly she reached a tendril of thought to their place in the link, taking care to not be noticed by them as she examined their potential in the link.

This mind was strange yet familiar. The way the mind ‘felt’ was both that of her Legate, as well as that of a young Queen, one that was already subdued and loyal. It was a comforting feeling, one that was familiar like that of her drones, yet retained a unique quality that she had only found in her Legate. A quick exploration of their memories demonstrated the ‘pony-like’ aspects of the memory being retained, the optimism and desire to work with others rather than fight. Looking over the changelings and their history still seemed to be translated roughly the same, yet there was a sense of hope for the future among those memories and a caution in the happier memories, as if their hopes were tempered by experience.

This fascinated the Queen. Never had she or any queen before her seen such a thing, just like when the Legate joined the hive. She searched the memories of all who came before her, but no memory of any changeling who was or had been a part of the link had encountered this before. Once again, her Legate was unique, a metamorphosis that might be another turning point in their history, depending on how things turned out.

She cautiously expanded the link to touch their mind, using a small thread barely bigger than before to open contact with the mind, just enough to be sensed. She would see what it would do first.

The mind began to flicker, activity beyond what kept the young queen alive began to stir. It reacted with curiosity toward the strand, feeling like it was familiar. She opened herself to this changeling above her in the link’s rank that wished something of her.

Carefully, the Queen opened the thread a little more, asking a single question that the mind heard in an almost hazy, surreal way.

‘Who are you?’ The calm voice asked.

The immediate response was less words and more a flood of feelings and memories as an answer through the link. She was a mother to three foals, images of the foals and nymph flashing before the queen. She was daughter to the Queen, and a flicker of a thought processed herself as a queen as well in that event, then confusion came as if she wasn’t sure, until she reasserted that she was a young queen. She relayed a picture of herself next to her Queen, standing by them and looking up at them with a smile until the mind could form words for what it thought.

'I am Young Queen Meadow Dawn, serving as Legate to Queen Chrysalis of the Ridgeback Hive.' Came the mind's identifying response, sounding very pleased with itself, much like a young drone for giving that answer.

'And what… what is your purpose?' The queen asked.

'To assist my queen in managing her hive in any and all capacities available, be a diplomat for changeling-pony relations, and ensure the continued improvement and survival of the changelings.' She replied, breathing calmly and speaking with a small degree of reverence in her tone.

'Then awake my Legate. Awaken to the world anew.'

Dawn’s body woke, beginning to stir. Slowly, their eyes fluttered, opening to reveal her regular green pony eye and her previously damaged eye. The both the old eye and the new repaired eye were slitted, much like Chrysalis’ own, but the new held green tones of the original iris with yellow tones mixed throughout. Both bore every mark of the receptors needed to see and survive in the dark as all changelings required.

Slowly the young queen stood, as if they were aware of their very soft chitin was prone to tearing or cracking if she moved too quickly or stretched too far. The queen watched as they eventually reached their full height, standing tall and proudly. New muscles were being tested and strained as they were used, many of them for the first time where the originals were damaged beyond repair.

The young queen took a deep breath once she stood, closing her eyes and reaching out in the link to the hive to give her greetings. For the first time, she realized the breadth of the link’s abilities. A new mental world opened to her, where a crowd multiple millions large of changeling-ponies seemed to turn to her and smile, most of them reaching out to hug and greet her as one of them.

A tear formed at the corner of her eye as she reveled in the connection, finally feeling like she understood them, was one of them, and should have been all along as she realized what it was truly like. The hive welcomed her, giving her a bow as their Legate before giving the hugs she desired, and she in turn hugged and embraced them all, sharing in her love for her ginormous family.

The hive seemed to smile at the Legate as she truly walked among them. Millions of lights shone within the darkness. They were doing, thinking, feeling. It pulsed with life as information was exchanged at the speed of thought. Ideas, desires, feelings, all faster than anyone could ever speak, all detailed beyond what words could ever express. Only the changelings could truly touch it. The sheer volume of information and power exchanging would overwhelm and consume or burn up all but the changelings if they ever could touch it in its entirety.

This… this was The Link.

Dawn felt whole, complete, and proud. A fleeting thought arrived, that whomever had thought they harmed her had truly miscalculated, because she was better now than she ever had been… and then she realized she had missed a year and a half of her foals growing up and numerous others were harmed in that event that would not make the recovery she had.

Unstintingly, the hive quickly ensured her memories were filled to see every moment through Nymph, Zera, and others around her family. Within less than a second, the knowledge was freely given, as if she had been there in their place if she wished to absorb the memories for herself. Every sight, every sound, taste, smell, touch, all of it for the past year and a half were freely hers and pouring into her. Her mind began the task of absorbing it and sorting it to keep the details it felt it needed, still not nearly as 'instant' as the queen or many drones, but it was enough. It was clear the Young Queen did not inherit an eidetic memory, though it did get mildly improved.

The bombing had been traced to a rogue group of Purists who had learned of Dawn's true nature. They were gone now, though that still left the Purists who had made the mistake of attacking a high level Player in ‘The Game,’ causing the Council to truly take notice of them and go after everyone who used that label as a lesson.

Normally, the upper houses of the Equestrian society wouldn’t even be bothered by such small pawns, but as soon as they made a move within ‘The Game’ against a growing high-level player, and someone acting in the name of Purists was the offenders, it elevated them to their levels of retaliation. This ‘move’ was indicated as a wish to join ‘The Game’ and its battlefield. The Purists were among predators that would walk freely, fresh meat that was to be savored and taken down with precision.

It had begun small at first… a few troublesome members simply vanishing or having unfortunate accidents. Then a few dirty secrets got exposed to the public, the underground dealings never reached the light of day, but often went very poorly for them.

Slowly but surely, seemingly random events, pure chance, and runs of bad luck happened for the group as The Game worked as it always had and always will. Even those who renounced their membership, but not their ways did not gain a lesser sentence. Their actions at the time of the incident and leading up to it were weighed. Those who did renounce their ways were judged based on how much they enabled the group to make it happen, and many of them did not gain a lesser sentence either.

The group still existed now, but it was a shadow of its former self. Its numbers dwindled, its chapter houses were gone. Its power had been sapped away until it was just an annoying gnat buzzing at the edge of society.

The Game had weighed and measured The Purists, and it had found them wanting.

The Queen's Mate had blamed herself for what happened to Dawn until it came to light the grey-winged one was the one who had revealed Dawn's secret to an enemy of the hive sympathizer. The sympathizer had relayed it and queen's mate now blamed the grey-winged one entirely. The Hive concluded this was irrational to an extent. While he did bear the responsibility of the initial breach, the Queen's Mate seemed to be focusing all her hurt, regrets, and rage on the grey-winged one. It wasn’t until the plaything of Queen’s Mate stood her ground in spite of the danger and pointed out how irrational it was that the hurt mostly stopped. It only demonstrated how right her mate’s decision was to have the fiery mare as a plaything.

It was little surprise to Dawn that Storm had the courage to stand up to her owner, though it was most interesting to see a nearly feral Twilight demanding everything of Storm during her heat as well. Storm had spent her own heat with Nightfall a week later and appeared to successfully reproduce with him. The hive had its own suspicions on the matter, but saw no reason to interfere with the offspring regardless.

Dawn's renown had also spread. News of what happened was over the news for several weeks and details about her became even more known. The initial day of the bombing focused on the injured, their families, and listing her as part of the blast. Footage reviews of the events, including the swarm covering the Ponyville General Hospital, continued to be discussed on news stations for some time.

It appeared one of the news crews had filmed the Hive’s exodus from the hospital and Dawn, Stalwart, and Storm were all filmed as they approached the Castle Friendship. Graphic warning for younger audiences were shown before news crews revealed that Dawn was a hybrid and various experts were spoken to about hybrids now that Violet Flame wasn’t the only one.

Various groups began assembling to discuss this discovery, mostly consisting of pony-changeling partners who often wished to have offspring of their own. When it was reiterated she was the Princess of Hope, ponies’ hopes continued to rise that she could allow them to have offspring.

Dawn was now well known within the pony lands. Dawn found this information intriguing and she moved forward to her queen and placed her neck and cheek along their form.

Dawn’s mind filtered everything automatically, slowly beginning to ache as it discarded bits of information but tried to keep important bits, some trivial items still slipping into memory. She looked to her queen with a small feeling of wonder, trying to determine what else her queen needed of her before she was to feed, wanting to look after her foals at the same time.

Chrysalis did not react, only observed as the green mare had sent the request to the caretaker of her foals far more easily than ever before. Zera and the other two caretakers informed the foals it was time, and allowed the pair to approach. The two soldiers with the adult guests also gave the go-ahead to approach.

'I'm back mom…' Dawn relayed in the link as she noted the approach of her other family.

Chrysalis approached and put her hooves around Dawn’s neck, hugging her close and tight while being mindful of the soft chitin. ‘I never doubted you would return.’

Dawn chuckled and smiled back at her as she then turned to face Stalwart and Storm and little Roaming. The joy that Stalwart was radiating was a huge relief to her senses and she greedily took it in as she gave the three a smile, her foals still on their way.

A fleeting thought of Dawn doubting herself and her abilities before the events took place surfaced, but she suppressed that thought process for the moment. She had survived. She was a changeling and anything that didn’t kill her would make her stronger as her body adapted. She could observe through the caretakers of the room that her chitin was thicker, that her muscles were bigger, and she would be more fit for resisting further combat or assassination attempts. Whoever had orchestrated this had miscalculated by not ensuring her death and had only made her stronger.

Her mother nuzzled her daughter’s head, smiling at their more changeling nature. ‘You’ve grown taller.’

Dawn blinked. She had not felt any difference in height at first, but then realized as she confirmed through the hive’s eyes that she really was taller than before. Where she would have been only a little smaller than her husband, an average mare’s height, now she would stand a hoof taller than him, not counting her horn.

'Wow… that mix really does a lot.' Dawn chuckled internally as her husband paused a couple paces away, Storm a pace to his side and the foal on her back staring wide eyed at her.

"Dawn?" Stalwart called to her, his voice sounding sad but hopeful.

"Oh come on over here you!" Dawn spoke eagerly. "I've had a distinct lack of loving from you and we have to make up for it!"

Stalwart chuckled, letting a tear come out of the corner of his eye as he approached and swiftly tried to move her into a hug.

“Mind the white areas Stalwart.” Chrysalis warned from a pace away. “Her chitin will take time to harden.”

He chuckle weakly, starting to tear up further as he continued to hold Dawn, nearly drowning her in love, “I’ve missed you so much…”

“I know love, I’ve missed you too.” Dawn said, her voice reverberating and echoing despite how quietly it was said. She greedily fed on his love while returning the gesture in kind.

Chrysalis watched, fascinated as she felt and tasted not just Stalwart’s love, but Dawn’s own flavor of love in the air. Somehow her daughter was a queen who was producing her own love when young queens normally can only store love and distribute it over the link!

“Well, you sound different.” Stalwart said, sniffing and giving her a look over with a soft smile, “And you look different.”

“Not that different.” Storm chimed in with a smirk. “Glad to have you back green.”

"I am still your fabulous wife." Dawn said with a joking toss of her mane, which had grown long enough to hang almost at her chest from all that time without a trimming. “Glad to be back Lapdog.”

The two two-year-old foals and the adopted changeling began to enter the cavern with the three caretakers trying to keep them under some control as they pranced about and tried to get past to rush over to their mother.

‘Your chitin should be hardened come the next dawn.’ Chrysalis suggested to Dawn as Stalwart radiated gratitude toward the hive, as if they would possibly do anything less for one of their own.

'But the next foal or drone named Dawn might be a while.' Dawn joked, 'but thank you mother. I will be careful… then again, my foals might not be.'

The foals and nymph squeaked and called out for their mother eagerly, causing Stalwart to laugh and step to the side to give them a path to her. Nymph was barely much bigger than the foals, but looking much healthier than she had been,

‘The caretakers are on the alert, they should be able to handle them.’ Chrysalis answered.

'Never underestimate foals, especially hybrids.' Dawn warned mischeviously.

'They have been wonderful little Tartarus-spawns.'

'I know. They inherited their cleverness from you, I’m positive.'

'Oh, do not sell yourself short daughter.'

'Where do you think I got mine from?' She countered.

'… Oh now you’re bringing in technicalities… How very changeling of you daughter.' she said with pride.

'Yep. Still think they did though.'

'Well, I am honored you think that.'

'And I'm honored to be your daughter and a full-fledged queen after all that time in there.' Dawn countered before the foals darted forward

"Mommy!"

"Mom's back!"

“Queeny!”

The three of them leapt at their mother with all the energy their little bodies could hold. Dawn laughed and carefully moved to hug them, using a spell to shield her vulnerable pieces and keep them only to the furred parts of herself, barely able to keep them from trying to burrow into her body from all their enthusiasm.

“I’ve missed you too little foals.” Dawn chuckled, nuzzling them with her muzzle and landing kisses on them before they began trying to leap up and kiss at her muzzle back.

“Hey mom, what’s this white stuff?” Beacon asked.

“Whoah, you’ve got scary eyes, when will I get mine!” Morning Rise asked.

“Missed you lots queeny…” Nymph quietly said as she pressed in close.

“Are you a changeling now mom?” Beacon asked as he tried to poke the white stuff but the magic blocked him.

“You got a horn, when can I get one?” Morning Rise asked.

“Easy kiddoes, one at a time.” Stalwart said, only causing Dawn to chuckle.

“I’ve missed all of you so much, even you Storm. Congratulations on your foal.” Dawn said before returning to her foals, “Now, listen to Daddy and go one at a time.”

“Momma, you came from an egg right?” Beacon asked

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Doesn’t that make you a foal?” Beacon followed up.

“Nu-uh, she’s too big for that!” Rise protested

“I came from a cocoon. It’s like an egg but not the same.” Dawn answered with a smile, feeling their love in spite of the bickering.

“So you just hatched right?” he persisted.

“Well yes, you could-” Dawn started to say before she heard him speak up.

“Then you should be a little foal, like Zera showeded us for the other changelings.” Beacon said, a small spark falling from the tip of his horn.

“I was a little foal once. That was a long time ago.” Dawn said gently.

“But you hatched from an egg, you should be a foal!” Beacon insisted.

“If she was a foal, she wouldn’t be mommy then.” Nymph tried to protest.

“Nuh-uhhh!” Beacon stamped, horn sparking more dangerously

‘Legate, The foal is about to-’ Zera tried to warn, simultaneously sending a warning of foal magic and an indicator he hadn’t had an outburst in half a year, longer than most unicorn foals.

Dawn recognized the warning, but she barely began to move her head when a sudden blast of light came from his horn, hitting Dawn full force and blinding her.

“Beacon!” Stalwart exclaimed in surprise with an upraised leg, looking at the faint outline of his wife in the near blinding light from behind the leg. “Dawn?!”

"Mommy?" Beacon asked, his emotions quickly turning to worry before they were replaced with excitement, "See mommy! Told ya so!"

Zera and the two caretakers blinked at the sight. They naturally had dealt with some foal magic before, but it had never been like this before.

'Well… technically he's not wrong… now.' her mother said with amusement.

Jeron smirked as he looked at what his hivemate reported about the Legate’s status, 'Yup, even Queeny could take you in and really give birth to you now just to prove him right!'

Dawn barely registered the joke from confusion, light fading suddenly and leaving her eyes starting to adjust to the darkness as she began to fall to the ground. She braced herself for pain as she fell three feet, then heard a sharp clack of newly hardened chitin on the semi-soft surface of the hive floor, no pain at all.

Dawn looked around again, then blinked as she saw her foals nearly three times her size. Even Roaming was double her size and Stalwart towered over her, having approached carefully, Chrysalis towering even further above him as he knelt down by Dawn.

Suddenly Morning Rise dashed toward her, squealing in excitement as she found a new playmate to wrestle with and Storm grinned evilly as she saw what was about to happen, relishing the moment.

Dawn readily braced herself, being bowled over and hugged and wriggled at as Rise tried to play wrestle and Dawn fended her daughter off, grateful they were at least on even footing strength-wise. Then her daughter began to try to tickle and she flailed in earnest.

'Are you alright Legate?’ Zera asked, concerned for the young queen of the hive and the offspring.

'I will be when I’m not in danger of being tickled to tears!’ Dawn replied playfully, barely dodging another jab at her side. She squealed and looked to her husband, who was already reaching for Rise.

"All right fillies, that’s enough." Stalwart said, picking Dawn up and putting her on his back.

‘It appears he had a magical flareup my little nymph.’ Chrysalis commented calmly, a mild hint of amusement in her tone, ‘But your chitin is hard at least.’

‘Okay, but I shouldn’t be staying a foal, right? It’ll wear off soon?’ Dawn asked, squirming as she rode on Stalwart’s back, out of reach of the foals who were expressing their disappointment.

"Foals, let’s be gentle with mom till this wears off." Stalwart said.

"Yes daddy..." they replied disappointedly.

‘We don’t know, but with foal magic, all we can do is wait for it to wear off.’ Chrysalis said.

‘Right…’ Dawn replied, thinking of the things she missed before banging her head against stalwart’s back, horn bouncing harmlessly to the side, ‘Dammit…’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I never got the chance to finish spoiling the story to Scorched wing, and now they won’t have the scoop I owed them.’

‘Seriously daughter? That is what you ask about after being away from everything for a year and a half?’

‘In fairness, the link has filled me in on everything else I’d want to ask.’

‘Touche.’ Chrysalis smirked at her in the link as the family and guests headed to their home in the hive.

Nymph flew up and landed behind Dawn on Stalwart’s back, only mildly bigger than her foal siblings, and carefully laid over Dawn’s back protectively, “I’m glad you’re back queeny.”

“So am I Nymph.” Dawn smiled back at her.

‘Your drone is bigger than you.’ Chrysalis commented, suppressing a laugh, ‘you have a mighty hive!’

‘Yeah, an army of one, a fearsome foalsitter!’ Dawn chuckled, giving her first drone her love before a thought crossed her mind, ‘Actually… I just realized. If I am designated as a queen, that means I’ll make drones now, not foals, right?’

‘Most likely, though I think you may be able to do both.’ Chrysalis answered.

'What makes you say that?'

'You are a hybrid.'

'Hybrids can’t have foals though.' Dawn frowned. ‘That was the issue with Violet as far as we’re predicting.’

'Legate, perhaps you should wait till you're older for such planning.' Jeron joked.

'He is correct. You are far too young to be thinking about starting a hive.' Chrysalis reinforced.

'Awww, but moooom! It’s never too early to plan how to conquer the world!' Dawn protested teasingly before wondering how much she truly meant what was said as Nymph smothered her in affection.

The hive was amused at her reaction and the subsequent adoration of the young queen’s only drone, smothering them eagerly. Even Stalwart joined in on the chuckling as they walked into the living room.

"Mmm. I've missed getting love from you, Queeny." Nymph said as she fed.

"I’ve missed being at your side little one... wait, I’m still producing love?" Dawn asked, starting to smile again. 'Interesting.'

'You know.....out of context that sounds rather bad.' Jaron commented.

'It would seem you are.' Her mother commented, the pair of them ignoring their joker drone.

"Yup! Still very tasty!" Nymph said cheerfully, much to Jeron’s snorting in the link.

'Interesting, that’s quite useful.' Dawn thought, continuing to ignore Jeron, though with some difficulty as she started smiling at where the converstation was going.

'Yes it is… your hive will be powerful.' Chrysalis relayed in agreement.

Stalwart sniggered at Nymph’s statement, "Nymph, dear, out of context, that-"

"That’s what Jeron said." Dawn told him before dwelling on how that would make her hive powerful, leaving her husband to snicker and Jeron to picture giving Stalwart a hoofbump over the shared perspective.

“He is a joker, what little bit I’ve gotten to hear of him.” Storm smirked, Roman leaning over to look at Dawn as Storm joined Stalwart on the sofa, Dawn being set against Stalwart’s side.

Author's Note

Just a few examples of how she's turned out... I don't have an addiction to art of my characters! I can stop when I want!