Kamen Rider Scarab

“We certainly have a nice batch of future Drones here,” a Changeling said with a hiss as he walked past the cages of ponies that they had gathered. “You’d think they would get the message by now.”

“Please… we don’t want to be Changelings, just let us go,” a Pegasus mare with an orange mane and a light purple body said. “Why are you doing this?”

“Princess Prism ordered it,” the Drone said with a hiss as he looked at the Pegasus. “And we follow her will and the will of the Hive. As you soon will.”

The ponies in the cages looked defeated for a moment as they looked down at their hooves. They knew what fate awaited anyone that was captured by the Changelings. They had been more surprised that they weren’t already being converted.

“Why don’t we just convert them now and get it over with?” One of the Changelings asked the other one. “They’d be a lot less mouthy that way.”

“Oh you know how the Princess is, she wants to oversee them all personally,” the first Changeling said with a roll of his eyes. “And she’s off in Ponyville going after that special target of hers.”

“Oh yes, I heard the Queen finally approved that,” the first one said. “I’m sure that has her excited at least. Though I don’t know why she left that behind, feels to me like she might need it.”

“In Ponyville? That’s a laugh,” the second one said. “Their guards are good sure, but she can just sneak in without much problem. They don’t have much in the way of defenses against us.”

“Yeah, well let’s just hope she gets back soon,” the first one said. “I don’t like having that thing around. I keep feeling like one of them might try and pull something if they knew what it was.”

“Again, they can’t,” the second one said. “You have nothing to worry about. Even that Unicorn over there can’t do anything since we have our pony magic negation field up.”

The two just laughed as they walked off. The Pegasus mare moved up against the bars as she looked at the mare in the adjoining cage. She was looking as defeated as the Pegasus felt with a dark blue coat and a blue-green coat.

“Come on Sea Spray, snap out of it,” the Pegasus said. “We need your help!”

“What’s the point, Jasper?” Sea Spray asked softly as her mane hung in front of her eyes. “My magic’s no good here, remember? And it’s not like I can reach the keys.”

“That’s not true, you could use your magic when we snuck into that camp remember?” Jasper pointed out. “Please, you have to try at least. I don’t think you can get the door open but… maybe you can get whatever it was they were talking about.”

“I don’t think I can…” Sea Spray said as she looked up. She could see something lying on a fancy looking chair at the center of the camp that had to belong to the Princess. “It’s too far away, what if it’s seen?”

“It won’t be, just be careful,” Jasper said as she glanced at the Changelings. There were only a few around, but they had to be careful. “I’m scared honestly. Do you really think this is the right thing to do?”

“Whatever it is, it’s got them scared,” Jasper said as she glanced at the other cages. “We need to get out of here anyway. You don’t want to turn into one of those bugs, do you?”

“Well, no…” Sea Spray said nervously. “But I don’t…”

“Then try it or we’ll both be eating love in no time,” Jasper said quickly. “Come on, please? I know it’s asking a lot of you but I believe you can do it.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Sea Spray said. She was still nervous, but she wasn’t about to give up and let her friends become Changelings.

She closed her eyes and her horn glowed blue as she concentrated on the belt device on the throne. It took a few tries but she finally picked it up and started pulling it over to her. She dropped it when a Changeling looked that way, but after a moment he looked away and she pulled it over to her cage.

She examined the device for a moment. It was made of some weird metal that she didn’t recognize. The machine was made to almost look like a Changeling as it was made of black metal with holes carved into it. But most noticeably, it had a slot in the center that looked like it was made to house something.

“How does this even work…” she muttered as she examined it. It looked like a belt, strangely enough, maybe she had to outfit it like that. “Okay, let’s see if I can figure this out.”

She looked at the Changelings again for a moment before she leaned back against the bars of the cage on her hind legs. She held it in her forehooves as she swung the belt around and the belt connected at the strange device to form around her waist.

She stared down at it expectantly as if she expected something to happen. For a moment she thought that nothing was happening until it started to glow from the center. Something suddenly flew out of the tent and landed in her hoof. She stared at the strange thing, it resembled a beetle that was covered in purple and pink markings.

“Whoa… that is weird…” Jasper said as Sea Spray fell onto her foreleg and stared at the strange beetle. A voice started to echo in her mind.

“What do you wish?” The voice asked.

“What?” Sea Spray asked.

“What is your wish? I will grant it,” it said.

“Okay… I want to get us out of here, and keep Changelings from hurting more ponies,” Sea Spray said as she stared at the Scarab. “Is that… you?”

“Then your wish will be granted,” the Scarab finally said. “You will take my body and place it against the Change Driver and say the phrase Henshin. I must say, I wasn’t expecting to be found by a…”

“Yeah, I mean, a pony must be weird,” Sea Spray said as she held the scarab up. She started to move it around slowly before finally sliding it into the Driver confused for a moment as it started to glow brightly. “Henshin!”

As Sea Spray glanced down at it expectantly before the Scarab let out a sound in the same voice she had heard before.

“WHAT IS BORN IN THE DARK MUST COME TO THE LIGHT!”

The Scarab’s body broke up and the pieces flew over her body. Armor formed over her. A helmet formed over her head that had the basic appearance of a beetle with two antennae sticking out of it and pink eyes with a silver mouthpiece. Bulky armor appeared over her with a carapace on her back that looked like it could open up. But most noticeably her armor was purple with pink lines running along the body.

“Whoa…” Jasper said as Sea Spray walked forward a little, realizing that the armor allowed her to balance on her hind legs. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, but how is this supposed to…” Sea Spray said as she grabbed the bars on the door to steady herself and pulled them right out of their sockets. “Oh, that’s how.”

“Come on, get us all out of here,” Jasper said as Sea Spray walked out of the cage still stumbling a little on her hind legs as she grabbed the door on Jasper’s cage and pulled it open. “Thanks, Sea Spray.”

“You’re welcome,” Sea said as she quickly freed the remaining ponies. “Come on we need to…”

“HEY, HOW DID YOU GET OUT OF YOUR CAGE?” A Changeling shouted as the guards ran towards them. “What the… where did you get that armor?”

“Uh-oh, Princess Prism is gonna be pissed,” the second Changeling from before said as he realized where the armor had come from. “Hey, maybe we should just cut our losses here.”

“Oh no, I’m not about to let her get away with this,” the Changeling said with a hiss. “You don’t defy the Hive and live. I’m going to make her pay!”

The Changeling hissed loudly before transforming. He became a large creature that was vaguely insectoid with features that still made him look vaguely like a Changeling. He let out a roar as his body shook, his hooves becoming claws as he stared at her with drool on his face.

“Screw orders, I’m going to break you and then make you watch as I turn your friends into my loyal Hivemates!” The monster shouted as he ran forward and started to swing his claw at Sea who ran out of the way faster than she expected.

“What the… how’d I do that?” She said as she looked at herself for a moment. “Guess this Scarab is handier than I thought. So, do you really want to do this?”

“Put your hooves together like this,” the voice said in her mind with an image of something in her mind. “You cannot fight this with your hooves alone.”

“Right…” Sea said as she held her hooves together. She was surprised when her armored hooves started to glow brightly and two tonfas appeared in them. It took a moment for her to figure out but she managed to grip them in her hooves and stared the monstrous Changeling down.

“You’re really going to do this huh?” The Changeling asked. “Such a shame you’d have made a fine Soldier Drone.”

“In your dreams,” Sea Spray said as she ran forward and hit the monster with her tonfas before kicking at it hard and sending it sprawling. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

The other ponies nodded as they ran off together. The Changeling groaned as he rubbed his head returning to his normal form as he did. He had hoped that would’ve gone better, but there wasn’t much he could do now.

“Are you okay?” His companion asked as he helped the other Changeling up.

“Yeah… what do we do now?”

“I don’t know, we need to wait for the Princess to get here and figure it out from there,” the other one said as he rubbed his head. “She isn’t going to like this is she?”

“No, she is not.”

00000

Ponyville, once the home of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, had since become the very center of the Pony Zone. It was a rare place that they could safely live in, at least most of the time. Jasper and Sea Spray entered the town with the others as most of the group broke off and quickly went back home.

“What are we going to do now?” Sea Spray asked as she looked back at Jasper. “What are they going to do now that we’ve escaped the Changelings?”

“I don’t know it’s never happened before,” Jasper said with a sigh. “We need to go talk to my Grandmothers. She’s the best chance we have at getting some more information at the moment at least.”

“Right,” Sea Spray said with a sigh. “I don’t like this. It feels like we’re just waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. I’m scared, Jasper…”

“Me too,” Jasper admitted with a sigh. “But that’s why we need to talk to my…” Jasper started to say as they approached the house. However, the door was wide open and their eyes went wide in worry. “Sea Spray…”

“Right,” she said as she levitated the belt up and formed it around her waist again. “I didn’t think I’d be doing this again so soon…”

They headed into the house and quickly started looking around. It wasn’t long before they heard a voice coming from upstairs. Upstairs an old Pegasus mare with faded orange fur and a greying purple mane was staring down a wicked looking Changeling. The tall insectoid mare had a blue carapace and a darker rainbow colored mane.

“Rainbow… what are you doing here?” The old mare demanded. “You and the other Princesses never dared to come here personally before.”

“Don’t call me that, that was the old me,” the Changeling Princess said with a snarl. “And you’re soon going to know it very well. I don’t know why her Majesty didn’t let me do this already. Soon you too will join the Harmony that is the Hive, Scootaloo.”

“I don’t want to be like you, please Rainbow… I know you’re still in there somewhere,” Scootaloo said weakly. “You haven’t been completely overtaken by the Changelings… right?”

“Oh Scootaloo, always hoping for the best,” Prism said with a fanged grin. “The Hive only opened my eyes to the truth. This is who I am, this is who I was meant to be. You will understand soon enough, I promise.”

“You’re nothing more than a monster then…” Scootaloo said. “You’re not my big sister anymore…”

“My dear Scootaloo, I can be so much more when I’m done,” Prism said with a smile. “You’ll regain your youth and get to live a lot longer if you submit. Imagine it imagine if we could get Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom into it too. You will become royalty just like us, the Queen has willed it.”

“I don’t want that, please, just let me go,” Scootaloo said as she struggled a little as Rainbow’s horn started to glow.

“Oh you will want it soon enough,” Prism said. “Soon you will understand the truth of Harmony and want nothing more than to bring everypony into the Hive.”

Her horn glowed as the green cocoon started to form around the old Pegasus mare. Just as it started to reach halfway Prism cried out as she was hit by several energy blasts. She spun around to see Sea Spray standing there in her armor holding a rifle while Jasper ran to pull her grandmother out of the cocoon.

“What the… how’d you use the Change Driver?” Prism said as she bore her fangs at Sea Spray. “Ponies can’t use it!”

“Yeah, well who knows at this point,” Sea said as she raised the rifle again and aimed at Prism. “And I’m not about to let you take any more ponies from this town. This is your last chance to run before it’s too late!”

“You’ve got spunk, pony,” Prism said with a wicked grin. “You will make a fine addition to the Hive. If you come willingly, I may spare this town the conversion camps.”

“Yeah right, you need ponies for food, don’t you?” Sea Spray said as she placed her hands on the rifle and split it apart as it changed into the two tonfas. “I don’t know why this works for me, but I’m not about to let you get away with trying to take away good ponies to make them monsters!”

“Monsters? We look like monsters to you?” Prism said with a laugh as her body began to change. “We are the future of Equestria, it won’t be long before we know how to feed on other races. Then there will be no more need for ponies, and there will only be the Hive.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Sea Spray said with a growl as she ran forward and swung her Tonfas around, catching Prism across the face before she could change into anything. “You’re nothing more than a monster! You and your Hive are not going to win, no matter how hard you try.”

“Really? We’ll see about that now won’t we?” Prism said with a laugh as she fired several energy blasts from her horn at Sea Spray who ran out of the way, hitting her again. “You have learned your new abilities quickly. But I am not about to let you get away with stealing from us.”

She dodged another attack and turned to buck Sea Spray hard in the stomach. While the armor took the brunt of it, it knocked the wind out of her as she fell onto her flanks.

“Now… I’ll take what is mine and make you part of the Hive,” Prism said as she walked closer to Sea Spray. “First you, and then your friends and Scootaloo. You will love being part of the Hive, forever…”

She trotted forward, her horn starting to glow as she wrapped her magic around the belt and started to unbuckle it. Sea Spray tried to turn away as she knew that she was about to be cocooned and brought into the Hive.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried not to be scared. She was terrified at the prospect of becoming a Changeling Drone. Feeding on her friends and loved ones, transforming ponies into Changelings. She screamed in fear and Prism’s eyes went wide as she took a step back.

“What…” Prism said as she stared at Sea Spray. “No, that’s not possible…”

She paused as she raised her head as if listening to something. “By your command,” she said and vanished a burst of magic.

“What just happened?” Sea Spray asked as she powered down and fell back onto all fours as Scootaloo and Jasper came back in. “It’s okay, she’s gone, I guess.”

“That’s a Driver…” Scootaloo said as she eyed the belt. “Where did you two find this?”

“It was at the camp the Changelings were holding us at,” Jasper said. “We think it belonged to Princess Prism Flash, who just showed up here…”

“I was afraid of this,” Scootaloo said as she rubbed her forehead a little. “Come with me, we need to make sure we know what we’re dealing with here. We need to be sure this won’t cause harm to you.”

Sea Spray blinked a little but followed Scootaloo out of the house. She was suddenly very scared, what was Scootaloo suddenly afraid of? She just had to hope that whover it was, it was going to be okay.

00000

“Why would you call me back?” Prism demanded as she stormed into Chrysalis’ throne room in the Central Hive. “I almost had them! I could have reclaimed what she stole from us and brought her into the Hive!”

“Your impetuousness has gotten you into trouble more than once, Princess Prism,” Chrysalis said as she eyed the rainbow-maned Princess. “You should know by now that I do not do things without reason. Now, the others will be here shortly so sit in your seat and be quiet.”

“Yes your majesty,” Prism said as she sat on one of the smaller thrones that surrounded the central throne of the Changeling Queen. “Why are you calling us all here all of a sudden?”

“All will become clear when your fellow Princesses arrive,” Chrysalis said as she leaned back a little before finally there were bursts of magic as 5 more Changelings appeared.

Dusk Shadow was a tall Changeling with a lavender colored carapace. Her mane was slightly frazzled and was a light purple. She glanced at Prism for a moment as she bowed before Chrysalis.

Elusive was an oddity, her body was colored white from horn to tail. Some suggested that she did so to make herself stand out, others suggested it was something to do with her conversion cocoon. Either way, the white Changeling had a purple mane and a more grey carapace. She smiled, her fangs perfectly pointed as she too bowed.

Crab Apple stood next to Elusive. The Princess had a yellow mane and tail with an orange carapace. Unlike her fellow Princesses who saw no need for clothing, Crab Apple had a black hat pulled down over her head with a hole for her horn and others. She bowed a little but gave Elusive a slight smile.

Joy Buzzer bounced a little as she walked to join her fellow Princesses. She had a curled dark pink mane that bounced with each step and a lighter pink carapace. She giggled a little as she bounced once more before bowing. The usually energetic Princess recognizing the importance of this meeting.

Wind Whisper retreated shyly for a moment. The smallest of the Princesses, mostly because she preferred to be smaller than she was, she had a yellow carapace and a pink mane. She bowed but tried to hide her face. Prism looked at the other Princess worriedly for a moment, but there wasn’t anything she could do or say right now.

“You called for us your Majesty?” Dusk asked as she looked up at the Queen. “What would you have us do?”

“Take your seats,” Chrysalis said as the six Changeling Princesses took their seats around the Queen’s throne. Prism reached over and gently placed her hoof on Wind’s as she gave her a nod.

“What did you call us for, my Queen?” Dusk as she looked around at her fellow Princesses. She noticed Prism didn’t look particularly happy and wondered what might have happened. “Did Prism get into trouble again?”

“Shut up,” Prism said with a roll of her eyes.

“Yes she got into trouble, but that’s not the only reason I called you here,” Chrysalis said as she looked at the Princesses for a moment. “Each of you has a duty within the Hive, as does your Hive Children. Elusive, Crab Apple, what is the progress on the love project?”

“We’ve managed to better refine the love shared by our Hives,” Crab Apple said. “We just need a little more time before we can make it as effective as we need it to be for the others.”

“Excellent, keep it up and soon we’ll be able to overcome that limitation that was placed upon us,” Chrysalis said with a satisfied smile. She glanced back towards a drone that had her head bowed for a moment as the Queen gave a wicked grin. “They thought it would restrict us, but soon we will overcome it.”

“Indeed,” Dusk said as she gave a fanged smile. “We will soon ensure that all of Equestria joins the harmony of the Hive.”

“Yeah…” Wind Whisper said softly as she looked at her hooves.

“However we have had a recent complication,” Chrysalis said as she shot a look at Prism. “During one of her forays into the Safe Zone, Prism’s forces lost her Change Driver.”

“Yeah, so? We can just track it down and we’ll have a new Drone in no time,” Joy Buzzer giggled. “Come on Queenie, I’m not really seeing the problem. Just because they got their hooves on a little bit of our gear doesn’t mean we have a problem.”

“It does when they can use it,” Prism said with a roll of her eyes.

“Wait, what?” Dusk asked shocked. “That’s not possible. Ponies shouldn’t be able to use the Change Driver and Shifter. I specifically built them to work with Changeling magic only.”

“Indeed, so you see the problem we have,” Chrysalis said with a sneer. “We must know if this is an anomaly or there is something bigger at play here. If we are looking at a Hybrid, I want to know who birthed them and then I want them converted and the parents punished. No one defies the will of the Hive.”

“Yes your majesty, we will make sure that we figure out who did this,” Wind Whisper said as she bowed her head nervously. “But there hasn’t been any Hybrids in years. Our Drones, they, umm…”

“They wouldn’t do anything like that of course, don’t be silly!” Joy Buzzer finished for her. “They know better than that. Ponies are only good for food at parties and converts, right?”

“Oh… yes, that…” Wind Whisper said quietly. “Everything is going okay other than that, I guess…”

“Yeah, well she stole my Driver and the Scarab Shifter, who’s little freak she is doesn’t change that,” Prism said with a snort. “Dusk, can you make new ones for me? I mean, we kind of need those things for everything.”

“Prism, you know it’s not nearly that simple,” Dusk said as she rubbed her temples a little. “The amount of magic that needs to be used to create the Drivers and Shifters has already been rationed out to create the remaining 5. You’re either going to have to wait or steal back the Driver from her. And even that isn’t a guarantee.”

“Why not?” Chrysalis asked.

“The magic we used to create the Shifters can be, unpredictable,” Dusk said as she shook her head a little. “Given that we had to connect them to the Voice they have some form of autonomy and individuality. If Scarab chose is Hybrid, then there is nothing we can really do about it.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” Crab Apple asked.

“Because we needed them to be able to coordinate properly with the wielder,” Dusk said as she sighed a little and brushed her mane back a little. “They’re part of the Voice of the Hive just like the rest of us. As a result, they work in perfect unison with the wielder without any problem.”

“A Hybrid shouldn’t be part of the Hive though,” Prism said. “So, what exactly are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to find this mare and welcome her into the Hive,” Chrysalis said. “There is no other way at this point. She is a threat to our Harmony if she is going to try and stop us from carrying out our operations in the Safe Zone. Prism, she stole your Driver and stopped your Drones from carrying out their duty. As such it falls to the Cloudsdale Hive to make her see the light.”

“It shall be done,” Prism said with a fanged grin. “This thief won’t know what hit her and she’ll soon know the glory of the Hive.”

“Good, then return to your duties as my Princesses,” Chrysalis said. “The future of the Empire is in our hooves. The last of Ponykind will join us in no time once we are done. We’re not going to let some pony or hybrid or whatever get in our way.”

“By your command,” the Princesses said in unison as they got to their hooves.

Each of them vanished one by one to return to their own Hives. Dusk was the last as she paused a moment. There was something about this that felt, weird to her like it was somehow familiar. She shook her head and then teleported away without further thought.

Chrysalis stroked her chin thoughtfully as she watched the spot where Dusk had stood. Dusk had always acted the strangest of the Princesses, especially since what had happened 24 years ago. She shook her head a little, she’d have to keep an eye on her.

“Solar Wind, Moonbeam, come,” Chrysalis said as the two Drones walked forward and bowed before her.

“Yes, your Majesty?” The drone on the right said as she barely looked up from the floor.

“You two are the most loyal of my Drones, I am sending you to help Princesses Dusk and Prism,” Chrysalis said with a smile. “Solar Wind, you are to go to Dusk and Moonbeam you are to go to Prism. You are to help them and report back to me through the Great Hive. Do you understand?”

“We will do as you command,” Moonbeam said as she nodded a little. “We serve you in all things we do.”

“Then go, and ensure the future of the Hive,” Chrysalis said and they nodded as they vanished into thin air. “You two have made such fine Drones. Let us hope the Princesses carry out their duties as I ordered.”

00000

Sea Spray and Jasper were lead to the Golden Oaks Library and then through a trapdoor hidden in the floorboards. They were lead into a large circular room with several ponies talking to one another. It had computer terminals and other equipment placed haphazardly around the room.

“Scootaloo, Jasper, thank Celestia!” A mare with a white coat and a faded pink and purple mane said as she hugged Scootaloo and Jasper tightly. “We heard something had happened and we expected the worst.”

“It almost was too late, but Sea Spray saved me,” the old Pegasus mare said with a soft smile as she kissed her wife on the lips. After the two older mares broke the kiss she looked at the other ponies gathered “What happened? How did they get past the perimeter?”

“Ma’am, the perimeter hasn’t been breached at all,” a Unicorn stallion with grey light brown fur and a reddish-brown mane that was seated at an ancient computer terminal said as he adjusted his glasses. “And she would have had to cross into the no-fly zone to get at your house.”

“Looks like we’re going to need to upgrade the systems again,” Scootaloo said with a sigh as she moved in between the stallion and a Pegasus mare with the reversed coat from the stallion’s. “Any idea on how they avoided the perimeter?”

“Changelings are adaptive, they could’ve figured out how to work around the field,” the mare said with a shrug. “We’ll do what we can to compensate for this.”

“Let’s just hope we’ll have time,” Scootaloo said with a sigh as she turned back to Sea Spray and Jasper.

“Okay, what is this place?” Sea Spray asked as her eyes finally fell back on the Pegasus mare. “Why didn't’ anypony tell me this was here?”

“Welcome ta tha best-kept secret in tha Safe Zone,” another mare said as an Earth Pony mare with a faded yellow coat and a greying red mane walked into view. “This is where we keep an eye on everythin’ around tha perimeter of Ponyville. If tha Changelings set so much as a hole filled hoof past it we know.”

“Or at least that’s the theory,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “But more importantly, we’re what’s keeping Ponykind alive. Unfortunately, that’s been getting harder and harder lately. But that’s about to change.”

“Uh, how’s that about to change?” Jasper asked. “I mean I knew about all of this already, but that’s a pretty bold claim.”

“Sea Spray, may I see the Driver?” Scootaloo asked as she held her hoof out and everypony around them went silent at that. Sea Spray paused a moment before using her magic to detach the strange belt and levitated it over to Scootaloo. “Curious, this isn’t like the one we designed. They must have reverse engineered it…”

“Well, that explains where the data and prototype went,” Sweetie Belle said with a sigh as she examined it. “Looks like Dusk Shadow’s work to me. No surprise there, only she’d know how to reverse engineer this kind of gear.”

“Hey Grandmas, uh, you mind bringing us into the loop?” Jasper asked.

“Right, sorry,” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. “One of our scientists a few years back was working on something like this to use to fight Changelings. We called it a Driver, it used powerful magic to create armor and weapons that could be used to fight as you saw. Unfortunately, our scientist and all his notes vanished, and it looks like it likely fell into Changeling hooves.”

“Oh… I’m sorry I couldn’t bring better news,” Sea Spray said as she looked down at her hooves.

“Well, this should still work for you, but I’m not sure if it’ll work for anypony else,” Sweetie Belle said as she examined it for a moment. “We should have Tinker look it over, she might be able to make heads or tails of this thing.”

“Ah’ll get it ta her,” Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo handed the Driver over to her. “Is there anything else that came with it?”

“Scarab, they’re going to need you too,” Sea Spray said as the mechanical beetle moved out of her saddlebags. “This thing came with it, I guess it’s how it works.”

“You want to let these lesser ponies poke and prod at me?” The Scarab’s voice said in a way that seemed derisive. “They’re not worthy of that honor. Only Princess Dusk Shadow and her aides are allowed to study me.”

“Look buster, you don’t answer to the Hive, you listen to me,” Sea Spray said as she pointed at the Scarab. “If we’re going to be working together, you’re going to listen to me, got it? I’ll tell them not to get too invasive.”

“Uh, who are you talking to?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at Sea Spray.

“The Scarab, it doesn’t want to be poked and prodded in its words,” Sea said with a shrug. “I don’t think it likes the idea of ponies doing it.”

“This is troubling,” Sweetie whispered to Scootaloo. “If she can hear its voice it might have a hive connection. We don’t know what kind of effect that would have on a pony. It may even leave us vulnerable.”

“I agree, but we still need her help, especially after earlier,” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head as she looked back at Sea Spray. “Sea, we’re not going to pick the Scarab apart. All we need is to run some tests.”

“I still don’t like it,” the Scarab’s voice said.

“They’re not going to trust you if you don’t do it,” Sea Spray whispered. In truth, she didn’t entirely trust the strange Scarab either. It had appeared out of nowhere and offered to help her, but she wasn’t sure if she trusted it yet. “Please, for me?”

“Fine, but they better not expect me to talk to them,” the Scarab said with a sound that if she didn’t know better, Sea would suspect was a snort. “Crazy ponies would be better off just surrendering.”

“Hey, don’t go there,” Sea Spray said. The Scarab just wiggled a little before flying off towards Apple Bloom. “Sorry about that.”

“In the meantime, there is someone you need to meet,” Sweetie said as she turned towards a door and opened it. “Come with me you two.”

Sea and Jasper exchanged a look for a moment before they followed the old Unicorn down the hallway.

00000

“I don’t know why her majesty sent you, everything is under control here,” Prism said to Moonbeam with a snort as she walked past the Spectrum Guard, her personal guard in the Cloudsdale Hive Castle. “Your presence here is hardly necessary.”

“What is she doing here?” A voice echoed in the hive’s voice. Prism glanced back towards a member of the Guard and gave her a nod.

“Her Majesty Queen Chrysalis believes that it is for the best,” Moonbeam said as Prism sat on her throne at the center of the Hive Castle. “You have a tendency to allow your personal feelings to get in the way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Prism said with a sneer. “Have I not brought many ponies into the Hive?”

“Yes, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about…” More voices echoed in the Hive. Prism smirked a little as she watched Moonbeam examine the Drones surrounding them.

“It was hardly necessary for her to send one of her enforcers for such a simple mission,” Prism said.

“You have done well for the Hive, but you allow the matter of your former self’s sister consume your thoughts,” Moonbeam said with a snort. “The only reason that the Queen agreed to it was that it would let you be able to actually focus on your duty to the Hive.”

“I am perfectly focused, she just slipped through my hooves this time,” Prism said. “I will carry out my duties to the Hive. The ponies will rue the day they ever crossed me.”

“Then prove it,” Moonbeam said. “You are after all a Princess of the Hive. You have a duty, now carry it out.”

“I will,” Prism said as she levitated a scroll up and unrolled it. “Let’s see, who would be the best one to send.”

“She should send me,” a voice said over the noise of the Hive. The Princess glanced up towards a Drone that was watching from behind a pillar.

“Drone, you aren’t doing a very good job of hiding,” Prism said with a chuckle as the Drone stepped into view. “If you have something to say then you should say it before your Princess.”

“Yeah, well…” the Drone said as she eyed Moonbeam for a moment. “I am not comfortable speaking in front of one who is not in the Hive.”

Prism smirked a little at Moonbeam’s look of indignation. She was not that surprised, those who belonged to the Great Hive often forgot how interconnected the other Hives were.

“You will not speak to me as if I was some mere Drone, I serve the Great…” Moonbeam started to say before Prism interrupted her.

“Moonbeam, I am a Changeling Princess which places me one rank below Chrysalis,” Prism said as she leaned on her hoof a little. “My Hive is no less important than yours. It would make my Drones more accepting of you if you joined it.”

“Yes, of course,” Moonbeam said as she opened herself up to the Hive around her.

“Welcome sister…”

“Such a powerful mind…”

“We open ourselves to you.”

Moonbeam closed her eyes as she felt the familiar warm embrace of the Hive. She felt the Changelings around her and beyond across the territory that Prism controlled. She smiled a little, so many minds, so many Changelings, living in perfect harmony. From the Spectrum guard down to the worker drones.

“We are one to serve the Hive,” She said as her voice became part of the greater consciousness that was the Cloudsdale Hive. She opened her eyes again, it was a privilege only the elite enjoyed to be able to connect to any Hive at will. “We live in the true Harmony.”

“Welcome to the Cloudsdale Hive,” Prism said as she smiled at Moonbeam. “Now, is that better, Drone Stormwind?”

“Yes your majesty,” Stormwind said as he bowed his head before his Princess. “I ask for another chance at the armored pony. She humiliated me and my Hivemates. I want a chance to correct her mistake.”

Moonbeam could feel the indignation of the Drone. It started to fill her too, this mere pony had dared to defy the will of the Hive and this Drone wanted to bring her into the Hive. It wasn’t out of revenge, it was out of a desire to further the hive’s goals.

“Very well,” Prism said. “Ready yourself, create a new combat form and bring this mare into the Hive. Failure again will have you placed on waste duty. Understood? Incapacitate her and cocoon her and any who are allied with her.”

“Yes My Princess,” Stormwind said as he walked off to get ready for the upcoming fight.

“I was not expecting you to give her another chance,” Moonbeam said as she looked back at the Princess. “Why is that?”

“Because that is his duty, the purpose of the Cloudsdale Hive is to fight for the Empire,” Prism said with a fanged grin. “He will finish his duty as is the will of the Hive. This mare wants to defy the Hive, then we will show her the folly of her actions.”

“As you say,” Moonbeam said as she bowed her head slightly before the Princess. “But I still must serve our Queen’s will. I will keep a close eye on these things.”

Prism made a fanged smile as she looked at Moonbeam. It was amazing how she had evolved over the years from her old life into a loyal enforcer of the Hive. She nodded a little as she got to her hooves.

“Well, you are part of my Hive, albeit temporarily,” she said as she walked next to Moonbeam. “Perhaps I should show you around, show you to your quarters, or mine.”

“My quarters are fine,” Moonbeam said with a roll of her eyes as the two Changelings walked together out of the throne room. “I will not abandon my duty for your, personal pleasure.”

“Oh fine, you’re no fun,” Prism said with a roll of her eyes.

00000

“What’s going on?” Sea Spray asked Jasper as they walked down the hallway together after Sweetie Belle. Her voice had finally broken the silence as they had been walking for a while. “Do you know anything about this?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Jasper whispered back. “I’ve never been here before. My Grandmas always said that I would be allowed down here when the time was right.”

“Yeah, that’s not mysterious at all,” Sea Spray said with a sigh as they kept walking.

“Grandma Sweetie, what’s going on?” Jasper asked as she called up to the Unicorn ahead of them. “Where are we going?”

“There’s someone that will want to meet Sea Spray, and I believe that it’s time for you to learn it as well, Jasper,” Sweetie Belle said as she smiled back at her granddaughter. “Your mother and father knew about this before they…”

Jasper looked down at her hooves for a moment as Sea Spray put her hoof around her friend’s neck for a moment. Jasper’s parents had vanished when she was younger, nopony actually knew what had happened to them. They could have been grabbed by the Changelings or simply vanished.

They weren’t the only ponies to seemingly vanish into thin air. The fact that there wasn’t any sign of them just raised more questions. She had been raised by her grandmothers ever since then.

“What I’m going to show you is the biggest secret the Resistance has,” Sweetie Belle said as she paused in front of a door. “This kind of thing if it got out, might draw the attention of the Princesses even more. You have to promise not to tell a soul.”

“We promise,” Jasper said and Sea Spray nodded in agreement. “But, why tell us now? What’s changed?”

“That Driver changes everything,” Sweetie sighed. “And the Changelings know we have it so that alone is going to cause problems. It’s why we let you come in here, and why we’re telling you what’s going on here.”

She opened the door and they walked inside. Sea Spray blinked a little in surprise when she realized that the room was a large cavern. Sitting at the center of it was a tree that looked like it was made out of crystal. The branches spread out as a strange glow seemed to surround it.

“What is that?” Jasper asked.

“We don’t know all of the details ourselves,” a deep voice said and the two mares gasped out as they took a step back. A large purple dragon with green fins was standing there looking them over. “But now we’re sitting under the Everfree Forest as best we can tell. The cavern leading out closed up and this is what we found years ago.”

“You found, a tree? This is the big secret?” Sea Spray asked confused.

“As far as we can tell, this is known as the Tree of Harmony,” Sweetie said as she moved over next to the Dragon and looked up at the crystal tree. “We don’t know a lot of the details to be honest, but we think its the source of the Elements.”

The Elements of Harmony, the legendary objects wielded by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Well, before they had fallen to the Hive just like most of Equestria had. Every foal in the Safe Zone had grown up hearing the stories of the heroes of Equestria.

And of their fall from grace when Equestria needed them most. It was a cautionary tale to teach foals of the dangers of the Hive. But the Elements themselves, nopony knew what happened to them.

“If the Changelings found out about this and if they had the Elements…” the Dragon said with a sad look on his face. “We don’t know what might happen. They may even be able to convert the rest of Equestria and remove the need to feed on ponies.”

“Wait, but its the Elements of Harmony, right?” Jasper asked. “Why would they work for Changelings like that? They’re not in…”

“Harmony with one another? We don’t know that,” Sweetie said with a shake of her head. “They seem to have something of a telepathic Hive connection to one another. It’s entirely possible that the Elements could react to that as a form of Harmony. It’s kind of hard to get a read on them right now.”

“So… it may still work for them,” Sea Spray said with a fearful look on her face. “So, what do we do? We don’t know where the Elements are and the Changelings haven’t even tried to use them, have they?”

“No, so the question as to where they went remains,” the Dragon said. “Now, what happened that brought you here?”

“The Changelings managed to create a Driver,” Sweetie Belle answered and the Dragon’s eyes went wide. “Spike, we think that it was Dusk who created it.”

“Twilight…” the now named Spike said as the Dragon lowered his head sadly. “I had always held out some hope that she was still in there somewhere. If she’s building such things for the Hive, I’m not so sure anymore.”

“She’s still in there, they all are,” Sweetie said. “We have to hope and pray to whoever’s up there that they are. Otherwise…”

She trailed that thought off for a moment. They all knew what she meant, deep down they all prayed that there was some way to save their loved ones from the Hive. Sweetie had lost her sister, Spike had lost his whole family.

The only pony there that hadn’t lost anypony from their family was Sea Spray. At least, not that she knew of, but she felt the same loss from them.

“If there’s anything left of them, we’ll bring it back out, I hope,” she said softly as she looked at the Tree of Harmony for a long moment. “I’ll do what I can to protect ponies here. That’s about all I can do I guess.”

“In ancient Neighpon, there were warriors that fought to protect their homes from monsters with magical armor,” Sweetie Belle said as she looked up at Spike. “We based the original Driver designs on these stories and the magic they wielded. We had always intended to use their title in their honor.”

She placed her hoof firmly on the younger Unicorn’s shoulder. “Welcome to the Resistance, Kamen Rider.”

00000

“You wanted to see me, Tinker?” Scootaloo asked as she walked into the lab where a grey Unicorn mare with a dark mane was working on the Driver. It was a few hours later and Sea Spray and Jasper were sleeping in the quarters in the Resistance base.

“Yes, I’ve run every test I can on this thing,” Tinker said as she adjusted her glasses a little with her hoof. She didn’t have a happy look on her face as she looked at Scootaloo. “Every test I’ve run on it leads to one conclusion. This doesn’t work on pony magic at all. It was made to work with a very specific type of magic.”

“You’re telling me that it works on Changeling magic?” Scootaloo asked with a frown.

“It looks that way,” Tinker said with a sigh as she rubbed her temples. “A normal pony can’t use this thing at all.”

“Then, how did Sea Spray use it?” Scootaloo asked. “Did you test her blood to see if she’s a Changeling?”

“That’s a question for Vira,” Tinker said as she nodded over to a Zebra mare who looked up. “She’s been working on the blood samples you sent us. Vira, tell her what you’ve found.”

“Okay, but you’re not going to like it,” Vira said with a sigh as she gestured for Scootaloo to walk over to a microscope she was working on. “Take a look, this is a blood sample we took during her last check-up.”

Scootaloo put her eye against the microscope and looked into the microscope’s lens. All she could see was a fairly normal looking sample of red vaguely circular cells. There were also some larger cells that looked clear with bits of blue in them.

“Okay, so? That’s normal Pony blood,” Scootaloo said.

“Right, now this is blood we had on hoof from the last infiltrator we found,” Vira said as she switched the slides. “Now take a look.”

Scootaloo nodded and looked into the microscope again. The blood cells this time was green instead of red. There were also several unusual cells floating around in the blood in addition to the white cells. The strange cells were smaller and had a hard to define the shape of them.

“You see those smaller cells? We call them Shift Cells, they exist everywhere in a Changeling’s body,” Vira said. “They’re what reacts with the magic in order to trigger the transformation. Now, this is the blood sample that we took from Sea Spray today.”

She replaced the slide one last time and Scootaloo fearfully looked into it. The cells this time mostly resembled pony cells, but she started to see very small amounts of Shift Cells. Some of the blood cells had started to take a greenish tint as well, but not fully like the ones she had just seen.

“What does this mean?” Scootaloo asked.

“I’d have to do a full check, but…” Vira said as she looked at Tinker for a moment before speaking again. “Given the fact that she’s able to use it and some reports I’ve read, I don’t think she’s fully a pony.”

“Wait, you’re suggesting that she may be… what?” Scootaloo asked. The realization was dawning on her and she was scared at the very idea of it.

“She’s half-Changeling, it’s the only thing that makes sense,” Vira said with a shake of her head. “And that thing, it’s causing a reaction in her body. We don’t know what’s going to happen if she keeps using it.”

Scootaloo slumped down a little. She had known Sea Spray since she was dropped off at the Ponyville Orphanage as a baby. This was devastating to her more than anything else, and she had no idea how she was going to explain it to her or to Jasper.

“How long until it starts causing any noticeable effects?” She asked.

“Based on these numbers, not for a while,” Vira said. “Are you going to tell her?”

“Honestly? I don’t know yet,” Scootaloo admitted as she examined the blood again for a long moment.

Sea Spray was the only pony they had who could use a Driver right now. If they didn’t have her fight then what was left of Ponykind might as well be wrapped up and given to Chrysalis as a gift.

This was the hardest thing she had ever had to do, but she knew that they didn’t have a choice. She just had to hope that everything would work out in the end.

“We’ll wait to tell her,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “I don’t like it, but given the circumstances, we don’t have a choice in the matter. And may whatever gods are up there have mercy on our souls.”