Adopt-a-Hive

Chapters

2 - Discovery
3 - Planning
4 - Dimensional Theory
5 - Familial Bond
6 - Knowledge
7 - Midnight Flight
8 - Home Hunting
1 - Connection Established

2 - Discovery

I woke up.

Well, I think I did, at least. Normally, I would say that finding myself lying down on an unfamiliar bed in a weird cave-room would mean I'm dreaming, but this feels too real.

And then I raised a hand... or should I say hoof.

Okay, so probably dreaming then. Quickly sitting up and looking down at myself confirms my suspicions. Black chitinous exterior, weird insect wings, and a silver tail and mane... and chest-fluff, there's no way this can't be a dream, right?

The problem is that I'm receiving way too much sensory information; I can feel every part of this new body. The silken sheets flowing across my black hide, the movement of my equine ears, and even the shape of my forked tongue. Never before in a dream have I experienced this much sensation, not even in that lucid dream I had last night.

Sliding off the bed and looking at the room more thoroughly, I see that it's actually pretty sparse. The four-poster, queen-sized bed sat at one end of the room with a storage chest at its foot and the door to the room located at the opposite side. I opened the chest hoping that maybe it might hold some answers, but unfortunately, it was empty.

With nothing left to do but explore this place, I walk over to the door to open it, intent on seeing what else lies in wait.

At that thought, the door glows green and slowly swings open.

Shivers of anxiety rack through me as I suddenly realize something; this weird quadruped form should have felt alien to me, but it didn't. It felt right, like I haven't been living the last thirty years of my life as a human. I didn't stumble like I should have been, seeing as it was the first time walking on all fours, and now I just opened a door with telekinesis like it was second nature.

I stood there for a bit in shock before giving my head a hesitant shake to refocus on the current objective; explore the area now, save the existential freak-out for later. Noticing the door was still lightly glowing and that I could still "feel" it, I mentally let go and the glow faded away, and with some apprehension began walking again.

Continuing through the door and a small cave-like hallway brings me out into a large cathedral throne room, right behind the throne itself. Based on the location and what I'm supposed to be right now, I surmise that I just walked out of the royal quarters.

"So this must be the queen's throne," I say to myself, walking around to its front to get a good look at the rest of the room, then stopping, "And my voice is pitched higher, great. Well, that pretty much confirms that 'Changeling Queen' is not just a title."

Casting my gaze around, the room's theme becomes apparent; everything dark and foreboding with a side helping of green lighting. In the other half of the throne room, a couple of stone conference tables in a 'V'-shape are set facing toward the throne, no doubt for the queen's advisors. Behind them are various doors on the walls at the very back, leading to rooms unknown.

Turning back to get a closer look at the throne, I quietly chuckle at its painfully stereotypical villainous style. Four steps up to a small platform it sits, made of glassy obsidian with thorny formations in random locations; at least the seat itself seems comfy enough, relatively speaking.

"Well, if I'm really the new queen, I might as well take my rightful place," I mutter and make my way up to it, unceremoniously plopping my behind onto its cushionless ass-reservoir, then recline back onto one of the arms.

Haunting silence reigns in the throne room, giving the place a crushing sense of loneliness as I quietly lie there observing nothing in particular. An impression of neglect worms its way into my mind; this grand space was never meant to be so completely lifeless and empty. With closed eyes, I can almost hear the echoes of times long past and the lost voices of ancient changelings chittering through the halls.

...stay here for at least a week, we're going to need a surplus until the queen gets back on her hooves.

Alright, but be careful and stay safe. I know the guard presence hasn't been increased much in the frontier towns, but there's no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Trust me, Skitter, I know what I'm doing; this isn't my first rodeo, after all.

Wait, no, this is happening now.

"Skitter, are you here?" I ask, not sure where their voices were coming from.

My Queen? Oh, you're awake! I'll be there in a moment.

With nothing else to do, I just lean back again and wait. Still trying to determine the whereabouts of the conversation, I suddenly discover I could sense their... presence? Essence? Not coming from any one direction, but just there, being a fact of existence.

Let's see, that one was Skitter, the other one is...

Echo?

Yes, My Queen?

Oh! So that was a type of telepathy, as well as some form of immediate identification. It makes sense, I guess; there was supposed to be a hive-mind, wasn't there?

Realizing she was still waiting for a response, I reply, Sorry, I'm just discovering my inter-dimensional communication abilities.

Ah, I see, Echo says with a hint of amusement, Well, I'm here if you need me.

Right, thanks.

It's at that moment then that Skitter suddenly materializes in front of me at the base of the throne causing me to jump in surprise.

"What⁠–⁠ ...how did you do that? Was that a teleport?"

Skitter raises an eyebrow in confusion and says, "No? I mean, I do know a teleport spell..." She shakes her head, "No, this is the hive mind, anyling can come here whenever they want."

"Wait, this," I wave my hoof about, "is the hive-mind? I figured it was more of a mental thing rather than a location."

She gives me a pointed look, "It is a mental thing, or rather, your mental thing. The changeling queen is the hive-mind. Our connection to you is what allows us to do many things that we need to survive.

She smiles apologetically, "Sorry, I forgot that you're basically a newly hatched grub; we're going to have to teach you everything from the beginning. Luckily, our hive isn't in any immediate danger, so at least we don't have to rush through the process."

I think for a bit, then ask, "So I'm a server host, router, and administrator all at once?"

"...A what?"

"Uh, it's nothing, never mind," I hastily wave away the incoming question; I really didn't want to get into the rabbit hole that is human technology right now. Quickly changing the subject, I say, "So, you're looking a bit different from last night."

Getting up from the throne, I walk down to stand next to her to get a closer observation, "A bit healthier, fewer holes... and a different color?" A light pastel-green back shell seems to have replaced the darker blue shell she used to sport.

Looking at her own back, she says, "Oh, well, each changeling queen has their own unique drone color to signify that one is part of their hive. Our color changed when we joined yours."

With a grin, she continues, "Also, it turns out that you had enough emotional energy to not only power your transformation and leave you topped off, but also to filter down as excess energy to bring the rest of us back from our near-death state."

"Transformation..." I say shakily, looking back down at my body, "Do you mean, then, that I've also become this in real life?"

"Of course," Skitter nods, "Only a changeling queen can have a hive-mind. You'll have formed a chrysa– er, a pod around yourself to facilitate the process; so, when you leave here, don't be afraid that you were kidnapped or something. You'll have to break your way out of it."

My mask of calm that I've been desperately holding onto since waking up slips away as I collapse, putting my head in both my front hooves, "Fucking hell, this is too much, way too much..."

As I grieve about my lost humanity, I hear her walk over and sit down next to me, leaning into my shaking body and giving me a comforting nuzzle, "I, um... don't really know what it's like to be in your hooves or how hard it is to deal with such a sudden and major change like this when you're not used to it, but I just want to say that we all really appreciate what you've done for us. We're all here to help you as much as you need, and I'm not just saying that because of my obligations to you as a drone; it's something we actually want to do now."

I'm not sure if it's my new changeling biology, just like the instincts that allowed me to walk, but her presence actually helped immensely to calm me down. Gradually, I manage to pull myself together and clear the tears from my eyes; reaching over, I pull Skitter into a bear hug, causing her to give off a little squeak. "Thank you," I say quietly, and then, "I'm lucky you guys are so adorable."

Blushing, she giggles, "Don't let Maul hear you say that; he'll go fight four bugbears at once just to try to get his fierce changeling pride back." Hugging me back, she gives a pleasant sigh, "But I could get used to this."

"What, hugs?"

She lightly shakes her head, "A queen that cares about us."

I found myself unable to speak, afraid that I might begin to cry again; instead, I merely hold her closer and let her dwell within the moment. Though, I think I understand now, that my responsibility as their new queen isn't just to exist as some networking hardware, but also to make sure that they're treated well and cared for.

I just hope that I can do right by them and become the leader they deserve.

After a few minutes, Skitter decides to disentangle us and gets up, saying, "Well, I know I said we didn't need to rush anything, but there is one thing we should focus on as soon as possible. If you're using Chrysalis' layout, it should be over here."

"What's that?" I ask, getting up and following after her.

"Teaching you how to transform, of course. A lone changeling in the middle of a foreign city without the ability to disguise is a recipe for disaster, even if you are a queen." She opens one of the doors at the end of the throne room, and we continue on into the corridor. Glowing green gems periodically line the sides of the hall acting as lights.

"Wait," I ask as we go, "I can walk and perform telekinesis through my new instincts, but transforming, the thing changelings are known for, has to be taught to me?"

Looking back, she says, "Almost every living being can walk shortly after birth, and telekinesis is just using magic in its rawest form, something that is also done from an early age. According to legend, changelings originally didn't have the ability to transform, instead, it was actually gifted to us by the Makers. So even though every changeling holds the fire of change within them, it still an unnatural ability; you'd probably be able to figure it out by yourself given enough time, but not by instinct."

We eventually come to a door in the hallway, which Skitter opens up and motions for me to go through, continuing, "I haven't studied the ancient legends all that much, so if you want to know more, you'll have to ask Fractal."

Stepping into the room, its only feature becomes immediately apparent: the left and right walls that are covered in full-length mirrors.

"Welcome to the mirror room, where changelings come to perfect their disguises." She enters in after me and walks up to the closest mirror, "The neat thing about these is that the mirror's image can be flipped by tapping it, thus enabling you to get an easy view of what you look like to others."

As soon as she taps the mirror, the image goes cloudy for a second, then reappears reversed. Skitter, who is to the right of me, appears on the left in the mirror. Now having a full view of what I currently look like, I analyze myself more closely.

The first thing I notice is the ring of silver, fluffy fur encircling my neck, formed in the same fashion as a peytral. My mane and tail are an identical color of silver, with a difference of having very subtle light blue streaks flowing through them, and sprouting from my mane on my forehead is a slightly curved horn, the end barbed like a fish hook.

Two moth-like antennae naturally curl around my head and four moth-like insect wings lie across my back. Fanning out my wings shows that each of them has blue and green "eyes" following the pastel theme in addition to various decorative lines.

Behold, Queen Tyler of the Changelings.

...Nah, that as a name doesn't exactly fit this form, and as much as I like my human name, I really don't want to cringe every time I hear it in this context. So what name instead would I want to register for my account on the changeling-net?

How about...

Mothra

Yeah, it's a little on the nose, but considering my theme, how could I not name myself after my favorite fictional moth? It's not like Toho can send a cease-and-desist to my brain.

Skitter looks up in surprise, "Oh, you identified yourself!"

"Hmm?" I tear my eyes away from the mirror and give her a questioning look.

"Right, new changeling, the quick explanation will do." She says to herself, then to me, "Changelings aren't named by parents like other species do, but rather, young drones must discover their true name. That's essentially what you just did right now."

Scratching my head, I say, "Huh, but all I did was think of a name for myself; it didn't feel like there was anything ritualistic or special about it."

"It's probably different for queens then. Chrysalis never talked about how she got her name, so I don't think anyling knows for sure," She trails off in thought, then after a moment, continues, "Regardless, the end result is the same and you now have a solid identity in the hive-mind. 'Mothra' is a very nice name, by the way, I think it suits you perfectly."

"Uh, thanks," I say, blushing slightly, "we should probably get into the lessons; how much time do we have?"

"Right, technically we have until you decide to leave, but I'm sure you have things that you need to get back to in the waking world."

"Yeah, and I can't go to work looking like this." I sigh, then ask, "So what's the first step?"

Facing back towards the mirror, she says, "The entire process itself is actually decently simple. First, find the fire of change that is within you, embrace it, and use it to change yourself to whatever form you want."

Green fire suddenly engulfs her form before quickly dissipating, leaving a light blue unicorn with a yellow mane. "The real challenge is nailing down the details."

"Yeah, that's awesome," I say in amazement, "but those instructions seem incredibly oversimplified."

She sighs and brings a hoof to her face, "I know, I'm a bad teacher; my real specialty is in spell-crafting. Let's just see how far you get for now."

"Alright, alright," I say, then close my eyes and concentrate.

Find the fire. Right, I can do this.

Fire is hot, so it follows that I just need to find the hottest part of my... soul?

...

Where's the fire?

"Skitter, are we sure that the fire transferred to me when I became a changeling?"

She just sighs and says, "Ugh, this would be so much easier if Echo was here."

"Oh yeah, she's supposed to be a really good love collector, isn't she?" I open my eyes and look back over to Skitter, "That means her skill at transforming should be pretty high, you think she'd be able to show me?"

"Well, she can't be worse than me at teaching, and out of the five of us drones, she's definitely the best with disguises."

I clap my forehooves together, "Cool, I'll just see if she's available then."

Mentally, I call out, Hey Echo, you busy?

Not at the moment, My Queen, how can I help?

Skitter is trying to teach me how to transform, but I'm having some troubles. Think you can come to the mirror room here and help me figure it out?

Of course, I'll be there right away.

"Wait, that won't work, she's–"

Suddenly Echo appears in the room, cutting off Skitter, "I'm here, My Queen," she gives me a quick bow, "it's a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face."

"Likewise," I say, smiling, "You sure got here fast."

Putting a hoof to her chest, she haughtily says, "I live to serve my queen," then, with a sheepish look, "Well, that, and I was just about to turn in for the night, so I wasn't in the middle of anything important."

"Echo, how are you here?" Skitter abruptly asks with a befuddled expression.

Giving her a smug grin, Echo replies, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, aren't you still in Rapid Hills? You should be far outside the range of the hive-mind."

"You haven't noticed? Skitter, we're all outside of the hive-mind's range; you should be wondering how any of us can be here."

It could be said that Skitter blue-screened at that point, going wide-eyed and speechless.

"Mind explaining what you guys are talking about?" I ask Echo, seeing as she was the only one still capable of responding.

Rolling her eyes at Skitter, then looking back at me, "Anyling in the hive can communicate over incredibly large distances, but usually one can only enter the hive-mind if they're within two or three miles of the queen. Since you're not currently in Equestria, it's a mystery how either of us can join you here."

Leaning over conspiratorially, she fake whispers, "I popped in here this morning just to see if I could, that's how I knew it would work."

Finally shaking herself out of her stupor, Skitter yells, "What! Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

Echo giggles at her, "I was just waiting to see how long it would take you to figure it out."

"Wait, this morning?" I interrupt, "How long was I out?"

Sighing, Skitter thinks for a moment, then says, "The transformation itself should have taken about a day. If so, you'd have been sleeping for another 8 hours."

Ah, shit, I probably missed Chris' check-up call. Hopefully he didn't call an ambulance on me. "If that's the case, then we really need to hurry this up so I can inform some people that I'm not dead."

Skitter nods, "Right, Echo, you got this? I need to get into the archives right away so I can start doing some research on the hive-mind."

Echo waves her off, "I'm fine, go on and discover how we're breaking the laws of the universe or whatever."

Skitter turns to me, "My Queen?"

Recognizing that she was asking for dismissal, I nod back, "We're good."

Then with a quick bow, Skitter disappears.

"Alright," Echo finally says, rubbing her forehooves together, "let's see if we can at least get you to novice level."

3 - Planning

I woke up.

Again, but for real this time. I know because I woke up in a changeling pod just like Skitter said I would.

It's actually kind of pleasant, not quite like floating, but like wrapping yourself in the most comfortable blanket you can think of. It would be amazing to sleep in every night; as long as you ignore the fact that the goo and the pod shell were made out of bodily fluids. Granted, it is my fluids, but still...

Bracing my back against the top of the pod, I slowly stand up, forcing a split to appear. I feel the fluids spill out as I end up doing what must look like the strangest Alien impression. Though, standing amongst the pod's remains on top of my goo-covered bed, all I can think about is how much it's going to suck having to clean it all up.

Glancing at the alarm clock on my bedside table shows the time as "6:34 PM". I really hope this didn't throw off my sleep schedule; becoming a night changeling would definitely mess up my work-life balance.

My current priority, however, is taking a nice warm bath to wash off this mess. Jumping off the bed and walking to the bathroom, I find myself unavoidably tracking the goo along the floor. I sigh; just another thing to add to the list.

After first washing the majority of the gunk off with the showerhead, I fill up the tub with enough comfortably hot water to float in. Even though one part of me just wanted to get straight to transforming into my human self so I could get on with things, I realize that this is something I desperately need; a chance to de-stress and mentally unpack.

As I peacefully float there in the heavenly waters, it occurs to me that while the argument could be made that everything that has happened so far is just a dream and that I'm still dreaming, it seems just as effective as arguing that the entire universe is only a simulation. Essentially pointless for my situation. What matters now is how I decide to live in my current reality; accepting the consequences of my previous actions and just moving forward.

...Easier said than done, I suppose.

...

Do I regret accepting the changeling's plea for help? No... not after I've seen the things they've been through and all the hardships they've faced.

Would I have chosen differently had I thought it wasn't a dream and taken it more seriously?

I'll admit, going through the situation in my head, I'm a little surprised to find myself so readily accepting the same offer. The thought processes going into the decision are slightly different and I take little longer to consider my options, but, in the end, it all still comes down to saving multiple lives. Though, I wonder if the knowledge that I currently have is giving me a subconscious bias.

All things considered, it could be worse; thanks to the changeling's abilities, I at least get to continue my life as normal. Relatively speaking, of course, with the added responsibilities of a changeling queen. Speaking of, I need to remember to ask for a full rundown of changeling queen-specific duties.

...

I grab a baseball-sized sphere of water in my magic field and levitate it just above the surface.

It's fascinating to me that it's even possible for changeling magic to exist in this world. Does it mean that magic is already here and humanity just hasn't figured out how to find it? Or maybe the mages of the legends past were actually real and it's only become a forgotten science. The implications are staggering.

How much has my decision changed not only my life, but the future of the world itself?

And on that note, I've officially dwelled too deeply in the bath of self reflection; time to get a move on.

After draining the bath and drying off with a nearby towel, I prop myself up onto the sink to get a better look at myself in the mirror. I don't appear any different than I did in the hive-mind, which brings up the interesting question of how my mental construct knew how to look that way; though, that might just be a changeling thing.

Closing my eyes, I once again go through Echo's lesson about transforming.

"You're being too visually literal about it. Your fire isn't in any specific location nor is it something you see; save the visualization for whatever your target form is. The fire is your essence, something that is suffused through your entire being. You need to feel it."

I wasn't sure if it was going work in the real world as well as it did in the hive-mind, but fortunately, just like my appearance, it was a perfect emulation. Feeling my fire, I pictured my human self and willed the change to happen.

The ever-consuming flames that structure my soul rage to life, break the barriers into the physical world, and quickly cover the entirety of my chitinous form. Instead of burning me to ash, the magical fire reforms my body into that which was commanded. Its job finished, the fires recede, and, as soon as it had begun, it had also ended.

I could already feel that I was successful, but looking at my reflection confirms it.

Well, mostly. I think my hair was a couple inches shorter yesterday, and my skin is probably too immaculate. I'm also naked, but, according to Echo, transforming parts of the body into clothing is extremely hard to pull off convincingly. Only the most skilled changelings bother with it, and even then only in emergencies.

Shrugging, "Well, good enough for me," I say to myself, then facepalming, "Dammit, forgot the voice." And after a few more changes and tests, got my voice to roughly the correct pitch.

All in all, I was in a great mood; I took a nice bath, completed my first physical transformation, and didn't feel like my world was crumbling around me anymore.

As I walked into my bedroom to get some fresh clothes, my good mood dropped instantly.

"Fuck, I hope I have enough detergent for this."

"Spot, out damned spot," I mutter, scrubbing the carpet furiously.

Finally giving up, I toss the brush in the cleaning bucket and lie down on the floor in defeat. From my angle, I can see the clock displaying "7:41 PM". A quick calculation says I've been at this for around a half an hour.

It's official, changeling goo stains like a bitch. Thankfully, the carpet's natural color is white, so bleach might be an option; though I'm going to have to buy some new bed sheets. I make a mental note to add sheets and bleach to the shopping list, I'll need to stop by the store next time I drive home from work.

...Wait, work?

Cursing, I scramble up to where I put my phone next to my clock. A quick check of the notifications shows that Chris did indeed call this morning when I was asleep. With a sigh, I send off a quick text.

—(Hey, sorry I missed your call earlier, I was out of it for most of the day)

I didn't really expect an immediate reply, but he must not have been busy since I received a response a few seconds later.

(I was getting a little worried, you ok?)
—(I'm actually feeling better now, thanks, I think all I needed was some rest)
(Thats good, you got that laptop right?)
(if you feel up to working tomorrow, we're really cutting it close on the deadline and could use ur help)
—(yeah, I was planning on it)
(alright, ty)

Well, that's that, I suppose. Tomorrow is planned out then, and I don't have any more immediate issues to take care of at the moment. I could go to the store now, but I don't know if I'm ready to face the world yet. Maybe I'll turn on my computer and play some–

My Queen?

Oh, someone new? This one is... Maul?

I apologize for the sudden interruption, but, due to recent events, I highly recommend that we meet to discuss the hive's safety

Oh boy, that sounds pretty serious; I guess I know what I'm doing now.

Alright, where should I head?

It would be best if we convene in the hive-mind map chamber so I can show you everything

Sounds good, be there in a second

Now it's my turn to show up somewhere; ever since seeing Skitter and Echo materialize, I've been wondering if I could pop in wherever I want, too. Considering that I still don't know the layout of the place and that I've only been to a couple rooms so far, I'm not holding my breath.

Remembering the emphasis on energy conservation in Echo's lesson, I strip out of my clothes and revert back into a changeling before jumping onto the bed.

"Unless you're out on a mission or sleeping with a target for love harvesting, it's generally a bad idea to be constantly disguised when it's not necessary. While the energy drain is usually negligible, you'll never know when you might need that energy for a future emergency."

Not that I mind all that much, personally, I'm just happy that I can switch whenever I want.

Now, how to get to the map room without knowing where it is. Maybe I can use Maul as a homing beacon?

Mentally feeling out for the presence of my changelings, I'm surprised to find that Maul's essence actually does have a... well, I'm not sure I'd call it a direction, but more of a quantifiable location. The essences of Skitter, Echo, and Fractal don't currently have this quality, but Grift's does, and I think he's in the same area as Maul.

With that information on hand, I focus on them and will myself inward...

I appear in a room in front of a low circular table containing shallow impressions that I quickly see forms a fairly detailed map. Maul and Grift stand to my right studying the table and discussing some issue.

"Yes, I did it!" I give a small cheer at my accomplishment, having been half expecting to fail at getting here.

"–ther choice than to–Ah, My Queen, good evening," Maul says, interrupting his conversation with Grift and giving me a small bow.

Grift, having been startled by my appearance, immediately prostrates himself with the deepest bow he can muster, stuttering out, "M-My Queen!"

Caught off guard by his intensity, I clear my throat and say, "Uh, at ease, Grift; no need to be so formal for me."

"Yes, My Queen," he says, getting back up, the tension only slightly leaving his body.

In the ensuing silence, I'm struck by the differences in their appearances when compared to each other. While Grift seemed pretty standard for a changeling, maybe a little bigger than Skitter or Echo and bit rough around the edges, Maul was something else.

Standing at least a head and a half taller than Grift—or a little bit higher than my shoulder—everything about him screamed "Changeling Warrior". Obviously having been in more fights than I could possibly guess, his scars, while noticeably fewer than what had been before receiving my energy fall-off, cover his body in numerous places. One particularly old-looking scar went right through where his left wing was once located, it being all the more impressive when I realize that he's been able to survive for so long as a fighter despite such a handicap.

Finally ending the awkward break, Maul absentmindedly flicks his remaining wing and says, "So, I apologize that our first meeting couldn't be about more pleasant topics, but we have much to discuss about the future threats to our hive."

"Yes, that would be something that would be better discussed sooner than later, wouldn't it. How dire is the situation?"

He shifts uncomfortably on his hooves, "We... don't really know. Much of the common knowledge that could shed light on our current issues was lost with the death of the rest of the hive. It's true we have the archive, but because writing materials are difficult to come by out here, nor were they ever a priority on supply runs, only unconventional information was ever allowed to be documented and stored."

Cringing, I say, "That's extremely unfortunate. Does that mean we don't know what enemies or monsters are out there that could possibly attack the hive?"

"Actually, we do; as a member of the guard, I'm already aware of all the physical threats that we usually face, like cave crawlers or bugbears. The problem lies in that my knowledge is based on one-on-one or small group combat; with our currently limited numbers, a loss is all but guaranteed if we get swarmed."

Turning, he taps a hoof on the table causing the marks to move, appearing as a map that's zooming out. When it finally stops, he says, "This is a map of the hive, and these," he taps the table again, making multiple small green lights show up on the outer edges surrounding the hive, "are warding spell-stones placed in every exiting tunnel connected to Equestria's various cave systems. It's thanks to these enchantments that we aren't continuously attacked through these tunnels, either by pests or by monsters."

I take a moment to observe the map and light placements before asking, "So what's the issue?"

"Enchanted gems like these need to be periodically maintained, otherwise, they'll slowly lose effectiveness over time before ultimately failing altogether. Since we don't know when they'll fail, and because the way to maintain these gems was common knowledge amongst the enchanters..." he trails off.

"Everything could fail tomorrow and we don't know how to fix it." I say, finishing his thought, then continuing, "Why not just collapse the tunnels so nothing can get in?"

"That's what we had to do on these two here after their wards failed earlier today," he says, pointing to said tunnels on the map, "and, yes, doing so mitigates the problem, but we're severely crippling ourselves at the same time." Once more, he taps the table and the map zooms out to a country-wide view with multiple glowing lines spread out from the hive.

"These are the cave systems that allow us to travel to and from Equestria without the worry of being caught; collapsing all the tunnels would leave us with only above-ground roads to traverse, putting heavy risk on any changelings that need to go there."

"So it's a 'fucked if we do, fucked if we don't' situation then," I sigh while going over other potential options in my head.

"But Fractal said she would try to figure out how they worked," Grift pipes up unexpectedly, then turns to me, "She's an enchanter and the one who created the spell-stones for forming the new hive." Then, after a moment, he blanches as if realizing something and quickly bows, saying "I'm sorry for interrupting, My Queen, it won't happen again."

Giving him a concerned look, I say, "Please, you don't have to that; I'm not Chrysalis and I'm not going to punish you or anything."

Slowly, he gets back up and looks away in embarrassment, "Thank you, My Queen."

Nodding, then giving my attention back to Maul, I ask, "What do you think, can Fractal do it?"

"I think that planning on her success is a risky gamble," he says with a grim look, "She's definitely talented, but, as she had only just finished basic enchantment training by the time we were all sent out for the invasion, she never had the chance to learn the ward recipe. As it is, we were miraculously lucky that we managed to find the hive-transference recipe in the archives."

"Hmm," I went quiet in thought. There's really not a lot of options here, and I have to keep the hive's safety in mind above all else, right? But Echo is still out there, and if we close everything up right away, it might put her at risk. Maybe drawing this out is the best tactic here.

Looking up from the table, I say to them, "For now, let's stick to blocking off tunnels as the enchantments fail. Fractal is the only one of you I haven't met yet, so I'll have to get with her soon and get her view on this. Hopefully, she'll be able to discover the enchantments from the remaining gems and we can get them back to full charge.

"If worse comes to worst, we'll just have to be better safe than sorry and have everything closed up for a while," I finish, then asking Maul directly, "In the event that we do come up with a solution, the tunnels could just be cleared out, right?"

He brings a hoof up to his chin, thinks, then says, "With enough changelings to work with, yes; but with the number we have right now, it would take weeks of non-stop labor to clean out every tunnel. As such, we could do it if it was absolutely necessary, but I'd recommend that we wait on it until you arrive and we have a bigger population."

Wait, hold the phone, "Until I... arrive? To the hive?"

"Well, yes," he says, pausing, then with a worried look, adds, "You are coming, right? The queen should be with the hive."

Furrowing my brow in confusion, I say, "I mean, I don't know how I could; I'm on a different world, after all, probably even a different universe."

Both of them glance at each other with dumbfounded looks, trying to make sense of what I said. Grift mutters, "...a what?", and Maul looks back and asks, "You're not just in a country beyond Equestria's borders?"

"That's not technically a wrong assumption, but—wait, you don't know..." I suddenly realize, then wonder, "Does Skitter not know?"

Both of them are just silent, not sure what to say.

"Oh..." I finally concede, "I'm going to have to call together a hive meeting, aren't I?"

4 - Dimensional Theory

Maul, Grift, and I arrive at the throne room to wait for Skitter and Fractal. Unfortunately, Echo was already asleep for the night, and I didn't want to bother her considering that she was "on the job", as it were.

Taking their seats at one of the conference tables, Maul began talking to Grift about the schedule he's come up with for them for patrolling the hive's remaining exit tunnels.

Ignoring them for the moment, I walk up to the base of the throne feeling slightly conflicted. I know I'm queen now, so it's where I'm supposed to sit, but even so, it feels wrong. I've already decided to commit myself to being everything that Chrysalis wasn't for the hive, and a simple chair won't change that; in the end, though, it's still a painful reminder of the past, and, as shown by Grift's first reaction to me, some wounds haven't healed.

Glaring at the throne as if it contained the ghost of Chrysalis itself, I back away and turn around, grabbing a free chair and sitting down across from the other two changelings.

Grift looks over in surprise, saying, "My Queen, you're sitting here?," then quickly stuttering out, "N-not that I'm saying—"

I cut him off by raising a hoof and saying, "There are some things that I've decided to do differently as queen compared to previous regents; in this case, it's not treating everyon–everyling below me like dirt. I don't want to be feared like that, and the throne radiates those intentions."

I give it a side glance of indignation, "In fact, I wish I could get rid of it."

They both went silent at this, Maul giving me an unreadable look and Grift staring at me in awe.

Finally, Maul says, "I'm fairly certain you can, I know Chrysalis had added and removed rooms before."

"Really? I guess it would make sense if I could, this is in my head, after all," I say, looking back at it. I briefly try some mental experiments, willing it to vanish, but nothing happens.

Begone, chair!, I think at it with a command.

...No dice.

Maybe I'm thinking about it in the wrong way, similar to when I was having trouble with learning to transform.

Closing my eyes, I instead mentally "felt" the area around me. Slowly, enough at first that I thought I might have been just imagining it, a layout began to form in my mind. Focusing on the throne room, I feel for the throne itself, and, once it seems like I have it, remove it from the mind-map.

Hearing Grift softly gasp from behind me, I open my eyes back up and see that it had actually worked; the throne has disappeared and the space it covered is now just a flat floor.

"Oh yeah," I say to myself, grinning, "I'm going to enjoy messing with this." Base-builder game mechanics always were my favorite parts of the games that allowed such customization.

Already thinking furiously of the possibilities, I manage to hold myself back from doing anything drastic and instead just create a round wooden table surrounded by soft cushions where the throne used to be. When there's more time and less important things to worry about, I am so making some thorough changes to this place.

"Come on, let's meet over here instead," I say, motioning for them to follow, "It sure beats sitting on those hard rocks, anyway."

Maul made to move right away, but Grift just sits there in stunned silence until Maul nudges him out of his stupor.

Having just taken a seat at the new table myself, I couldn't help but giggle at Grift's antics as he cautiously eyes the new cushions like they were going to fly away if startled. When he finally sits down, though, a sigh of relief escapes his lips and a look of absolute contentment washes across his features.

Good timing too, for as soon as we all settle down at the new table, Skitter and Fractal materialize nearby, the former appearing deep in thought.

"Where's the throne?" Fractal asks, looking around the room in confusion, "Is it gone?"

The question brings Skitter out of her musing, "Hmm? Oh, you're right, it's not here," then upon noticing us at the new table, "Good evening, My Queen, doing a little redecorating?"

"You could say that," I say, "and there's more to come in the future."

While Skitter walks over to an empty cushion, Fractal quickly bounds over to me and bows, "Hello, My Queen! My name is Fractal." Looking back up, she smiles.

Matching her smile with my own, I say, "Hey, Fractal, it's nice to finally meet you. Maul tells me that you're studying the wards in the outer tunnels; is that going well?"

Her face scrunches up in a pout, "I'm making some progress, but it's slow work," then with a look of determination, "I know that I'll be able to crack it eventually though. It's supposed to be one of the easier enchantments I was meant to learn, anyway."

"That's good, I'd like to talk to you about that at some point in the next couple of days, but for now, we have other things to discuss as a hive. Feel free to take whatever seat."

"Um..." she hesitates, "I was wondering..."

"What's that?" I ask, giving her a curious look.

"Can I hug you?", she finishes, gazing up at me adorably.

Letting out a small laugh, I reply, "Well, I can't say no to a face like that; sure, why not?" I hold out a forehoof and motion for her, and, with a happy squeak, she jumps into my hug.

Glancing slightly at the others, I see Maul sitting there as his usual stoic self with no reaction; though, I'm pretty sure I can see the beginning of a small smile tugging at his lips. Grift, well... I think he's checked out for the night if that dumbfounded stare is anything to go by.

Skitter, however, is trying to be incredibly interested in the wall over there, but the embarrassed blush covering most of her face betrays her true thoughts. Yeah, I think I know where this all started.

"Skitter was totally right," Fractal said quietly, "this feels amazing."

Called it.

She stayed there for a few more moments until finally disengaging with a grin and a "Thank you!", followed by flying over the table and sitting next to Skitter.

Clearing my throat, I start, "Now, Echo has currently turned in for the night, and I didn't want to bother her while she's out of the hive. I would have waited until tomorrow, but I'm going to be busy all day then; and really, this should be cleared up as soon as possible. One of you can get her up to speed later.

"So, Skitter, you were researching in the archives about the hive-mind and why it currently has a much larger range than normal?"

Nodding in confirmation, she says, "Yes, I've never had any reason to research it before now, so I was hoping there might be an easy answer for it, but..." she frowns, continuing, "it's been exceedingly difficult to find any relevant information about it in the archives."

"Well, sorry about this, but I'm about to make it even harder for you," I say, then clarifying before she can respond, "I'm not on your world."

"What?" she asks with wide-eyed confusion, "You're not on Equis?"

"That must be the name of your planet? Then, yes, I'm on a planet called Earth, and the only sapient species here is humanity." I say, then smirk, "Although, I guess that's not entirely true now because of me.

"And before you ask, yes, I'm completely sure. We have mapped out every landmass and have even been to space to confirm that; there's no continent of ponies here."

"But how is that possible?," she asks with a slightly distressed look, "I couldn't have gone that far in the dream realm before I found you."

"We have an alien queen," Fractal says to herself quietly with a grin, "that's awesome."

Maul looks over to Skitter and says, "Maybe the dream realm doesn't treat distance the same way we thought it does."

"Maybe, and for all we know, the distance might not even be a valid factor," she starts massaging her head with her hooves, "we know next to nothing about the dream realm, really; the scroll only told us how to get there to use the transference spell-stones."

Grift raises a hoof and asks, "So what does this all mean?"

"I already had a theory," I reply, "that rather than just being on different planets, we are in two different universes that happen to be parallel and share the same dream space. Building on that, though, if in the case that distance is a factor in the dream realm, maybe the distance between our universes is just very short."

Skitter looks up at me with a thoughtful expression, "I suppose, the theory seems sound," then sighs with a frown, "but every theory that we could come up with is just conjecture right now, at least until we can learn more, and I have the feeling that our small archive isn't going to hold the answer.

"In the end, what this means," she says, looking over to Grift, "is that our hive isn't going to have the physical presence of a queen for the foreseeable future."

The group mulls over that information for a bit before Fractal adds, "Well, at least we have a queen and a hive-mind now, right? It's more than what we could've said a week ago."

"That's true, and we should be thankful and not take that for granted," Skitter concedes, "But, regardless..."

Turning to me, she asks, "My Queen, with your permission, I'd like to go on a research trip to the pony city of Manehattan."

"What's in Manehatten?" I ask. Odd, that sounds suspiciously similar to Manhattan...

"It holds Equestria's second-largest library; if I want to find any answers, right now it's the best possible place to do so," she explains, "Of course, the absolute largest is in Canterlot, but I won't be going there for obvious reasons."

"Right," I say in agreement, "I have no problem with that, and it definitely sounds like a good idea. When you actually get there and start the research, I'd also like you to report your findings every night."

"Thank you, My Queen. I'll head out tomorrow after I go through the archives one last time in case I missed anything."

"Don't forget," Maul interjects, "You might have to travel above-ground on your way back, depending on how the wards are coming along."

She thinks for a moment, then says, "I won't be bringing back anything more than my notes, so that shouldn't be a big issue."

A contemplative silence follows, as no one else had anything more to say on the matter, giving me some time to start sorting my thoughts out—

"So, are we going to have a second hive on your world, then?" Fractal suddenly asks me, tilting her head.

"Uh...what?" I manage to stumble out, caught off-guard by her question.

"If you aren't going to be here any time soon, that means all the new changelings will be born over there, and they've got to have a hive to grow up in." Fractal finishes, oblivious to my growing discomfort.

"New changelings... probably wouldn't be a good idea at the moment," I nervously chuckle, guessing at what she's getting at, "I mean, I'm in the middle of a big city, there's not really any safe places to plop down a hive, heh.

"And," I hastily continue, a thought occurring to me, "I'm the only changeling here, so it's not like it's really possible to have any new changelings." That seems like a good enough excuse—

"Oh, changelings don't reproduce through insemination," Skitter brings up, "instead, similar to many insect species, the queen lays all the eggs to populate the hive."

"I see, how... convenient," I say with a barely contained grimace.

"Though technically," she adds, "drones can lay eggs too, but we're not really built for that; doing so more than once is very damaging to the body."

"Ouch," I wince, "I can see why you'd need a queen, then."

"Among other reasons..." she nods, then continues, "We will need to sort out the secondary-hive issue sooner rather than later because, for you, laying eggs isn't completely voluntary. As a queen, the natural processes of your body will notice the absence of drones and will work to fix that."

"Seriously?" I whine, putting my head in my hooves, "Can I at least delay it somehow?"

"I'm pretty sure that abstaining from consuming emotions will make the body prioritize energy preservation, but," she holds up her hole-riddled leg, "having your fire literally eat your limbs to sustain it is not a pleasurable experience; I wouldn't recommend it."

"Damn..." I mutter as I look down at my own smooth legs and imagine them also covered in holes, "So what's the limit; how many eggs do I have to lay before it's no longer automatic?"

"I don't know," she slowly says, thinking, "Chrysalis was always on a schedule of four to five eggs every other week, but I think that was intentional for increasing the size of the invasion force."

Maul growls under his breath, "And that's where most of the energy reserves always went."

"So what am I supposed to do? I live in a small, one-bedroom apartment that's in a highly-populated area while currently holding a nine-to-five job—I assume they'll need constant attention just like any other children, and it's literally just me here alone, can't hire a nanny—I'd have to beg my boss to let me work from home permanently, something that he's never really liked to allow outside of emergencies, or I'd have to quit. Sure, I have a decent amount in savings, but that's not going to last long with how much the average rent is in this area, so inevitably I'd have to move anyway—Holy Shit, the process of moving out is already a nightmare within itself, now I have to throw in the impossible task of smuggling out a bunch of young changelings without anyone noticing. Then my family is going to wonder why I uprooted my life, ended my career, and disappeared while giving no warning—"

My frantic rant was suddenly cut off as I felt Fractal gently hug me from the side; I must have not noticed her move when I was distracted by the impending doom of being a parent. I sigh, slowly coming back from the madness I had been waging upon myself and leaning into her hug, returning it.

"You're not alone," she quietly says, "not anymore."

Holding back tears, I reply, "Thank you."

We sit there like that for a while, until I remember that everyling is still here. Turning to them with an embarrassed look, I'm met with a mixture of concern and sadness.

Clearing my throat, I say, "Sorry—I think I'll just hold off on that for as long as I can, at least until I start getting... holes; It's probably for the best, anyway."

Skitter replies with a small smile, "Very well; and don't worry, we will figure this out together, no matter what. Perhaps I'll even get lucky and find everything we need in a couple of days of research."

I let out a sharp laugh, "Yeah, maybe, that would be nice," then, looking around to each of them, continue, "Anyway, let's call it a night here. I know I just slept the day away in a pod, but I need to make sure I don't mess up my sleep schedule for work."

"Very well, My Queen, and goodnight," Maul says with a small bow, "As always, we'll be here if you have need of us."

"Uh, same..." Grift says, mirroring him. They both get up and then disappear from the hive-mind.

"Me too," Skitter says with a chuckle, "I've got a long day of travel tomorrow, so I'll only be able to talk outside of the hive-mind then."

"Alright," I nod to her, "Sleep well, Skitter."

Thank you, My Queen; you as well," she says, then disappears.

It was then I realize that I was still holding on to Fractal like a teddy bear, and I mutter out, "S-so, um, I suppose I ought to get to bed, and I'm sure you need to also."

Fractal lets out a hum of agreement, but even so, neither of us moves. She then looks up and asks, "Would you like to have me for company tonight?"

My first reaction is to just say no thanks, but after I consider it more, I feel like sharing the night with someone would do me some good. It's something I never get to do, really.

"Actually, I think I'd like that; and, here..." I finally let her go and face toward a wall. Activating my editing-sense, I add a small den in the throne room that dips down a little with a half of it forming a bubble into the wall itself.

As we walk over to it, I say, "This is now the hive's cuddle lounge; its purpose, I think, is self-explanatory."

Giggling, she says, "I'm sure it'll be a popular place to hang out if those beds are as soft as they look." Jumping onto one of the giant cushions, she sighs in contentment.

I make my way down and lay next to her, slightly proud of how nice I managed to make the area feel. She rolls over into my embrace and, for the den's namesake, cuddles in the pleasant silence. A pang of longing hits me as I recognize how much I've always wanted this; to just merely bask in the presence of someone you care for and who cares for you in turn. It's a little jarring to acknowledge that I've only known them all for such a short period of time, but, despite that fact, the comfort I feel when I'm with them makes it all worth it, I think.

What an odd thing it is that my reality has become.

5 - Familial Bond

DING

I jump slightly in surprise at the unexpected noise, having been fully engrossed in my coding work. Looking around in confusion, I finally see the blinking light on my phone that indicates that I have a notification. A quick check shows that I had just gotten a text from my sister.

/Hey Ty, work has me in your neck of the woods for today, want to meet up at the usual place tonight?/

Oh, that's a nice surprise, it's been a while since I've seen her last; I've been meaning to catch up with her lately.

\Hey Bri, sounds great! will probably be working late tonight though\

\but I'll be able to make it there by 6:30 if that works for you\

/Thats fine, I'll do some quick shopping before hand then/

\cool, see you there\

/👍/

I look over at the clock to see the current time as "1:42 PM". Huh, I guess I worked right through lunch then; usually I'd have noticed because I'd be really hungry by now, but the odd thing is that I'm not. Must be my new changeling biology and whatnot with different eating habits.

Although, am I not physically human when I'm transformed like this? It sure feels like I am, but it could be that it's just a surface change.

Actually, that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask.

Hey Skitter, you available to answer a quick question?

Seeing as I have about another two hours of boring travel to go until I reach Manehatten, nothing would please me more.

Well, alright, I respond with a laugh, I just wanted to ask before I did anything stupid, are there any common foods that are poisonous or deadly to changelings that I should know to avoid?

Food? No, nothing like that should be able to harm you. In fact, we're immune to poisonous stuff in general since anything we consume just turns into resin anyway. Do note, though, that if you get poisoned while transformed, you'll have a mimicked reaction that's triggered by your transformation magic with the purpose of keeping your disguise consistent.

Hmm, I think for a moment, then ask, What's resin?

A mucus-like substance we naturally produce that's very versatile. It's mainly used for hive construction by itself, but many more options become available when combined with magic.

So we don't need to eat anything to survive, just subsisting off emotions is enough?

Non-changeling emotions, but yes. That and water is really all we need.

Interesting, I say, mulling over her words, Alright then, thanks Skitter.

Happy to help, My Queen.

I glance back at my computer, debating on what to do next. I could just continue working, there's a lot of slack to pick up, after all, but Chris normally gets mad when employees skips their breaks, not wanting them to burn out early just because they feel they need to show initiative.

However, Chris isn't here... and one skipped break isn't going to hurt me.

I sigh; better to savor the moments I have left with this work before I inevitably have to quit to focus on the hive.

Thankfully, I managed to finish work with enough time left to drive to the appointed destination, Caroline's Corner Cafe; the usual hangout spot that Brianna and I go to whenever she's in town. She had actually discovered this out-of-the-way place accidentally when she got lost trying to find my apartment to help me move in. It's been our favorite stop ever since she first dragged me there to show me how nice it was.

As I enter the cafe, I suddenly get a weird taste of something sweet like fresh fruit, albeit as a non-physical sensation; like experiencing the memory of a flavor, but far more vivid. At the front counter, the aforementioned Caroline waves to me and says with a smile, "Good evening Tyler! The usual, I presume?"

I could somehow tell that the taste was coming from her direction, and I quickly deduce that I was feeling her emotions with whatever it is that changelings use to do so. If I had to guess by the flavor and her demeanor, I would say it was the emotion of happiness.

Hesitantly smiling back, I answer, "Yes, thank you," then, quickly glancing around, I find my sister sitting at a booth by a window.

As I walk over, Brianna brushes aside her wavy auburn hair and looks up, hearing my approach. Moving to stand up, she grins and says, "Hey Ty! Glad to see that your boss didn't kill you with the overtime."

Laughing, I reply, "This is nothing out of the ordinary for my industry, so I'm used to it."

Embracing each other in a hug, I taste love for the first time. A pleasant warmth spreads through me as I'm practically force-fed this energy that tastes like... the best flavor. There is no comparable food for this. Really, the only suitable comparison I can draw up is just like how blue Gatorade tastes like the color blue, love tastes like the peak of flavors, and it's all downhill from here.

"You sure bro? You seem pretty out of it right now," she says with a giggle after sitting back down.

Shaking myself from my food coma, I sheepishly reply, "Having a ten-hour workday always leaves me a little tired, but I'm fine," then, sitting down at the other side of the booth, I ask, "So how about your work, anything new?"

Leaning back and looking up at the ceiling, she sighs, "Not really. Even in the world of tech consulting where I get new clients relatively often, everything just seems to blur together," looking back at me, she quickly continues, "Don't get me wrong, I still love the work; but, you know me, always hoping for something interesting to happen."

I chuckle, remembering her passion for science-fiction, "Well, considering that 'interesting' for you is something like the A.I. Singularity or making first-contact with aliens..."

Waving me off, she scoffs, "Yeah, yeah, 'Don't hold your breath', I get it; we've had this conversation before."

I grin, realizing that I could finally make her wishes come true, but rather than entertain that thought for now, I change the conversation topic to something I'd prefer to just get over with, like ripping off a band-aid, "So... have you talked to mom and dad recently?"

Grimacing, she hesitantly says, "Yeah, um... Sorry, Ty, they're still... sore about you coming out to them," At the same time, I taste something new coming from her, something mellow and slightly bitter; sadness, maybe? Pity?

I sigh, "I had hoped that me being bi might have been more palatable for them compared to the alternatives, but I guess I'm not really surprised, knowing them. Interesting how something as simple as that can ruin a relationship so badly."

She reaches across the table and holds my hand comfortingly, saying, "And absolutely none of that is your fault; it's on them for having shitty beliefs and for not accepting you for who you are."

"Yeah, I know...", I reply wistfully while gazing out the window. To be honest, I hadn't really meant to tell them about it in the first place; it just kind of came up in conversation, and I got tired of having to lie about myself. It seems, though, that some things are better left unsaid to those who can't handle the truth.

I look at my sister and smile, and she does so in return. I'm incredibly fortunate to have her in my life, she's always supported me and has made it clear that I can trust her with anything.

"Here are your shakes, dears," I hear Caroline say as she walks over to our booth, setting our drinks down in front of us, "if you need anything else, give me a holler!"

"Thanks, Carol," Bri says, grabbing her own.

Caroline walks back to the front counter, and I look back down to the table and take my shake. Cookies-n-Cream, the objectively best flavor, of course.

Giving it a taste, I thankfully realize that my senses in that area haven't changed; well, in this form at least. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't enjoy some of my favorite foods anymore.

"So, changing the subject from our stupid parents, what's new with you these days?" Bri inquired.

"Oh, uh... nothing..." I start, but then hesitantly begin to reconsider; should I tell her?

After all, if there was anyone I would tell about something like this, it would be her. We did everything together growing up and always had each other's backs when either of us got into trouble.

I'm an alien on my home planet, and, despite the fact that I can talk to my hive whenever I want, I'm still ultimately alone here. If anything goes wrong, it'll just be me against the world. To have even only one person on my side would be worth it, more so if it was my sister.

But, how would she react?

"Hmm, I don't know... seems to me like there might be something on your mind," she says, eyeing me with a smirk, "Let me guess, Mr. 'I'm-married-to-my-work'; you've finally started dating someone and are too embarrassed to bring it up."

"What? No!," I quickly say, "It's... Well, it's a bit more unbelievable than that."

"Oh really? This should be fun then," she says with a glint in her eyes, "Is your apartment being haunted by ghosts?"

I lean my head on my hand and sigh, "I know you're just teasing me, but you're actually a little closer with that guess. Well, closer in its outlandishness, anyway."

She blinks in surprise, then frowns and asks, "Aliens?"

I give a small smile, "That's technically the right category, but you're going to have to be more specific."

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you're somehow the one person to make first-contact with an alien species."

I frown indignantly at her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, no offense, but you're the most recluse, workaholic person I know; when you're not at work, you're at home." Her eyes wandered about the room, "Aside from hanging out here with me, when was the last time you went outside for fun? I highly doubt that aliens are focusing on one-bedroom apartments in the middle of random cities."

I put my face into my hands and groan. I had figured that telling her of my situation would be a hard sell, despite her love of science fiction, but I never expected the unbelievable part to be the chance of anything fantastical happening to me in particular.

She crosses her arms and grins, "But I want to see where this is going, so let's assume that the aliens have chosen you as the representative of our species of which to have discussions. Please, elaborate."

"Ugh, fine..." I say, beginning to massage my head and trying to figure out the best way to phrase my tale. "So, it all started in a dream."

"Oh, it was all just a dream, then; that makes way more sense," She sagely nods.

I just roll my eyes and say, "Shall I continue, or are you going to snark at the end of every sentence?"

"I reserve the right to be snarky for every cliche you spout." She jokingly says with a haughty look, "But, please, go on."

And so I did, telling her of the first time I spoke to Skitter, the story of the changelings, and the tragedy of the invasion. Though, as I convey the story to her, I realize that I actually remember far more than I thought I did; feeling similar to what I experienced that first day as I became connected to each of the changelings, but far less vivid and more like standard memories.

Growing a little perturbed, I do some quick experimentation and somehow instinctively grab an old memory from Skitter; it consists of a rather mundane moment of her speaking with another changeling while relaxing on a hill in some desert. But before delving too deep into that rabbit hole, I'm brought back to reality as Bri starts waving her hand in front of my face.

"Hello, earth to Ty, are you okay in there?" she says, looking mildly concerned.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I'm fine," I say, clearing my throat, "where was I again?"

"You just finished telling me about the near-destruction of these 'changelings' and how they were all basically thrown to their deaths." She says with a frown, "You seem pretty torn up about it; did the dream really feel that real?"

"You have no idea...," I mutter, glancing away from her.

After a beat, she continues, "So... The survivors go dimension-hopping through dreams to find help, but to what end, and why you?"

"Well, she claimed that it's because I was the only one who answered their call for help, and as for what they needed..." Oh boy, the moment of truth.

I look into my sister's eyes, ones that I've known for as long as I've lived, to both see and literally feel her curiosity, concern, and anticipation for my coming words. I have a moment of hesitation, wondering if I should really tell her, but I quickly dash those thoughts aside. I need to have her on my side, not only just for help, but also for sanity's sake.

"As I just mentioned, the failed invasion resulted in the death of most of the changelings, that includes their queen," I say, starting to explain, "Because the queen is so vital to the hive, they were essentially crippled until they got a new one."

"So, they were searching for a new leader? Why didn't one of them just pick up the mantel?" She asks, confusion etched across her face.

"It seems drones aren't capable of becoming one."

"Hmm. And what did they do when they found out that you weren't changeling royalty?" She continues, "If they can't tell dreams apart based on species, I'd imagine that it'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

I avert my eyes and anxiously play with my drink's straw, "My humanity was... irrelevant to what they had in mind."

"Wait, but..." She trails off, cocking her head in bewilderment. After a moment, though, her eyes widen in understanding, "Oh, they wanted to turn you into one of them, didn't they."

"Yup," I say, nodding, "and I accepted."

Caught off guard, she says, "Really? And how'd that work out for you?"

"Oh, got hit with a transmorph spell, became their new hivemind and queen, and made quite a mess breaking out of the bug-pod; you know, the usual," I replied. Then, after taking a drink of my shake, I mutter, "Carpet is stained to hell, though. If I don't find a way to wash that goop out, I can kiss my deposit goodbye."

"Wow," Bri just laughs and says, "that's definitely an odd and fascinating dream, to say the least. Wish I had some like it more often."

"That's the thing, sis, it actually ended up not being a dream," I say, looking her in the eyes, "Well, their initial call to me technically happened in a dream, but everything that follows it is real."

She gives me a disapproving look and says, "If you want me to believe that, then you know that I'm going to ask for proof right? I'm not as gullible as I once was back in the day."

"I know, I figured that I'd just have you come to my apartment to see it. Don't really want to be in public for this, for obvious reasons."

She sighs and looks at her watch, "I suppose I could visit for a few minutes, for what is almost certainly a prank."

I smile and say, "How often have I ever pranked you in the past?"

"Very little that I can remember, which is why I'm even entertaining the idea; but there's always a first time for everything," she says flatly. Then, after standing up and tossing her empty cup into a nearby bin, she concludes, "We'd better get going now, then; I have to wake up really early for a morning meeting."

She takes out her wallet to pay for the shakes and we make our way back to my apartment

Bri and I enter my home and settle ourselves in the living room, her on the couch and myself on a side chair, she starts by saying, "So how is this going to work?"

I nod and reply, "It's a pretty simple situation, I'm a changeling now but am currently 'changed' into my human self. All I have to do is revert back, which should be adequate proof for you."

"Alright, I'm ready, get to it," She says with a bored expression, clearly not expecting anything to happen.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, preparing myself. This is it, there's no coming back after this; but I've made my decision and I'm just going to have to live with the consequences, good or bad.

With a small applied force of will, I drop the transformation.

"Holy shit!" I hear Bri stand up and yell.

I look back up at her, confirming that her reaction is almost exactly what I expected, seeing shock and disbelief; what comes next is the unknown part, though.

I cough awkwardly and say, "So, as you can see, my story is entirely true. Just know that I'm the same Tyler I've always been, except now in new packaging."

"You- you're..." she barely manages to squeak out, trying to find the right words.

"I'm a changeling now, yes; something this world has never seen—"

"You're so cute!" she finally exclaims, causing my train of thought to hopelessly derail and crash with mass casualties.

"Buh-wa-*thbbptl*," I sputter to a halt. Desperate to come up with some sort of reply while my mind is rebooting, I pout and say without thinking, "I-I am not cute."

Obviously not deterred by my protest, she crouches to eye level and starts petting my head, "When you said 'Alien Bug-Horse' earlier, I was picturing something similar to the Alien franchise and definitely not nearly this adorable."

Still overwhelmed with her reaction, I say indignantly, "What are you- Changelings are not for petting!" Although, I don't really do that much to stop her beyond that; I'm too busy trying to ignore the fact that it was actually sort of pleasant.

What I said did seem to reach her, though, as she suddenly realizes what she's doing and begins to blush, embarrassment washing across her face. "Uh, sorry, I didn't..." she trails off, slowly moving back to sit on the couch, and, after a moment, says with a far-away look, "This is crazy, Tyler. Do you know what this means?"

Having finally recovered, I quickly make to get out of my human clothing, as it was getting fairly uncomfortable. Once I put them to the side, I ponder back to her question briefly and reply, "I can think of many things that this means, such as: 'The Many-Worlds theory is real' and 'Magic is real' and 'I'm fucked if the government finds out about me'. I could go on, but there's too much to mention."

She quietly chuckles and says, "Yes, I suppose that-," then cuts herself off and blinks, refocusing on me, "wait, are you a girl now?"

"I did say that they needed a new queen, didn't I?", I say wryly, "Although, I think I would more consider myself gender-fluid; literally, considering the fact that I can become whatever I want, whenever."

Glancing down at myself, I conclude, "But, yes, this is my default state. Could be worse, all things considered."

Bri hums in agreement then eyes something behind me and asks, "What's it like to fly?"

"Fly?" I echo confusedly. Turning to my back, I come to a realization, "Oh, right, I have wings now."

"Wait," she says in astonishment, "you're telling me that you're the first person to have ever acquired biological wings, and you haven't tried to fly yet?"

"Hey, give me a break, it's been a congested couple of days and I've had my mind on other things," I say with a frown, "Besides, it's not like there's a lot of room to do that here, and I definitely can't do it outside."

"I guess..." she concedes.

A companionable silence stretches between us, both of us digesting the current situation. I have to say that I'm a little surprised that she's taken this so well, although I probably shouldn't be, considering her love of the weird and unknown. Still, you never really know until it actually happens in real life.

...Am I actually cute, or is that just Bri being Bri?

"So whats next?" she asks, bringing me out of my thoughts, "I mean, the other changelings needed a new queen, but they're in their own world, and you're here. Aren't they still stuck at square one?"

"Ah, so that's the part that no one has an answer for," I explain, "Apparently my hivemind can span across different worlds for an unknown reason, and none of the changelings had even considered it a possibility. Because of that, we're kind of in this nebulous situation where there's no clear path to take.

"As it sits right now, I'm most likely going to need to quit my job eventually and go construct a hive somewhere in the wild, or at least somewhere incredibly inconspicuous."

"Why would you need to do that?," she asks, gesturing to me, "Can't you just stay here disguised as your human self and continue to go to work until you figure something out?"

I sigh and say, "My biology is going to eventually notice my lack of underlings and will begin to prioritize... egg production," I shudder, "I can stave it off for a while by basically starving myself of energy, but that's really only a temporary solution. Either way, it's not going to be fun, and I very much don't want to be in the middle of a big city when it starts."

"Oh, wow," she says, clearly surprised with my answer, then quietly continues, "This isn't going to become 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', is it? Are changelings going to take over the world?"

I want to laugh, but now knowing changeling history...

"Not if I have anything to say about it," I say, giving her a serious look, "I told you of the previous leader, Chrysalis, and her heinous actions and cruelty. It's clear that with the right—or rather—wrong ruler, changelings can be used to do horrible things and have horrible things done unto them.

"I want to do things right, treat them right, and, in the end, have the world benefit from my actions," I finish with a wistful sigh.

"Then I'll help you in any way I can," she determinedly states, "I've always had your back in the past, and that's definitely not going to change now."

"Thank you so much, sis," I say with tears in the corners of my eyes and quickly hug her. She gladly returns the embrace and I bask in her comforting presence and emotions.

And I just now remember that I should start limiting the amount of love I consume—

BEEP BEEP

Brianna's wrist watch suddenly beeps, notifying us of the turn of the hour.

"Ah, dammit!" she curses in frustration, then gives a resigned sigh, "Sorry, Tyler, I really need to get going, but if you ever need anything, please call me. I'll be there."

I release her and we both make our way to the front door.

"I'll probably be taking you up on that offer sooner rather than later to help me move again, depending on what happens, anyway."

"I'll keep my schedule open for the foreseeable future, then," she says with a smile, then giggles, "Tyler, the Changeling Queen. Quite the interesting name."

I grin back, "Way ahead of you, sister. I've given myself the royal changeling name of 'Mothra'."

Her giggles turn to outright laughter, "That so figures. If it turns out that Godzilla is real too, I'm totally blaming you for jinxing it."

"Let's hope not," I reply, then, with a more serious tone, say, "Thanks again for everything, sis."

"Anytime, bro," she nods and walks out the door, closing it after her.

I sit there for a while, staring at the door, not really thinking anything in particular.

Eventually, though, I get up and walk down the hall to my bedroom; it's time to check up on my changelings.

6 - Knowledge

How drastically can the hivemind be altered?, I mull over the question for a bit as I sit alone in the cuddle-lounge while waiting for Skitter.

I only had a rough idea of what I wanted when I originally created the round table and lounge, yet they still came out realistically detailed and perfectly acceptable. The hivemind or my subconscious must have something similar to an autocomplete function that targets my intentions; it would have to, at least, because I have no idea how long it would take me to get this consciously detailed.

But what are the limits?

Casting my gaze around the cathedral-like room, an idea suddenly pops into my mind. Driven by nostalgia, I begin forming the layout and basic design in the hive-edit view, slowly transforming the room into what I envisioned. Marble-grey walls replace the chitinous black rock, and the depressive green lighting gives way to a warmer white light streaming through the newly created windows close to the ceiling.

A haunting melody begins to quietly play in the background.

Skitter decides to finally make her entrance, appearing a few feet away, "Good evening, My Queen, I-", she cuts off mid-sentence, looking around wide-eyed. Then, tapping the floor with her forehoof—creating a very familiar stepping sound—she continues, "Well, this is certainly something..."

"Yes, yes it is...", I mumble, still absorbing it all in, thrown off by the staggering potential of the hivemind. The resulting throne room was amazing enough, but I definitely did not expect the sound design of the source material to make its way here too. Though, it makes sense that my subconscious would be so consistent with this, considering how much of an impact the game had on my childhood.

Skitter tilts her head to one side, listening for a bit, "Is that music?"

Shaking myself out of my reverie, I respond, "Uh, yeah, it's from an old video game I used to play. Actually, it's what this entire room is based on."

I get up and walk out of the lounge, heading for the queen's quarters with Skitter in tow, continuing, "This won't be a permanent change, but I'm just curious to see how far I can take this."

We quickly arrive at the hallway to the bedroom door and I peek in experimentally to make sure that it was still unchanged.

"So what do you plan on doing here?" Asks Skitter, giving a curious look.

Closing the door and walking back out, I give her a sly grin and reply cryptically, "Expanding the world." Then, without waiting for a response, I close my eyes and delve back into the editing view.

It takes me a while to figure out how to do what I want to do, but after I manage to delete the hallway and bedroom while creating an expanded space in its place, it's just a matter of fleshing out all the necessary details.

I'll admit, I might have been a bit ambitious going into it, and it might have taken much longer than I anticipated. In the end, though, I was satisfied with the results. At least, it seemed fine from the editing view, but I realize the real test is about to play out.

Coming back down from my editing high, I open my eyes to find that Echo had arrived at some point; she and Skitter having walked off to the side to talk.

"...are definitely up to something, so be careful and keep an eye out," Echo says, finishing up the conversation they were having.

Must be something to do with the Equestrians, I surmise, then say out loud, "Sorry to keep you both waiting, I didn't mean to take so long on my work."

Skitter looks over, smiling, "No problem at all, My Queen, it hasn't really been that long. Not more than thirty minutes, anyway."

They make their way back over to my side as Echo asks, "So what's up with the big changes; are you adding some new rooms?"

"Something like that," I reply, giving a side glance to the ornate door that now occupies the wall where my bedroom used to be, "Basically, if this test works the way I think it should, our ways of learning, entertainment, and training are about to be vastly improved."

"Ooh, this should be good," Echo says with a grin, "I'm always up for something new."

A quiet chuckle escapes my lips as I grasp the door in my magic and say, "Then you're going to love this."

With as much of a flourish that I can give, I throw open the doors to reveal the new outside world; a light breeze of fresh air begins to flow through the doorway as we gaze out into the courtyard of the Temple of Time. Giving a quick glance downward, I confirm that effect has indeed worked as well as I had hoped, as shown by the slack-jawed stares currently adorning my changelings.

"Well, shall we go out and inspect the new hivemind over-world?" I ask with no small amount of mirth behind my voice.

With only silent nods for a reply, I lead them out into the courtyard and down the lone path into the market square. All the while, Skitter and Echo did their best impressions of spell-bound tourists, trying to look at everything at once and muttering amazements between themselves. I let them both explore the immediate area at their leisure as I sat by the central fountain and got a better look at the area in general.

For the small amount of time I had to work on the world, it's pretty impressive how much I managed to get done thanks to autocompleting. However, now that I'm viewing it in person, it's way easier to see the fallbacks of the mechanic.

It is possible to miss if you're not really paying attention, but under any scrutinization, it's hard to ignore the repeating patterns of what you'd usually call the textures. Though that's kind of a misnomer since everything here is perceived as of a real-world quality.

In the end, I managed to make castle town and most of Hylia Field consisting of the surface only with no background music. I mean, I like the game's music and it's a good nostalgia hit, but long term it would get very annoying. Oh, and no NPCs either, not sure that I want to get into that just yet.

Skitter and Echo have just about made their rounds on the market square and seem to be eyeing up the path to Hyrule castle, but I quickly call them back over before they went too far.

"We can all explore more later," I say as they sit down before me, "But for now I'd like to get a status update, Skitter. How was your trip to Manehatten?"

"Right," Skitter says, facing me fully and at attention, "My travel through the tunnels was typical, just a few hours of flight, as per usual. I'm happy to report that our hidden exit in the sewers is still undiscovered, or, at least, there was no evidence of tampering there.

"My route from there to the library was just as uneventful, having made it there just after closing. Backdoor access is still good, as well as the unused attic bedroom that I'm currently in. I plan to browse the shelves tonight after this meeting so I have enough books for tomorrow's study time."

"Very good, I'm glad everything has gone well so far," I say, but then ask, "Your sure that the bedroom is safe, though? What if someone comes up to do some cleaning?"

"Don't worry," she says confidently, "Even if a pony did come into the room, they wouldn't be able to find me before I could hide effectively. This bedroom is just being used for storage right now and you'd have to climb over many floor-to-ceiling stacked boxes just to make it to the bed."

"Alright then," I say, mollified by her answer, "Just as long as you stay safe."

My gaze switches to Echo, who looks at me expectantly, and I ask, "What about you, Echo; you're at Rapid Hills, right? Anything to report there?"

She thinks for a moment before replying, "Hmm, nothing really new here except for one thing that I've noticed lately, and it might be nothing. But...," she shrugs, "The Equestrian guard patrols here, and usually they just have standard routes and always behave fairly lax at their jobs. Lately, though, they seem more attentive, like they're looking for something.

"You wouldn't notice unless you monitor them as carefully as I do, but, at the same time, I'm not sure if I'm just being overly paranoid," she says, frowning, "After all, if there's one thing that they've mastered, it's being walking statues."

I dwell on this revelation for a bit before saying, "With our current situation being as it is, being too cautious has way more pros than cons, and I feel that we should trust your intuition on this."

"Thank you, My Queen," she says gratefully, "As for love collection, everything is still fine on that front. Grift caught me up to speed with the meeting I missed last night, so I know to refrain from including you in my nightly deposits."

I open my mouth to thank her—"Ah, that reminds me!" I add quickly, wanting to smack myself for almost forgetting, "I collected a small amount of love earlier when I was visiting with my sister. How do I go about spreading it to the rest of the hive so I don't have too much stored?"

Skitter froze, "A small amount? How much is a small amount?"

"Uh... I'm not sure how to quantify emotional energy just quite yet," I slowly say, worry creeping into my voice, "is there an easy way to tell?"

Skitter and Echo look at each other, a silent conversation crossing their eyes until Echo faces me and asks, "Remember when I taught you how to find your flame for transformation?"

I think back, and upon my confirmation nod, she continues, "Do that, but, instead of using the energy to change form, release the smallest possible amount that you can with me as the recipient. I should be able to gauge the overall love from that."

"Alright," I say hesitantly and do as she instructed, grabbing the littlest part of my energy and sending it her way.

The few-seconds wait for her to react is agonizing to bear, my mind racing to try and figure out what they were getting at. Had I fucked up something already? I knew I was supposed to avoid holding too much love energy, but I had assumed I would have been able to offload any amount needed to stay under that limit. Was I wrong?

Echo's eyes lit up in surprise, "Wow, that's potent; and definitely love from a close family member...," she pauses, contemplating, then shifts her eyes from me to Skitter, "All of it together is likely equal to the amount of what I'd usually gather in a week."

"Seriously?", Skitter exclaims, her features stunned, "In one day?"

"Yep, unless I'm reading it wrong," Echo admits, "But that's unlikely."

"So, wait," I interrupt, desperate to get a straight answer, "I get that's it's a lot of energy, but can't I just purge it to the rest of the hive so I don't have enough to start growing eggs?"

Skitter sighs and looks down, "I'm sorry, My Queen, this is my fault. I should have specified last night that once you hit a certain threshold of energy, the process begins immediately."

Damn, I can't believe I actually messed up this badly in under a day; it doesn't bode well if this is an indication of how my role as queen will go. Sigh... Well, I knew that it was just a delaying tactic to avoid what would have to be done anyway. Maybe it's for the best to just rip it off like a band-aid and move on. It's almost a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.

Before letting her get any deeper into her self-inflicted funk, I lay a forehoof comfortingly on her shoulders and say, "No, Skitter, you're not at fault here; in the end, It's my job to make sure that I obtain all the required details, especially when it comes to situations as important as this.

"So, to learn from that mistake, we shall now discuss everything needed to know about... egg-bearing." Right as I finished saying it, I knew I was in for many awkward moments in the future. Still, it needed to be done, and I realize the only one making it difficult is me—even if it is warranted.

"Thanks," Skitter says with a small smile, then after recovering enough, explains, "Very well, the absolute most important thing to focus on first is obtaining as much love as you safely can. Also, don't worry about sharing it with us, newborn changelings have a much greater need for it and will suffer from stunted development if there's a prolonged deficiency at any point."

"That makes sense," I say, nodding in agreement. Pretty standard protocol for any species really; don't let the kids starve. So then the issue becomes how to gather enough love energy, seeing as I can't rely on my sister long-term with her only ever able to be in my area whenever her work allows it.

"Then what about transformations, will having eggs physically restrict me from changing form?" I ask, and, after a moment, a thought occurs to me that causes me to frown, "Or even worse, will doing so harm them in some way?"

Skitter thinks for a while, eventually admitting, "I'm... not really sure. Chrysalis almost never–"

"Oh, I know this one!" Echo interjects, raising her hoof into the air, "Queens are able to use disguises anytime up to a week before laying, but after that, their body actually prevents it automatically as the eggs start becoming independent of the queen's fire." She lowers her hoof again and beams, "Just something that came up briefly during infiltration training; who says I don't pay attention to my teachers?"

With a small giggle, Skitter adds, "I don't think anyling is saying that, Echo."

Echo sticks out her tongue and retorts, "Not according to 'Professor' Shadow. The smug-bug even thought that mere act of blinking during his talks was disrespectful."

Suppressing a laugh, I try to bring the conversation back on track, "Alright, it's good to know that I'll have a concrete timeline once I reach that point." I pause, thinking about it some more. It won't be of any use to me if I don't get out of the city by that point, and I really don't want to be here if I can't disguise myself.

"But what about until then," I say, continuing on, "I don't suppose there's a good way to estimate how much time I have. At least, considering the different circumstances between myself and Chrysalis anyway."

Skitter gave me an apologetic look, saying, "Sorry, My Queen. What we really need here is a Nursery Changeling, but...," She trails off, her inference obvious. Then her eyes widened in remembrance, "Ah, but there is one thing I do know. Every queen's first clutch is special because it solely contains her Prime Guardian."

Echo suddenly facehoofs, "Of course! How'd we forget about old Scyth?"

"Scyth?" I ask, barely following along, "And what's a Prime Guardian?"

"They're the most loyal and powerful of any of the changelings that a queen will ever have." Skitter explains, "Chrysalis' Guardian was Scyth, the scariest changeling you'd ever meet. Beside Chrysalis herself, that is."

"Yeah, big, silent, and scary. The few times he would ever leave her side would be to 'take care' of unruly changelings," Echo says, air quoting her words.

"Except for during the invasion," Skitter adds, then grimacing, "Chrysalis had him go on a special mission that didn't involve guarding her, and he was not happy to hear about that. One of the few times I ever heard him talk. Or yell."

"Oh, that actually happened?" Echo asks with surprise, "I thought it was just a rumor that was being passed around."

"It happened, I was there," Skitter says with a nod, "What's amazing is that she wasn't even angry with him for arguing. Actually, it might have been the only time I'd ever seen something of a motherly look on her face."

Echo just gives her a half-lidded stare and says, "Okay, now I for sure don't believe you."

"I promise I'm telling the truth," Skitter shot back, "Of course, Chrysalis threatened those of us who were also there in the throne room with death if it ever got out that she went soft on him."

Echo grins, "Well, I believe that part at least."

I clear my throat in an attempt to get off another tangent, "So, do Guardians have a slower gestation time or something?" I ask hopefully, "Even an extra week could be incredibly helpful."

"Um, maybe," Skitter says with an embarrassed smile, "They're bigger than any other drone can get, almost as big as a queen, so my educated guess would be that there should be a significant growth time increase. Hard to say for sure, though, since it only happens once per queen and it's not really documented."

"I suppose it's better than nothing, then," I sigh and conclude, "All that's left is to figure out where to place a hive before I'm locked into queen-mode."

"Wish we could help you there," Echo says apologetically, "But I'm sure you know your world far better than we ever could."

Skitter nods in agreement, but adds, "Though, one thing I'd recommend is to focus on underground options, it's what we're built for, after all."

"Thanks, Skitter," I say, then stand up, "Very well, I guess that's all I need to know for now, so I'm just going to turn in for the night."

Skitter follows suit and says, "That sounds good, and I need to go book hunting before It gets too late. Sleep well, My Queen."

I smile and nod appreciatively, watching as she disappears from the hivemind.

"Turning in too, Echo?" I ask, turning to her with a grin, "Or do you have a wild night planned as well?"

She laughs at that before admitting, "While rowdy bars are very useful for passive collection, I prefer to pony-watch most nights before bed. It calms the mind for better sleep."

I share her smile before also wishing her a good night, and we both leave the hivemind. I open my eyes to find myself back in my twilight-lit bedroom. Closing my eyes again, I take the long road to unconsciousness paved with various worries and thoughts pertaining to my immediate future. Will I manage to find a place for a new hive in time? How am I going to go about quitting my job? Can I do a good job of raising and protecting my first changeling, my Prime Guardian?

How do I avoid fucking this all up?

7 - Midnight Flight

Gravel crunches beneath my tires as I turn onto a relatively unused road, the evening sun casting long shadows with the trees. The fresh forest air streams through my partially open window to tousle my hair and lessen the usual musty car smell that tends to build up over time.

The past few days have thankfully been relatively uneventful, allowing me to focus fully on working from home. I've concluded that quitting my job as soon as possible is necessary in order to have enough time to find and move to a good place for the hive, but I can't so callously abandon the team when we're this close to the deadline. As a compromise, I'm waiting to submit my formal resignation until only after the project has been finished, and that means trying to clock in as many hours as I can, sleep be damned. Fortunately, we're very close to being done and, in fact, may be able to present as finished by the end of this next week if all goes well.

So that brings me to today. I don't usually go out on Saturday nights like this when I could be relaxing at home and playing video games, but ever since Brianna brought it up a few days ago, I couldn't wait to try flying. Of course, the last thing I need is to bring attention to myself, and city living doesn't really allow for such luxuries; so, to get some privacy, I drove about an hour's length to get out of civilization and into the wilderness.

Did I have to go so far for this? No, probably not, but I really like it here and the location is familiar to me as I had gone on many family camping trips here in the past. The majority of the campground area is actually at the base of the local mountain range where a small river passes through letting visitors do everything from fishing to rock-climbing, so it's kind of an all-in-one destination.

I find a good out-of-the-way spot to park my car where people seldom go, giving myself the privacy I need to get changed. Shutting off the car, I get out and look around, listening carefully for any human activity that might be nearby, but, aside from the usual chirping of birds and rustling of small animals through the forest floor, I'm satisfied to conclude that I'm alone as far as intelligent life goes.

After taking off my shoes and clothes, I shift back to my changeling self and magic the car trunk open revealing the couple pieces of camping gear I decided to bring. I had originally wanted to travel out here during the day and fly around then, but ultimately I decided that it would probably be best to be as careful as possible and fly under the cover of darkness; and so, instead of driving home in the middle of the night afterward, I opted to just camp out.

Luckily, changelings happen to see incredibly well in the dark, so I don't have any problems adjusting to the waning light as the sun slowly slides down beyond the horizon.

I stash the discarded clothing and grab my sleeping bag, water bottles, and small emergency kit, using my magic to make easy work of bundling it all tightly together into one bag for easy transportation.

After a few minutes' walk, I make it to a small clearing perfect for some basic flight practice.
Of course, I did at least try some basic hovering before leaving my apartment, so I'm not going into this completely blind, but it's probably best to start here before I commit to some hundreds of feet in the air.

I first strap the pack to my chest so I don't have to carry it in my magic while I'm concentrating on not falling to my death. Satisfied with its positioning and snugness, I move on into the middle of the clearing and prepare myself.

With a buzz of my wings and a small hop, I start into the air with a low hover bringing me to the height of which I had gotten to in the apartment. Thankfully, keeping my wings moving is mostly an automatic action allowing me to keep my mind on where I want to go.

I start by doing lazy circles around the area, slowly at first, but then gaining speed as I got used to the sensations. It occurs to me that flying with these insect wings feels incredibly similar to flying a drone, so, with my growing confidence in myself, I try strafing side to side, rising up, dropping down, and even going backward.

My confidence then becomes misplaced when I try an upsidedown maneuver that ends with me unceremoniously crashing into the ground head first. Luckily, I was only a few feet off the ground when I did, so the only thing that was hurt very badly was my pride.

"Okay, let's not do that again," I mutter, getting back up and brushing myself off. I glance around the area looking for anyone or anything that might have seen my antics, but thankfully I'm still alone.

I do feel as though I have the basics of changeling flight down well enough to once again take off, this time with the goal of obtaining a higher altitude. It's interesting how fast I've managed to pick up the skill, but I surmise that most of it is heavily ingrained changeling instincts and the simplicity of changeling flight itself. Granted, I won't be winning any races or trick competitions any time soon, but this is good enough for me.

Quickly reaching a height of what I estimate to be around two hundred feet, I start heading toward the mountains at a leisurely pace. The cliffside caves there should be a good place to spend the night away from prying eyes.

An ocean of green treetops flows beneath me with calm serenity, innumerable leaves rustling lightly in the barely noticeable breeze. While never truly in sync, the whispers of each individual living thing below sing together as a forest that is all at once vibrant and alive despite the heavy blanket of the night.

I'm not one to usually stop and smell the roses, but I'd be a fool to not acknowledge the beauty that is so freely displayed before me.

Suddenly, I get a whiff of something sweet. Wait, no, not a smell, a taste. Emotion? I glance almost directly downwards and find a small, low burning campfire next to a tent and various supplies. Curiosity overcoming my better judgment, I hook into a slow, descending spiral to get a closer look at the inhabitants.

Any hesitancy I did have got thrown out the window as the delicious taste of love became stronger the closer I got, drawing me in like a moth to a lamp. Landing silently on the outskirts of the camping spot, I begin to stalk closer to the tent where the energy is emanating from, being careful to not step on anything noisy.

"Come on, stop it," a female voice says while giggling, "I want to at least finish this movie first."

Finally arriving just a few feet away from the tent, I notice a very dim light of a laptop screen moving from within; shuffling noises accompany the playful banter of the human couple.

"What, I'm not allowed to kiss my beautiful girlfriend when we're out in the wilderness?" A male voice replies back, acting sarcastically hurt.

"Please, we both know where that usually leads, and how can I enjoy the sex if all I can think about is how I'll never know if Tom Cruise saves the world again," the lady whines, trying to argue her point.

"He has that much of a hold on your mind, huh?" the man says with mock concern, "Well, I guess the only solution here is to invite him over for a threesome."

"Stop that, you jerk," she says while playfully hitting him, both laughing together.

Of course, I am fully aware of how incredibly wrong this is, invading this couple's private moment like some pervy voyeur, but the love energy leaking from them is just so very tasty and comfortable to bask in. How could I possibly resist?

Then, to my logical side's horror, I begin to buzz my wings in contentment as well as do something akin to purring, like a cat that's just found the most perfect place to lay in the sun. Thankfully, I manage to get it under control pretty quickly, but I know right away that my cover is blown.

"Did you hear that?," the lady asks, having clearly heard my noise thanks to the fact that I, for some reason, thought it was a good idea to practically sit within touching distance of the tent, "It sounded like purring."

"Oh shit, a mountain lion!" the guy exclaims quietly, hastily closing the laptop and shushing his girlfriend.

All three of us are completely silent now, frozen. In my case, it's because all I can worry about is being found out; for them, it's the terrifying prospect of being attacked by a dangerous predator. We remain like that for what feels like minutes but is more likely just a couple dozen seconds before the stalemate is broken by the man.

"I-I'm going to take a peek outside," he says, his heightened nervousness clearly leaking through his voice.

Damnit!, I silently swear, already realizing that it's too late to run or fly away thanks to my dumb positioning. Even in the dim light of the moon, he'd easily be able to see me leave, How the hell am I supposed to get out of this?

I register the slightest amount of movement in my peripheral, and a fraction of a second's glance allows me to recognize a familiar form prance slowly through the treeline.

Deer?

...Deer!

Mentally slapping myself for missing the obvious solution, I activate my transformative flames to hastily shape me into one of the local fauna. Just in time too, it seems, as I hear the sharp notes of a zipper opening a small slit in the tent's door-flap.

A lone eye hesitantly peeks out, eventually acknowledging my presence.

"A deer?," muses the befuddled man, trailing off, "but I thought..."

"Ooh, is it cute? Let me see!," The girl exclaims and pushes her partner out of the way to peer out the hole. Quickly finding me as well, she continues, "Aww, it is! I wonder if it's hungry. I think I have some leftover baby carrots from dinner that I could feed it."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the guy asks as the girl shuffles through some bags looking for the carrots, "I mean, it's still a wild animal. I think..."

I mentally sighed in relief, glad that I managed to keep myself from being found out. Not that it would have been the end of the world, I suppose, it is just two people camping out in the middle of the forest. But it's way too soon to become the local cryptid, I don't even have a rudimentary hive yet.

The girl makes a muffled "aha" from within the tent upon finding the food, and I decide that it's about time I get out of there. I turn away and start prancing toward the treeline, eventually reaching some decent cover that allows me to finally relax. After making sure I wasn't followed, I release the deer form and flash back to my changeling self, taking a few deep breaths to steady myself.

I really need to be more careful in the future and-

I did it!

The sudden exclamation by Fractal startles me up into the tree I was standing beneath, leaving me holding onto a low branch, wings buzzing.

As I hang there, trying to figure out what just happened, she hurriedly amends the outburst, Uh, oops. Sorry everyling, I didn't mean to broadcast that.

I climb up onto the branch so I can sit upright and ask, What's going on, Fractal, are you ok? At the same time I hear the quiet voices of the others asking similar questions.

I'm fine, I'm fine!, She says quickly, It's just, I'm pretty sure I've managed to recreate the warding enchantment. I'll tell you all more about it after I do some tests with Maul.

Well, that's good news; I was worried there for a second. I mean, in hindsight it was obviously not a fearful yell, but... man, if anything ever happens to them over there, there's nothing I'd be able to do to help. Besides vocal support, anyway.

Sighing, I jump off of the branch and fly high into the sky again, putting myself back onto my original path. Scanning the ridge of the distant mountain line, I locate a section that most likely has some decent cliffside caves and head in that direction, letting my mind wander during the fairly uneventful flight.

If Fractal actually was successful in creating a new ward, and the tests work out, that'll be one less thing to worry about at least. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to create a portal or a process for interdimensional travel; you know, just blatantly spitting in the face of all known laws of science, because somehow magic exists in this world.

Of course, I'm no theoretical physicist. It could be that this magic is fully explainable and neatly fits within the concepts of science as we know it, albeit being completely undiscovered, hidden, or forgotten; but in that case, is humanity just incapable of finding it, or is it really that impossibly obscure?

Maybe one of my future changelings will have a passion for human science and will be able to figure this all out because I sure won't. I should probably plan on setting up an education fund for the hive.

Finally arriving at the start of the cliffside, I shake myself out of my contemplations to focus on searching for a place to settle down for the night. I fly lower, skimming the rocky walls, intent on finding a cave not easily reachable by foot.

Eventually, I find one suitable and land down at the entrance, luckily finding it to be uninhabited. While not very wide—about five feet at its widest and just as high—it was at least twenty feet deep with a slight curve to keep me out of view of the outside. Walking to the back, I determine that it's good enough for a one-night stay.

Just as I'm about to get ready to turn in for the night, though, I get the sudden urge to-

HOK- *Splat*

...Puke goo at the wall.

But why?

Ok, instincts, yes, but what's the point? My gut reaction is to just bug Skitter for answers, but I think I want to figure this one out for myself this time.

I walk up to the wall to get a close look at the organic substance, and the first observation I make is that it has a similar texture to rubber, visually, at least. A quick tap of the edge of my hoof confirms that it's at least as hard as the rock beneath it while also showing off its quick-drying features.

This, obviously, must be the resin that Skitter had told me about a few days ago; I believe she mentioned that it's mainly used for hive construction, which makes sense now that I'm seeing it. A changeling could easily use it to smooth out walls and fill in holes, and, if one were creative enough, would most likely be able to sculpt out whatever features they'd want in a room.

I press the flat of my hoof against the surface to get a more full feeling of it. Upon doing so, however, I feel myself reflexively "grip" the substance somehow, and, with a few experimental tugs, find my hoof effectively anchored to the wall. A brief wave of panic flickers over me as I unsuccessfully try to extract myself from its hold before I shortly figure out that I only just have to relax a bit.

Looking at my hooves in wonder, I try to find anything on them that would allow for such a powerful grip. Finding nothing of note, though, leads me to conclude that it must just be some inherent magic ability.

Getting an Idea, I spit a few more times above it to create a path to the ceiling. Once again I put a hoof on the new wall, anchoring it, and bring up the rest one at a time. The end result is as one expects, and it honestly isn't as difficult as I would have thought. Of course, I can definitely feel the gravity pulling in the usual direction, but I must not weigh a lot because it doesn't take much effort to stand "upright".

I walk a few steps up and quickly get to the top thanks to the size of the cave. Standing on the ceiling is quite a unique experience and not uncomfortable at all, really. As it seems to be just a magic trigger, I'm not getting the usual fatigue that you would get from constantly flexing a muscle, and that makes me wonder how long I could actually stay up here.

Hmm, could I sleep up here?

I think I'll test this with a short visit to the hivemind.

I appear in the throne room next to the cuddle lounge and brace myself for a sudden drop or impact. As nothing happens within the next few moments, though, I finally relax, satisfied that I'm most likely safe and still on the roof of the cave.

I look over to the lounge to find Skitter and Echo resting and having a quiet conversation, additionally a few feet beyond them I see that Grift is napping on a particularly large pillow while curled up into a cute ball. Ignoring the urge to go cradle the adorable sleeping bug-ball in a hug, I instead quietly greet the two who were still awake.

"Hey gals, what's up?" I ask, lying down next to them on one of my Queen size pillows.

"Ah, good evening, My Queen," Echo says with a pleasant smile, "we were just discussing Fractal's recent announcement."

Skitter nods, "Even though what she's working on is one of the simpler enchantments that we used to have, it's incredibly impressive how fast she's been able to figure it out by herself considering that she's only been through basic training."

"Well, it is all that she's been obsessing over these past few days," I chuckle, thinking back to Thursday when I had met with her briefly to discuss the wards. It's fascinating to observe the different applications and ways magic can be used; I honestly can't wait till I have the time to start dipping into the practice myself.

"I think it's because she feels like she has to prove herself somehow, being the youngest of us," Echo adds, frowning, "I've tried assuring her that none of us will ever treat her as lesser because of it and that there's no reason to work herself past the chitin while getting so little sleep, but there's no stopping her. It's just not healthy, you know."

I open my mouth to comment but then close it just as I remember back to my own week of workaholicism. Embarrassedly clearing my throat, I say, "I'm sure she'll be fine; it seems like she's close to finishing, anyway," I quickly change the subject and look at Skitter, "How's the search going, still staying safe?"

She sighs tiredly and says, "I'm fine, but my efforts are still pulling up nothing but whispers and rumors of trans-dimensional travel, and that's only in the shady and dusty half-forgotten books shoved to the back of the shelves. Not a single peep in any official historical volumes."

"Do you think it's as we suspected," Echo asks, a look of concern crossing her features, "about it all having been censored and wiped from written records?"

Skitter gives a short laugh, "Well, it's either that or no one really has discovered a way to do it."

A few moments of uncomfortable silence pass, implications weighing heavily, until Skitter continues, "In any case, it's becoming increasingly likely that if there is any documentation or instruction for it, we'll be finding it in the Canterlot library, and even then, most likely in the restricted section or worse."

With a sigh of resignation, Echo says, "That's it then, huh? You know that Celestia will have that section magically warded beyond belief. Nothing anyling of us could break into, at least."

Skitter chews her lip for a bit, thinking, before continuing, "For a couple of weeks up until the invasion, Chrysalis had been personally teaching me a powerful anti-warding spell for an unknown reason. Something she'd tell me would be for "only if it's necessary", whatever that means."

"Really?" Echo asks curiously, then shakes her head, "-wait, no, that is way too dangerous, Skitter. Not to disparage your abilities or anything, but there is a huge power gap and centuries of experience between you and Celestia. Trying to break that would be a suicide mission!"

"I don't think we have any other choice," Skitter says exasperatedly, "It's not like we'd be able to figure it out ourselves anytime soon; it would take decades of research just to build a foundation of knowledge. We'd have to start from nothing."

Silence once again reigns as we all mull over our thoughts.

"So..." Skitter shortly says to me, "What would you have me do, My Queen?"

I close my eyes and deliberate, eventually coming to a decision, "For now, continue there as you are. For both of you, if possible, see if you can gather information on the state of Canterlot, the status of its lockdown, and how bad the guard presence is. It's going to take a while to come up with a good plan and we're going to need all the info we can get."

They both nod and say, "Yes, My Queen," with Skitter now looking determined and Echo still fairly worried.

Taking a deep breath, I continue, "Now, there's something I must do, for it can no longer be delayed."

I stand up and begin to step my way through the pillows, their eyes following me curiously as I arrive at where Grift is sleeping. Carefully, I lift him in my magic, lay myself down on the pillow, and set him in the crook of my front legs. A small smile crosses Echo's lips while Skitter just gives me an incredulous look.

"No judgments, please, adorable changelings cannot be ignored," I say haughtily, then grin, "But do feel free to join in."

The tension having been finally broken, they look at each other and quietly giggle, following me over to lay down next to us.
It's not long before we all doze off as a small changeling pile, temporarily forgetting the worry and stress that will still be there when we wake.

Though, I'm glad that we have these little moments to rely on, otherwise it might be too unbearable to make it through the big ones.

8 - Home Hunting

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The door-knocking sounds reverberate throughout my apartment, rousing me from my slumber. I groan as I roll over in my bed to check the time; the glaring red lights of my alarm clock shine back at me '3:55 AM'.

Who the hell wants something to do with me at four in the morning?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Alright, alright, I'm coming...", I mutter, sliding my feet off of my bed and onto the floor to stand up. I slowly walk over to my closet, grab my bathrobe, and put it on, making sure that not too much of me was showing.

Confident now that I'm not going to accidentally flash the one who was so patiently awaiting my arrival, I tiredly hobble my way through the hallway out to the front of my apartment. I head straight to the front door as soon as I see it, eager to get this over with so I can hopefully get another hour or two of shut-eye before I have to go to work.

After I take a minute to unlock the dozen or so chain locks on the door (when did I have those installed?), I swing it open and tiredly ask, "Alright, what is it?"

The midnight blue pony on the other side looks up in alarm and says, "What... Who-

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

I magically press the off button on my alarm and yawn tiredly. Happy one-week anniversary, I think to myself as I look down at my hooves where I had laid my head for sleeping, a trail of drool sliding off and pooling on the sheets below. Hmm, well, I guess some things don't change, I grimace and wipe my hooves off on a dry spot.

I sigh and look over to the alarm clock; '7:01 AM'. Right, Monday, the first day back to the office since last week and, most likely, my final week on the job. Yeah, it's bittersweet, but while I am going to miss working there, I'm actually somewhat looking forward to getting started on the hive.

After hopping off the bed and walking to the bathroom, I just lean on the sink with my forelegs and look at my reflection. It's crazy to think that even though it's only been a short time since this all started, I'm already perfectly comfortable as a changeling; it's just as 'me' as my human form is, anyway. The buzz of passing conversations between my changelings in the back of my mind puts me strangely at ease; all is well in the hive this morning, it seems.

A quick flash of green flame puts me back onto two feet and I study myself to make sure everything is as it should be. One of the nice things about transformation magic is that it really cuts down on the time it takes to get ready in the morning; baths are really only for pleasure now that I can just flash away whatever odors I accumulate.

Finishing up my morning routine, I quickly throw on some clean clothes, gather up my laptop and work supplies, and head out, briefly stopping at the kitchen to consider some breakfast.

Nah, I wave it off and leave my apartment. Just another thing that's become unnecessary under the weight of other concerns. Like how I'm going to break the news to my boss.

Standing in front of the door to my boss' office, I take a deep breath and steady myself. Not that this is going to be difficult, I mean, people fantasize about quitting their jobs every day.

But... this is the first job in my life that I've really enjoyed, so it means a lot to me.

Finally, I knock on the door and wait for a response, absentmindedly tasting a mix of mild emotions emanating from within.

"Come in!" the muffled sound of Chris' voice says from inside and I finally open the door and walk in.

I briefly glance about the room as I walk up to his desk, idly taking notice of the usual sports memorabilia decoratively placed on a few shelves along the walls displaying his obvious love of the Denver Broncos.

"Ah, Tyler, good to see you back. Feeling better, I hope?" he says, looking up from his computer.

"Way better actually, thanks," I say, rubbing the back of my neck, "Listen, so, something came up over the weekend—a family issue—and... I'm going to have to move to help take care of it."

"Oh, I'm sorry", he says with a look of concern and, after a moment, closes his laptop, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, no one is dying or anything," I say quickly, feeling his growing worry and pity, "It's just, this whole thing will be taking up most of my time for the foreseeable future, so I'm going to have to quit."

"Oh... Damn," he swears quietly, looking off to the side in thought, "I suppose even going fully work-from-home would be too much then?"

"I don't think so, sorry," I say apologetically.

I had originally thought about accepting WHF if offered, and it might have even been fine for the first week or two after setting up shop, but I'm going to need to start love-gathering myself if I want to play it safe with the energy reserves. I can't just rely on Echo for all that, it would leave the rest of them with barely anything substantial.

Not only that, but as soon as I start pooping out however many changelings my biology thinks I need, the hive management side of the job will get more and more complicated. There's just going to be too much to do.

"I won't be leaving the rest of the team hanging right now, though." I say placatingly, "I'll make sure we get the project done by the end of this week and then leave after that."

He sighs in relief, and looks back at me, "Alright, I thank you for that. You going to tell the rest of the team now, then?"

"Eh," I shrug in response, "I mean, we've been on quite the roll for this last stretch, probably shouldn't rock the boat until we've landed, right?"

He gives a quick chuckle, "Planning on making a quick getaway afterward so no one can try to convince you to stay, then?"

"Yeah, something like that," I grin in response.

"Alright, well, let's get the day started, then," he says opening back up his laptop, "I'll notify HR later about your departure."

"Sounds good, thanks boss," I say, excusing myself from his office.

Having arrived early enough to have that talk with Chris, I start to see other people filter in as I reach my own desk in the main work area. While setting all my stuff back up, I overhear a couple of my co-workers start talking two desks over.

"So, how was your weekend trip, anything exciting happen?" Dan asks, leaning against the desk.

"Oh, it was awesome, man. I love having a girlfriend that likes the outdoors as much as I do." Steve says, leaning back in his chair and sweeping back his blond hair with a grin. "Had a great time hiking, did some fishing, camped out, the whole shebang."

"Nice, dude," Dan says back with a fistbump, "See any bears when you were out?"

"Nah, thank god," Steve replies, "I mean, they're rare to see, but that's really not the kind of luck you want to have out there, you know."

"Right," Dan laughs back, "I guess that wouldn't really be fun."

"But something weird did end up happening that I can't really explain." Steve says, frowning, "When we were watching a movie before bed, I could have sworn we heard a mountain lion or some sort of big cat."

Unfortunately, I had been drinking out of my water bottle when I heard that last sentence, and the shock of realization made quite a bit of water go down the wrong pipe. The resulting coughing and spluttering causing the two of them to turn to me with concern.

"You okay there, dude?" Dan says, "You know you're supposed to drink that stuff, not breathe it in."

"Ha ha," I reply back sarcastically after I get my coughing under control, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

"Well, anyway," Steve continues after a beat, "I looked outside the tent, and not more than two feet away was a deer. And I was thinking 'deer don't make noise, right?' Because they're a prey species, making noise would just draw predators to them."

"Don't know, guess I never really thought about it," Dan says, scratching his short, black beard with a contemplative look.

"Yeah, well, that's not the weirdest part though. I had turned to look at Diane because she said something about feeding the deer carrots, but when I looked back, it was gone, so–"

"Wow," Dan interrupts with a shit-eating grin, "It's so weird that a deer would run away from you like that, it must know something we don't."

"No–shuttup–listen," Steve says with a light punch to Dan's arm, "I had stuck my head out to get a better look and see if there was something else nearby that might have scared it off, something that might have made the noise we heard earlier. I waited for a bit hoping to catch any movement, but I didn't manage to see anything."

"Shocker," Dan deadpans.

Steve just rolls his eyes and continues, "Just when I'm about to turn back in and close up, I heard a quiet buzzing noise. It was hard to tell where it was coming from, but then I looked up, and I saw this large, black... something flying away. What's weird is that I didn't see any wings flapping like a bird or anything."

"Hmm, interesting," Dan finally says, "Maybe it was someone's drone? Could have been someone spying on you."

"Ugh, creepy," Steve shudders with a grossed-out look, "But, no, I don't think so. It was way too large, and it wasn't shaped right."

"Or," Dan replies, a mischievous smile spreading across his face, "Maybe it was the Mothman, ooOooO."

"Oh, fuck off, we're not even on the right side of the country for that," Steve says with exasperation, "Whatever, it was weird, but I'm sure there's some dumb explanation for it."

"Yeah, probably," Dan relents, "So, anyway, about that UI bug we were talking about on Friday, do you think..."

They continue talking about work, but all I can do is put my head in my hands and quietly groan. How did I not think to avoid flying back over that camp—hell, even just traveling a good distance away as a deer would have sufficed.

Why am I so bad at this, I can't help but ask myself

Sighing, I lower my hand and gaze blankly at my computer screen. Through my peripheral vision see Dan go back to his desk and Steve gather up papers preparing for the morning meeting.

Okay, sure, I was a little distracted by Fractal's outburst that night, and it seems that everything ended up fine in the end, but still...

Hitting print on my keyboard, I head over to the office printer and grab the still-warm paper with today's important topics. The short list mollifying me, at least it'll be a quick meeting today.

Thankfully it was an easy workday too, allowing me to leave a bit early to get started on the hard part of today.

House hunting.

Getting into my car and starting it up, I pull out my phone and look at the list I created last night of prospective places to settle down. It wasn't very long, rather unsurprisingly, because it turns out it's not easy to find an affordable home that could safely support a growing hive.

Urban housing is out of the question, I'm trying to get out of the city after all. At some point in the future, I'm sure we'll have a sub-hive hideout for emergencies, but that's something for future me to worry about.

Suburban is possible, but not ideal. There are some decent places with better spacing and good basements, but I have a feeling we'll quickly be outgrowing anything I get. Not to mention most places are still surrounded by people making it difficult to hide... unusual activity from nosy neighbors. I've got some places bookmarked in case I get desperate, but as it stands right now, it's unlikely I'll be picking anything here.

Rural is where it's at, however; wide spaces, many more trees, and good options for future-proofing. In the end, digging down is almost guaranteed to be the safest way to expand the hive, and doing so in a rural area would reduce the likelihood of such a thing being noticed. Most of the places I plan to look at are in this region.

Then there's the wilderness, mainly the cave networks in the mountains. Not really an area I'm looking to set up initially; after all, I'd still like to have electricity and internet access. However, I do plan on eventually having a backup hive there in case we need a place to escape to. Also somewhere to put an interdimensional portal or something if Skitter's research finds that it's even possible, assuming we can safely get her into Canterlot to do any research.

Pulling up the first address on the GPS, I set the route and start heading out of the city for what's sure to be a long evening.

My car crunches to a halt on the dirt driveway of a relatively newer home, the sky-blue siding sporting a recent coat of paint along with the separated side garage. Two other cars currently occupy the paved area in front of the buildings, most likely other perspective customers also checking out the open house.

Having turned off the engine, I get out and do a few small stretches while gazing about the area. One of the features of this property that really got me to come and check it out was not only the distance from the neighbors, but the number of trees fully surrounding it providing optimal privacy. The small garden that starts just in front of the porch and crawls along the side of the house gives it a friendly aura that promises good times.

Not that it would stay nice that long if I bought it, of course. I'm no gardener and I'm certainly not going to pay for the upkeep. Plus, there's no one who would ever come to visit us besides my sister, so there's really no benefit to making the place look welcoming. In fact, I want to keep people away as much as possible; there's a reason the Equis hive is located in a desert, after all.

Sighing, I start up the path to the house.

I wish I had at least a couple changelings for this, I think to myself, it would be nice to have more than one set of eyes and opinions–

Wait, I stop and facepalm, Why couldn't I? We're a damn hive-mind.

Hey, anyling free for the next few hours?, I broadcast to the hive, idly pinging their locations. It seems Echo and Skitter are in real-space doing their things while Fractal, Grift, and Maul are in the hive-mind overworld. The Hyrule Field portion, actually.

Oh, I am!, Fractal says after just a couple of seconds, What would you like me to do?

Before I can answer, Maul speaks up, Grift and I are available as well; we're only just doing some combat training against these odd monsters you've created here.

Monsters?, I ask, suddenly very confused, What do you mean?

Sorry, My Queen, Echo says, the next one to speak up, I'm in the middle of some love collection.

That's fine, this isn't that important, I tell her, then focus back on Maul, There are monsters in the overworld?

Yes, the skeleton things, Maul continues, They seem to only come out at "night" in this field.

Oh, those things, I say, realizing what he was talking about. Which is weird, because I specifically didn't add any NPCs when I was copying the game for the overworld. Of course, I didn't put in anything to prevent stuff from spawning, but that's mainly because I didn't think that was a thing that could happen.

They aren't hurting you, are they?, I ask with concern.

No, their attacks don't really do anything, he replies, A little disappointing, actually.

Speak for yourself, I hear Grift quietly mutter.

Right, figures the warrior would prefer his fights have a possible risk of bodily harm. Bet he would love Dark Souls.

Sorry for the late response, My Queen, Skitter suddenly says, I was just finishing a chapter in this book.

No worries, I say, then address the four of them, So, how would you all like to join me in surveying the potential hive locations? I could use the extra viewpoints.

How so?, Maul asks, I assume you don't mean physically.

No, of course not. I figured I could just send you what I'm seeing; that should be possible, right?

Hmm, maybe, Skitter says, I mean, before with Chrysalis, anything more complicated than talking had to be within a certain radius of her. With the way your hivemind seems to work, though, I think we could.

Alright, I'm going to try it then, I say.

Logically, sending image or video information shouldn't be all that different than speech; at least, if I'm comparing it with computer data. With that in mind, I focus on the four of them and, instead of just talking, I try to force through what I'm seeing.

Woah, neat!, Fractal pipes up, I'm seeing double.

Close your eyes, that'll help you focus on just the one view, Skitter tells them.

Pleased with the results, I once again start up towards the house and make my way inside.

Pretty home, Fractal says, and I have to agree with her. The entire place was tastefully decorated with a nice Fall theme, pairing nicely with the weather outside.

So, um, I have a question, Grift says timidly, waiting for a response.

Please ask, I say, continuing to walk through the home and casually glancing through the standard rooms, As I said, I'd like to have as many opinions on this as possible.

Grift sends a hint of thanks through the connection, then asks, Why put the hive in a pony home, isn't that dangerous?

'Human' home, and yeah, It is a little bit, I concede, but it's not nearly as dangerous as it would be to do the same on Equis. At least, right now, anyway.

I finally find the door to the basement and, after turning on the lights, start walking down the stairs before continuing, My reasoning being, there's just no one looking for us over here. I mean, if we were to go through the list of the biggest threats, the government would obviously be at the top of the list, but even acknowledging that, I still don't think they're going to be that big of an issue. I know there are quite a few conspiracy theorists out there who really believe there are hidden departments in the government dedicated to hunting down and covering up anything magical, but I don't buy it. Magic literally exists and I've used it, and I don't believe there's a single government on earth that's competent enough to actually crack down on every instance of it to the point of where we are currently at with just scams and crappily edited videos.

Realizing I was starting to rant, I stop and say, Sorry if that doesn't make much sense. There's obviously some context missing and it'd help if you knew the culture.

I think I understand the gist of it, Skitter adds, Basically, they can't find what they don't know to look for, or how to, right?

Succinctly put, thank you, Skitter, I say, arriving at the basement.

The basement is actually pretty expansive and well furnished; nice for standard living, but it will make hive expansion more difficult. Actually...

I suppose I should ask, how does hive expansion usually work? Are changelings natural diggers that make caves?

Not in the way that you're probably thinking; we pretty much do it the same way as the ponies do with a set of standard mining spells that even a novice spellcaster can use, says Skitter, sending me the requisite knowledge for everything needed to use them, Of course, it's not nearly as efficient as, say, the diamond dogs whose natural digging ability is terrifying to see in person, but the spells get the job done.

Fascinating, I say, going over the spell arrays and I find that what she says is true. Even I, who still knows basically nothing of how magic really works, would be able to cast them with just the basic information that Skitter sent me.

Would be a shame to tear up such a nicely furnished basement, though, I mutter, mostly to myself, especially after paying a bunch of money for it.

Wouldn't you want to have a hidden entrance or trapdoor somewhere rather than just having a plain hole in the ground?, Grift adds, picking up on my utterance, That way, if the house ever gets searched for any reason, there's a better chance of not being found out; plus, the basement could still look nice.

Oh yeah, I say, suddenly feeling stupid that I didn't think of it, That's a really good idea, thanks Grift!

Um... You're welcome, Grift says meekly.

Casting one last glance around the basement, I head back upstairs. Having now seen the main feature I was worried about, I take a quick tour around the upper floor, obtain a business card from the realtor, and leave the house.

Well, I say, fishing my keys out of my pocket, that was the first house on the list; any final thoughts before we move onto the next?

Hmm, Maul hums after a few moments of silence, I think it could function well as a hive-cover and should easily be able to shelter up to fifteen or so changelings comfortably. That should give us enough of a workforce to get started on the main portion of the hive, so I don't see overcrowding being much of an issue.

I stop at the door to my car, looking back and imagining what it would be like to have that many changelings under my care. A brief wave of vertigo overcomes me as I try to comprehend that fifteen changelings is a tiny number compared to the size of a full hive.

I give my head a small shake and compose myself, climbing into my car and replying, Good to hear. This will be my default choice then, unless the other places show any significantly better benefits. It's well within my price range too, so I have a feeling it's going to be hard to beat.

Isn't this a bit... excessive? Skitter says, watching through my eyes as I follow the real estate agent who's giving me the tour through what could ostensibly be called a house. We walk into a large room and I just stare at the Olympic-sized pool while the salesman continues to brag about how fancy everything is.

Possibly.

And you can afford this?

Define "afford".

All I hear in my mind is the sound of a hoof meeting a face.

Well, it's functional, I guess, Grift says optimistically.

If you want to live like the wilderness ponies, sure, Skitter quips back.

Meanwhile, I'm standing in the middle of the empty, single-room log cabin while making a show of mocking consideration for the rustic abode.

Hmm, it would save a lot of money, I say with a smirk, We could easily fit a hundred or so changelings in here if we had everyling stack on top of each other.

Sounds cozy, Fractal giggles.

Sounds awful, Maul mumbles, That might even do the impossible and give a changeling claustrophobia.

I just laugh.

At the end of the day, I've decided to make an offer above the asking price for that first house. There really was no contest when compared to the other ones I looked at, and I want to hedge my bets just in case of other offers coming in. I really don't have the time for a bidding war.

After I head home and clean up, I find myself back in the hive mind overworld, this time on the Hylian field waiting for the simulated sun to set. Maul is the only one with me as everyling else was turning in for the night.

"So, these skeletons," Maul asks from my side, "They're from a game in your world?"

"Yep, everything out here is," I say, gazing across the field at various landmarks, "It's not a perfect recreation, but it is a successful test of my capabilities. I do feel like I'm missing something, though, and that's what I'm here to find out."

The sun finally dips below the horizon and the trademark howl echos through the air signaling the arrival of nighttime. A few seconds later, a stalfos burrows its way out of the ground and looks around, searching for a target. Finally, it notices me and waddles over, intent on attacking me.

pat

pat pat

At least, that's what it seems to think it's doing. In reality, I can barely feel its touch as it swings its arms at me.

"Fun game," Maul deadpans, watching the scene with a disappointed expression.

I sigh, "It's much more dangerous in the actual game, trust me; this is just..."

Two more of the small stalfos climb out of the ground and quickly join their companion.

"...An unintended feature," I continue, knocking one back with a light push. "Give me a few moments, I'm going to try something."

Without waiting for a response, I close my eyes and delve back into build-mode, and analyze the area we're in. As usual, I see all of the terrain and objects that I placed last time, but what sticks out to me is that featureless, transparent box sitting a few feet in front of me.

Curious, I mentally reach out and prod it, causing a screen to pop up in my vision.

Stalfos Spawner
[Properties] - [Scripts]

Speechless, I silently stare at it as I process this new information.

Scripts?

Scripts! Is my hivemind fully programmable?

I just barely managed to stop myself from bouncing in joy. With this revelation, the overworld has conceptually changed from a simple map-maker into a full-on game engine. I quickly select the scripts tab and bring up a new window.

[Scripts]
-: behaviorBasic.ling
+

Just one?, I muse to myself, I guess that makes sense, nothing about the mob seems very complex. Weird file extension, though. Once more I make a selection, bringing up a third window.

-: behaviorBasic.ling

~̶͓̈́~̴̴̶̥̣̫̑̕͝~̴͚̐~̴̷̵̟̩̩̇̏͋~̷̤͛~̵̸̴͉͈͈̋͗̈́~̵̖͠~̸̶̵̡̣̰̆̍͘~̵͍̓~̵̜̈́~̸̵̷̡̺̗̀̃̀~̴̻͒~̷̱̚~̵̢͛~̷̯̑~̵̝̒
̷͖̿~̷̳̈́~̸̶̴͓̣̰͒́́~̵̪̂~̵̶̷̭̼͈̀̍͋~̶͓̐~̵̴̶̱̺̪̃̊̿~̸͎̀~̴̷̴̨͉̹͋͒͝~̴̼͐~̴̜̈́~̶̵̷̹̤͒͑̆ͅ~̶̜͌~̶̖̏~̴̲̾~̴̸̵̫̜͕͆́͠~̵͔̈́~̷͖̈́~̶̴̷̺̝̲̽͐͐~̴̲̓~̶͉̎~̵̩̾
̴̎ͅ~̸̲͗~̵̴̴͙̣͎̋͒̕~̵̼̽~̵̵̵̮̩̦̀̄̓~̷͕͝~̴̷̸͓̳̰̏̌̚~̵̯̏~̵̴̸̡͕̰͆̎͘~̶̮̒~̴͓̐~̸̷̴͙̪̪̐̉͋~̸̏ͅ~̵͈͛~̶̫̑

What I see makes me pause, as what is shown is not the code I was expecting. Instead, the lines are occupied with a mass of ever-changing squiggles almost eldritch in nature and completely unreadable.

The thing throwing me off most, however, is that I can actually understand it without much issue. Not the visual text, mind you, but more like the... feeling of it; almost emotional, in a way, and incredibly complex too. So much information is contained within these lines that it almost makes my head spin.

Unfortunately, none of it is structured like any traditional programming language that I've ever seen, meaning it's going to take me quite a while to figure it out. Consequently, it seems that I'm going to have a lot more time on my hands once I no longer have a job to worry about.

Curiosity sated for now, I close out of the scripts to go back to the first window and select the properties tab. Basic properties are shown, "position x", "position y", "speed", etc; everything that you can find in a typical game engine. One thing that catches my eye is the value of "damage" is set to null, which explains why the mobs weren't doing anything when attacking before.

I'm about to change the value when I hesitate, looking over at Maul for the first time. The damage has to go somewhere when it attacks, so... yep, he also has properties values; a quick scan over his reveals that his damage is set to "10" and his health is set to "100". Focusing back on the spawner, I change the damage value to "1" and the health value from "30" to "10".

Leaving the editor, I come back to the game world with the stalfos still hitting me, only this time the hits feel like small pinches instead of nothing. "Interesting...," I mutter to myself as I crush one of them in one hit, the bones fading to nothing after a few moments.

"What did you find?" Maul asks, looking at the scene with intrigue.

"What I should have expected, really," I reply, swiftly killing the other two by me, "I made a small change so they can fight back a little bit."

"Oh?," he wonders, walking over one of the newly spawned and letting it hit him, "Hmm, better than nothing, I guess. How difficult can you make it?"

"Anywhere between here and 'impossible'," I say with a grin.

"I see," he states, the glint in his eye betraying his desire.

"But, the question is, what's the most important thing the hivemind needs right now?" I muse, gazing out into the landscape, "You five are going to be on your own for quite a while; what is it that I can make here that'll best help everyling deal with the situation?"

Maul takes a moment to think before replying, "Well, the only thing I can really speak with confidence about is fighting due to my specialization, in which case I recommend having a training area that can be flexibly used for a wide range of combat simulations. Without a full guard force, everyling needs to be able to defend themselves if the time comes where a fight is inevitable."

I look back at him and nod, "I agree, true specialization really isn't a luxury we can afford right now. In fact, I'll take it a step further and also ask Skitter and Fractal about areas for magic and enchanting, transformations with Echo, and..." I pause, trying to recall what I know about Grift but fail to come up with anything relevant.

"What does Grift specialize in?"

"He's a worker drone, so he doesn't specialize in anything specific," Maul shrugs, then continues upon seeing my questioning look, "Workers are those who never tested into any of the dedicated roles in the hive and are relegated to basic labor jobs."

"Then I'll let him decide what to put in that room," I say, already going through rough building ideas for a changeling academy, "No changeling of mine shall be uneducated."

"Okay." Maul simply says, not fully understanding, but accepting.

1 - Connection Established

You know, lucid dreaming isn't really all it's cracked up to be. All the sources I've read said that's it's basically the world's best sandbox videogame or some such. Go on adventures limited only by your imagination! Yeah, right...

I sigh as I glance around the white void that I could only assume is my subconscious.

The dream had started out fine, just walking through a nondescript mall passing by multiple storefronts I can't remember. At one point I came across one of those flea-market stands that you'd find in most malls that sold off-brand merchandise, this one in particular selling cell phones. I had noticed that one of the devices was ringing, and when I went to answer it, I was zapped and transported here. That's when I became lucid.

Of course, once I was aware I was dreaming, I was initially excited about all the things I thought I would be able to do. But as I tried to do those things, change the dream setting, manifest items, and whatever else I could think of; I found myself still stuck here, in this unchanging, colorless expanse.

"Come on! Show me anything!" I scream into the nothingness, hoping for some sort of change.
"...anything"
"...anything"

Seriously, an echo? Really? There's not even anything here for sound to bounce off of! Well, fuck you too, brain; I know I'm not that empty of creativity.

Feeling disgusted and insulted, I prepare myself to start trying wake-up methods. Wondering if-
"Hello?"

I freeze, swearing I just heard a voice. I'm not going mad, am I?

No, this is just a dream, and hearing voices is actually good in this case. Is something interesting actually going to happen?
"Please, is anyling there?"

Oh yeah, I definitely heard someone, and it sounds like a cry for help. A cliche way to start an adventure, but at this point, I'm not being picky. I still don't see anything around me, so the only thing left to do is to respond, "Yes, hello, who's there?"

"Oh, thank the makers..." the hidden voice sighs in relief. Slowly the white surroundings fade into a darker environment, fuzzy details becoming more distinct. I find five strange creatures huddled around a pile of glowing green gems in the middle of a small cave, holes and branching pathways mark the walls in random locations. While the scene in front of me is creepy in nature, I feel a strange comfort from the environment itself.

My gaze is drawn downward as I notice one of them moving to look up at me, the rest of them still motionless in deep meditation.

With a cautious smile, it says, "Greetings, my name is Skitter. Please, don't be afraid." Holding its foreleg out as if for a handshake, exhaustion clearly shows through its struggling composure. At a glance, the creature looks as if some mad scientist merged together a small horse and a beetle, which was then thrown out and left to starve. However, closer observation shows their situation might actually be much worse than that.

Even with my limited knowledge of insect life, I can tell that the holes in their legs and wings signify some sort of illness. Scars and scratches cover their forms in various places, and one of them even has a missing wing. It's obvious that this group has gone through some hard times, and I can't help but feel sorry for them.

Hah, take that, brain. I do have some creativity, albeit a little morbid...

Noticing its fading smile and lowering hoof, I bring myself out of my contemplative stupor. "Ah, sorry, my name's Tyler," I say, reaching my arm out to grab the offered hoof. Surprisingly, their exoskeleton isn't completely hard or brittle like most insects, but in fact has some give to it. The closest thing I could compare it to is a fingernail, but for the whole body.

"So, um... What are you?" I ask, after the hand(hoof?)shake.

After gathering itself and sitting down, it says, "We are changelings, named for our ability to change ourselves into nearly any desired form."

I raise my eyebrows, "Anything?"

"Nearly anything. There are limits such as size conservation and weight; neither can we gain any abilities we don't already have."

"Sounds like a neat ability, regardless..." I say, once again glancing at the others. "Your group looks like it's seen better days."

It sighs forlornly, "That's an unfortunate understatement, and is also the reason we've been calling to the outer dream realms." Noticing my confusion, it further explains, "Our Queen, while powerful, was a terrible leader. Under her rule, our resources dwindled and our population stagnated; we were suffering. Eventually her follies caught up to her, and in a final desperate act of pride invaded the land of those who once fed us."

"Why would she do that?"

Grimacing, it replies, "Changelings are emotivores; we eat the emotions given off by other creatures. Don't worry, it's harmless." Pausing, it thinks for a moment, "Well, the way we were doing it for hundreds of years until she came into power, that is.

"We had survived off silence and subtlety, real friends and genuine relationships. For her, it wasn't enough; she wanted it all, immediately. But she was too prideful to notice the flaws in her various plans, of which she would accept no criticism. Inevitably, the invasion was repelled, and our losses were devastating. The result of her actions can be seen right here; as far as we know, we are the last surviving changelings."

"Damn, I'm sorry..." I say, digesting everything I just heard. "So, you've come into the 'dream realm' to find help, but what kind of help are you expecting?"

"Simply put, we are searching for a new queen. Without a queen, there is no hivemind, and without a hivemind, we cannot survive. Normally, a drone would be able to lay a new royal egg in the absence of a hivemind and given enough energy, but even if one of us fed on the maximum energy the rest could carry, it would not be enough. The only other possible solution is to find another creature to become our new queen, which is arguably a harder task but actually doable with our limited numbers."

Huh, so they're looking for a new leader on the dream-internet. Still... "That seems kind of risky, how would you know if you didn't just get another tyrant?" I ask.

Its expression wilts a bit, "We're more desperate than you probably realize; this is our last chance to save our kind. It's taken so long to find the ingredients and energy needed to cast this spell, and if we fail, the energy loss will kill us."

Wow, this is one hell of a start to a dream adventure, but I'm still wondering why I don't really have any control over this dream. Is there more to lucid dreaming than just being aware that you're dreaming? I didn't think so but maybe I missed something when I was researching it.

"So, why me?" I ask. Yeah, it's my dream, of course it's going to be me, but I still want to hear their explanation.

"Because you're the only one who's answered." It gives a half-hearted chuckle, then winces in pain. "I've been searching for so long and I can feel there's not much time left for us. If you decline, we'll most likely..." Trailing off, it goes quiet with tears starting to form in its eyes.

Oof, my heart. I was already going to accept, but this is just rubbing it in. Crouching down, I put my hand on its shoulder reassuringly, "Hey, don't worry, I'll do it."

"Y-you will?" It looks up at me with a shocked but hopeful expression.

With a smile, I say, "Yeah, I don't know if I could live with myself if I just let you guys die while knowing I could have done something."

It says nothing else and slowly collapses into my arms as it quietly cries; I begin petting its neck and back as a way to hopefully comfort it.

I really did not expect this dream to get as deeply emotional as it has, though I'm not complaining. Considering how strange this whole situation is, I'm not sure I could have purposely thought of anything better. Maybe I can't control my lucid dreams because I subconsciously know that I'll enjoy a story more if I don't know what's next? Spoilers and whatnot.

Looking over at the other changelings, I notice that they're in more discomfort than before, most likely running out of this 'energy'. Gently prodding Skitter, I say, "Hey, we should probably get on with this. Your friends don't seem to have much left in them."

Sniffing, it quickly gets back to its hooves. "Yes. Yes, you're right. I'm sorry." Its horn lights up as it composes itself, then continues, "All I have to do is to create a direct mental link to you and the spellstones will do the rest."

"All right, I'm ready," I say, leaning forward. Skitter touches their horn to my head, and my world explodes into green light.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

My hand slaps the alarm off as I groan into my pillow. Of course I wake up right as I get to the good part, that dream was getting really interesting. But, as time flows, Monday is inevitable.

Slowly, I get up from the bed with one hand massaging my scalp trying to get rid of the small headache that's starting to grow. Opening my eyes, I see my room as I've always left it. Shelves with books and various knick-knacks on the wall to my left, my desk and computer to my right, and finally my dresser across the room. What is odd, though, is that everything seems to have a green tint to it. Rubbing my eyes slightly solves the problem, but doesn't totally go away.

"Ugh, I hope I'm not getting sick," I mutter to myself, grunting as I get off my bed and move towards my closet to get dressed.

We're already one man down on the Kleiner project, and as one of the lead developers, I have to pick up a lot of the slack if the work is to be done in time. A delay from me getting sick would definitely cause all sorts of problems I don't want to deal with right now.

After putting on my dailies, I make my way over to the bathroom to do my business. The first thing I do is go for the medicine cabinet to find something for this damn headache. Glancing at the mirror, I do a double-take. Was my eye color always that vibrantly green? Dark brown hair, scruffy beard, skin as white as can only be obtained by sitting at a desk all hours of the day. Nothing else seemed off.

Sighing I grab some pain pills, hoping that the day doesn't get any worse than the previous fights Molly, you actually did really well considering he didn't have a handicap."

Growling, I retort, "I lost again, just like I lost the last four duels, and you know the queen will take no excuses, no matter my situation. At this rate, I'll be demoted to waste cleanup."

With a huff, I march into my quarters, yelling back, "And my name is Maul, get that through your thick and chunky milk pours out slowly onto the bowl of cereal.

"Dammit, I just had to jinx myself," I say, closing up the milk carton and throwing it away. Making a note to hit the grocery store later, I grab some bread to make toast instead.

As I wait for the toaster to finish, I take a sip of my coffee and gaze out my front window. Multiple cars drive by along with the usual procession of people walking their way to work. To be honest, I've always hated living in the city; too many people, too many cars, and everything is a clusterfuck. So of course, I just had to make software engineering my career. I'm so jealous of Maul and being able to live out in the badlands with the rest of- ...Wait, who's Maul and what the hell is this, Echo?" My infiltration instructor sighs with frustration.

"What?" I ask innocently, "I think it looks good." I do a fashionista spin in front of the reverse-mirror admiring myself.

"What do you mean 'What'?" she says incredulously, "This is an infiltration mission, not love collection!" Messaging her head with a hoof, she continues, "Look, I know you're one of the best love collectors we have, and that looking good is your specialty, but the whole point of infiltration is to not attract attention. I don't want to have the queen on my flank about a mission that failed because a drone couldn't help themselves from stopping at a red light, I look to the gas station up ahead and notice the prices are pretty good to-

Ah, It happened again! Did I blackout while driving?

No, that's not quite right, I remember finishing breakfast and getting in my car and driving out. But I've been daydreaming about changelings at the same time? No, that doesn't sound right either. What's going on?

HONK HONK
Startled out of my musings, I notice that the stoplight had turned green and I quickly start driving again.

It's also weird that the medicine I took earlier hasn't really helped my headache go away. In fact, it almost seems like it's gotten worse. And now I have to worry about being forced into the twelfth district and we can use the Starlight warehouse to store pods." The squad leader says while pointing to a specific part of the Canterlot map.

"Wouldn't that leave us undefended from retaliation on the side of district ten? This whole maneuver only works if nothing goes wrong with the Queen's gambit." I say, quickly noticing potential issues in the plan.

The squad leader's eyes narrow. "Know your place, Fractal, this plan of attack has been meticulously laid out by the queen and her top military advisors. We are naught to do but follow every order to the letter."

He straightens up and addresses the group once more, "Now, once we arrive at the office, opening the front door. Alice is sitting at the front desk as usual and gives me a wave as soon as I come in. "Good morning, Tyler, how are you today?"

Holding back a grimace, I respond, "I'm fine, thanks."

As I try to nonchalantly walk by her desk, she gives me a scrutinizing look and says, "Are you sure? You're looking a little green there."

"Really, I'm fine. It's nothing I can't work through."

"Well, alright, if you say so." She says, returning back to her work. "Oh, and Chris wanted me to let you know that today's meeting is moved to first thing this morning."

"Great, thanks," I say, making my way over to my cubicle and sitting down. A quick glance over at the clock confirms that I only have about five minutes until the meeting starts.

I put my head in my hands and groan. How many times am I going to be put into a waking dream? It's an absolute miracle that my autopilot didn't get me killed on the road, but how am I going to perform at work? If I'm lucky that we didn't get assigned to the palace strike force, eh Grift?"

I glance up toward the Noble district and palace to see the flashes of a large magic battle occurring. Fortunately for us, most of the resistance from the citizens has been minimal and easy to overcome. A quick recall of the day's events so far shows everything going according to plan.

"Yeah, but this all feels too easy. I can't help but feel like something is going to go horribly wrong soon."

Smirking, he nudges me with his elbow, "Aw, stop worrying so much. You're always feelling well today, Tyler?"

I jump in my seat, surprised. Quickly I stammer out, "Ah, sorry Chris, it's just a small thing. I can work through-"

"Don't give me that crap, you looked completely dead throughout this morning's meeting," he says, interrupting my rambling. Looking back at my memories, I realize he was right. I had spent nearly the entire time staring at the conference table.

With a sigh, he continues, "I can't have you here getting the entire team sick this close to the project deadline; things are already precarious since Peter quit last week. If you must, grab a company laptop to work on while you're recovering, but for now, I want you to go home and sleep."

"Yes sir," I mutter as he walks off. Maybe it's for the best, I do feel like shit and these fugue states that I keep having aren't helping.

After gathering my stuff together and grabbing a laptop, I head back out to my car. Alice made a snarky comment about not being able to work through it like I said I would, but I was too tired to bother with a response. I was half tempted to just sit in my car all day moaning and complaining, but the idea of jumping back into my soft bed won out. Maybe I can trigger another dream state so I don't have to concentrate on moving my wings, but nothing worked. It's bad enough that the weird explosion blew us all out of Canterlot, but that it has paralyzing effects too means that most of us will have an unfortunate meeting with the hard ground at terminal velocity.

Chuckling darkly, I roll my eyes a bit to see a 'ling in the air next to me. I didn't recognize them off-hoof, but their eyes were closed which means they had the mercy of being unconscious in these final moments.

...

If I had an epitaph and a queen that cared enough to open up the catacombs again, what would it be?

Heh, probably 'Here lies Skitter, the Queen's worst spe

...I came-to again inside my apartment right as I closed the front door, and took a moment to compose myself. It's one thing to hear of the changeling's mass casualties, but to see, feel, and hear it is...

No, I'm getting ahead of myself. I just had a weird dream last night, and now my current sickness is taking advantage of it and showing me weird things. Maybe.

I quickly stumble my way to my room, my sight becoming blurry as my headache starts to intensify. Eventually, I manage to flop onto my bed, groaning in discomfort as new symptoms of whatever it is I have pop up. My skin begins to feel like it's crawling all over me, more sweat than I have ever produced pools around my bed, and the strange sensation of simultaneously starving and being overfed war from within. By the time I finally consider calling 911, it's too late; I can't get my body to move.

It is a small mercy, then, when my world gives way to darkness.