The Changelings of Manehattan

Ruby felt a shiver run down her spine. Daybreaker, she'd heard that name before. It was mentioned in some dusty old tomes that had turned up in the less savory part of town. The story went that after Princess Celestia's younger sister grew jealous of the attention her older sister was getting, she transformed into a dark entity known as Nightmare Moon. Everyone knew about Nightmare Moon though, they did have an annual holiday dedicated to it after all.

What wasn't widely known, in fact it had been mostly forgotten, was how intense the grief was that Princess Celestia suffered after banishing her sister to the moon. That grief made way for anger, and that anger transformed her the same way it had her younger sister. For a number of years, she became little more than a tyrant, punishing anyone who ever dare to even look at her the wrong way. The one thing she couldn't find any record of, no matter how hard she looked, was what it was that eventually brought her back to herself and turned her into the benevolent ruler she was today.

Ruby took a deep breath and tried to settle her nerves. As interesting as this was, it wasn't the focus of her study. Still, it left her thinking back to her pony husband, Dusty Tomes. He was an absolutely brilliant earth pony and he never balked at any mystery that laid at his hooves. It had been his insatiable thirst for knowledge that had drawn her to him and his passionate pursuit of that knowledge that eventually made her fall in love with him.

He would've absolutely loved solving the mystery of what caused this one changeling to outlive generation after generation of queens. She moved up to the edge of the healing pool and looked at the changeling that slept within. Spectrum was still sleeping peacefully deep in the love-permeated waters. His chitin had softened somewhat from soaking the last couple days. Many of the holes that had been torn through his damaged body were mostly healed by now and a new set of wings were growing from his back to replace the ones that had been destroyed. As hurt as he had been, Ruby expected him to have woken back up by now. She set her horn alight and began casting the spells that would allow her to check that everything was healing as it should.

She jumped at the sound of a sharp snap and sneered at the drone that had just issued their warning with a paper fan. She had completely forgotten that Sapphire insisted she have a chaperone. She wasn't going to do anything. Honest. She would've liked to, but Clover did say he wanted him back in one piece. It's a shame she wouldn't get her chance, though.

"He's taking too long to heal," she told the drone. "I need to make sure nothing's wrong."

The drone looked to carefully consider her words and then took a step back, taking their accursed fan with them.

Ruby returned her attention to the pool and sent magic snaking into it. She felt a little resistance when it reached the sleeping form, which wasn't too surprising. Spectrum did express his distaste for how she had been treating him, which didn't make any sense to her. All she had done was offer to help him uncover any secrets that were tucked away in his unusual body.

She nodded to herself in satisfaction as she checked his internal workings. His body was successfully soaking up the love from the pool and sending it flowing where it needed to go. Some of it did take a detour through the gemstone-like fixtures upon his chest, which apparently were used to store far more energy than any other changeling, short of a queen, that is.

Aside from that oddity, everything else she checked seemed fine. She still couldn't find anything else that really stood out. The only thing left to really check was the part of his brain that would connect to a hive mind. If their story was to be believed, it should've remained unused for many, many years. And while she might be overstepping her bounds a tiny little bit, who was really going to know.

Ruby barely brushed against the link when a jolt of foreign magic shot back into her. It was so sharp and so sudden, that it knocked her back on her flank, leaving her seeing stars for a long minute.

She had no clue what that was, but it served to reignite her curiosity. She quickly returned to her table and excitedly began scrambling over her notes. She finally had a lead on what made this changeling so different.

Number 47 was in trouble. Not in any sort of physical trouble, but as everyone prepared to abandon their home, he could feel Mother's attention fall on him from time to time. She was not pleased.

The poor drone's mind had been changing ever since Mother had performed the experiment with Clover's blood. He didn't understand what was happening at the time, in fact, he hadn't even had enough awareness to really care. When the experiment started, he had stood there and watched as the previous drone was scraped off a stone slab, having expired from the same experiment. Thinking back, that still didn't bother him. What really bothered him now was that he hardly recognized himself anymore. Until this recent event, he had followed every order and acted as a good drone should, but he still found himself asking questions he hadn't before. Questions he could tell were constantly annoying his siblings, especially the guards. Namely... Why? Why did they live in the jungle? Why did they hunt the way they did? And why didn't they utilize their shapeshifting abilities more in their hunts?

When this recent attack happened, he was scared. More scared than he had ever been before. He feared what might happen to them, and he feared for his own safety. He hadn't even registered what he was doing until he had already buried himself in a wall and well out of the way of the invaders.

And then the shame started to kick in as he sat there and heard the dying screams of the hive. He should be out there, but out there doing what? What would be the point? From what he could tell, none of them stood any chance against the invaders, and all he would end up being is another corpse on the pile.

When the invaders began freeing the captured ponies, the guilt building up inside him threatened to tear them apart. He tried to ignore it, but the longer he resisted, the worse it got. By the time he had built up the courage to climb out of hiding, the fighting was already over. Several sets of eyes immediately noticed him and he could feel the whispers in the back of his mind as Mother was told of his cowardice. He quickly busied himself, doing his best to help tend to the wounded while hoping that Mother didn't...

I will deal with you later. Number 47 seized up as he heard Mother address him directly. I cannot spare any of my children right now, but don't think you've escaped punishment.

Yes, Mother, he quietly acknowledged. What else could he say? Acting as he had was unthinkable among the hive.

We've just cleared the tunnel into the nursery.

Number 47 let out a sigh. That would be either Numbers Eight or Nine that just reported over the link. Why did the guards get to have a higher level of independence than the rest of the hive?

"Ooof," he collided with something solid before falling to the ground. What did he run into? He hadn't really been watching where he was going, but he usually didn't really need to. Connected as they all were, everyone in the hive usually knew where each other was. He rubbed his sore head as he looked up from the ground to find Clover looking down at him.

"Are you alright?" Clover asked as he reached down to help them up.

"Yeah," said Number 47. "I just wasn't watching where I was going."

"Oh," he sounded surprised. "So you also speak my language. I was under the impression that very few of you spoke it."

The drone froze. He hadn't spoken the pony's language, at least he didn't think he did. "You can understand me?" He asked with a sense of trepidation.

"Yes..." The question left the pony looking just as confused as the drone was.

Mother!? He cried out in a panic. Something's wrong!

You better have a good reason for bothering me right now, she snapped back. You're in enough trouble as it is.

Number 47 began explaining what happened, only to be interrupted as Number Three chimed in. That shouldn't be possible, she said. Ponies are a very verbal species, so they shouldn't have any form of telepathy. I'd love to look more into this development.

Later. We don't have time for this, said Mother. Whoever this Daybreaker is that Greengrass mentioned, she seemed to have Clover spooked. We need to evacuate the hive as soon as possible.

He's afraid? He understood fear far better than he had before. Fear was what pushed them to survive. Everyone in the hive lived with it every day of their lives and they knew very well when there was a fight better left avoided. However, after witnessing this Clover fight, he seemed far more predator than prey. What could scare a creature like that?

It seems that way. Mother seemed to take a moment to think things over, letting the silence stretch out for an uncomfortably long time. We'll have to explore this more later. We're going to take advantage of the fact that you can understand each other. For now, you're going to stay by his side and assist him. Is that understood?

Yes Mother, He acknowledged as he focused his attention back on Clover. He was currently looking over the remnants of the other ponies that were strewn out before him. They were looking worn and ragged, especially the ones who had just been pulled out of the pods.

While Number 47 watched, the earth pony they had captured earlier that day climbed to his hooves. His legs were still shaking and he clearly didn't have enough strength to stand properly, but it seemed that his stubbornness won out. He stood up and staggered to stand in front of Clover with defiance in his eyes. "What makes you think we're going anywhere with you?" he growled through his exhaustion.

The pony might not have been so brave had he witnessed the brutality caused by the same pony he was now challenging. The scout's eyes went wide as Clover placed a hoof on his shoulder and, with an almost bored expression, forced him to sit back down. He looked like he might be stubborn enough to try again, but then one of the ponies involved in the assault held him back before he had a chance to consider. "That's Clover the Clever," they said. "You know, the one that supposedly turned Daybreaker to stone."

The words didn't make any sense to Number 47, but they seemed to have some kind of effect as the fire in the earth pony's eyes was quickly extinguished. The drone approached the group, eager to not displease Mother further. Clover's ears perked up as they got closer before turning to face them. "What is it about you that feels so different than everypony else?"

The drone shook their head. "I don't know," he said. "But Mother wishes for me to stay by your side and help."

Clover raised an eyebrow, "can you understand anypony else or just me?"

"Just you, it seems," their eyes darted between Clover and the ponies he was keeping prisoner just by his presence. It was a strange sight to see. There was nothing restraining them, but they seemed to turn mostly docile in the unicorn's presence.

"What's going to happen to us?" Whispers came from the few females in this small herd of ponies.

"These bugs seem to feed off of us," responded another.

"Is that why they're moving us about like livestock?" Came yet another.

"I'd rather be livestock than dead. Daybreaker's going to torch this place when she gets here."

"Is Clover talking to that bug?"

"What kind of monster is he?"

Clover let out a sigh before stomping his hoof, quickly forcing them all to silence. He looked down at them out of the corner of his eye, the spite clearly visible in his glare. "You should be glad I'm even letting you live as livestock after what you all did to Luna."

Number 47 wasn't sure if it was just the sheer extent of Clover's pent up rage or if it was his own ability to tune into the emotions of other creatures, but whoever this Luna was seemed really important to Clover. He took a few steps backwards, needing to get some distance from Clover before he felt like he could breathe again. He heaved in several large breaths, even as he heard Mother's voice fill the link.

Everything's ready, my children, she said sadly. We're leaving the hive.