Author's Note

Sorry again for the short chapter I just don't feel to enthusiastic when my Dads nephew is here but that is no excuse so once again I'm sorry, also some people might not like this chapter but idk like I said before thats up to you guys, not me. SO anyway bash and enjoy this heap of filth.

What To Do Next?

The room was silent for a few minutes as they seemed to think about how to answer before one if them answered.

"I...I want to stay with you guys, if thats ok?" Ocellus asked

We looked on shocked at her answer but before we could respond the others proceeded to answer.

Rass huffed "I guess It'd be better if I stayed with other changelings seeing as how I was caught by surprise on my own."

Lectul nodded "I agree, it would be beneficial for us to remain together as to increase our chances of survival since Joseph here." He then gestured to me. "Seems to somewhat have some experience in those type of situations like the one we were in last night."

Ardinal rapidly nodded his head up and down "Right! I didnt think he would actually be useful but he managed to surprise me."

I narrow my eyes at him "Thanks for the compliment." I say sarcastically

He proceeds to give me a thumbs up "No problem."

I shake my head as I turn towards to the last one who hasn't spoken yet. "What about you Eetle? Are you staying or leaving?"

Eetle looks around the room before sighing. "I suppose that it would be all in our best interest if like Ross said to stick together."

"Can I ask everyling here a question?" We all direct our attention to Thorax. "I'm just a bit confused on something."

Lectul nods "What do you need clarification on?"

"Well you all say that your joining our 'group and I have no problem with that, I actually think it's nice to have so many changelings with us, but its just, don't you have to go back to the Hive? To, you know report back on whatever you were assigned to?"

As soon as Thorax finishes asking his question their mood instantly shifts as now they looked upset, even Ocellus which is surprising while Eetle grimaced.

"Did, did I say something wrong?" Thorax asked

Eetle shakes his head "No, no you didn't its just were not going back to the Hive Thorax."

Thorax and Pharynx looked shocked at that(myself included) there was a whole group of Changelings that didn't want to return to the Hive.

"B-but why would you do that? Why would you abandon our Hive? Our Queen?" Thorax questioned

"The same reason why you should." Rass said

Pharnyx narrowed his eyes at Rass "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me ask you three something, did the Queen assign you to a specific mission?" Eetle asked

"Where you were assigned to out of nowhere and unprepared for?" Ardinal asked

"Where she told you that the time limit for said mission was about three moons?" Lectul asked

"Where she told you to bring something revolutionary and never before seen back to the hive? Ocellus asked

"And that if you do return before you do to consider yourself banished?" Rass asked

We looked on in shock as they basically told us word for word what Chrysalis had demanded of us.

"Y-yes thats what she assigned us to do b-but how do you what she said?" Thorax asked hesitantly

Rass scoffed "Uh, hello why do you think we know. Obviously she told us the same thing."

Pharynx crosses his arms "Thats ridiculous, why would she tell multiple Changelings the same statement?"

Rass rolled her eyes "She wanted to get rid of us." She then gestured to the others. "And obviously it doesn't seem like she minds how many she gets rid of."

"Y-your wrong our Queen wouldn't do that. I mean y-yeah she may be cruel sometimes but it's because she expects the best of us a-and besides how would you know if she's really trying to get rid of us?"

"Because of me" Eetle said

We looked at Eetle confused. "You? How would you know?" Thorax asked

"Because I've been somewhat of a outside influence." Eetle said

"Outside influence? What do you mean by that?' I asked

Eetle grimaced "Just like you I was also tasked with finding something revolutionary and never before seen, but I had actually managed to find it, around two moons in the limit she gave me."

"So with the new discovery I had managed to make my way back to the Hive. I remember being so excited for her approval. Though, when I got there, I could see her waiting by the entrance with two Sentinels by her side, but I didn't think anything of it at the time, instead I was just more excited at the idea that the Queen came out the Hive just for me."

"I went up to her as she was smiling down at me with sick fake smile of hers." He says with some venom in the last part. "I told her all about what I went through, the dangers, the hardships, the friends I made and abandoned all for her."

"I then gave her what she was looking for, a tome filled with knowledge that was locked away in the Ponies Royal Library."

He chuckles "Then I had said everything I had to say and you know what she did?"

"What?" Thorax asked

"She told me that I was no longer needed. When I heard her say that I assumed that it meant that I could come back and work on being a better Surveyor, but then the Sentinels pushed me back while pointing their weapons at me."

"She then walked off into the Hive as they followed her, I was so confused as to what was happening, so I tried calling for her just for her to ignore me."

"So I then tried following her inside after they entered but I couldn't."

"What do you mean you couldn't?" Pharynx asked

"I mean I couldn't, the Hive wouldn't open up to me no matter how close I came to it no holes would be made for me to enter I was-"

"Banished" I finished as I fall back onto the cushion

I tried for days to find a hole that a Changeling would come out of but no matter how fast I was It would always close just in time preventing me from entering."

"But why, why would the Queen do that?" Thorax asked

"I don't know, what I do know is that I wasn't the last as you can clearly see here." He gestures to the rest of them. "I had met Lectul when I was returning back to the Hive to try attempt again to get back in."

"When we had first met I had asked what he was doing."

"Since I didn't mind sharing my mission with him I told him exactly what It was, seeing as he is a fellow Changeling." Lectul says

"And I remember i could remember being in disbelief as it looked like I was looking at my memories happening in real time as he repeated his mission to me."

"I tried to warn him and tell him what would happen If he completed his mission." Eetle said

"Naturally, I ignored him after that since at the time I thought he was a deranged changeling living off of scraps of love trying to brand our Queen as something else."

"Though, like he said when I did return and my mission was done like him I was discarded, used for a tool and nothing more." Lectul said

"And as you see thats what happened to the rest of us." Rass said

I look over at Ocellus as she nods sadly. Sighing I sit there for a few minutes with Thorax and Pharynx as we try to process what we've just been told.

"I'm gonna go so I can process what I've just learned today, thank you." Thorax says with a thousand yard stare as he walks out the living room and into their room as we hear the door open and close.

"I'm, gonna join him." Pharnyx said

I nod as he exits the room and we hear the door to their room open and close again. I stay as I am still going over what we've learned. 'So she's been, what selecting certain Changelings to go out into the world, get her items that might be considered useful to her, and then just banishes them when they return anyways? My God, and everyone that does remain In the Hive have no idea that this is happening. Has she been doing this for long or has she just started this?'
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(Pharynx POV)

I enter our room closing the door behind me as I turn around and see Thorax wrapped In the fabric material that came with the sleeping platform facing the wall.

"Thorax?" I call out to him.

No response. "Thorax?" I call out again as I begin to slowly make my way next to him. Though he still remains silent as I appear next to him. Not knowing what to do I decide to just sit next to him on the bed as we stare at the wall together.

Though eventually I feel a weight set on my shoulder as I turn my head slightly to see Thorax laying on my shoulder. We sit like that for a couple of minutes In somewhat comfortable and tense silence.
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"Pharynx?" He asks

I jump a bit as he speaks but quickly get my nerves under control as I answer him "Yes?"

He looks up at me still on my shoulder as he takes a minuteto find his words. "Do, do you want to go back to the Hive?"

"W-well I, I'm not sure. Why?" I ask him

He looks back down as he answers "I don't think we should return back to the Hive."

I looked at him shocked, not expecting him to genuinely not want to go to the Hive.

"Really?" I ask

He nods "If what those Lings are saying really true and that really did happen to them." He gets off of my shoulder as he then proceeds to face me. "Then whats the point of trying to work our flanks off, where we possibly have to risk our lives in situations like what happened last night if all thats going to happen is we get banished as soon as we show our faces anyway?"

"I don't know," I answer lost at the situation as well.

He then proceeds to get up and start pacing. "I mean I don't want to believe it really i don't, but I mean its hard to just, ignore the fact that we have Five Changelings who are living proof that our Magnificent Queen that we've been taught to live and Die for just uses Changelings like their the love containers we used to consume."

"You know something thats funny? Joseph was actually talking to me about not returning to the Hive as well."

My eyes widen at his statement. "Wait you guys talked about not coming back to the Hive?"

He stops as he processes what he said before blushing in embarrassment "Oh i-i may have forgot to tell you about that."

I raise my eyeridge at him. "Noooooo really?"

"I had meant to tell you about it eventually, but I wasn't really thinking about it at the time since I didn't really think that not going back to the Hive was an option to consider."

My eyes soften "But now?"

He looks down as he lays against the wall "Now, I think no, now we Know that we don't have a choice in that unless we wanna decide to get formally banished or just not return ourselves."

He slides down to the floor as he hugs his knees close to him. "Its just, I lived my whole life thinking on how I would do my best to make Our Queen proud no matter what. No matter how many times I was picked on, no matter how long it took me to learn something." He then smirks as he looks at me. "No matter how many times you belittled me." I winced at the reminder of my less then perfect self back then. "I'm sorry again about putting you through that."

He smiles "Dont worry Pharynx, I know you meant well, even if your methods were a little much."

We share a chuckle before he drops his smile and looks back at the floor.

"Anyways, as i was saying no matter what, in the end it would all be worth It to me as long as, In the end she would be proud of me and then I could tell myself that it was all worth it in the end."

"I thought that when we were picked for this I could use this opportunity to finally show her what I was capable of. I was terrified that we were going to die before we even managed to get anywhere or-"
He paused as he begins chuckling. "You know I was about to say that her being disappointed would have been worse to me then actually dying isn't that interesting?"

"Thorax...."

"Do you remember last night when we almost died Pharynx? I do, and I remember it vividly." He looks at his hands as continues. "I remember how..helpless I felt when everything that allowed to me defend myself was stripped away, all the while I was at the mercy of another creature who wanted us dead because they believed that it was their duty to exterminate us like we were pests."

"I still remember how terrified I was at that moment, at how I was going to die not accomplishing much of my life on my own, reflecting on how, just like my life in the Hive my life was once again going to be in the hands of someling else while all I could do was just wait until it was over."

"Then when we had gotten together in the living room I was told that not only the Queen I had devoted my life to not only had used and banished other Changelings before us not caring about how young they were and how as long as they brought back something useful then it was worth the effort to her, but that if we returned, she was probably going to do the same thing to us."

"The fact that everything we went through and probably might go would mean nothing to her in her grand scheme of things. Its just, I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around how much if my life I've wasted for her and for what? Clearly nothing from the looks of it."
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I walk over and sit next to him by the wall as I wrap my arms around him bringing him into a hug as I have no clue what I could possibly say to make him feel better. He then hugs me back tightly as he tries to hold back his tears.

"I j-just d-dont know what t-to do n-now Pharnyx. W-what am I, w-what are We s-supposed to do now?"

"Now? Well, If what they said is true." I pull him from the hugs as I grab by the shoulders bringing him face to face to me. "Then from now on we start for living for ourselves. Not the Hive, Not Chrysalis, For Ourselves."

"For Ourselves?" He asks

I nod "For Ourselves."

He remains quiet as he goes over what I said before he looks at me with a slight smile on his face causing me to slightly smile with him.

"For....Ourselves. I think I, would like that."
He tells me

I nod. "Then thats what we'll live by for the rest of our lives."

He then hugs me as I'm caught off guard before wrapping my arms back around him as we repeat the statement one last time.

"For Ourselves."
"For Ourselves."