A Nurse in Disguise

Within the mountains far out in the Undiscovered West, a Changeling hive was bustling with activity. At all hours of the day the hive was filled with drones going about their daily tasks: soldiers patrolling the hive's perimeter and countless tunnels, workers building and maintaining those tunnels, preparing for a new expansion that was planned soon. Meanwhile deep in the bowels of the hive, the young nymphs that were the future of the hive were kept, safe and secure, under the care of the Nursery Drones.

Within the nursery, Nephila, the sole member of the night watch began her shift, same as any other evening. As her fellow nursery drones from the previous shift filed out through the single entry to the rest of the hive, she looked over the nymphs and larvae - the future of her glorious hive - all cuddled together snugly as they rested after a day of playing and education. It was one of the most adorable displays Nephila had seen, and one that she never grew tired of, even after 20 years of service to her hive. She had cared for countless numbers of grubs, many of which she now called colleagues, and was sure that she would care for countless more before her time was done. After all, there was no danger that could possibly reach her here in the nursery, the most heavily guarded section of the hive!

Queen Vevnith was barely three decades into her rule of the Hive she shared a name with - a scant time compared to the tens of centuries her mother had ruled for. She still felt unused to the weight of expectations from her hive crushing down on her. A weight that bore down particularly hard as she had listened to her envoys reports of other Hives seemingly disappearing over the last few years and that her spies had stopped returning from.

At first these disappearances did not seem cause for worry. Hives would occasionally need to go into hiding if their activities gained attention from a large group of ponies - a threat that had only grown since Equestria had become a true country early into her mother's rule - or occasionally even be destroyed entirely if a wandering dragon decided to make their mountain its home, turning their tunnels into an ideal place for it to store its hoard. Yet these things were random. Sporadic. Not at all like the sweeping quiet that had been spreading like a wave.

A wave that - if the loss of contact with her scouts and more distant harvesters was anything to go by - had now reached the borders of her own territory.

As Queen Vevnith dismissed the administrative drones that had just finished relaying their reports, she looked over to the drone she had made into her personal adjutant. "Arachni, would you please review the hive's food stores?" Her multi-layered voice seemingly reverberated within itself, "While you are at it order the harvesters to bring in as much meat as possible, and inform the soldiers to go on high alert. Whatever is out there, we must be prepared for it."

She looked down at Arachni with a smile yet her smile felt fake even to herself, and she knew Arachni would feel her concern anyway, but appearances must be maintained after all. Hopefully sending Arachni to deal directly with her orders would prevent that worry from infesting the rest of the Hive Mind.

"O-Of course my Queen, I will see to it immediately" Arachni said before hurriedly flying off to see to the tasks she had been given.

With her departure, Queen Vevnith was left with her thoughts in the suddenly lonely hall. Something is very wrong...my children should not simply vanish like this. What could be taking them from me before I can even feel them? It's like they simply ceased to exist! I don't know what to do…

Her thoughts trailed off into nothing before she shook herself from them. A Changeling Queen's duties did not end even with an empty court, and she steeled herself before refocusing on the Hive Mind, her own voice was the strongest among the chorus and was truly focused on spreading the order and sense of duty that ensured the entire Hive continued to function as a cohesive whole.

Eventually, Queen Vevnith's attention was pulled back into herself with the sounds of Arachni returning to the throne room.

"My Queen, the guards have increased postings all around the perimeter, and the last of the harvesters should be returning soon," Arachni began her update "and the storage halls report food enough for six months - slightly over a year if we rationed carefully." Arachni positively radiated the satisfaction of a drone that knew it had served its Queen well.
"Thank you Arachni, I hope it will be sufficient."

The Queen's response surprised Arachni, who had hoped the news she brought would help assuage her Queen's worries. But instead they only seemed to be returning stronger than before.

"My Queen?" She asked with quiet sincerity "is something wrong?"

Queen Vevnith looked to her loyal servant a moment before responding, "No, Arachni, there is nothing for you to be concerned about."

It was true, after all, Arachni was intelligent, dutiful, and loyal beyond compare. She was truly the ideal drone, but the vagaries of worrying about the future, and fears that there may be a long siege coming, were beyond her. She was still a drone, after all.

No, such things were concerns for the Queen and the Queen alone, no matter how lost and out of her depths she felt.

Arachni felt the honesty in her words - albeit not the technicality that made them so - and nodded before taking her leave of the throne room. Content that her Queen had everything under control, and ready to spread that surety throughout the Hive.

Unbeknownst to the Hive, only a few valleys and ridges away, the nameless drones of Queen Atheria disposed of the body of one of Vevnith's scouts. They were at the very edge of where Vevnith's Hive Mind could reach, but their own Hive Mind rang with the experience of previous conquests. Bringing the knowledge to hit these scouts hard and fast - before they even knew they were in danger - to ensure that no clear warning of their arrival would proceed the army's arrival.

Queen Atheria herself smiled down at the battle plans before her. Hive Vevnith's warriors had never been defeated in battle, and so they were the greatest threat to her grand plans of the mass unification of all of the Hives, unified under her name. For that alone, they would be snuffed out tonight. Every last drone was to be eradicated. For Hive Atheria was flush with the conquest of numerous Hives, a sea of warriors were on standby, they were assimilated by Atheria via many means, whether it had been guile, wit, or open warfare. Now Hive Vevnith, for all their strength, stood alone.

"General Spinder!" she cried out, her authority crackling along the Hive Mind along with the confidence in her voice "We strike tonight. Your horde will surround the mountain and prevent any from escaping. Pen them into their holes so they might die with their Hive. For the rest of you!" She turned to the other gathered Generals. These Generals were the few amongst her Hive that had proven themselves not only capable of command, but worthy of a name as well "You will swarm the entrances as soon as Spinder's encirclement is complete. They are likely prepared for a long siege, so we will bury them with our bodies instead! Their warriors are strong, but they will not stand before our numbers. Kill everyling inside that hive, down to the very last grub!"

Her Generals bowed to her before dispersing to bring her orders to their commands. Unlike the drones that would soon be swarming Hive Vevnith, they themselves were veterans of previous conquests and knew their business.

Queen Atheria turned back to her map and her smile grew into a mad grin. With most other Hives she might try a decapitation strike, kill the Queen and take those proud warriors for herself. But their individuality meant that plan would be...less than effective. They would be shaken by the loss, but would continue to stand and fight to the end. So instead her drones would scour the deepest reaches of Hive Vevnith first. Clear out anywhere they might try to make a stand against her numbers before they had a chance to organize. Then the rest would fall, attacked from all sides, above and below with nowhere to run.

She was so close, finally her victory was truly within her grasp! "Say goodbye to your precious Hive, Vevnith," she crowed "It dies tonight!" Her vicious cry descended into a wild laugh as her plans went into motion all around her.