MLP x ALIENS: Feuding Hives

Andrena groaned again. Her stomach pain had gotten worse.

“Ughh…it’s worse than when I--“

“Don’t remind me, Andy,” Attacus said. "I don't like thinking about that. I had to help you to the bathroom for weeks."

He felt kind of bad for her, as usually a changeling with a stomachache meant bad news, but at the same time, a stomachache might teach her to be more careful.

“So what else did you find? You were down there for the better part of three hours…”

Andrena cocked her head, confused. “Three hours?"

"Yeah," Replied Attacus, matter-of-factly. "Three hours. Don't you remember?"

Andrena squinted, then shook her head. "I...I don't remember a thing. I remember leaving you up there with the dead guy, then going down into this big chamber, and I mean big...That's about it...everything after that is just drawing up blank. The last thing I remember after that is waking up, climbing the wall, and then flying into you..."

Attacus shook his head. "Maybe you hit your head too hard on something. Remember when you bumped your head jumping from the top of the hive trying to practice your mid-air stopping? You managed to do it, but you banged your head against one of the taller spires."

Andrena giggled to herself, remembering her early days of flying. "Yeah, that was a real bummer. At least it was fun, huh?"

"Ehhh," Attacus mumbled. "I wouldn't call a concussion 'fun', Andrena..."

"You couldn't recognize fun if it flew right into your butt, Attie."

Attacus blushed and scoffed with disbelief. "Is that a challenge?"

"You bet it is," Andrena said with a smile. "First one back home's a dried exoskeleton!"

At that, Andrena spread her wings, lept forward with grace, and took off, quickly gaining altitude.

Attacus, taken aback, paused, before buzzing his wings. He was going to be late anyway, so he may as well have some fun with his sister for once.

"Have it your way then," He shouted as he took off. "I won't go easy!"

The two changelings soared through the sky, Andrena quickly securing an easy lead. Normally the trip back would take the better part of an hour or two, but at this speed, they'd be back in under 20 minutes. Attacus struggled to keep up with his sister at first, his wings buzzing with all the strength he could muster. The wind bit at his face, forcing him to close his eyes. It was hard to maintain speed with his entry-level flying skills. He focused on the ground, watching the trees skim by beneath him. After about 5 minutes of flying, his flight path took him over a winding, open prairie, toward another forest in the distance. Past that, he could see a large river, winding southbound. As he reached the river, he could look down and see the splashes of the fish in roaring waters below. He felt absolutely giant from this height.

Looking back ahead of him, he spotted a city in the clouds, hovering near mountains. If his positioning was correct, this would be Las Pegasus, a city of Ponies. He quickly shifted forms to an eagle, soaring through the mountains just out of sight of the city. If there was one thing Attacus had learned during flight training, it was that you couldn't be too careful when flying near pony-inhabited settlements. If he was spotted, a panic would arise among the ponies, and that was the last thing Attacus wanted. He didn't necessarily hate ponies, as much as the rest of his hive, but he certainly didn't trust them enough to fly near one of their cities, especially not without disguise.

Ahead of him, he spotted mountains that he could recognize. He was getting close to home, but it was now he realized that, by some miracle, he had gained a lead on his sister. He looked back to Andrena, who seemed to be struggling. It seemed she'd used all her energy to gain her lead, and now she was falling behind, or at least that's what he assumed. By the time he looked back, he was flying over thick forest once more, toward the rocky cliffs surrounding the hive. He rolled left, focusing his energy on slowing his descent, before coming to an easy landing about a hundred yards or so from the hive. He looked back to his sister, descending much too rapidly. She came down hard into a dead tree about a dozen or so yards away.

Attacus bolted over, his wings twitching nervously as he rolled his sister over. She hadn't sustained any injuries in the fall, but she was doubled over, clutching her belly.

"My stomach," She whimpered. "It hurts so much...I can't fly..."

Attacus helped his sister, helping her to her hooves, before slowly trudging along through the dead foliage surrounding the edge of the hive territory. Time seemed to slow as the pair stumbled through the dry, biting hot winds toward the hive in the distance. Each step took double the effort, and seemed to intensify his sister's pain, to the point she was screaming in his ear.

"Come on," Attacus begged. "We're almost there, see? I know it hurts, but you can make it, just work with me sis..."

She suddenly slipped from his grasp, landing on her underside, facing away from him, sobbing softly. "I-It hurts so much! Make it end!"

Attacus whimpered, his wings twitching with nerves. "Just stay here, I'll get help, okay?"

Andrena looked at him, whimpering, and unmoving from her position. "Don't leave me...Carry me there, please..."

"I can't, Andrena...Look, it's right over there, I promise I'll be back...” Attacus pointed to the changeling hive off in the not-so-far distance, but this did nothing to soother Andrena’s wails.

“It hurts! It hurts so baaad!”

A few changeling Royal guards, one with Red eyes, the other yellow, had buzzed over to see what the commotion was. The red-eyed guard them hissed with annoyance.

“Attacus and Andrena…You’re late…again.”

“Please, we’ve got a good reason--” The other guard began to stammer, Andrena’s wails growing into shocked cries.

"I'll be the judge of that, what's your reason?"

“Andrena says her stomach’s bothering her.”

The other guard finally spoke. “Yeah, about that…I think you should look.”

Attacus turned, and rushed to his sister’s side. She was wailing steadily now, and now that she was on her side, Attacus could make out the enormous, swollen mass on her underside, and despite how much Attacus begged his mind to be playing tricks on him, it appeared to be…moving?

Andrena began sobbing uncontrollably.

“Attie, I’m scared…please…”

Her brother tried to help her as best as he could…he squeezed her hoof in his, for a brief moment feeling a twinge of love he was used only to feeling during mealtime…however, despite his presence, there wasn’t much more he could do for her, but he hoped it would be enough to soothe the squirming changeling.

Without warning, Andrena’s sobs rose to a shrill, screeching wail, as her stomach burst open like an overfilled water balloon, showering the bystanders with entrails, and blue, bioluminescent blood…

“Andrena!”

Attacus stumbled back, covering his face to shield from the sudden explosion of gore. From within her lunged a hissing mass of teeth, four-legs, and a thin, flailing tail. It bounded past the distraught trio, darting off impossibly fast into the endlessly stretching rocky cliffs, then into the forest in the far distance. The two changeling guards nodded to each other quickly.

“I’ll contact the rest of the guard," Said the red-eyed changeling. "You notify Queen Chrysalis, immediately."

The two guards then bolted back toward the hive, leaving Attacus to begin softly crying, clutching his twitching sister. As he held her in his arms, Attacus could feel as her breaths slowed, then faded into nothingness. He laid her out against the ground, then screamed loudly with anguish into the air. What had he done wrong? What had she done wrong? Was this his fault? In the back of his mind, he blamed himself for this.

He should have helped her, he thought. He shouldn't have let her go exploring by herself, he should have been there to prevent this. He blamed himself for spotting the structure they had entered, and now, he had come to hate it more than anything else. His hatred churned, molten and pure, enough to poison a thousand changeling hives.