Mage in Equestria: Live For The Swarm part 3

The sound of a thousand insect wings filled the central hub with it's caressing hum.

Today was a very important day.

So important that all tasks were to wait til after the event.

Today was the day you would be crowned Champion of the Hive.

Your contributions have not been in vain.

All around you, the drones cling to the walls singing you their song.

In your kneeling position at the very center of the cavern, their hymn envelopes you from all directions.

There is no light to be had and darkness wraps around you in it's loving embrace.

In your time there, you had grown used to such conditions.

Your eyes adjusted to low light environments, but you could still only just barely make out the forms of the creatures lining the walls.

It has been nearly an hour that you've been there, audience to their song.

It rings through your skull and your every thought is it's vibrating sound.

You almost don't even notice when it stops.

Silence accompanies the darkness for a moment, only to be broken by the hoofsteps of your Queen.

Even through your lessons and such with her, you never spent as much time with Chrysalis as you'd like.

You were not worthy until now.

You are very honored to have her full attention today as well as that of every member of the hive.

You gaze into the curtain of black as she comes into view.

The Queen of the changelings, in all her predatory majesty, brings herself before you and fixates her gaze upon her subject.

You have grown to long for whatever company you could get out of her.

She was truly stunning to say the least.

Before you found yourself here, you remember the beasts of the old world.

You remember how you could appreciate creatures for their beauty power.

You learned to respect the role they played in the world, but you never felt anything other than that for them.

They were of course animals and you were human.

They had not the level of intelligence and sophistication as your kind.

However, you've developed feelings for the creature before you.

She was just like any other human in that body of hers.

She had personality and intelligence where the animals from your world had none.

You've grown to love your Queen as she took care of you.

You were taken in, spared from being a meal like the ponies in the feeding chambers.

You were accepted as part of the hive as you worked to earn your keep.

>"You have done much since we found you Anon."

Indeed you have.

You have helped turn what was once little more than a small cave network into a subterranean city.

They slept on rugged stone floors before you came.

>"You have proven to be a valuable asset to our cause."

Should you not have fucked up your spell, the changelings here would still be only just barely surviving.

The griffons you warded off would have killed many of them.

>"You have spilled blood for us."

You remember the day you turned the very land against the invaders.

There will be no more marauding raiding parties any time soon.

Bloodied feathers still litter the dunes.

>"You have become one of us."

She channels her verdant green magic through her horn and brings her face close to yours.

Was she?...

Then sudden pain from your forehead negates the thought.

She was cutting into your skin with her magic.

You wince and clench your jaw until she finishes.

She backs away to admire her work.

>"I give you my mark Anon."

You can feel your flesh sizzling with heat and magic.

The smell of burnt skin hangs heavy in your nose and a faint wisp of smoke clings to the air in front of you.

>"Rise and take your place at my side as Praetorian of the Hive."

You have been given the most honorable title.

Chrysalis has seen your worth and trusts you to protect her.

You are her royal guard.

You come to your feet and stand tall and proud.

You are met with the symphony of buzzing wings once again and your queen smiles upon you.

You look her in her gorgeous eyes.

"My life for the Swarm."

 

Ever since your indoctrination as Praetor, you find you are given respect above your drone siblings.

The queen herself has you now living just outside her quarters.

A large room was carved out of stone and adorned with various scrolls and papers.

The hive was in no way a great empire and there were no librarians, no scribes, nobody to archive knowledge.

In addition to being royally decreed as praetor, you have taken it up to proclaim yourself Lorekeeper.

You write of the major events that occur, though mostly of yourself.

You are after all a revolutionary event.

You were even granted plundered loot from a raid on a camel village.

Even with your title, it was only fair you be given pillaged goods from the attack you yourself led.

You had the drones bring back everything.

Literally, everything.

Entire structures were demolished, their resources stolen away.

There was enough loot by the end of the week for the drones to live as comfortably as you liked.

Sure, you had to convince Chrysalis to allow them such pleasantries, but you won the debate in the end.

They were citizens of a fallen empire, not slaves, but servants.

Chrysalis, in her defense, admitted it had been many long years and she had grown hard and stern.

If they were to survive, the remaining changelings needed a strong leader.

Ruling them without a king, or even any sort of adviser, was understandably difficult.

Perhaps now, with your new title and responsibilities, your words of reason and advice will be taken into accommodation.

You figure that if she trusts you to lead her minions to battle, even trusting you with her own life, she must hold your words in high regard.

You swear you have even seen a hint of admiration in her eyes a few times.

The same admiration you had for her.

You think it's best to put that aside though, Queen Chrysalis wouldn't possibly hold any feelings for one of her lowly subjects, let alone an alien from another world... would she?

It has been long since you've had any sort of intimate relation with another.

You have a new family and a new life, but you can't help but feel alone.

Even with all your power, all your magic and such a high status amongst your new people, you feel lonely.

You know however that your feelings are quite unhealthy.

You have a duty and you must try your hardest to bare through it.

You are Anon, Disciple of the Eldritch ways, wielder of astronomical powers, and you are emotionally confused for the first time in ages.

You now feel a sudden surge of embarrassment.

What were you, a child lost in his own mind?

A pubescent fool that fears what to do and what not to do with his life?

You are Praetor of the Swarm.

This is your new life and you accept that.

Why should you fear anything when you have yourself?