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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- Tags
- self insert young justice
Mr Zoat
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Funnily enough, there was a story I read back on Spacebattles where after Klarion's the mass child-killing world split, Lex got black bagged and telepathically violated until the US government had everything he knew and he was a vegetable. All members of the Light save Savage and Klarion died within a week from attacks by US air force and special forces units, along with a lot of other people tangentially involved.
But when it's a small thing, and Lex has several cutouts between himself and actually criminality, nothing would happen to him and the company just gets a fine... If you make $100 million and get a $20 million fine, you're ahead $80 million.
Darko
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Do you remember the name?
The only story I remember that had a similar thing happen was Judiciary Misadventures.
Though I don't think it was mentioned that Lex was telepathically stripped of everything, just that his company is basically being torn to shreds by other companies.
Mr Zoat
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I think that was the one. It wasn't mentioned in the story posts, just an off-hand comment from the author about how after something like that the US government would be done with his shit.
CrazyNoVa
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If they think Superman is OP now, wait 'till he gets exposed to a blue sun.
Would the Eradicator have the idea to try making a machine that could dose Superman with blue sun radiation to make him powerful enough to curbstomp every hero on the planet?
Would the Eradicator have the idea to try making a machine that could dose Superman with blue sun radiation to make him powerful enough to curbstomp every hero on the planet?
Cappare (part 23)
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Mr Zoat
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26th July 2013
23:41 GMT -5
"Orange Lantern to whoever just fixed Superman. Good work. What did you do? I need to know urgently."
Mr. Beatty points his primary weapon at Superman. My bubble shield is in the way, but I'm not exactly at 100% right now and we've still got the Eradicator robots to fight.
"He down?"
"Depowered. I dosed him with g-. Kryptonite."
"I guess you're not going to let us take the shot."
"I'd really rather that you didn't. With Superman depowered and hors de combat, there's no longer a legal justification for you to fight him, and the Eradicator androids are still attempting to recover the ship."
Warning! Incoming-
I don't wait for it to complete the warning. I just stick up the giant 'KARA STOP' construct and put a shield bubble around the power armour suits.
-Superwoman.
And apparently those power armour suits have either a direct satellite linkup or decent sensors, because they're looking east too. "What-?"
But to be completely fair to Kara, she does stop.
She's scowling down at us. It wouldn't be a particularly effective scowl, if not for the fact that I don't know how strong she is because I couldn't test that high. "What's going on?! Why are you fighting Superman?!"
"He got mind controlled by an evil A.I. and we only just knocked some sense into him!"
She brightens up immediately. "Oh! Okay! Should I take him to a doctor!?"
"No, I already patched him-" Mister Beatty and Colleagues are pointing their weapons at her back. I frantically make a 'lower them' motion with my right hand. "-up, and a platoon of Eradicator androids are trying to recover a kryptonian spaceship from over-."
"Neat! I'll go help them!"
"K-!"
She's gone.
"Arsenal to Orange Lantern!"
Looks like Mr. Beatty is waiting for new orders. And Kara's going to Kara… "Go ahead."
"We took out the master A.I.!"
"Oh, well done! I was getting my arse kicked!"
"Problem is, the rest of them really don't like that. We-"
I attach a tether to Superman and transition us both to Bir Tawil, drop him off next to the confused-looking Bleez-
"Look after him!"
"Sure, okay?"
-and look for Roy-. There he is.
And then I head towards Daxam, which
doesn't have a planetwide jammer, just something blocking… A substantial portion of the minds of the inhabitants. Roy's flying towards the ship, guns blazing away at the Eradicators who are flying towards… I suppose this is one of the Daxamite tech-bunkers. J'aarkn-
"Cakaw!"
-flies past me at speed in bird form.
"-could use some-"
I form railguns and load crumbler rounds.
"-help!"
Firing.
I hit the closest in the chest, disintegrating a large chunk of it and causing it to crash into the mountainside below us. Unfortunately it looks like they're networked because the rest viff immediately and my second shot just scores a glancing hit on my target's shoulder. It loses the arm, but-
Shield!
-still manages to get off a shot, heat beams blasting from its eyes!
Roy hovers in the air, using the extra space I bought him to bring his micro missile launcher to bear. "Superman okay?!"
The launcher wiggles a little as it acquires targets and then launches, six crumbler-tipped missiles shooting away-.
Eradicators stop in the air and track them-. Which makes them completely open to my railguns.
"A bit roughed up, but he'll be fine."
Roy raises his right thumb. "Doc, get the boom tube open! We can fly through with you!"
Another wave coming in… Construct shield, multiple layers and make it-
BOOM!
-solid.
The ship lifts up-. And that's a lot of heat beams. My construct shields are melting but the ship's in motion towards its own boom tube and Roy and I are falling back towards it…
One of the Eradicators goes in for a punch, the shield plate directly in its path shattering! I immediately fire crumbler rounds but it's prepared and heat visions them before lunging through the gap! It-.
Roy shoots it with his positron ray, blinding it and shutting its heat vision down permanently. My follow-up railgun shot hits it in the neck, blasting its head clean off. Grab what's left of the head because the sensor logs should be stored there…
And then we're through, the boom tube shutting down behind us.
"Arsenal, are you sure they don't have another way to open boom tubes?"
"Ah, not a hundred percent, but there weren't any records and none of the people J'onn mind-read knew about one."
"Great. Good work. You may have saved Superman's life and you certainly saved mine."
"Oh. Ah. No problem."
"Illustres to Lantern Taranna. Situation with the Eradicators?"
"Ak-Var flew up and shut them down. Apparently they can't refuse orders from an adult kryptonian."
…
"I did not know that."
"He's… It was pretty… Um. Impressive, actually. Don't tell Mum."
I shrug apologetically at Roy, who slumps theatrically in space.
"Okay, I'll be in shortly to help with the cleanup. Illustres out."
23:41 GMT -5
"Orange Lantern to whoever just fixed Superman. Good work. What did you do? I need to know urgently."
Mr. Beatty points his primary weapon at Superman. My bubble shield is in the way, but I'm not exactly at 100% right now and we've still got the Eradicator robots to fight.
"He down?"
"Depowered. I dosed him with g-. Kryptonite."
"I guess you're not going to let us take the shot."
"I'd really rather that you didn't. With Superman depowered and hors de combat, there's no longer a legal justification for you to fight him, and the Eradicator androids are still attempting to recover the ship."
Warning! Incoming-
I don't wait for it to complete the warning. I just stick up the giant 'KARA STOP' construct and put a shield bubble around the power armour suits.
-Superwoman.
And apparently those power armour suits have either a direct satellite linkup or decent sensors, because they're looking east too. "What-?"
But to be completely fair to Kara, she does stop.
She's scowling down at us. It wouldn't be a particularly effective scowl, if not for the fact that I don't know how strong she is because I couldn't test that high. "What's going on?! Why are you fighting Superman?!"
"He got mind controlled by an evil A.I. and we only just knocked some sense into him!"
She brightens up immediately. "Oh! Okay! Should I take him to a doctor!?"
"No, I already patched him-" Mister Beatty and Colleagues are pointing their weapons at her back. I frantically make a 'lower them' motion with my right hand. "-up, and a platoon of Eradicator androids are trying to recover a kryptonian spaceship from over-."
"Neat! I'll go help them!"
"K-!"
She's gone.
"Arsenal to Orange Lantern!"
Looks like Mr. Beatty is waiting for new orders. And Kara's going to Kara… "Go ahead."
"We took out the master A.I.!"
"Oh, well done! I was getting my arse kicked!"
"Problem is, the rest of them really don't like that. We-"
I attach a tether to Superman and transition us both to Bir Tawil, drop him off next to the confused-looking Bleez-
"Look after him!"
"Sure, okay?"
-and look for Roy-. There he is.
And then I head towards Daxam, which
doesn't have a planetwide jammer, just something blocking… A substantial portion of the minds of the inhabitants. Roy's flying towards the ship, guns blazing away at the Eradicators who are flying towards… I suppose this is one of the Daxamite tech-bunkers. J'aarkn-
"Cakaw!"
-flies past me at speed in bird form.
"-could use some-"
I form railguns and load crumbler rounds.
"-help!"
Firing.
I hit the closest in the chest, disintegrating a large chunk of it and causing it to crash into the mountainside below us. Unfortunately it looks like they're networked because the rest viff immediately and my second shot just scores a glancing hit on my target's shoulder. It loses the arm, but-
Shield!
-still manages to get off a shot, heat beams blasting from its eyes!
Roy hovers in the air, using the extra space I bought him to bring his micro missile launcher to bear. "Superman okay?!"
The launcher wiggles a little as it acquires targets and then launches, six crumbler-tipped missiles shooting away-.
Eradicators stop in the air and track them-. Which makes them completely open to my railguns.
"A bit roughed up, but he'll be fine."
Roy raises his right thumb. "Doc, get the boom tube open! We can fly through with you!"
Another wave coming in… Construct shield, multiple layers and make it-
BOOM!
-solid.
The ship lifts up-. And that's a lot of heat beams. My construct shields are melting but the ship's in motion towards its own boom tube and Roy and I are falling back towards it…
One of the Eradicators goes in for a punch, the shield plate directly in its path shattering! I immediately fire crumbler rounds but it's prepared and heat visions them before lunging through the gap! It-.
Roy shoots it with his positron ray, blinding it and shutting its heat vision down permanently. My follow-up railgun shot hits it in the neck, blasting its head clean off. Grab what's left of the head because the sensor logs should be stored there…
And then we're through, the boom tube shutting down behind us.
"Arsenal, are you sure they don't have another way to open boom tubes?"
"Ah, not a hundred percent, but there weren't any records and none of the people J'onn mind-read knew about one."
"Great. Good work. You may have saved Superman's life and you certainly saved mine."
"Oh. Ah. No problem."
"Illustres to Lantern Taranna. Situation with the Eradicators?"
"Ak-Var flew up and shut them down. Apparently they can't refuse orders from an adult kryptonian."
…
"I did not know that."
"He's… It was pretty… Um. Impressive, actually. Don't tell Mum."
I shrug apologetically at Roy, who slumps theatrically in space.
"Okay, I'll be in shortly to help with the cleanup. Illustres out."
Last edited:
Ngamer11
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I'm betting he's thinking that would've been good to know before he was decapitated.
It may have been accidental, but Paul has successfully paired up one couple. Roy shouldn't be so glum, as now Paul can help him by bringing more eligible women to him.
Darko
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Honestly thought he'd be in danger, since he was apparently imprisoned for destroying a valuable cultural artifact.
Though they wouldn't necessarily have information about that.
Well so much for Roy getting to play Kirk.
CrazyNoVa
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Okay, now that Paul has a minute to catch his breath, he should make sure that he IMMEDIATELY recharges his ring. I have a feeling that this is a "calm before the storm moment", and things about to get even crazier.
Again, I fear the possibility of a blue sun-empowered Kryptonian under Eradicator control.
Again, I fear the possibility of a blue sun-empowered Kryptonian under Eradicator control.
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BlackCoat13
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Duke Long
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Crumbing? Is that an error or just something I've never seen before?
That should neatly resolve his feelings of inadequacy. For missions, anyway. Bad luck with the romance.
It's nice to have other characters doing important stuff offscreen like that every now and again, makes it feel more real.
Chojin Patriarch
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Yeah, better to save your ammunition and leave Superman to his buddy, fellas. After all, still a giant battleship (or an operational fragment of one) to 'negotiate ownership' over.
Really hope they don't finds any traces of it. Last thing anyone needs is Lex having a way to potentially permanently depower Supes.
Oh, now what?
Ah, of course she's turned up. Probably saw Superman under attack with super-vision and came charging in.
I like to imagine she pulled up with a visible skidding effect, complete with dust from her heels. In mid-air.
Best not to mention what it took to do so. Including getting himself torn apart.
Seriously, fellas, if she goes for you, those shields won't last five seconds...
Hopefully they go hostile when she flies in. The Eradicator still hates the house of El, after all.
Hopefully things don't go too nuts here while OL deals with Daxam.
Oh, handy. But are the robots still going to be hostile?
Right, sergeant in motion outranks a lieutenant at rest. Time for OL to get his ass in gear.
Well, he's in good hands, I guess?
Please tell us funny green pornstar/xeno-cultural expert is okay?
Goodie! He's got lots of humans yet to bang.
Good thing he topped off his charge last chapter.
And straight into action!
Dangit, got to hate smart enemies.
And since it hits what it looks at, that's riskier than any other attack.
Good, no kill like overkill here. Though unless they're hypersonic...
...They made a good distraction at least.
Right, a fighting retreat. Fortunately, it won't take long with a...
...Boom tube.
Man, their mission report is going to be crazy.
Good man, getting the save and giving OL the chance to grab useful intel!
Well, at least he could mind-read people. Hopefully not too aggressively, though?
To be fair, you were doing okay as a head, but the Last Son would probably have ripped you apart further before you could do much more...
...Who isn't a scion of El, especially? Very handy!
Sadly, that still disqualifies the Supergirls.
Sounds like someone's got a bit of a crush.
All right, everything turning out well so far. Daxam is probably still going to be up-in-arms even with the Eradicator's core offline, but they won't be quite as dangerous without its tech or additional training. Hopefully Ak-Var can talk some sense into them, if he's willing? And now to see what fallout drops on the custody case, given what happened at the hearing...
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
mastermenthe
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He already did:
Zoat just kept it fluid with the rest of the narrative.
Stsword
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Kryptonian thief let out since thanks to Krypton going boom he vastly overserved his sentence.
Neruz
HISSSSSS!
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Petty thief who got stuck in the Phantom Zone for a 30 year sentence that was never ended due to Krypton exploding while he was still in there, was released by Superman awhile back when Paul pointed out that there were people in the Phantom Zone who had long since served their sentence and really should be let out by now.
Ardy
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Also one of the kryptonians that are under threat by Amalek after Superman said he wouldn't kill Zod for committing genocide on Amalek's people.
BoML
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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When I read this, I legit had a moment where I had to put my face into my palms from the sheer disbelief. I knew she was a bit...simple...but to do *this*.
Yes, found the pick to illustrate the point.
xSieg
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Very convenient time to turn up, huh? Right after Eradicator Supes was downed with no hope of winning the actual fight, too. I agree with our previous schizoposter that said that Silver-Age Kara is suspicious as hell.
Ngamer11
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If that turns out to be true here, then I hope she gets away after revealing her true nature.
NightmareWarden
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Well since the boyscout was just saved, some gratitude is in order.
Maybe Lois Lane can pair him up with one of the L-L love interests who vie for Superman's affections in other DC media. I realize Green Arrow is the "normal guy" for some League members's sanity, but Arsenal might want someone SO normal that they're a civilian, rather than superheroine.
Cappare (supplementary, Renegade option)
New
Mr Zoat
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27th July 2013
03:54 GMT
The buff-looking changeling with the red frond recoils as he sees me, then straightens up, his horn glowing as he-.
"That will not be necessary, Agent Pharynx." He jerks his head to the side, having only just spotted Luna. Her presence prompts him to come to attention and salute, a gesture she returns. "Be at ease."
Agent Pharynx can't quite keep himself from glancing at me, an action I completely understand. Luna notices as well, and follows his gaze to stare at me pointedly.
I make an expression of total innocence, which prompts her to nod slightly towards Pharynx and intensify her stare.
I sign, and step closer to the changeling. "To clear the air, Pharynx, I killed your queen because she threatened my people. Learn from her mistake, and I shall never have cause to threaten you."
"I am not concerned for me."
Ah. Respectable. "Or any of the other changelings Princess Luna has given sanctuary. From the moment they accepted her offer they became a part of Equestria... For as long as they continue to comply with the terms under which they were granted citizenship."
"Then… There shall be no problems."
I smile. "Glad to hear it. Now, I was speaking to Princess Luna, and I came to realise that Equestria had a slight knowledge-gap where changelings are concerned."
"That's intentional. Our lives are far easier if ponies don't understand what we can do."
I nod. "True, for the 'outside pissing in' portion of things, but now that you're 'inside pissing out', the Equestrian government needs to know certain things about how you function. For example, if they didn't know how you fed, they-" I gesture to the crystal embedded in the chitin covering his chest with my right forehoof. "-wouldn't have thought to provide you with those, and you would still be feeding by abducting and draining."
"Yes, I understand, but I've told Princess Luna everything that I know."
"Was Queen Chrysalis your mother?"
"She probably laid the egg I hatched from."
"And your father?"
"I don't know if I have one."
"Have you tried breeding yourself?"
"Ah…" How is he.. blushing with chitin? "No?"
"You don't sound too certain, there."
"I haven't. I was a guard, not a love gatherer."
"Do you know whether or not love gatherers fornicated with their targets?"
"Ah… No? I don't know exactly.. what they did. But I don't think so."
"Would you mind finding a couple who could answer that question? I mean, given the lack of changeling/pony hybrids around the place I would guess that such pairings -if they occurred- were unfruitful, but it's probably worth checking."
"Why? Ah, sir?"
"Because we don't want you going extinct, Agent Pharynx. Your populations needs the capacity to produce grubs, or you don't have a future."
He thinks on the subject for a moment, and then his eyes widen. "You're right. I hadn't thought about that."
"Have you ever met another changeling queen?"
"No."
"And do you know if there are any? Did Chrysalis ever mention them?"
"No to me."
"Did she ever have sex with another member of the hive?"
Luna recoils. "Grayven!"
"What, you want me to ask Shining Armor if he remembers Chrysalis raping him while he was mind controlled? Because he's the obvious person to ask, but that seems a little insensitive to me."
She blinks, then her mouth falls open as the horror of the idea creeps into her mind. "She-?"
I turn back to Pharynx. "Did she lay any eggs after that? Because if so, then that would clear up the whole hybridisation issue."
"Yes, but they weren't pony eggs. And the grubs didn't look any different."
I nod. "I'll do a genetic scan while I'm here, just to check. Do any of your fellow changelings have experience with child rearing?"
"Yes. Several were on grub-duty."
I nod. "Excellent. Did any changelings other than Chrysalis lay eggs or otherwise bear young?"
"No."
"Do you have any unhatched eggs now?"
"Only a few. Can you do something about that?"
"My current plan is to create an infant copy of Chrysalis that you can raise in a more social environment, but that won't help if she needs to get impregnated by a changeling male. Did you burn her body?"
"No, it was entombed in the hive. Apart from… Her head. Which you have."
"I'll head over there and see if I can learn anything from her decaying oviducts. And… Last thing. When you shapeshift, do your reproductive organs shift, and are they functional?"
"I only shift shape to fight better. I've never tried using reproductive organs."
I nod. "Alright, you can show-."
The doors at the end of the room open and Celestia marches in, looking a little concerned. She spots me, then checks to make sure that Pharynx is undeencephacated.
"Ah, Celestia, I've got a present for you." The small stasis vial floats over to her, and she takes it in her thaumokinetic grip. "New gametes, to replace the ones you've run out of."
"Thank you, but I do not remember using a… Gamete?"
And this is what I get for showing her physics textbooks but nothing on biology. "Not too surprising, given how long it's been."
Luna, who has read a medical textbook, sniggers behind her right forehoof.
Celestia rolls her eyes. "Are you going to explain what that means?"
"In your case, egg cells. The thing a female releases from her ovum when she's fertile that becomes a foal if a male fertilises it. As an alicorn you're immune to menopause but you've been dry firing for centuries. I created that in case you and Sombra want foals. Though unless you're really good at teleportation, you should probably make it a medical procedure."
She blinks, her face sort of going still as she takes that in. "I see. How did you..? Discover this?"
"Your veterinarian appointment, plus scans of Luna. Given that she's over a hundred I wanted to check what our odds of conception were."
Luna nods. "Normal mares still retain many gametes when they pass beyond their fertile years. We shall retain the capacity to conceive naturally for a few years yet, but as you are our senior by a thousand years your situation is different."
Celestia eyes the tube again, and I'm not good enough any pony expressions to work out what she's feeling. "Thank you. I will need to discuss this with King Sombra before making any sort of decision."
I nod. "Of course. Pregnancy is a serious business. That tube will keep them fresh indefinitely. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a grave to rob."
03:54 GMT
The buff-looking changeling with the red frond recoils as he sees me, then straightens up, his horn glowing as he-.
"That will not be necessary, Agent Pharynx." He jerks his head to the side, having only just spotted Luna. Her presence prompts him to come to attention and salute, a gesture she returns. "Be at ease."
Agent Pharynx can't quite keep himself from glancing at me, an action I completely understand. Luna notices as well, and follows his gaze to stare at me pointedly.
I make an expression of total innocence, which prompts her to nod slightly towards Pharynx and intensify her stare.
I sign, and step closer to the changeling. "To clear the air, Pharynx, I killed your queen because she threatened my people. Learn from her mistake, and I shall never have cause to threaten you."
"I am not concerned for me."
Ah. Respectable. "Or any of the other changelings Princess Luna has given sanctuary. From the moment they accepted her offer they became a part of Equestria... For as long as they continue to comply with the terms under which they were granted citizenship."
"Then… There shall be no problems."
I smile. "Glad to hear it. Now, I was speaking to Princess Luna, and I came to realise that Equestria had a slight knowledge-gap where changelings are concerned."
"That's intentional. Our lives are far easier if ponies don't understand what we can do."
I nod. "True, for the 'outside pissing in' portion of things, but now that you're 'inside pissing out', the Equestrian government needs to know certain things about how you function. For example, if they didn't know how you fed, they-" I gesture to the crystal embedded in the chitin covering his chest with my right forehoof. "-wouldn't have thought to provide you with those, and you would still be feeding by abducting and draining."
"Yes, I understand, but I've told Princess Luna everything that I know."
"Was Queen Chrysalis your mother?"
"She probably laid the egg I hatched from."
"And your father?"
"I don't know if I have one."
"Have you tried breeding yourself?"
"Ah…" How is he.. blushing with chitin? "No?"
"You don't sound too certain, there."
"I haven't. I was a guard, not a love gatherer."
"Do you know whether or not love gatherers fornicated with their targets?"
"Ah… No? I don't know exactly.. what they did. But I don't think so."
"Would you mind finding a couple who could answer that question? I mean, given the lack of changeling/pony hybrids around the place I would guess that such pairings -if they occurred- were unfruitful, but it's probably worth checking."
"Why? Ah, sir?"
"Because we don't want you going extinct, Agent Pharynx. Your populations needs the capacity to produce grubs, or you don't have a future."
He thinks on the subject for a moment, and then his eyes widen. "You're right. I hadn't thought about that."
"Have you ever met another changeling queen?"
"No."
"And do you know if there are any? Did Chrysalis ever mention them?"
"No to me."
"Did she ever have sex with another member of the hive?"
Luna recoils. "Grayven!"
"What, you want me to ask Shining Armor if he remembers Chrysalis raping him while he was mind controlled? Because he's the obvious person to ask, but that seems a little insensitive to me."
She blinks, then her mouth falls open as the horror of the idea creeps into her mind. "She-?"
I turn back to Pharynx. "Did she lay any eggs after that? Because if so, then that would clear up the whole hybridisation issue."
"Yes, but they weren't pony eggs. And the grubs didn't look any different."
I nod. "I'll do a genetic scan while I'm here, just to check. Do any of your fellow changelings have experience with child rearing?"
"Yes. Several were on grub-duty."
I nod. "Excellent. Did any changelings other than Chrysalis lay eggs or otherwise bear young?"
"No."
"Do you have any unhatched eggs now?"
"Only a few. Can you do something about that?"
"My current plan is to create an infant copy of Chrysalis that you can raise in a more social environment, but that won't help if she needs to get impregnated by a changeling male. Did you burn her body?"
"No, it was entombed in the hive. Apart from… Her head. Which you have."
"I'll head over there and see if I can learn anything from her decaying oviducts. And… Last thing. When you shapeshift, do your reproductive organs shift, and are they functional?"
"I only shift shape to fight better. I've never tried using reproductive organs."
I nod. "Alright, you can show-."
The doors at the end of the room open and Celestia marches in, looking a little concerned. She spots me, then checks to make sure that Pharynx is undeencephacated.
"Ah, Celestia, I've got a present for you." The small stasis vial floats over to her, and she takes it in her thaumokinetic grip. "New gametes, to replace the ones you've run out of."
"Thank you, but I do not remember using a… Gamete?"
And this is what I get for showing her physics textbooks but nothing on biology. "Not too surprising, given how long it's been."
Luna, who has read a medical textbook, sniggers behind her right forehoof.
Celestia rolls her eyes. "Are you going to explain what that means?"
"In your case, egg cells. The thing a female releases from her ovum when she's fertile that becomes a foal if a male fertilises it. As an alicorn you're immune to menopause but you've been dry firing for centuries. I created that in case you and Sombra want foals. Though unless you're really good at teleportation, you should probably make it a medical procedure."
She blinks, her face sort of going still as she takes that in. "I see. How did you..? Discover this?"
"Your veterinarian appointment, plus scans of Luna. Given that she's over a hundred I wanted to check what our odds of conception were."
Luna nods. "Normal mares still retain many gametes when they pass beyond their fertile years. We shall retain the capacity to conceive naturally for a few years yet, but as you are our senior by a thousand years your situation is different."
Celestia eyes the tube again, and I'm not good enough any pony expressions to work out what she's feeling. "Thank you. I will need to discuss this with King Sombra before making any sort of decision."
I nod. "Of course. Pregnancy is a serious business. That tube will keep them fresh indefinitely. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a grave to rob."
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RichardWhereat
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Good to see he takes his guard duty seriously, it seems. And swift enough to respond to legitimate authority. He'll get used to dealing with the Renegade soon enough, I think.
Understandable ire, given what the Renegade did to their queen.
Cross that line, and they get to join their queen, eh?
Logical enough when they were enemies and prey, but not so great when dealing with a new employer.
Have to wonder if there's any 'flavour' difference between what the crystals provide and taking it straight? And if any changelings preferred the old way...
Goes without saying, really.
That's fair. Changeling biology is bizarre enough just with the shapeshifting.
The outer layer is probably transparent, and it's the colour it is because of colour-changing cells related to the shapeshifting. Or this reality just works that way. Like blushing through fur.
Not exactly much opportunity for canoodling, then. Especially if they're gender-segregated like most hive-making insects.
Probably know the act, can able to partake, but not really understanding it.
Ah, now he's asking the right question. Why?
Yes, easy to miss if it was never your job to have to think about that stuff.
Good for Ponies, not great in this situation.
After all, as far as she was concerned, you were furniture.
Hey, everyone here's an adult, and the question needed to be asked.
I'll admit, I slowly recoiled in the same way. Full-body cringe.
For now. What'll happen when they mature?
Good, better than learning on the job, especially without the standard feeding methods available.
So very much like a traditional hive. At a guess, Chrysalis was too young to start producing royal nymphs, ready to expand.
Don't tell me, there needs to be some action by the queen to make them develop properly.
Ah, good, that'll make getting viable material easier. Especially unlaid egg cells.
Oh, buddy, you are in for a wild time once you get around to it.
And that is one heck of a kludge-word. But entirely accurate: Not got his head cut off.
Honey, most foals get the talk when they're starting to grow up. How long did you leave it?
Yeah, she's got a creeping suspicion this is a joke now. Just wait, Sunbutt...
Ah, how thoughtful of you. That could really have been embarrassing. Especially if or when they did start trying and wondered why it wasn't working...
Love that Celestia is probably trying very hard to hold back a blush and a cringe at the same time...
...Again, Renegade? Then again, it doesn't count as a habit until at least your third time?
Well, that's a hell of a discussion to be having right in front of the Changeling. Then again, most of it is going over his head, I'd bet. Not like the hive had a sex education program. Depending on what happens, they might have to correct that, especially if the drones start to explore lives outside their old roles... Perhaps after they get a new queen.