Chrysalis let out a series of raspy coughs as a mountain of thick, black smoke erupted from the pool of sludge in front of her.
She scratched at her neck desperately as the smog charged through her body's instinctive defenses and started working its way down her throat. The former Changeling Queen shut her eyes tight, despite the fact that a burning sensation had already begun at their edges, and took to the air, trying to get away from the dangerous gas. Once she had flown high enough, she breathed in greedy gulps of air, still wheezing loudly. She tried her best to peek through the trees that were planted below her, their massive size and population preventing her eyes from meeting much of anything, though she occasionally spotted patches of blacked earth.
"Well," Chrysalis muttered with a grimace before continuing to hack up both of her lungs, "I'm assuming that that wasn't a good sign . . ."
Deciding that the dark fog was thin enough for her to land, she buzzed to the ground, only to watch the charred undergrowth beneath of her hooves to crumble softly, leaving a shallow layer of ash. As she inched closer to the spot where her project had been worked on, the heat that was lingering around her body intensified, and she bent down to investigate. Puddles of ooze had collected in the slight dips and crevices of the land, and they boiled quietly. The largest of the bubbles created grew thin towards their breaking point, reveling that, despite appearance, the substance that had created them was indeed a very deep fuchsia of sorts, not of liquid shadow.
The largest of these pools churned into a magenta froth before pushing itself into a misshapen mound as Chrysalis's expression changed to one of confusion, intrigue, and shock. Two dark beads appeared at the top of the flimsy structure to act as eyes, and a thin mouth spread beyond each of these points. Two dull nubs were partially separated from the body, implying the future use of hands. The mess of pink soon grew a thin skin, which glistened in the sun, so that it could build itself up without collapsing. Chrysalis was disappointed to find that the creature had already finished forming, as it stopped moving, looked up at its creator, and squeaked with joy.
"You are by far the dumbest, most simple, most pointless thing I have ever seen," Chrysalis grunted as she rolled her eyes. "You are obviously not worthy of survival, and are no doubt a waste of time and energy."
"Ditto!"
"EXCUSE ME?!" Chrysalis charged at the Pokémon, her mouth wide open wide so that she could threaten her new slave with sharp fangs and a forked tongue. The Changeling hissed, and stomped a hoof hard on the ground before slamming her jaws together mere millimeters from the head of the ball of muck. "Your Queen demands respect, and there will be consequences if you disobey her!"
There! Even the bravest of my former minions would cower at that display. Sure it will be properly shaken up now. I doubt it'll dare even look at me again!
However, the muck simply ignored the menacing gesture and waddled towards Chrysalis before promptly squeezing into one of the holes in her foreleg.
"Disgusting!" Chrysalis screamed with rage. "Can't you do anything useful? You must have some connection to the Changelings!"
The mass of gunk shimmied out of her leg and onto the ground, ready to show off its talent and make its master proud. It took a beep breath that puffed out its cheeks as it molded itself into the shape of the former Changeling Queen before altering the pigments within its skin. Chrysalis was surprised to find that the new legs that the Pokémon had finished were flawless, as were her replicated chest, wings, and tail. The creature was too slow to transform in an emergency, but she assumed it would still be helpful in her future plans. These thoughts bubbled into her mind, of course, before it finished with her face, and Chrysalis dropped all of them once she saw the result.
Despite the matching mane, ears, and horn, the finale of the creature's performance involved the exact same eyes and mouth that it had started out with.
"You know, if I didn't have such low expectations for you, I might be offended by this crude representation of my regal appearance . . ."
The false Chrysalis melted back into the glob of saturated pink that it once was, oblivious to what the Changeling had said. It jiggled toward its ruler and squealed with joy, expecting praise for its work. Its eyes glittered with hope as it waited, tiny dimples at the corners of its upturned mouth, causing something to flutter in Chrysalis's chest, if only for a moment. She bit her lip, unsure as to what was wrong with her. Another lurch forced her to look at the creature in front of her. She relaxed her body, waiting for it to fulfill its wishes without her brain trying to figure the situation out while consequently interfering.
"It was . . . what you did . . ." Chrysalis started, finally realizing what was happening. However, it was too late to stop herself. She was unable to keep the strange words in her body from sounding. "It was a good try."
She watched as the Pokémon chirped with glee, the smell of love wafting to Chrysalis's nose. Her tongue flicked out took in a small scoop of affection, which she swallowed. She instinctively opened her mouth for more, but the Pokémon had already been distracted by a stray beetle that was scuttling about.
"Yes, I see now," whispered the former Changeling Queen. "My body was attempting to salvage the emotions that this slime had for me despite the criticism that I'd planned to state, wanting the love to grow and provide a source of food."
Something felt . . . wrong about her theory, though she pushed the feeling aside.
"Yes, surely that is the case."