Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, was standing in the center of the ruined throne room. Her emerald cat like eyes scanning over the pair of weathered thrones that sat atop matching daises. The one to the left was a fading blue, the one to the right a dwindling yellow.
“From one ruined throne room to another,” she hissed to herself as she started walking forwards over the rotting red carpet.
Moonlight shone down above her, casting its glow through a large shattered skylight, reflecting off her black crown and highlighting the jagged edges of her horn. Her gaze moved up from the thrones to the two moth-eaten banners that hung above them. The leftmost one varied in shades of blue and was embroidered with symbols of the moon and stars, while the right one was made up of assorted yellows and sported symbols of the sun.
Between the two banners was a large jagged hole. It might have been a window at one point but now it was far too damaged to be able to tell. From the hole a weak breeze found its way in, causing her teal mane to wave slightly around her long slender neck.
“My queen?” said a voice from behind her.
Chrysalis turned her head to look back at one of her changelings. One of her last few remaining subjects. The reminder of how almost her entire hive betrayed her both depressed her and caused her blood to boil. At least a few who rejected the traitor Thorax had returned to her. They would be needed to help in creating her new hive.
“Yes Phasmid?” Chrysalis asked, turning around to face the guard.
Phasmid was still a young changeling, only on his third molt, under half her height and honestly too small to be a hive guardian. She had few options however, having slightly over two dozen subjects now, and what he lacked in experience he made up for in loyalty.
“Lacewing and Katydid asked that I inform you that the new brood started hatching,” he said as he knelt his front legs forward and lowered his head in a respectful bow.
“Wonderful!” she said with a grin. “Accompany me to the nursery, I wish to see them.”
“As you wish my queen,” Phasmid responded, standing straight again and following instep alongside her.
The two exited the room and moved along a lightless corridor, the torch holders on the walls empty, long ago having burned out. Changelings didn’t need the light of torches, having excellent night vision that allowed them to see even minuscule details in the dark.
“How many have hatched so far?” Chrysalis asked, keeping her sight straight ahead.
“Only one had when I left to tell you my queen,” Phasmid replied, looking up at her for a moment and then facing forward again to scan the route they took.
“Good, I don’t want to miss the rest,” she said as they went down a spiral staircase that veered off near the end of the hall.
At the bottom of the stairs was another long corridor, filled with little cities of cobwebs that clung along the upper edges and vanished into the rafters. They continued along until reaching a threadbare tapestry depicting a band of six ponies being encircled by a group of ghostly wendigoes.
A soft green glow surrounded Phasmid’s horn as he used his magic to lift the tapestry up by its bottom edge to reveal an excavated tunnel that gently sloped downward. Chrysalis, ducking her head down to avoid bumping her horn into the edges of the wall, entered the passage. Phasmid followed quickly behind her and lowered the tapestry back into place to cover up the entrance of the new hive.
As they neared their destination Chrysalis and Phasmid passed a trio of changelings, these ones working together to carve out a new tunnel. One of them was using their magic to break away prices of rock while the other two coated the stone with changeling resin to help reinforce the passage. The three paused in their work to offer a bow of respect to their queen which Chrysalis returned with a nod.
Acting as a door to the nursery was a simple grey blanket, salvaged from the castle above and tacked over the entryway with two hardened globs of resin. Just like with the tapestry before Phasmid lifted the bottom of the blanket with his magic allowing Chrysalis to step past unimpeded and into the cavern being used to incubate the future generations of her new hive.
“Would you like me to stand guard at the door my queen?” Phasmid inquired.
“Please,” Chrysalis answered as she turned her attention from the guard to the sister changeling caretakers in the room.
Lacewing and Katydid were both young with slightly blue tinted crests that ran along the backs of their heads to their withers. They seemed to be fussing over a single grub that stared up at them from behind a small empty eggshell.
“Why are you so scared of us little one?” Asked the caretaker named Katydid who was currently kneeling down and trying to reassure the little grub in a soothing tone. “You don’t need to be afraid, we aren't here to hurt you.”
“Is something wrong?” Chrysalis asked, stepping beside Lacewing.
Something did seem to be off with the little changeling grub. Normally they would be crawling around, hissing out to be feed or finding a safe resting place in a leg hole of one of the nursemaids. Instead this one’s eyes widened and they hid away when Chrysalis approached.
“We don’t know why, by this grub is afraid of us,” said the nursemaid named Lacewing.
Chrysalis lifted the grub in her magic, causing the little larva to wiggle about in the air. First she looked over its body for any injuries or deformities, then she sniffed in its scent to determine if it might be sickly. Its vision seemed to be fine from what she could tell and its little white ears stood straight up when she clicked her tongue to tests its hearing. Physically this was a perfectly healthy changeling larva, and in the past the ones to hatch first always have been.
“Have you tried to feed it?” questioned Chrysalis, looking from the floating grub to Lacewing and Katydid.
“Yes, but that was when it started to act that way,” Lacewing answered, her ears lowering. “Maybe it thought we were going to eat it.”
Changelings mainly feed on the love of other creatures and their young were no different. Since they couldn’t go out themselves to harvest it they had to rely on others to feed them. Changeling nymphs and adults can easily harvest the essence of love from one another in a gaseous form but grubs needed to be fed a special mixture of regurgitated organic matter infused with love.
“I’ll feed this one,” Chrysalis said.
She floated the little grub closer and carefully used her magic to open its muzzle. Its eyes widened as she brought something up her throat and then proceeded to produce a pink globule from her maw and drop it into the wiggling grubs mouth. When she saw that it was about to spit out the meal she used her magic to close its mouth and massage along its throat until it swallowed. The grub seemed to give up its protests and now floated calmly in her magic.
“Your highness,” Lacewing said, drawing the queens attention. “The other eggs are starting to hatch.”
With a small smile Chrysalis levitated up the grub she held, then placed it atop her head just between her right ear and her crown. When she was sure the grub was holding on she released it from her magic and turned to watch as one of the pale green eggs split open. Another little black and white grub pulled itself free from its shell, opened its mouth wide, then started hissing out into the air.
Lacewing gently lifted it with her magic and set to work on cleaning the newborn with a soft washcloth. Once finished, she checked over the grub for any deformities and then proceeded to feed it. Katydid looked after the next grub to hatch and the process repeated over and over again.
Through it all, holding on to the top of Chrysalis mane, the first born grub watched.