A cave. How typical. Doubt led Queen Chrysalis through the Everfree Forest. The place wasn’t unfamiliar to her as she took refuge there for a time, but the vapor took her through unexplored territory. At some point, they arrived at their destination and descended into darkness. A maze of tunnels stretched deep into the underground. She could’ve been lost for a long time, yet the manifestation of Doubt seemed to have known the way. Finally, there was dim, green light alit at the end of their journey.

“So, tell me… Doubt, who exactly are these co-conspirators of yours that you refer to as “we”?” she questioned it.

“Oh? Struck a nerve, have I? Why exactly is it that such a minute thing causes you such distress?” the vapor asked.

“Well, it matters not right now anyway. Just try to keep calm. The following sight may seem familiar in some way.”

The changeling queen pondered what it was referring to, but it didn’t take long before she finally got the gist.

A vast underground cavern opened before her. The dim illuminating light came from a giant pool of all-too-familiar magical substance. And in the middle of it stood a sight that was not just familiar, but also foreboding. A giant tree towered in the middle of the lake, its roots boring into the liquid below, its trunk, though bent, grew tall, the branches reaching up to the very ceiling, sinister light pulsed from several crevices, a giant scar ran down the middle of the trunk to its roots, turned to be shaped like a mouth, and finally two giant branches bent and twisted like hands, with dark, prickly nuts hanging from them.

Chrysalis was overcome with a sense of dread. This place… there’s genuine horror radiating from it. She couldn’t quite put a hoof on it, but all possible negative states of her mind were beginning to bubble up on the surface.

“This is the source of all the "natural" forces of this world. Its lifeblood flows through the cavernous deeps beyond the borders of Equestria. Forces that PONIES are unable to control… so they chose to suppress them.”

“The tree is a source? Sounds like another magical tree I know. One that’s now gone anyway.”

“The Tree of Harmony, yes. We felt its power wither away. For the longest time, its energy suppressed the forest, to prevent it from claiming what rightfully belongs to it. Not long ago it was finally freed to fulfill its purpose… until it was subdued again. But that matters little. With the suppression permanently gone now, we can focus on continuing what we began.”

“There you go again with the WE. Where are these others you claim can help me? Or rather need my help?”

Doubt flew over to the tree and coiled around it playfully. “They’re all right here. But their voice is dim, silenced because their essences were removed from the body. To revive them, the essence that was taken from this vessel must be returned to the source.”

Doubt slithered over to Chrysalis, coiling around her neck. “Isn’t it obvious? Where do you think this amulet draws power from? Why do you think it fuels its user with Hatred?”

The queen looked at the Alicorn Amulet, focusing on it. She felt it then. The sensation of hatred flowing outwards and yet she also felt as if there’s a weak invisible force that’s trying to pull itself away from her.

Doubt nodded eagerly. “This one was elusive for a long time. Throughout history it changed hands many times, always dooming its wearer to unbridled hatred. It would never have found its way back home since, despite corruption, the wearer would remain self-serving. But you... by bringing it here, you’ve achieved what we could never have done on our own. And for that, we’re indebted to you.”

This was an unusual feeling. By all accounts Chrysalis should’ve been skeptical; this was Doubt she was talking to, she should’ve expected deceit from it, as it was in its very nature to do so. And yet the tone of its voice just now sounded… sincere.

“Remove the gemstone from the amulet. It acts as a focal point but also suppresses the true power it holds. Do that, and all will be done.”

Queen of Changelings removed the amulet from around her neck and focused the power of her horn on the casing, trying to remove it. She struggled. It may have been just a piece of enchanted metal, but with her own power, she should’ve been able to break it open. Yet it wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard she strained herself, the amulet’s casing remained intact.

A cold sensation began to rise in her. The green sickly aura of her magic was suddenly replaced by a red glow, a symbol that negative emotion is starting to intertwine with magic itself. But it was still not enough.

“How… disappointing. I thought the Queen of Changelings would be more powerful than that, and yet you’re not even capable of removing one little gem from a neckless? Such humiliation,” Doubt taunted her.

She hated this. She hated being prod for her inability to do what should be a menial task. She hated that no matter how hard she struggles the peace of mind would be out of her reach. A cruel torment brought upon her by a cruel world.

She roared. Her eyes suddenly turned bright as well as her magic. Hatred made itself manifest in its purest form and drove her to push forward, as her newfound strength was beginning to rip the amulet’s frame away like a cold storm through the field. First came off the wings, then the head, and finally the casing surrounding the gemstone broke open. The scrap of metal that once resembled an amulet dropped to the ground, while the blood-red gem floated before her. Filled with adrenaline, she gazed at it and finally beheld its true beauty. The unrelenting force of pure cold hatred was pulsing from it. It was… mesmerizing.

“Well done, Queen of Changelings.” Doubt grinned. “You have passed your first test with flying colors. Now… release it into the pool and meet your new benefactor.”

She enjoyed the moment, that just sense of righteous hate was exhilarating, she didn’t want it to end. But the force that was pulling the amulet earlier, with gemstone released now became increasingly stronger. She had no choice. With the release, the stone dropped from her grasp and splashed into the magical pool below her. The moment passed and Chrysalis’ head cooled down, the strength in her hooves giving out under the sudden weight of her own body. It would seem that harnessing too much inner wrath caused her to overexert, on top of not feeding in a while.

Silence fell over the place for a moment. Then the bubbling sound came. Dark, vapor-like substance begun to emerge from the lake from the place where the gemstone fell in, rising above the ground level, over the tree’s height until it almost reached the ceiling of the cavern. A sudden brunt force pressed down on Chrysalis out of nowhere. It felt like the weight of the world was trying to crush her, and in her weakened state, everything went black.

The Changeling Queen was clearly awake, but everything around her was black. She couldn’t even see through it. She ran in all directions possible, yet it felt like she didn’t move from the spot.

“But it’s your old friend. So why not talk to it again?” Doubt’s whisper came from behind her.

She glared at it. “I’m through playing games with you, Doubt! Let go of me! NOW!”

“I’m afraid this is out of my hands, broodmother. It’s all up to... the other one.”

Chrysalis was ready to snap. Then… cold came over her. This wasn’t normal, she was able to endure low climate temperatures before. No. This came from a different place. From within. She bore witness to it then as behind Doubt’s form, a pair of giant teal eyes opened, looking down on her with a penetrating gaze.

“I’ll let you have a "heart-to-heart",” Doubt said, as it bore into the background of the darkness and disappeared, leaving Chrysalis alone.

And then, a harrowing voice echoed all around her. “Broodmother. You have our eternal gratitude. By embracing us and releasing us back into the world you have taken your first step towards redemption and – “

“ENOUGH!” She would not stand for it any longer, even if the cold was unbearable, she has had it with the cryptic talk; first, it used that word, and now it’s talking about redemption. “I’ve been putting up with these shenanigans long enough. I just woke up after who knows how many years I’ve been turned to stone, I dragged myself across half of Equestria, barely resting and starving, putting myself in situations where I could get spotted and inevitably caught. I’ve been led on by words, toying with what’s left of my sanity with promises of something that would be of value to me and then you come spewing words like “redemption” like it’s supposed to mean something to me. That hatred that gave me the strength to free you was out of frustration knowing it’s all empty promises that will never help me in any way!”

She tried to catch up on her breath. A deathly silence fell across the surroundings, the pair of teal eyes were still piercing into her, unmoving. She could still feel cold running through her, getting worse. If this thing were to end her now for speaking out of term, it would’ve been merciful.

“You may try using words to cover what you feel inside, but before us, your emotions are laid bare. We see your beginning and every moment of your waking life because we are a part of you. And if you still doubt us…”

The darkness disappeared. It was dim, but this time Chrysalis could clearly see her surroundings. She saw the old tree from which she and her swarm emerged into the world.

The scene shifted. She stood in a great blooming field on a clear sunny day. The sunlight dimmed and she saw the great swarm darken the skies in numbers beyond counting. Villages devastated, its inhabitants left drained in the swarm’s feeding frenzy. It changed again, this time to the sky city of Timbucktu, seeing herself usurp king Orion and declaring herself queen. And it happened again, this time to the siege of Trot, where the changelings infiltrated the city and devoured its inhabitants from within.

Chrysalis saw her glorious life flash before her eyes and as she did, something familiar stirred within.

“I’ve… almost forgotten what it felt like, to have the whole world laid down before you. It felt exhilarating,” she said, and as she did, a smile appeared on her face, not out of malice or spite; it felt like… pride.

And as those words were said, the sky above Trot was lit ablaze. She soon realized what was coming as soldiers of Canterlot swept down to coral the invading changelings into a single cluster. And then SHE appeared. Princess Celestia, the sole ruler of Equestria, flew down from the skies at the enemy army. Armored Queen Chrysalis lunged at her, willing to fight the alicorn princess head-on. With the power of the sun at her command, Celestia unleashed devastating fire upon the invaders.

Chrysalis watched, seeing her past self as the armor was melted clean off her and the sun’s fire tearing through her body while burning most of her army to a crisp.

“This… is where it all began,” the voice echoed. “A single defeat is something you could’ve lived with… had SHE not wounded you so.”

The scene switched to the heart of a volcano, where she and the survivors of her swarm were locked away in a boiling pit of fire inside a volcano to keep them pacified before a dragon unknowingly released them all.

“You are the broodmother. Through you, the swarm would eventually be regrown, bigger than before. But that devastating defeat has taught you something: you were vulnerable, you were fragile. If you were to face Celestia again or anyone else of equal or greater power, if you had lost more than just bits and pieces of your appendages, without the ability to fill the brood’s vacant ranks, every soldier would become too valuable to waste. And as you experienced firsthand, not everything in life goes according to plan. Even if you lived for thousands of years more, all of your soldiers would eventually be gone. You... would be the last of your kind.”

It felt like a heavy rock weighing down on her. Everything it said was true. It knows every detail… which meant it also knew what she did next.

The scene switched. In a barren wasteland that the changelings made their kingdom, deep within the tall spire they called hive, Queen Chrysalis stood within a great empty room with a stalactite hanging in the center. Her punctured horn lit up in sickly green. Her whole body began to glow and it looked like she was under great pain, as it slowly all trailed from across her being and centralized back to her horn. She bent forward and touched the stalactite with it. It exploded, sending her flying back. As the changeling queen finally regained her consciousness, she looked upon the ceiling. It was completely bloated and deformed with holes coming out of it. All of a sudden, small eggs begun to pop out in mass, slowly piling up in clusters.

“That day, you sacrificed your own ability to replenish the swarm and imbued it into the hive itself, so that no matter how wounded you were, the brood would continue to endure and take care of its queen.”

A great sense of loss came over her. Especially because she knew what would follow.

It almost sounded like it was taunting her, toying with her. It already knows what comes next. SHE knows what happens next. She doesn’t have to see it again. She DOESN'T WANT to see it again. But her pleas were hollow, ignored.

Plans to conquest Canterlot at a royal wedding, ruined. Her temporary holding, beaten. Every single time those six ponies, with Princess Twilight Sparkle at the head would ruin EVERYTHING. So, this time she would plan, she would slowly replace every single important pony in Equestria with her soldiers right under their noses until even they would fall victim to her deception and be replaced by doppelgangers. Everything worked perfectly… UNTIL SHE CAME.

Queen Chrysalis was visibly trembling as she watched Starlight Glimmer, stripped of power in her own kingdom, at the seat of her power and her mercy, use mere words to corrupt her own soldiers, HER OWN CHILDREN. Their nature perverted into something they were never supposed to be. Their TRUE purpose was denied. As the changelings willingly shared and embraced love they would previously only drain, the throne room protecting the hive from outside magic exploded and the hive collapsed on itself.

Then came the moment of truth; when the one who befouled her kind offered a hoof of mercy, to show her there’s a different way, a “better way”. She felt it; the anger, the disgust, every fiber of her body screaming in defiance, that this was wrong, no TRUE changeling would willingly forsake its own nature with which it was born into the world.

In a sound of hatred and fury, she brushed it away. "There is no revenge you could ever conceive of that will come close to what I will exact upon you one day, Starlight Glimmer!"

Complete darkness fell around her once again and the pair of piercing teal eyes returned, followed by the harrowing voice. “We sympathize with you, broodmother.”

She turned to face it, the expression on her face showing a mix of depression, frustration, but also surprise.

“Much like your own subjects were denied the purpose with which they were born, so was OUR purpose denied when we were already awake.”

“Is that it?” she scoffed. “You think that just because we share the same problem I would warm up to you? I’ve already worked with other creatures and it didn’t help me in the end. No creature could EVER understand me! I am the Queen of the Changelings- !“

THERE. That was a stab in the heart. She just re-watched her whole life play out before her; the glorious heights, to where she was now, the lowest possible point. And now this presence is putting her on the spot, tormenting her by dragging every single grievance out of her on display to look at, to toy with her already unstable mind. And that piercing look from the eyes was making things worse. It knows every single thing she can imagine, it can see right through her and no amount of lies could cover it up. She bent forward, putting her hooves over her head, her mossy hair covering her face in vain hopes it would stop.

“You are the Queen of Changelings; it is in your nature to not want to share love, you are compelled to devour it to survive. And yet… you desire it, more than you’re willing to admit. You care not much for your own soldiers, as long as they’re useful… and yet you cannot imagine living a life without them. This is what claws at the corners of your mind. You are living the darkest moment you feared would happen all those years back. And that is what you HATE the most, Chrysalis: not Celestia, not Twilight Sparkle and her friends, or the swarm that turned its back on you… but the knowledge that you are the last TRUE changeling… that you are truly… ALONE.”

“AM I THAT OBVIOUS TO YOU?!” the ear-numbing cry of the changeling queen echoed, causing the world around to shake and tremor, the surrounding darkness crumbled on itself.

They were back in the cavern with the tree, the towering darkened form still loomed over Chrysalis. Doubt slithered by her face, an expression of surprise, yet predictable knowledge forming on its limited facial feature.

Who would’ve thought that a changeling could shed tears, let alone that it would be their queen?

Chrysalis had been utterly broken by the experience. She had finally accepted that she has lost everything. She had no place or kin to return to and there was nothing that could replace it. Pride was the only thing that kept driving her, even if it was to her own detriment.

“Would you like to reverse what was done?” Doubt whispered. “Would you like to NOT be the last of your kind anymore? To enjoy the reverence of your minions once again?”

Being in a state of shock, it took some time before its voice finally reached her ears to react upon, her head slowly turning to the side to glance at the little vapor, her eyes still glistening from tears. “How…”

The towering darkness sunk back into the pool from which it spawned. Then the rumbling within started once more and what rose from it was a giant pod, almost shaped as the ones that changelings would use to store their victims in for future consumption.

“Come, Queen of Changelings,” the harrowing voice echoed through the cavern, beckoning her.

She walked forward. There was nothing else left for her. Anything else but this would leave her empty and unfulfilled forever. THIS was the only way.

Without hesitation, she stepped into the pod and as it closed around her, the harrowing voice rang into her. “You will be a broodmother again, Chrysalis. You will be the Pillar upon which our restoration begins. Through you and those who will follow in time, will ensure that our will is executed onto the world. Embrace us… and be reborn…”

All of Canterlot castle was asleep, only a lone guard patrolled the hallway, but inside the rooms, not a peep could be heard. Spike laid in his bed, fast asleep. Being a royal advisor was as tiring a job as it was being the actual ruler; getting up at the same time if not early than the princess, trailing her at every turn, and taking notes while making sure she was always on time with the schedules, and at the end of the day, after Twilight had long since gone to sleep, he would be the last to do so. And after a day like this, all he desired was a delectable dream involving his favorite fashionista.

“NOOOOO!” a scream came bursting through the wall, instantly waking the little dragon up.

“Ugh. Just like clockwork…” he mumbled half asleep, realizing the dream would not come tonight.

He slinked out of bed, grabbed the morning schedule and his quill, and walked out of the room. The door slamming behind him with a loud thud.

The duo walked down the corridor. The day started pretty much the same, the only thing being different was Twilight not having a “morning episode” like yesterday. And if Spike was correct, the one thing that would follow soon was…

“There it is,” he said, as the loud yell came from a predictable direction, right on queue.

They came around the corner, and as expected, Moppin was there at the gates to the repository for magical artifacts, failing to find the right key again.

“Come on! Are you kidding me?!” he fumed as he switched the key one after another. ”You have to be the right one!”

“You know, maybe we should just set you up for the morning alarm. Would save all of us some trouble,” the dragon quipped.

The unicorn cleaner went silent and turned his gaze to the side seeing the dragon and princess next to him.

The stallion had a hard time trying to hold a straight face from the embarrassment on display. “Y-your majesty, I s-swear I was extra careful, but these keys all look the same.”

She used her magic on the lock of the repository, the mechanism turned and with a click, the gates opened. The cleaner smiled awkwardly before pushing his wagon inside.

Twilight and Spike didn’t get five feet away before Moppin popped his head out the door. “Thank you,” before zapping back in.

Spike rolled his eyes. “I’d say third time’s the charm, but this was the fifth now.”

The morning routine passed, this time not as eventfully as yesterday. And as it was coming to an end, Twilight sat behind a table, signing documents and having a drink on the side.

“We got today’s news,” Spike said as he walked into the room and put a newspaper on the table.

She picked it up and while she kept signing, and sipping she quickly skimmed over the articles. Then there was a moment where she almost gagged, as the drink went down the wrong end, and nearly ended up choking.

“Look, Spike! This article!” she said in a hyped tone as she finally recovered.

Her companion picked up the newspaper and looked through it. On one of the pages it read as follows:

A STAR ABOVE DRAGONS
According to a report from the local dragon population, a meteor fell from the sky above the Dragon Lands and crashed nearby. Due to improved relations with Equestria, Dragon Lord Ember has allowed, at the request of Equestrian Astronomy Institute, an investigation of this object that fell from the sky. Initial reports are saying that the object, even after 24 hours, retained the initial heath level.
Further investigation and tests will be conducted on-site in the following days.

Twilight looked starry-eyed. “I wish I could’ve seen it myself. Back in the day, it was such a delight watching the night sky, observing through the telescope far, distant moons, stars, and all sorts of other cosmic phenomena, always wondering what lies beyond the moon we know. It’s moments like this I wish things were a lot simpler; that I could go out into the world, to experience discoveries and acquire new knowledge and wisdom.”

The princess first looked at him, before her sight trailed to the table and she grimaced after realizing that in her daydream she started to scribble all over the permit to start building a Griffonstone embassy in Canterlot.

Spike picked up a fresh parchment and started rewriting the whole thing from the start. Just then, the loud thudding sound came knocking on the door, causing the little dragon to twitch and messed up the document again. He jumped off the chair, waddled over to the door, and opened it in an angry force.

A unicorn royal guard stood at the door, levitating a small crate before him. “A delivery for the Princess sent directly from the Cloudsdale weather factory.”

Spike thanked the guard, grabbed the crate, and shut the door behind, before taking it over to the table. “Here it is.”

Twilight opened the crate and it was stuffed to the brim with hay. She frowned and begun to rummage through it to find whatever was ordered. Finally, she pulled it out: a small bottle containing a continually swirling mass of a vapor-like substance.

“Odd,” Spike said. “I’d have expected that vessel that contained lightning in a bottle would be… you know, flashier.”

“That’s probably just the storm cloud, Spike, “ she reassured him. “You probably just need to trigger it in some way.”

“Well, let's hope it’s not so volatile that it would get triggered by just shaking.”

After that remark, Twilight became increasingly concerned; she didn’t even think about that possibility, so in collective calm she put it back into the hay-filled crate and moved it away, sighing in relief at the end.

“We can worry about that later. Spike, please rewrite the embassy permit while I finish the rest of the documents. It’s gonna be a tight run with the new schedule you’ve made, but with a little luck we just might make it.”

Her companion nodded with determination in his eyes, grabbing a new parchment, and began to write again. No more distraction. They’re going to pull through.

The clock tower rang at the fourteenth hour. The princess and her advisor just had lunch, as they managed to pull through in time, sticking to the schedule. Now it was necessary to deal with the matters of health. Twilight reopened the crate and picked up the vessel containing the swirly black substance.

“Okay, you’ve got forty-five minutes. I’ll be waiting for you over at the book store,” the dragon told her.

“Wish me luck.” She nodded to her companion, as she began to concentrate, fixating herself on the outskirts of Everfree Forest.

The dragon pointed on the table; sitting on it was a brown bowl made from non-ceramic material. “You almost forgot that.”

“Oh…” She felt embarrassed. “If I turned up at Zecora’s house without this… that would’ve been awkward.”

She picked the soup bowl up and brought it over. “See you over at the bookstore, Spike.”

Spike was left all alone in the room. Now he had at least thirty minutes to spare and had no idea what to do with it. A little nap would be nice, but it would just be too risky. He walked out onto the balcony and leaned on the rails. He had the overlook of entire Canterlot; he saw the bookstore that was to be opened, Celestia’s school, where the graduation was to take place, the train station in which the next train had just arrived, he saw Flash Magnus marching down the street with a group of royal guards, and over nearby Canterlot Carousel, seeing Sassy Saddled just exiting through the door-

That wasn’t Sassy Saddles! That bright fur, the perfectly styled, purple, flowing mane. He’d recognize it anywhere.
Rarity had just exited from her boutique, carrying several bags, and was slowly making her way towards the train station. This was his chance! He could meet her on the way and make it look like they’re meeting by chance so he wouldn’t look desperate and have some quality time with her while he waited for Twilight to come back.

He felt something hit his head. It was a gentle tap, but it was still weird, so he reached with his claw for a rub.

Moisture?

He looked up, but there was not a cloud in the sky, and he doesn’t recall there being rain scheduled from Cloudsdale. This was very odd.

“Rainbow Dash?!” he yelped in shock, seeing the rainbow-maned blue pegasus flying on the edge of the balcony. “What are you doing here? The meeting isn’t until tomorrow. And I thought you’d be back at the Wonderbolt Academy dealing with newbies.”

“Yeah, I should’ve. But Spitfire invited me to a reunion with a couple of her old friends over at the Weather Factory.”

She landed on the balcony and reached into her saddlebag with her mouth, pulling out a small vial. Inside it was a flashing light, flickering now and then.

“While visiting the factory, I overheard the bosses chewing out one of the workers for mismanaging the packaging process. Apparently, the emergency package for the princess was supposed to contain lightning in a bottle… Sooooo, I guess I kinda used that as an excuse to have a preemptive meeting.”

“B…but wait,” the dragon was visibly confused, “if this is the real lightning in a bottle… then what did she get?”

“Oh no!” He panicked. “She just went to Zecora with the wrong ingredient!”

He hesitated for a moment. “Well… It’s just that… she wanted this to be dealt with before tomorrow’s meeting so she would worry any of you guys- “

He felt the tap again, and he saw by Rainbow’s surprised look that she noticed it as well.

“Spike, the factory DOES NOT leak. And there shouldn’t be any rain today.” She looked in the direction of the sky city. “Still, it’s best I go check. Back in a snap, but when I do, you better start explaining.”

“WAIT!” she stopped as the dragon yelled when she was about to go off. “Please carry me to the ground first.”

Twilight trotted through the forest, carrying the soup bowl and the vial, trying her best to move at a quick pace so as to not cause a possible chain reaction in the latter while cutting down the travel time. It was not an easy task; just like yesterday she felt the dark force of the forest pressing down on her and this time it got even more sinister for some reason, hearing whispers on the blowing wind.

She finally made it to the healer’s tree hut and exhaled in relief, but after traipsing over to the entrance she noticed the door being wide open.

After putting the items she carried to the side, unable to see anything, she illuminated it with her magic. The place was completely turned over, but there was no sign of the resident. She made a few steps further into the room.

She stepped into something. It was a strange green, glistening gooey substance; it was at the only place to be found around the house, but where did it come from?

Suddenly she felt a gentle tap on her head. Reaching out with her hoof she realized it was the same green substance. Finally, she looked up, illuminating the room further with her magic.

Hanging from the ceiling was a green changeling cocoon, and trapped in it lay a zebra.

Hours have passed. The silence within the cavern was only broken by the occasional fall of the seeds growing on the branches of the sinister tree into the magical pool below.

Yet clearly the silence was disturbed by another sound. One that Doubt soon became aware of.

“Oh? She’s done already?” the weaselly, green-eyed vapor responded to the heart-thumping coming from the pulsing green mass.

The pod in which Queen Chrysalis entered some time ago meanwhile turned into a literal chrysalis. And while it remained still during most of the time, it was now emanating a green glow, projecting a silhouette of a shape moving inside.

As its heartbeat quickened, the harrowed voice finally spoke again. “It is time. Awaken… BROODMOTHER.”

The side of the chrysalis begun to wobble rapidly, until a hole was finally punctured from the inside out, green substance started oozing everywhere, followed by a cry and coughing as a shape tried to crawl out until it eventually dropped on the floor.

The Queen of Changelings thrashed around. She knew she was conscious, yet all she could hear is white noise and even though her eyes were wide open, she saw nothing. She tried to fly, but her wings wouldn’t even budge, and when she tried to get back on her hooves, they were so soft they bent under the slightest pressure, causing her to topple down again.

“Calm yourself, broodmother,” Doubt’s whisper echoed in her head, overpowering the white noise. “You’ve just gone through your rebirth. Your whole body needs time to harden out in the air. If you do not keep still, it will only damage you in the process.”

She shut her eyes, grit her teeth, and tried to lay forward, Doubt’s whispering making the noise at least slightly bearable.

Time passed and slowly but surely Chrysalis regained her sight as the whiteness diminished and the noise faded away. She banged her hooves together with a loud clacking sound, realizing they’ve finally hardened enough to stand up. What she didn’t anticipate however was her hooves feeling weightier than usual. It was upon her direct inspection that she discovered, that the holes in her body left by Celestia have disappeared. She fluttered her wings and heard a more pronounced buzzing sound; no air was escaping through minute holes in them anymore.

She still despised it using that word but chose to humor it anyway. “I feel… sturdy… hardened... elegant?”

“Do you feel…” The weaselly vapor slithered over to her cheeks. “… life?”

A heartbeat. No, not her own, there was another, it was incredibly small, barely noticeable, and weak, but it was there. Not just one, many more followed it. Something stirred within her. She recognized that feeling. Even though it has been centuries since she gave it up she never forgot what it felt like. A new life was growing within her.

“Good.” Doubt slithered around her. “Because with the recent events you’ve put in motion, somebody’s likely going to come snooping around.”

The green-eyed vapor made a good point. The Changeling Queen left Zecora in the pod back in her hovel after she had taken the Alicorn Amulet from her, and it’s likely somebody will inevitably discover her and kick up a storm.

“Hold on!” Chrysalis protested. “I understand the urgency, but it will take days before the first younglings hatch and even more days before they’re fully grown to be of any use.”

The harrowed voice belonging to the dark force she had awakened sounded out. “Spawn your future clutch into the pool below. Its magical energies will accelerate its growth. And once they awaken, they will be changed beyond their former kin.”

Turmoil Rising

by JFT

Chapter 3: What They Know