Chrysalis smiled as she looked out at her new domain. "For the first time in over a thousand years, my children have a city…" The city of Manehatten, claimed without a single battle.
Her hooves clicked on the polished marble floor as she sauntered closer to the penthouse’s panoramic window. Through the glass, her changelings toiled as all moved to her will, all worked for the betterment of the Hive. A small spike of bitterness marred her contentment. Even now, without a single pony within a day’s travel, they still had little choice but to wear their disguises. All it would take is one sharp-eyed pegasus, and everything could be undone. So, as always, they had to hide.
She flicked her eyes to the magical device on the intricately carved wood table. The blinking red warning light declared she was already dead. It was almost endearing how frail her prey could be.
Our time will come. Her smile restored itself with a feral edge. She reached out to the sea of connections around her. Each and every one of her loyal children tied to her will by a unique strand of magic. She pressed her black plated hoof upon the enchanted glass as she pushed her determination out into the weave of her children’s minds.
In the view below, her children straightened and hastened their work. With the ghost of a maternal smile, she would deny ever having, she let the barest hint of her praise join the determination. Their just rewards for their servitude.
Despite the city's appearance, it had many similarities to the hive's old home. This place, just like the badlands, was also a wasteland of sorts. Where the badlands had poisoned earth and toxic air that would cause problems in months, the danger here was both insidious and far more lethal. Anypony that returned to the city for a mere hour would be dead in days.
A chuckle rang out in her duel toned voice. The magical flux, so dangerous to ponies, did nothing more than tingle against her senses. One might even call it relaxing. Her smile drifted to being smug. Unlike every other living creature, changelings truly thrived on adversity. Anything that did not kill them would only make them stronger.
Even the twisted monsters that rampaged across the nation, that the ponies were so terrified of, shied away from the dangers of the city. They would wither and die like all other life. All other life but changelings.
“The superior spices will rule this world,” Chrysalis dual-toned voice resonated with conviction.
The slightest vibration on a single strand of her weave alerted the Queen before one of her children reached out to her.
My Queen. The mental voice intruded with utter submission.
Chrysalis paused a long moment before she replied. This has better be worth my time.
Yes, my Queen. We have good news
And that news is?
The harvesters report more than double the expected yield.
Well, that is good news. Chrysalis made her way to her new throne and reclined. Are the pods ready to move?
A servant class changeling grovelled as they offered up a crystal glass almost overflowing. The warm radiance glowed from within the precious pink liquid.
Calmly she claimed the priceless vessel of the pristine liquid love. She breathed in the heady bouquet. The sweet scent of young love, of the first night of passion if she was not mistaken, reached her nose. A once in a lifetime experience, distilled for her dining pleasure.
It had been so long since there had been enough to separate out the choice emotions. Once, she could have traded such vintages with her sisters. A single mote of loss lessened her smile as it tried to sully the moment. Her empty heart savagely discarded it.
The first sip thrilled her tastebuds as the warmth of power spread through her. She slowly savoured her second sip despite the urge to simply down it. The twin strands of the ponies’ emotions, the parts of their souls they offered each other, woven together in a delicate dance. Each movement enhanced the flavour and the experience of the meal.
Well? Chrysalis mentally sent, not able to hind the contentment from her tone. With a wave of her hoof, she dismissed the servant. They scurried away, radiating relief they had not been punished. They clearly had been well trained, unlike the minion that still kept her waiting for her answer.
Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed, and her mental tone darkened. Answer me. The threat of imminent punishment caustically dripped from her words.
No, my Queen, the prey is not in pods yet.
Why not? The throne’s arm cracked under her hoof. You are aware of our plan?
The swarm arrived as an attack was underway.
And? Honestly, it was so hard to find capable minions for each and every task that needed them. Clearly, the next generation of field commanders could not mature fast enough.
To gain their trust and entrance, the swarm assumed disguises.
As to be expected. Chrysalis answered, her patience rapidly fraying. What went wrong?
Nothing, my Queen.
“Nothing? Then what is the hold-up?” Chrysalis snarled aloud as well as mentally. Her guards snapped to attention, ever wary of her displeasure as any of her underlings should be.
The prey are offering up their love freely. It seems to be a form of hero worship mixed with relief. Soldier eight-one-nine currently has eight mares vying for his attention.
Soldiers are not spawned for that type of work.
We know, My Queen. I am having to supervise their every interaction. But this alone has yielded more love than our quota.
The Queen stared out at the horizon as she weighed her options. This whole venture balanced two things, gaining resources and the risk each moment of exposure brought. The liquid love sloshed a little as she tilted the glass one way, then the other. The plan had some redundancy, the loss of only one host would not cause a significant delay, and after all, they were replaceable. You have my leave to see if this is a repeatable strategy. Don't disappoint me-
Yes, My Queen. The suddenly broken mental connection tasted of utter relief and notes of unrealised fears.
She strode over to the wall-mounted map as her green aura placed a pin where the experiment was. If everything goes wrong… Yes, this could prove an adequate distraction.
Her mind reached out for one of her most trusted defenders. Praetorian.
Your will, My Queen?
There are some new variables for extraction plan B. Take two of your number and a class-one infiltrator with you and head here. The Queen pushed the location and her plan into the mind of her child.
Your will be done.
That taken care of, she turned her mind to other matters. The long table was covered. So much was going on that her lesser children could not relay everything over the Weave. Instead, details had to be passed on in a different manner. A far less efficient manner.
The scrolls lay before her. Just the fact such trivial information was even written down practically shouted about the material gains the relocation into the abandoned city had gained them.
She lifted the first one by hoof and unrolled it. The contents brought yet another smile to her muzzle. Even the small amount of enchanting materials already liberated from the city was more than they could normally safely acquire in a century.
Even after only such a short amount of time, this opportunity had proven most profitable.
Several of the pins in the map taunted her. Each unique bearing a distinctive image. The familiar cutie marks seemed to glare at her daring her to act.
Celestia cowered in Canterlot. Luna roved the land striking at the largest concentrations of corrupted. Twilight had been dispatched like the loyal attack dog she was off to the griffons' lands. Despite the militarization of Equestria, all the most tempting targets were wide open.
Even virile Shining Armor was alone, fortifying Vanhoover, and with sweet delicious Cadance off alone in Cloudsdale. Her long tongue licked her fangs. It would be so easy to get her vengeance. To claim the endless feast the Princess of Love represented.
Her eyes trailed lustfully over the shield and heart marks of her desired prey. Their capture could do so much to strengthen the hive.
‘This is the perfect moment to strike’ one voice in her mind whispered.
‘We don't know what all the players are planning,’ another cautioned.
Her hoof pressed against her horn. That damned dull ache was still there if she sought it. A lingering reminder she and Celestia were not the only ones playing this game. Nightmare Moon's secret return, the new and improved Noble Guide playing politics. Add to all that the worried murmurings that Discord had gone missing.
No, as much as she wanted to, now was not the time for bold actions. She would not repeat her mistakes. She would learn. She would adapt. She would grow stronger, and when the time was right… they would pay.
For now, she would hide. Gather resources and spawn more of her new, improved and utterly faithful children. As if bidden by her thoughts, a mass shifted deep inside her. A liquid squirming sensation and then a satisfying internal pressure built as the next batch of eggs readied themselves.
The lift was an utter waste of resources for those that could fly or walk on walls, but she used it anyway. If only for sheer novelty as the mechanical servant conveyed her from the penthouse to the lower basement.
"What wonders could we have made if we had been in our rightful place all these long years?" For a moment, the image of towing hive spires stretching from horizon to horizon filled her mind's eye.
The Alicorns would pay, Celestia would pay.
The lift smoothly slowed to a stop and with a cheary ding, the doors opened. She picked her way between dusty storage crates and long-forgotten detritus. The subtle magic woven around her hooves ensured she left not a single mark of her passage.
As she approached, a section of the floor lifted. A pair of thickset heavy plated praetorians opened the way for her. She regally strode between them without sparring them the slightest of apparent attention. The slightest tendril of her satisfaction bushed against their minds. A little touch to reinforce their dedication to the defence of this most vital of locations.
Within, the green glow of changeling magic blended with the pink radiance of liquid love. The sweet fragrance of stored emotions combined with the soft, soothing scent of changeling resin. Already the new complex had started to feel like home.
Each and every changeling she passed stopped and bowed. Everyling knew their place, everything was as it should be. As she passed, they diligently rose and resumed their assigned tasks. Far too many, for her tastes, were working on paperwork. Every single thing claimed from Manehatten would either officially no longer exist, sent somewhere else or already sold.
She moved on, passing half a dozen bloated love-haulers as they moved through the tight confines distributing the daily rations. They weren't the most graceful of her creations, but without them, transporting large amounts of love would not be tenable.
The walkway wound its way past pools that one day would overflow with liquid love. For now, each was merely a resin lined pit. There was still too much at stake to risk filling them. The haulers could simply flee at a moments notice.
The sound of her hooves upon the caved stone was inaudible, drowned out under the relentless hammering. The brutish tunnellers smashed their grotesquely oversized forelimbs into the earth as they smashed and chewed their way through the rock.
Despite the urge to wince or to reach out and mentally berate them for the racket they were making, she did nothing but continue on. They could do their work in almost complete silence. One could not dig anywhere near a pony settlement otherwise. In this case, with nopony around to hear, haste was more critical than stealth, no matter how painful it was to her ears.
The smooth, sleek form of the repurposed assassin slinked up beside her. Their head looked a little ungainly with the new ridges and antenna. It would be even odds whether it would be one moult or two before she fully adapted to her new form.
My Queen. The refined silken tones of her construction overseer spoke mentally.
Yes?
The project is ahead of schedule. Thirty percent of all major pony structures have secret entrances.
A slight twinge of pain deep within her body nagged at her. As well-fed as she currently was, her body was being insistent, it would not permit her to wait. The Hive must grow.
The Queen held herself with as much regale poise as possible despite laying chest heaving on her side. Never since her first clutch had the simple act of laying eggs left her so exhausted.
She watched as sleek and delicate, almost fragile-looking, changelings approached. Their extra limbs and lack of armour made them seem almost like spiders. Despite what a pony might see as a fearsome appearance, they were the kindest and gentlest of all changelings.
One by one, the nursery tenders collected the lesser eggs with loving gentleness. Nimble claws reached out carefully and with exquisite care. Each was cleaned, revealing the true wonder hidden in the insulating birthing goo. The eggs were a deep black with faint white and lavender mottling.
In the collection of remaining eggs, one was more than twice the size. Unlike the others, thin armoured ridges encased it. The extra protection that had painfully torn at her as it departed her body now only brought a tender smile to Chrysalis’ muzzle.
“You will be my finest creation.” Chrysalis cooed, affectionately resting a hoof on her largest investment for the future.
As if in answer, magenta light pulsed from within the dark leathery egg.