On Earth, the humans lived their lives day to day, self-consumed in their own petty desires for money, fame, or whatever their heart desired. All except those few who had open minds, and realized that there was much more to life than the usual nine to five jobs that were so dull and boring.
One of these people was James. He didn't stand out particularly at all - just a normal height, normal weight average human male. About the only thing "special" about him was his mind. Due to a unique mixture of various mental ailments, his mind was quite open, and though he was incapable of showing it in public, he was also very, very smart. Able to figure out mathematics problems, but not be able to tell how he solved them. Able to take a computer apart down to the individual chips, and be able to put it back together. You get the picture, right? Not an idiot, but also not a savant. Just an average joe with a skill for most things.
On this particular day, James was sitting at home, watching one of his favorite shows on the television: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It was the final episode of Season 2, where Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings had just been discovered. The very moment that all the Changelings blinked out of Equestria in the sky, a sudden news report appeared instead of his favorite show.
"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a very special news bulletin. Holes have appeared throughout the ground in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Metro Police Department is urging citizens to stay inside and away from these holes until it can be deemed if they are safe or not. We now return you to your normal programming." As soon as the newscast blinked off, James turned his TV off, scratching his head. The timing was just too...perfect. He looked outside. It was still early morning, on a Sunday. Everyone would still be asleep, unconcerned minds lulled by the illumination of the streetlights and the glowing green portals outside.
Wait, glowing green portals?
James took a second look outside. And noticed that as it closed, a large, feminine shape lay there. It was outside the light of the streetlamp, so all he could see was green, tattered wings. A long blue tail. A blue four-pronged crown. And very long, very messy light blue hair. He instantly knew who this was. This was Queen Chrysalis.
The Queen of the Changelings.
The one banished from Equestria.
And she was lying outside of his house. Unconscious. And probably very hurt. He couldn't just leave her there, for the government to do who knows what to. Walking over to the door, James grabbed a small taser he kept hanging nearby just in case. He didn't expect to have to use it on her, but rather on anyone else who had noticed her.
"The Mane six may have Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy - and I will admit they are very awesome ponies - but Queen Chrysalis is just so...mysterious. She's quickly becoming my favorite pony," He thought to himself.
After shutting the door behind him, he quickly walked over to her, gently pawing his foot at the ground, much like a pony would. When he didn't see a reaction from her, he scratched his head. "Well, I can't just leave her here, and she's unconscious. Oh, by the fates, I hope I'm not making the wrong decision here." He leaned down, pocketing his taser and placing his arms under the Queen's body. He tried to lift her as if she were heavy, only to about fall over when she quickly came up with his arms. She was definitely light; about what he'd assumed pegasi were in weight. He sighed, looking at her body. "You are such a mess...Best get you inside." He walked up to his door, gently setting her down to open it, only to pick her back up, and place her inside. Gently pushing the door shut with his foot, he took her upstairs, to his bedroom, where he lay her on the bed.
Walking to the bathroom, he returned with a hairbrush, beginning to brush her hair out, then setting the brush next to her on the night stand. He knew she could use magic, so he left it there in case she wanted to brush her hair out further.
"Sleep well...my Queen." James said. The pause between the second and third words lasted for a full minute, before James put two fingers to his lips, then to her forehead. James didn't notice it, but her horn glowed a little bit..and one of her injuries healed itself.
James stood up, and walked over to sit in the chair by the window, looking outside...
The next thing he knew, he was awoken by a loud sound like wood splintering, and an angry, panicked voice filling the room of his bedroom.
James observed, a bit in shock, as Queen Chrysalis awoke with a start, directing a magic bolt towards the door to his bedroom, causing it to splinter and crack.
"Where am I? I demand to know who is holding me prisoner! I am Queen of all Changelings, Queen Chrysalis! You can not do this to me!" Chrysalis ranted and raved, looking about the room, until her eyes settled on James.
"How odd. you do not appear to be any type of pony I have ever seen. Do you come from Equestria? Or from some other nation bordering it? I can tell you are neither changeling, pony, dog, or dragon, yet from the look in your eyes you possess a significant amount of intelligence. Who are you, and why do you keep me prisoner? Where am I? I demand you tell me!"
James just calmly stood, keeping his hands clearly visible at all times. "My name is James. My last name is not important. I am what is known as a "human", a type of "bipedal" pony I guess you could call me, though I am not a pony at all. He walked over to the window, ensuring it was open, so she could escape if she so desired. "And you are on Earth. Equestria does not exist here. I am not holding you prisoner; you are free to go if you so choose. However, I ask that before you flee, you simply look out this window here. I do not think you want to escape from here, especially given your current state...your bandages fell off, you see," He held up the strips of oddly colored bandages. "I did what I could to re-wrap them, but I don't know very much about equines, let alone Changelings. You will have to redo the job yourself if you wish."
Chrysalis looked down at her body, then walked over to the full-length mirror propped against a wall, on the floor. She had shrunk a little. Well, a little was an understatement. Whereas in Equestria she would have been as tall as a normal horse, here she was only as big as a large wolf. She frowned. "Hmm. Something odd has happened," She said in a masked tone of concern, before observing her wrappings, Lifting a hoof this way and that, she tested her wings, twinging upon discovering they had been rebound to her back, as well as the resulting pain from trying to move them, at all.
"I'm sorry, My Lady Chrysalis. Your wings were injured in your, err, arrival to Earth. I had to bind them to keep you from harming yourself. No doubt your magic still works," He looked over to the door, which had a rather nice sized hole clean through the middle of it, and a bit of a scorch mark on the wall opposite the hallway, "so I know that you can easily decide my fate if you so choose. But I do not believe it to be in your best interest." As James talked, Chrysalis made her way over to the window.
"Not too bad a job of wrapping the bandages. Especially for a terrestrial-bound creature such as yourself with no magic," She remarked - mostly to herself - as her gaze settled on the street, and the taped off area where she had appeared in this world. Multiple police vehicles - from local departments all the way up to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service - were investigating the area.
Both changeling and human observed as one of the officers began walking towards James's front door. The hazel-eyed human frowned, his eyes flitting back and forth in thought.
Somehow, Chrysalis could feel this human's emotions. She sensed anxiety rising in him. "What troubles you, human? Is that man a threat to me?"
James sighed, nodding once, very quickly. "Yes. He is coming to either kill, subdue, or interrogate you. A fate much worse than what would have happened in Equestria. I'd advise you to assume my image and approach the officer when he opens the door. I'd also advise you to inform him you were asleep. I trust you can play the part admirably.
Chrysalis looked to the human, a condescending tone in her voice. "You are a fool if you believe that will work, human. I can not just transform willy-nilly into whatever I please. It takes much magic for me to do a total transformation. And I believe you are already aware of what changelings require for their magic to work, if you already know who I am. Later I will have to ask you just how you know who I am, but for the present moment..." She looked right at him. And noticed his gaze was locked on hers.
When their gaze met, Chrysalis gave a gasp as her horn started to glow, and yet another minor scrape on her body disappeared. "This...is quite unusual." She stared right at James, before directing her gaze to the wall behind him, her tail fluttering in confusion and unease. "I am in my natural state, and yet...hmm. This may work after all." Though she would never admit it to the human, she could easily feel his affections for her. It wasn't easy for one so attuned to their own abilities to put two and two together. "I am sorry, human. You must sleep for this to work." Chrysalis said, and headbutted James onto the bed, crawling over the top of him, until her horn was inches from his forehead. "I must take your energy to assume your visage. I need not, but since you did save me from a worse fate, I shall ask permission this time. And this time only," She lied to him; she would ask his permission each time. She felt bound to, since she was already feeding off his emotions.
James closed his eyes, pulling a pillow under his head. "I grant my permission to you, Queen Chrysalis."
Chrysalis smiled at James, and touched her horn to his head. She felt a rush of energy fill her body, and James quickly slipped off to a sleep state.
A few minues later, Chrysalis gently hopped down to the floor, and looked at the sleeping human, making a comment prior to starting her change. "I know not why you saved me, James...but I am grateful. I will repay you somehow."
The change began at her tail once she stood up on her two hind legs. It disappeared into her body, and a green glow began to envelop her body, traveling up. A pair of blue jeans replaced them, human legs underneath. As the glow traveled upward, her wings disappeared into her back, and the bandages fell from her body yet again, coiling onto the floor. Human arms replaced her changeling arms, ending in two five-fingered hands. Finally, Chrysalis observed her vision dull, but become more focused in terms of detail and color. To any observer, hazel eyes replaced green eyes, and dark blonde hair replaced the queen's own blue hair. Her horn disappered into her head and her ears traveled down her head to become human ears.
Chrysalis made her way downstairs, just as the officer knocked on the door. Pausing in front of the door for a few moments, Chrysalis waited for a period of time she deemed acceptable, before opening it. "What's going on, officer?" She said, in James's voice.
"Good morning, Sir. I am sorry to disturb you at such an early hour, but we believe a dangerous criminal is on the loose in the area. If you don't mind, would you be willing to step outside to answer a few questions for me? My name is Officer Walter with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department." He flashed a badge at her as he introduced himself.
Chrysalis looked at the badge, nodding. "Of course. Just let me grab my identification, if you'd permit me to?" She asked, gesturing to the table next to the door. Once the officer gave his approval - via a nod of the head - Chrysalis retrieved James's wallet, opening it to present the human's identification to the officer, stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. "You said something about a dangerous criminal?" She asked, her eyes sliding to the taped off area. "Was he carrying something dangerous? Has a crime been committed? Am I in any danger?" She asked, concern in her human, male voice.
The officer looked over the identification card, radioing in the identification number printed on the card. When the dispatch came back verifying the information contained on it, and the lack of a warrant or anything of the sort, the officer shook his head. "At this time we do not know very much. We were wondering if you saw anything?"
Chrysalis rubbed her eyes a little, looking at the taped off spot. "I saw a flash of light, but that was about it."
The officer nodded. "I see. Did you happen to catch what color this light was?" He got out a notepad and a pen, jotting some information down.
Chrysalis shook her human head side to side. "No, I didn't really. It wasn't a regular light, I know that." She put a hand on the door when another human in a uniform came up to the door. He presented another badge, introducing himself.
"I'm Jeremy, with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. On behalf of my department, I apologize for having to wake you at this hour," He paused just long enough for Chrysalis to give her response that she had already been awake, before continuing. "We'd like to ask you to come with us for questioning, if you wouldn't mind. Nowhere far from here, just to a local dispatch office where we can ask you a few questions in a secure, private setting."
Chrysalis frowned a little. Her mind went back to James, asleep on the bed upstairs. He'd worry if she wasn't there when he awoke. "Am I required to by law?" She asked, folding her arms, and looking a bit displeased.
The local police officer shook his head. "No, Sir. But we'd certainly urge you to. We believe it to be in your best interest, for your safety of course."
At that time, all the investigators were looking at Chrysalis, Walter, and Jeremy. One of the investigators, with the US Secret Service, went to scratch an itch that wasn't there, displaying a nine millimeter handgun.
Chrysalis sighed; this was an unavoidable encounter - one she was afraid was going to happen from the start. If she refused, it would look suspicious and only land herself and the human in trouble. "Grant me five minutes to shut my computer down upstairs, if I will be out of the house. I try to save on electricity when possible."
The officer frowned, looking at his watch. "You have five minutes, Sir. After that I will have to detain you on probable cause of withholding information from a law enforcement officer."
"I won't be long," She said, opening the door and walking inside. Once it had shut, she quickly, but quietly, made her way up to James's bedroom, looking at the computer screen, displaying a screen saver of the Mane Six. "Hmm. Even more curious," She said, observing it. Spotting a notebook and a pen nearby, she picked it up in her hand, delivering it to her mouth. Writing a short, but badly written note, she set it on the computer keyboard, assuming it was some sort of input device for the odd thing.
Chrysalis opened the door, a coat in hand as she shut the door behind her, locking it with the key she found next to the wallet next to the door. "Will I be provided transportation back to my home afterwards, Officer?" She asked, looking from one to another.
Both Jeremy and Walter shook their heads. "No, Sir. We will call a cab for you once we're done though. Right this way," Jeremy said, gesturing to an unmarked, black-painted Crown Victoria just up the street.
As Chrysalis walked, she noticed that others up and down the street were being disturbed as well, two humans at each door. Chrysalis frowned to herself. This was going to be quite difficult for her to pass off as a human.
About an hour later, with Chrysalis detained by the police department and the FBI, James was again awoken quite rudely by his door crashing to the floor. A hissing voice came from the green glow on the other side. "Where. Is. Our. Queen."