I'd been such a fool. I'd had the element of surprise, the ability to maneuver both myself and my children in plain sight with the Equestrian's none the wiser. I senselessly threw all of that away when I openly revealed myself and my children during the siege of Canterlot. Embarrassed and defeated once, I was able to recover and enact a second master plan, capturing all of the royalty in Equestria and replacing them with my children. Yet again, I was outsmarted and overcome, but this time it was not that spoiled brat Cadance or that simpleton Twilight Sparkle and her friends. No, this time it was her.
Starlight Glimmer. The mere thought of the prissy mare made my blood boil. Not only had she thwarted my plans, but she did something much worse than any of the "princesses" had ever done to me. She stole my kingdom from me. She took my beloved children and turned them all against me. Like I said I'd been a fool, but watching her day by day taught me a very valuable lesson.
Revenge didn't have to be some grand scheme or affect the entire world. No, revenge could and by all means should be intimate. Revenge should be taken personally, done face to face. I no longer wished to overthrow Equestria. I no longer had a family to feed or care for. I had only one singular hope, one desire... to ruin Starlight Glimmer, to take everything away from her like she'd done to me... to make her wish she'd never been born.
That would be much easier than I'd initially thought. I didn't need much to do so, after all the attempts at overthrowing kingdoms, destroying one mares life was a cakewalk in comparison. I just needed to keep watching her, keep learning about her. Bide my time until the perfect moment came and then tear her to pieces.
The quaint town in the middle of nowhere was obviously very important to Starlight. She frequently visited the ponies there and they welcomed her with love. It was both disgusting and mouthwatering. How I'd love to feast on such a delectable meal, but that wasn't part of the plan.
It was all so very simple. After changing into a sweet unassuming young mare I'd infiltrated the town for the first time without issue. I had to be cautious, stay for a short period, not make an impression strong enough on anyone. If I did, I risked Starlight finding out about my presence. I had to gather info, find out something that I could use against the smug unicorn and then leave.
I repeated this process ad nauseam. The second time I'd posed as an older traveling mare, the third a wandering stallion, the fourth... well from then on I don't really recall. I was much more concerned with gathering Intel than my appearance.
The only real thing I had to be careful of was not repeating a firm I'd previously assumed. Well, that and never mentioning Starlight Glimmer by name. That could result in someone telling her she'd been identified by a stranger and that could spell disaster. So I only ever asked them about the history of such a strange out of place town.
It worked like a charm. It made sense that a stranger would be curious about such a peculiar place. They had no clue of my true intentions, and I... I was getting closer and closer to fulfilling my wish.
It was all so easy! Starlight had been a monster. How ridiculous to lecture me, a queen, on running my hive, my own family, when all the while she'd been a slave driver. She was nothing but a filthy hypocrite. She'd lost grip on her own town, had it taken away by Twilight Sparkle and her friends and now she was an underling of the pompous princess.
That's what she wished of me, wasn't it? To take away my family and turn me into a slave. Never. Over my dead rotting body! I'd sooner serve under Celestia as her personal maidservant than give up my pride. I may be a queen without a kingdom, but I was still a queen. Queen Chrysalis would get her vengeance, if it was the last thing I did.
Unfortunately the ponies of the town had forgiven the unicorn with reckless abandon. Despite what they'd been put through, Twilight and her foolish philosophies of peace and friendship had infected the townsfolk. But I knew, oh, I was intimately familiar with ponies like Starlight Glimmer.
Ponies like her never truly changed. They might put on a show for those around themselves, might feign "improvement", but deep inside, deep where no one else could see, those same desires, same wishes to control, to rule, never fully went away.
I knew... I knew because Starlight Glimmer and I... Ugh, It made me sick to my stomach to admit, but we were similar, mostly due to her meddling in affairs she'd no stake in... just like Twilight Sparkle had done to her. Thankfully there was one key difference between the two of us.
I would NEVER be so idiotic as to let Twilight's naive worldview influence me. I'd seen the horrors of this world, watched my own children, held them in my embrace as they died of starvation. There was no friendship for us then, no love for the changelings. We received no aid, no one cared about the monsters that stole love away.
We had to eat... WE HAD TO! To hold our own physiology, our own necessities to live against us... No, I could never forgive them, I would NEVER forgive them. And then after embarrassing me and taking everything she had the audacity to spout nonsense about giving love being the solution to all of the changelings problems.
What a contrived bunch of... I had given love to my changelings from the very first day I was hatched. We were not some barbaric species that hated one another, we loathed those who'd forced us underground, who treated us like second rate creatures.
I would have done anything for my hive, for my children, would've given my life for their survival, but now... now that was all gone. How that backstabber Thorax had changed himself or the others I'll never know. I didn't desire to.
He'd befriended the ponies. He was a young naive insect, hatched centuries after the hive was in it's worst state. He knew nothing of the travails, the sacrifices we had to make to survive. He'd come to see just how cruel they were, just how fickle they could be.
That traitor mattered little regardless, he could burn in Tartarus fir all I cared. All my hatred, all of my ire had only one target now. That sow Starlight Glimmer. I had to stay focused on her or risk my plan becoming too grandiose. If I lost sight of what was important I'd fail again. I could not let that happen.
There were few ponies in the small town to begin with, but three stood out in my mind as being absolutely essential to my success. Party Favor, Night Glider, and Double Diamond. Normally I wouldn't have even considered learning the names of such inconsequential nobodies, but they seemed to have gained... more sway over the other townsfolk once Starlight had been overthrown.
Sugar Belle was another pony who might've been a high value asset as well, but she'd moved to Ponyville and so had become a dead end. It was especially infuriating because I'd spent months monitoring her and now that was all for naught.
Despite that setback I had successfully executed the initial stages of my plan flawlessly. Step one, gather enough power to be able to stand up to the little brat. After my second defeat I was once again forced into hiding. I'd scrounge up a meal here or there whenever I could, but feeding without getting caught was harder than it sounds. One mistake could mean shackles and a dungeon, or worse.
With my mana nowhere near the level I needed it to be, I had to exercise the utmost caution. I required an absurd amount of love to reach the magical capacities Starlight Glimmer had attained. She wasn't that idiot's pupil for no reason.
Finding love like Shining Armor's for Cadance wasn't easy to do, but there was one place that I could take advantage of that would supply me with such a large amount of low quality food, it could serve as an acceptable substitute.
Canterlot, right under Celestia's arrogant little nose. I'd frequented the city several times before and after my previous failures. Just below the veneer of rich, prim, and proper society was a seedy underbelly of sin not even Celestia was aware of... or she feigned ignorance, but due to the fact that she hadn't deduced my deceit when I'd posed as Cadance, I'd wager she was oblivious to her cities hidden transgressions.
The arrogant fool was barely intelligent enough to keep ahold of her throne, much less monitor everything going on in the city. She'd better be thankful her younger sister had returned or I was sure she'd have already lost her position. If only she were still the beautiful Nightmare, we could work together to... Focus Chrys, focus!
The rich ponies in Canterlot, like all other creatures with an overabundance of wealth and time, were bored. They'd all the luxuries and pleasures the world could offer already, what more could they want?
What better way to waste time than with defilement and debauchery? No, the changelings had been nothing like ponies while I ruled them... we'd had our dignity and honor. We weren't the monsters.
While Celestia slept comfortably in her bed and Luna patrolled the dream realm, Canterlot's... less couth areas let loose. Walking the streets of the capital past the witching hour as a drop dead gorgeous mare was asking for only one thing.
I received it in spades. Stallions, some mares, sometimes even griffins or... other creatures, It didn't matter, if they had the goods I was game. The meals were awful. Lust was strong enough of an emotion for me to feed on, but it tasted like garbage.
None of them touched me. Ever. I was no whore. Their desires were sufficient for me to drain them and build up my strength. Oh how I wish I could've ripped each and every one of those sick deviants to shreds, sucked out their love until they were nothing but lifeless dry husks.
I wasn't stupid. Doing something like that would've easily drawn the attention of the Royal Guard, not to mention the elites themselves. That could be several times worse than Celestia's lackeys. The Guard would toss you in the dungeons. The elite's henchponies would toss your corpse in a river.
After enough time in Canterlot I'd grown strong enough to move on to step two, investigate and gather data on the small town and it's prominent residents. That was done swiftly and efficiently in days.
Step three, monitor Starlight and get a true comprehension of her attitude and demeanor. That took much longer but was no more difficult. Step four, fool the ponies of the town into believing I was Starlight.
Step four had been even easier than all the previous. I wasn't even sure the peaceful ponies of the town had heard of a changeling, much less fathomed one coming to their village. Convincing the villagers I was their new 'friend' while she was away had proven to be a piece of cake. Starlight adhered to a very strict schedule that gave me ample time to operate.
At most she'd get enough leisure time to visit her old home twice a month, given the most fortunate of circumstances. Typically when things were less convenient she went once a month. It was the perfect timetable to fulfill my... desires.
Acting like the unicorn proved to be exceptionally easy, especially after spying on her for so long. Her mannerisms, her quirks were easy enough to emulate. She was socially awkward and standoffish, not exactly the most difficult traits to copy.
Tricking the villagers into believing I was Starlight Glimmer was simple, just act uncomfortable and try to appear friendly. It's not like the unicorn was a friendship savant out of the blue. The difficult part came when I had to make them mistrust me In such a short period of time.
To my good fortune, or perhaps it was due to Starlight's foolishness, either way, the fools were not as close as I'm sure they'd have liked to be. Starlight had fled the town and only returned on occasion. That was not the way to cultivate a true friendship, even I knew that.
A white lie here, an undeserved compliment there... One might think compliments are only positive but if used correctly they can turn someone into a raving madpony. 'You're so good at that! Much better than...' How quickly jealousy can thrive when you praise one's abilities over another's special talent.
So easily manipulated, because of a silly stamp on their butts no less. I would never understand them. After only a week I was getting loathsome glances and uncomfortable stares from my fellow villagers. How wonderful! To know these negative emotions were all for that pig Starlight made my heart soar.
But it wasn't enough. I pushed a little harder, said a little bit more, went a little overboard. When I was caught trying to convince a group of ponies that we should go back to the way things had been, to the days of equality they practically lynched me.
I'd had to be very cautious, but it had all worked like a charm, and now I sat in the mountains surrounding the town, watching... waiting. Starlight had arrived minutes ago, not a care in the world. She was even humming a happy tune. The thrill of seeing that joy torn from her made me shake in anticipation.
How I wished I could be there in the village, that I could see as they berated her and chased her away, but that was far too great a risk. Starlight was far from stupid. I couldn't risk doing something like that. No, I would wait, I would watch from afar.
When she came galloping out of the town, head hanging low, I knew my plan had come to fruition. I just needed some luck. If she decided to teleport back to Ponyville my entire effort would be for nothing. I was banking on the hope that her heart would be so devastated she wouldn't be thinking straight.
I shifted my body, copying Party Favors appearance perfectly. It was time for me to act. I followed her closely, waiting until she'd put enough distance between herself and the town, just in case one of the foolish villagers felt pity for the mare.
"STARLIGHT!" Even my voice was a pitch perfect imitation of the colts. She stopped at the outcry from her former "friend". I waited, already knowing exactly how this would go. She wiped her face with a foreleg, sniffling hard as she tried to hide her sorrow.
"What is it Party Favor?" Her voice was full of false bravado, a pathetic attempt at appearing stronger than she actually was. I struggled not to burst out laughing. This would be delightful.
"Don't ever come back... okay?" A grin came to my lips before I quickly forced it down. Thank goodness I'd done so because she'd decided to turn around at that exact moment. The look of pure pain on her face sent chills through me.
"What did I do wrong?" she practically begged me to answer. Instead I sighed, faking a semblance of sadness as I turned my head away slightly.
"Just go," the hurt in her eyes multiplied tenfold. "You're not welcome here anymore."
Her jaw quaked as she did her best to hold herself together. Her head fell. It was the perfect opportunity and I gladly took it. The concussive blast from my horn was nearly instantaneous. Her reaction time had been admirable, she'd actually been able to look up in surprise before the blow struck her in spite of her mental state.
Her unconscious body was sent tumbling backwards, everything going exactly as I'd planned. This day was going to be perfect...
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Confining the unicorn inside a small pod and transporting her to the hive was an easy task. We weren't going to the current changeling hive, obviously, that was now the home of that new species. I refused to acknowledge them as changelings. No, we were going to my original home, deep underground.
It had been centuries since anyone had lived in my old home. Far to the west of Canterlot in an arid desert, the first hive was hidden well. I stood before just one of the entrances to the tunnels that led to the core of the kingdom. Resting in the center of what was now a dry wasteland, an outcropping of boulders kept the entryway well concealed from prying eyes.
I could only hope that inclement weather or something worse had not destroyed it. To be frank bad weather had always presented an issue for the hive. Strong downpours could be disastrous for our dwelling below. Flooding could destroy so much of our society, which is why I had chosen a desert as it's location.
If I had to I could seek out another entrance, there were many, but the body on my back was beginning to stir. The deeper in the labyrinthine tunnels we were when she woke up, the better. I knew them like the back of my hoof. She'd be helpless within, so even if she managed to slip away from me, everything would be fine, especially if the old magical safeguards still had some energy.
My old hive had been built with slight magical suppressing capabilities. If you were not a changeling you'd be subject to mana suppression, but someone like Twilight Sparkle or Celestia could easily bypass those restrictions.
Normally, Starlight would be in this exclusive class of mages, but my pod was already in the process of sapping her mana. When she regained consciousness her strength would be a fraction of it's typical level.
With such a meager magical defense I knew my children weren't safe against stronger intruders so I'd crafted our home deep underground. Those were the darkest of times. Love as a source of food was scarce, our safety was questionable at best, and we were officially declared monsters by Celestia.
So much suffering. So much death. It was hell, but we were strong. We fought through it all. We persisted. We endured. And after going through so much we finally found a way out. Once my scouts had discovered the anti-magical material I knew what I would do with it immediately.
The physical center of any nation is the castle, and the core of that structure is the throne room. The throne. It was obvious. The dark material must have grown along with us in the depths because it did not siphon our magic like every other species.
I had a new hive constructed, above ground because I knew we would be safe no matter where we decided to reside. Let all opposition come, try to defeat us in our new home. They may not like us but there was little they could do about it. The changelings were absolute in their new kingdom, even Celestia was unable to disturb our peace.
And now here I stood, my throne destroyed, my children stolen from me. If I might feel any modicum of compassion for the filth I carried on my back all I had to do was remember what she'd done and my resolve came storming back. She would pay... there would be no forgiveness.
Sliding between two boulders allowed me to enter the interior tunnels with relative ease. The path before me was a twisting and turning chaotic mess to anyone who'd not grown up here. For me though... I was home.
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"Finally awake, hm?" Starlight's eyes flitted open, confusion gripping her features as she came to realize she was in an unfamiliar place. "I expected more from you Glimmer." I sat atop my old throne, confidence oozing from every orifice of my body.
"Chrysalis..." her eyes narrowed on me, the defiance in her still a roaring flame. That would all change shortly. She tried to channel magic into her horn but the dense green resin I had slathered it in ensured she could not. Changeling resin was incredibly thick and unreasonably difficult to remove without strong chemicals and vigorous scrubbing. It also had strong mana suppressing qualities, perfect for capture and imprisonment.
"I'm sure you'll find that impossible," I grinned wickedly at her. She struggled, trying harder to cast a spell, the desperation on her face becoming more dire as her failure became apparent. She exhaled roughly, the strain combined with her already limited capabilities tiring her out.
"What are you gonna do to me?" Again her false bravado reared its ugly head as she got to her hooves. It would feel splendid to rip it out of her.
"That is the question, isn't it?" I stepped off my throne, walking right up to her, my face inches from hers. "What am I going to do?"
"Twilight will find me," she didn't flinch. "You won't get away with this!" GOD how I loved her undeserved confidence. It was going to be so delicious when it shattered.
"Think so?" I raised a cocky brow before walking away from her, moving right back onto my throne. She remained silent. "Tell you what, If she does find us I'll gladly let you go and turn over a new leaf. How does that sound?" I sat back down, reveling in the absolute power I had over the situation.
"Where are we?" she studied her surroundings with a keen eye, probably making mental notes of anything that might help her escape. It was utterly useless. She had no hope.
The hive's throne room was more akin to a cave than an actual room. It was a dark, dry, cavernous hall, large stalactites hanging from the ceiling. My makeshift throne had been made out of stone and sat on one side of the hall. The rest of the cavern was mostly empty, save some stalagmites rising from the floor here and there.
Our hive didn't need to be fancy or elaborate, It served our needs as best it could and I was truly grateful it was still standing. Reaching the surface from here would take hours if not days for the uninitiated.
"My home," she looked at me as if I was lying. "my first home. You stand in the center of the first changeling hive." How ironic... she'd destroyed the changelings and now our home would be her final resting place.
"The first..." she went back to scrutinizing the area.
"Starlight Glimmer?" I was feeling gracious, the days events filling me with joy. She said nothing in response, instead focusing her attention back on me. "Do you have nothing to say to me, to the Queen who's life you took away?"
"What?!" her face screwed up into an expression of genuine bewilderment. "What could I possibly have to say to you Chrysalis?"
"Hm, I wonder..." I grit my teeth. She'd no remorse, no regret. She had taken everything and she would do it again in a heartbeat. Very well. I was more than prepared to do what I intended. Her lack of empathy just made everything that much easier.
My horn burned a fierce jade, my telekinetic spell lifting the lilac unicorn into the air. She merely grunted in reply, her determined eyes not wavering once. I drew her toward myself, my mouth watering in anticipation.
"You deserve no mercy," I opened my mouth wide, the lash of green energy coming from it attaching to her chest. She grinded her teeth as I forced the love from her. It tasted even better than Shining's had. She must truly love her friends. I would take this slow, relish the sorrow she'd experience. I would savor my meal like none before or after.
As her resistance slowly crumbled to groans of agony I slowed my feeding to a trickle. She was exhausted, the process slowly turning her into a meek kitten. If I pushed to hard she'd lose consciousness or die. I couldn't let that happen just yet.
Her breathing was labored, eyes drooping as if she might fall asleep at any moment. I released her from my hold, letting her body fall to the hard floor below. The squeak she made when she hit the ground drew a pleased smile to my face.
"Let's take things a bit... slower Starlight," I moved to stand over her.
"Y... you... you're a... monster..." With her body reaching it's breaking point she could barely speak. I really had to control my aggression or risk taking her life before I'd properly gotten my revenge. Despite my intense desire for her gradual ruin, her words enraged me to no end.
"I'm a monster? I'M A MONSTER!?" My face was inches from hers in a second. My rage caused her to cringe away from me, saliva hitting her square in the face. "YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY KINGDOM, MY HOME," I was on the verge of doing something unplanned. I forced myself to take a deep breath. "My family... you stole them all and didn't even bat an eye when you did..." I stepped away from her, still stewing in my emotions.
"I tried..." she had no quit in her. It was admirable, but it wouldn't save her. "I tried to... help you..."
"You've done enough..." I grasped her hind leg tightly in my telekinesis. With a delighted jerk I broke the limb in two. The screams of torment that echoed in the hollow of the cavern after the loud crack was like music to my ears.
I watched her misery with glee. She flailed this way and that, reaching for the broken appendage. As it was still held by my spell I toyed with it, jiggling it back and forth eliciting more blissful sounds from her.
"Be thankful Starlight Glimmer, the physical pain will end... eventually." I let her leg go once her cries had died down, before taking the other hind leg into my loving embrace.
"No... please..." she was terrified of what was coming. I was giddy.
*CRACK*
Starlight sang more of her beautiful song. It was so very, very beautiful. I circled the devastated unicorn, feeling like the true predator I was. I could not remember the last time I'd had this much fun.
"The mental torture," I returned to stand directly over her. "That will never end Starlight. I have a good what, fifty, sixty years?" I cackled joyously. "I will never stop sullying your name. You'll be long gone, but "Starlight Glimmer" will live on."
"W... wh..." her mind was starting to go, the pain becoming too much for her to bear. I cast a weak mitigation spell on her so that she would not pass out. "You don't have to do this," she covered her distraught face with her forelegs.
"It doesn't matter if I do," I hissed. "I AM, and do you want to know what I'm going to do after I take your life? I'm going to go straight to Ponyville." She stiffened at the mention of her home. "Oh, but Queen Chrysalis won't be the one going, no, Starlight Glimmer will be returning to her home in Princess Twilight's castle."
"What are y-"
"First I'm going to learn under Twilight, but sadly it's not going to work out. Starlight Glimmer will slowly begin to fail her friendship lessons, the concepts too hard for her to grasp. You'll be nothing but a disappointment, not only to your mentor, but to your friends as well. And not just Twilight's friends, but Trixie and Maud as well. Even Thorax and Discord will come to see you in a horrible new light." As I explained, comprehension slowly dawned on her face. "Once I've gone far enough I'll run away like a pathetic coward, completely disgraced. It will destroy Twilight, her first pupil an utter failure. But it doesn't end there Starlight, no, I'll become a wandering pariah. I'll steal, I'll lie..." I got dreadfully close to her ear. "Maybe I'll even sleep around." Her eyes widened. "Starlight Glimmer will go down in history as the failed apprentice of the Princess of Friendship, a lying, thieving, slut!"
I opened my mouth wide again, the tendrils of green magic swarming her mouth this time. Watching her writhe in agony as I siphoned every last bit of love from her drove me crazy. Her pain filled groans. Her aching moans. I couldn't hold back any longer.
I forcefully pressed my lips against hers, my long tongue snaking in between her weakened resistance. The look of shock in her eyes only grew as I probed and explored her mouth, the wetness, the soft slow acceptance as she shut her eyes and her tongue welcomed mine glorious. The moan that came from her throat was full of lust.
Feasting in this way, directly, physically, completely uninhibited, made it certain I would not be able to stop myself. First I would drain her of all her love and then...
Her eyes shot open in horror as she finally comprehended what was happening to her. Her Persian blue pools looked into my green eyes, begging me, pleading me to stop. She tried to push me off, tried to get away. Her pitiful attempts only fueled my excitement.
Yes. YES! That was what I wanted, that was my sole desire, my primary reason for doing all of this. The despair, the pain, the agony, the horror. I felt a powerful sense of euphoria, my body trembling slightly. It couldn't get any better than this... or so I thought.
The tears spilling down her cheeks sent me over the edge, the sensation so divine, so orgasmic, my wings became fully erect as my body quaked. She could no longer thrash, could no longer fight me, the light in her eyes becoming dim as I licked and sucked with renewed vigor.
Her body went rigid seconds before going completely limp, her eyes drooping. The light became darker and darker as I drained her more and more of her energy, of her life's essence. My own eyes closed as the bliss became too much for me to handle. I fed and fed and fed until there was nothing left, not a drop of Starlight Glimmer remaining.
With a contented sigh I opened my eyes, licking my lips as I withdrew from her. Her lifeless blue eyes stared back at me, the light gone, never to see anything ever again. The very idea that I'd been the last thing they'd witnessed stealing her life away from her made me so ecstatic I wanted to sing.
She was gone. Starlight Glimmer was dead. I walked away from her corpse, feeling better than I had when I believed I'd conquered Canterlot. All things considered I felt even better than when I thought I'd captured all of Equestria's royalty.
I'd done it. I'd finally done it! Nothing could bring her back, nothing could take my victory away from me, but I wasn't finished. Far from it. This was only the beginning. I changed myself into a perfect mirror image of the dead unicorn, a wicked grin on my face. It was time for me to go to Ponyville. It was time to have even more fun...