//------------------------------// // Chapter One - Wake Up and Remember // Story: The Butterfly and The Beast // by Lobisomen616 //------------------------------// The first thing I remember was darkness; that brief moment of absolute calm and peace right before you wake up. Then the blissful darkness ended as I awoke in a daze. The light hurt my eyes when I opened them at first, then my surroundings became clear to me. I was in a forest clearing, wondering how I had gotten there and for a brief moment I wasn't even sure who I was. Then a voice spoke from behind me. "My Lady, you're finally awake! Are you okay?" I turned and saw who had spoken to me. At first I didn't recognize who it was, but once I did it all came flooding back to me. He was a promising young changeling named Molt, and I was his matriarch, Queen Chrysalis. I had organized an invasion of Canterlot, Equestria's capital, as part of a desperate attempt to feed my people the love they needed to survive. We had hoped to use the population of Equestria as a food source after ousting it's rulers and enslaving it's people, so as to maintain a constant food supply. In arrogance we announced our intentions to Celestia herself and she made plans to stop us. She had the Captain of her Royal Guard, a powerful unicorn by the name of Shining Armor, erect a barrier to keep us at bay while she strategized how best to combat our threat. A wise move on her part but it was too late. Anticipating this move I had personally infiltrated Canterlot, then captured and disguised myself as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza(or Cadence if you can't be bothered to say her full name); Shining Armor's fiancée. As I had planned they were so focused on the outside threat that they didn't notice how poor my ruse actually was, as I had not had enough time to properly copy Cadence's personality beforehand, and even the groom dismissed it as pre-wedding stress. With that done I fed off of the love Armor had for Cadence and used a spell, which I had convinced him would help relieve the headaches caused from maintaing the barrier for so long, but would in reality slowly take control of his mind so I could drop the barrier and start the invasion. It was all going so well until the day of the wedding; the day I had planned to finally spring the trap. Everything went wrong that day. Armor had invited his younger sister, Twilight Sparkle, to the wedding to be his best mare and I had no idea who she was, but she knew who Cadence was. Cadence had been her babysitter once upon a time and they had been quite close, and as such she became suspicous of me very quickly. When she inevitably called me out in front of everyone I was able to use it against her and made it seem as if she was tormenting me with false accusations. With everyone, even her own brother rejecting her, she had decided to leave and go home. Not wanting to risk her being a thorn in my side again I teleported her deep into the Canterlot Caves where I had also sent Cadence. If only I had left well enough alone. They escaped and at the height of the ceremony burst in. Worse still she had the real Cadence with her and that had caused enough doubt to make it impossible for me to talk my way out of this. So I went for broke and sprung the trap. I activated the spell I had placed on Armor and with him out of the way I revealed myself and lowered the barrier, with my changelings at the ready. As I had expected Celestia stepped forward and retaliated against me in defense of her people. I had thought should such a thing come to pass it would have been the end for me, but at the very least I would have managed to get my people into Canterlot where they could feed all at once and would have been able to continue on without me, as I had ordered them to do in case anything went wrong. But then something suprised me. The love I had stolen from Armor was stronger than I had thought, strong enough to defeat Celestia with ease. Once the initial shock wore off I realized that the invasion might actually succede. In a way I let myself become intoxicated with my newfound power. In my carelessness Cadence had managed to get to Armor and broke my spell over him. When he came back to his senses he tried to remake the barrier and force us out but didn't have the strength to make one. I was so drunk with power that when Cadence said love would give them the strength to best me and my changelings I laughed. Had been in my right mind I would have slapped myself for saying that because the love of just one of them had given me the power to best Celestia. They made good on their claim and forced us out with a new barrier. The shock of being bested by the two lovers finally brought me back to my senses. I realized that the spell blasted us all in the same direction and we were all going to hit the ground, HARD. So hard I worried if we'd survive the impact. I acted on instinct and used my remaining energy to shield all of us. As I lost conciousness I could only hope the shields would hold. "My Lady?" Molt's words snapped me out of my little trance. "Oh! My apologies. I'm still a bit dazed from the impact. I'm a little sore but I think I'll be fine. More importantly are the others alright?" "Yes, My Lady. Everyone is accounted for and most of us are alright, thanks to you. There are a few who are too injured to move on their own for the time being but nothing life-threatening." "Thank goodness. What about the amount of love we were able to collect while in Canterlot?" "We didn't have much time but it appears that the blast alone contained enough to last us for roughly one year. On top of all that the amount we collected before the blast forced us away will also last us another six months. If we ration it off the entire hive could live off of the current supply for three years at the least." "Incredible! This is just what we needed." "Indeed. We should have enough time to set up another invasion. With enough preperation-" "No." "My Lady?" "We only invaded because we had no other alternative. We were too pressed for time. Now that we can support ourselves for the forseeable future we'll be able to set up a more long-term solution but for now you should all return to the hive." "You're not coming back with us?" "No. It was my negligence that caused this whole mess to begin with so I must make up for my carelessness. Once everyone is gathered together and ready to return home I will formally announce my self-imposed exile. My advisors will act in my stead until I've returned but until then I am not fit to be your ruler." "As you wish, My Lady." My people, contrary to popular belief, do not blindly follow me simply because I am their queen. Molt's insistence on referring to me as his Lady despite what I have said is a testament to how much faith he has in me, and the others all share that sentiment (though Molt is one of the more formal ones). I am glad to know that my people have forgiven me for my mistakes but now I must make amends for those mistakes. It's time to go see Celestia.