Ebony hooves echoed off the marble floor as a young white Pegasus fled along yet another corridor. Her pursuers kept pace, their yelling still within earshot. She rounded another corner, only to encounter another squad. She slid to a halt as their horns shone brightly; she lifted a leg over her eyes just as the rear guard caught up.
“Nowhere to run, Changeling!” one said as he stepped forward.
“Changeling? Me?” she replied innocently as she glanced back… and saw that her hind legs had reverted; they were covered in black chitin and riddled with holes. “Ah, well…” She offered a sheepish smile. “I suppose you got me there.”
Seems I have less energy than I thought.
She looked at the guards inching closer and winked. “Please, lovelies, while I do so enjoy a group session, I’m afraid I must cut and run.”
“You’ll go nowhere!” the stallion shouted as a pink dome surrounded the mare, trapping her within. “Our princess would like a few words with you.”
The mare stiffened, then simply smirked. “Now, that won’t do at all, I’m afraid. You see—” her form ignited with a burst of emerald flame, shattering the shield “—I already have a date with royalty.” Her entire illusion now dispelled, she cackled and dashed to the side, crashing through an adjacent window and out into the moonlit sky.
The guard stomped a hoof as he scowled through the expensive hole in the Changeling’s wake. Celestia was not going to like this…
Princess Celestia sat upon her throne, head down and eyes narrowed as she listened to the guard’s report. Once he had finished and stepped back, she took a deep breath and spoke.
“Captain, what did she steal?”
“A scroll from the Forbidden Archives, Your Highness” he stated. “We are still determining which one in particular. We also believe that it could already be in Chrysalis’s grasp by now.” The stallion hung his head, his ears drooping. “I take full responsibility for this, Princess. If my squad and I had been a few seconds faster to respond—”
“There is no need for such dramatics, Captain.” Celestia stood and waved a gilded hoof with a small smile. “The Changelings are quite possibly our most unpredictable foes. Now pick yourself up and get back to work. We must know what scroll was stolen, in case Chrysalis plans on using its contents to prepare another attack.”
The stallion saluted and departed, leaving Celestia alone in the room. She sighed and wandered from her throne to a window. Gentle moonlight illuminated her form as she closed her eyes.
Just what are you planning, Queen Chrysalis?
Even after leaving Canterlot far behind, the Changeling buzzed her wings like her life depended on it. The sun was already rising by the time she reached the Badlands’ outer border. An endless view of dirt, rock, and a spattering of dried shrubs stretched out as far as the eye could see. Ever since their failed invasion of Canterlot, the Changeling swarm had been forced to take up residence in this Tartarus-forsaken place.
She approached an inconspicuous rocky outcrop and landed in front of it. Raising a hoof, she tapped on a yellow stone three times, before a large slab slid open and a welcome blast of cool air washed over her. The second she crossed the threshold, two Changelings appeared on either side of her, pointing spears made from sticks and sharpened stone.
“Ally?”
“Or enemy?”
“Like I would freely admit if I were an enemy, you idiots,” the mare scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “Where is Scribe? I have what he’s been pestering me for.”
“Yeah, that’s Sync, all right.” One Changeling guard chuckled. “Scribe should be with the Queen right now…” He lowered his voice as he looked around. “Is it true? Our Queen has a plan?”
“She has one—whether it’ll work or not is another matter,” Sync replied dryly. “Keep an eye out. I was unveiled during my escape. I might have been followed.”
“Right!” The other saluted as the door was sealed once more.
Sync nodded at them and trotted further into the complex cave system. Luminescent moss clung to the walls, providing light and cooling, while the slime that only a Changeling could produce further insulated the caverns.
The chamber that housed Queen Chrysalis was located in the deepest part of the underground. Having been at the epicentre of the love blast, Chrysalis had sustained the heaviest injuries of the swarm. While the massive amount of love energy she had hoarded from Prince Armor saved her life, it had still taken months before she could even walk again.
As Sync neared the chamber, a green flash lit the entrance from within. A moment later, a very young Changeling limped from the room, a small smile on his face. Sync frowned as she strode in, seeing Chrysalis lying upon a large makeshift bed. Another Changeling was by her side, a pair of half-moon glasses perched on his muzzle.
“What the hell?” Sync yelled as she walked in, the other two flinching at the sudden outburst. “We barely have enough magic as is! And here you are wasting it like the ponies do water!”
Ever since the invasion, it had become harder and harder to procure a sustained supply of love energy. While the Queen had a less-than-stellar track record since the great failure, she had been rationing it out since she had amassed so much. But even her reserves weren’t going to last forever, and some of the elderly Changelings had already passed, both they and Chrysalis favouring the young ones.
The Queen had wept for three days when the first died…
“The nymph was hungry,” Chrysalis replied, but withered under Sync’s harsh gaze.
“Hungry or not, he’s young and tough! And we need all the magic we have left if we’re going to pull this insane plan off!”
“Okay, Sync,” the queen’s partner said as he raised a hoof. “I believe you’ve made your point. Now… were you successful?”
“Was I—” Sync glared at him. “Did you actually consider that I’d fail? I’m the hive’s best infiltrator. I’ve never failed a mission!”
She opened her bag. “You’d better appreciate this, Scribe, considering the flirting I had to do with that dinosaur that guarded the Library.” She shuddered before producing the yellowed scroll. “One magical scroll, fresh from Canterlot Archive’s Forbidden Section.”
Scribe’s eyes lit up as he snatched the scroll and opened it. His grin slowly faltered as he pored over the contents, until finally he rolled it up with a contemplative frown. “Oh dear…”
Sync’s own frown soon followed. “That had better be the right scroll—I can’t go back with Canterlot on high alert!”
Scribe ran his eyes across the words once more. “No, it’s fine, Sync. The good news is, this is the right scroll. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the spell is far more complex than I predicted.”
“Show me,” Chrysalis ordered, and Scribe handed over the scroll. The Queen read, then re-read the scroll. As she placed it down, her smile was a terse one.
“I believe I can do it, but it will require almost all of my remaining energy. I may even need to take some back from the others.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Scribe said. “Sync would just threaten them—”
“Go shove it!” Sync snapped, causing Scribe to just laugh harder; even Chrysalis chuckled lightly. “Seriously, Chrissy? You too?”
“Haha. I’m sorry, dear, but Scribe is quite right. We must be delicate about this.”
Sync huffed and sat on the ground, removing a few shards of glass caught in the joints of her chitin. “Fine, but I get to threaten them over the next life-changing event!”
“Fair enough.” Chrysalis smiled weakly. “Now, this spell requires significant preparation. Make sure everyling is ready to depart at a moment’s notice.”
No sooner had Chrysalis issued those orders than a shrill chirping echoed through the caverns. Sync paled as she looked at Scribe and the Queen; that could only mean one thing.
“We may need to accelerate our plans…”
A platoon of Royal Guard landed atop a red plateau after chasing the thief all the way from Canterlot. Though it had managed to lose them, one of the guards that had encountered it managed to tag it with a tracking spell.
Captain Iron Guard led the platoon, the stallion that had confronted Sync back at the palace. He certainly hadn’t expected it to fly all the way to the Badlands. If the Changelings were here, there must have been some trick to their continued survival.
Iron exited the chariot and faced his men, all stiffening and offering salutes. “All right, everypony, spread out and search. There has to be a trace of them somewhere.”
The platoon split up into pairs, searching every nook and cranny. Iron himself branched off, horn alight as he poked and prodded the area for a more specific signal. The tracking spell had led them here… but no Changelings were in sight, and while the spell was accurate to within fifty metres, their surroundings bore no sign of recent activity.
After minutes of quiet—broken only by the dusty winds and the crunch of hooves upon the rocky plateau—Iron Guard found the remnants of the tracking spell.
“The hay?” he muttered as he inspected the pile of stones. They didn’t seem out of place, but the spell was definitely strongest there. It was then that he noticed a yellow stone, one that stood out from the rest of the rust-coloured rocks.
“Just where are these blasted things hiding?”
Chrysalis sighed as she looked over her Changelings. Their numbers had once reached the tens of thousands… now it was barely a fraction of that. Many of their kind still roamed the world, though they had created separate hives, having abandoned Chrysalis after the invasion.
“Is this everyling?” she asked Scribe.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Chrysalis sighed. Why had it come to this? She knew it was her fault, but her Changelings shouldn’t have had to suffer for her own foolishness. She would fix this—she had to.
“Attention, everyling!” Her voice carried out over the cavern, reaching every ear present. “We have a plan to escape this living nightmare, a way to start fresh in a new land. But—” she raised her forelegs to quiet the wave of cheers and hubbub “—it will be dangerous. I will not force this change on all you without permission. We all go, or none of us go!”
“Go where?” one called out. “What are you planning, Our Queen?”
“Thanks to the efforts of Sync here,” she said, waving a hoof at her Second, “I am in possession of a spell that can take us all to a new land, one where we’ll not be hunted. A land that might bring us salvation!”
“Might?” another asked.
Chrysalis nodded, “Yes, I will admit that I cannot personally guarantee our safety, should we choose this new path.”
“Then why should we go?” another ’ling spoke up. “We’re safe here, aren’t we?”
Sync growled as she limped forward. “The Royal Guard are practically knocking on our door. And even if they weren’t, we’re starving to death here!” She looked back at her Queen… at her friend and smiled. “At least this way, we have a chance.”
The Changelings murmured amongst themselves, weighing their options and debating on what they should do. Chrysalis gave them some time before she spoke up once more.
“I can understand everyling’s concern. I have failed you, mistreated you… caused you all great suffering.” Chrysalis hung her head, her voice significantly quieter. “I have failed as your Queen, and it breaks my heart to admit that. I ask only that you trust me one more time—give me a chance to right my wrongs. The risk is great… but the reward far greater.”
The hall fell into silence, before the Changeling that had asked those questions stepped forward.
“We’ll trust you, Your Majesty.” His words were simple and pure, enough to make Chrysalis smile. “What should we do?”
“Huddle together as close as you can,” Scribe ordered. “And Our Queen will handle the rest.” He turned and pushed his glasses up slightly. “You can handle this, right?”
“Of course!” Chrysalis huffed. “I am Queen Chrysalis! No paltry pony spell is above my power!”
“Too bad we can’t eat confidence,” Sync snickered. “Chrissy would be an endless supply.”
Chrysalis just rolled her eyes in response before an emerald hue enveloped her horn. As she began to charge the spell, she could already feel the strain of its overwhelming power requirements. A brief thought flashed through her mind.
What if I fail?
No! She wouldn’t fail. Her horn glowed brighter, its light filling the cavern. She felt a touch on her withers as Scribe and Sync smiled at her. Spurned on by the gesture, Chrysalis let out a shout, her horn’s light consuming everything in sight…
Iron Guard paused as his horn shone brightly for a moment, before he felt the tracking spell vanish entirely. The ground shuddered, a mild tremor rippling through the earth beneath their hooves. Pegasus Guards took to the air, while the Unicorns stumbled around—including Iron himself.
“W-what in the name of C-Celestia is this?” he stuttered, tripping over his legs.
As soon as it began, the quaking stopped, however the stones next to him shook and collapsed, revealing a hidden entrance.
“Is that…?” Iron frowned and looked at his squad. “All right, squad!” he barked as they reassembled their formation. “Seems we have located the hive after all. Now I want all of you on your guard. We have no idea what awaits us down there, and they probably know we’re here by now. Now form up!”
They moved into a two-by-two formation, before cautiously entering the tunnel. Iron did a quick scan, but detected no signs of life—only a rapidly fading magical signal. By the time they reached what they believed to be the central cavern, it had all but vanished. Iron waved a hoof, ordering his men to split up and search.
After an extensive search through every mossy cavern, they soon returned empty-hooved. Not a single Changeling was found, only signs that they had been there: more slime, some low-grade furniture, assorted toys, and a few decaying birth pods.
“We were outside the whole time, with perfect visibility.” Iron pondered his thoughts out loud. “Did they teleport? Is that even possible? I doubt even Princess Celestia could teleport so many at once.”
“Sir, over here!” one mare called, leading Iron to a small section at the rear of the room. The ground was scorched, the last vestige of dissipating magic all over it. “There’s no sign of them,” she continued. “A massive group teleport?”
“It’s unlikely, but… possible, I suppose. We don’t know the limits to Changeling magic, or if the stolen scroll had something to do with it.” Iron sighed and rubbed the space between his eyes. “All right, gather any clues you can and report back to the surface. Princess Celestia needs to learn what’s happened here.”
The guards present saluted and split up again. Iron took another look at the scorch mark and sighed again. Explaining this was going to be fun.
She had failed.
There was nothing. No food. No water. No life. Just an empty wasteland of nothing that seemed to stretch forever.
And it was all her fault.
Why? They don’t deserve this!
Exhausted, drained, and her magic spent, Chrysalis opened one heavy eyelid and saw her swarm, her beloved family.
Help them… please… someone, anyone…
I can help them.
Who… are you?
I can help all of you. Should you accept. You cannot go back.
Why would we? We are hunted. Vilified.
I can give you a second chance. It requires change. Do you accept?
Will they be safe? My children?
They will not know hunger. They can choose to be happy. You can choose to be happy.
…Do it. I don’t care for myself… just save them.
Then it shall be done.
Those were the last words Chrysalis heard before her world faded to white…
There was nothing. No dreams. No thoughts. Not until a faint voice pierced the darkness.
“…ake… up…”
Go away.
“…wake…”
I said buzz off.
“Chrysalis! Wake up, dammit!”
Chrysalis’s eyes shot open as she flinched away from the sudden yell; Sync’s muzzle was a few scant inches from her own. She let out a very un-queenly scream and backed up until she hit a wall.
“Do. Not. Do that!” Chrysalis panted, clutching her chest with a hoof. “You scared the slime out of me, Sync!”
“Whatever—just take a look around.” Sync swept a hoof over her back.
Chrysalis stood, shook her head, and looked around before following Sync’s motion. They appeared to be in some sort of cosy cave. It bore some resemblance to the one they had lived in before, only this was much nicer. A large waterfall roared against one of the walls, splashing into a pool of crystal-clear water. Cracks in the ceiling let the warm sun stream through, lighting the cave with a warm glow.
“Where… are we?” Chrysalis wondered aloud; around the cave, other Changelings started to wake up, also taking in the alien surroundings.
“It’s so different here,” Scribe spoke up from behind the Queen. “The taste of the air, the lack of magic. And… it’s faint, but I can feel love energy close by.”
Sync nodded. “Yeah, should we go and investigate?”
“Sync—wait a moment,” Chrysalis ordered. “We have just arrived in an unknown land. We’re tired, hungry and have no knowledge of this place.” She hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “Sync, take the most energetic changeling we have and go find this food source.” She looked into her friend’s eyes, giving her a stern gaze. “But be extremely careful. Do not be seen. Avoid conflict at all costs. This is purely a reconnaissance mission.”
Sync frowned, but nodded again. “Should we obtain any love energy we find?”
“We can’t risk exposure while we are so weak. If you can obtain even a little while remaining undetected, then do so. But don’t risk your lives or even your stealth for it.”
“Got it.” Sync pointed at a Changeling, one of the few that were standing. “You! You look fit enough. Let’s get going!”
The Changeling gulped and nodded; Sync was known for being a harsh taskmaster when on patrol.
Sync gave Chrysalis a salute and carefully buzzed her wings. Convinced they were still working, she lifted the smaller drone into the air with her, wings blurring.
“Come on then—let’s fly!”