//------------------------------// // Greeting the Queen // Story: Doctor Whooves: The Changeling Invasion // by Draconaquest //------------------------------// The Changeling guards shoved the Doctor into the gym. It had gone under a major overhaul since he was last there. Walls were oozing with green slime, and technology was set up everywhere. Computers, laser grids, and other sorts of alien tech. There were chrysalis’s hanging from the ceiling, with students trapped inside them, unconscious. The Changelings let go of the Doctor, who was standing right in front of a large, green flower, with several petals, and green pollen pumping out of it, being taken to a storage tank to the right of the room. It was sitting on the stage, with a small set of stairs just below it. The plant was moving, up and down, like it was breathing. “I asked to see your queen,” the Doctor said, facing the guards, “so, where is she?” Then, the petals began to unfold on the flower. “Oh, that’s very clever.” The Doctor said. “It doesn’t just look alive, it is alive.” As the petals began to unfold a body rose up. A woman’s body. Sticky insect wings separated from the body as it rose up, and beginning to breathe. The woman’s skin was a dark grey, almost black, with a long, crackled horn sticking out of her head. She had long, flowing, dark teal hair, that went as far down as her waist. She wore a simple green teal and black dress, which extended down to her knees, complete with black, knee-length boots, with light green highlights on the soles. Her wings began pumping, and vibrating, similar to an insects. She rose off the ground, only a few inches, and glided down the stairs. She landed right in front of the Doctor. She was tall, easily a few inches taller than the Doctor. “Who is this?” The Changeling Queen asked, looking toward her guards. “He requesssssssted to see you, mistressssssss.” The Changeling to the Doctor’s right replied. “And, you brought him here?” She replied. “Yessssssss.” “Fools!” She shouted, and her horn began to glow a light green. A magic veil surrounded the guards, and they screamed hopelessly as they were disintegrated by the Queen’s magic. She turned towards the Doctor, and said, “Now, it’s your turn.” “No! No! No! No! Hold on! Just for a moment!” The Doctor pleaded, “Just for a moment! I just want to talk! Just talk!” The glow from the Queen’s horn ceased, and her faced straightened. “Who are you?” “I’m the Doctor, hello.” He said, “And, you must be Queen Chrysalis, if I’m not mistaken, considering the versions of you I’ve dealt with before.” “Before?” Chrysalis asked. “Yeah, I kinda had a run in with some Changelings a few years ago.” The Doctor said, scratching the back of his head. “It was nice, really.” “It wasn’t our faction then?” Chrysalis said, sitting down on the steps. “No, it was a different one.” The Doctor said, “Although, you are the only ones left.” Chrysalis’s face sank. “How could you know that?” “I kinda…monitor the universe, keep it safe.” The Doctor said. “Then you must know of the Trickster.” “Of course. I’ve only met him once, but, you did serve in his war.” “War?” “The first Time War. I fought in the last, between the Time-Lords and the Daleks, but, you fought in the very first Time War, between the Pantheon of Discord and the Time Lords, back in the olden days. Your ancestors fought in it. The Time Lords trampled the Pantheon, and it was broken up. Discord himself went to Equestria, where he lost most of his power, and tried to take over that land. “As far as the Trickster’s Brigade; they broke up, and were scattered about the universe. The Time Beetles became all but extinct, and the Changeling factions were scattered through the cosmos. To keep order, the first Queen Chrysalis was cloned, and sent into every faction, with her basic DNA, to clone another one of her, in case the original one died. Most of them are gone now, all except you lot.” “Such…intimate knowledge of my species.” Chrysalis said. “Knowledge I myself didn’t know.” “Your ancestors didn’t tell you?” the Doctor asked. “Never.” Chrysalis said. “Anyway, I have a feeling you didn’t come here to rent a flat,” the Doctor began, “therefore, you’re here to invade.” “Ah, Doctor, you’re here to stop us.” Chrysalis said, her wings beginning to pulse. “Well, yeah, of course.” The Doctor said, untying his bow-tie, “So, I see one problem, and, that’s that.” The Doctor pointed toward the crack in the stage curtain. Just like the one before, it was glowing, and it seemed as though it was concreted in the curtain. He maneuvered around Chrysalis, and headed toward the crack, undoing the top button on his shirt. He didn’t touch it however. “You came thought this, meaning it’s a crack in space. But, there’s only a few of you. A few hundred, max. But, there are millions of you. Why only a few of you?” But, before Chrysalis could speak again, the Doctor walked up to her and answered his own question. “Because, you don’t want to risk them coming through. No. That’s not it. Oh!” The Doctor shouted, jumping off the stage, “Of course! You’re just the ground troops! The scouts! That's what the first Changeling through the first crack was for! You’re here to survey the area, before summoning the rest of them! Brilliant! But, how do you summon them? You know that you can only pass through the crack once. It’s a one way trip. So, you must have another method to summon them, but, what?” Chrysalis remained silent, as if waiting for the Doctor to solve the problem. “Oh, the pollen!” the Doctor shouted, and ran over to the flower. “Of course! You’re using the pollen as an energy source! You’re pumping the pollen out of the plant, and keeping it in storage tanks!” He ran over to the pollen tanks, examining them, noticing there were pipes leaving them toward the ceiling. “The pollen is powering something, which is on the roof. But, what would you have on the roof? Well, the only logical thing is a transmitter. A way to send a communique to the remaining Changelings on Gaea, so they can come through the crack, and invade Earth. It’s brilliant! Well, totally wrong and completely evil, but still brilliant! “But, here’s what I don’t understand, Changelings feed on love, not hatred and fear.” The Doctor said. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, Doctor.” Chrysalis explained, “We feed on all emotion, but, love is the strongest. If given the choice between a little bit of love, or a lot of hatred, we’d choose hatred.” “So, that’s your plan.” The Doctor said, a tone of anger in his voice. “You summon the rest of the Changelings, and invade Earth, feeding on the emotions of anger and fear.” Little to the Doctor’s knowledge, Sunset and Twilight were looking through the gym doors, listening to him rambling. “He is clever, isn’t he?” Twilight asked, adjusting her glasses. “More than you know.” Sunset replied. “Congratulations, Doctor, you’ve discovered my plans.” Chrysalis said, smiling. “So, what are you going to do about it?” “It’s not about what I’m going to do, Chrysalis, it’s what you’re going to do.” The Doctor said. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “Really?” “Yeah, really.” The Doctor said, and began pacing, “Option one: you can surrender.” “What?” Chrysalis asked. “You can surrender.” The Doctor repeated. “You surrender, and live your lives here. On Earth. You look like a human, and act like one, feeding off the love of people around you, but, not sucking them dry! Just the residue of it, not enough to hurt anyone. “Option two,” the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, “I use this to reverse the polarity of that crack, causing every organism that ever interacted with that is sucked right back in. Every Changeling would be pulled into it. And, once inside it, it’ll be like you were never born, like you never existed.” “But, you would’ve interacted with the crack,” Chrysalis said, her wings starting to buzz, “you would be pulled in to it as well. Are you willing to do that?” “If that’s what it takes to stop you,” the Doctor said, “Yes.” “Very well then.” Chrysalis said, and turned to more guards. “Seize him!” Two Changeling guards quickly flew towards the Doctor, and grabbed his arms, causing him to drop his sonic screwdriver to his feet. “Sorry to rain of your parade, Doctor, but, I’m afraid your arguments are invalid.” Chrysalis said, flying upwards, “We will never surrender, as surrendering is simply not in our nature. Instead, I think I will kill you, and then take the world for myself. With you out of the way, there is no one who can stop me!” “We have to do something!” Sunset gasped. “I’m just not sure what! We’re no match for them!” Twilight still stood next to her, figuring out a plan of action in her head. She had one solution, but it was very risky. “There is nothing you can do, Doctor!” Chrysalis shouted, rising upwards, showing her superiority, “The world will fall, and we will rise! The Changelings will thrive once again, and there is no one who can stop us!” Suddenly Twilight Sparkle stormed through the gym doors.