Chrysalis flew through her palace, low enough to drag her claw on the ground. The line she made spread out into waves, turning the entire floor into gold. Then it spread out over the walls and to the ceiling.
She looked over the room. Everything had turned to gold. She laughed. She was rich, rich, rich!
“Your Majesty!”
She groaned. Of course this would happen. Right as she was enjoying something, her adviser had to come in complaining that her subjects weren’t getting enough food or something.
“Your Majesty, something’s turning the entire castle into gold!”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
The adviser blinked. “What?”
“Terra has blessed me with this new appendage,” Chrysalis announced, proudly raising the golden claw above her head. “I can turn everything I touch into gold! Now we have plenty of money in the royal treasury and I can keep myself in finery! Problem solved”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done!” the adviser demanded. “You’re going to ruin us!”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes and groaned exasperatedly, before putting on her most condescending smile.
“Nooo, lowly adviser,” she spoke slowly, as if talking to a complete imbecile. “You see, more gold means more mula for the kingdom, which then means we conquer Equestria and new changeling world order. Hmm, ‘kay? You understand?”
“Do you--do you not understand how basic economics works?” When all he received was a confused blink from his monarch, he could only drag his hoof down against his muzzle. “Nevermind. Look, Your Majesty, you need to reverse this curse immediately!”
“And why would I do that?”
“Gold is only valuable if it’s rare! If you have a never-ending supply of it, it will decrease in value! All you’ll manage to do is drive the value of gold down in every economy in the world. Not to mention gold has a very weak tensile strength! I’d give it a week, if that, until this entire building comes down on us! You need to undo this before... argh!”
Chrysalis laughed as her former adviser was turned to gold with one touch of her new claw. The only downside was that it happened far too quickly. She had no time to enjoy the cries of pain from his annoying, know-it-all mouth.
“Ahh, much better,” she grinned, her golden pincers rubbing together, satisfied. “I can almost tolerate you now.”
“Mommy!”
She cringed. Of course, there was always one thing that could annoy her, even in the best of times.
“Mommy!”
Maybe if she ignored her long enough, she’d go away.
“Mommy!”
Chrysalis cringed as Pupa entered the room. She was walking the pony orphan on a leash, and looking visibly distraught, which in Chrysalis’s dictionary just meant wimpy.
“What it is, Pupa, I’m busy! And don’t call me Mommy, I have a reputation to maintain, and you’re, to put it nicely, a complete disgrace.”
Pupa sniffed. “Everything’s turned to gold.”
“Very good! I see that tutor I had to pay for was slightly less of a waste of money!”
“Well... sweet Terra, what happened to Mandible?”
“Who?”
“Your adviser? Served you for twenty years? You named him my godfather?”
“Oh yeah, him. Well, he’s replaceable. So, is there anything you came in here to talk about? Come on, hurry up, I have a nation to conquer.”
“Well, I kind of wanted to know why everything is turning to gold.”
“Oh that. That’s my new gift from your grandma. See?” She lifted up her mutated leg, showing off the new weapon. “Now anything and everything I touch turns into the most precious metal in the world! Even this ashtray!”
As Chrysalis levitated said item toward her, Pupa couldn’t help but gasp. “Momma... that’s the clay hoofprint I made for you in preschool!”
Chrysalis looked at it. “It meant more to me when I thought it was an ashtray,” she said, throwing it out.
“You don’t even smoke!”
“Pupa, is there a point to this? I have a kingdom to conquer.”
Pupa was silent for a moment. “Mommy... when you’re finally done and you rule Equestria... could we finally spend some time together?”
Chrysalis just look at Pupa for a moment. Then, a small smile spread across her features. She flew down closer to her daughter, until she was close enough to pull her into a hug.
“Oh, Pupa... I really, really don’t want to spend time with you at all.”
Pupa’s face fell. “Why not?”
“You’re whiny, you’re annoying, you’re always getting mucus everywhere. Sweet Terra, you come from my bloodline, one of my many spawn, a family of ruthless invaders and mighty warriors, and the occasional serial killer, and it’s you I get saddled with now. I swear, Terra must be punishing my failures.”
She turned her back on her daughter and began to fly away.
“But... but Mommy...”
“Look,” Chrysalis said. “I know you’re my daughter and I have to put up with you, but I’d really like less of... well, this,” she said, gesturing to Pupa.
Pupa was silent. “Less of what?”
“You know... this.”
“...You’re gesturing to all of me.”
“See, there you go,” the Changeling Queen said. “And now you know exactly what’s wrong. You want to spend time with me? To have the privilege of calling me your mother? Quit being so pathetic and start living up to your family.”
That was the final thing Chrysalis said before she flew off, leaving Pupa behind.
Pupa just watched her mother go with tears in her eyes. She wondered what it would be like to be loved. She had only felt it from brainwashed ponies. She had heard other Changelings talk about how great it was to devour the love from a family member.
But her mother never gave her that. Some even said the reason the love spell at Canterlot had tossed her out was because Chrysalis couldn’t handle real love, having never tasted it herself. The older she got, the more and more she believed it.
The pony orphan nuzzled against her. This one had been raised as cattle since birth, so it lacked any of the talking back some ponies had, but it was still only good for a quick snack. As she gobbled the love down, she came to a decision.
“All right... if Mom wants me to be a warrior, then I’ll be a warrior!”
The desert areas of Equestria were sparsely populated, but still bustling with activity. The Buffalo still dominated the area, but for a share in any crops they allowed settlements. The biggest of these, Appleloosa, was still small by population standards, but the apple trees planted were some of Equestria’s biggest.
Which is why it made such a convenient spot for two young lovers to meet.
Braeburn and Little Strongheart rolled off each other. They giggled happily, nuzzling each other.
“Oh gag.”
The two jumped and spun around. Chrysalis stepped forward with a sneer on her face. “I mean, honestly, are ponies starting to infect the rest of you species with their lubby-dovey nonsense?”
“Wha the? Who, or what, in Tartarus are you?” Strongheart demanded.
“I think I know,” Braeburn said. “This here must be one of them Changelings mah cousin Applejack told me about.”
“You’re correct, impressive for some stupid mud pony,” Chrysalis said walking closer. “And Applejack... ah yes, I think I remember that name. The hick at the wedding.”
Braeburn growled. “Watch what you say about my cousin,” he said angrily.
“Oh, Goddess, they let the dirt ones breed far too much. Well, I can take care of that.”
Little Stongheart jumped in front of her coltfriend, snorting angrily. “Get out of here, you witch!”
“Uh, excuse me, this is between me and the dirt pony. Some dirt savage isn’t worth my time. So move.”
“Oh, that is it!” the small Buffalo yelled, leaping at Chrysalis.
The Queen of the Changelings brought her new appendage up and struck her attacker dead center in the barrel.
Almost immediately, she fell to the ground, nothing more than a gold statue.
“No!” Braeburn cried, rushing to her side. He threw her forelegs around her, pressing his muzzle to her, desperate to feel her soft coat again. “No, no... Strongheart!”
“Oh, don’t feel so bad,” Chrysalis said. “You’ll be joining her shortly.”
Braeburn didn’t hear her in his grief. He didn’t even realized he had been turned to gold until it was too late.
“Braeburn?” a voice called.
Chrysalis grinned. Good, somepony was coming.
Indeed, Sheriff Silverstar pushed his way through the orchard, trying to find the source of the cries he had heard earlier. “Somethin’ wrong? We heard ya yellin’... Sweet Celestia!”
The Sheriff’s horror was well warranted, seeing one of his best men now turned to pure gold, cradling the body of one of their best allies, whose own face was twisted into one of terror.
“If it’s any consolation, they went down like absolute wusses,” Chrysalis mocked, casually kicking one of the trees and allowing an apple to fall into her magic. “This is a lovely town you got here. Fertile fields, lot of open space... I’ll take it.”
The Sheriff looked at her with wide eyes. “What have you done to them?”
Chrysalis only responded by taking a bite of the apple, then spitting it out in disgust. “Eew... too sweet.” She tossed it into the air, then struck it with her claw as it came back down.
The half eaten apple rolled to the Sheriff’s hooves. Much to his shock, it had turned to pure gold. He looked at the Queen, now understanding what had happened. “All with just one touch.”
“Very good, Mud Pony,” she said. “Now then, I’m going to give you thirty minutes to go round up a posse. See, I really want to give this thing a test run on the dirt parts of Equestria before I really go after Canterlot. So go on, let’s see that you’ve got!”
The Sheriff took a step back before turning around and running full speed back to town. Chrysalis watched him go, anticipating the upcoming battle.
Smiling, she started turning the trees into gold, one by one. Even if they somehow managed to beat her, her Changelings could come back for them later.
Ponyville has somehow managed to remain a small town, despite being the home of the Elements of Harmony, and then a full fledged princess, and then that princess’s castle. Indeed, Twilight Sparkle’s castle was the only really standout part about it, the rest stayed small structures.
It was in these large hallways that Spike wandered through at the moment, carrying a large stack of books in his arms. He could hear the sound of Starlight a few hallways down, no doubt lost once again.
He entered Twilight’s main room, where she had a large collection of maps and graphs hung up everywhere. He carefully placed the books at her side. “Here you go, every book like you asked.”
“Thanks, Spike,” she said, taking the first book off the top. It read, The Art of War, something that hadn’t escaped his notice when he had fetched it.
“Is something bad going on, Twilight?”
The youngest Alicorn looked up from her book, realization crossing her features. “Oh, Spike, I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s likely nothing, but we’re trying to prepare ourselves in case Chrysalis tries another counter-attack.”
Spike tilted his head. “I thought the Changeling kingdom was doing badly.”
“It is, Spike, and that’s the whole problem. Chrysalis is desperate for some sort of victory, and you never know what a cornered animal might do. Even though her attacks wouldn’t succeed, she could still do a lot of damage depending on what she does. We’re just trying to be prepared.”
Despite her assurances, Spike looked more worried than ever. “You don’t mean... they could attack here, do you?”
Suddenly Twilight swept him up in a hug. “Spike, you don’t need to worry. We’ve faced Chrysalis before, and a lot worse, and we’ve always come out on top. We’ll be able to handle anything. I’d like to see Chrysalis try anything.”
As it turns out, Chief Thunderhooves and his tribe were near Appleloosa at the time, so the posse ended up being quite a bit bigger than Chrysalis expected. Of course, that only made the swift defeat she gave them all the more satisfying.
Ponies and Buffalo alike were frozen as gold statues, killed with only a single touch. Like such savages could honestly turn the tide of battle anyway.
And then, quite suddenly, something slammed into her on her left side. She fell to the ground, crying more from surprise than pain. She realized that one of those Buffalo had slammed into her. Before she could recover, another pony struck at her mutated foreleg.
She winced, but realized the pitchfork hadn’t skewered her, its prongs going in to either side of her. She was relieved until she realized that it pinned her leg to the ground. And the Buffalo that tackled her was coming up with a spear in his mouth.
She immediately lit up her horn and fired at the savage. The beast reacted, but more like he had been stung by a bee than fallen victim to a truly devastating attack. He lifted the spear again. Chrysalis tried firing a few more times, but now that he was prepared for it the attack didn’t phase him.
Still, Chrysalis didn’t live for a millennia without learning how to think in a high pressure situation. She lit up her horn and fired at the spear itself, snapping it in half and leaving the buffalo holding a mere stick with a burnt end.
The shock provided all the distraction Chrysalis needed to get her appengage free. As the unearthed pitchfork fell to the side, she swung the claw, hitting the savage on the side and turning him into gold. Seeing his comrade transform, the pony stepped back, then turned to flee. He got only a few steps before he was a golden statue as well.
She smiled in victory, and looked at there the golden claw had touched the ground. It was already back to being plain, ordinary dirt. It seemed Terra didn’t much care for soil to be turned to gold, so the spell barely got anywhere whenever she tried. Even those trees stopped being turned after the first two dozen.
But such mirth was short lived, as an arrow suddenly burst through one of her back legs. She howled in pain, summoning a shield over herself out of instinct. It proved to be a good instinct, as almost immediately two more arrows struck it, followed by a whole slew of them.
Chrysalis saw that the posse had apparently gotten wise to what her claw was capable of and had set up bows around the town, each one being used by either pony or Buffalo. Those not using the arrows were throwing stones or whatever they could find.
That suited her just fine. She knew where they were.
She flew up, streaking faster than any Pegasus, until she was on the roof of the salt bar, where five archers were stationed. Seeing this, the group tried to flee their posts, but were quickly turned to gold.
That was the way of it for the next few seconds, her flying to every station and turning their occupants to gold. Eventually, they all simply fled, having decided that it was pointless to continue fighting. This was the fun part, as she got to hunt them all down and turn them, one by one.
That is, until she reached one that had nearly made it into the orchards. She swooped in, only moments away from touching her, when it happened.
The arrows pierced her side. Roaring in pain, she got a shield up before any more could hit. She turned to see the leader of the savages manning the bow, and she understood. This had been a trick.
Still, even falling forward from pain, she had managed to catch the stupid mare, petrifying her in a heartbeat. She turned to the dumb brute, who had stepped away from the bow but was too stupid to run.
She lunged forward, her claw forward.
When she was halfway there, the Buffalo pulled out a spear, seemingly out of nowhere, and held it out in front of him.
Chrysalis’s eyes went wide as she desperately tried to correct herself, the momentum still sending her forward. It hit her like a sack of bricks that the brute had been leading her on for this reason. She moved herself, putting up a shield in order to cover herself.
Much to her surprise, the spear went through the shield like butter. There must have been a Unicorn in town who enchanted it. The spear got her in the side.
It ended up permanently wedged in the Buffalo’s mouth after he turned to gold.
Chrysalis grunted at the pain in her side, but forced it down. She turned and saw the town Sheriff, looking terrified that the plan had failed. He took a few steps back. Before he could turn and run, Chrysalis jumped in front of him, swinging her claw and stopping just inches from his face.
The sheriff fell back, looking terrified. Chrysalis laughed. She pulled the claw back and pushed it forward again and again, freaking out the mud pony each time.
“Ha! Ha! Look, I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!”
The Sheriff shook, looking like he was about to have a heart attack.
A train whistle suddenly caught Chrysalis’s attention. She looked into the distance at the train station, then turned back to the sheriff with a wicked grin on her face. “Oh, you naughty little dirt pony, trying to get some refugees away from me.”
“D-D-D-D-Don’t you dare hurt them!” he said, trying to sound brave.
“Oh, I won’t. I actually need them alive right now. They’re going to deliver a message for me.” Her magic enveloped around his neck, lifting him up. “And you’re actually going to be good for something for once, and help me.”
In seconds they were at the side of the train, just as it was beginning to move. The occupants inside screamed in terror as their sheriff was thrown to the ground.
“Tell your princess that this will soon be the fate of every pony in the world, including yours!” And she tapped the sheriff, turning him to gold.
There were screams as the train pulled away. Chrysalis laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
Then, eventually, she had to stop laughing. It would be a while before the Royal Guards arrived. She needed to pick which bodies she wanted to display, and which she wanted to just throw on the pile.
Twilight continued to read her books. By this time, Spike had fallen asleep at her side, his head resting on her, a Power Ponies comic draped to the side. She had wrapped him in a blanket before going on.
As she scanned yet another line, she heard him speak.
“No... no, Twilight, no...”
Twilight’s ears perked as she turned to her sleeping charge. The little dragon was shifting a bit, an unhappy look on his face.
“Spike?” she said, pushing against his head with her muzzle.
“No, Twilight! Twilight!”
“Spike? Spike?” She jostled him harder. “Spike, wake up!”
The dragon suddenly started, his eyes opening in surprise as a frightened cry escaped his mouth. He looked around, trying to get his bearing straight, before locking eyes with Twilight.
“Twilight, wha...”
“You were having a nightmare, Spike. You were crying in your sleep. What were you...”
Twilight was cut off when a pair of tiny arms wrapped around her neck and Spike pressed his face into her mane. He babbled so quickly that Twilight could hardly understand him.
“I...bad... you...”
Twilight shifted so she could wrap her forelegs around him. “Come on, deep breaths. Slow down, and tell me what you say.”
There were a few more breaths, but nothing came of it.
“Spike, it was only a bad dream. Only a bad dream.”
Finally, Spike called down enough to pull away and look at Twilight. He hadn’t cried too hard, amazingly enough, but there were still tears in his eyes.
“I... I dreamed Chrysalis got you. She... she killed you. I...”
Twilight kissed him on the forehead. “It’s alright, Spike. I’m still here. I’m still alive. I’m not going anywhere.”
“But... but what if Chrysalis gets you?”
“She won’t, I promise. I’m going to be here for you until I’m old and gray. No half-baked queen is going to get me.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
The head of the Changeling army was ready to quit. Commander Cocoon hadn’t been paid or... really anything in months. The fact that Chrysalis had gone off on her latest plan alone had really been the last straw.
He was just brooding in his office when the royal brat entered, levitating a black bottle in her magic. Seeing her, he could not have disapproved more. Chrysalis may have been a fool, but at least she was a strong warrior. This shrimp could barely be called half a Changeling.
“What do you want, squirt?”
Pupa gulped. She actually gulped, the little worm. Then, shaking, she levitated the black bottle to him. “Her M-Majesty wishes to gift you this bottle of vodka for your...”
Cocoon took the bottle, popped the cork, and began chugging it down. It didn’t matter why he was being gifted it, alcohol was alcohol, and anyone having to deal with Chrysalis would end up downing it by the bottleful. In fact, soberness was considered something of a curse among Changelings in the army.
Once he was finished, he tossed the empty bottle back at Pupa. She ducked as the container sailed over her head, bouncing on the golden floor.
“There. Now get out of here, I’m busy.”
Pupa stood up tall. “No. Now that you’ve had your drink, y-you’re going to get your l-lazy abdomen up and rally your troops. We have conquering to do.”
Cocoon looked at the princess like she had just sprouted an extra head. Then he burst out laughing, falling on his desk out of necessity.
“Oh, oh that’s funny. I’m going to be laughing while I kick the mucus out of you for being so stupid.”
At that, Pupa’s horn lit up. Almost immediately Cocoon glowed a bright red, and he twisted back, convulsing in pain. He let out a yell that carried throughout the now golden castle. Falling to the floor, he winced and moaned until Pupa’s horn stopped glowing, and he lay there, panting.
“S-See? I laced that alcohol with a potion that reacts only to my magic. Now, if you even think about disobeying me, I’ll activate it and k-k-k-kill you. And don’t even think of t-t-trying to kill me. If I go, the potion will automatically go off. Y-You got that?”
Cocoon could only moan while looking at Pupa with fear in his eyes. She decided to take that as a yes.
“Good. Now kiss my hooves!”
Cocoon dragged himself along the floor and kissed Pupa’s front hoof. The little Changeling basked in the attention.
“Ooo, this is sooo great! No wonder Mom does it.” And she repeatedly kicked the Commander over and over.