Queens to Check, Dragon to Mate

by dracone

A Different Kind of Interlude, A

Author's Note:

This chapter is from Arachne's point of view and highlights a bit of her thinking process.

As always, you're free to use the resources I provide, just remember to drop me a line about what you're using so I can help out if needed. And if it's an art piece, please send me a link or copy.

The visiting queens weren’t sure what they were seeing, but like a train wreck they knew what they were seeing was a disaster and yet could not look away. They knew it wouldn’t be good when the dragon, they really didn’t bother to catch his name when it was said, responded to Nymph’s question with “Chrysalis dancing in the kitchen” but didn’t take the second part all that seriously. But here it was, Chrysalis in an orange dress dancing in the kitchen, to a gentle tune that she seemed to be producing all on her own, with what they confirmed but refused to admit was a new kind of drone that had far more applications than they had anticipated any non-queen could have. And the worst part was almost all the things the young drone did triggered this “cuteness” response in them.

As things stood the most tolerant towards this change was Arachne, not surprising given the rumors of just how long she had been around. Cicada wasn’t taking it well, given how she was grumbling about how The Accords basically made Chrysalis untouchable and she would rather experience thousands of things worse than death than assimilate any of Chrysalis’s offspring just to get this one new kind of changeling. Arachne didn’t mind, more members to the hive meant more she could do. No, what had her worried was the comments Chrysalis had made regarding all her hive members being fully self-aware. Queens need a sense of identity, it’s how they are able to manage the rest of their hive effectively and devise ways to outlive other queens. Cicada, Nymph, Vespa and Culicidae might have designs on terminating Chrysalis, but Arachne knew that afterward Chrysalis would be held up as an example of what a queen should not be. That was all fine, and well within the norms for education of young queens, but chances were some might get ideas about what Chrysalis did with her hive and try to emulate it all in some way, possibly more than could be removed without causing a power vacuum that could very well lead to the incident Chrysalis described.

Arachne hated to admit it but it was probably a better plan to try and contain Chrysalis and her hive within the borders of a single nation than purge the world of her only to have her influence somehow remain. There was a word for that, one she really hadn’t bothered to learn on account she hadn’t put much stock into it until events of the meeting transpired. Arachne also hated to admit it, but the idea of drones having some level of awareness beyond basic autonomy actually had some level of appeal to it, less time delegating and more time on putting the mind to work on more important matters. Of course, no other queens would go for this plan even if it were to be brought forth by one of the longest lasting ones. Changelings, and by that it means queens, are too entrenched in their plans and what they see as a tradition to really change if circumstances aren’t forcing them to. Chrysalis was right, it’s all how they think things should be. It seems her self-imposed exile, and various influences over the past few years had resulted in a far more assertive personality in regards to her.

But the absolute worst of it was that during the stroll back to the palace Chrysalis had said the words “happy” and “content” with how her life was now, Queens are never supposed to feel those for more than an instant and Chrysalis basically said that was usually most of her day to day mannerism. Arachne was willing to let the comments about Chrysalis not wanting to play conqueror slide, not all queens had it in them for proper conquest. The only reason Arachne really stopped was because she realized that she was starting to spread her influence thin, the last nation she had conquered had collapsed over nine centuries prior to the event Equestria often referred to as the “Return of Nightmare Moon” and she had no designs on doing such things another nation, it was much easier to harvest from a fully active nation without exerting yourself as a forced beloved individual. Arachne saw some of what she was like as a young queen when she looked at Chrysalis, barring her obvious problem of having an emotional connection to things. Both showed a level of intelligence, tact, luck and were clearly underestimated by most of the powers they interacted with on some level.

Chrysalis, and by extension her offspring, represented a dynamic change in Changeling perceptions, if her integration went any further chances were ponies would start acting like changelings were commonplace and try to make friends with them. While the notion made her fellow visiting queens gag or want vomit, in some capacity, Arachne saw it as an opportunity, with fewer ponies acting like scared prey changeling activities could go unimpeded more effectively. But that also meant there would like be laws and legislation put in place that could potentially hinder changeling activities as well, finding out the drones that were sent out to harvest were detained by law enforcement for some reason for an extended period of time because they failed to meet some sort of prerequisite would definitely cause issues to the plans of a great many changelings. While the diets of changelings could be supplemented by the primary dietary needs of their “mate” many queens, herself included, still preferred to harvest emotions of other races of the world, it would be a tragedy to not do what comes naturally after all. Which made Chrysalis’s comment about not feeding on emotions in years all the more problematic, Chrysalis was defying her very nature and didn’t act like she knew such a basic fact.

All the problems seemed to compound when it came to Chrysalis’s offspring, especially the sample she had brought to the table with her. Chrysalis didn’t act like a changeling should, she didn’t even act as a dragon, she acted as ponies do. Either the dragon was so far gone from pony influences that his draconic personality properties were suppressed, which seemed highly likely, or it was just the dragon’s nature, which seemed highly unlikely when you took into account everything she had compiled on dragons. Even in success, Chrysalis was a failure, the only reasons she was still alive were her resourcefulness and initial contribution to changeling clothing acquisition practices.

Arachne had been skeptical of Chrysalis’s proposal at first, but at the very least she was willing to entertain the plan on the foundations some manner of personal interest and a desire to gain some new means of leverage. It had paid off, instead of having to pilfer attire whenever possible she could now produce it whenever she wished. Chrysalis had been smart to hold onto the actual means of producing clothes while having Arachne be the supplier of the material, but her planning ahead for clothing production should she fall or become indisposed in some other way had backfired in Arachne’s favor. Chrysalis had been shrewd, savvy and efficient back then. Now she was a doting, empathic, bleeding hearted shell of a queen at best. She had become weak but Arachne wouldn’t make a move just yet, one of the younger and more impulsive queens like Culicidae or Vespa would be capable as the one who makes the first move. Based on her palpable disdain, it was likely Cicada would make the move herself. None of them would dare make a play on the ponies within pony territory, or the dragon for obvious reasons, but Chrysalis was another story and chances are the prediction that was made earlier would be realized in the near future and before the day was done.

The worst part, as long as Chrysalis had that new drone or the dragon in close proximity her safety was far more assured. Also, whoever attacked her would likely instigate a war contingency with not just the other hives but Equestria as well. Not that such a thing would matter, Equestria didn’t have much in the way a standing military. Yes, the army itself was sizeable, but most of the units themselves didn’t have the right mindset or were woefully inexperienced in genuine combat. Chrysalis, the dragon, and the ponies had clearly built up a tolerance to the drone’s natural defense, which meant repeated exposure could at least mean less vulnerability to that thing’s defenses. The dragon might not have been a wild card, but was definitely an unanticipated wrinkle in the plans of any queen. Dragons were well-known for being rather volatile when things they considered precious to be in danger, and this dragon had openly shown immense affection for Chrysalis in addition to both openly stating they had offspring together. Whether their statements were true or not was inconsequential, the fact the dragon showed great affection for Chrysalis and her offspring was enough to give pause.

Culicidae was at least willing to think things through, as was Nymph. The real problems now were Cicada and Vespa, both were a bit too impulsive for her liking, which was why it was such a surprise to Arachne that Cicada had been so meticulous in trying to cultivate the properties she had believed were best carried by a queen. What was even more of a surprise was that Chrysalis had been raised by Cicada in addition to among the other visiting queens at the table, if any queens with Chrysalis’s prior properties had been hatched and raised in any other hive chances are she would have been slain before she could even mature. Arachne supposed that Cicada had believed the other three would have already killed Chrysalis before she could even get a fraction of the way to where they were all now. This spoke volumes about Chrysalis’s intellectual capabilities, to survive so well in a hostile environment that assuredly wants you dead to any degree was an accomplish.

All that aside, a queen, even one in a not-so-sound mind, would never stoop so low as to do any sort of menial labor such as operating a kitchen of her own accord or act in such a superfluous manner in the presence of potential assassins. This was just further proof to her, and the other queens, any and all benefits Chrysalis had received from her mate, dragon or not, were outweighed by the unrequired aspects. If Chrysalis had followed in the scheme that other queens did this might not have been an issue, but she had openly stated that way of thinking was “counterproductive” and therefore was following a plan for changeling progress she had built from scratch. Her ideal was ambitious, but not in the way that a Changeling Queen should be. Changing the culture of changelings is a titanic feat in and of itself, and Chrysalis already contributed to the changelings with her introduction of clothing production. And now, she ended up the first mother to a whole new kind of drone. There was no way that the future of the changelings should hinge on this one queen, it was like saying the culture of an entire pony nation centered around a singular pony. In short, utter ridiculousness.

And yet, she and her fellow queens were watching the train wreck of a blissful Chrysalis, a queen, making “snacks” and performing a superfluous action, dancing in the kitchen, alongside a drone with a stunted development. And the worst part of it all was she was feeling a need to make sure nothing bad happened to the drone, queens are never supposed to show “concern” for drones.

Comments

[Razzy]

Nice chapter, it's fun to see the events from another point of view.

Huh, I thought the other Queens would see the benefit of not having to always fight to survive another day and seeing their children die. I imagine Chryssie sometimes just lies back and enjoys just how less stressful her life is.

Methinks the other Queens are missing the fact of his much more resilient Chryssie probably is after having gained dragon features.

'she had designs on doing such things another nation' - she had no designs on doing such things to another

'While the notion made her fellow visiting queens gag or want vomit it some capacity Arachne saw it as an opportunity' - want to vomit, in some capacity

'Not that such a thing, Equestria didn’t have much in the way a standing military' - seems to be missing something, maybe 'not that such a thing would matter, Equestria didn't'

[dracone]

8057468 Thanks for pointing out those little hiccups. As for the bit about Chrysalis, they don't believe that Chrysalis actually has a genuine relationship with Spike or that they are genuinely mates.

[Emerald Quartz]

I have to wonder what dragon lord ember would be doing in this situation, I'd think ember and her dad were be hear as unspoken allies to equestria and mainly spike.

[dracone]

8057633 That is a good question. But to be honest, I'm not sure how much of this past season of the series proper would be canon with the story, I started working on Queen Takes Dragon (the story this is a sequel to) before the start of season 6. Obviously, the events of Queen Takes Dragon omit the setup to the Season 6 finale, and you can obviously tell that Flurry Heart is technically not a thing, especially since Skyla has a coat that draws more from her mother's coat than her father. So, to be honest, I'm still debating whether or not Gauntlet of Fire is canon here since the story started before that episode aired.

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Good chapter. I Like the different points of view.