• Published 19th Sep 2015
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I, Chrysalis - Scarheart



Imprisoned, Queen Chrysalis writes the story of her life, her legacy. But not for those pathetic ponies! Gifted with a daughter, she cherishes what could be the last changeling she will ever interact with...

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Chapter XVIII

In the years under Taalia’s tender care, I learned to be merciless. I learned to be quick. I learned to be an incarnation of death. My magic was powerful, very powerful. Unfortunately, such power was useless upon the Ravagers. So, I was taught to use my body as a weapon. Taalia’s magic was, as I eventually discovered, not as versatile as my own. The same malady which left her barren had also affected her ability to tap into her magical reserves and utilize them. She could not even shapeshift. An odd thing for a changeling, to be unable to shapeshift.

But she was clearly and obviously dangerous. She relished in the chaos of battle. The queen who led from the front and fought alongside her warriors was rare. Most would sit back and command their soldiers to fight in their stead, assuming a supporting role by feeding their will through the hive link. It was considered foolish for a queen to lead from the front, for if she went down and her commanders were not merely conduits of her will, then her army would become all but useless.

Taalia was believed by many queens to be unkillable. Though she was a queen, it was also believed she was far too unstable to ascend to a greater hive. No, she did not have the patience to lead many. She was not the sort to sit upon a throne and listen to the needs of her colonies. Queen Taalia had to be kept on a short leash, for she was considered far too dangerous to even consider placing her in a position of lording over even a single colony.

She had to move, much in the same fashion as the feral hives and their queens. She was a huntress and preferred to be out and about, hunting her prey and awaiting the next kill. The scale of the hunt varied. The larger the prize, the more she became excited.

Across the great Savannah I followed her, doing her bidding and learning to be as she wanted me to be. As I grew, became older, and came into my own, there came a time when she believed I was ready for my own hive. I was given changelings who no longer had queens to serve. They were broken little wretches at first, most having witnessed their most beloved thing torn apart before their very eyes. Changelings adore the queen they serve. A queen gives them purpose, guides them, protects them. Taalia was merciless.

When Taalia took a break from one of her numerous campaigns, she sent me to one of her breeding chambers. One of the tasks she gave me as a form of one of her twisted lessons was to service and care for one of her broodmares. I was confined for a year with a twisted, battered, and broken changeling, much like the first one I had seen.

She had no name of her own and was referred to as simply ‘Breeder’. Taalia’s males, carefully selected for their genetics, were tasked with mating with her. It was a horrid thing for them as it was for the mare whose mind barely registered anything anymore. She was huge and bloated, with barely a trace of the natural changeling beauty inherent in all queens. For she had been one. Her story had been one of defiance in the face of Taalia. A young queen at the time, she had come to her crown mere months before her hive fell before the Ravagers. Not wanting to waste a young and fertile body. Taalia ordered her bound, her horn broken, and her wings removed. Then vile magic was pumped into the unfortunate mare, enlarging her egg sac and ovipositor. Some years later, after countless eggs having been laid, I bore witness to a mare that had very little left to offer in the eyes of Queen Taalia.

I was there when the order was given to have her taken from the breeding chamber and thrown into the wilderness. She barely registered anything as she was moved. When she was dumped in the middle of nowhere and beneath the sweltering sun, she looked at me and said the only words I had ever heard her utter.

“I will know peace at last…”

I found myself weeping for her.

Shortly after my return from abandoning the dying changeling to her fate, I was given nymphs. I was told to train them as I had been trained, or suffer the consequences. I did not want to do this, but at first, there was no hesitation on my part. My mind was too transfixed upon the terror Taalia generated. I was morbidly afraid of her as I had borne witness to the atrocities to which she pushed the limits of acceptable changeling queen behavior.

The poor things given to me, as I mentioned, were broken. Their mothers were dead, their broodmothers were dead, even their queen was dead. Three of them. Two fillies and a colt. Taalia believed they had potential, but beneath what she believed worthy. So, she gave them to me, believing I would be content with having changelings she viewed as no threat.

After all, they were nothing more than Lesser changelings.

As was I.


The courtyard of the keep bustled with soldiers and messengers as preparations were made to join Princess Luna and her efforts to find Queen Taalia. Queen Chrysalis watched them intently, her ears swiveling to and fro as she singled out conversations in the din, dismissing them as she moved through the different voices. These ponies, she realized, were not the soft Royal Guard. These were veterans who warded off dragons, griffon raiders and the packs of diamond dogs who sought slaves for their ever expanding mines. These ponies served at the edges of the untamed wildernesses where wild animals made easy prey of unwary ponies. She could see a hardness about them, something very much lacking from their Royal Guard brethren.

But, there was one she was listening for and her entourage had only moments ago arrived. It was the one pony at that moment Chrysalis was nervous to meet again.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. The living, breathing embodiment of Love. Under normal circumstances, Queen Chrysalis in the past might have openly adored the young alicorn simply for the emotion she represented. In all honesty, of all the alicorns, Cadence would have been the one Chrysalis would have first approached if she had desired contact with the ponies. Instead, she opted for aggression, as it seemed the prudent thing to do at the time.

She had actually spent a few months studying the princess, taking on the guise of one of her ladies-in-waiting, after forging the right paperwork behind the identity of the mare in question. The actual pony did not exist and Equestria had a ridiculously simple means of identifying ponies. If a pony claimed to be from somewhere as someone, there was usually little more than a cursory look into his or her background. Forgeries were easy to place within public records and Chrysalis’ hive excelled at establishing false identities with weight behind them.

Duplicity on both ends was startlingly easy. Mostly due, Chrysalis suspected, to the complete lack of awareness of the existence of changelings. Put that with the trusting society Celestia had carefully built over the centuries (for the most part), it was all too easy. She had met the other hives. Most were very small, averaging five to seven hundred changelings. They were very secretive, and their queens were very much afraid of Chrysalis. It was through them she discovered the inner workings of pony society, as they had been here far longer, perfecting the art of being something they were not.

Chrysalis saw opportunity and took it, learning from these local queens. In exchange for their knowledge, she in turn left them to their own devices as attempts to subjugating them would lead to unnecessary and unwanted complications, and thus began her early planning stages for Equestria. She discovered the changelings in this kingdom to be soft, fat, and, in her opinion, lazy. They lived a life changelings only dreamed of. Love was so easy to come by. There was no need to contact the ponies because the content queens were not inclined to push the issue, nor their luck. They had a life of comparative luxury for changelings at their hooves. Chrysalis could not understand why they could possibly be afraid of a nation of (mostly) herbivores.

One other thing Chrysalis decided as prudent was to warn the other queens of Taalia. Enlisting their aid, they readily agreed to keep an eye out for the rogue maniacal queen, even as Chrysalis promised to protect them.

Another failure loomed largely in her mind.

More reports were filtering in. Her hive had attempted to help, sending a few of their badly needed soldiers to try and aid the now extinct hive Chrysalis at one time had promised to help. Her token force, however, had managed to escape. At least, this was what she pictured beyond what the Equestrians knew to this point. Anxiety gripped her and it couple with the slowly growing sense of guilt eating away at her heart.

As much as she wanted to get the answers she desperately needed, Chrysalis would first have to get past the steady and unreadable countenance of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Celestia had yet to leave the fortress and Chrysalis followed her, wanting answers and dwelling on a lot of things weighing upon her mind. She was free of the inhibitor ring and what lay beyond Celestia’s smile prevented her from doing something rash. It was as though the alicorn dared her to make a move—to try and leave.

The Queen had her hooves tied. She certainly could not fight her way out with Atalanta and the amounts of negative emotions could still affect the nymph’s growth, even though the most dangerous phase for her and emotional development had passed with her hatchling days now behind her. She reflected upon her choice of words to Celestia just two days ago while the Equestrians made preparations. More and more troops were filing in. Two whole wings of pegasi Guard had arrived just yesterday, fully armed and armored. Unicorn battle mages arrived in groups of quintet teams had just entered through the portcullis. Three companies of heavy earth pony infantry were slated to arrive tomorrow.

But the most terrifying thing for the changeling queen was the pretty pink pony princess who had made eye contact with her for the first time since the wedding. There was no malice in those eyes, no feelings of anger nor hatred from the Princess of Love to the queen. No, there was something far worse. Pity. Disappointment. Where was the rage? Where was…?

Atalanta had, somehow, slipped through her mother’s watchful eyes, and was sitting in front of the princess, looking up at her with curiosity.

Cadence, of course, was beautiful. Her pink fur was groomed immaculately, the purple tips of her primary feathers were in perfect placement. She was not wearing her crown nor her torque, instead opting to go with nothing past a simple white sun hat. The alicorn’s tri-colored mane of violet, rose, and gold was styled straight, hanging over her right shoulder and curling slightly at the end. Her violet eyes broke contact and shifted down to the little changeling filly gaping openly up at her with a goofy smile.

“You certainly changed, haven’t you?” she cooed gently to the nymph. Cadence lay upon her stomach so she could be at eye level with Atalanta. “So much more energetic, too! You went from a rolly-polly adorable little thing to an adorable little filly, just full of life!” Her smile was broad and genuine. Chrysalis could feel the love flowing freely from the princess as though it were the widest river in all the world. She didn’t even have to feed... her body absorbed the love as it washed over her like a wave of cotton balls.

It was glorious!

Yet, Cadence was pointedly ignoring the changeling queen, focused solely upon the tiny little changeling buzzing her wings excitedly at making a new friend!

“Ma!” chirped Atalanta, peeking over her shoulder at her mother. She then looked back to Cadence. “Ma?” It was the most serious question ever asked.

“Come to me,” ordered Chrysalis in a voice she hoped was firm. “Atalanta. Come to me.”

“Ma.” Atalanta pouted, hung her head, and made the walk of shame back to her mother. With a huff, she sat down and gave Chrysalis a pout, complete with a quivering lower lip. For effect, she made her eyes as round and manipulative as possible.

“Now is not a good time,” Chrysalis sighed, mostly to herself. It would be a while before the nymph would begin to comprehend more than the compulsions from her mother. Their bond was strong, but being able to use words in a sentence would make things so much less tyrannical. Well, maybe tyrannical is too strong a term to associate with teaching my daughter…

Finally, the princess addressed Chrysalis as she rose smoothly to her hooves. “Where is my aunt?” she queried the changeling. “I had hoped to meet her, before I saw you.”

“No idea,” Chrysalis sniffed. “Most likely meeting with her generals, or something.”

“Why are you not wearing your inhibitor?” Cadence asked tartly.

“I’m out on good behavior,” snarked Chrysalis. “How is that lovely husband of yours? I understand he is quite put out with me for some reason. Care to clarify for me?”

Cadence smiled. “He would love nothing more than to remove your head from your shoulders personally. Something about being a victim of rape and mind control. It’s a little fuzzy on the details, so I ask him every night to remind me what exactly it is he would like to do to you.” Suddenly, the love that was in the air vanished as if it had never been. “Of course, I would never allow him to stoop to your level.”

The queen’s eye twitched, but her remark went unhindered. “Oh? So he has gone from one captor to the next? I guess the old saying about marriage is true. Such the old ball and chain you have become, eh?”

“No!” cried a little voice. Both mares stopped glaring at each other to see the little nymph between them giving them both trembling stares. Tears were forming and the dam threatened to burst.

“I will put both of you in separate corners if you cannot get along,” chided Celestia as she appeared on Chrysalis’ left. Atalanta chirped when she saw the Big White Pony and immediately tackled one of her long legs in a big hug.

Chrysalis gave her daughter a deadpan stare. “Traitor,” she muttered under her breath, her scowl faltering at the adorableness of the display. The only thing Atalanta was interested in was basking in love, as not only was it food, but it was also a comfort. Love made any nymph feel safe and secure, Atalanta being no different despite her mixed heritage. Until she learned how to better express her needs and wants through more developed forms of communications, acting on her instincts would have to be the best to hope for.

At least it was an honest and open admission from the little one. She knew where the calm was when it came to the two mares and their respective clashing storms.

“How was your trip, Cadence?” Celestia asked her niece.

“Uneventful. Shining Armor wanted to come, but still did not understand why he was not allowed.”

Chrysalis canted her head slightly to the right, narrowing her eyes at the princess. “You haven’t told him, have you?” she asked.

“What does it matter to you?” shot back Cadence. “If I told him, then he would tear this place apart literally stone by stone in order to take his daughter back!”

The changeling sneered, but it faltered as she put a little more thought to what the princess had just said. She flexed her wings uneasily. “Why would he want to do that?”

“Family is important to Shining. He still doesn’t know why Twilight suddenly decided to stop being Celestia’s student, either. I read the transcripts. What you did was evil and uncalled for.”

“You kept transcripts?” Chrysalis asked Celestia flatly.

“Cadence is still an Equestrian princess. Of course she would be given the details of the hearing. It is her right, especially considering she was the center of a lot of what you did.” Celestia gave another one of her gentle smiles, as though this little chat was over tea and crumpets about tea and crumpets.

“She hurt my family, Celestia. Twilight is like a little sister to me and as for Shining..,” Cadence left it hanging, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply as she calmed herself. “I do not understand the leniency you wish to give this...mare.”

“Why don’t we take this conversation to the garden?” suggested Celestia smoothly. The arguing duo was attracting a lot of unwanted attention from onlookers. “I honestly do not think this discussion requires a few hundred pairs of eyes to formulate their own opinions over this.”

Cadence and Chrysalis glared at each other while Atalanta made sad little sounds.

To her, the tension tasted yucky.


Once again, Chrysalis found herself in a garden she was familiar with. The group had neared the tables when Celestia brought up the issue as to why Cadence was here.

“You want me to foalsit?”

“You want her to foalsit?”

A charcoal black, holed hoof was jabbing in the direction of the pink pony while the pink pony jabbed a pink hoof in the general direction of the chitin covered mare. Both wore expressions of indignation hurled carelessly at Celestia, who, as per usual, had to play mediator. It was a thankless job, Chrysalis decided.

Their combined voices had raised an octave or three. Chrysalis was far more outraged of the two. Cadence had asked in a manner of statement. The changeling noticed the younger alicorn seemed unnaturally calm and collected. Not a strand of her mane had popped out of place. If anything, Chrysalis was feeling frazzled and completely off kilter. An unusual switch between mother and daughter had Atalanta trying to console her mother by chirping in a little voice and saying “Ma!” with a worried tone.

The queen levelled a hoof at Cadence. “You meant to actually let her watch my child?” She directed her ire at Celestia. “Seriously?”

“You cannot expect to take a child with you to battle.”

The queen worked her jaw silently for a moment as she tried to refute that logic. “Fine. I won’t go, then.” Before Celestia could respond, she quickly added, “I know, I know!” It was followed by a growl of frustration.

There was a moment of silence as Celestia allowed Chrysalis to compose herself. Cadence appeared unmoved at all as she stared at the changeling queen.

“Why her?”

“Because she is Shining Armor’s wife. If something were to happen to you, then your daughter would still have a fa-”

“THE HIVE IS HER FAMILY!!” roared Chrysalis with sudden ferocity. “NOT YOU! NOT HER! AND ESPECIALLY NOT HIM!” Her horn crackled and her eyes blazed like unholy fires.

“Calm yourself, Chrysalis. Nopony is going to replace you. Despite what others might think of you, you are irreplaceable.” Celestia gestured to a table. “Let us sit and discuss this like the ladies I know we all are. So far, I would say your daughter is showing far more maturity and acumen that you to this point.”

Chrysalis looked at the table. Lunch awaited. She could smell steamed vegetables basted in melted garlic butter. Fresh rolls. Eggplant parmesan could clearly be seen. There was even some sort of bean soup that bore a spicy scent. There was even a brown butter gnocchi with spinach and pine nuts. All of those dishes were saturated with love. Chrysalis could sense them and it made her salivate. She also noted Cadence smiling at her with false innocence.

“Just for you, Chrysalis,” was all she said. “If Aunt Celestia is willing to try and make peace with you, then I shall endeavor to do the same, even if my heart tells me to reject you and everything you stand for. I am willing to do this for the sake of something far greater than my own selfish needs.”

Chrysalis inhaled deeply for a moment, closing her eyes. “So tell me,” she began, the corners of her mouth beginning to pull upwards in a malicious grin, “is your husband still a one pu—”

—and found herself staring into the eyes of profound warning and disappointment. “For your sake, Cadence’s sake, my sake, and above all, your daughter’s sake, please think very carefully the words that are trying to fall out of your mouth.”

“—ppy sort of pet owner?” Chrysalis finished lamely.

“Were you about to—” Cadence began.

“That goes for you, too, my dear niece.” Celestia let out a long-suffering sigh.

Cadence glared at Chrysalis before huffing, “Fine.”

“Good. Now, Cadence, would you have an issue watching over little Atalanta for the duration of the campaign? You are the only one I can think of who is connected enough to the little one to provide her the right amount of love and protection I think she will flourish in.” Celestia had integrated herself between the two mares and guided them with her wings over their flanks and withers towards lunch. Atalanta was levitated and deposited upon her mother’s back. She laughed happily at the sensation of being levitated.

The queen allowed herself to be guided. This was all foolishness! She could not understand why Cadence had to be chosen, of all ponies. Part of it had to be Celestia retaliating in some sort of sick and twisted way. Maybe she was trying to replace her with Cadence? That would be impossible to do, as her daughter’s link was firmly and irrevocably established.

Before she knew it, she was seated before the food and her stomach growled. Ah, food. The universal peace offering, laced with enough love to make a fat and happy changeling fatter and happier. Chrysalis was reminded painfully of what love gluttony had done as her gaze roved over towards the pink princess. Cadence was holding Atalanta between her forehooves from her seat on her side of the table.

When did…?

She glanced at her back in alarm, found it empty, then jerked her head back towards her daughter’s new chosen seat. How dare she gurgle happily! How dare she throw love at her mother! How dare she try to be the peacekeeper!

“You little traitor…” Chrysalis murmured with a sudden smile. Life simply was not fair and her rage was not being given a chance this day. The smile disappeared quickly, lest the alicorns catch her enjoying the sight of an adorable nymph in the hooves of a reputed nympho. Of course, that could have just been Shining Armor’s perception of his one and only true love, she thought.

“I’ll do it,” Cadence announced, looking up from nuzzling Atalanta. “She’s so sweet and innocent. I can’t say no to her.”

“Excellent.” Celestia beamed. “Chrysalis? Your thoughts?”

“Trampled, it would seem,” complained the changeling as she rolled her eyes.

Atalanta chirped in sympathetic agreement, “Ma!”

"I would rather be playing hostess to an irritable dragon in the midst of shedding," mused Celestia. "Unfortunately, there is not one around when a dragon is needed."

Author's Note:

When will the madness end?

I hope I portrayed how Cadence and Chrysalis would react to each other accurately enough to be believable. Naturally, there is no love lost between the two of them, but given I believe Cadence has a natural love for children of any race, she would be quick to agree in watching over Atalanta while her mother goes off to face a threat that is as equal a threat to Equestria as it is towards our favorite changeling queen.

Adorableness trumps all, after all.

Edited by DJ_Neon_Lights.

Soon, it begins...