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No-Good Bug1,121 words
All Work and No Play...1,049 words
We Are One1,714 words
A Midnight Meeting1,111 words
In Which Chrysalis Attempts to Go Home717 words
Homecoming2,828 words

Homecoming

Upon reappearing in the main cavern of the hive, Chrysalis was surprised by one thing - it was empty. The perhaps three hundred voices flooded back into her mind, but they seemed eerily quiet, speaking in hushed whispers, and there were no lings - ponies? - in sight.

She heard a gasp behind her and turned to realize that the fillies were looking around in awe. It was simply a very large cave, nothing more. They hadn't seen anything yet.

"Come along, children," she called, her voice echoing in the silence.

"C-Chryssie?" Apple Bloom asked, voice hushed. "What is this room?"

"This? The entrance room. We have parties in here - used to have parties in here."

"Like Pinkie Pie parties?"

"What? I have no idea. We had them when I was very young, before Mother- left."

Apple Bloom hugged her gently, or rather, since Chrysalis was very tall, hugged her leg. "I'm sorry." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded in unison.

"It's alright. I remember so little of her now anyways..."

"What was she like?" Scootaloo asked eagerly, trotting alongside her as she walked toward the next room.

"Tall. Black. Hooves with holes, jagged horn. Not the same as my horn, though; all queens have different horns."

"That's not what she was like, though," Apple Bloom said in a scolding tone.

"Oh, fine. She had the most beautiful green mane, always done up in a bun, and she told me it was to look professional. That's mostly what I remember about her - professional. Focused. Very precise. She had checklists, daily checklists, and she would just bring them around with her in saddlebags - saddlebags, just like a commoner - and check things off as they were completed. Once or twice a month, she would finish early and that's when we'd have parties - she'd let her mane down and dance her heart out with all the others, as though they were all the same."

"Can you dance?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Can I - oh, no. It's been ages, and I don't like to listen to the music anymore. It reminds me of her too much. Before she - left, she asked me to play music for her, just to comfort her, and I loved her so much that of course I said yes. I turned on the music and went to get a healer, only to come back and see her dead on the floor, music stopped."

There was a pause.

"She died with a smile on her face. How do you say it? Dancing like there's no tomorrow. And because she danced, it never came."

Another pause. Chrysalis stopped and looked at the ground.

"Tomorrow came for me. It keeps coming. She would have gotten better, the old fool, and instead she insisted on dancing and look where it got her!" Her voice rose to a shout. "She left me, sixteen years old, and all because she wanted to DANCE!"

"Chryssie, it's okay to be sad-"

"I'm not sad! I'm angry! She had a duty to her people, to watch over and protect them, and she let dancing come first, and now the responsibility falls to me. There's no more music. There's no more dancing." Chrysalis stopped looking at the ground and marched onward.

"There's no more life."

She didn't know which of the three said it, but it made her pause. They had food in those days - no need for this silly infiltration game. She'd never paid attention where the food came from - it was just love. They survived purely on love. Once Mother left, they had to scavenge for solid food as well, to fill the aching. Until she had the brilliant idea of an invasion of the pony capital - Canterlot.

Still she marched onward, through a tunnel into a much larger main cave. Slime curtains formed walls and rooms, stores lining either side of the cavern. Changelings were everywhere here, buying and selling, though their voices were hushed, their heads lowered, and the entire room tasted of sorrow.

As she entered, heads turned, and there was a collective gasp as all the changelings recognized their queen. Instantly, all of them bowed.

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo." Chrysalis grinned. "Welcome to the hive."

Their eyes were wide, not in fear, but in wonder.

"They really do look like ponies," Apple Bloom blurted out.

There was some murmured hissing in her mind. Hastily, she tried to explain what she had realized during her stay at the Apple farm. Many of them made noises of assent. Many more made confused noises, and a small minority made angry, disapproving, disagreeing sounds. She sighed; there would be time to explain and analyze and argue later. For now, she had guests.

And a queen never left her guests waiting.

"Alright, children. Where shall we go next?"

Scootaloo wanted to go to the dungeon, wherever they kept pony prisoners and sucked all their love out. Instantly, a bitter taste of horror came flooding from the crowd of changelings, and Sweetie Belle glanced at Apple Bloom nervously. Chrysalis gagged on the taste and assured Scootaloo that there was no such thing, love was gathered by infiltrators in other lands and brought back to the hive.

The orange pegasus sighed. "Fine. How about the throne room?"

"Apple Bloom?"

"Uh... throne room's fine by me."

"Sweetie Belle?"

She was gone.

Chrysalis fought the panic rising in her mind and began sending out mental orders. Guards, to me. Everyling else, return to your daily business. The sounds of hooves against the floor told her that her orders were being followed.

Guards, fan out and find a small white unicorn filly. Do not threaten or harm her in any way. Once she is found, please bring her to the throne room, where I will be waiting.

The guards nodded and began to weave through the main cave, searching.

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo. I am only going to say this once - you are to stay directly behind me and do not wander off." With that said, she trotted briskly toward the throne room, glancing back every so often to make sure they were still there.

Once they had arrived in a smaller cave which served as the throne room, she paused. The fillies were panting for breath.

"Goodness, I'm sorry about all that running. Don't worry, they'll definitely find her - she can't have gotten very far, and... and I'm rambling again. Um... hey, would you like some tea?"

They nodded.

"Alright." She sat on her throne - a crude rock sculpture cushioned with a layer of slime - and rang a small bell with her magic.

A changeling mare - for Chrysalis supposed she had fully accepted that changelings were ponies - appeared through a small opening next to the throne. "Yes, my Queen?"

"Iridescence, please bring three- no, four cups of tea, and three chairs." The changeling smiled and nodded, though Chrysalis could tell she was confused. Oh, please let Sweetie Belle get back soon.

"So, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo. While we're waiting for our tea, are there any questions you have about changelings?"

"Why do you have holes in your hooves and mane... and tail... and wings... Why so many holes?"

She laughed. "They aren't actually holes. The fibers in my mane and tail just have transparent sections, forming patches of clear hair that appear like holes. My wings are the same way, although some of those holes are actually rips and tears that never healed properly. My hooves... we don't have many doctors down here, but the ones we do have say that the fur, skin, bones, everything, has turned transparent - that's the best I've got."

"Are you alicorns?"

"What?! No, though if we are ponies, then I suppose alicorns would have a bit of changeling in them as well."

"Why do you have fangs?"

"I don't know if you know this, but it's almost impossible for things to grow in the Badlands, and those that do are firmly rooted in the ground. We use our fangs to bite into them and rip them out. I suspect that a long time ago, our ancestors did eat meat, but that's scarce here as well, so we don't eat it anymore."

My queen, we have found the filly. She was- there was a pause. We are bringing her to the throne room now.

"Good news. Sweetie Belle's being brought here as we speak. Oh, and here's Iridescence with your chairs."

The changeling mare, who had a shimmering white mane and tail, both done up in an elaborate braid, set the three chairs across from the throne. "Your tea will be ready in just a moment, your majesty."

The fillies eagerly hopped onto the chairs as Chrysalis levitated a large, round stone over to serve as the table and smiled at them.

"Oh! There's someling - er, somepony - I want you to meet." Butterfly, could you come to the throne room, please?

There was an audible sigh of frustration echoing through the zan'ji. Of course, Mother dear, a voice responded sarcastically.

Don't take that tone of voice with me, young nymph.

She could hear a buzzing, which indicated that her daughter had started getting angry, but it was cut off a second later.

"Sorry about that - oh, here's Sweetie Belle!" For the filly had indeed returned... and she was smiling about something. Chrysalis decided she didn't want to ask. The guards gave each other odd looks before marching to the entrance of the throne room and keeping watch.

"Anyway. Hello, Sweetie Belle. I was just answering some of your friends' questions about changelings, and there's tea coming in just a second, if you'll take a seat."

Obediently, the filly sat, mischievous grin still on her face. Chrysalis yawned, subtly tasting the air: mischief, a tiny bit of guilt... and an overwhelming sense of pride.

She didn't run away because she was scared...?

Iridescence reappeared, tray balanced perfectly on her back and a bowl of sugar held aloft in her magic. "Four cups - ah. Four cups of tea, your majesty." She smiled and set the bowl of sugar down precisely in the center of the table, then passed a cup of tea to each pony. "Careful, they're still hot."

Chrysalis politely thanked the servant and dismissed her, inwardly sighing. None of the cups matched; they had all been stolen from ponies. Everything we own is stolen from ponies. They were still vibrantly colored due to lack of use, something that made her grateful.

She levitated the cup to her lips - oh, how nice it was to use magic again - and took a sip, wincing at the heat. Bland as always. She levitated a cube of sugar into her tea, hesitated, then levitated two more. The fillies had put in five cubes each before tasting it, and so apparently didn't notice the blandness.

Ah, nymphs. So blind and optimistic. Was she jealous... yeah, she was jealous. Just a little bit.

The fillies whispered among themselves quietly for a few minutes. Excitement, secrecy, and that same overwhelming pride. Hmm...

Three sets of bright eyes turned to her at once. "So, Chrysalis, I have a question about changelings," Sweetie Belle said.

She nodded and took another sip of tea.

"Why do you need love if you can eat regular food?"

"... Good question. It's- difficult to explain. For starters, we can't disguise ourselves or create portals without love - in that sense, it's a power source. It also does feed us the way physical food does, but the effect lasts for a much shorter time. Therefore, we take love to disguise ourselves to take more love to disguise ourselves to take more love. I think you see where this is going. Seeing as food is scarce here, love is easier - and it doesn't cost money to receive either." It costs lives. "We can also transfer love to other changelings, so we send infiltrators to gather love from ponies and bring it back to feed anyling - anypony - who needs to stay behind, like the caretakers and nymphs."

The fillies nodded thoughtfully.

Just then, Butterfly burst in through the servant's entrance, wings buzzing wildly. "Hello, Mother."

Chrysalis groaned. "And this is my daughter, Princess Butterfly."

Chia burst in right after, calling, "Butterfly, you know we're not supposed to go through the servant's entrance!"

The changeling merely laughed. "She asked me to come to the throne room. She didn't say anything about using the regular entrance. Besides, the look on her face is worth it." Both stopped and looked at the three fillies. "Um, hello," they said in unison. The CMC waved in response.

"I'm Butterfly," the changeling announced proudly. She had a curly pale-blue mane and tail, and her mouth seemed to be permanently fixed in a fanged grin.

"Princess Butterfly," the other corrected. "And I'm Chia." She smiled shyly, revealing small fangs. Unusually, she was a white changeling, with a long, flowing dark blue mane and tail, with turquoise streaks running through. "Princess Chiaroscuro, but... everyone just calls me Chia."

"We're twins," Butterfly added, as though it should be obvious. "Also best friends."

"And yet, I only summoned Butterfly to the throne room," Chrysalis added dryly.

"You can't pretend Chia doesn't exist, Mother," Butterfly snapped. "She is a princess too, even more than I am. You can't pretend that she's not real just because you're embarrassed-"

"ENOUGH!" Chrysalis roared, horn lighting on instinct. Butterfly's horn flared to life too, with a matching green glow-

And a pink shield was thrust between them. "I- I think that's enough. I was right, Butterfly. You shouldn't have dragged me here." Chia turned to go, tail dragging on the ground. In a flash, Butterfly was at her side, draping a paper-thin wing over her affectionately. "No, don't say that. You know I never have any idea what to say for these Royal Meetings."

Chia smiled and continued to walk out. Butterfly glared at her mother. "We thought you were dead," she spat. "Now you show up and boss me around and treat her like garbage once more. I- I wish- ala enkuyan!"

Iridescence, who had come to see why there was shouting, gasped. Chrysalis froze.

Butterfly turned, head held high, and fled the room.

"Did... did you truly think I was...?"

"Yes, kuyan. We... your funeral... was planned for tomorrow..." Tears welled up in the mare's eyes.

To have mourned a Queen so soon after a failed invasion... A tragedy that has never before occurred to the Hive. "It's alright. I'm here now."

"Wait, what did Butterfly say?" Scootaloo demanded.

"Essentially, she just told me that she no longer considers me her mother."

"That's... harsh." Sweetie Belle offered.

"I think I should bring you home, children. I am sorry that you had to see this." She expected them to bow their heads in disappointment that they had failed their cause, perhaps beg to stay for a little while longer.

She did not expect all three of them to perk up and smile at each other.

"Sure!" Sweetie Belle said. "Can we just... go walk back through the hive?"

Something was odd about this request. But she nodded.

They walked back into the main cavern, which was completely empty. Chrysalis sniffed the air subtly. Sweetie Belle's smile seemed to get wider the closer they got the the entrance hall, and come to think of it, she could hear... she could hear music.

And Chrysalis walked into a full-on party, with changelings dancing, playing music, laughing-

Living.

Author's Note:

And here's where I reveal my lack of tea knowledge. I shall dodge this by using vague language to describe the tea!
Anyway, this chapter is very exposition heavy, and a lot of it is headcanon, but hopefully everyone liked it. I feel that it's very important for the CMC to know what they're dealing with before they try to help everyone get cutie marks, and the answer to why changelings are markless is in there.
Chia's name is 100% inspired by The Tale of Desperaux, but given her parents, I felt that it fit.
Also, I was worried about having to mark this AU due to "The Times They Are a Changeling," but I think it's okay. I may go back and change a few things, like Starlight's reaction to Chrysalis in the first chapter.

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