Change of Life

by Lil Penpusher

26 - Honor our valiant Queen

"Where is he?" Chrysalis demanded as she rushed into the small dorm of a Changeling. In front of her was only one Changeling, but that Changeling almost fell to the ground in shock as the Queen bursted into his home.

"M-My Queen! I-I..." He stuttered in shock. Chrysalis was not in the mood for such things, nor the time.

"Where is he!?" She repeated, yelling into his face this time while showing her fangs threatingly.

"I...I couldn't find him, I-" He was cut off as the queen's mouth opened, a green beam moving from the changeling's to her heart.

She was sucking him dry, making him pay and suffer for his failure.

The changeling struggled, feeling weaker and weaker by the second as Chrysalis drained him of his love energy. "No..! I...I'm...sorry! Please! Argh!" He collapsed to the through, rolling around in pain as he held his hooves at his heart as a stinging pain originated from it. He felt it become weaker, become smaller. Until, after a few mere seconds, it stopped beating. His last few bits of love were drained, and his heart lost the strength to go on.

His death was a silent one, dead from one moment to the other. Chrysalis eyed the dead changeling before her for a brief second, quickly turning back around and rushing out of the home of the deceased.

Outside was a brigade of Royal guards, standing at attention as their ruler stepped in front of them. Chrysalis stepped in front of two of the soldiers and commanded them to take care of the body in a way that the other changelings would not take note of his death. They saluted their queen, rushing into the room at the double.

Chrysalis thought for a brief moment. As angry as she was, she could not afford to lose more of her own kind before the actual battle had begun. She knew she would need every changeling in the hive to fight the Equestrians, but that time was not now.

She had immediately sent guards to all of the exits of the hive, to prevent an escape. She knew, however, that even with her guard's excellent training, they would face a tough enemy. 3 royal princesses, 2 of their own and a grand mage.

No, she knew she would not be able to prevent an escape like that. What she needed was what the changelings were best at: To lay a trap and ambush them. If she could somehow lure them into a trap then their escape attempt would be crushed. She would get her sweet, well-deserved revenge after all, and her subjects would bow to her in awe, she who crushed the equestrian nobility, the equestrian oppressors!

Chrysalis knew what she had to do. She called the guard to follow her close behind and ran off as fast as she could. There was no time to waste.

---

"Report." Chrysalis said as she entered the Military Headquarters of the hive. The room was filled with many changelings, most of which wore armor. The room was quite big, featuring two big wooden tables in the middle, which was a very rare sight for changelings as they usually refused to use wood and stone in their hives. The tables had big maps laid on top of them while many changelings were leaned over the table and carefully inspected the map. There was also an armory directly connected to the Headquarters, the biggest one in the hive, in fact. From it, one could find spears, swords, axes, bows and shields of all sorts.

"My Queen? What gives us the honor to have you with us?" Asked one of the changelings that stood in front of Chrysalis at one of the map tables, together with 3 other changelings. They all wore Feathered helmets, some with purple, others with red feathers sticking out on top of the helmet.

Chrysalis rushed towards the table, pushing the changeling away while ignoring his question. Exhausted from her sprint towards the Headquarters, she took a look at the map in front of her while breathing heavily. She did not care that the 4 changelings at the table were all staring at her in surprise and confusion.

"Ahem, anyways." Said a different changeling than before as he took off his helmet and put it on the table. "We have multiple sightings of the Princesses along this path." He reported, pointing his hoof at a point of the map.

"Excellent. Are the guards in pursuit yet?" Chrysalis asked the commander.

"We have sent our best to take care of those traitors, your highness." He told the queen confidently.

"Break off the pursuit." Chrysalis said in a monotone voice, eyeing the map and the path at which the traitors would be moving.

The others at the table were shocked. "Excuse me?" Asked the commander.

"I said break off the pursuit!" Chrysalis repeated, louder this time. The others winced slightly.

The commander couldn't trust his ears, was what he heard really true? Break off the pursuit and let those dirty traitors go? "But my queen, that would allow them to break through our outer defenses!" He stated, clearly opposed to Chrysalis' strategy.

Chrysalis slammed her right hoof on the table, leaving the others in fear and shock . "Are you questioning my orders? I think I have made myself perfectly clear!"

The room as a whole became quiet. All changelings, including those that stood at the table with Chrysalis, were shocked. Chrysalis herself took a few deep breaths, looking at the others at her table. She could hear quiet whispers behind her as the others in the room asked themselves what had caused such an outrage.

Chrysalis gulped and opened her mouth slowly. "We will send the guards to the outer perimeters and ambush them in the forest." She uttered.

The others at the table looked at each other with questioning looks. Chrysalis, having recovered from her brief moment of anger, knew she had to convince them of her plan. She could not afford uncertainty or even mutinies.

"I must remind you all, that we are the changelings. We do not simply rush forward and face the enemy head on." She began walking around the table, "But we hide in the darkest shadows of the night, we lurk in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, waiting for the moment when they let their guard down."

The changelings at the table turned their heads as Chrysalis walked around the table, some of them began nodding their heads at her speech.

"It is then that our armies descend onto our enemies. It is then that our foes fall before us. It is then that we as one shall rise from upon the battlegrounds as the victor."

Chrysalis' speech was increasingly met with enthusiasm as the first cheers echoed through the room. Many of the changelings in the room now gathered around Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself stopped as she came up to the commander that had questioned her orders before.

She walked up to him from behind, standing to his left. Her hooves moved towards the sheath on his left flank. Chrysalis carefully pulled the blade out of the sheath, inspecting it as she held it in both of her hooves. The commander himself was too afraid to look back to look at what she was doing with the sword. He was, in fact, expecting her to hurt him with it, if not straight up killing him.

Chrysalis had other things in mind though. "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." Said Chrysalis as she swung the blade through the air next to the still frightened commander. "Those who push for glory will have their heads cut off." Chrysalis promptly swung the blade at the commander's tail, cutting it in half. The commander was breathing deeply as he feared for his live.

"Battle would be for nothing..." Chrysalis leaned forward and laid the cold, iron blade on the left cheek of the commander who flinched at this. "...if not for great leaders. Leaders that inspire their troops to great deeds and sacrifices. Leaders that install fear in their enemies through their mere presence on the battlefield. Leaders whose legends shall be sung for many years to come."

Chrysalis turned the commander's head towards her by putting the blade under his chin. "Tell me..." She started in a whispery voice, "are you...a great leader?"

The commander tried saying something, yet all that came out of his mouth were stutters and loud breathing. Chrysalis was quite clearly disappointed at his reaction. She needed an army not lead by cowards, but by heroes. And the changeling in front of her certainly did not suit her depiction of a hero.

"You should feel ashamed. Serving in such a high position under my rule is an honor which I do not grant many, and certainly not easily. And you...you dare disgrace the military with such cowardice?"

"I..I am-" His defense had no use for Chrysalis, she knew he was not a changeling to lead an army such as hers.

"Dismissed, Private."

The changeling in question nodded his head slowly and carefully at his queen and stepped back from the table, slowly trotting off through the crowd that had formed around Chrysalis.

"Cowards are a parasite." Chrysalis said out loud to the crowd. "A parasite that easily infects every one around it. One that will destroy the morale of an army within hours, if not mere minutes. And with the fall of the army, our empire shall fall. With the fall of our empire, our race shall fall."

Her words left a bitter taste in the audience, one that Chrysalis knew how to exploit.

"It is for that reason why we must all rise up! We must stand together, united, and face our foes! Now is our chance to become heroes, legends. Our children shall sing songs of the battles we have won!" A loud cheering erupted in the crowd. A vicious smile formed on Chrysalis' face. "They shall celebrate the day we defeated our enemies!" Once again the crowd cheered, louder this time. "They shall thank us for the evil we have crushed!" The crowd cheered as loud as it could.

"And now: Join me! Follow me into battle as we crush or foes! Let us retake what is rightfully ours! And let us rot out the evil in this world! Today, my subjects, is the day we avenge our beloved ancestors! We shall crush whomever stands in our path! We shall make them pay for the things they have done to us!"

Most of the Changelings now unsheathed their weapons and held them in the air while cheering for the queen. The 3 officers at the table raised their swords and shouted "Long live the Queen!" on which the others in the room joined in. A choir of voices formed quickly as the cheering turned into the anthem of the changelings, a song written for Chrysalis' great-grandmother many hundred years ago, yet it was used as an anthem ever since.

With great pride, the changelings raised their voices for the anthem.

"Honor our valiant Queen,
Long live our fearsome Queen,
Long reign, our Queen!
Send her victorious,
Mighty and glorious,
Long to rule over us,
Long reign, our Queen!

O Mighty Hive arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Deceive their politics,
Lead our fateful tricks,
Our hearts on you we fix,
Long reign, our Queen!"