Queen Chrysalis Reforms (Accidentally)

by RainbowDoubleDash

Informing the Hated Ones

Dear Thorax,

I hate you with every fiber of my being. One day I will overthrow you and resume my rightful place as Queen of the Changelings, and on that day you and Starlight Glimmer and all your other precious new friends will suffer. My vengeance shall be terrible, but it shall not be swift, oh no. It will be long and protracted.

That being said…I have some questions. As your Queen I demand they be answered.

1. As far as I am aware I remain the only changeling with hair. Is that true? If not, may I ask what shampoo that changeling is using? I’m trying something new with my mane and tail.
2. What kind of cleaning agents do you recommend for Reformed changeling fuzz? Asking for a friend confidant bug I know.
3. Reformed changelings generate their own love. Is there a limit to this, or can I expect each Reformed changeling to gradually grow in power without limit? Can a Reformed changeling be ‘full’?
4. I think you’re a queen (biologically! That was not recognition! I hate you!) now, so, queen to queen, if you don’t mind…how long are your wings? Because I think mine are longer.

With hate and strangulation, your Queen and mother,

— Chrysalis

Comments

[HowMuchWood]

Ha, great ending. Chrysalis is so confused.

[thatguyvex]

Okay, this was pretty hilarious from start to finish! A part of me wouldn't mind seeing Chrysalis go full "reform" mode in the show, especially if she was grumpy and complaining about it. On the other hand, I like her as she is and would love to see her, Tirek, and Cozy remain as a sort of "Team Rocket" of the MLP universe.

At any rate, very amusing story good sir.

[Ebonysdagger]

That is a great way to end a letter. I'll have to try that someday.

[Tangent]

Dear Chrysalis,

I'm sorry that you feel that way, Mother, but I hope that one day we can grow past this and move on with our respective lives. I will, however, remain on guard against your plots for retaking the throne, as will my brother, General Pharynx, whom I have also alerted to your message. As to your questions:

1: As far as I am aware, you remain the only changeling with actual hair when in default form. Some of my subjects have been experimenting, but thus far their results indicate that their hair takes on the properties of the creature they are imitating. I'm not sure if this helps, but there you go.

2: Glossy Coats & Manes is a fairly popular brand among changelings at the moment. I've used it myself and find that it does the job admirably well. You're friend minion should be able to mail order a supply via catalogue.

3: As near as we've been able to determine so far, while we no longer feel hunger, constant or otherwise, for love, the upper capacity varies from changeling to changeling, with a hard limit on the upper capacity to store stolen love. We're not sure what, if any, upper limit applies to freely given love, only that if there is such a limit, it is higher than our upper capacity to hold stolen love. Or so I am told, given that I have not stolen love myself since Operation Canterlot Wedding.

4: According to Princess Twilight, biologically speaking, both Pharynx and I are male, thus I am a king and he is a prince. Granted, either of us can change gender on a whim, so the point is probably moot in the grand scheme of things. However, to answer your question, my wings while in my current base form are three and one quarter standard horns long from base to tip.

With Love and Regret,
King Thorax

Yo, Old Hag,

General Pharynx here. Thorax showed me the letter you sent.

Seriously!? You reformed!? You!?

I gotta find out how that happened!

Still, reformed or not, I trust you about as far as I can throw Dragon Lord Ember's dad, so don't expect any sympathy from me.

With mutual contempt,
General Pharynx

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

That was kind of silly and fun.

[PhycoKrusk]

Oh, Chrysalis. Never change.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9653072

Go get yourself a cookie. In fact, go get two cookies.

[Cloud Hop]

Now I really want a sequel where a reformed Chrysalis shows up at the new hive and almost immediately tries to kill Pharynx after he falls over laughing.

[Mossy Pages]

Snnnnnnrk.
It’s awesome/amazing.

[Mossy Pages]

9653104
Forget just two cookies!
Take ALL the cookies..

[Eroraf86]

9653072 9653104 9653323
What a coincidence, I just happen to have some nice, soft, freshly baked ginger molasses cookies right here. Since I haven't quite worked out teleportation to unknown destinations, I'll just eat them for you.

[Mossy Pages]

9653381
Splendid idea. Enjoy, friend!

[Skittlebug]

9653072
Yes.

[djthomp]

That was great.

[Vaguely Demented]

And Thorax, reasonable changeling that he is, happily wrote back with all the answers. Then Pharynx slapped him.

[Dirty Bit]

What an end. Chrysalis is still struggling with her new identity. Won't be long until her hate of Thorax fizzles out.

9653072 That was beautiful! Do as RDD said and get you those cookies that you deserve.

[FredMSloniker]

9653072
What's this? A comment continuing a fic someone else wrote? And it's not in Never the Final Word, Volume 2? A PM to FanOfMostEverything ought to put a stop to that! </drbeesreference>

[titanhades70]

It is obvious that Starlight is going to reform Queen Chrysalis. They have been following that story arc for going on 4 seasons now. It would really make the show look bad if they suddenly ignored CONTINUITY in its last season. It would become no different than Game of Thrones last season.

[Accurate Balance]

Oh! Oh! Here is what I have been expecting for two weeks after watching the episode.

Edited: And only after reading this did I realise that I could not write something alike now. Not a short and easy one-shot, at least. [Insert Sad Pony Noises]

[Tangent]

9653552
And PM'd FanOfMostEverything with the submission. Thanks!

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9653831 9653552
If he’s on board, I am!

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9653802
I actually started a version of this that had Chrysalis hiding her reformation from Cozy, Tirek, and Grogar, then flying off to some beach resort to try and think and find a way to fix herself and figure out what Reformation means. But Cozy noticed and followed, and learns that Chrysalis changed, and she is sooooooo gonna tell Grogar!

Meanwhile, at the School of Friendship, Ocellus’ elytra and Gallus’ crest feathers start glowing...their first Friendship problem needs solving!

Or would that be FIENDship?

But anyway, I realized that it’d be drawing out the joke for way too long and bringing in too many unnecessary characters. So we got this instead.

[DominiusTWD]

this was great, def one of the best Queen Chrysalis reformation designs ever.
Also, moving from true evil to criminally negligent is a huge turnover!

[Accurate Balance]

9653845
Sounds really nice. How I hope that is a thing.

[Alondro]

9653845
Chrysalis, "I need to find a way to become an evil, sociopathic monster again!"

Chrysalis becomes a lawyer.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9654039
Or a dentist.

[Mossy Pages]

9653594
Lol, nah man.
*shudders*
Like, seriously.
NO.

[tzening]

Can’t she change back to her old look like any other disguise? I mean the only thing stopping the Changelings from choosing to go back to their previous forms is due to the whole “evil past” thing, meaning that it’s a psychological thing. That and they probably can’t remember the position of their holes.

BTW, what’s the progress on the Lunaverse?

[nioniosbbbb]

I want to see Thorax's reaction.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9654166
Assuming another form takes magic, or at least that’s how I choose to think of it (else why wouldn’t changelings always charge into battle in dragon form?) So, yes, she could look like her old self, but she’d be consuming magic in the process, and the gain from her (new) ability to create love might not equal the cost to maintain that form.

As well, I like to think that when a changeling transforms into something, they are that thing, inside and out. So on top of draining magic to maintain the classic look, Chrysalis would be a classic changeling and so depleting love/magic from that, while also not creating any love for herself while in classic form. In other words she’d be getting hungrier faster than before.

Finally, I like to think that a changeling can hold a given form for only so long before natural reflex forces them to assume their regular form again, even if only for a few minutes. Think of it as being like how you can’t possibly hold your breath long enough to suffocate; with the best training in the world you’d at most only make yourself pass out.

BTW, what’s the progress on the Lunaverse?

Gradually waking up from out lethargy. A new story was just added by ZapAppleSmash; yesterday I updated Treasure Hunt and will be getting back to For a Few Bits More. ThatGuyVex is working on the next Contest of Champions chapter, and I think I’ve got a bead on an author who wants to write a story set during Cadance’s 1,000th birthday.

Oh, and I’ve started working on the penultimate episode of the season, though I won’t post it until For a Few Bits More is done. Then the (way too long in the making) season 2 finale can begin: The Final Fall of the Tyrant Sun

[Xanderfox]

The issue I have is the "chapter" length, sorry but under 1000 words just doesn't feel like a chapter, fells like this should have been 1 chapter with over 7000 words not 7 under 1000.

Content wise I enjoying, Chryssy freaking out is funny and I like how she still feels the need to make things a d@&k measuring contest when it comes to wing size.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9654212
I’m fine with considering 9653072 the canonical response.

9654235
The chapter thing was a stylistic choice. I actually feel, personally, like it flows better than if it was a single chapter with chapter breaks, or by trying to narrate what happened between each chapter break.

But, I can see the argument for otherwise. Like I said, it was a personal, stylistic choice.

Oh, by the way...Chryssy’s are bigger. As befits the True Queen!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Magnificent. The only way it could be better would be if Pinkie got lost and poked out of Chrysalis's floofy mane. Delightful "what if?" Thank you for it.

[Scyphi]

Heh. This was silly, and yet I almost want it to be canon. I could see the show having a lot of fun with this idea, even if it is the last season.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9654960
Months I'd been hoping for something like this, ever since the synopsis for "Frenemies" was spoiled. That being said, I'm not at all bothered by the direction the show did choose to take. Like I said, "Frenemies" is easily in my top 5 for the entire series. Still, it could have been pretty amusing.

Mostly I'm just imagining Chrysalis, Reformed, returning to the Hive. Thorax is glad that she's come around and is willing to make amends. Ocellus is happy to see her mom again and holds out a hoof. Pharynx is on the ground laughing and ruining the moment.

Actually that scene still could happen, I suppose...

[Scyphi]

9654974
Yeah, I've been pretty happy with the direction this season has been going too.

But still...for the record...

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9655061
Note that, due to Chrysalis changing and the distraction it caused, the three of them did not have a moment of realization where they deliberately chose to not be friends. In particular Chrysalis is a bit too distracted with her own problem to talk Cozy and Tirek into remaining enemies with her and each other.

[Godslittleprincess]

This was fun.

[mrk]

Surprised she didn’t just transform to look like her old, sexy self.

Wait, she’s dumb.

Not surprised after all. :)

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9655129
Reasoning behind it is covered here, 9654229

[Yosh-E-O]

This was very fun. It's certainly a different take on how the episode ended. It also makes a lot of sense, too.

I loved the letter here. Oh, Chrysalis. Resistance is futile.

I also liked what happened when Chrysalis drained rusty Bucket's love. Her 'negligence' was delightful! :)

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9655202
Eh, she’s just somewhat emotional right now. And plus when draining Rusty Bucket didn’t revert her, she thought she was doomed to be Good.

I like to imagine her crying as she carried his unconscious form into bed, sobbing as she built a nice warm fire for him, weeping as she checked his pantry and letting out a little wail of despair when she found the cookies. She likes being evil! But now she has to be good!

Then Tirek and Cozy helped remind her that it’s not what’s on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

[Emtu]

I love the concept of this, but it could very easily have been a single chapter.

[The Great Derpsby]

9655065
I like to imagine a part of her planning to stab Tirek and Cozy Glow in the back... by turning them Good too. I don't know why, but I find the idea of Chrysalis trying to sate her need for revenge and betrayal into reforming the other two hilarious.

"Laugh at me, will you," the former Changeling queen muttered to herself, glaring at her reflection in the mirror. "I'll show you! I'll show you who has the last laughter!" Her left eye twitched. "And Kindness. And Generosity. And..."

[tsaukpaetra]

This was cute!

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9655594

"What is that." Headmare Twilight demanded. Properly it should have been a question, but it lacked the slight raise in pitch that Equestrian used to denote a question.

Ocellus blinked a few times, compound eyes allowing her to stare at the castle's map and what was depicted on there, as well as to take in the appearance of Twilight. The Headmare for the school of friendship looked more than a little bedraggled, strands of her mane popping out of place from her hooves having run through it over and over. The map, meanwhile, looked normal, except...

"Um," Ocellus said. "Well. That...that would be the old symbol for the Badlands Hive. The black crooked line in the middle is Chrysalis' horn, and of course you can probably recognize her wings. Um...no offense, Headmare Twilight, but I would have thought you'd recognize it."

"Mm-hmm...but it's not the new symbol? I wanted a second opinion."

"Oh no! Not at all. We're still trying to figure something out. The biggest faction, led by Prince-General Pharynx, wants to use Thorax's horns as the symbol. But King Thorax wants the symbol to instead be a circle in a rainbow of colors, representing all the changelings of the Hive. Pharynx says that would be super gay, but as far as I know he's just as pansexual as the rest of us are so I don't see the problem - "

"Ooohkay, getting a little off-topic," Twilight objected. "My point is...that is Queen Chrysalis' symbol. That'd be fair to say, right? Which would mean...that the cutie map is summoning her to deal with a friendship problem?! She is a friendship problem! What could possibly be going on?"

---

"So..." Chrysalis intoned. "How are my cupcakes? I've never actually baked before. I want your honest opinions."

Cozy and Tirek glanced at each other as a war took place in each of their mouths, a battle between their intellectual desire to swallow the 'cupcakes' and their instinctive need to spit them back out. Intellect finally won out. "They're, um...great!" Cozy lied like a Saddle Arabian carpet.

"Great! Because I made plenty more~!"

[The Great Derpsby]

9656137

She'd waited for the other two villains to leave, both still chewing, before she turned to the purple log propped up at the table.

"Phase one is complete," she hissed, baring her teeth. Her blunt, rounded teeth. "Using Tirek's gluttony against him was brilliant, as always! And Cozy Glow, no matter her pretensions, is till a pathetic pony! They fell into my trap with ease! Soon, they will literally eat out my hooves... unlike what somepony here claimed!"

She poked the log with her hoof. It wobbled and, slowly, tipped forward.

"How predictable of you, to bow down upon proof of my indisputable superioty. Though I suppose it is only right to beg for my forgiveness." Chrysalis turned around, head held high and regal as befitting a queen. "Consider your punishment voided. For the moment. Indeed I have more important things to do now that I have taken the first step to my eventual, glorious revenge. It is time to prepare for step two."

A flash of azure magic revealed a collection of small items, together with several rolls of string; gems, rocks, shells. Many of them adorned with tiny skulls.

"Yesss." Chrysalis drew out the word, a shudder of delight going down her spine. "This will do nicely. I will make them build their own yokes, to shackle them both to my will. They will make them with their own hooves and wear them to show their allegiance to me! They will become my fr—my fr—my victims," she finally choked out, turning cross-eyed for a second. She glowered at the painted piece of wood still at the table.

"Not. A. Word."

Friendship necklaces are serious business.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9656498

We can consider this canon, too.

[Scyphi]

9655230
Yeah, but by then it was still too late to go steal those cookies.

[RainbowDoubleDash]

9657296
Evidently not. It might be that it only counts if it’s with another changeling, or else maybe love and magic aren’t quite as closely equated with each other as this fic (and my fics in general) presume. Or maybe the writers just didn’t want to go that direction, or something.

But that’s what fanfics are for!