7- Apotheosis
Arc 2: First Fang
As Chrysalis left the room, I felt a huge yawn wrack my body. Rather than look the gifted pony in the mouth and question why she was suddenly letting me have a day off, I decided to take a nap. This rigorous schoolwork was very tiring, after all.
I curled up on one of the chairs by the fireplace, and went to sleep.
Or at least, tried to. No matter how I repositioned myself, I just could not get comfortable. I shifted, tossed, and turned, but nothing worked. I decided a different spot would probably do the trick. I crawled over to the couch, and tried laying on that. Still, I could not get comfortable. Keeping my eyes open was an effort at this point. I was exhausted but no rest ever came.
‘Those changeling larva I saw when I first hatched seemed to love to fall asleep on Chrysalis’s legs, maybe there’s merit to that. Do changeling larva naturally fall asleep on vertical surfaces?’
I got off the couch and started to scale the fireplace itself, eventually reaching a point halfway up, and tried to get some shut-eye. Yet again, sleep did not come. However, I did feel somehow a bit more comfortable.
‘Closer… Higher, maybe?’
My mind was still awash from the different definitions, formulas, and facts from my lectures that I couldn’t focus on anything but going to sleep. Even when I made it all the way to the ceiling, my thoughts drifted only towards rest.
‘Almost… Need, uh, dunno, a blanket? Something to wrap myself in… There we go.’
A warmth had wrapped around me; I was snug, comfortable, and safe. Finally, sleep took me.
After thirty minutes, Chrysalis opened the door. Prince Phasmatodea was missing. Instead, an iridescent chrysalis hung above the fireplace.
The queen smiled at her namesake, a fanged grin pulled up the corners on both sides of her muzzle.
“Sleep well, my little prince. You will need your energy when you wake.”
She shut the door and trotted off to the throne room to begin working through the backlog of tasks that had piled up in her absence.
There, she took up her throne, and the one changeling not in royal armor out of the thirteen present moved to bow in front of her. Chamberlain Eucharis had been sent for when Queen Chrysalis was still waiting outside of her study.
“My Queen, your itinerary is ready. A debriefing with Intelligencer Ocelli is the first time.”
Intelligencer Ocelli was the head of the infiltrator operations. If she wanted a debriefing, then she believed she had found something worth notifying Chrysalis. Ocelli’s judgement had been correct when bringing in past information, so this was most likely important.
‘If only more drones had her wit.’
“Good. I will see her at once, fetch the Intelligencer.”
The Chamberlain left, and later returned, at a rapid pace. He brought with him a guest.
“My Queen,” Intelligencer Ocelli bowed, “I thank you for the honor of meeting with me.”
Queen Chrysalis didn’t react.
“I have brought news from the newest infiltrations of the pony city of Baltimare. Collection of news printings has proven most wise, My Queen.”
The monarch continued to stare.
“Uh, our findings have greatly improved our information network! We have discovered the existence of a second alicorn princess. A princess of love!”
That got a reaction. “A second alicorn, a princess of love? You will tell me everything.”
‘There hasn’t been an alicorn of love since…’ Chrysalis trailed off in thought.
I dreamt with perfect clarity about alien worlds.
I dreamt I was walking through a jungle valley. Mountains ringed a dense green canopy. In front of me lay the roots of a tree bigger than the ring mountains, a tree that could only be called a World-Tree. Its massive branches supported entire ecosystems, its trunk casted a shadow that blocked out the sun, its roots tunneled and burrowed through the jungle for thousands of miles.
There was an orchestra of bird calls filling the air and a small sapling grew at the mountain-tree’s base. Despite the World-Tree’s shadow, the forest around it did not shrink in size where the shadow lay. The jungle was feeding off the root system of the World-Tree itself.
The nearby flora couldn’t hold a candle to the World-Tree’s majesty.
The world around me vanished and I found myself in a crowded city. I was on a packed sidewalk, going against the flow of pedestrians. There was a bright light coming from a distant skyscraper, it’s black and white form dominating the skyline.
The street was flooded with noise, but I couldn’t make any specifics out. It seemed like there were a number of conversations going on, but all the words sounded like gibberish.
I tried getting someone’s attention, but he ignored me and continued on.
Then, I was floating in an open, calm sea. I felt the pull of different currents, present even up here on the surface. I could sense the ocean floor beneath me. At places, it was close to the surface, reefs and shoals of fish bountiful. In others, it was far below, a desolate waste. Small waves seemed to rise up and crash upon themselves at random, but they never did more than send ripples across the water. It was quiet; it was calm.
In the distance, a massive summer storm was coalescing into a dark hurricane.
Finally, I found myself in a black void, looking up at a starry night sky. Only, instead of pinpricks of white light scattered across a black canvas, I saw entire galaxies fill up the sky, almost seeming to fight each other for space. Whites, yellows, reds, and blues painted themselves across the horizons. Blues shifted from light cyans to deep violets. Yellows flowed from light ambers to hot oranges.
If I focused hard enough, I swear I saw the galaxies pulse, ebb, and flow. They seemed to move as if in a breeze.
At the very top of the heavens, a supermassive spiral galaxy commanded my attention. It was at an angle, so it should have blocked out anything behind it, yet I could see other galaxies bleeding through the spiral galaxy’s light. One single large arm stretched itself downwards from the heavens, touching the distant horizon. The massive glowing tendril stretched down a distance beneath me into the black void.
With nothing better to do, I moved towards it. I didn’t have a form, I noticed. I was just a blob of dull orange light.
I took the time to think about my new life. Chrysalis was running me ragged with the endless lessons. Showing my intelligence so early on might have been a mistake, but it’s not like I did it on purpose anyways. Besides, who would want to live out their baby years normally, anyways?
I sure as hell didn’t want to crawl around, cry, and shit myself until I could pretend to learn how to speak. I just now realized that bug-mom sacrificed my would-be childhood– nymphhood?– to train me to be a ruler. I would be more upset over that if it wasn’t for the fact that I already had a childhood, complete with actual caring parents.
I wasn’t sure that Chrysalis loved me. Was she even capable of caring for others? Or was she entirely dedicated to keeping her place at the top? And where are my siblings? I knew from one or two off-hoof comments that I was not her first larva that she raised personally.
‘Off-hoof? Did I really just think that?’ I pressed onwards, my mind wandering from topic to topic.
Reaching the arm took seconds and years, minutes and decades, hours and epochs. It stood before me, stretching out indefinitely to either side. I could not see its ends, nor could I see through it anymore.
It was composed of more specks of light than I could fathom. Just in the section in front of me where white, red, blue, and yellow specks that numbered more than the grains of sand on any beach.
I reached out a glowing orange arm, and touched it.
At once, I could feel the thrum of each of the galaxies up above. They beat like a heart, like a pulse was traveling through them, its source beyond one of the horizons.
Then, I heard a whisper from below call out to m-
-seven ponies in a ring, an eighth bled in the center, the blood spilling out to form a seven pointed star-
-a unicorn falls asleep at her desk, snoring loudly into a notebook-
-an army marches in lockstep, their forms obscured, but light filtered through holes in their legs-
A field of white petaled flowers rested beneath a full moon. There were craters and pockmarks on the moon, resembling the head of a unicorn.
It turned to face me.
I jerked awake. At least, I would have, if I were not tightly bound up in something hard. As such, I twitched awake. I couldn’t see anything.
‘Oh not this shit again!’
I pressed outwards with all my might and my bindings broke easily. Gravity took hold of me and I fell all the way to the floor, my rear hitting the mantle above the fireplace, flipping me over midair. I landed on my back with a loud thump.
“Ow…”
Thankfully, my carapace stopped the cold, hard stone floor from injuring me seriously. Still hurt, though.
‘Wait, carapace? When did that happen?’
I looked at the rest of my body; I was a full changeling now. Or, at least a nymph. I resembled a normal changeling but with much smaller proportions. Four legs, a tail, and other protruding parts. Unlike the other changelings, my legs were solid: no holes in sight.
I looked around the room; it was a bit different, the bookshelf across the room seemed more full, bug-mom’s desk was mostly cleared of the papers that were on it last night, and the couch had actual pillows now.
‘Aw man! I would’a given her my shopping list if I knew she was headed to Bed Bugs & Beyond!’
Speaking of the chitinous devil, the door opened and Queen Chrysalis stepped through. When she saw me, she paused and smiled. A chill went up my spine when she inspected me with those bright green cat-eyes.
She looked like she was eyeing up a slab of meat in a butcher’s shop rather than greeting her son.
“Welcome back, Prince Phasmatodea.”
‘If she licks her lips, I’m running. Wait, back?’
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He touched the weave? And someone noticed...
Interesting
Great Chapter. I am way to invested in this story already!
I closed my eyes and dreamt the world into existence
Now this is some good fanfiction.
10507580
seem like nightmare moon or luna noticed
Even though this story is new, it's easily one of the best changeling stories I've read right beside Acceptance by Riddle-Me-Think.
sounds like a good read i might read it when you get more chapters out
I finally caught up! This is by far the best Changeling story I've read thus far on this site! I can't wait to read more!
10508115
10509471
Thanks guys, as well as everyone who is following the story. That really means a lot to me!
I require more LOV- I mean CHAPTERS!!!
Man I just love how Chrysalis is written in this
Luna says hi
10537930
Mmmh, I would say its not Luna at this point.
Let's all say hi to Nightmare moon, then slowly back away; I hear her vision is based on movement.
How long was he developed? Well i guess ones hes mature he can give her strong eggs.
I guess Chrysalis always stays inside the Hive and uses her offspring for offensiv actions. Ones the Princess or Prince is 'used up' the next get developed or something like that...
So Cadance was just discovered before cocooning, that makes it about 23 years before season opening?
Is it just me, or is this visions of the future?
I’m really like Phasma a lot right now
Here comes the bride...(in however years after this scene the wedding happens.)
10813312
Don't post spoilers on earlier chapters
10537930
Well, it was a dream... Kinda.
it is really good so far well onto the next chapter
Princess of Food!?! Yay!!
OK, so now we know WHEN the thing is happening. Here's hoping it will go better in this universe...
10652127
It could also be a GOT reference.
Lot's of gory, unpleasant, gruesome, brutal ways to die straight ahead.
We readers have so many questions, some even unanswered in the sequel up to date.
Great chapter!