The Queen's Nightmare
Queen Chrysalis was walking down a wide street in a city.
The sky was gray, slightly cloudy. Tall buildings surrounded her. She was disguised as a regular unicorn with an olive coat, carrot colored mane, green eyes and a cutie mark depicting a ladybug standing above three leaves.
She was accompanied by a large group of Changelings also disguised as ponies. This was a reconnaissance mission in hopes of seeing if this metropolis might be a good target to harvest love.
The Queen was pleased that everything was going smoothly and none of the ponies around them were suspicious of her and hers subjects.
Suddenly a feeling that something was wrong creeps up on her. She didn't remember how she had come to this city whose name she couldn't remember. She recognized the costume she was wearing, It was one she had recently created to... do something... but to do 'What?'... the memory eluded her; and like the name of the city, she couldn't even remember when she had put it on.
If she squinted and concentrated, she could make out horns or wings, beaks or claws when they were griffons, but the faces of the creatures around them were a mass of blurred features, as if a brush had been dragged and twisted across a freshly painted canvas.
She began to feel extremely uneasy.
Suddenly, above her, the clouds part from each other and rays of the sun descend from the sky. But when the clouds dissipated, what was in the sky was not a normal sun, this star was a replica of Princess Celestia's cutie mark!
Once the beam of this faux sun reach them, bathing them in its light, it begins to burn their disguises, revealing their dark equine insectoids body.
Taken by surprise, Queen Chrysalis looks around desperately, discovering that the passing ponies have turned into colorful ghostly apparitions, with misty gray angry eyes on them. She and her Changelings begin to run in fear, wanting to escape from those entities.
In desperation the Queen flaps her wings and jumps into the sky, but the flight does not come! It is as if her wings find no resistance to propel her upwards.
Risking a glance back, she sees one of her Changelings being pounced by one of these gray-eyed ghostly creatures and entering inside him, much similar to a specter possessing a body. The Changeling displays a grimace of absolute terror and then emits a light from his chest, is lifted into the air and finally encased in a cocoon of light.
What remains after that spectacle is something that the Queen can no longer recognize as a Changeling, looking more like just another one of those colorful specters, with an unreadable expression and an eerie smile.
The Queen keep running, now through the streets of a town whose houses take on ridiculous and whimsical shapes, related to the type of business or service they seem to offer, shaking rhythmically from one side to the other.
Chrysalis becomes desperate as she can feel how every second that passes, more and more of her Changelings are attacked and possessed once they are caught, managing to see the flashes of light that they produce once their metamorphosis takes place; and, on the contrary, her pursuers gain followers who do not hesitate to join them in her pursuit, until she is finally left completely alone.
Escaping down a street lined with huge, dancing fruits and vegetables with fanciful shaped doors and windows, the Queen senses that something else is wrong. She is swaying her legs in a running motion, but she doesn't feel the impact of her hooves on the ground. Instead it seems that she is static, floating in mid air, and it is the houses, trees and buildings that move at high speed, becoming nothing but blurs around her.
Turning a corner, barely avoiding colliding with a cookie house, Chrysalis realizes that she is stuck at a dead end.
With anxiety running through her being, the Queen calls for her magic to make a hole in the wall or to become something that could easily climb it, but the magic goes out at the tip of her horn.
Finding herself with no escape, Chrysalis turns around, ready to face her adversaries. Taking a fighting stance and baring her teeth, she prepares to fight. If the Queen is going to fall, the Queen will go down fighting.
The first and closer apparition, a purple one, jumps on her. Chrysalis takes a bite, but the spectral creature passes through her as if it were intangible and collides with her right foreleg. Immediately the Queen sees with horror how her hoof turns lime green and her holes shrink until they disappear. More and more of those colorful ghosts jump on her, a yellow one, a blue one, a white and a orange one come next, producing a similar change where they touch her. One, who was once one of her Changelings companions, jump directly to her face and the first thing she noticed was how her fangs contracted until they disappeared, and while her barrel turned grayish blue, her face and neck took on a yellowish coloration, with strange heart-shaped protuberances sprouting around her neck. She could feel with horror the rest of the deformations that her body was being victim to. Her beautiful crooked horn straightened and curved in the front, her wings became round like those of a butterfly; The hairs on her tail fall out and a membrane similar to that on her new wings takes its place. Her crown made a *clank* noise as it fell to the ground, pushed off her head by a pair of antler-like horns sprouting from a mane of blue, BLUE! that curved at the tips. As if she could see her reflection in front of herself, she witnessed how her eyes, whose original coloring seemed to be the only thing pleasing to the monstrous force that was twisting her form, dilate, becoming larger and brighter.
Before she was fully trapped inside that cursed toy-like appearance, the Queen screamed in abject horror at the top of her lungs:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
But before the transformation could be completed...
"ENOUGH!" Boomed a voice seemingly coming from everywhere.
As if reality itself obeyed that command, the sky, the ground and the colorful buildings ceased to exist; Likewise, the Queen's false body breaks and falls away from her, freeing her from her colorful covering.
Descending or rather penetrating that space through a sphere of silver light that resembles a full moon, a dark blue Alicorn descends to rest in front of a Chrysalis that is panting heavily and laboriously, her nerves still in shambles.
"This gotta be one of the most colorful nightmares I think I've ever witnessed," says Princess Luna with a smile and a mocking but playful tone.
"Salutations, Queen Chrysalis, a pleasure to finally make us acquaintance."
"A dream? I should have known," Chrysalis gasps one last time before regaining her composure.
"Do not feel shame for it. Not many creatures are capable to be aware of themselves when dreaming, not until I make my presence known."
"I thought you could only enter ponies' dreams."
"I can enter the dreams of any creature that may have them, if I usually limit myself to visiting the dreams of ponies, it is because not all creatures welcome the invasion of their dreams by someone they do not recognize and trust," explains Princess Luna.
"If you can, why have you decided to enter mine until now? One would think that with such a useful ability no enemy of Equestria could hide from you."
"While the dreamrealm is quite different from the physical one, the two are linked in some ways." With this, Princess Luna swung her hoof in the direction of the sky, or wherever it was supposed to be, and in the vast darkness above them stars began to appear and accumulate. But these stars and their position did not coincide with any star map in existence, looking more like a map of the population in a hemisphere of the world. "For example, dreams occupy the same space in the dreamrealm as their owners do in the real world. Or put it in another way, if I don't know exactly where a dreamer is in the real world, I can't know exactly where its dream lies in the dreamrealm. Trying to look for someone in particular in the dreamrealm is not much different from trying to find a needle in a world size haystack.
"Or in other words, the reason I was finally able to visit you in your dreams is because I know that in the real world you are resting inside one of the bedrooms of our castle.
"And it's a good thing I decided to visit you, Chrysalis, since it seems you were being haunted by a disturbing nightmare."
"If you dare to tell anyone about what you saw..." The Changeling Queen threatens, even if she is aware that at this moment neither in the dreamrealm nor in the physical world does she possess the capabilities to represent a threat for the Princess of the Night.
"Don't worry, Queen Chrysalis. I give you my word that I took my job as guardian of dreams very seriously, and nothing I see in the dreams of dreamers ever leave my lips."
Using her magic that allows her to control the reality of dreams, Luna recreates the figure of how Chrysalis dreamed her 'reformed form' would be, going on to observe with curious interest some of the details of its shape and figure, much to Chrysalis chagrin.
"You know, I never imagined that a Changeling's worst nightmare would be change," Luna said conversationally, poking the fake Chrysalis's nose, causing its tongue to peek out, giving it a goofy facial expression, revealing itself to be a tongue that resembled that of a pony more than that of a Changeling.
"When it is a change against one's will, it is everyone's nightmare; I was under the impression that you could understand this concept better than anyone," the Queen answers back.
Luna stops seeing the faux Chrysalis, which instantly ceases to exist, to see the real one with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"I may not know much about pony history, but I know about you," Chrysalis said, chuckling, approaching Luna, looking down at the Night Princess, now aware of how small she was in comparison to her, the Changeling Queen. "Of how in the past you choose to go by another name, when you felt that your efforts were unappreciated, and you were being unwanted, unloved."
Luna, craning her neck to look the Queen in the face, stood her ground, hardening her expression.
"And when you returned from your exile in the moon, you did so full of resentment and seeking revenge, ready to unleash eternal night on those who did not bow before your legs. One moment you were 'From this moment forth… the night… will last... forever!' and the next, after being rainbow blasted, 'I'm so sorry, sister, can you forgive me?...'" at this, Chrysalis brought her muzzle closer to Luna's ear and whispered: "And you're going to tell me that those damned Elements of Harmony didn't brainwash you into submission, didn't change you at all and against your will?"
Luna takes a step back, having been struck by the Queen's words. But then the Princess of the Night opens her eyes, ready to challenge those very same words.
"There are those who believe that when I was healed by the Elements of Harmony, they, as you say, cleaned my brain or removed "the Nightmare" from me, as if it were a parasite that took control of mine body and will…"
Luna tells this, circulating around Chrysalis, who loses sight of the Lunar Princess for a fraction of a second, only to immediately see Nightmare Moon in her place.
The change in appearances was so incredible instant and clean that it could have made the most talented shapeshifter Changeling blush, and because that Changeling just so happened to be the Queen, and Queens do not blush, Queen Chrysalis hoped that Luna did not notice this reaction of her part.
What was now looking at her directly in the eyes was a darker mare who equaled her in height, but who in presence and menace made the Queen look pale and dwarf in comparison.
"But you see, Nightmare Moon never left, never died, because I am Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Moon and I are one and the same, in body and mind.
"What the Elements of Harmony did for me the second time they struck me, was giving me what a thousand years trapped on the moon did not do; they gave me peace of mind, and it is through that peace that I reconsidered the wishes of Nightmare Moon -my wishes. They showed me a path of peace, not with my sister but with myself.
"If I so desired, I could have rejected what the Elements offered me out of fear or contempt for the arduous task that would have come to achieve that atonement, and follow a path of rage and conquest, a path that would have undoubtly end with my life, if not at the hooves of mine sister in bloody battle, at the will of the subjugated creatures that would see me as nothing more than a tyrant or a monster," shouted Nightmare Moon, closing the distance against a Chrysalis who was backing away in fear.
"It was difficult not to fall into fear grasp, but I do not regret in the slightest choosing the hard path to peace and happiness, because even when I know that I am still far from where I would like to be, the small and few rewards it has granted me had made it all worth it." Nightmare Moon concluded.
"Well, I have already said what I wished to say, but now I bid you farewell, Queen Chrysalis," Nightmare Moon says in a friendlier tone that more closely resembles Luna's. "There are other creatures that require my aid to face their nightmares. But before I go, let me leave you with what I presume will be a pleasant dream."
With a movement of his hoof, the space around them is transformed into a throne room similar to that of Canterlot Castle, but with darker tints, torches that emit an emerald green fire illuminating the interior, and huge emerald stained glass windows. In place of Celestia and Luna's throne is a slightly more ostentatious replica of the throne that Chrysalis had in her hive, and from the pillars extend banners with the print of Chrysalis crown, adorned with the ragged wings of the Changeling.
Through a balcony facing the outside, cries of fervent adoration towards a Queen named Chrysalis reach their ears, coming from dark Changelings and a multitude of various other creatures.
Chrysalis's eyes almost pop out of their sockets and her jaw unhinged in amazement at what was being presented to her.
But just as quickly, Chrysalis frowns at that vision and, furious, says:
"Not even in my dreams can I escape your tests? Do you think I'm a fool who doesn't realize that if I choose this dream, when I wake up, I will do so chained and locked in a dungeon?"
"That's not the case," Nightmare Moon explains. "I have visited the dreams of multiple ponies with dreams of grandeur, not very different from what I am presenting to you. But at the end of the night, all dreams, even those kind of dreams, are just fantasies with which the mind indulges itself, and I have learned to never judge a pony from them."
Chrysalis then puts a hoof to her lips, thinking.
"Are you telling me that if I accept this as my dream, it will not impact your opinion of me nor will you ever share anything that transpires in it, neither with your sister nor with anyone else?" The Queen said in a serious, almost threatening tone.
"I give you my word, as Ruler of Equestria!" Nightmare Moon answered solemnly.
"Then, I would like to ask you something different."
Nightmare Moon is surprised and interested to see what changes Queen Chrysalis will request. Maybe have Twilight Sparkle and her friends chained, with the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart displayed as trophies, and her and her sister as royal fanners.
With her work here done, Luna, now as herself, opens her wings and prepares to rise into the air, ready to return to the dreamrealm, to continue with her task as protector of the dreams.
But before rising, she takes the time to look back one last time at the dream of the cruel and fearsome Changeling Queen, and with a smile, she launches into the air.
Down below, Chrysalis rested, spread out in a crevice carved in the trunk of a thick tree, in a clearing of a forest, accompanied by several Changelings, with some of them buzzing their wings, hitting rocks against rocks or logs against logs, producing a soothing orchestra, while the rest, in the middle, surrounded a warm and cozy bonfire.
She was happy, as happy as the Changelings that surrounded her, because, at least, in her dream, the hunger did not exist and they were all full of love.
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I wonder who is next? The Symbol of Love or the Overprotective Knight? Also about Chrysalis' nightmare, I mean I can't blame her for fearing to become colorful. I mean who wouldn't be disgusted that you became a living example of rainbow color barf? I'm just saying that I mean would ponies accept the Changelings as their original selves? Scary, hissing, jagged? I mean the Changelings had a uniqueness that isn't a parody version of ponies.
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I think that leaving the Changelings in their original form would have been the best way to convey a message of tolerance and not judging anyone based on their appearance, but I am aware that that would not be the most economically viable for Hasbro.
While we don't know what a reformed form of Chrysalis would have looked like, I doubt it would have had the twin horns of Thorax. It's obvious that Thorax's shape is inspired by deer. Especially considering that there are insects with the same name. But deer have large branched antlers only in males. By this logic, Chrysalis should not have paired horns.
but what color it would be is a complete mystery. On the one hand it could be a complete color change like Thorax and the others, on the other hand it could be something closer to the original colors of Chrysalis like Pharynx.
It's funny but it seemed to me that Luna was the first character who really helped Chrysalis and this interaction did not make the situation even worse than it was. It seems like almost all the characters after Rarity, in my opinion, sabotaged Twilight’s plan and proved her wrong.
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If there are two of these characters, there won't be room for Pinkie Pie.
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Obviously there is no official or semi-official model of what Chrysalis would look like if she had been "reformed" with the rest of her hive, but of the many existing designs created by fans, three rise above the others, each for different reasons.
The one I used as a reference for this chapter was the one that was intentionally designed to be ridiculous, but at the same time makes a lot of sense, at least for the function it serves in this chapter. Chrysalis herself does not know what she would look like reformed, therefore, her subconscious uses as a reference the design of the Changeling she most loathe (or loathed), Thorax. Or in other words, her worst nightmare is to look just like Thorax.
I think that, of the protagonists, all of them could "teach" Chrysalis how to be "good", but none could show her empathy and understanding because all of them lack a 'villainous' past. This is where I think Luna shines above the rest.
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I think I found the inspiration you used. :D
https://www.deviantart.com/underpable/art/Hay-No-655803554
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/53e2a4d9-3659-486e-bc46-dfb5a2a7487b/daug59e-fa8e7319-833e-4b0f-9e84-8e93d3e80098.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_1963,q_80,strp/hay_no_by_underpable_daug59e-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTk2MyIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzUzZTJhNGQ5LTM2NTktNDg2ZS1iYzQ2LWRmYjVhMmE3NDg3YlwvZGF1ZzU5ZS1mYThlNzMxOS04MzNlLTRiMGYtOWU4NC04ZTkzZDNlODAwOTgucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.aqvdDZ43OT9EwWGKgZQEGGhdIqS2maZYkpKIWLR8XRE
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Yes, exactly that one!