A heartbeat. The feeling of being surrounded by light. Suddenly there is the sound of laughter. Chrysalis opens her eyes. Her sister, Cadence, is lying on the bed with her. She looks up and sees her mother grinning, pinpointing her as the source of the laughter. Her sister snuggles closer, unwilling to wake just yet.
She stretches her small hoof towards her mother as if to touch the love she can feel radiating from her. Cadence wakes and Chrysalis can feel even more love pouring into her. Suddenly Cadence pounces upon Chrysalis. Giggling she pretends to fight back.
Her mother picks her up with her magic. She brings Chrysalis close enough to nuzzle her. Chrysalis knows two things about life. They are the only two things she is always sure of. She loves her mother and her sister. They love her. Even if nopony else does.
Lately though her family has looked as though they are wearing thin. Chrysalis hoped with all her heart that they weren't sick. If they were then they wouldn't be able to smile or share there love with her.
Now it is time for breakfast which Chrysalis hates. She doesn't like the food. It doesn't fill her like it does her family. It doesn't even taste good. Though she eats if only to make her family happy and to keep up the pretense of normalacy. The only thing that does that is love.
Her mind turns to a subject she hates. Her differences. Only the beginnings of which are physical. Her hooves and mane are peppered with holes. She has fangs like a bat pony. Her skin is hard like some kind of armor and something similar to a large blue-green shell covers her back.
Far greater though are her other differences. One of these is her need for love. This is something she has noticed in her short, for an immortal, one hundred years of life. When ever she is away from her family for a long period of time she begins to feel a gnawing deep in her stomach. She had finally discovered that it stemmed from a biological need for love which felt wrong to her.
Her mother always insisted that it was nonsense. None the less she feared what would happen if her family were not there for her. Chrysalis tried not to think about it to often though. She trusted her mother. So if her mother said that it was nonsense, then it was.
Even worse though she felt hate. She knew she shouldn't but she did. Her family didn't feel hate. They were the spreaders of love. She hated even feeling hate, but that didn't help her situation. She hated all the ponies who judged her for looking different. What right did they have? Above all others though she felt loathing for her great aunt, Celestia.
Chrysalis hated her with a passion. Celestia hated Chrysalis merely for existing. Chrysalis knew this because she had heard part of a conversation between her aunt and her mother. Her "dear" aunt claimed that she should never have exsisted. She warned of an "evil" she felt in Chrysalis.
Chrysalis knew that she shouldn't hate, but that didn't make her evil... did it? She didn't even have her cutie mark. How could she be evil when she didn't even know her own destiny. Her mother tried to comfort her saying that alicorns often took more time to find their talents. Chrysalis didn't believe her though. After all her little sister had just gotten hers. Chrysalis couldn't even imagine what it might be. She genuinely felt as though she had no talent.
Her families talents were all similar. They specialized in love magic. Her sister repaired it, her mother spread it, and her father magnified it. She assumed her talent would also be similar to their's. She hoped so. Even if only to prove that she wasn't evil.
Alone, that was how she felt. Her aunt had finally done it. She'd gotten rid of the threat to her family. Celestial protects those she loves.
Her mother would rescue her, Chrysalis knew it. Her mother loved her so she would find her. Although deep in her heart, the part she dared not look, she knew that wasn't true. How could her mother possibly find her? She was after all just one little changeling in the middle of the Everfree Forest.
Chrysalis's hate grew. She hated her family now. They'd let Celestia take her. She hated Celestia for stealing her, but above all she hated herself. If she was a normal pony her family wouldn't be sick. Celestia wouldn't have sent her away. If only she was a bit more like Cadence.
She began to picture her little sister in her mind and how different they were from each other. She was suddenly consumed by green flames. She screamed, but the scream she heard was not her own. It was Cadence's, and that wasn't the only thing.
Chrysalis looked down at her hooves. The normally black hooves pocketed with holes were gone. In their place were four light pink hooves. Chrysalis ran over to a puddle. She looked into it, and staring back at her was her little sister.
Chrysalis stumbled back in shock. To test and see if she had done this she thought of her mother. There were more green flames and when Chrysalis looked back into the water her mother, though oddly foal sized, stared back. Then Chrysalis thought about herself and transformed back.
After practicing turning into different ponies for several hours Chrysalis focusing with all the might her tiny body could muster transformed into her Aunt Celestia. Flapping her powerful new wings she rose above the forest's canopy. In the distance she saw a cave. Thinking that she would need shelter soon she flew towards it.
When she arrived at the entrance of the cave she peered inside. It was pitch black. She used a basic illumination spell and lit up the inside of the cave. Glancing up at her horn she realized that there was one thing that hadn't changed. The aura surrounding her horn was still green. Chrysalis looked back inside the cave.
The inside of the cave was quite large, and there were tunnels leading off the back that suggested that she wasn't the first pony to seek shelter there. It was dry except for the puddle that occupied on corner of the cave. To Chrysalis it seemed that she'd found a new home.
She transformed back into herself. Then she went outside the cave and gathered moss and long flat leaves. Chrysalis decides she has enough and heads back inside.
Standing inside are four ponies. They look familiar though Chrysalis is sure she's never met them. Then she realizes why they look familiar. They look like her! True they are older than her, but they have the same black shell and blue-green mane and tail. They also haves holes pocketing their hooves, manes, and tails. They even had fangs.
"W-w-who are you," whimpered Chrysalis shaking with fear.
"We are the changeling queens," they reply in unison.
"Why are you here," queried Chrysalis.
"Celestia banished us, just as she banished you," replied the queen on the far right.
"W-w-what are you going to do with me," asked Chrysalis unable to keep the fear out of her voice.
Again the queen on the far right responded, "Train you."
"Train me?"
"To be a changeling queen."
"What if I say no," she asked.
"Then we will banish you from here, and you will die," replied the queen standing next the one who had just spoken.
Then the queens turned and trotted down one of the tunnels. Chrysalis followed, more out of fear than anything else.
In the tunnel it was completely dark except for the light coming from the queens horns. At the end of the tunnel there was another cave. This cave though was lit by torches, and inside there were creatures similar to the queens and herself.
They were short. In fact she was nearly as tall as them now. Their horns were shorter and their wings smaller. They also had more holes. Their fangs were longer, but they didn't really have manes. Instead they had something similar to spikes running down their backs. Strangest of all though their eyes, blue in color, had no pupils.
"What are those... things, asked Chrysalis.
"Those are lesser changelings. They are similar to us, but their powers are less," replied one of the queens who hadn't spoken yet.
"Where do they come from," Chrysalis asked.
"I'll show you," replied the queen who had just spoken.
She lit her horn and took a deep breath. She exhaled and took an even deeper breath. This time when she exhaled she spat a glob of glowing green jell. It hit the wall with a wet smack.
"Ewwww," squealed Chrysalis, "What's that?"
"That's a new changeling," replied the queen, "Now watch."
Chrysalis turned back. The glob began to grow. When it was twice its original size it formed a shell over it. It glowed softly with a pulsing green light. Chrysalis found it strangely beautiful.
Next the same queen stepped forward. She tapped the shell with her horn. From inside a clear note resonated. Immediately after the note sounded cracks began to appear all over the shell. A section of the shell broke open. From inside sprang a changeling. It was about half the size of the others, and it appeared weaker.
Another of the lesser changelings came forward. In its strange hissing speech it spoke with the newborn. Then they walked off.
"That's where lesser changelings come from," replied the queen who had created the beast.
"Why are you here," asked Chrysalis.
"We told you," replied the queen who had yet to speak, "Celestia banished us as well. She's afraid of us."
Her loathing for Celestia found new depths. These queens were like her. She had always been the odd pony out, but her were four other changelings. How could Celestia have hid this from her? She could be happy here.
BUT! What about her family? She couldn't just leave them.
So she asked the queens, "What about my family?"
Imediately the queens all looked angry, and the one who had spoken before said, "Don't worry about them. Celestia will make them forget you."
"B-b-but why would Celestia do that," asked Chrysalis trying not to cry.
"Celestia protects those she loves," replied the queen.
"Then I guess I'll stay with you," Chrysalis said sniffling.
"Good," said the queen who had spoken, "Well then, I think we should inteoduce ourselves."
She inteoduced herself as Queen Pupa. The other three were introduced as Queen Cobweb, Queen Drizzle, and Queen Shadow.
"My name is Chrysalis," she said feeling reassured by their friendliness.
"We'll teach you all we know," they replied in unison.
"Like what?"
"How to create a changeling, how to control your changing, magic and flying lessons, and how to most effectively drain love," said Queen Shadow.
"Drain love?"
"Yes, we must. In order to survive," replied Queen Cobweb.
"O-o-oh, I guess that makes sense," whispered Chrysalis.
There was a sinister power in the air and Chrysalis both feared it and wanted it for herself. For she knew it would make her powerful enough to get her revenge on Celestia. Yet she couldn't forget what her mother had once told her. She had said, "Fear power for it corrupts". Chrysalis refused to think about this though. This was her chance to get her revenge, and she had decided to take it.
"Are you okay," asked Queen Shadow.
"Never better," replied Chrysalis with the most evil grin she's ever had, "This is going to be perfect."