> Chrysalis: Invasion Equestria Girls > by TJHoofer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: A Queen's Search > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “You're sure you can handle things here? House-sitting a castle can be hard, especially with Spike not around.” Princess Twilight had been given an assignment by the map to go on a Friendship mission with her friends. Their destination was far away, meaning they would be gone for days. Usually Spike was the 'caretaker' of the castle, but he was now on a well-earned vacation in Canterlot, leaving her with nopony else to watch over or maintain her home. While Twilight wasn't worried about anypony breaking into her castle during her absence, she still felt comfortable knowing there was somepony there looking after her books and other items. Out of everypony in Ponyville, Twilight chose Amethyst Star because, like her, she was a good organizer and a pretty responsible one. She was overjoyed when she agreed to do it. Amethyst smiled. “Don't worry, your Highness. I'll be fine. You just go on your mission and leave everything to me.” “Well then, I'm off. I won't be gone for too long. Bye!” “Byebye!” Amethyst closed the doors and observed through the window as Twilight joined her friends for their mission. Twilight shot her castle one last glance and waved goodbye to Amethyst, who smiled and returned the gesture from behind the window. She kept waving until Twilight was finally out of her line of sight. “Finally!” an annoyed Amethyst exclaimed with relief. “Thought she would never leave!” she growled. She then opened up the window and peered outside towards some nearby bushes. “Alright! You can come out now! She's gone!” Two changeling drones suddenly popped out from their hiding place and quickly buzzed in through the window. They landed in front of Amethyst and bowed before her. “Come on!” she ordered. “We've got work to do.” Heading slowly in the direction of the library with the changelings behind her, Amethyst suddenly combusted into green flames. Her unicorn features changed. Her coat became dark and hard like the exoskeleton on that of an insect. Her black legs grew longer, becoming twisted and hollow like rotten cheese. A blue-green chitinous plating appeared over her midsection. Hollowed out wings, eerily belonging to that of a fly, decorated her back. Her blue-green mane and tail long and hollowed out. Her teeth now sharp with a pair of long, vicious fangs and her eyes dark green with elongated oval pupils Her massive horn was twisted and jagged and she wore a tiny black crown decorated with tiny blue orbs. “'Your Highness'... Blech!” She stuck out her tongue in disgust. “To think that 'I', Queen Chrysalis, would one day refer to the likes of her by that title... It makes me sick. She's lucky I didn't just drain her within an inch of her life, especially after what she did to me! Ooh, it would've been so sweet...” Her two drones shared a concerned look as they listened to her rant. While they held their Queen in high regard, they had all been slightly worried about her mental state after the wedding fiasco. Many changelings since then had become the Queens personal 'punching bags' whenever she had her angry fits, being ordered to change into Twilight Sparkle, Cadence or Shining Armor while she did it. “Now then, my little 'princess'...” Chrysalis cackled as she kicked the doors to Twilight's library wide open. “Let's see what you've been up to since the wedding...” Hours later... Chrysalis and her drones spent most of the afternoon searching through Twilight's library, looking through whatever books and scrolls they could find that seemed important. Ever since she heard the news of Twilight becoming a princess, Chrysalis had been yearning of a way to get back at her ever since. After months of spying on her, Chrysalis finally saw her opportunity to infiltrate the castle when she learned of Twilight's 'Friendship' missions. She had also gathered much information about the ponies in town and learned of Amethyst Star and her role as part-time organizer. Trapping Amethyst in a cocoon in her own home and taking her place, Chrysalis had no problem getting into the castle when Twilight eventually asked her. Amethyst would be freed from her cocoon eventually, but by then Chrysalis would've gotten what she came after. That is, if she could find it... She had hoped the castle would hold secrets and powerful artifacts needed to take down her enemies. Unfortunately for Chrysalis, if there were any secrets in the castle, they were hidden well. “Find anything?” “No my Queen.” “We've searched high and low. There doesn't seem to be anything here of great importance.” “There has to be something!” Chrysalis growled. “Keep searching! Twilight has to have something here that I can use against her and her friends.” She angrily tore a book in half with her magic, sending its pages flying everywhere. It proved very effective as her drones wasted no time intensifying their search for whatever they were looking for. “Ugh!” Chrysalis groaned. “If only she still had those Elements of Harmony, then I would at least have something I could use as leverage. But it's all but futile now. They don't need the Elements to face us anymore. They ARE the Elements!” She kicked a crystal flowerpot off the table. “By the Hive, there has to be something in here that I can use. Something that will bring me that perfect world I've always dreamed of!” As Chrysalis vented her anger at whatever she could find, one of her drones searching through a row of books suddenly noticed a large mirror in the corner of the room. While it looked like any ordinary mirror, the curious drone noticed that it was hooked up to some strange machine, with numerous wires and tubes connecting to its base for some reason. The drone cantered over to the machine and looked over at the many buttons on the panel. As the drone kept looking, it then noticed the lever. Without really thinking it over, he suddenly pulled the lever. The machine turned on. Lights flickered and a series of sparks and bursts of energy exploded from the machine as the mirror seemed to glow. It caused the drone to jump back with fright. “What did you do!?” Chrysalis yelled as she and the other drone hurried over. The little drone quivered fearfully as Chrysalis towered menacingly over him. “Fool! Are you trying to blow us all... up?” Chrysalis trailed off as she found herself mysteriously drawn to the mirror, mesmerized by the swirling image in the glass. She stopped right in front of the mirror, noticing that the surface of the glass was shimmering as if it was water. “What in the Hive is this? This is not an ordinary mirror...” She slowly reached out her hoof to touch it when all of a sudden it shut down, causing her to flinch. “What?! What happened?” She turned around and narrowed her eyes at the one drone by the machine. “I... I turned it off...” said the drone trembling. “Did I give you permission to turn it off?” She glared viciously at the drone, causing him to shrink away and hide behind his equally terrified comrade. “You nearly took my hoof off!” “FORGIVE ME MY QUEEN!!” wailed the drone. Chrysalis just frowned at them and snorted. She turned her attention back to the mirror. “Hm...” She eyed it more closely and tapped on the reflective glass. “It looks like an ordinary mirror... But I sensed powerful magic emanating from it...” She stepped back to get it in full view. She rubbed her chin and tilted her head. “If I didn't know better, I'd swear this mirror was some kind of doorway.” “'Doorway' my Queen?” asked one drone. “A doorway to 'where'?” asked the other. “I don't know...” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. Her horn glowed as she wrapped her magic around the lever, pulling it and re-opening the mirror. “...But I'm going to find out!” “Be careful my Queen!” Chrysalis cantered up and stopped in front of the mirror. Raising her hoof, she slowly reached inside it. Her eyes widened as her hoof suddenly disappeared, but she felt no pain from it. Pulling it quickly back out, and seeing no visible damage to it, she breathed with relief knowing the doorway was safe to use. Of course, being half insect, losing a limb was more of an inconvenience as changelings could easily grow them back over time. “You two! Stay here and guard this mirror while I check it out. And make sure that the machine remains on.” she glared viciously at them. “Or else...” “YES MY QUEEN!” both drones saluted. While having complete faith in her drones, Chrysalis had to be honest with herself. If this indeed was a doorway leading to somewhere, the odds of her getting trapped there would be a huge set-back in her plans for conquering Equestria. Chrysalis was no fool. She knew she was heading into unknown territory. For all she knew, this mirror could lead straight to Princess Celestia's throne room. The last thing she needed now was suffering Celestia's burning wrath and the cold imprisonment deep within the depths of Tartarus. Still, it was a chance she had to take. If the mirror indeed held valuable secrets, it would be worth all the risk. Taking a deep breath, Chrysalis closed her eyes and entered the mirror. > Chapter 2: A Queen's Discovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Hm... I don't feel anything... Have I arrived-?” Opening her eyes, Chrysalis was shocked to find herself spiraling completely out of control down a long, swirling tunnel of blinding colors. Everything was going way too fast and Chrysalis saw her own body stretch and mold itself before her eyes. If she had a heart, it was beating at a rapid pace as the speed intensified and she was pulled towards a bright light at the end. “WHAT'S HAPPENING??!? GYAAAAAAA!!!” She closed her eyes and braced herself as she was about to make impact. Seconds later... Chrysalis moaned as she slowly stirred back to life. She re-opened her eyes and found herself lying on some stone pavement surrounded by grass. Getting back up on her feet and shaking off the dizziness, Chrysalis barely managed to keep herself perfectly calm as she regarded her new surroundings. “Where am I? What is this place?” One thing was certain; She was no longer in Twilight's castle. She wasn't even in Ponyville anymore. Everything around her felt... different. Even the sun felt different somehow. Looking ahead of her, she noticed a large building that seemed to remind her of those pony schools she saw in Canterlot. Looking back to see where she came, she was shocked to not only find a large statue of a stallion behind her, but that there was no doorway leading back. Did she just materialize out of thin air? “What? But... But where's the doorway?” Nearly on verge of panic, Chrysalis quickly reached for the statue's pillar and breathed with great relief as she found the opening still there. It seemed to be part of the statue. “Good... I'm not trapped here. I thought it would lead me through another mirror or something...” Pulling away from the statue, Chrysalis eyed her surroundings again. “Now then, what part of Equestria have I landed in?” As she pondered, she noticed someone coming and quickly hid behind the one side of the statue to avoid being seen by the approaching pony. Her eyes widened more than usual when she discovered that the approaching pony wasn't a pony at all. It was some kind of bipedal creature she had never seen before, fully dressed and wearing some kind of backpack. It didn't look like any creature she was familiar with. At first she figured it was some kind of minotaur, but it lacked many of the familiar features you would normally find on a minotaur. “What in the Hive..? Where in Equestria have I landed? Wait... Is this Equestria?” She looked around at the other nearby buildings and noticed they didn't have that familiar Equestrian design. She even saw a billboard with one the creatures advertising some kind of beauty product. She then noticed an approaching carriage that seemed to drive itself. As it passed her, she could make out another one of the creatures inside it. She had seen similar self-pulling carriages like these in Equestria, but never this advanced. “No... This isn't Equestria... This is a whole new world! A world with no ponies!” Chrysalis then smiled. “Well well well... Princess Twilight Sparkle has a whole new world hidden inside in her own castle. This is a surprise. Maybe she's princess here too?” She then noticed a young couple of these creatures hanging out by the entrance to the building she assumed was a school. While observing them from afar behind the pillar, it wasn't hard for Chrysalis to tell which of them was 'mare' and 'stallion'. She noticed they were holding hands. She also saw them laughing and giggling while blushing as they seemed to have a pleasant conversation. They shared a look that Chrysalis knew very well as she had seen that look anywhere in Equestria. Love! These creatures were in love! “So... There's love here too?” Chrysalis licked her lips. “Fascinating...” As much as she wanted to sample this new love, Chrysalis still didn't know what she was dealing with here. These creatures seemed harmless, but she didn't become the Queen of Changelings by being reckless. She had to know more about this world, and only one place had the answer... A few minutes later... Back in Twilight's castle, two worried drones sat patiently by the mirror waiting for their Queen to return. Their concerned looks soon turned to joy as Chrysalis finally re-emerged from the mirror. They happily buzzed their wings and bowed as they cantered over. “My Queen! You've returned!” “My Queen! Are you alright? What happened? Did you find out where it leads?” Chrysalis didn't answer. The world she had just seen still lingered in her mind. She needed to know more about what this world was. While asking a local would be considered easy, it would make things less risky by learning straight from the horse's mouth. Or in this case, the alicorn's horn. "My Queen..?" “Quick! Search everywhere! Find me books! Journals! SCROLLS! Anything that has any mention of this mirror and the world it leads to!” The two drones shared a confused look before one of them asked. “What world?” “NOW!!!” She bellowed, sending them scattering around the library to begin their searching. “I need to know more about this world! Maybe the royal 'bookworm' has the information I need?” Many hours later... Chrysalis tapped her hoof on the floor in annoyance as she rested on a pillow by the mirror, with all sorts of books and scrolls littering the floor around her. Her drones had been searching aimlessly for hours trying to find anything about the mirror and she was beginning to get impatient. “Ugh! Why is this taking so long?” She looked up longing at the mirror that was turned off at the moment. She groaned. “A whole new world is just waiting for me beyond that doorway, but I need to know what I'm up against here.” Chrysalis had during her long hours of impatient waiting pondered how she was going to go about this. At first she contemplated on simply taking the mirror back to the Badlands and set it up in her Hive. But the thing looked too heavy for only three changelings to carry, even with her magic. Another thing that bothered her was the machinery. Was it important? Was it needed to make the mirror work? Even so, it would only make things a lot more difficult. She also considered simply sending one drone back to the Badlands to fetch more changelings, but the journey back and forth would take days, even in flight. Twilight would be back by then. And the ponies of Ponyville weren't that stupid. They would know something was up when random ponies suddenly started moving stuff out of the castle. She could simply disguise herself as the princess to throw off any suspicioun, but with Canterlot's Royal Guard doing random patrols about Ponyville in search of any changeling threats, it was too much of a risk. It would quickly result in a one way ticket to Tartarus. “No. This is the only way.” Chrysalis turned away from the mirror and breathed calmly. “Just relax. I'll get what I want soon enough. As a wise pony once said before I drained him; 'Good fortune come to those who wait.'.” She closed her eyes and sighed, blissfully thinking of those 'lovelies' beyond the mirror that made her lips wet with drool. “Yes... Just relax an-” Her stomach growled. “HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING YET??!?” “I found something!” one of the drones finally yelled as he popped out of a pile of books with a journal in his mouth. “Finally!” Chrysalis quickly seized it with her magic and pulled it towards her, along with the drone as his fangs were still stuck to it. After shaking the drone off, Chrysalis looked at the cover. “'Twilight's Portal Research'. Well done!” She patted the drone on his head. “This appears to be exactly what I am looking for.” As Chrysalis eagerly flipped through its pages, the drone who found the journal painfully readjusted his jaw while his comrade joined up beside him. “Let's see... Where-? Aha! Here we are. The mirror to the... Human World?” Chrysalis cocked her eye in confusion of the name. Shrugging it off, she continued reading. The two drones silently watched as she quickly read through the chapter, muttering to herself as she did and skipping a few notes. “Alternate universe..? Human pony friends..? Principal Celestia..?! Flash is hot..??? Fascinating...” Her eyes then suddenly widened and a large grin cracked across the surface of her face. “NO MAGIC?!” she exclaimed. She tossed the journal in the face of one of her drones in excitement and quickly cantered over to the mirror. “A world with no magic! How wonderfully delicious!” Her drones shared a look of confusion. Or rather, one did as the other still had the journal in his face. “My Queen?” “No magic means no defense! No defense means instant takeover! MY TAKEOVER! A world just for me!” She squealed like an excited filly and clapped her hooves with joy. “This is positively perfect! I must have it!” She pushed herself past her drones, giving one of them his sight back by knocking the journal off his face. She pulled the lever to activate the portal. “My Queen?! Where-” “Stay here!” she commanded as the portal opened. “I'm just going to go back over there and...” She licked her grinning lips “...and sample the 'hors d'oeuvres'.” With that, she entered the mirror and disappeared. > Chapter 3: A Queen's First Attempt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having slightly forgotten her previous trip through the portal, Chrysalis entered the portal too quickly and came rushing too fast. She tripped over and fell face first on the pavement. She groaned as she got back up. “That's going to take a while to get used to...” she snarled as she painfully rubbed her sore chin. As she got back up and shook the cowbells around her head, she seemed to notice that something didn't seem right. “Hm... That felt weird.” She shrugged. “Oh well. I'm here now. Better change so that- Huh?” She suddenly found herself staring at her hoof, which now had suddenly become a five digit claw. She raised her other hoof and found it to be the same as the other. “What in the Hive...” Looking herself over, she discovered with shock that her whole body had changed from a quadruped changeling Queen to that of a bipedal human. “Wh-What??! How..? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN??!” Chrysalis was utterly confused. At some point upon her arrival she had somehow already changed herself. She was tall now and slender. Her beautiful chitin coat replaced with soft, dark skin. Her tail gone and her mane now a long green-bluish head of hair. She also seemed to be sporting black clothes with green-bluish lining, similar to the ones worn by punk ponies back in Equestria. Her wings were gone as well. She then felt her forehead and discovered her horn was gone too. “This... was unexpected.” She looked back at the portal. “Did... Did that portal cause this change? It didn't do that last time! Or did it..?” Chrysalis pondered and realized that she had been too excited upon discovering this world that she didn't notice any change on her then. “Maybe I should've finished reading that journal..?” She muttered. She then shrugged. “Bah! No matter! So what if I've become a human? I'm still going to enjoy feasting on these poor lovely creatures.” she grinned evilly while licking her lips. “Now then, where are my little 'treats' at? Queen 'Chryssie' needs some sweet love...” As she scouted about for potential victims, she soon noticed two female students standing by the school entrance close by. They seemed to be having a conversation. Chrysalis grinned evilly as she saw the way they smiled and laughed heartily to one another. “Young love...” she cooed while eagerly rubbing her hands. “I'll start my feast with these two.” Acting causal, Chrysalis walked calmly towards the couple and leaned herself against the wall of the building. She got just close enough to listen to what they were saying. “No way! Lyra, you actually got tickets?” “Sure did Bonbon! Do you wanna know which flick?” Bonbon pondered a moment and then beamed. “You can't be-” “-serious?” Lyra grinned. “You bet I'm-” “-serious! We've got-” “-tickets to-” They paused before shouting in unison. “BACKBREAK HILL!!” They both squealed with joy and hugged while laughing. They did not notice Chrysalis as she was now only a few feet away. 'Time for lunch.' Chrysalis chuckled silently to herself. She leaned back in a comfortable position and closed her eyes as she focused her mind on their love for one another. Any moment now, their love would be slowly pulled out and sucked inside Chrysalis, feeding both her and her magic. She would drain them both to the point where their coats, or in this case skin, would lose their healthy color. Their bodies would then slowly lose energy. Their minds would be weakened to a point where they would be barely able to feel any emotion at all, before finally blacking out like a pair of dried up- 'Hng! Why isn't it working?' Chrysalis grunted in annoyance and opened her eyes. Much to her confusion she was somehow unable to feed off them. 'What in the Hive is going on? Why aren't I feeding off their love? Am I still too far away?' She gritted her teeth and held her breath as she concentrated even harder this time. Sweat forming around her forehead. 'Come on! Come-' Chrysalis gasped as she ran out of breath. She couldn't do it anymore. 'What's going on?! Why can't I feed??!' “This is just so awesome.” Bonbon squeed. “I can't believe you actually got tickets to the most talked about movie of the year! Seriously pinch me, I must be dreaming.” “No dream Bonbon.” Lyra smirked with her arms confidently folded. “I got 'em.” Bonbon playfully narrowed her at Lyra and folded her arms in 'disbelief'. “It's too incredible. I need to see some proof.” “If it's proof you want, then it's proof you'll get.” Lyra smiled and winked before she ran inside the school. “Got them in my backpack. I'll be right back!” Chrysalis watched as the one girl called Lyra ran inside. She then eyed the one called Bonbon, looking herself over with a small mirror from her purse while she waited. She then had an idea. 'I got it!' she grinned. 'I'll just assume the form of that other girl. I'll fool her to think I'm her and be close enough to feed.' She quietly cackled to herself. 'Poor child... This is going to be so sweet.' Chrysalis closed her eyes and drew herself a mental image of Lyra. After a brief moment of concentration, Chrysalis opened her eyes and made her move. “I'm back.” “Already? That was fast.” Bonbon turned around. “What happened to your-?” Bonbon froze as he caught sight of Chrysalis, causing her to drop her mirror. Chrysalis giggled. 'I must be quite breathtaking. She's actually at a loss for words.' “I came back because I needed to tell you something...” Chrysalis flirted as she reached out and held Bonbon's hand while looking her passionately in the eyes. “...I've been thinking about it for a long time now. And I would really like to take our friendship further.” “Wh- What?” a confused Bonbon blushed while trembling violently. Chrysalis grinned. 'This is working better than I thought. I'm literally sweeping her off her feet. I can practically taste the love...' “My feelings for you is beyond that of any friendship. And I just know you feel the same about me...” “What are you doing?! Let go of me!!” Bonbon yelled and pulled her hand free, backing away with a frightened look in her eyes. “Who are you? Why are you talking to me like that?” “What?” Chrysalis blinked in surprised confusion. “But Bonbon... What's the matter? It's me, your best friend Lyra! Why are you-” “You're not Lyra! Get away! Get away from me before I scream and call a teacher!” “What?! But Bonbon, look at me! Don't you see that I'm-” Chrysalis froze as she suddenly noticed her reflection on the glass doors and her eyes widened with horror. She was all wrong! Her appearance was nothing like Lyra. In fact, she hadn't changed at all! She was still in her human form. “This isn't right!” Chrysalis shouted. “This is all wrong! Why didn't I change?” She shut her eyes and desperately tried to concentrate her magic and change her form, only to discover that it didn't work all. “THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!!” “Please... Stay away...” Bonbon trembled. “I'm warning you! Don't-” “YOU!” Chrysalis suddenly leaped forward and grabbed Bonbon by her shoulders, shaking her roughly with a wild and ferocious look on her face. “Explain this right now! Why can't I change?! What has happened to me?!?” Utterly terrified, Bonbon cried out. “Help! HELP!” “HEY!” Chrysalis suddenly felt something hit her on the back of her head. She turned and saw that the one called Lyra had returned and had assaulted her with her backpack. “Leave her alone! Bonbon run!” The distraction was all what Bonbon needed as she broke free from Chrysalis's hold and ran past her, ducking inside the school with Lyra close behind. “Thank you Lyra!” “Run! She's crazy!” “We've got to find a teacher! Help!” Chrysalis just stood by the entrance. She looked at her shaking hands with shock and couldn't believe what had happened. Her magic was gone. Everything had gone horribly wrong. “What has this world done to me?” “She's over here!” “Hurry!” Hearing footsteps approaching, Chrysalis finally panicked and ran for the statue. She reached it just in time as Lyra and Bonbon returned with Vice-Principal Luna right behind them. “Where is she?” asked Luna. “But... She was right here!” “We swear Vice-Principal Luna! There was this strange woman attacking Bonbon! I saw it!” “I believe you.” replied Luna as she scouted the yard. Aside from some random students walking to and fro, there seemed to be no sign of this woman intruder. “She must've run off. I'll inform Celestia and the rest of the faculty staff to keep an eye out. Do you need anything Bonbon? She didn't hurt you did she?” “I'm okay. She mostly freaked me out. I'm fine.” “Good to know you're not injured, but go and see nurse Redheart just in case.” The girls nodded. “Stay close by at all times and let us know the minute you see her. I will not have prowlers lurking around this school.” “Yes Vice-Principal Luna.” Luna smiled and nodded before leaving them to visit Principal Celestia's office. Just then, Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms; Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack appeared. They had been in music rehearsal and were taking a short break when they heard the screams outside their room. “What happened?” Sunset shouted before noticing Bonbon's state. “Bonbon! Are you okay?” “I'm fine Sunset. I...” “Some crazy woman outside attacked her!” said Lyra as she comforted Bonbon. “Oh my goodness!” Flutterhsy gasped. “Bonbon, are you hurt?” “I'm fine Fluttershy...” She held on to both her arms and shivered. “Just a bit shaken up.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes and angrily punched her fist into her palm. “Who in the world would do something like that? What was it about anyway?” “I don't know...” Bonbon trembled. “I just don't know...” “Please, I need to take her to the nurse. Excuse us.” The girls cleared the way as Lyra led Bonbon down the corridor towards Nurse Redheart's office. The girls then walked outside and looked about across the schoolyard. “Anything?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Nothin'.” said Applejack. “Whoever it was, she ain't here now.” “Nothing here!” yelled Pinkie from on top of the statue. “It would appear this woman is long gone by now...” said Rarity with a small hint of relief. “Poor Bonbon. From the way she was trembling, this person must have been simply horrid.” Applejack cracked her knuckles. “Tell ya tha truth, Ah sure hope she's still aroun', cus Ah sure would like to give this person a piece of mah mind!” “Me too!” said Rainbow Dash. “No creep comes here and messes with one of our friends like that!” “But why would anyone attack Bonbon?” asked Sunset Shimmer. “Has anything like this ever happened before?” Applejack scratched her head pondering. “Not that Ah can recall...” “Hopefully this was just a one time incident.” said Rarity, trying to calm the atmosphere. “This happens practically everywhere. There's really nothing we can do but make sure it doesn't happen again.” “I most certainly hope it doesn't happen again.” said Fluttershy. “I hope you're right.” said Sunset with a sudden hint of concern as she for some reason eyed the portal to Equestria. She walked up to it, reached out and touched it. It was closed. Fluttershy noticed what Sunset was doing and cringed. “You don't suppose..?” “No, it's probably nothing.” Sunset reassured her. “Besides, it's impossible. The mirror is locked inside Twilight's castle. No one but Twilight herself has access to it. I'm sure this has nothing to do with anything from Equestria.” Everyone just looked at one another and silently hoped that it wasn't. “More likely it was just some local creep lurking around school.” She walked past them, waving them to follow her back inside the school. “Come on. Let's get back to practice. I highly doubt she'll show up now.” “Yeah, You're probably right.” said Rainbow Dash slightly miffed. She had hoped for some action. “But just to be sure, we should tell the other students.” “Sure wish we knew who it was...” Earlier, in Twilight's castle... Back in Twilight's castle, the two drones were lying on the floor and spending their time playing cards while they waited for their Queen to return from her feeding. “Got any three's?” “Go fish!” Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Chrysalis literally came flying out of the mirror screaming, much to the utmost surprise of her drones. They watched with wide eyes as their Queen, coming in too fast, slipped and skidded across the crystal floor before crashing into a shelf of books, that fell off and literally buried her. “MY QUEEN!!” While one drone shut down the portal, the other quickly rushed over to help Chrysalis as she was already emerging slowly from the pile, uninjured but heaving and panting heavily. “My Queen! What happened? Are you alright my Que-” He was suddenly grabbed by the throat and shaken wildly. “QUICK! WHAT DO YOU SEE? IS IT STILL THERE??? TELL ME!! AM I 'ME'??!” “Choking me...” “Is 'what' there?” said the other concerned drone as he joined them. “My Queen, please calm down!” Chrysalis finally let go of her poor drone as she noticed her hands were hooves again. She then stared at the mirror and saw her reflection. She was a changeling again. Making 100% sure, she touched her face, her wings and her horn. She even used her magic and levitated several of the books around her. “My Queen?” “My magic is back...”Chrysalis sighed happily as she leaned back into the pile with great relief. “My magic is back!” Her smile then slowly faded and she began to frown. “Why is my magic back?” She pulled herself up from the pile and marched angrily towards the mirror, her concerned and confused drones keeping a safe distance. “More importantly, why did my magic leave me?! What did this mirror do to me?” “Is everything alright my Queen? What happened over there? Did you not get to feed?” Chrysalis didn't answer as she strained her thought trying to figure out what had gone wrong. It soon occurred to her that she might have been a little too quick in her actions and that she must've overlooked something really important regarding the portal and the Human World. “My Queen..?” “Find me that journal. NOW!!!” > Chapter 4: A Queen's Second Attempt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later... '...once a pony enters the portal to the Human World, the mirror will magically replace the pony's features with that of one of the inhabitants. Not only do ponies who travel to this world become human, they also-' “LOSE THEIR MAGIC??!?” Chrysalis roared as she tossed the journal across the room in a fit of rage. Her drones took cover behind an overturned table as books and many breakable objects started flying all over the place. “My Queen! Please!” “You mean to tell me that anypony who crosses over to this world becomes one of them and will lose their magic?! This is unacceptable!!” She fumed as she grabbed a chair, intent on assaulting the mirror. “My Queen! Calm yourself!” Realizing what she was about to do, Chrysalis groaned and threw the chair away from the mirror. Snorting in anger, she marched up to the mirror and glared hatefully at it. “Unacceptable! You hear me?! UNACCEPTABLE!!” The two drones carefully emerged from their hiding place and slowy approached their now 'calm', queen while keeping a safe distance. Concerned that her yelling would attract unwanted attention from outside, the drone once again tried to reason with her. “Forgive me my Queen, but maybe this Human World is just out of our reach. Perhaps it is best we give up and try something else-” “Give up..?” Chrysalis turned around, narrowed her eyes and trotted menacingly at the now terrified drone. The little drone backed away, only to trip and fall back on his haunches as Chrysalis looked him in the eyes. “GIVE UP? Queen Chrysalis never gives up!” she roared. She turned her attention back to the mirror. “No! I will not give up this easily! It's a world without magic for Hive sake!” As she ranted, the other drone curiously picked up the journal and read through one of the open pages before going a bit wide eyed at one particular line that caught his attention. '...Dragons become dogs?' “But my Queen, you can't enter it without losing your magic. I see no other way we can achieve this.” Chrysalis finally took a deep breath and relaxed as she decided to carefully ponder the situation. She hated to admit it but the drone had a point. This magical countermeasure proved to be a real nuisance. Here she was, a powerful Changeling Queen at the very doorsteps of a defenseless kingdom and yet she could not enter it without losing her greatest assets. She growled at the mirror as she imagined it mocking her. She then had a thought. “Hm... If I can't feed off them on their world...” A grin suddenly appeared on her face as she got an idea. “...Then maybe I shall bring them over here!” “My Queen?” “You two! You're coming with me!” The two drones blinked. “Us?!” “Yes! We are going over there to capture one of these humans and bring it here through the portal. If the mirror can turn me into a human, then the same should apply to you as well.” She looked at her drones and imagined them as her as her own humanized minions. “Even though I hate to admit it, I'm going to need help after that little disaster on my last trip. They're probably on guard now and looking out for me. So you two will have to do the deed.” The two drones shared a look as it seemed like a good idea. But then one drone realized something. “But if the portal turns ponies human, won't bringing one of these humans over to Equestria turn them into ponies, my Queen?” “Maybe, but at least I'll get to feed.” she smirked as she licked her lips. “And once I've sampled enough of its love, we'll take it back to the Hive, study it and hopefully find something that will allow us to retain our magic while I master out a plan to take over the Human World. We'll worry about getting past Twilight and her friends later.” “Sounds ingenious, my Queen!” said the other drone in excitement. “If course it is you fool.” Chrysalis cackled. “I am you Queen afterall. My plans are ALWAYS ingenious.” Using her magic, Chrysalis pulled the lever and turned the portal on. While it seemed risky leaving the machine unattended, she knew they wouldn't be too long and they still had more than enough time to get back before Twilight returned from her trip. “Now, follow me.” With that, Chrysalis entered the portal with her drones close behind. Seconds later, in the Human World... Arriving back at the human school, Chrysalis quickly took cover behind the statue upon arrival, making sure no one saw her. She heard the sounds of her drones emerging from the portal. “Keep close, there's bound to be-” It didn't take Chrysalis long to spot her first target; A blue-haired human girl sporting fancy shades, listening to loud music from earphones on her head and walking to its rhythm as she headed for the school entrance. Looking about, there were no other students nearby and no teacher to interfere. “That human will do nicely.” Chrysalis grinned while swatting away an annoying fly. “NOW! GRAB HER YOU FOOLS!” Chrysalis watched eagerly from her hiding place, waiting for her drones to rush over and pounce her. She then realized that nothing was happening. “What are you two waiting for?! Grab her!” There was no reply. Chrysalis growled and went to see what the hold up was. “What is the matter with-?” Chrysalis suddenly noticed there were no sign of her drones. “What??! Where are you?!” As she looked around for her minions, the girl had already entered the school, unaware of the peril she had just avoided. “Curses! Where are you, you fools?” Chrysalis fumed as she walked around the statue looking for her drones. No matter how hard she looked, there was no sign of them anywhere. “This makes no sense! I heard them come through! Wha-” A fly suddenly buzzed across her face. “Shoo! Get away from me! I'm trying to think.” She tried swatting it away, only for another one to suddenly appear. They circled around her head, making it impossible to her to think. “Ugh! Shoo! Get away from me you pests!” Chrysalis waved her arms at them, trying to get rid of them. Much to her surprise these flies were unnaturally persistent. They even seemed drawn to her somehow. “What is up with these things? Who do you think I am? Your Queen? Buzz off!!” She swatted one of the flies, sending it tumbling through the air into a spider's web on the statue. Tangled up in the web, the fly buzzed frantically as the spider that made the web sprang hungrily towards it. “Help me! Help me!” the fly cried in a faint yet highpitched squeal, much to the surprise of Chrysalis. “What?” As Chrysalis gawked at it, the other fly quickly came to its brother's aid and pulled it free just before the spider was about to make a meal out of it. “What in the Hive..?” Chrysalis stood frozen in place, finding herself just staring at the two flies buzzing around before her. “Wait a minute... No... This is not possible...” A frightening realization suddenly hit her. Her drones were gone. And now suddenly there were these two flies pestering her. “No... Don't you dare tell me that...” Chrysalis then held out her arm. She watched as the two flies landed on it, lined up and saluted her before bowing. Chrysalis' right eye twitched and her mind completely shattered as the world around her went deathly silent. “What..?” Back in Twilight's castle... “FLIES??!!??” Chrysalis angrily threw a small crystal bust of a stallion across the room, shattering it as it hit the wall next to some very frightened drones who were recovering from the trip. “My very own drones! My unbeatable changeling swarm! Nothing but insignificant FLIES?! Never have I felt such humiliation!” “It wasn't really a thrill for us either, my Queen.” said one drone, still shaken up after nearly becoming spider food. “This is getting ridiculous!” Chrysalis fumed. “I can't invade this world without becoming a pathetic human, and I can't count on help from any of you fools because you become flies!” she groaned. She mentally pictured her human self standing ready to assault the human school with her changeling swarm of flies. “This is a joke!! Chrysalis, the Queen of Flies! Sounds REALLY intimidating, doesn't it? Really brings fear and dread to the hearts of our enemies, right?.” “N-Not really...” “I was being SARCASTIC, you idiot!!” Chrysalis threw a vase at the drone, who was lucky enough to dodge it and hid behind his brother. “My Queen!” the other drone came forth. “I know I'm risking my own existence saying this, but maybe this is the sign that we should-” “NO!!” Chrysalis roared. “I am NOT giving up! One way or the other, I am going to take this world...” She held her breath in anger and exhaled with a loud sigh. She cantered over to the mirror and glared at it. “There has to be another way. There has to be-” She then eyed the journal on the floor. She quickly seized it with her magic and flipped through the pages. “There must be something I've missed! Some kind of loop-hole... Anything!” The two drones watched as she carefully read through the pages. They had never seen her so determined before. Not even when she tried to take over Canterlot had they seen such determination. Of course, with Canterlot there was a risk. Here there was basically no risk at all, except for a rather uncooperative mirror. “A magic crown?” Chrysalis brought her hoof to her chin and a faint smile slowly appeared on her face as she seemed to find the answer she was looking for. “Interesting...” “You found something, my Queen?” “It would seem I have.” She grinned. “Listen. While ponies born with magic are rendered useless when entering the Human World, objects that CONTAIN magic remain unaffected.” “My Queen?” “According to this journal, somepony called Sunset Shimmer once stole Princess Twilight's magic crown and nearly enslaved the humans at this school. And just recently, she and her human friends defeated the Sirens who used enchanted pendants to spread disharmony among the students.” “How does this help us?” asked one confused drone. “Simple, my dimwitted drone. All I need is a magical object from this world and bring it over to the Human World. Like...” Chrysalis giggled as she took off her own crown and held it before her. “...a magic crown.” “But my Queen, we don't have any magic crowns.” Chrysalis put the crown back on her head and cackled. “Well then we'll just have to make one.” The two drones shared a surprised look. “M-Make one..?” “Come.” Chrysalis suddenly cantered past them out the library. “We're heading back to the Hive. There's nothing more we can do here.” “Back to the Hive?” said of the drones as they quickly followed her. “Yes.” She opened a nearby window facing away from the town. The sun was now close to setting. “This mirror and its world isn't going anywhere. I have a plan and I'm going to need a little help from my minions.” Her eyes gleamed and she sported an evil grin. “From ALL of my minions...” The two drones shared a curious and yet confused look by that last sentence. Before they could ask, Chrysalis signaled them to move out, only to stop one of them. “Not you. You stay here.” “My Queen?” “I want you to go to this... 'Amethyst', take her form and come back here.” “What for?” “I need some-ling to remain here until Twilight gets back. It would make her and her friends suspicious to find her castle completely unattended, wouldn't you agree?” She then leaned forward and looked him in the eye. “And besides, who else is going to clean that mess in the library and hide our tracks?” The drone gulped and cringed thinking about the state of the library. But, being the loyal drone he was, stood straight and saluted. “Yes! Of course my Queen!” “Good.” She turned to the other changeling drone waiting outside and joined him on the way back to the Hive, but not before leaving the remaining drone one last advice. “Do not fail me.” “I will not fail my Queen!” The maintained his salute as he watched his queen and his brother disappear into the distance. Once they were gone, he turned his sights to the library to begin his work when a thought occurred to him. “Wait... Where can I find this Amethyst?” > Chapter 5: A Queen's Hive > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Badlands... A dry and barren desert wasteland, stretching as far as the eye can see. A desolate and inhospitable place, filled with dust, sharp mountain spires and jagged rocks. Home of many foul and dark creatures, most never before seen by pony eyes. And the home to one of Equestria's greatest threats; the changelings. 'KEEP OUT!' and 'ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!' signs decorate the borders to the Badlands, but they do very little to deter the most curious ponies from visiting the place. Very few experienced pony adventures dare explore the Badlands. The smart ones keep themselves in close proximity to the border. The most foolhardy ones who bravely venture further into the Badlands never come back. Their fate remains a mystery as nopony dares to send search parties anymore, due to the search parties ending up never coming back themselves. Even before the Canterlot wedding incident, lookout posts had been erected along the border leading into the Badlands by Princess Celestia herself. Ever since its founding, Equestria had knowledge of this land and its dark reputation. To better ensure the safety of her ponies, Celestia had ordered the construction of these towers in order to keep a constant, vigil lookout for any dangerous threats that could enter Equestria. Sadly, many of these threats were rare and over the years the guard duty within the towers had dwindled and security had not been up to code due to extreme boredom. Now however, the pony guard have been tripled and requests for more towers have escalated to better ensure the safety of Equestria and its citizens. Investigation of the towers after the incident were immediately launched and many of them were found to have even been taken over by changelings, explaining how their entrance to Equestria went easily unhindered. With their invasion in shambles, the changelings were quickly driven away from the towers. The guards who were originally stationed there were never found. Magical sensors were deployed and changeling detection spell were issued to better ensure that the wedding incident never repeated itself. Of course, every now and then, changelings would find a way to sneak into Equestria. Whether to harvest love from nearby towns, learn valuable government secrets or foalnap and replace ponies so that they would become an easily required food source for the Hive, while the changeling impersonator would live the lives of their victim without anypony being the wiser. In the bird-less skies above the Badlands, Queen Chrysalis and her drone were finally approaching the Hive after days of travel. The Hive was a massive, hollowed out mountain, carved out in the twisted shape of Chrysalis' own horn. Around the Hive, changeling drones buzzed about their business, tending to repairs and maintenance while keeping constant look-out for enemy intruders. They all buzzed with excitement as they saw their Queen finally return. They made an escort and paved the way for her arrival at the entrance. Two armored changelings outside the Hive entrance bowed as she cantered past them with her drone close behind. She hardly acknowledged their existence, as she had much more on her mind than admiring their petty worship. A portal to another world. A world she knew was perfect. A world destined for all changelings. A world destined for HER. “My Queen!” A changeling drone greeted them as they entered the Royal Chamber. He was the Queen's head of staff. “It fills me with such joy and relief to see you safely returned to us. How was your mission?” “Better than expected, more or less. It's good to be back, my faithful drones.” “You must be famished from your long trip my Queen.” “Indeed. That romantic couple we encountered two towns back didn't fill us properly. Their love was... dry and unsatisfying.” “Well, we have your meal already prepared.” The drone signaled the rest of the staff and within seconds, several changelings came rushing in, pushing a large tray with three green glowing cocoons and placed them before Chrysalis. Each cocoon contained a pony. One held a lost unicorn stallion explorer, the other a tower guard pegasus stallion and the third a pegasus mare who had been abducted from a picnic trip that happened to be too close to the Badland border. Even though their eyes were still open, they glowed green as all three were in a deep hypnotic sleep, dreaming loving dreams and filling their cramp, glowing prisons to the brink. These cocoons were ripe as love practically seethed from them. Chrysalis trotted over, her mouth watering as she snorted in the sweet loving nectar. Her horn then glowed and, one by one, the love began to pour out from all three cocoons, becoming a giant green cloud of translucent vapor. Utterly love starved, Chrysalis opened her mouth wide and hungrily inhaled the vapor. Her eyes glowed blight green as the love traveled down and nestled inside her transparent midsection, giving off a dim green glow from within. It then slowly receded as the love began to flow and spread throughout her body, nourishing her and strengthening her magic. As the last particle of love vapor disappeared down her throat, Chrysalis swallowed and let out a satisfied sigh. “Ah~! That hit the spot...” The bright glow that once emitted from the three cocoons was now gone, but the ponies still inside were no worse for wear. Though drained, they were still alive and healthy and would eventually replenish their cocoons with more fresh love in due time. With dinner out of the way, Chrysalis went straight down to business. “Drones! I have a task for you all!” “Yes my Queen?” said the head drone in charge of staff. “Have the other drones gather as much love needed from the rest of our prisoners.” “Understood my Queen.” “Then take them, along with these three, and drop them off by the nearest tower beyond our border.” “Nearest tower..? My Queen! You- You're releasing our prisoners? Our only source of food?” Chrysalis ignored his words as she cantered out on the balcony, looking out in the direction of Equestria. “My Queen?” “Then I want you to send scouts to retrieve our harvesters, spies and impersonators who are still out there. Have them cease their missions and return home.” “Return home?! But-” “Did I stutter?” Chrysalis glared at her head drone. “No! Of course not my Queen!” the trembling drone bowed. “But why?” “Because I have made a great discovery, my children.” she announced as she walked back in. “I've discovered a whole new world. A world filled with an abundance of love and no magic to stop us.” “That's... That's GREAT my Queen!” said a random staff drone excited, panting hungrily at hearing the news. “Where is this new world?” “All will be revealed in time, my pet.” she cooed while patting him on the head. “Right now, we need to prepare for departure.” She suddenly kicked one of the cocoons, sending it tumbling across the floor. “And we don't need to carry this 'extra luggage'. We'll be traveling light.” “Of course my Queen!” “Now, stop wasting time! Carry out my orders and await my signal! I want my entire swarm present and well fed when I'm ready!” “Yes my Queen!” the drone saluted before he and the rest of the staff gathered up the cocoons and skittered off. “You didn't tell them about the mirror's magic, my Queen?” asked the drone curiously. “It's not important. What matters is that I have my entire swarm present and ready.” She then lit her horn and the drone's eyes grew wide as a hole in the wall with a stairway leading down suddenly appeared. “Now come.” “Where are we going my Queen?” “To see mother.” The drone's eyes widened and he gulped. Somewhere deep beneath the Hive... The drone trembled as he followed close behind Chrysalis through the dark forbidden caverns towards a chamber that was off limits to any drone but the Queen herself and her personal bodyguards. He had heard tales of the chamber's existence many times by his brothers and sisters, told to them by drones before them and drones before them. Never had he dreamed he would live to actually see it... The Ancient Burial Chamber of Queens. Ever since its creation, the Hive has had many Queens. Chrysalis was but the latest from a long line of Queens. Once a Queen had fulfilled her purpose and passed on her power to her chosen heir, she would be placed in the ancient chamber along with her former predecessors, so that her spirit would join the other Queens and forever watch over the Hive. At times a Queen would venture to the chamber in seek of guidance and strenght. For Chrysalis today however, she had something else in mind. After nearly an hour of decent, they finally reached the outer doors of the chamber. As Chrysalis was about to enter, the drone froze and backed away. “My Queen... I shouldn't be here! No mere drone has ever-” Chrysalis shot him a glare. He gulped. “W-W-What I mean is-” Chrysalis rolled her eyes and sighed. “As Queen of Changelings, I give you permission to join me in entering the 'forbidden Ancient Burial Chamber of Queens'... Happy?” The little drone's courage seemed to return as he calmly trotted up by the Queen's side. “Normally I should cite the sacred and ancient rites before entering but...” Chrysalis suddenly blasted the doors open with her magic. “...I have a world to conquer and this will only take a minute.” The drones eyes grew wide with awe as he followed Chrysalis into the chamber. He was the first low-class warrior to ever enter the Ancient Burial Chamber of Queens. He knew he was in the presence of greatness. G'Morra the Defiler, Corrosive the Vile, Arachna the Glutton and many more... Chrysalis passed the many empty shells and husks of previous Queens, her eyes dead set on one great changeling Queen resting on a makeshift throne, covered in cobwebs and dust. Morphelia the Waking Nightmare. “Greetings mother...” She gently and lovingly caressed the lifeless face of the former Queen with her hoof, just before she wrapped her magic around the horn of the empty husk and violently ripped it off with a crunching sound. “...I'll just take that.” “My Queen!!?” the shocked drone yelled. “But that's-” “She would've wanted it this way.” Chrysalis cooed. “She would want what is good of the Hive and her children. And am I not my mother's daughter?” “O-Of course my Queen...” the drone swallowed nervously. “...but she was your mother.” “I know.” Chrysalis smiled as she looked lovingly into her mother's empty eyes. “And her love for me was the reason I drained her of her power and claimed my right to rule the Hive, just as she did with her mother.” She eyed another empty Queen husk beside her mother's, only far older and more frail and decrepit. “Now she will rest easier knowing her horn will serve me a great purpose...” She brought her mother's horn up close and studied it carefully. “No damage. Perfect!” she grinned widely, her fangs practically glistening in the dark. “With this, I shall make my own magic crown. I shall bestow upon it all my changeling magic. And once I set hoof back in that other world and become human again, all I need is to put on my new crown and then...” as she was thinking about it, she began to snicker. She then let out a maniacal laugh that echoed throughout the whole cavern (and possibly the Hive itself). Her drone couldn't help but feel a wee bit uneasy, despite knowing his Queen was in a good mood. Once finished laughing, she turned around and headed back up the caverns. “Come my drone. I have what I came for. Now we get to work...” Two days later... Ever since the Queen returned, every changeling around Equestria had been ordered to pull back from their missions. Once the last drone was accounted for, all were gathered and assembled outside the Hive below the balcony to the Queen's chamber. There they waited until nightfall. After many hours of long and patient waiting, the Queen and her drone companion finally made their presence known. Two guards on the balcony saluted as Chrysalis stepped out to greet the gathered swarm before her. Never before had there been a gathering such as this. Not even since the invasion of Canterlot was addressed. Every drone went silent as they waited curiously for their Queen to reveal the reason for their summon. “MY CHILDREN!” Chrysalis began in a booming voice. “IT WARMS ME TO SEE ALL YOU HERE AND PRESENT TODAY! DAYS AGO, I MADE A GREAT DISCOVERY! A WELL KEPT SECRET! HIDDEN DEEP WITHIN THE CASTLE OF EQUESTRIA'S NEWEST PONY PRINCESS! A PORTAL! A PORTAL TO A NEW WORLD! A WORLD OF WONDER! A WORLD OF LOVE! A WORLD...” she paused. “...WITH NO MAGIC!” That last line made every changeling buzz with excitement. A world with love and no magic to defend it was a dream come true. A cheer immediately followed before Chrysalis waved them to silence. “BUT... TO REACH THIS NEW WORLD... THIS... NEW HAVEN... I NEEDED A KEY! A KEY TO UNLOCK THE DOOR THAT WOULD KEEP US FROM OUR DESTINY! OUR NEW HOME!” Her drone came forth, reached behind him and presented it to Chrysalis. Every changeling waited with anticipation to see this 'key' to their great destiny. “BEHOLD! THE KEY TO OUR TRIUMPH!!” She lit her horn to levitate it and revealed her 'key'. It was a pitch black iron crown with her mother's horn magically crafted on it. “That's our Key of Triumph?” One drone in the audience whispered. “How in the Hive is she going to fit that on her head?” “Won't her horn get in the way?” replied the other. “BUT...” Chrysalis continued. “TO MAKE OUR TRIUMPH A REALITY, I ASK OF YOU, MY CHILDREN, TO CHANNEL YOUR MAGIC INTO THIS CROWN! BESTOW UPON IT YOUR MAGIC! YOUR ESSENCE! YOUR POWER! DO IT, MY CHILDREN! DO IT FOR THE HIVE! FOR OUR DESTINY! DO IT FOR ME!!” Curious looks were shared between the changelings but did as they were ordered. Loyal to their Queen, they focused their magic and channeled it towards the crown as Chrysalis lifted it high above her head and using her own magic to activate it. Even her balcony guards and her loyal drone beside her began to channel their magic. The drones' magic, forming a massive cloud of green energy above then, was then drawn towards the crown and sucked into the horn that decorated it. Chrysalis quickly ceased her magic and beamed with joy as her crown absorbed her minions' magic. “Yes! It's working! More! MORE!” Every changeling used all the energy they had and channeled more into the crown as it greedily continued to suck it all up. Then, something started to happen. Changelings growing tired from the channeling suddenly found themselves unable to stop. Every changeling; worker, soldier, guard and warrior who were emptying everything they had into the crown, were completely unable to stop. That's when it hit them. The crown had taken over their magic and was slowly draining them of everything. Their magic. Their essence. Their power. Their LIVES! Screams and painful cries filled the air. “MY QUEEN!” a drone yelled. “WE HAVE TO STOP!” “THE PAIN!” yelled another. “PLEASE! STOP THE PAIN!!” “NO!” Chrysalis yelled. “MORE! GIVE ME MORE!” “My Queen, please!” the little drone beside her pleaded. “It's draining our magic! You have to stop it! We'll-” “You all swore to give your life to the Hive. To ME! Now fulfill your destiny!” “What are you saying?!! My Queen!” “Silence you fool! Give me MORE! ALL OF IT!!” The weakened drone painfully glanced over the balcony down towards his kin. One by one, drones dropped to the ground in violent pain before finally going still. Even the guards cries on the balcony were silenced. His eyes widened with horror. “My Queen... This is madness!” There was no answer. “My Queen! You need us!” Chrysalis slowly turned towards her drone, giving him a pitiful look. “My dear little drone...” she grinned. “Why would I need a bunch of useless FLIES?” “W-Wha..? M-My Queen! No-!” His plea was silenced as Chrysalis swatted him away, sending him tumbling back. Weakened and in pain, he slowly got back up on his hooves in a desperate attempt to reason with her. “My Queen..?” Chrysalis didn't acknowledge him anymore. Her eyes hard focused on the crown as it neared its completion. It then began to float out of her hooves and Chrysalis watched with awe as it glowed, vibrating wildly while emitted a loud humming sound that drowned out the last dying cries and pleas for help. The drone closed his eyes and whimpered. He could feel it coming. A tear ran down his cheeks as cracks began to appear on his now dry chitin coat. “My Queen... M-... MOTHER!!” There was a loud boom and a great green flash exploded from the balcony, bathing everything and every-ling in its bright glow. Even curious pony guards on watch from a tower near the border seemed to notice a bright green glow in the distance that grew one moment before fading soon after. After several tense seconds, the green light finally faded and dispersed like vapor. All was dark now and eerily quiet as the humming noise had finally ceased. Chrysalis opened her eyes and beheld the still floating, glowing crown before her, seething with raw changeling magic. “It worked...?” She quickly snagged it and studied it carefully. A huge grin spread across her face. “It worked! It actually worked!” Chrysalis let out a cackle that quickly evovled into a loud and delightfully evil laugh. She then looked out from her balcony at her swarm below. All her drones, her faithful and loyal changelings, were all the same; Drained... Empty.... Lifeless... “Thank you all for your sacrifice, my children...” Chrysalis cooed, suppressing her tears of joy as she admired her crown. “You have made your Queen very happy...” Trotting calmly back inside the now empty Hive with her prize, she passed her faithful drone who, like the others, was now nothing more but a hollowed-out empty husk. His face permanently frozen in a state of pain, sadness and horror. “Do not think too harshly of me, my child. I've merely taken back what I generously gave you...” She patted him lightly on the head, and the mere touch from her hoof was enough to make his head fall off and crumble into ash. She felt nothing as she passed him, stepping on his empty carcass as she did while sporting a devilish grin. “...And with it, I shall create a new generation... At MY new Hive... On MY new home.” > Chapter 6: A Queen's Last Drone > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two days later. In Ponyville... “Sleep tight Dinky.” said Amethyst as she tucked her little sister into bed for the night, pulling the bedsheets over her with her magic. “Thanks Sis! I really had a great day today.” Dinky smiled. “Hanging out with you and Ditzy was real fun. Too bad she had to go home so early. She's usually never that tired and we still had many muffins left.” “Ditzy sure loves her muffins...” Amethyst giggled. She gently patted Dinky on the head. “Don't worry. She probably just overdid it on the muffins. You know she's got quite an appetite.” “I don't know Sis...” Dinky answered, feeling a bit unsure. “She didn't eat that many muffins. In fact, I think I ate more than her today.” “I'm sure she's fine.” Amethyst cooed as she hugged her. “Don't worry. She'll be her old 'Ditzy' self again tomorrow. Now, hows about a good night kiss?” Dinky giggled. “Okay.” Amethyst leaned over and gave Dinky a gentle kiss on her forehead, making the little filly giggle. “Thanks Sis. Good night.” “Don't I get a good night kiss?” asked Amethyst with a playful pout. Dinky giggled and sat back up. “Sure.” She puckered her lips to kiss Amethyst's cheek, when Amethyst's horn suddenly glowed green. Dinky's eyes widened and started to glow bright green as well as she fell into a deep trance and opened her mouth. Amethyst then inhaled and a translucent green vapor channeled its way out of Dinky's mouth and into Amethyst's, making her eyes glow as it nourished her. As Amethyst devoured the vapor with content, Dinky began to grow weak. Her coat started to lose color and her eyes got heavier. Having sampled enough love, Amethyst, who was actually the drone left behind by Chrysalis, ceased his feeding, removing his hold on Dinky and gently lay her tired head down on her pillow. “Hng... Mmm...” too tired and weak to talk, Dinky soon drifted into a deep and sound sleep, unaware of what had just transpired. The drone, still in his Amethyst disguise, smiled and gently patted the sleeping filly on her head before leaving her alone. 'Sweet kid...' he thought to himself with a smirk. 'And such sweet love.' Ever since the Queen and his brother left for the Badlands, the drone had been busy looking after Twilight's castle. He was the only drone not called back to the Hive that day. After many hours of searching, he finally did find Amethyst's house and Amethyst herself. Once he had taken her form, the drone had done his best to tidy up the library and hide any trace of there ever having been a changeling presence in the castle. During that time after, the drone had a fair good run of the castle. On occasion, he even sat on Twilight's throne and pretended to be an actual princess, until the REAL princess one day finally returned from her friendship mission and quickly relieved the drone (i.e. Amethyst) from his duty as castle-sitter. Since then, the drone had spent most of his time hanging out with Amethyst's little sister and her close network of friends, partaking in various activities while helping himself to more delicious love. Of course, he was always careful not to overdo it. 'Staying here has been a real treat.' he giggled to himself, licking his lips before yawning as well. 'Oh Well... It's been a long day. Better turn in for the night. Another day, another pony to-' KNOCK! KNOCK! The drone's ears perked as he heard knocking on the front door. “Who could that be at this hour?” He trotted carefully over to a nearby window to have a look. He had been really careful when feeding on love. He knew that any wrong move or careless overfeeding would lead to him being discovered. He dreaded the possibility of a guard from Canterlot making a surprise visit. Much to his relief, it wasn't a guard. Instead it appeared to be a regular Ponyvillian. A mare by the looks of it. 'Probably a friend of Amethyst.' he thought. 'Better see what she wants...' Still in his disguise, he opened the door and got a good look at the mare. She was a unicorn with a dark coat and green-bluish hair wearing a satchel. “Yes? Can I help you?” The mare didn't say a word. Instead she just forced herself past him and waltzed right in before he had a chance to close the door on her. “Hey!” The drone didn't like this. He didn't take kindly to rude intruders. Especially when HE was doing the intruding. “Just who do you think you are barging in like this?” The mare stopped and calmly turned around, facing him as he angrily confronted her. “I don't know who you are, but you can't just come in here and-” Before he had a chance to finish that sentence, he suddenly noticed a peculiar feature. “No cutiemark? Wha-?” The mare suddenly erupted into green flames, revealing her towering true form. “M-M-M-MY QUEEN!?!!” The surprised drone quickly shed his disguise and bowed before her. “Forgive me! I didn't recognize you!” “I see you're still here. Good.” “O-Of course my Queen! You did tell me to stay here, right?” “Is she here?” Chrysalis asked, barely giving him a second glance as she trotted up the stairs towards the bedrooms. “She's still there, isn't she?” It took the drone a moment to realize who she was talking about. “Huh? Oh yes! Yes she is!” Chrysalis burst into Amethyst's bedroom and opened the large closet at the other end of the room. And sure enough, inside it was Amethyst, resting upside-down peacefully in her cocoon prison. Much to Chrysalis' relief, it was glowing ripe with fresh love. Without hesitation, she practically tore Amethyst's cocoon out of the closet with her magic, sank her fangs into it and hungrily inhaled the sweet love nectar inside like a starved, ravenous spider. “Long trip, my Queen?” asked the drone nervously as he caught up with her, cringing a bit as he saw her feeding. It reminded him of a fate that nearly befell him. “Sort of...” replied Chrysalis as she withdrew her fangs. She wiped her mouth and proceeded to tear the now love-dry cocoon open. She levitated the still form of Amethyst out of it and lowered her onto her bed. The drone trotted over and noticed she wasn't moving. Her coat and mane was all but completely gray and he heard a faint wheezing sound as Amethyst was struggling to breathe. “I... think you overdid it, my Queen...” said the drone more nervous now. “This is bad...” “You're correct my drone...” Chrysalis sighed. “...And we can't have that.” Chrysalis closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. A faint rumbling could be heard as something inside her seemed to stir and her mid-section started to glow. She opened her mouth and a small green vapor of love suddenly flew out and was guided through the air before vanishing inside Amethyst's half open mouth. It seemed to rejuvenate her as her coat soon became slightly more colorful and she could breathe normally now. “Lucky for her, I'm not here to leave a trail of pony bodies. I've already come too far and I can't afford any slip-ups now.” She looked her over more closely. “She'll be fully recovered in the morning. I trust you kept the mind-link between you open while you were her?” “Yes my Queen! And I even made sure that she only remembers the good parts.” “Good. She'll have no memory of being imprisoned and will think she was really out and about. The ponies won't suspect anything.” With Amethyst taken care of, Chrysalis and her drone went back downstairs. “I see the little princess is back. I take it all went well?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “She didn't suspect anything, did she?” “No my Queen! I was very thorough. I made sure there was no trace left behind from our visit. Of course, it wasn't easy... You did-” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes some more. “I mean, WE did break a lot of stuff in there...” “And we're going to do some 'breaking' again, because we are breaking in there tonight.” “Tonight? Really? So... It's all ready then? The invasion? You figured out a way for us to travel trough without losing our forms and magic?” “Yes... Everything is ready.” “That's great!” the drone beamed while happily buzzing his wings. He then noticed something and realized that Chrysalis had arrived alone. “Um... Where are the others? Where's my brother?” Chrysalis giggled. “'Brother'... That's really cute...” The drone just looked at her, slightly confused at that remark. Chrysalis coughed and hesitated a bit before answering. “I-I mean... He... and the rest of our swarm are already here. They are waiting for you to join them. All we need to do first is to get back inside that castle, find the portal and migrate to our new home.” “Sounds wonderful my Queen! I simply can't wait! It's going to be great going over there without having to worry about being eaten by spiders.” the drone smiled. “However, the only problem now is figuring out how we can turn off that machine after we enter the portal. We can't leave it open for Twilight to find it and I can't leave one of you drones behind without me to lead you. And using magic is pointless, because once I enter the Human World it will cancel out... ” The drone was quiet as he listened, until he remembered something and got all excited. “Ooh! Ooh! I almost forgot! While I was there I asked a bit about the portal!” “You did WHAT??!” Chrysalis shouted and violently pinned him to the wall with her magic. “FOOL! How could you be so careless?! Amethyst doesn't know anything about the portal! Now Twilight knows something is up!” “*Cough!* No my Queen!” the drone wheezed as he tried to breathe. “I was careful. *Cough!* I didn't mention 'portal'!” Chrysalis looked deep into his eyes before finally letting him go. “You sure?” “Yes!” the drone inhaled to catch his breath. “I only asked what the machine was for.” “And..?” “She didn't tell me anything...” Chrysalis blinked. “If she didn't tell you anything, why in the Hive would you bring it up in the first place?” “...Because her dragon told me.” “Her dragon?” She then remembered back to the wedding. “You mean Spike? That little pet dragon of hers? So he's back from his vacation...” “Yes, he said he'd tell me if I promised to keep it a secret.” “Well then... Go on. Tell me.” “Um... I can't...” “You can't..?” Chrysalis blinked again and was starting to lose her patience. “Are you trying to be funny? I am your Queen. Now tell me!” “Pinkie Promise!” “What?” “My Queen, you have to Pinkie Promise. Only then I can tell you.” “What foolishness is this?” “Please! Or else...” He looked around and gestured her to lean closer as he whispered in her ear. “...'SHE' will notice.” “She?” ---- On top floor of Sugarcube Corner, Ponnyville's favorite party pony Pinkie Pie was sleeping in her bed with Gummy when one of her ears began to itch, causing her to open one of her eyes. “Hm?” ---- “I don't know how she knows but...” The drone started to sweat. “Please my Queen!” He held up his hoof. “Pinkie Swear and promise you'll never tell anypony what I'm about to tell you.” He winked. Chrysalis was now both bewildered and confused. It took a moment before it finally dawned on her on 'whom' he was talking about. 'Pinkie swear..? Wait... Her? Pinkie Pie?!' Chrysalis cringed. ---- Pinkie now opened both eyes and sat up, smiling as her ears were still itching. “Hmmm..?” ---- Out of all of Twilight's friends, Pinkie was well known to Chrysalis for her... cheerful and bizarre nature. Stories of how she once pulled a cannon out of her hair and how she used Twilight herself as a weapon on her drones was something that was mentioned and talked about more often among many scarred changelings that day. Not wanting to jeopardize her mission due to the possible interference of a precognitive and... crazy mare, Chrysalis swallowed what pride she had and held up her hoof. “I... Pinkie Swear.” She forced out with suppressed disgust before joining her drone in a chant. “CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO FLY. STICK A CUPCAKE IN MY EYE.” ---- Back in Pinkie Pie's room, The itch in Pinkie's ear suddenly ceased. “Hm? Hmph...” Feeling nothing else, Pinkie shrugged, let out a big yawn and went back to sleep, snoring loudly. ---- “That was humiliating...” Chrysalis frowned while listening to her what her drone had learned. “He started by telling me all about the portal and where it goes...” “Hardly anything we don't already know...” Chrysalis frowned some more. “...And when he explained how the machine worked, he mentioned it had a TIMER.” “A Timer?” “Yes.” “And why is that important?” “He said Twilight installed it a while ago so she could leave for the Human World without having it remain open all the time. She'd set the timer on three specific hours of the day each day and it would be re-opened a few good minutes before closing again. “Really?” Chrysalis got interested. “Hm... This could be useful...” She brought her hoof to her chin and thought about the huge advantage this posed. 'I can leave for the Human World and set the machine to shut itself off without Twilight knowing any-ling had ever been there. The perfect cover up...' “I trust he showed you how it works?” she asked him hopefully. “Indeed!” the drone beamed proudly while buzzing his wings. “Drone do good?” Chrysalis smiled at him. “Drone do very good. Now come, we're going over there right now.” “But My Queen, how are we going to get inside? I tried to find a way but the place is protected by a spell. No-ling can get inside without setting off the alarms. Not through the door or any of the windows.” “Fortunately, I ALWAYS think ahead...” Chrysalis gloated. After saying that, Chrysalis' horn began to glow and a circle of green flames suddenly formed around them on the floor. The flames intensified and the encircled floor became pitch black. The drone flinched as he and Chrysalis suddenly began to sink into the dark floor, to which he now realized had become a portal. As they sank inside it, the flames closed in around them and sealed the portal, with no visible burn marks anywhere to be seen. Inside Twilight's castle library... A circle of flames erupted on the floor of the library, forming a black hole in its center where Chrysalis and her drone slowly materialized and rose out from. Once fully emerged, Chrysalis ceased her magic and the flames dispersed along with the portal. “We're... We're in Twilight's castle!” the drone exclaimed. “Sush! Be quiet you fool!” Chrysalis hissed between her teeth, whispering as she glared at him. “Do you want to wake the little princess up and ruin everything? We may have bypassed the alarms but she and her dragon can still hear us.” “Sorry...” the drone whispered, watching as Chrysalis then trotted over to the Human World portal. “While you and your... 'brother' were searching the library, I made certain that I would be able to enter this castle without having to break in the old fashion way. It's how I was able to trap Twilight in that crystal cave beneath Canterlot with Cadance.” she gloated before suddenly frowning. “If only I had used better sentries...” She then focused her attention to the machine. “Now... Which did you say was the Timer?” The drone buzzed over and looked over the panel before finding it. “Here! These controls allows you to set the machine to repeatably open and close the portal at any given time of the day.” He then pointed to a knob with a display of random numbers on it. “Just turn the dial for the number of minutes you want the portal to remain open.” “Very good my drone... You have done well.” “Thank you my Queen.” the drone bowed. “Shall we figure out on how to disable the spell around the castle so we can signal our swarm and begin our invasion?” “No need for that my drone.” said Chrysalis as she had her back turned, looking at the mirror. “They are already here.” The drone threw her a confused look. “My Queen..?” “Tell me something drone...” Chrysalis changed the subject. “...Were you the one who got caught in that spider's web in the Human World? When you two had become flies?” “Yes...” the drone cringed thinking about it. “What was it like?” she asked as green substance began dripping from her mouth. “It was awful my Queen. I would not want to experience that again...” “More awful than this?” “Whatever do you mean my Que-?” Suddenly, Chrysalis turned around and a green string of sticky goo shot out from her mouth and wrapped itself around the drone's legs, causing him to fall over. The now confused drone struggled to free himself but to no avail. “Hng! My Queen??! Wha-MMPH?!” Another string of goo shot out and wrapped itself around his mouth to silence him. More and more strings of gelatinous goo was used as Chrysalis wrapped up her drone. Unable to move or speak, the drone watched helplessly as he was lifted off the ground by Chrysalis' magic and brought before her. “Mmmph!?? Mmph!!” “You asked me where the swarm was...” She opened her satchel and levitated up her crown. “...Here they are.” “Hmph??” “My poor little drone... It pains me to tell you that the swarm you knew it is no more. I... destroyed them.” she grinned. “HMMPH!??” “You're probably asking 'why'?” she smirked. “Why did I destroy our swarm? You see my pet, in order for me to make this crown, I had to use changeling magic. Unfortunately, my magic alone wouldn't be enough. I needed the magic from all my subjects to make this crown complete. ALL of their magic.” The drone's eyes widened with horror. “Truthfully, I didn't 'destroy' them.” She made quotation signs with her hooves. “I merely absorbed their magic, along with their life force. They are still 'alive' in this crown. Their spirits keeping it's raw energy constant and ever flowing.” “HMP??! HMMPH!?” “'And why sacrifice all of them' you ask?” she giggled. “Because, my drone...” She suddenly pulled him close and glovered at him menacingly. “Because you belong to me! You're mine!” She snarled. “And not just mine! You're SPAWNED from me! Spawned and magically crafted by me. You are all part of ME! You all came from me and I made you! Did any of you even wonder why you all look alike? Because you're all nothing but clones! Clones of me! You are EXPENDABLE!” The drone went silent. “The only thing that made you all separate from each other and myself was the love that I infused with you during your incubation. The love from one of many, many ponies, each with their own distinct personalities and gender.” The drone began to cry as her words stung him. All his short life he believed he and his siblings mattered to their Queen. Now he understood that his service... Their service... meant nothing to her. They were just cheap labor. An expendable fighting force. Mere 'things' she would just use until they no longer served her any purpose. “You understand now my drone? My love didn't bring you life. The love from other ponies gave you life. And now I'm simply taking that love back and using it fulfill our destiny. MY destiny! And once I have all the love I need on that other world, I'll just use it to make new loyal drones. Changeling drones who will retain their magic even on that world and serve me like true Changelings, and not as some pitiful little FLIES.” Tears began forming around the drone's eyes and he looked her pleadingly in the eyes whimpering. “Mph... Mmmph...” “Mother... Is that what you're saying, my 'child'? Are pleading for your 'mother' to spare you?” The drone quivered but nodded. “Foolish drone! I'm a love-stealing 'SPIDER'!” she cackled. “And now... My little 'fly'... Time for you to join the rest of your swarm and fulfill your purpose...” Chrysalis gleefully brought the crown before him. The terrified drone wriggled and buzzed frantically as he tried to get away, feeling his magic already being pulled and sucked into the crown. He struggled wildly, but it was to no avail as the Queen's goo only fastened itself more tightly around him. His muffled cries and tearful whimpers was soon reduced to painful moans as he grew weaker and weaker. After many long and agonizing minutes, the drone's struggling had finally ceased as his body was now hollow and empty, his magic and life all part of the crown now. Pleased with her deed, Chrysalis dropped the limp and lifeless carcass to the floor and admired her crown. “Excellent!” With nothing holding her back, she pulled the lever and activated the portal. She set the Timer for 2 minutes. With her crown ready in her satchel, she stood before the portal and grinned. “Human World... Here I come...” As she was about to enter, Chrysalis suddenly realized something and found herself looking back at the lifeless drone on the floor. She grinned. “Better not leave that 'evidence' behind...” She picked up the lifeless drone and brought him with her as she entered the portal. Two minutes later, the portal closed, leaving the library dark and silent throughout the rest of the night... > Chapter 7: A Queen's Moment > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was nighttime in the Human World. School had been over for hours and every student had gone home to do their homework and rest up for their next day of studies. For some however, resting up early for another day of school was not that important. A young couple on a date were out enjoying an evening walk just outside the school, holding hands and looking up towards the star-filled skies. Their names were Big Mike and Honey Rays. “It's really starry tonight.” Honey sighed dreamily, holding Mike's hand and leaning close to him while gazing up towards the night sky. “I really love these night time walks.” “Me too.” replied Big Mike with a smile. “With so many stars up there, do you think 'they' might actually be out there?” Big Mike threw a questionable glance. “Who?” Honey looked him in the eyes and smiled. “You know...” She playfully gestured her head upwards, hinting. “Aliens.” “Aliens?” Big Mike looked up and chuckled. “What? You mean like the ones from that movie we saw last week? 'Invasion of the People-Stealers'?” “Well... Maybe?” Honey replied, regretting herself for having brought it up. She remembered being utterly terrified by that movie. “Of course, I really hope there's nothing like 'that' out there...” She shivered at the frightening mental image of one of the dark, scaly, green eyed aliens with huge fangs in her head. “Imagine talking to your closest friend and then find out they're not who they really are but aliens in disguise. How creepy is that?” “That's not even the creepiest part.” Big Mike giggled. He remembered the movie was actually quite enjoyable. The best parts were the scary ones, because Honey would always hug him for comfort and protection. “The creepiest parts is when they take you to their ship, put you in those tubes and take you away to their home planet to suck your brain out.” he laughed while making a creepy face at her. “Stop that!” Honey yelled, pushing him away and pouting. “Forget I even mentioned it. I don't think want to know if there are aliens anymore.” Big Mike laughed a bit more and put a comforting arm around her. “Don't worry. If there's anything like that, I'll protect you.” His comforting words brightened Honey's and she giggled. “You're right. Thank you Big Mike.” Big Mike smiled. “Besides, what are the odds of anything like that ever coming here?” As they walked past the school, they didn't see the faint shimmer of light as Chrysalis slowly emerged out from the portal in the statue. Her eyes closed, she soon opened them and she beheld the sight of the Human World once again before her. She breathed in its air. “Mmm...” she moaned. “...Back here again.” She then looked down at her human form and frowned. “And back in... 'this' body...” she sighed before smirking. “But that won't be for long...” Chrysalis then felt something in her already clenched hand. It was tiny and didn't move. She opened it to see a lifeless fly in her hand. Her drone... “My little child...” she cooed. “...I thank you and your siblings for all your loyal service and selfless sacrifice. I shall never forget it.” She dropped the tiny fly on the ground and, without one shred of remorse or regret, she stepped on it. CRUNCH! Looking around and seeing no humans in sight, Chrysalis took a deep breath to announce her arrival. “Tremble humans! I hereby claim this world in the name of the Changeling Swarm!” she exclaimed, extending her arms and reaching out towards the night sky. “Tonight, a new era is born! An era of Queen Chrysalis! Here I shall thrive with my new subjects and feed to my stomachs content! It will be...” she sighed. “...absolutely PERFECT!” She reached inside her satchel, pulled out her crown and held it before her. While she couldn't feel it, she knew the magic contained inside it was still there, glowing and pulsating with green energy. “All the trials, the waiting and the sacrifice has lead to this moment!” She lifted her crown high above her head. “This crown will either grant me the power I need to subjugate this world... Or leave me trapped her for the remained of my existence...” With a deep breath, she slowly placed the crown on her head. “The moment of truth... I wonder what will-HNG!” Within seconds, her crown started to glow ferociously and green lightning suddenly shot out from it. Feeling the intense pain, she screamed as the raw changeling magic spread throughout her body, making her slowly levitate off the ground. She was then enveloped in a green, glowing bubble. Just a short distance away... “What's that?!” Big Mike and Honey Rays stopped as they suddenly heard a woman scream somewhere not far behind them. Looking back, they then noticed the green light-show originating from the school. “What's that strange light?” asked Honey with growing concern. “I didn't notice that before!” “It seems to be coming from the school!” “What do you think it is?” “Aliens..?” asked Big Mike with a small hint of excitement, even though the scream from earlier did concern him. “Let's check it out!” “Check it out?!” Honey asked frightened, just before Big Mike started running towards the school. “Come on! Somebody might be in trouble!” “What?! Hey! Wait up!” Honey shouted as she followed close behind. Back at the school... Inside the bubble, Chrysalis clenched her teeth together, suppressing the tremendous pain as her body absorbed the raw magic of the crown. As she did, her crown then somehow began to magically merge with her forehead. It magically dug itself into her flesh, becoming a part of her with only the horn visible. The whole process lasted about few more seconds until the bubble suddenly burst and the light vanished. Still elevated in the air, the unconscious form of Chrysalis soon descended slowly back to earth, resting gently on the grass. “Hey! The light's gone!” yelled Mike as they arrived. He scratched his head as he looked around. “Wonder what was all about..? And where's-” “Look!” Honey shouted, pointing at still form of Chrysalis. “There's a woman over there! Maybe she's the one we heard screaming?” “Come on! She might be hurt!” Chrysalis slowly regained consciousness. She opened her eyes and they glowed briefly with green energy. She then felt it and a wide, fanged grin appeared across her face. “I feel it... It worked...” Getting back up on her feet, Chrysalis wobbled a bit before finding her balance. She grinned uncontrollably now as she felt the magic course through her once frail human body. She felt her forehead and the horn that now protruded from it. The crown had actually become a part of her being. She felt whole again... “This... This is-” “Hey!” “Hm?” Chrysalis turned and saw the two humans approaching her. They looked young. They looked concerned. They looked fresh... “Hey! What happened here?” asked Big Mike. “Was it you who screamed? Are you hurt? What was that light?” Chrysalis didn't answer. Instead she felt it... The love! She felt it oozing out of him like an invisible aura that only she could see. She felt the same from his female companion who caught up with him. She had to have them. With a large grin, Chrysalis slowly and seductively approached the now nervous young man. “Um... Are you alright?” asked Big Mike. Chrysalis grinned. “Never better.” Big Mike noticed the twisted horn protruding from her forehead. “Hey, what's with that-Hmmph?!?” Without warning, Chrysalis suddenly reached out and grabbed Mike by the head with her one hand over his mouth and nose. To Honey's utter shock, Chrysalis lifted him off the ground by the head with impossible ease. A frightened Big Mike held on and struggled to break free from her hold but found himself unable to as she tightened her grip, cutting off air. Struggling in vain, Big Mike soon began to grow weaker as Chrysalis's horn began siphoning the love from his body. “What are you doing?!!” With a sudden surge of courage, Honey reached for Chrysalis' arm in an attempt to save Big Mike. “Stop it! Let him go!” As she struggled to pry Mike away, Honey saw the glowing green shimmer in Chrysalis' eyes. Her eyes widened with terror. “No... You can't be-” Chrysalis grinned at her, revealing her fangs. “I didn't forget you...” “ALIEN! SOMBODY! HEL-HMPH!!” Chrysalis silenced Honey with her other hand and held her aloft along with Mike, siphoning her love as well. With her hands muffling their frightened cries for help, Chrysalis used the magic of her horn to put them both under a deep trance. It wasn't long before their eyes soon glowed green and they both ceased their struggling. Once they calmed down, Chrysalis placed them back on the ground and let them go. Standing there with their mouths already half opened, Chrysalis opened her own mouth and began to inhale the love from them both. Green translucent vapor began pouring out of them, channeling through the air directly into Chrysalis' open maw. Her eyes widened with delight and glowed ever brighter as she deeply inhaled the fresh love, savoring as much of it as she could. She feed like she had never feed before. Eventually, Mike and Honey's legs began to wobble weakly and they soon collapsed on their knees as the love and strength all but left them. With only an inch of being completely drained, Chrysalis mercifully ceased her feeding. Nearly devoid of color and shriveled up like mummies, Big Mike and Honey collapsed and lay motionless on the grass as Chrysalis stepped back and swallowed that last vapor of love with such content. “That... was worth all the effort.” she panted. “All the sacrifice. All my children... WORTH IT!” She looked down at the poor drained couple before her. They were still alive, but too weak to move or speak. “Sorry about that...” she giggled. “Guess I overdid it a little.” Seeing the result of her feeding, she looked at it with a critical eye and rubbed her chin. “If my takeover of this world is to go unnoticed, I probably should avoid littering the streets. I need a place to hide my victims. Somewhere far away from curious eyes. Somewhere-” She stopped as she again noticed her reflection in the glass door of the school entrance. She stared at her human form and frowned at it. “Disgusting... We should change that.” Using the power of her crown, Chrysalis closed her eyes and concentrated as she magically combusted into a huge green flame. Once it vanished, she again looked at her reflection and smiled with delight. She was back in her own equine form. “Ah~!” she uttered with delight as she trotted about, buzzing her wings and admired her black chitin coat. “Nice to be back.” As she continued admiring her reflection in the window, she then let out a sigh and her smile faded. “It's still a disguise though, but I'll find a way to make it more permanent. The human form will serve me well in blending in with the pathetic locals, but I do not wish to keep it as my true form.” Once done admiring her looks, she used her magic and levitated the unconscious human couple off the ground. She then tied them up in strings of green goo and fastened them on to her back. “Now... I need a lair. Someplace nopony... or 'no-human', will discover me. If my invasion of this world is to succeed, I need a secure place for which to build the foundation for my new empire...” She then found herself looking at the nearest building in the area, the school. She grinned. “Why not?” Using her magic, she easily unlocked the doors of the school and ventured inside. Everything seemed to go smoothly as there didn't seem to be any alarms going off, except maybe a small blinking light in a corner above the door that she didn't notice. Trotting down the dark empty corridors with her captured humans, she looked for a way down beneath the building. After a long while searching, she eventually found a door labeled 'Basement' with a staircase leading down. Exploring the basement, she ventured deeper down and reached the subbasement, located just beneath the school's boiler room. She could tell by the large amount of dust that it hadn't been used in years. It wasn't the deepest place ever, but it was secluded enough for her to live unnoticed for the time being. “This will do nicely...” Having chosen the spot for her new lair, Chrysalis immediately went to work. She began by wrapping up the unconscious couple and sealing them up inside freshly made cocoons. Once done, she levitated them up with her magic and glued them upside-down to the ceiling. Once completed, she stepped back to admire her work. She smiled as her prey maintained their trance-like state, now grinning and staring into nothing with glowing green eyes as the psychedelic essence in the cocoons gently nestled them into a dreamworld of love and pleasure. “Enjoy your new 'homes' my lovelies...” she cooed while patting the surface of the cocoons. “These will sustain you. Keep you safe and well preserved while you slowly fill them with your precious love for me to feast on whenever I want.” She licked one of the cocoons, sampling an already small layer of love from it. “Mm~! You two should feel honored, knowing you are the first of your kind to be chosen in helping me conquer this world. In time, this school will become part of my new Hive and you won't be alone for long. And neither will I...” She began to clear away debris with her magic, making more room as she produced more pulp and gelatinous material to decorate the walls and corners of her new lair. With it she made a makeshift bed, similar to that of a much larger cocoon but with an opening for her to enter. She then made a small hatchery. “I shall begin my Hive with the creation of my first new drones. This will take some time as drones aren't made over night.” She then looked to her prisoners and rubbed her chin. “But you two won't do. If I'm going to succeed, I need more love...” She then glanced up beyond the ceiling and had an idea. She let out a loud cackle that echoed throughout the basement, through the school and out into the night sky. “...Which means I'm going to have so much FUN tonight.” > Chapter 8: A Queen's Late Night Visitors > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEEEE-OOOOO~! WEEEE-OOOOO~! WEEEE-OOOOO~! WEEEE-OOOOO~! The loud sound of an approaching police siren was heard and red and blue flashes lit up the neighborhood as a patrol car arrived on the scene and skidded to a stop just outside the Canterlot Highschool. Two police officers quickly stepped out and scouted the area. One of them then reached back inside for the police radio to call the station, covering his one ear in an attempt to block out the loud siren while he spoke. “Ten-Four, this is Blue Rook. We've arrived at the school and about to investigate a possible break in. Over” “Copy that, Blue Rook. Proceed with caution and report back. Over” “Roger that Ten-Four. Over.” “Weeee-Oooooo~! Weeee-Oooooo~! We-” “Knock it off Ride Along!” said Blue Rook. “We've arrived!” Ride Along made a beep and click sound with his mouth, turning off his 'siren' before quickly joining up with his partner as they headed for the main school entrance. Upon arrival, they could clearly see that the doors were unlocked. Blue Rook kneeled down to inspect the lock. “Anything?” asked Ride. “No signs of tampering that I can see...” replied Rook, rubbing his chin as he carefully studied the lock with hidden amazement. He had seen lock tampering before and in all the cases there was always visible marks and scars on the lock. This one however, had none. As if it hadn't been touched... “Who ever did this must be a real pro...” “Maybe they used a key?” said Ride Along. “Hm... No.” Rook shook his head. “The Principal would've reported a missing key.” “Maybe they just forgot to lock it? I sometimes forget to lock the door at my apartment.” Ride joked. “Maybe...” Rook reached for his belt and pulled out a flashlight. “...But just to be sure, let's check it out and see if anyone is inside.” Rook quietly ventured in with Ride close behind, turning off the silent alarm above the door as he searched around with his flashlight. So far, everything seemed to be normal. There was no sign of vandalism and the school trophies were still in their trophy case. “Keep close and look for anything suspicious, Ride.” “Who would want to break into a highschool at this hour?” “Probably some juvenile delinquents seeking attention.” replied Rook. “...Who also just happens to be really skilled at lock-picking...” “Maybe it's those 'Diamond Dogs' again.” said Ride as he pulled out his flashlight and joined his partner searching. “Remember the time we caught them digging holes around school property that one night?” “Those boys sure do like to dig a lot.” said Rook with a quiet chuckle. “But this doesn't smell like them. If they wanted to break in, they wouldn't be using the door.” “Then maybe it's Bindle Stiff?” Ride shrugged. “You know that hobo likes to sleep anywhere. Remember that one time we found him fast asleep in a public bathroom? For ladies!” “Yeah... And that was right after we told him not to sleep in the men's bathroom!” Rook amusingly rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we'll know soon enough...” Elsewhere in the school... Chrysalis quietly emerged up out the utility room and into the dark hallway after having left the basement and her new lair to hunt for more love. “It's been a long time since I've been on an actual hunt...” she mused evilly to herself. “Usually I let my drones do most of that work...” She was then suddenly hit with a sense of depression. “I do miss my children... I like having subjects to wait on me hoof and hoof.” She shook the sad thoughts out of her head and smiled. “But that will change once I have my NEW children to serve me. In the meantime, it shall be nice to stretch my wings and-” “I thought I heard something...” Chrysalis's ears twitched as she heard the faint sound of a male voice in front of her, followed by sounds of footsteps moving towards her. She soon noticed flashlights appearing around the corner at the end of the hallway. Realizing she wasn't alone, she looked for a hiding place and quickly ducked inside one of the many open school lockers. It was a tight fit but Chrysalis managed to comically squeeze herself in and close the door with her magic just as two bipedal figures rounded the corner and moved her direction. Silent as a tomb, she watched through the narrow vents as the figures approached. They were humans. Dressed in some kind of blue uniform. The designs looked familiar but she couldn't quite place where she had seen that type of uniform before... 'Humans?! Here?' “Huh...” the one in the lead scratched his head as he and his partner looked around. “I could've sworn I heard something...” Chrysalis's surprised look was then immediately replaced with a huge grin. 'How delightfully convenient. Here I am, about to go out for a little hunting pleasure and already I find two humans wandering around just above my new lair.' She giddily rubbed her hooves quietly together. 'What an amazing stroke of luck!' She excitedly held her breath and watched silently like an anxious spider on the prowl as the two blue-dressed humans passed her locker unawares, only to suddenly stop just a few feet away. The one in front seemed to be reaching for a small black box in his person while the one in the back just stood there waiting. “What's the hold up?” “Hang on...” Seeing her chance, Chrysalis quietly opened the locker door and lightly stepped out. She grinned viciously as she slowly snuck up behind the one human closest to her, her mouth already dripping with green goo. She was going to grab him from behind, muffle his mouth and wrap him up with goo while dragging him silently into the darkness. There she would drain him of just enough love to subdue him and then it would be his friend's turn. Chrysalis was very close now. She bared her fangs and reared up on her hind legs, ready to pounce... Suddenly, there was a loud squawk as the static sound of a radio was heard. Chrysalis froze. “This is Ten Four! Come in Blue Rook. Over.” “Roger Ten Four. This is officer Blue Rook. Over.” Chrysalis's smile faded. 'Officer?' Upon hearing that word, she quietly pulled away without alerting the human before her. “What's your status Blue Rook? Over.” “Me and officer Ride Along are still investigating the possible break-in. So far we haven't seen anything suspicious. Might wanna inform the captain and tell her we'll be here a while just to make sure everything is in order.” “Roger that Blue Rook. Just calling to let you guys know we've just been receiving reports from locals in your area hearing screams and seeing strange lights. Over.” “Roger that Ten Four. We'll look into it. Over-” “GAH!” Startled by Ride Along's sudden shout, Rook quickly turned around and saw him frantically aiming his flashlight down the dark corridor behind them, looking utterly pale as if he had just seen something terrible. “What happened? You okay Ride Along?” “I... I thought I saw something...” “Saw what?” “I don't know... It was big and... I only saw it a split second.” “What was it?” “I don't know... but it looked like it had big green eyes and fangs like some... some kind of VAMPIRE!” “Vampire..?” Rook scratched his head confused. “I think you've been watching too many horror flicks Ride.” He then glanced at the row of lockers and noticed shadows moving about due to their flashlights. “It must've been your imagination Ride. You know there are no such things as vampires. It was probably our shadows playing tricks on you” “Y-You're probably right...” Still a bit shaken, Ride eventually calmed down and lowered his flashlight after realizing there was nothing behind them. “Guess it must have been my imagination...” Unbeknownst to them however, Chrysalis was crouching upside-down on the ceiling above them like a housefly, nervously holding her breath as she silently observed them, praying that they wouldn't look up. “What was that about anyway?” asked Ride Along. “Station just called in saying there had been reports of screams and lights outside the school.” Chrysalis's eyes widened and she mentally cursed herself. Her arrival hadn't gone completely unnoticed. She mentally facehoofed herself. “Screams and lights? Anything else?” “No. Nothing else.” Chrysalis let out a quiet sigh of relief. No one had actually seen her or what she did to those other humans. “Think there might be a connection to the unlocked door?” “Maybe...” Blue Rook scratched his chin. “We may have to split up to cover more ground. You go that way and check the lower floors while I check the upper floors. I'll call in every five minutes. Notify me the moment you find anything.” “Roger that! You too.” Chrysalis quietly watched as they split up and went their separate ways. Once they were gone, she quietly dropped down to the floor and grumbled. 'These aren't ordinary humans...' She frowned. 'They're GUARDS! Sentries or... some kind of 'police ponies'...' She hung her head with disappointment. 'How unfortunate... While they would make nice new additions to my lair, their disappearance would garner lot of unwanted attention and put my new lair, as well as my invasion of this world in jeopardy. I have to get rid of them before they investigate the basement and find my lair...' She brought a hoof to her chin and pondered on what to do. Her face then lit up and she smiled deviously as she had an idea. 'I got it! Ooh~! This should be fun...' Using her shape-shifting powers, Chrysalis morphed into a tiny chitin colored rat with blue-green stripes and skittered up one of the lockers towards a nearby vent. Squeezing herself just barely through the grating, she hurried herself in the direction of the utility room. Later... Nearly a half hour had gone as Ride Along had finished searching every room on the first floor with no result. The only place left now was the utility room and the basement. He was about to enter when he heard the voice of his partner calling over the radio. “This is Blue Rook. Nothing up here yet. You? Over.” “Ride Along here. Nothing suspicious on the first floor. Going to check out the utility room and basement next. Over.” “Roger that. Checking the attic now. Be careful. Over.” “Roger that. Over.” Ride opened the door and slowly ventured inside. Using his flashlight, he found nothing out of the ordinary but brooms, vacuums and various cleaning supplies. He reached for the light switch, but found the light bulb to be out. He still proceeded inside, despite being a bit tad nervous. “I hate the dark... I especially hate what hides IN the dark...” His mind flashed back to the horrifying image from before. “I REALLY hope there are no vampires...” Unbeknownst to him at that moment, Chrysalis, still in her rat guise, watched from behind a bucket as the clueless human stumbled into her trap. 'Poor fool. There are vampires...' Chrysalis snickered. 'Lucky for you, I don't drink blood. I drink something more precious...' After a few short minutes, Ride finished searching the utility room. “Everything seems to be in order here. Now to search the basement-” CLANG! Ride jumped with fright as he heard the sound of a falling bucket behind him. He turned around and aimed his flashlight at it, unaware of the rat that scurried between his legs. “Who's there?! Is anyone in here? I'm warning you! I'm a POLICE OFFICER!” Suddenly, Ride felt a burst of green flames behind him and quickly turned around. “What in the-??!” His eyes nearly fell out as he was met with a most peculiar sight. Stepping out of the shadows before him was a beautiful tall woman, with chitin colored skin and long green-bluish hair, her slim body swaying in a seductive and hypnotic fashion as she slowly approached him. Her green eyes winking at him while emitting a faint glow as she got closer. “Hello there... Officer...” she smiled. Ride Along quickly raised his flashlight and pointed it directly at her. “H-Hold it right there!” Unfazed, Chrysalis kept walking towards him. “Who are you? How did you get... in here?” Ride didn't know what it was, but something about her didn't seem right. The more he kept his eyes on her, the more he could barely think straight as his head began to feel dizzy. He didn't realize that Chrysalis was already siphoning the love he was emitting just by looking at her. While an officer, Ride was still just a man. A man with needs. “Sssh...” Chrysalis quietly shushed him with a finger to his lips as she was now close enough to make him lower his flashlight and wrapped her arms around him. “Don't be afraid.” Starting to feel numb, Ride Along panicked and desperately tried to reach for his radio to call his partner, but Chrysalis grabbed his hand and guided it away while keeping her eyes firmly locked into his. It wasn't long before Ride's own eyes started to glow green as Chrysalis's hypnotic suggestion began to take its effect. “Who... Who are you?” he asked in a half-frightened voice. “How did you get in here..?” “Look into my eyes. Do you find them beautiful?” “Y-Yes...” “Do you find me beautiful?” “Yes...” “Then kiss me.” Completely taken by her looks, Ride Along unknowingly closed his eyes and puckered his lips. Chrysalis puckered hers as well. But instead of kissing him, she started to inhale. It wasn't long before a faint green vapor channeled out of Ride's mouth and into Chrysalis, who now changed back into her equine form. By now Ride was too enthralled to react to her new features as his will had become weaker and utterly submissive to her power. Once she had finished sampling just enough of his love, Ride was now rendered completely under her control. “Delicious... Now you're mine.” It wasn't long before a squawk from Ride's radio called out and the voice of his partner was heard. “This is Blue Rook. What's your status? Over.” “Answer him and repeat after me.” ordered Chrysalis. Ride complied by picking up his radio to answer. “This is Ride Along. Over.” “This is Ride Along... Over...” “What's your status Ride? Find anything? Over?” “I have searched the basement.” Chrysalis grinned. “There is nothing here. Over.” “I have searched the basement... There is nothing here... Over...” “Roger that. I'm finished up here and found nothing either. I'm heading out to the car now. I'll meet you there. Over.” “Roger that. Over.” “Roger that... Over...” With that, Ride turned off the radio. Chrysalis smiled. “Good. Now go to your friend.” she commanded. “From the moment you exit this building, you will have no memory of me or what happened here. You checked the basement and found nothing suspicious. Understood?” “Yes mistress...” Chrysalis grinned. “Good. Now go.” Later... It wasn't before Ride reached the front entrance to the school to where his partner was now waiting. Upon opening the doors, Ride felt dizzy all of a sudden and staggered a bit before shaking it off. He was unaware at that moment of the tiny black rat that skittered out between his legs, down the steps and into the nearby bushes. Once his head was clear, Ride closed the doors and locked them before heading for the car. “...Roger that. Over.” Rook finished as Ride opened the door and took his seat beside him. “Just called in and said where on our way back. Nothing to report.” “Uh huh...” “Are you alright? You sounded a bit distant on the radio earlier. Are you coming down with something?” “No... Just a bit dizzy. Maybe I'm just tired.” “Are you sure you didn't see anything down in the basement?” “There was nothing suspicious down there. I checked.” replied Ride while rubbing his eyes. “Let's just get back to the station. I need to lie down...” “Don't you want to turn on the siren? You always love doing that.” “Don't feel like it...” Ride answered tiredly as he leaned back on the seat with a loud moan. “Just go...” Rook didn't answer but instead just started the car and drove them both back to the station. Watching them leave from the bushes, Chrysalis came out and transformed back into her equine self as soon as they were out of sight. “That was easy enough.” she said to herself. “Fortunately I won't have to deal with that again.” She closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. It lasted a few minutes with nothing really happening. Still, she grinned. “There! Before I messed around with that human, I made arrangements to my lair so that I don't have to go through the school to get back. I'll just summon a portal and travel through that. And now I've arranged an exit out here so that I can leave freely.” She giggled. “Having magic in a world with no magic is fun.” She then turned her sights towards the city in the distance and smirked. “And now... Time for some real fun!”