This plan is going to be perfect.
Beloved by all, destroyer of hearts. Her brood, her minions, her babies; they needed her. Chrysalis was not one to disappoint them. She would kill, she would enslave, she would steal. Always for them, always for herself.
Hunger was always there for the brood. They ignored it, for the most part. They knew she would not fail them, they would feed. Even if she had to enslave an entire city to do so. And although she seldom spoke it aloud, she enjoyed the thrill of the hunt.
To slice through their body after draining them of all emotion and devouring their insides. It was heaven, a rare luxury for her. The brood came first, except in dire situations. They required sustenance, and she would deliver it.
After the failure at Canterlot, the brood was in dire straights. If they did not acquire a new food source soon, and with Canterlot still conducting changeling checks on all ponies, they would surely starve.
Even as she flew through the hive, depositing a fresh victim for her brood, she saw only half her force get a scrap of the food, and they were still hungry. Turning to look at the black towers around her, she heaved a sigh, listening to the echo as she considered her options.
Either way, she had no choice but to half her forces strength.
“Split into two equal groups,” she commanded, closing her eyes and hiding her sadness at her next actions. Opening them, she gazed at the two sides before her and gave a smirk. Oh well, she would be eating god tonight. Grabbing a flat rock, she showed the two sides before inscribing one with a quick pony shape. Pointing to two changelings, one from each side, she motioned them over.
“Pick a side.” Both changelings bowed before picking one side each and rejoining their side of the forces. There was a nervous anticipation on both sides, they knew what was coming. Tossing the stone, it flipped in the air before resting on the blank side. Chrysalis turned to the left, where half of her forces layed.
“I’m afraid you won’t be surviving another night my dears. It’s nothing personal you understand.” The left side bowed their heads in sadness, and for a brief moment she felt pity for them. But as always, hunger always won out.
Chrysalis was the first to dive for the unlucky changelings, her fangs diving into the neck of one of her brood and draining both the life and emotion from him in a moment. It wasn’t even a crumb in regards to food, but it was better than nothing.
Following her charge, the lucky changelings dived into the fray, taking down the unlucky one body at a time. They had divided into two scent groups, they would not kill any of the lucky ones by mistake.
Chrysalis was quick to leap from body to body, draining them much faster then any of the lucky brood. She had to feast as much as possible, she had to be strong for the journey ahead. As quick as it was to begin though, it was soon over and the husks of half her force were scattered on the ground. A few changelings searched the remains for any leftovers, but there were none.
Chrysalis was still hungry, but at the very least she had enough to conjure a basic transformation for about 2 days, 3 if she pushed it. Her brood were faring worse, but they consumes less energy then she did. If she estimated they had enough food for 5 days travel without transformations. If they travelled through the woodland, they would hopefully arrive well within 3. That would give her 2 days to acquire a decent food source.
Luckily, Ponyville wasn’t as well protected as Canterlot, and she had a score to settle.
Passing through the Everfree, even on a bright and sunny day, was not something Chrysalis would enjoy doing even if it was not crawling with monsters willing to devour a weakened brood of changelings. However, with very few options, she had to make camp somewhere inside it’s nest of trees. It was the only safe place she could leave her changelings, which was worrying.
It was day 4 since leaving the hive, and the changelings were hard at work securing the new hive from potential predators. They only had today to finish it, tomorrow would be too late.
It would be nowhere near her old hive’s former glory, but she had no choice. It had to be secure for her brood to sleep in, safe from the monsters of the night. It was only good luck that they had chanced upon the material that would mould like mud, and be as hard as iron. They would be safe once they finished building.
With the brood hard at work, she debated travelling into the town to procure a source of food for them. Her best bet would be with one of the houses near the outskirts, one such house in particular. It housed a yellow pegasus, an element bearer. It would be a very good source of nourishment, if she milked it right.
Too much and the pony would die, to little and her brood would. But if she could get that balance, she would have her first source of nourishment for her brood. Now she just needed a disguise. It would be best if it was close to her normal colours, the closer the less work it was to change.
Focusing for a moment, she changed forms, her wings vanishing from her sides. A unicorn was her best bet, and emerald eyes to match her horn magic colour. Her body would be black, but a regular pony size, her horn would shrink to accommodate this. Her hair would be an emerald blue. Her cutie mark would be the same colour as her hair, but in the outline of a heart.
Opening her eyes, she looked at her appearance in the nearby lake. She looked like herself, except that she was a pony and not a changeling. She smirked, what better disguise then none at all? Twilight would not consider her stupid enough to disguise as something so obvious, and if she was careful to hide her true personality this time, she would be safe. She also had one more card to play, her bluff.
Now she just needed a name for the pony in front of her, it had to be innocent, and relevant to her cutie mark.
“Of course, the name is so simple, and it plays right into my cards…I shall be called; Emerald Pleasure.” Chrysalis couldn’t hide the laugh that escaped her mouth as she thought of the plans. First, she would coerce the gentle one into helping. Then she would gradually branch out to the others, eventually getting on Twilight’s good side. The changelings would gradually do the same, stealing only the barest amount of emotion to feed the brood. They would be in the most danger, having to completely take over other pony’s lives.
“This plan is going to be perfect.”
Fluttershy was inside her cottage, bargaining with her pet bunny Angel over lunch. It wasn’t going well, Angel wanted a 15 course meal. Giving a small sigh, she tried once more to reach a compromise with the bunny, but was interrupted by a knock at her door. Trotting out into her living room, she glanced to her fireplace and gave a small shiver, it was starting to get colder as it got closer to winter.
Opening the door, for a brief moment the image of Queen Chrysalis flashed before her eyes, and she nearly dived back into the house, slamming the door behind her. It vanished quickly however, and she realised it was just a pony that looked almost exactly like the queen. Fluttershy couldn’t hide her fear. It wasn’t her, was it?
“Um, h-hello?” Fluttershy forced herself to speak, hiding her face behind her hair as she took a step back. Chrysalis had been defeated, it couldn’t be her. But what if it was her? What should she do? Fluttershy saw the unicorn in front of her glance left and right, before giving a hesitant smile.
“Uh, hello. I’m Emerald Pleasure, and I was wondering if you could give me a bit of help.” Her voice was a little hard, but no malice or anger could be heard. From what Fluttershy could hear, it sounded as if Emerald was a little nervous, maybe embarrassed slightly. Fluttershy tried to hid her confusion, how could she tell if this pony was Chrysalis? It was be rude to just come out and ask it.
“W-Well what kind of help a-are you looking for?” Fluttershy couldn’t think of a way to breach the subject without seeming rude. And there was the chance if she asked she could get attacked for finding out the truth. What should she do?
“Well, I’m new around here and I have very little money. I was wondering if you knew somewhere I might possibly be able to stay for a night. It is starting to get into the afternoon, and I really don’t want to spend another night in the wilderness…” Fluttershy felt sympathy for the mare, and knew she couldn’t just close the door on her. But she couldn’t just let a stranger spend the night in her home. Oh if only she could ask one of her friends for help. Wait a minute, she had an idea!
“Uhm, w-well I don’t know anywhere m-myself, b-but I know someone who m-might know. W-We can go a-and see her if you l-like.” The mare’s eyes lit up, she was bursting with gratitude. Fluttershy felt a small smile flitter onto her face at the thought of being able to help somepony.
“That would be perfect, I must thank you.” Fluttershy saw the hug before she was swallowed in an embrace. A small ‘eep’ escaped her lips before she realised she wasn’t being strangled to death. It was a rather gentle hug, and she returned it briefly and was released from the embrace. Taking another step back, she felt a little dizzy from the sudden hug, but nothing more.
“J-Just give me a moment to take care of Angel.” Fluttershy cautiously turned around and quickly made the bunny his favourite salad and placed it nearby. She saw Angel glare at her, but grudgingly accept that was all he was going to get for his trouble. Fluttershy felt a little guilty for not giving him what he wanted, but she had to take care of other business. She was lucky to have such an understanding bunny.
“L-Lets go then E-Emerald…”Closing the door behind her, Fluttershy hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. She was well aware she could be being played for a fool.
“No Spike, ‘Hyperactive Hyperboles and Serious Simile’s’ goes under G for ‘Grammar Graticules’! How man times do I have to say it?” Twilight saw Spike roll his eyes, putting the book on the shelf. Heaving a sigh, she was tired of her assistant not understanding something as basic as a triple quadrant decibel system to sort the books. It wasn’t that hard after all, she had given him the relevant 500 page book to read.
In response to the knock at the door she shouted, “Spike can you get that while I work on this?” Levitating some books into the rightful places, she heard the disgruntled Spike walk toward the door and open it.
“Uh, hello Fluttershy. Come in.” Hearing Spike say a familiar name, Twilight dropped what she was doing into neat piles so she could continue sorting later. Turning around she began to smile as her friend cautiously walked in the door, followed by-
“QUEEN CHRYSALIS!?” Twilight began charging a spell to knock the evil Queen out quickly, when Fluttershy raised a hoof in alarm, wings flaring.
“W-Wait Twilight!” Twilight halted her spell just in time, holding it at the tip of her horn as she glanced suspiciously to Fluttershy. Fluttershy flinched under Twilight’s gaze, and for a brief moment Twilight felt a bit guilty.
“Can I have a word in private Fluttershy?” Twilight was suspicious, Fluttershy could very well be a changeling too. She watched as Fluttershy told Chrysalis to wait there, and gently trotted over. Disregarding her current spell, Twilight began charging a new one.
“Before I ask anything, I need to check you really are Fluttershy,” she spoke, casting a quick spell that enveloped Fluttershy for a brief moment before vanishing. Giving a sigh of relief, she began a hushed talk with Fluttershy, who began to explain the situation.
“Well, it is easy to find out if this unicorn is really a changeling, I’ll just cast the spell and her little ‘disguise’ will be revealed.” Twilight smirked, raising her head to gaze over at the fake pony before her. She saw ‘Emerald Pleasure’ raise an eyebrow in confusion, but say nothing.
“Hello Emerald, I apologise for the delay. I hope you don’t mind me trying a spell on you. It won’t do anything, it’s just as you probably know we’ve had a few changeling attacks recently at Canterlot.” Twilight gave a warm smile, and waited.
“Uh, well no I don’t mind. As long as It won’t harm me.” Emerald didn’t seem the least bit worried, Twilight regarded it suspiciously.
“Oh don’t worry, it won’t hurt anypony.” Casting the spell, it hit Emerald who shivered on contact. For a brief moment it hovered around her, enveloping her in a magical glow, before fading. Twilight blinked and reeled back in shock.
“Was that supposed to happen?” Twilight heard Emerald ask a question, but could only continue blinking. After a moment she recovered enough of her wits to realise her assumptions had been wrong, and she relaxed. Whoever this pony was, she was not a changeling. Her brother’s spell had not failed her once, it had not failed Canterlot.
“Uh, yes sorry Emerald. I was just expecting a different reaction other then it to glow. Theoretically it should fade then glow, but that is unimportant.” Pulling up a quick lie, Twilight quickly began to hastily change the subject.
“So a place to stay, right. Well I know an inn at the edge of town that will agree to let you stay the night in return for you working it off the next day. It would only be for the first few hours in the morning, and by lunchtime you would be square. Let me write them a note and you should be set.” Twilight pulled over a piece of parchment and a quill and quickly inscribed a note, signing it with her signature.
“Oh? Wow thanks this is perfect! This will do me perfectly!” Twilight felt herself be squeezed into a hug and quickly struggled against the embrace. She was quickly released, and an apology was exchanged. Feeling a little dizzy, Twilight quickly bid farewell to the mare. Fluttershy bid her goodbye soon after, leaving Twilight and Spike to get back to work. She couldn’t help but puzzle over the way Emerald talked however.
“Perfect…”
Chrysalis heaved a sigh of relief as she made her way back to the hive. She would check on her brood before heading to the inn to rest for the night, absorbing the pleasant dreams from the people who reside in there.
She had been extremely lucky that idiot mare had not thought to increase the strength of the spell. It had been the same with her idiotic brother. A few degrees stronger, and she wouldn’t have been able to simply walk through the shield like it wasn’t there and initiate her plan. It had failed in the end, but her bluff had once again payed off.
Arriving at the newly formed hive, she saw they were finished building and were quickly forming the defences that would keep all intruders out. Calling her brood to her, she quickly shared out the small scraps she had absorbed from the two mares to her brood. It was not much, but it took the edge off their growing hunger. Tomorrow she would have even bigger spoils for them, an entire inn’s dreams full.
Leaving her brood, she wondered if they would survive the night. They were strong together, especially when at their hive, but they were considerably weaker then normal due to hunger. Not to mention her force was only half what it used to be. She didn’t have much choice, it had to be done.
It didn’t take her long to arrive, disguised of course, at the inn and hand over the letter. The exact time she would have to work and other such specifics was nailed down, and she was shown to her room for the night. By the time night had come, the inn was packed with people who would be staying the night.
It would still be some time until the inn grew silent and still, so Chrysalis simply gazed out her window, looking up at the night sky. It was a pleasant enough night she assumed, few clouds in the sky, the moon out and full. She watched people pass by, heading to their homes. The inn began to fill with the sound of many ponies heading somewhere, and silence began to return to the inn.
She waited an hour before beginning her task. Closing the window and pulling the curtain closed she began charging a wide range spell. Casting it, a brief moment passed where green lines trailed through the inn before vanishing into the darkness. With all her connections to the ponies in the building established, she began to feed.
The next morning almost every pony was complaining about nightmares as she worked off her debt. She was polite enough to every pony that approached her, but inside she was swelling with the feeling of having almost fed enough to feed all her brood to full. They would be happy when she returned.
Needless to say, she was feeling quite pleased with her progress. She had managed to convince two of the six that she was not who she was, and had managed to procure a decent source of food. After all, not many ponies stayed in an in for more than one night. All she had to do was convince the owners to let her stay in return for working the morning shift.
Her plan was progressing nicely, perfectly even. Soon enough she would have a limitless source of food, and revenge. A small smile flittered onto her face, aah yes, revenge and dinner. Some changelings would consider this a date even. She chuckled, yes she had a date with Twilight. A date that would end in Twilight’s gruesome death.
She was quite happy with that thougt.
