The Changeling raiding party stood shivering at the edge of the forest. They huddled together to ward off the chill of the winter winds as they watched their Queen pacing nearby. Every few steps she would raise her hoof to poke at the air before her and each time a crackle of purple energy resisted her, forcing her back. She snarled, pacing further before trying again, and being again rebuffed by the magic in the air.
Beyond the barrier, the Changelings could see the Crystal Empire spread out before them. In the distance the glimmer of the capitol seemed to taunt them with its radiance. It would be warmer there, and today of all days the walls of the city would be abuzz with joy, affection and love. A feast of emotions. Food enough to sate the whole of the Hive after a long, cold winter.
Queen Chrysalis reared up and slammed her hooves into the barrier one last time, straining against it with all her might, her jagged horn flaring with power as she tried to tax a tiny sliver of the magic shield beyond its limit. It didn't so much as flicker.
In truth, she had not expected it to. Shining Armor's shielding spell was all too familiar, and she knew better than to tire herself in the vain hope of chipping away at it. Even in a weakened state, it had taken the force of her entire Hive to break through. Today the shield stood at full strength, no doubt reinforced by Cadence as well. Chrysalis had hoped that they would be too busy with royal festivities, pageants and newly-wed canoodling to concern themselves with possibility of an attack. Unfortunately that seemed not to be the case, and her plans of a raid on the city to feed her hungry people were dashed against their barrier like so many snowflakes.
She gritted her teeth as she turned away from the glimmering city, making her way back towards the cover of the forest. Before her the Changeling ranks parted, but no bows were made, nor salutes given. Such gestures were meaningless to a Changeling, for this was not the simpering, sycophantic court of a pony Princess. They were of the Hive, and every one of them from the boldest warrior to the youngest of the hatchlings knew their place. Life was service to the Hive, and obedience to the Queen. Just as the Queen lived to command the Hive and to grow in power that she might lead a thriving colony.
But today, the colony was not thriving. They were tired and weak from frigid weather and a lack of feeding. They had young hatchlings who needed the kind of easy prey a big city could provide. The colony was in need, and they looked to their Queen to meet those needs. That her plan had failed to do so stung Chrysalis like a needle jabbed into the very core of her being.
Changelings did not feel as other beings did - emotions were food to a Changeling, which left them only those feelings given by the body. The gnawing of hunger, and the satisfaction of being full. The nagging whisper of fear, and the sublime pleasure of the hunt. But Queens like Chrysalis were burdened with one further emotion, for the good of their Hive - an insatiable ambition to conquer, and a righteous fury towards those who stood in the way of that ambition. That fury began to slowly consume the Hive Queen as she walked amongst the her Changelings.
She paused as she reached the center of the gathered army, crouching down slowly. Then, as one, the Changelings took to the air. The ravenous swarm swirled over the forest as Chrysalis slowly circled, her eyes scanning the roads stretched out across the landscape below, hoping for signs of movement.
She did not have to search long. Far below, a caravan of wagons was lined up on the southern road at the edge of the barrier, obviously as perplexed by its presence as she herself had been. An oversight by the royal couple - what kept them safe also left those late in arriving for the festival trapped outside. The caravan was mostly farmers looking to flog their wares, but several wagons carried families bound for the city's holiday festivals.
It was a crust of bread in the place of a grand banquet. But tonight, that would suffice.
"The hatchlings are to feed first," Chrysalis commanded. No reply was needed. Her word was law.
The ponies below began to scream and scatter at the sight of the swarm banking hard and diving straight towards them, heralded by the hum of their wings and their Queen's wicked laughter.
* * * * *
The Feeding was brief, but fulfilling. With so many parents and children together, their love and fear for one another was thick in the air. Chrysalis walked amongst her people as they gathered around the ichor-bound ponies, drinking deeply of their emotions, their magic, and whatever other scraps of their spirits the captive ponies failed to cling to.
The hatchlings had been the first to begin, but they were pushed aside once they'd had their share by the hungry drone warriors. Being left to their own devices while their elders fed, the hatchlings busied themselves with ransacking the wagons for anything that might be useful to the Hive. A small group of them had pulled a pile of festival gifts from under one of the seats, and Chrysalis watched as they poked and prodded at the brightly wrapped packages.
One of the more thoughtful hatchlings turned to her with a confused look.
"My Queen, why do these ponies have all these hidden boxes?"
Chrysalis smirked. "They are called 'presents'. They are used for a Pony ritual during festivals like this one. They wrap up a trinket that they believe will please someone they feel a strong emotion for, and give it to them."
The young scavenger frowned. "Why?"
The Queen shrugged. "They believe it will make the other pony happy. That is what drives beings that have emotions. They always want to share those emotions in all kinds of strange ways."
The hatchling nodded, though it plainly did not understand. How could it, lacking any experience of the emotions that motivated such behaviour? As if to further investigate, the hatchling picked up a package and ripped it open. It contained a toy soldier, probably intended for one of the younger colts. A second held a new bonnet. A third held an ornamental picture frame, with a child's drawing of their family inside it. The hatchling stared at each of them for several long moments, as if trying to puzzle out the deeper implications of each object, before bundling them into a stolen saddlebag for safekeeping. Chrysalis considered telling the hatchling to leave such useless baggage behind, but she herself was quite fond of keeping trophies from her conquests, so she saw no reason to begrudge one of her subjects the same simple delight.
The sound of trumpets drew Chrysalis's attention back towards the Crystal City. It seemed their show of numbers in the sky had attracted the attention of the palace guards. In the distance, she could already see their Pegasi Legion taking wing, speeding towards the site of the Changeling ambush with spears at the ready.
There wasn't time to finish the Feeding - an engagement with the Crystal Guard would be a waste of all the energy that they had only just consumed. There was only time to bark a few orders and sound the retreat. Her strongest sentries Changed into Legionnaires themselves and made ready to delay the Royal Guard, while the rest of them scattered back towards the Eastern Mountains and across the border towards home. Chrysalis's pride demanded that she was amongst the last to leave. She took these last few moments to smear bright green ichor across the side of one of the wagons, and used her hoof to write "Season's Greetings from Queen Chrysalis".
With a self-satisfied grin she took to the air, passing a straggling hatchling with a bulging saddlebag on her way to the head of the swarm.
* * * * *
The swarm's return to the Palace of the Hive came with little fanfare. The raid had been a marginal success at best, and much more would need to be done to get the Hive back to full strength, and then still more to make ready for their next invasion. So it was that Queen Chrysalis found herself pacing the halls late into the night, seeking inspiration for a new plan that would gain her greater power, or at least power enough see her people fed.
She paid no mind to the shadow that fell into step with her as midnight approached. She allowed the hatchling to follow her for a time, expecting that whatever curiosity was driving it would eventually exhaust itself and that it would subsequently go away. But it did not, and by the time the Queen had made it back to her bed-chambers for the night she found herself left with no choice but to turn and confront it.
For a long moment neither of them said anything. She recognized the young scavenger from the raid, and frowned at the fact that it was still wearing the stolen saddlebag. It stepped forward nervously.
"My Queen. I'm sorry to disturb you."
Chrysalis sighed. "What do you require, small one?"
It hesitated for a moment. "What you taught me... about the boxes. I..."
"Spit it out. I am late to my bed," she said crossly.
"I just... here." From the saddlebag came a small rectangular box. The hatchling held it out to the Queen with a slightly shaking hoof. Still frowning slightly, but now more curious than cross, she took it. Instantly, the little Changeling back-pedalled several steps, as if expecting her to throw it back in anger.
Instead, she couldn't help but be confused. "What is this?"
"It's... a present."
"Yes." She said dryly. "I understand that. But Changelings do not give gifts. Such things are not needed among our people."
The little scavenger looked down. "Oh. I see. I just..."
She glared at him. "You just what?"
The little scavenger backed away a few more steps, taking a deep breath. "I just... I thought maybe that was the point."
Chrysalis blinked. "What was the point?"
It stared down at the floor. "That it wasn't needed. The pony drones give gifts to their hatchlings, and the hatchlings give gifts to the drones. But they all know that they have feelings for each other. So there's no need. They just..." It paused for a long moment, as if trying to find the right words. "They just seem to want to remind each other anyway. I thought maybe that being reminded is what made them happy. I'm sorry, it made more sense in my head. I'm sorry I bothered you."
Before Chrysalis could respond, the hatchling fled down the corridor. She stared after it for a long moment, wondering what it had been getting at. She held up the gift again, and feeling at a loss for what else to do with it, she tore off the wrapping and opened the box.
Inside was the same frame that she had seen it scavenge the during the raid. But the picture inside had been radically transformed. In true Changeling fashion, the new contents of the frame mimicked almost perfectly the original contents in terms of form and shape. But what had once been a picture of a family was now a drawing that was obviously meant to be Chrysalis, rendered in charcoal by an artist of questionable talent. Next to her stood several other Changelings (including one with a saddlebag), all looking at her and smiling.
Above them all in clearly written letters were the words "Our Queen is the Best Queen."
Several minutes later, Chrysalis found herself lying on her bed, still staring at the picture, reflecting on what the little one had said. Such a show of allegiance... it was almost unseemly. The Hive serves the Queen, and the Queen leads the Hive. That was the way of things. No words were needed, especially not words scrawled on parchment by a hatchling with funny notions. It was nonsense.
And yet...
She locked the frame away in the chest beside her bed, where she kept her spell-books and many trophies from her past conquests. And as she curled up to sleep, she couldn't help noticing that she had a smile on her face.
"Happy Hearthswarming, little one," she muttered, as she faded off to sleep.
Author's Note
{Minor Grammatical and Contextual Edits on July 26th, to increase clarity.}
{Thanks to Mourning Zephyr for offering valuable feedback.}