It was a thousand years ago, as most such tales tend to be…
In a far off land an Alicorn Queen ruled over her Kingdom and her people with fairness and kindness. And in return she was much loved by her people, and her lands prospered under her gentle rule.
And love her they did, for they held great feasts and elegant balls in her honor, and ever her hooves did settle they doted upon her adoringly and gifted her with the finest fare they could manage, despite her humble and gentle protests.
But as time moved ever onward the Queen began to revel in the adoration of her subjects. Their doting upon her was as a balm for an ache that would be soothed for a while, but would always return and always slightly more urgent to be eased.
Soon enough she started to desperately crave the attention and the adoring eyes at the various balls and feasts, and so she began to commission ever more elegant finery and jewels to keep her subjects attention fixed upon her.
But such excess in the name of vanity will eventually wear down even a Kingdom. And as the Queen sought more and more lavish gowns, jewels, and the parties with which to show them off, the coffers of Kingdom slowly emptied until there was nothing left.
And as the ponies of the Kingdom started to go hungry, they began to migrate away to better places – until all that remained was a tattered old castle, and an equally tattered Alicorn on a dilapidated throne.
It was late one year, as the winds had begun to draw cold and snow had started to tip the nearby mountains, that a strange pony requested an audience with the Queen. He was dark of coat and of mane, with the carefully groomed appearance and the silver tongue of one accustomed to affairs of the Royals.
As there was nopony left to tend the disheveled castle, the Queen herself let the pony in and saw him to her throne room.
As he stood before the throne of the land he fairly gushed about her radiant beauty and how he could not understand how her ponies could have turned their backs on such a gracious and adoring Alicorn as she.
She fairly swooned from his attentions, feeling his words sooth the ache within her that had grown so strong since she was deserted by those ungracious, uncaring ponies. And as he spoke she leaned forward ever so slightly, her eyes heavy with pleasure as a smile crept over her muzzle.
He wove a tale of a most wondrous gem that came so close to her own beauty that it bequeathed to its bearer a perfect, magical countenance. And this would guarantee the adoration of one’s subjects…
He produced it from a pocket and held it aloft in a forehoof for her to see…
This wondrous gem, this artifact of infinite beauty, was a faintly glowing yellow-green stone set in a fine platinum setting, and it dangled from delicate silver chain; and it just happened to currently be in his possession…
As she began to reach for it with a forehoof he casually placed it back in his pocket, shaking his head. He smiled as he mentioned that the gem’s magic was not without cost. It had a small curse, nothing major – hardly noticeable really…
He continued quickly; the gem would grant her adoration unsurpassed. Her exalted beauty would become such that ponies would never leave her again. Any who saw her glory would rightfully fall in love with her radiance and seek nothing more than to fulfill her wondrous will.
And, he would freely give this bauble to the Queen. If she were to simply wear it, she would gain the power to be perfect in any eyes she desired, loved by all she cared to be loved by, and any she desired would follow her forever.
He produced the artifact once more and held it aloft.
She leaned back on her throne slightly. A curse? This worried her… But was she not already cursed? Those who once loved her had deserted her, leaving her miserable and alone. What curse could be worse than that? What is a little curse for the opportunity to be adored by all who laid eyes upon her?
She nodded, accepting his offer and once more reached out to take the gem. He did not pull back, and as she reached, he turned his hoof over and let the gem drop into hers.
It was heavier than it appeared to be, and warm – like a living thing.
She picked up the necklace in her magic and carefully placed the chain over her head, letting the gem settle heavily just over her heart…
What seemed like an eternity existed between heartbeats as the room became deathly silent. Nothing moved, even the dust in the air seemed still as the gravity of what had just happened seemed to stop the very world around her.
It began as a sharp pain in her chest that caused her to inhale sharply and her eyes to go wide. She surged to her hooves and stumbled down the shallow steps from her throne to stand on the flagstone floor, weaving as if drunk. A whimper escaped her as her head lowered and each step carried her closer to the odd pony… Between one step and the next she froze; one foreleg lifted pensively as she began to shake uncontrollably.
She looked at the pony before her with panic in her eyes… Her mouth opened as if she were about to say something, but just then the gem flashed a sickly green and all that came out was a slight gurgle.
The pony wore a wicked, feral sort of smile as greenish flames began to flicker over the form of the Alicorn. “Just a slight curse – a trifle really…”
As the fire obscured her vision and her form twisted and shook, the curse took hold.
The agony lasted a lifetime.
The Queen was an Alicorn, and as such she was a direct reflection of the progenitors of Light, and hers was the power to shape the old magic of the very world itself. But as she stirred as if from a fitful sleep, that which rose slowly to its strange hooves was a mockery of the beauty she once was... She was more insect than Pony – stiff translucent wings attached to an armored carapace, and the horn upon her brow was twisted and misshapen. Her form possessed a mane and tail, but they hung limp and lifeless, full of large holes that matched the ones the cut though her long legs.
And there was the Hunger…
From the moment her large eyes with their slit pupils opened, the Hunger defined her. She could taste what she required upon the breeze, cloyingly sweet and tantalizing, and she looked about for the source of it.
She stood in the ruins of a castle, the forces that went into her creation having leveled the old stone edifice. Somewhere, deep inside, she knew the jumbled collection of wood and stone should mean something, but it was quickly replaced by the Hunger that twisted her lips into a wicked grin that bared her fangs.
With a clumsy leap she left the ground, the buzz of her stiff wings loud in her misshapen ears as she headed towards the two ponies she could taste in the distance.
She would drain them completely, and use their strength to build the first of the chrysalis chambers that would convert them into her drones. She would be loved, without reservation, by the cold blue eyes she would bring into this world.
And her hive would feed.
In the rubble of the throne room, at the foot of a crumbling dais covered in the tatters of gold-trimmed velvet, a dark, lifeless gem set in platinum caught the moonlight for a moment, and then lay quietly amidst the ruin…
