Queen Chrysalis had suffered. She'd witnessed her subjects be tossed carelessly from Canterlot and heard their ear shattering screams as their spines snapped, wings tore, and limbs broke. It had caused her to ache with sadness for her subjects. The many, skinny changelings and constant reports of the deaths of nymphs. Even her own had died...
She shuddered awake, a few tears sliding down her hard body. It was durable, incredibly difficult to break. A shell that held her organs. Mentally, she felt like a shell too.
A little bit of light crept over to her and for a moment she blinked before realizing a small firefly had lazily flown over her. So carefree. Chrysalis got to her hooves, body aching. Even though weeks had passed since the horrid failure of the invasion, she still felt sore. Had their been more love to devour and heal her wounds it would be over by now. But that wouldn't happen. Not anymore. Not with Sombra around.
For a brief moments, memories of the darkening sky and the shrieks and wails of despair as ponies succumbed to the sorrow that seeped from the Crystal Empire and poured out across the Equestrian lands caused her to stiffen, eyes widened in fear, spine cold. Then it was over.
It's merely a memory, Chrysalis, she thought to herself,a horrible memory."
No matter how many times Queen Sap of the Fang Hive who had sheltered her in her time of need, or her countless remaining friends and subjects had told her this, it only made her feel worse. Though the worst had passed in the beginning, it had still happened. And times were hard, as love was scarce in such a grief filled land. Drowned in the grief of parents who's children were taken as slaves, and those who had been close to the guards. Every guard had been slaughtered. Equestria's, the Empires.
Her eyes narrowed in fury as she remembered her own guards informing her of the slaughter of soldiers. They'd been spying for her at the time. Chrysalis had cried that day, sensing the despair of her subjects as they learned of the death of those who had bravely stayed behind in the domain of Celestia and Luna to gather information for their queen. A riot had almost occurred that day.
Soon, Chrysalis came back to reality, thoughts being shed like a transformation. Unfortunately, her fatigue did not. It had been days since she'd last felt strong. Now, she just wished she could offer herself to Luna and Celestia and beg for them to help her, even if it meant it would cost her life, so her subjects might prosper. But the princess were gone. Trapped by Sombra. Just like everyone else she could have begged for help.
Chrysalis blinked. Her thoughts came and went annoyingly quickly, like a fly through the holes in her legs. A soft growl of annoyance escaped her and she headed on through the tunnels.
"Chrysalis, we were just discussing what we might do!" Queen Sap called over. Unlike Chrysalis, Queen Sap and her subjects were white, with pink and orange shells and eyes. Their manes were a lot more unique, and they even had faint cutiemarks. The Fang Hive fed off of friendship, which was one of the most easiest to get from ponies, as it was powerful and didn't run out quickly. Not like much was needed to survive comfortably anyways.
"What love forsaken plan is it this time?"she snarled at Queen Sap. But Sap only rolled her eyes.
"Calm down Chryssie. Emerald Shell had a wonderful idea."she responded confidently. Queen Sap had many, many ideas. Most of them were quite good, but just not in the right circumstances, or too risky.
Queen Chrysalis glanced down at a young changeling who approached nervously. If this one were to shape-shift, they'd appear as only a foal.
"Well?"she demanded impatiently, wings flapping quickly with irritation.
"I-I'm sorry if the idea isn't good, Queen Chrysalis!" Emerald Shell whimpered. She had a feminine voice. "But I was talking with my fellow harvesters yesterday... and.... I-I suggested... Well.... WhatifwetookovertheEmpire?"she blurted out at the last second.
Chrysalis blinked. They'd had this same plan before, but there was no way it'd work. Something told her this might be better.
"Go on."
"Well..." Seeming a bit braver, Emerald Shell spoke louder. "The Crystal Empire with a corrupted heart is making it hard to feed. And the only way the heart would get better is if Sombra was gone and the crystal ponies became happy again. That's not going to happen though. So we need to find a way to kill Sombra. Sombra has his trusted guard. Malicious and sadistic, they torture everykind. I thought that if a few changelings could become a part of this guard but secretly do kind things and fight the empire, we'd be gaining love if we succeeded and Sombra would be slaughtered."
Sap and Chrysalis were silent. It was a very, very rough idea. A bold, last resort idea, because only the best who could hide their every action and use magic to its fullest would be able to do this. It was a desperate, and sacrifice requiring idea only an ignorant kind would suggest. As queens, she and Sap had never considered such a horrid plan. And yet... Something made her feel certain that fate and the Elements would be on her side this time.
"Emerald Shell, daughter of Dragonfly and Spider Web, you have contributed to the hive." Emerald Shell perked up as Chrysalis spoke. "Your idea is rough, and will be costly if we preform it. It is one us queens would have never considered and brought up. But my heart senses that this is right."
A murmur of gasps erupted from the listening nobles who aided the queens. A changelings heart had a great sense. It could tell when an idea was right, and it was what fate wanted. The attack on Canterlot had been based on her heart, and now she could tell that fate had wanted her to do it in order for them to reach this point. They would do it.
They'd kill Sombra.
Hours had been spent pouring over and altering the idea. They'd decided on who would participate on the mission, how they'd get in, who went where, and... What they would do in the case of a failure. Papers flew around with ink splattering everyone, and get your mind out of the gutter. Anyways, finally, after some details had been worked out, they paused.
"We'll never be able to have a full plan..." Chrysalis said sadly. She had to admit, this wasn't much of a plan. Just a rough idea and hope that there would be hope. The only good part about their lack of a plan was that if Sombra found out he might ignore them or not be able to stomp them all out.
"Have faith, Chryssie," Sap murmured tiredly, sighing,"Even if we fail, I'll protect your subjects best I can. I'll send them to the Zebras, and we'll find a way." Sap would not be coming with. Just in case.
"So we have me, Ghost Fang, Illusion Reflect, Pollen, Shadow Bee, ..." Chrysalis stared down at one of the names."...You're sending your daughter?"
Sap gave a weak, false smile, and nodded.
"... Make sure my subjects know how good a queen you were, Sap..." Chrysalis wrapped her hooves around Sap, and began sobbing. Sending ones offspring was a risky thing, and a great sacrifice on Queen Saps part."You're risking your good subjects life to save all of us. No matter where I am sent in death, I will remember you..."
For a while, they sat there, hugging each other and sobbing. With fear and sadness, they would have to tell their subjects. So after they finally got up, Queen Chrysalis nervously flapped her wings and headed to the Queens Perch.
It was a structure mimicking a bare tree. Queen Sap sat on one of the branches, and Chrysalis settled next to her. A mental call for all to gather was sent out by the sorrowful queens who dreaded the coming days, and below them all gathered.
As the last changeling came in, the whispers that questioned each other and the queens quieted down. Everykinds head tilted up and looked expectantly at their queens, one dark grey, one white.
"Changelings of the Fang Hive and Heart Hole Hive!" Sap boomed out, speaking for Chrysalis as well as herself."We have decided to go with our hearts and invade the Empire!"
Instantly, there were many mental cries and audible protests, many from Chrysalises hive. She winced, but spoke up anyways.
"Calm yourself! We will not all go!" Instantly, many calmed down."Only our elite shall participate, and we will attempt to gather information on Sombra, his kingdom, and we will attempt to assassinate him!" Before anyone spoke up, she pressed on."We must go to the Empire posing as citizens of Equestria who will be "forced" to be soldiers! We will attempt to become one of his trusted! And I shall attempt to kill the tyrant!"
There was deafening racket, many screams of protest rang through the hives chamber and the connected tunnels. Many of Chrysalises subjects stared. She could sense anger, fear, sadness, and from some, loyalty, and love. She was finally earning back their favor.
"The following changelings will leave with me next week!"
Author's Note
Everykind is changelings everypony, as with their shape-shifting ability they realize they're everything and yet one thing, and there are more than just ponies.
First time trying out a story, I'll try and do better later.
The changelings that had been picked had been put through strict training, and fed more than the rest of her subjects. Now the day had come to leave and head for the Equestrian town Ponyville. Queen Chrysalis and Queen Sap found it a little ironic. She was heading to the former home of her enemies. Though fortunately the Elements would not be in her way this time. In fact, she might even be able to get them on her side.
Chrysalis had thought about this possibility already with Sap, and they agreed. If they could, they'd get the six on their side. It wasn't just the changelings suffering. If anything, her kind was doing well in comparison to the equines. For a brief moment as she thought about this she felt a pang of sympathy for the suffering ponies. But now was not the time.
"Changelings! We have prepared for this, and now is the time to go forth. Remember your form, your cutiemark, and form the face of the equines during this time! We are not cheerful, we are scared! We are not happy, we are full of sadness! But deep down inside we are fire, a fire as eternal as a phoenix! And we will rebel and fight with all of the might of the hive!"she roared, wings buzzing.
Green and orange flashes of transformation fire blinded her as their chosen subjects transformed. Various pegasi, unicorns, and normal ponies stood in front of her now. With a brief green flash of her own, she took the form of a bright yellow unicorn with a pink mane that had a glowing coin for a cutiemark. Her talent was making objects do things and have certain properties.
Sending out a mental signal to move forward, they exited through the main tunnel. For a moment, all of them blinked in the bright light, surprised. Most had not seen it in quite a while. Though they all knew how the sky looked. Grey with darker grey and black clouds, and very few pegasi in the sky.
Quietly they crept out, tunnel sealing behind them loudly. After a brief moment of hesitation, she and her changelings began trekking across the flat ground. They were in a hidden slice of land just beyond the Everfree Forest, which they called Shifting Crack. Magic from other dimensions leaked into here, and the environment constantly changed. Magic had to be used to keep the hive from changing and make the ground be flat so they could leave. Here, the changelings had evolved and thrived. Now they left here, their old home.
"I will be towards the front. Caterpillar Hooves, Butterfly Holes, scout to the sides of us and make sure nothings heading towards us. Do not come back, send an instant mental call and hide until I can get over there and help you. We don't want to be mauled by manticores or timber wolves before we even reach Zecora's home. Avoid any patches of flowers, poison joke will probably turn you into a bug or make you pink and have heart shaped holes all over you. If you see any of Sombra's soldiers, avoid them at all costs. Our hives fate rest in our hooves. In fact, everykind might depend on us to get rid of this shadow beast. He's the worst parasite ever." With her instructions given, she went silent. The others needed no further instruction, they were taught in school to spread out a tiny bit and talk to eachother. Act like a casual group of friends. They'd do this of course, but it would probably not save or help them if Sombra's soldiers came near. Still, it made some of them a little bit more comfortable.
They silently crept through the woods, dodging plants and avoiding the castle ruins and Zecora's hut. For a brief moment Chrysalis wondered what had become of the zebra. Probably a slave who was forced to make potions for torture. The Queen gave a bit of a shudder at the idea and banished the thoughts, returning to reality to focus on their progress.
Night would've been falling by now had the princesses been free. But Sombra felt no need to have them move the sun and moon. Fortunately, time was stuck at day time, and the plants were all able to grow still. Chrysalis paused and glanced around at the trees. They would have been traveling for several hours, as the trees were more normal looking here and it was less dark. Finally.
Ponyville was in sight, and they began forming a larger group. Ponies from all around Equestria were forced to come to this one place, as Sombra enjoyed seeing everykind suffering. The buildings were gray and dull, and ponies were coming outside.
Ponies of a certain age were being herded or dragged out mainly by Sombra's soldiers, genuinely cruel ponies or ones that had been broken and twisted to serve his will through harsh training. Chrysalis couldn't help but give a silent gasp.
The ponies were utterly in despair. Their heads were lowered, ears flat on their head submissively. The ponies did not cry or even act angry. Their eyes just glanced down in silent sadness.
She wanted to scream, to put her hoof on their shoulder and tell them of her plan, to reassure these suffering ponies. Even during the attack on Canterlot she refrained from putting the ponies in too much trauma and avoided hurting them. Right now, she viewed the ponies like her subjects. They were so alone and so afraid, and even without the constant presence of everykind they loved eachother. Yet this uncontrollable love had been stripped away from them. Not even allowed to come back over time.
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes angrily, and briefly. If this had happened to her hive... She imagined she would feel like this, only worse. For some reason the pitiful ponies reminded her of her subjects. A silent vow came forth.
She would not just take the Empire, she would save every single one of them as if they were her own if it meant they would no longer suffer like this.
