Metamorphosis
“My Queen! My Queen!”
Pain, in every part of her body. Her mind, groggy; her thoughts, clouded; her senses, unresponsive. A voice, pleading, somewhere nearby….
“My Queen!”
Queen Chrysalis stirred. The ringing in her ears was replaced by anxious buzzing. She raised her neck and opened her eyes. The bright sun forced her to squint.
This day is going to be perfect
The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small…
“My children?” she inquired weakly, looking around.
“Our Queen is alive!” came the voice she now recognized as her general, Instar. The Queen saw black shapes running down the slope of what she was slowly identifying as a crater, towards where she was laying in the center. She felt many hooves, heads, and horns gently helping her to her hooves.
“Enough! I can stand on my own!” The Queen buzzed her wings and stood shakily. Her subjects stepped back, but remained near, looking concerned. Their wings quavered nervously.
Everypony will gather ‘round
See I look lovely in my gown…
The Queen shook her head a bit, trying to clear it. I must appear strong for my subjects, she thought. Queen Chrysalis stretched her translucent wings again and flew unsteadily to the rim of the crater, where a small crowd of her fellow changelings, her subjects, had gathered. The smaller figures quickly made a space for their queen.
The tallest changeling landed on the sandy ground, stumbled, regained her footing, and straightened up. A good leader was strong for her subjects, a source of inspiration for her people. The changelings needed a strong leader.
Chrysalis looked around. They were in some variety of desert. She felt the sand seeping into the holes in her hooves. A familiar environment, at least, she thought to herself. “I need to speak with General Instar. Alone,” the Queen commanded.
She walked away from the crater rim in silence; it took every effort not to stagger across the sand. Her subjects buzzed away just as quietly. The sound of one familiar set of wings grew nearer. The Queen stopped and turned to look over her shoulder as the armored changeling approached and the others flew off, spreading to other craters to inspect their fellows who had not been as quick to awaken. Chrysalis felt herself fill with concern for her subjects – but she had to contain herself. A good Queen is a beacon for her people, a shining example of strength. She could not allow the fear and regret welling up inside her show.
“My Queen,” General Instar said in a hushed voice, alighting on the ground and trotting to a position in front of the Queen, “we…we have failed. The ponies of Equestria have defeated us.”
Queen Chrysalis placed a hoof on her general’s head, by the horn. “No, my child, I have failed. I have failed all of you. I could not secure Canterlot. I could not keep my control over the ponies of Equestria. Their love – that which we so desperately require – proved too strong for my power. I lost.” Her voice cracked. She could not help it. The pain in her heart was too much.
No, I do not love the groom
In my heart there is no room
The raven-colored Queen rustled her wings. Her highest ranking general stepped forward.
“Mother…” whispered Instar, her blue eyes watering. Chrysalis rubbed her hoof against her eldest daughter’s head – her eldest surviving daughter – feeling the pores in her hoof slide familiarly along the smaller changeling’s carapace. The general’s compound eyes closed.
“Equestria is filled with love, and compassion. If I had managed to secure it for our kind, my children would never go hungry again.” The Queen replaced her hoof on the ground, buzzing her wings and flicking her tail in agitation. “Nevertheless, we must carry on. We will survive – we always do.”
For all the love I have to give
Is for my children, that they might live
A beetle skittered across the sand in front of the pair. Both watched the tiny creature in silence for a moment.
“Mother…my Queen…the eggs?” Instar questioned uncertainly. “They…they’re bound to hatch any day now.” Chrysalis sighed.
“I know, my child. We must face certain realities. Some of them may not make it without the ponies’ love off of which to feed. We must focus our efforts on the changelings who have known life – the larvae will not miss that which they never knew.” Presenting strength in leadership was a crucial part of maintaining stability, and keeping despair at bay. The Changeling Queen raised her head high. Instar lowered hers.
“All the young…we were so close,” said the general.
This day has been just perfect
The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small
“We should have sucked those ponies dry! Why should their lives be more valuable than ours?” demanded Instar. Chrysalis felt her daughter’s anger, and her heart panged with guilt. Before the Queen could reply, the sound of buzzing wings interrupted their council.
Another of Chrysalis’ children flew into view. “Yes?” asked the Queen.
“My Queen, no casualties to report. Some minor injuries, a few cracked carapaces, nothing a good molting won’t fix…and a surprisingly large number of reports of confetti in the eyes.” The young changeling saluted her Queen with a porous hoof. Chrysalis bared her sharp little fangs in a smile, her first since their expulsion from the pony capital.
“We are a sturdy kind, we changelings,” the Queen stated softly, her green eyes closing. She wrapped her thin wings around both her daughters, descending to her front two knees to be at their level.
“My Queen?”
Who says a girl can’t really have it all?
Author’s note: Insect queens are the mothers of every worker in the colony. From Wikipedia: “An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt (ecdysis), until sexual maturity is reached.”
This series doesn’t have villains that often, but those that are present leave so much to the imagination. I wanted to try my hand at portraying Queen Chrysalis sympathetically without contradicting canon. I figured this was the logical extension of “insectoid queen” and “emotion eaters.”