Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, wanders aimlessly throughout the Badlands, searching for anything to make a living out of. Weak, hungry, and alone, she struggles to survive with what little love she can find in this barren wasteland with barely anything living wandering about.
It's been weeks since the Canterlot Invasion failed and most of the Changelings being banished with their queen to the wasteland to be left for dead. The Changelings that remained have either been killed or captured. At this point, most of the Changelings that were banished starved to death from lack of love. The few that remain are scattered around the Badlands in the same position as their queen.
For the last few days, Chrysalis and her Changeling swarm have been on the edge of survival as they search for love when there barely is any. What's also a problem is that they cannot return home, since the borderlands between the Badlands and Equestria are guarded and their hive is in some of the remote areas in Equestria's many forests. So, without any food sources or any home to go back to, the Changelings were dying off one by one. Soon, Chrysalis, being one of the strongest amongst the Changelings, was the only one to remain and is now condemned to wander the Badlands, alone.
Chrysalis, during her wanderings, finds a small cave in some of the large rocks and decides to take shelter to rest her tired legs. The Changeling Queen inspects the inside of the cave for any predators that might have already occupied the cave. When she feels satisfied that there's nothing inside, she leans against a nearby wall and begins to take a rest. While doing so, she thinks about how miserable her life has become and wonders how her life would have been like if she were a real pony.
'How I wish I was a pony.' Chrysalis thinks to herself sadly. 'Even when I was small, when I first laid eyes on how ponies lived their lives so peacefully, I used to think that I could live like that too. But I can't since I'm not. But if I were a pony, just for a little bit, maybe my life won't be so miserable as it is right now.' With that last thought, she closes her eyes to sleep.
Images from that fateful day of the Canterlot Wedding begin to flood through Chrysalis' mind as her victory against Equestra was brutally taken from her. She began to see what those ponies were doing to the remaining Changelings that were left behind in Canterlot. They were tortured, hunted, experimented, even dissected. These images were just too horrible to bear. And through it all, a voice began to echo through her mind as it began to torment her and mock her.
You can't escape your fate.
You'll be hunted.
They'll hate you.
You are not a pony
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Chrysalis screams as she rose from where she was sleeping, panting heavily with apparent tears flowing from her eyes and cold sweat running down her body. But before she could process what just happened, Chrysalis notices something wrong; She's not in the cave anymore. "Wh-wha-where am I?" Chrysalis questions herself as she observes her surroundings. She's in what looks to be a pleasant little village house. What Chrysalis also notices, is that she is apparently in a nice, warm bed with a soft pillow that is apparently drenched in her sweat.
But what really catches her attention is that when she raised her hooves, what appeared in front of her were not the black, holed hooves she was expecting, but rather white, beautiful hooves. In panic, she throws off the covers to examine her body, and sure enough, Chrysalis was in a mare's body. She tries to use her magic to change back into her changeling form, but finds out she can't. "Wh-why can't I use my magic?" she asks panicky "What's going on here!?" Still panicking, she starts to hyperventilate as she was never used to these kinds of situations. Finally, she lets out a frightful scream, way louder than before.
When Chrysalis finally calms down a little bit, she begins to observe her surroundings more thoroughly. The room she was in was just had a simple bedroom setting, much less than her royal bedroom when she was still posing as Princess Cadence. In the room, Chrysalis notices a large mirror and decides to examine her self more thoroughly. When Chrysalis stood in front of the mirror, she saw a beautiful young earth pony mare that more or less resembled her Changeling form, except that she is now shorter in stature and white. She turned to the side and saw a green crystal heart as her cutie mark.
"Okay, so I can't use magic and I'm stuck like this until I find out what's going on. Just perfect." Chrysalis says talking to herself. Looking at her new form, Chrysalis couldn't help but smile at herself and start posing in the mirror. "It's strange, but I feel so much peace and joy here, feelings that I never felt in my life." Chrysalis muses to herself as she is filled with emotions she never knew herself until now.
Chrysalis stops to look at herself in the mirror once more for a moment. As she gazes upon herself however, her head starts to throb a little until it becomes a screaming headache. It was so painful, more painful than the usual headaches she caused to Shining Armor at the Royal Wedding. Chrysalis holds her head trying to soothe the pain but to no avail. But as fast as it came, it left, leaving the former Changeling Queen laying on the floor in relief. With that, a thought comes out of nowhere.
"Crystal Orchid" Chrysalis says off-mindedly. It sounded foreign to her, she never thought of that name in her life, but it sounded perfect for her name.
Author's Note
Welp, this is my first story. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below. Also, try to hit that like button. If you don't like my story, then at least tell me why okay?
