'Shocking', isn't it?

Noon. Invasion Countdown: 22 Hours

Canterlot, one day before the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, would wed Princess Mi Amoré Cadenza. In her room, the Princess stood, chuckling softly to herself. This seemed... rather off, for Cadance.

On the other hand, this was perfectly normal for Chrysalis, Queen of the Changeling Hive. And why shouldn’t she be laughing? Everything had gone beautifully- The real Cadance was imprisoned, Shining Armor was under her control, and the Changelings were all where they were supposed to be. The only problem was that brat, Twilight Sparkle. But that was something that could be taken care of.

For a moment, Chrysalis decided to indulge herself. Summoning up a sickly green puppet that loosely resembled Twilight, Chrysalis threw its hooves up in mock terror. “Oh no, Princess Cadance is a monster! Quickly girls, we’ve got to get the Elements of- Aaah!” The Queen mock-screamed softly, before throwing the puppet into the wall. “Hehehe, just like that, ‘Twily’ won’t stand a chance against me.”

Realizing that somepony might have overheard, Chrysalis whipped around to face the door- and let out a relieved sigh. Locked. Just as she’d wanted it. The disguised queen grinned.

‘Cadance’ shivered, her pink coat burning away under the green fires of a Changeling’s transformation, revealing Chrysalis in all her glory. The Queen’s chitin shell glinted like obsidian, her pupils thinned to slits in her massive emerald eyes, her hair hung down in thick, teal curtains. Despite how alien she was to the ponies, even they would admit how regal she looked.

“Oh, my little ponies, you don’t realize how close your doom is,” the Queen cackled. If there was one thing she had to admit to herself, it was that she didn’t just want food out of this. No, Chrysalis liked this. Executing these plans, conquering, crushing her enemies into the ground- that was fun.

Oh, tomorrow was going to be perfect.

Evening. Invasion Countdown: 16 Hours

‘Princess Cadance’ headed back to her rooms, exhausted, and cursing under her breath. “Ugh. Why do ponies have to be so… social?! I’m royalty, for the love of the Hive! Is there some reason why I must be approached at every minute and have congratulations and praise shoved on me?” As she passed a couple guards, ‘Cadance’ adopted what had seemed to be the ‘correct royal posture’; head held high, wings flared, steps precise and neat. However, as soon as the guards had passed, Chrysalis slouched over, and continued her muttering. “In Changeling culture, I wouldn’t need to hold myself up, stiff as a board, even if I was tired. In Changeling culture I- I’d be able to come up with more reasons why it’s better. Gods, I’m tired.”

“Not to mention, I haven’t found a way to get rid of that little… Twilight Sparkle,” Chrysalis spat maliciously at a potted plant. Said plant promptly melted, Chrysalis’s venom glands having mixed a nasty dose of acid into her saliva. “Oh, tomorrow had better go off as planned, or I’m going to have to throw someone through a wall. Or something to that measure.”

The disguised Chrysalis finally spotted her rooms. As per usual, two guards stood at the doors, one on each side. Dragging her aching body back upright, Chrysalis put on her cheesiest smile, and strode forwards to meet the guards.

“Princess Cadance,” the guard on the left solemnly acknowledged, nodding his head. The two focused, light flickering up and down their horns as the doors between them smoothly swung open, providing Chrysalis with an excellent view of her- or rather, Cadance’s rooms. And the Changeling Drone smacking against the outside of the window.

‘Cadance’s’ eye twitched.

“Is there something wrong, Princess?” The right guard asked, tilting his head slightly.

“No! It’s perfect!” Chrysalis said as cheerfully as she could. “I... I’m just, you know, thinking of Shiny. My… husband.” The disguised Queen focused on the errant Drone, hoping that it’d spontaneously disappear.

“ThankyoubothsosomuchgottagointomyroomrightnowBYE!” Chrysalis said in one breath, before waltzing into the chambers and slamming the doors shut behind her. Wiping the forced grin from her face, Queen Chrysalis dropped her disguise, and telekinetically yanked the Drone through the window, holding him by the neck.

“Drone! What the hell are you doing?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that stunt you just pulled was?! Do you?!” Chrysalis snarled into the Changeling’s face.

“Princess? What was that?” Asked a guard from outside.

Chrysalis bit back a scream of rage, and forced her ‘sing-songy pretty pink princess’ voice. “Nothing! Everything’s going just fine! You just… keep standing at the door.” The Queen’s smile turned back into a grimace as she swung her head back around to the Drone. “Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself, you complete moron?!” She hissed, furious.

The Drone sputtered, eyes flicking back and forth. “I-I- Who are you?” He stammered, red eyes full of complete confusion.

Chrysalis’s eye twitched. How in Tartarus could a Changeling not know about their Queen?! She was the ruler of the Hive, the tip of the top, not the one who made sure that stupid Drones with abnormal red eyes wouldn’t screw up everything they’d- What? Red… eyes? No changeling had red eyes.

Chrysalis adjusted her grip on the Drone’s head, bringing him into a better view. Yep, the Drone had red eyes. Not to mention red lights running down his forehooves, a purple mane-fin and tail-fin, and- was that a third pair of legs? Chrysalis shook her head. Nope, the Queen wasn’t hallucinating. This Drone was some sort of mutant. But then again, that sort of thing did happen among Changelings.

The Queen took a deep breath. “Alright,” she started, trying to force down her more volatile emotions. “I’m going to assume that there was something wrong with your egg, because the only other option is that I’m going crazy with stress. Which I’m not. Understand?”

The Drone started to say something, but thought better of it. Weakly, the mutant nodded. “Good boy. Now, that was an excruciatingly stupid thing for you to do, and I never want that sort of thing to happen ever again. If you do something like that, the consequences will be horrible. Got it?” Chrysalis said menacingly, letting her mouth twist into an unnatural grin. “Good.”

With that, the Chrysalis teleported the Drone into Cadance’s closet, where- hopefully- he’d go unnoticed until she could figure out what to do with him. She sighed, calling up her disguise of Princess Cadance, before plopping down on her bed. Now, she could go to sleep, knowing that everything was just fine…

‘Cadance’s’ eyes shot open. “Bother. Wedding Practice,” She groaned, hunching back upright. “And I still have to do something about Twilight.”

Tomorrow had better be perfect.