My Kingdom of Rubble

I am a Changeling.

My people have survived throughout the millennia, from when our first ancestors were nothing more than larvae. Our primary nourishment is love, mainly from one pony to another. If we sustain extended periods of time without love, we wither away and die. We survived out in the inhospitable Badlands to the south, where the sun touches past the fuming yellow clouds. Of course we had been persecuted for most of our species existence, but we made do. After all, when the threat of poisonous air is a constant risk, why would any sane do-gooder travel into the harsh ruins to eradicate us, effectively committing genocide?

I was a queen for as long as I could remember. My mother died while giving birth to me, and my father was found to be a traitor, embezzling money from our government to further his own agenda. After he had been fed to Meshaba, (that is the greatest volcano in the region), they crowned me queen at the age of seven. I was in no way prepared for what was to come.

I was thrust into a world that I barely comprehended. Laws upon bills upon grants ensured that there would be stacks of paperwork that were as tall as me. Everything that I did was criticized by everyone, whether I tripped and fell in front of an assembly, with their laughter echoing throughout the chamber, or signed in a law that regulated commerce, effectively condemning the free market of the hive?

The government officials were no better. A 'government that was intended to stand united' my rear end. Every single day there was another official who attempted to seize control through trickery and deceit, and several more that attempted through brute force. I cannot recall every time that a blade has whisked past my head, but I can recall the cries of the thrower. "Death to the Queen! Long live (insert name of generic government party here)."

In short, it was chaos. The condition of the Hive seemed to worsen even further when we suffered decreased traffic in caravans passing through our stretch of Tartarus. Of course, when I said every 'sane' do-gooder, you had your fair share of 'insane' travelers. We traded with them, explained our situation. Then, when negotiations inevitably failed, we apprehended them and extracted their love by force. After that, no travelers came through. We grew desperate. We were in a bad state, and we needed a plan.

That was when one Changeling came to me behind closed doors. I had heard his name before, as he was a government official, but we had never had any personal business dealings. I vaguely recall seeing his face throughout the crowds of Changelings when an assembly was called. From what I could tell, this official was as shrewd and cunning as they made them, stepping over everything and everypony in his path to do so.

Ersatz. That snake.

Ersatz came to me with a plan to 'Save the hive!' and 'Acquire all the love we could ever hope for!' I should have taken his words with a grain of salt, but I was enraptured by his plan. It seemed too perfect to fail, and he believed that it was fool-proof. I should have stopped there and then, found a better way to acquire the nourishment which we so desperately needed.

Ersatz's plan was this: infiltrate a city which held copious amounts of love, swindle our way past the security, then have the Hive invade in force. We had a perfect target selected, one which we discovered held more love than most cities combined, double that due to a wedding that was supposed to take place there between a darling bride and a handsome groom. Our scouts told tales of feeling the love from their positions outside of the city, it was so strong.

Something happened, though. One of our couriers had been intercepted by the city guard, carrying our plan with it. The city went on high alert, a shield was raised, the patrols were doubled. Our operatives in the city exhausted themselves from constantly activating their camouflage.

By the way, we can disguise ourselves in the form of any pony we choose. One of the few perks of being an oversized bug.

Regardless, we were at a loss. It appeared that the operation would have to be called off. Once again, though, Ersatz came through. Using his intellect, he devised a plan where the bride-to-be would be kidnapped and done away with. Who would be taking her place, you ask?

Me. I was to walk down the aisle, proclaim my love for the fool, then call in the Hive.

We infiltrated the city in the night, through these abandoned gem mines. A suitable prison, we decided, for the loving bride. After we had maneuvered our way through the castle, incapacitating any guards we came across, all till we came across this sweet pony's room. Disguising ourselves as room service, and after acquiring a covered entree plate, we knocked on her door and she allowed us in without incident. The ingénue was quite taken aback when we shoved a gag in her mouth and tied her up, throwing her on the plate and rolling her out of the room.

After I had memorized every detail of her sweet, innocent face, my team extracted her down into the abandoned mines, ensuring that she would be dealt with after our operation had ended. That was when my job began. I had to become the pleasant bride with the dulcet voice, and with my superb acting and manipulation, I had a majority of the staff, guards, even the monarchs of that city and the very husband fooled.

I suppose the cat is out of the bag. I was attacking Canterlot, which is the capital of a country called Equestria. The country is run by a dual-monarchy, sisters, Princess Celestia and Luna. One controls the sun, one controls the moon, if you could not gather that from there names. Your befuddled face tells me that you are confused, so I will explain the science behind all of that after my story. It's really not that hard once you get past the initial shock.

Anyway, I had most of the city fooled. What little of my old personality bled through was chalked up to 'pre-marital fear' or something of the sort. This entire operation WOULD have succeeded with flying colors, I WOULD have conquered Canterlot, Equestria, and the Sisters had it not been for that little purple bitch.

Twilight Sparkle. Celestia's star pupil, or something along those lines.

Apparently, the bride (who was named Cadance), cared for the little vixen when she was younger. Knowing Twilight through her brother, Shining Armor, (who was the groom and captain of the guard who HAPPENED TO CONTROL THE VERY SHIELD WHICH KEPT MY FORCES AT BAY), Twilight grew up with Cadance, knowing her personality and mindset inside and out. As well of an analyzer as I am, I could not rise to the level which years and years of friendship would do for getting to know someone. Twilight was the only one out of her friends, her brother, and the city who knew that something was amiss.

She tried convincing her friends that I was an imposter, but they wouldn't believe her. Then, she apparently witnessed me warping the mind of her dimwitted brother, and called me out in public for it. Of course my superb acting proved to be superior to her testimony, as everypony abandoned her, blamed her for ruining the training ceremony, and effectively killed her spirit. After that, she fell to the ground and begged for my forgiveness, stating that she was sure something was wrong with me.

In hindsight, I could have accepted her apology, go back to the plan, and caught her completely off guard at the wedding, potentially winning the battle. Something in that moment, though, just made me want to end her. I exposed myself, showing that I was an imposter, scaring the living daylights out of her, and whisked her away down to the very gem mines that the bride was being held. Also, looking back, we should have found better guards than brainwashed bridesmaids.

After that, the operation seemed to be going off without a hitch. The groom and captain of the guard was under my control, my forces intercepted their most effective weapon, (these things called the Elements of Harmony, some poppycock about the 'Magic of Friendship'), and the only pony who was even remotely suspicious was locked up underneath the city. The only thing left to accomplish was attend the wedding, spring the trap, and harvest all the love we could.

Well, the big moment comes. The captain of the guard is all dressed up in his uniform, I am wearing the dress meant for that she-devil, and everyone has let their guard down. Halfway through the ceremony, the door bursts open, and who is it? The minx of the bride and that insufferable goody-four-hooves. They come storming in, bringing the entire ruse down around me. I decided, 'Well, the plan is in the open. I may as well strike fear into the hearts of these ponies.'

I reveal my true form, only for the Sun monarch herself to attempt at apprehending me. Of course, I bested her without breaking a sweat, but that was when Twilight and her friends escaped the ceremony room and ran for the Elements. That was when my Hive came down like a hammer, smashing the shield that protected their cesspit of a city, allowing my people to drain the love straight from them. It was poetic beauty, witnessing the swarm rain from the sky.

Well, a squad of Changelings apprehended these matrons of justice, escorting them back to the throne room. After giving some spiel about how 'I will be defeated' and 'Friendship will overcome', that bitch of a bride decides to try and break the spell I used on that oaf of a husband. She uses the power of looooove to free his mind, and they blast myself and my swarm straight out of the city! For Faust's sake, that spell took me years to master, and she unwinds it like it was nothing?! I'd have her head on a pike if I could!

Anyway, after my humiliating defeat, the swarm and I retreated back to the Hive. Upon my arrival, I am met with a unanimous decision to usurp me, even more so now due to my failure in Canterlot. The majority of the government wanted to see me hanged, a testament to the consequence of failure within the Hive. Then, that wretched back-stabber Ersatz claims that he 'has a better idea'. His idea? Banish me out to the far north, here, where I am horribly alone and underprepared to survive in such conditions.

'But Chrysalis, can you not just leave? Why stay in this putrid region filled with creatures that could kill me without exerting too much force?' I have attempted before to escape, find a new home for myself, only to be intercepted by Changeling patrols, time after time. I also cannot escape due to the word of mouth from the events of the wedding. All of Equestria and the surrounding countries know my name, and would sooner turn me in than accept me as a refugee.

Ozzy, as I sit here and tell my tale, I assure you that I will escape. I will retake my hive.

And I will impale that traitor Ersatz on my very horn. I swear it.