Chrysalis just stared at the massive pile of apple bushels, it had been around a week and a half since her arrangement with the Apple family. Her three biggest problems were now her mind kept wandering toward Spike in her off time, half the time she looked at red apples she was reminded of her sister and the fact Apple Bloom would pester her when the two were in close proximity about the naming offspring offer. What made things better, and worse, was Applejack's managing.

Chrysalis was thankful for the exercise, it helped her get more used to her new physique, but sometimes Applejack pushed the changeling well outside her comfort zone when it came doing things. Getting three or four trees to surrender their fruit within a time limit was well within Chrysalis's limits while pushing them, having to hall a cart full of Apple baskets had her panting every couple of minutes (it usually took her a little over half an hour to get a loaded cart to where she was told to take them).

She much preferred acting as quality control, her distinct eye for detail helped immensely here. The property was a hereditary trait in changelings, with them being able to alter their form to match just about anything that was something that made sense. She had explained it in depth to both Twilight and the Apples when their conversations that got to being around to that part of her characteristics. In fact her third day on the farm her distinct of ability was able to point out how one tree was leaning a bit to the right when compared to the other trees, it had been so slight that the Apples themselves hadn't noticed it until Chrysalis had taken the time to point it out. Righting a full grown tree was not as simple a task as it sounded and Chrysalis was thankful for her new muscles when the time came to correct the tree's position, they spent the rest of the day looking for other off-kilter trees and reorienting them, thankfully none of them needed to be bucked that day.

Chrysalis was sorting the apples, as usual, when she noticed that some of the green and red apples felt a little odd, in both her hands and magic. Taking a few of the odd feeling ones she broke them open with her magic to find to her disgust they had unwelcome additions and quickly tossed them aside and went through the whole assortment six times, a process that ended up taking three and a half hours instead of her usual twenty minutes. She was in the midst of getting ready to throw out the next bad batch when Applejack walked up in her usual attire.

Chrysalis took out two and handed one to Applejack. The country mare just gave Chrysalis a funny look that showed she didn't quite follow.

“What tha hay are ya up ta? Ya just can't throw out perfe...” Chrysalis broke open the apples to reveal the worms and beetle larva inside before tossing them in the waste barrel. “Thay looked jus' fine ta me, how'd ya know thay were bad?”

Chrysalis fished up the last two and handed one to Applejack as she said, “How does it feel?”

“Lahk et's a bit lighter than et's suppose ta be,” said Applejack, “don't feel too wrong, et's within the margin of error we allow fer all 'ur produce.”

Chrysalis split both open with her magic to reveal a pair of earthworms, one for each apple, and said, “I could feel they were off with my magic and decided 'better safe than sorry' then broke some sample pieces open and found the unwanted extras inside, so every apple that feels similar I pull out and toss in the junk barrels, as far as I can tell these are the last two, looks like a good twelfth of the harvest was infested to me. I think it's time to call somepony to clear out your unwanted guests, maybe Fluttershy can help with that. I'm surprised this happened now, I've only got four more days 'til our agreement reaches its end. You would think if I were a cause for all this it would have happened sooner.”

“This many bugs and other crawlin' pests et once don't sit right wid me,” said Applejack, “sure we get a few around this time of year, but not much as ya estimated, Ah'll 'ave AB take a look at yer finds an' crunch tha numbers, we need to know jus' 'ow much special treatment tha orchards need, and where thay need et most.”

********************************

It was almost dinner time when Apple Bloom came back with the estimates, “Well, et coulda gotten worse ef Chrysalis 'adn't spotted et when she did, good news is she's not ta blame an' we've been lucky wid our harvests not havin' any uh tha extra bits 'til now.”

“'Ow bad we talkin', AB?” Said Applejack.

“a good third uh four orchards 're infested by mah reckon,” said Apple Bloom, “Tha rest only jus' barely started gettin' new residents, we need some good pest control.”

“Some varieties of insect will eat other insects,” said Chrysalis, “and several varieties of bird and small mammal also consume bugs and worms that get too close to crop plants. So, I have to ask, why haven't any of those been present here? I heard from Fluttershy while we went on our bug excursion, you asked her to make sure all the animals steered clear of the orchard around this time of year, even the bats on your sanctuary orchard.”

“Um, yeah, et's a busy time fer us 'ere around now,” said Applejack rubbing the back of her neck, “we just didn't want any uh tha animals gettin' en our way around now.”

“you should have at least let some of the insect-eating creatures on the premises,” said Chrysalis, “they would have helped mitigate this problem to something a bit more manageable. I get it, you wanted to make sure no animals were hurt during the harvests, but your over concern for their safety led to the issue we have now. The vampire fruit bats can all get something nice to eat by consuming the ruined apples, and the bug eaters can eat what's left over and patrol the orchard for more tainted produce. You just got ahead of yourselves a little, so call Shy and the whoever is in charge of pest control and get this matter sorted out. I would recommend putting everything on hold for a couple of days just to be safe, I'll keep at whatever tasks you set for me regardless of your decisions.”

“No, yer right,” said Granny Smith, finally speaking up in her usual elderly voice, “we got a little too ahead uh ourselves this year, we woul' uh spotted this problem a bit later than this, probably during our usual quality control test.”

“You mean biting into a random apple,” Chrysalis playfully snickered, “good thing it was me that noticed this, otherwise a few of you might have ended up biting into a worm or grub. Just the thought of that makes feel a little ill, truth be told I never liked biting into anything sort of animal or bug.”

“Why ya say et that way?” Inquired Apple Bloom.

“Let's just say that my mother insisted on a very aggressive high protein diet,” said Chrysalis with notable disgust in her voice.

“So she had ya eat a lot uh beans and nuts,” said Apple Bloom not seeming to get the hint, “Ah don't see how that's bad.”

“She had my sisters and I eat other creatures,” said Chrysalis flatly, I always felt a little sullied whenever I bit into the meat she had us eating, I eventually learned to tolerate it, but now the thought of biting into some semblance of another living creature makes me feel sick again.”

“Oh,” said Apple Bloom before turning a little green, “Ah'm glad ya don't eat lahk that anymore too.”

Applejack went to check on the cooking meal that was intentionally left unattended for a few minutes before telling Apple Bloom to start setting out the dishes for the meal, Chrysalis took initiative and got out the glasses, and after gently persuading Granny Smith to just relax in a chair at the dining table also got out the silverware.

Once everything was ready, and everyone was seated at the table, they all said their thanks and Chrysalis started portioning out the vegetable soup to all those in attendance, she made sure to serve the Apples before herself.

“So,” said Applejack as they started settling into their seats, “what's new.”

“Oh, the usual,” said Chrysalis, “happy to be helping out, chasing away distracting thoughts of Spike, nothing to really report on.”

“Come again,” said Apple Bloom.

“It's a changeling thing,” said Chrysalis, “one that does not have a proper place as any sort of dinner table discussion.”

“Nice ta see ya got some conversational tact,” said Applejack, “'specially with whut ya told us all flies free fer changelings.”

“It is a little ironic,” said Chrysalis, “that a culture built around deception would be so brazenly open about some things, of course, the way I was told was such acts are more intended to be shows of intimidation. So in a way, it's more changelings like to bluster a little differently.”

“Ya mean thay lahk ta make a lot uh empty boasts.”

Chrysalis chuckled and said, “That's basically half of what Changeling politics is like.”

“Ah just noticed et, but Chrysalis don't have those holes in 'er arms an' legs anymore,” said Apple Bloom, “when 'id tha' 'appen?”

“I have no idea,” said Chrysalis, “I always thought I'd have the holes, even if they weren't quite as big as they used to be, I always figured the holes in our limbs were an unavoidable hereditary...” the small holes (which were now half the size they were the last time Chrysalis saw them) in her limbs reappeared, “trait, I'm going to have to do some experimenting with Twilight when this is over, away from Spike,” she gave sensual lick of her lips, “no matter how much I want him there, he'd just be too much of a distraction.”

“How is Spike bein' there uh distraction?” Said Applejack.

“The first and last week of a queen's heat cycle are manageable, but all the weeks in between are a strain on our willpower and trying to do other things while our biology is effectively hitting us over the head with a prioritized need for intimate time with our mate is usually a bad idea. It's why queens usually try to get everything done in their first week of heat, they don't like being distracted from their ambitions.” All the Apples gave a bit of a blush.

“Yer only ambition now is better relations wid Equestria,” said Applejack, coming out of her stupor first.

“As far changelings go I was never all that ambitious, to begin with,” said Chrysalis, “if I could get away with it I'd have just been content sit around all day reading an playing strategy games.”

The Apples chuckled and the dinner table conversation took a turn towards business and the farm's future.

*****************************************

It was the following day and Chrysalis got up at the time she always did, an hour after sunrise. After heading to the washroom to shower, dry off and throw a towel on for her return trip to the guest room she was stopped by Applejack, in her usual attire, just outside the door to the room, she was using. Looking at the orange mare with confused look Chrysalis said, “Is there a reason you're blocking my return to the room? Which I would like to remind you has my clothes in it, I doubt your family would endorse you facilitating a lack of modesty on my part.”

Applejack gave a chuckle and stepped out of the way as she said, “Yer right there, darlin', the gals an' I 're gonna 'ave a little get tagether, an' Ah'm bringin' ya along.”

Chrysalis went into the room and shut the door, as she was pulling on her clothes the muffled sound of her saying, “Why? Don't you still require my presence here?” Came from behind the door. When she reemerged from the room she was in a tan shirt and forest green skirt.

“Yer sure not dressed fer usual farm work,” said Applejack with a quick look over Chrysalis.

“We discussed the reasons in detail yesterday,” said Chrysalis, “We already threw out all the non-serviceable equipment that couldn't be applied aesthetically away.”

“Ah still don't know 'ow you managed ta arrange all tha damaged baskets inta lawn art ready ta paint,” said Applejack.

“Your sister and grandmother didn't seem to mind too much,” said Chrysalis with a wry humor to her.

“Maybe 'cause ya set up tha busted baskets as great big apple, tha' always seems to score uh few point wid mah family.”

Chrysalis chuckled and said, “You all had fun though, right?”

“Ah guess, but all ya did was bring out and mix tha paints fer tha project.”

“I figured it was a family activity, I might do something like that once I have my own little darlings.”

Applejack chuckled and said, “We were in need of an activity Granny Smith could get involved in, an' thanks fer thinkin' abou' et that way. Let's git goin', we have some gals ta meet with.”

**************************************

A few minutes later Applejack and Chrysalis were coming up on a picnic area in the park. The other girls were all on a picnic blanket with stylish cloth napkins placed where Rarity believed each attendant would be sitting. All of them were in sundresses that complimented their coats, except Rainbow who instead was in a forest green two piece running outfit designed for pegasi.

“Thank goodness Spike isn't here,” said Chrysalis, “we could have a potential 'incident' on our hands if that were the case.”

“I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad, darling,” said Rarity.

“This might sound odd to you,” said Chrysalis as she took seat next to Twilight, “but the heat cycles of changelings, especially the queens, operate differently than ponies. We never experience the event called estrus, for us the queen decides when that period of our lives becomes active. The thing is a queen's first heat cycle tends last around a year, but it's down to mostly manageable levels the first week and last week of the cycle. I'm on my third week of the cycle, the only reason I'm so lucid and not constantly talking about Spike or how I'm going to 'play' with him is because proximity to our designated mate plays a major deciding role in our interactions and choices, the closer he is the more likely I am to lose all sense of decorum and jump him so that I can 'ride' him right there with no sense of shame.”

“Oh,” said Twilight, “well, I sent him to Canterlot for a few days yesterday to find anything on Cicada and Arachne that Celestia and Luna are willing to share, based on their reactions to those names they have some kind of history or knowledge regarding those two. What can you tell us about them?”

“Aside from what I've already with some of you on her I have nothing more to say about my mother,” said Chrysalis with a huff.

“Yes, I think we've got more than enough data on Cicada for now,” said Twilight, “What can you tell us about Arachne?”

“I shared a bit about her with Rarity, darling would care to share what I imparted to you regarding Arachne?”

“Certainly,” said Rarity, “Arachne is one of the longest-lived queens, many of the hives have stories and legends about her. She's also known as the 'Silk Queen' because she managed to acquire Spider aspects and is well known for having her hive spin spider silk. Presumably she and her hive can control the quality of the silk since Chrysalis in her time before the, *ahem* Royal Wedding incident had an agreement with Arachne where Arachne's hive would spin silk fabric and Chrysalis would have her hive refine it into clothing, it was an amicable agreement that kept Chrysalis's hive safe up until her failed play at the wedding.”

“Thank you for that summary, Lady Rarity,” said Chrysalis with a dip of her head.

“Which begs the question,” said Twilight, “why did no queens make an invasion attempt on Equestria until your failed attempt at Canterlot?”

“Three reasons,” said Chrysalis, “the first is compared to the loose association of hives mistakenly called the Changeling Nation Equestria is quite young, and all the influential hives were basically bickering for centuries over who would get the distinction of being known as the conqueror of Equestria, believe it or not that was actually a debate topic among the hives until I made my move; the second reason is the fact Equestria has alicorns, most queens at the pinnacle of their strength couldn't stand up to a single alicorn and Equestria now has four of them.”

“But you managed to defeat Celestia at Canterlot,” Rarity pointed out.

“Only after I had been drawing the love Shining Armor has for Princess Cadance, whata ya know that name doesn't feel odd coming out of my mouth anymore, into myself for several days, if I had not done that or only just started the process when I faced Celestia, something I had anticipated as a worst case scenario at the time, she would have come quite close to turning me into a smear and I'd have basically divulged everything I have over the past weeks to you within days of being locked in the dungeon. I'm more of researcher and tactician, I don't particularly like the idea of confrontation when it can be avoided. I'd probably have tried making a plea bargain on behalf of my hive, which would have likely failed given the reason for me being there in the first place.”

The girls all blinked a bit before Rainbow Dash said, “Since ya got so many queens, are there any changeling kings? Has there ever been changeling king?”

Chrysalis took a deep sigh and said, “I honestly don't know, we have a legend of an attempt to make a king before the many hives we have now were formed. The legend is pretty basic, it doesn't give any names or places to reference. Chances are it was made up by a changeling queen a long time ago to try and get the other hives to unite under them.”

“How does it go? This is our first chance to hear some kind of changeling lore,” said Twilight with excitement.

Chrysalis sighed deeply and said, “Long ago, when the five original hives were all there were to the changelings the five queens came together to craft the perfect mate for a changeling, a King that would provide all the qualities the hives needed, and focus point for them have an excuse to finally fight each other. To make sure that no male from any one hive would be their king they went and found a winged ant prince and carried it to the place they all agreed as neutral ground then each poured a bit of their magic into ant to transform it into the ideal changeling male they would call the 'King', but something went wrong with the transformation. As is the nature of Queens they will undermine each other when they don't want another queen to gain power. All they managed to do was make an ant their size that could barely understand the basic changeling language, but the giant ant's body was not sturdy enough to support it and it died less than an hour later. Moral of the story, mom said 'never trust another queen with what you want' my takeaway was changeling queens seem to let their desires and ambitions override their perceived needs.”

“Oh my, that poor ant,” said Fluttershy.

Chrysalis chuckled and said “That was the same reaction I had when I first heard the story, my mother was very displeased with my reaction. But enough about me or the culture I come from, that's all we seem to talk about. This is your time, you make the decisions. Twilight, I know you have questions, but chances are you asked a similar question during our six-hour knowledge sharing session. So, Rarity, how have things been for you?”

“Simply marvelous, darling,” said Rarity, “after some of your disclosures, and dramatic change, I was inspired to develop some new designs. Oh, and you'll just have to help display them.”

“Rarity,” said Twilight, “I know you feel close to Chrysalis, and quite frankly she does seem to have a better sense of aesthetics than most of us, but I'm going to start worrying about both you if you start making your time with each other any longer than before, I mean how do think it would look with Spike's ex-fillyfriend and current fiance getting along so well.”

“I'm thinking of making her the Maid of Honor at the wedding,” said Chrysalis with a smirk.

Applejack facepalmed and said, “Et's already too late Twi, they've bonded to tha point they'll discuss jus' abou' anything wid each other.”

“Not quite yet,” said Chrysalis, “maybe in few more months. Pinkie, do you have the thing we discussed the other day?”

“Yuppers,” said Pinkie as she pulled out two wedding cake images. One looked like it was made with a generous dose of emeralds and amethyst, which it probably was, and designed to mimic the coloration pattern of Spike and Chrysalis. The other cake looked as if it were a five-tiered wedding cake with a different kind of chocolate for each tier, in addition to having a refined art to them displaying the happy couple at different stages of a happy marriage done up in a sort of edible glitter. The tiered cake had it's top show little figurines of Spike and the new draconic looking Chrysalis.

“The traditionally styled one is for everypony to enjoy, the other one is for the personal enjoyment of Spike and myself,” Chrysalis made some dreamy eyes at the cake as she appeared to be imagining something, a few seconds later she snapped out of it and said, “have any of you given any thought to whether or not you'll give a name to one of our children? Twilight, I think it would mean a lot to Spike if you gave one our offspring a name.”

“I have,” said Twilight, “and I would love to give one of them a name, I even came up with the perfect one, it's...”

“Save it for a surprise, Twi,” said Chrysalis cutting off the lavender alicorn, “I want the moment the little darling is named to be the moment we both hear it, and this way you can mull over whether or not you really want your niece to have it or your coming foal to hold it.”

Twilight gave a slight pouting face while Rarity laughed and said, “I've been going over a few ideas for the little darlings myself and I re...did you say Twilight's getting a niece?”

“Several,” said Chrysalis, “you remember what I said about changeling gender ratios?”

Twilight's eyes lit up and she said, “Oh yeah, the gender dispersion you described means that it's almost a guarantee that the first larva to hatch will be fillies.”

“The first one that looks awesome I'll give a cool name,” said Rainbow Dash.

“They're a default black for roughly two weeks, Rainbow,” deadpanned Twilight, “not to mention during their first month they usually all look so much alike it's hard to tell them apart.”

“I said the near identical appearance would last five days after they start displaying the physical traits I got from Spike,” said Chrysalis, “you might want to fix that error in your notes, Twilight.”

“Oh, darling,” said Rarity, “you just had to let Pinkie design the cakes, she usually does a good job, but the one intended for you and Spike only seems to be a little off to me.”

“Actually, I told Pinkie the exact characteristics and designs I wanted for both cakes,” said Chrysalis, “I said she could put her own spin on them, but the basic format I set out had to be adhered to.”

Rarity gave a surprised look between Chrysalis and Pinkie, it was at this point Pinkie said, “I'm also planning the reception and afterparty. She said she wants the help of you, Fluttershy and Twilight to lay out the plans for the main event.”

“She wants the three of us to help her plan the wedding itself,” said Fluttershy, “oh my, that might not go so well, remember when we offered to fix up Twilight's new castle?” All five mares that weren't Twilight gave embarrassed blushes.

“Ah take et everypony's 'ere and suitably embarrassed now,” said Applejack.

“Actually, I set this up two months before Chrysalis came back into our lives,” Twilight, “I invited Cadance, Celestia and Luna. They cleared it on their calendars for this, they should be arriving shortly.”

“So, basically I'm a last minute invite to a big get-together you've been planning for months,” said Chrysalis, “I'll leave if I'm intru...”

“That won't be necessary,” came Cadance's voice, “you're a pleasant addition.” All three of the arriving alicorns were in ice blue summer dresses.

“I'm well aware of the reports Twilight and her friends have been sending on me to all of you,” said Chrysalis, “I'd be the same way myself under similar circumstances,” said Chrysalis.

“We have done our best to respect your privacy,” said Luna, “but visit your dreams to learn your intentions had to, much to our displeasure,” she gave a shiver, “you seem to have dreams that fall into three categories, two of which have content unintended for anything within public venue.” The three took a seat near Twilight.

“Me dominating Spike in the bedroom, him dominating me in the bedroom and memories I wish would leave me be,” said Chrysalis flatly.

“Well yes, that is the family friendly version,” said Celestia, “the abuse of your foalhood surprises and sickens me.”

“I find it disturbing as well,” said Twilight, “and on another note, ew, that almost had me visualizing such a thing. Although I suppose if Chrysalis weren't serious about her affection for Spike she wouldn't be so dedicated to keeping him in her dreams, she could just as well dream about anypony she wants.” Chrysalis gave a little blush.

“It's a time of my life I try to mostly forget, the only good parts about it were some of my magic lessons. Of course I would rather forget that subjugation spell, truth be told I intended to wipe from my memory after the Canterlot invasion, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, still can't.”

“Removing a known spell is like removing a piece of yourself sometimes,” said Celestia, “sometimes when we forget a spell unintentionally it can feel like we lost a part of ourselves. Your understanding of the spell could help to create a countermeasure.”

“Thanks,” said Chrysalis, “if you want to issue your retribution on me for what my hive and myself did that you feel needs to be punished go right ahead.”

“You'll find my sister has a...unique sense of humor,” said Luna.

Looking over everyone noticed Celestia floating a fruit pie in her magic, which was then catapulted at Chrysalis's face, “And thus justice is served,” said Celestia as the contents of the pie slid down Chrysalis's face and the front of her top, a little even dripping onto the clothing at her waist.

“Blueberry-Cranberry, really,” said Chrysalis in a deadpan tone, “you just ruined my outfit, the longer it takes to get to the wash the harder it will be to clean. Fortunately, I usually like to think ahead,” she seemed to disappear for a few minutes and the outfit landed neatly folded where she was sitting and she reappeared wearing the 'forgiveness dress' that Pinkie had shot onto her with the party cannon.

“I'm sorry, but I just can't take her seriously in that dress,” laughed Rainbow Dash.

“You do know how to pull off pink well, darling,” said Rarity, “I'm glad Pinkie talked me into making that for you.”

“Outfit...stain...wash,” deadpanned Chrysalis, “I really don't have much experience with such things, especially since changelings usually have a tendency to throw out things that they figure have had their usefulness compromised in some way, I can not tell you how many stained outfits I saw when my hive was the primary source of clothing for changelings.”

Rarity gasped dramatically and rushed off with the stained outfit, “Was that necessary?” said Twilight, “also how did you get the dress here, I get that you used an invisibility spell, but what was the other spell you used?”

“Probably not, but I really do want to make sure the outfits Rarity has been giving me are treated properly. Also, the spell I used was just a basic pocket dimension, it was one of the first I spells I created myself, seeing as I was unaware of anyone actually making a spell of its nature before I created it.”

Twilight shot a look at Celestia and said, “The same goes for you in regards to the first part, Princess.”

“She asked me to issue a punishment for her transgressions, so I did,” said Celestia with a playful smile.

“And ended up ruining a perfectly good dessert in the process,” snarked Chrysalis.

Twilight sighed and said, “Yet another one of Spike's personality traits is showing itself, she's been uncharacteristically nice the past few weeks.”

“That was the old me,” said Chrysalis, “Also, Applejack, your sister is rubbish at strategy games, I always seem to beat her in four moves or less, Scootaloo is bit better, not by much seeing as it only takes around twelve moves for me to beat her,” Rarity returned and took her seat, “but Sweetie Belle, for some reason every time we play it takes seventeen moves or more for me to beat her, I haven't had an opponent that challenging in a long time.”

Applejack chuckled, Rainbow laughed and Rarity said, “Glad you get along so well with our sisters, Sweetie always seemed to beat me when we played games like chess and checkers after she finished with school.”

“She's a smart girl,” said Chrysalis with a chuckle, “but I've still got far more experience with such games, even if I am a bit rusty these days.”

“It's been ages since I had a proper chess match myself,” said Luna as she floated some sandwiches over to herself, "a little time at the game with somepony a bit more experienced would be a nice change of pace, Tia's guards never seem to last more than twenty-three moves before I beat them, my own guards aren't much better.”

“I'd like that,” said Chrysalis, “and yes, Twilight I'll teach you the pocket dimension spell,” Twilight closed her mouth while it was in the midst opening, this earned her some giggles from the other mares around the picnic blanket.

*************************************************

Three hours later everyone was showing they were enjoying themselves and almost all the food had been consumed. To everyone's surprise Chrysalis had not once tried to feed on the good emotions floating around the interactions, it was even more of a surprise to Chrysalis and she said that before her time with Spike it was practically instinctual, she also explained how if the emotions were directed right at the changeling it was more revitalizing for them. Any business the mares had to discuss finally had been gotten out of the way, after much insistence by Chrysalis they stop focusing on her.

“What you've told us about changelings seems to indicate they are very militant in how they approach things,” said Luna as she followed Chrysalis and Applejack back to the farm, “yet they seem to focus more on the logistics of maintaining their forces than what is required for a successful victory with minimal casualties to them.”

“As I seem to keep explaining to everypony,” said Chrysalis, “I'm the only changeling that thought in those terms, every other queen just viewed her hive as mindlessly obedient drones. While they are called drones they are far from mindless. Obedient to their queen to the point of it being a major fault, yes, believing that obedience means loyalty, yes, actually speaking up to their queen when they had an idea regarding something, no. I actually had to train my hive to speak up when they found a fault in my actions, that took years and even then they only spoke up when I practically commanded they do so,” she rubbed her abdomen, “I hope the new generation has a bit more will to it than what I was raised on.”

“I'm sure Twilight will see to that,” said Luna with a smirk.

“Yeah,” said Applejack, “basides Spike's probly onea tha mos' loyal sorts ya can find, an' despite 'ow it might look mos' tha time 'e also happens ta be pretty strong willed. Yer new foals will 'ave all tha qualities yer concerned abou', an' ya 'ave tha right concerns. Yer not thinkin' abou' 'ow yer gonna 'ave uh hive fulla drones tha' 're gonna do things fer ya, but...”

“I would never do that, I never did that,” exclaimed Chrysalis beginning to breathe hard and beginning to border hyperventilation, “my hive was loyal to me because of all the faith and trust I put in it.”

“Whoa thare,” said Applejack, “simmer down darlin', Ah wasn't tryin' ta upset ya.”

Chrysalis started to calm down, Luna said, “Your body may be that of a changeling queen, but your soul seems to be that of an Equestrian pony, maybe the reason you made for your ploy was because you were looking for a home that would accept you, but you let your fears lead to the events in our memory that some are still trying to bring themselves to forgive. You had given up on acceptance for yourself, but didn't give up on the dream of acceptance for your former hive.”

Chrysalis began to weep and sobbed, “They're all gone because they put priority on me above all else, but I kept putting my priority on them before all else.”

“Tha' just means ya got uh good 'eart,” said Applejack as she picked up Chrysalis, “ya jus' showed et tha wrong way. Yer gonna get another shot at et, an' be a mother ta boot.”

“Speaking of which,” said Luna, “I think I've devised an excellent name for one of your offspring,” she winked, “I'll share it when the foals are born.”

“About that,” said Chrysalis nervously, “changeling larva always have a set of three hatch ahead of the rest of the brood with the first set, the three each are of a worker type that the queen prioritizes above all others in her hive. I don't know what that could possibly be for me.”

Luna just nodded and flew off, Applejack smiled and said, “Yer like Twi, so one o' yer foals will probably be an intellect o' some kind, ya prioritize family so you'll definitely have a worker type that tends tha young an' yer worried about an eventual attack so yer third might be some kinda protector, like tha Royal Guard.”

“Maybe,” said Chrysalis, “I just don't want to find out I'm prioritizing soldiers, it would mean I'm thinking like most changeling queens on some level, every single one of them prioritizes soldiers.” They entered the grounds for Sweet Apple Acres

“But thay don't put emphasis on family or knowledge lahk ya do.”

Chrysalis shook her head a bit, “Even so, many have been known to prioritize expansion of their colony and hive, and those kinds tend to have a lot of workers to tend their eggs and orient the new workers.”

“But yer gonna 'ave yer family doin' et differently, ya keep selling yourself short, why?”

Chrysalis took a deep sigh and said, “Because to my knowledge no queen has had the priorities I do, I'm prioritizing offspring because I legitimately want to have them in my life.”

“While every other queen does et bacause thay wanna do some kinda military operation wid em, Ah know. Ya've told us all abou' tha' uh lot, en fact et's tha thing ya keep emphasizing tha most.”

Chrysalis bowed her head and said, “I just want you, your friends and the princesses to be ready for when they finally get here. It won't be an invasion like what I tried, it'll me a military operation of extermination with me and my hive as the primary targets. They won't stop until my hive's potential colony sites are razed.”

“Ah know, ya told Twi all this a'ready.”

“Did she mention that the treatment will happen to the bulk of Equestria? Including Canterlot and Ponyville?”

“Um, no, she didn't mention tha' part!”

“She probably didn't want to cause a panic, or was busy trying devise countermeasures after I told her about all the inherent weaknesses changelings have.”

“Yeah, that sounds like sounds like Twi, so caught up en 'er duties an' research she don't think ta bother the rest of us wid details she thinks will worry us.”

“To be fair this is something that worries the princesses as well, they've tried peaceful means with the hives before, those attempts led to scenarios that were designed to frustrate them to the point of military operations, but they proved that just mildly irked by them, not anger them to the point of war.”

The two then entered the farmhouse to begin a much simpler, and much more preferred set of thoughts and chores.

Author's Note

Okay, I feel the need to get this off my back. I don't know why I ended up making Chrysalis's younger days as abusive as I did, I was more trying to illustrate how unfriendly her family is. And now that Twilight has a new spell in her collection, which I'm sure more than a few readers have thought could be potentially abused, in addition to spending more time with Chrysalis than the rest of the Mane 6 it seems the two are finally friends on some level. Rainbow still has her doubts, but those should be eased in time, and with the work she's done for the Apple family it's looking like AJ is at least willing to forgive Chrysalis for a few things.