Memories of a Changeling

Chapters

Origin
Rebirth
Ascent
Coronation

Origin

There is much to say.

Where to begin... From myself, I suppose. I am not the usual type of being you would encounter. I'm not a pegasus, earth pony, or unicorn. I am something of a different sort, a Changeling, a being that feeds off the love of our prey. Our forms vary, and bend to our will, yet even amongst a race of shape-shifters, I stand out. My name is Chrysalis, Fifth Queen of the High Swarm, and these words shall mirror my memories.

My dwelling, my citadel, is known as the Hive, a massive fortress and larder which my ancestors built long ago. Inside, many Changelings make their lives as they scurry about, making the needs of our swarm a reality. Honeycombs coat the stone and membrane walls that form outward from an enormous central shaft. Great forms of wax and rock meld together, forming lattices of armor that stretch to the uppermost heights of the Hive. From within, it resembles what our prey would call a city. From without, it towers into the sky like a castle bulwark.

The Hive is our home and cradle; it is where we all are born. Every Changeling of my Swarm, from drone to Queen, is sired, hatched, and reared here within these rock and wax walls. For most, the path from egg to adult is predictable and brings little in the way of wonder. Queens, however, are far from the majority. Whereas most are born once, we come into this world twice.

It was strange for me, becoming what I am. I was born under normal circumstances for a Changeling–emerging from a sealed honeycomb, drying my wings, waiting for my first orders, and taking flight soon after. I quickly learned how to perform the tasks I was born for by my older sisters of the Swarm. I wasn't born a powerful guard, a cunning and savage hunter, or, Swarm forbid, a drone, whose sole tasks included mating and running errands for the Hive. No, I was a more common breed.

I was an average worker, my carapace a slick black and my eyes a dull green. I was brought into the world standing at an average height, with an average wingspan. My magic abilities were minimal, and I had just enough of an aura to ensure the elixir was the proper consistency. I never questioned my place in the swarm, never sought anything greater, and I had no desire to.

I worked the fluid vats, the great mixing honeycombs that dominated the Hive's lower levels. With my fellow workers, I prepared the love collected by the hunters for consumption, blending the very base of love itself into passion elixir, the food that sustains all Changelings. This was my existence–completely and fully what I had expected out of life. I buzzed about, performing my duties to Swarm, Hive, and Queen, not giving it another thought.

It was, as I had thought, how it should have been.

One day, however, something changed; I first noticed it when war broke out between our great Hive and the Eastern Swarm, our more aggressive neighbors. Their leader, a young and volatile Changeling, had made an outright threat against our mother and matron, Queen Scarlet Cocoon. Fighting erupted between hunters, the minor battles occasionally getting in the way of acquiring necessary resources. The conflict seemed quite superfluous to most; to them it was merely a waste of food and personnel. I occasionally overheard pheromone-based chatter between the other workers. Although most of it was the same–they'd wonder about when the fighting would be over–I slowly began to listen in more and more.

“Any news on the conflict?” A fellow worker asked, her expression blank.

There was a brief pause before her colleague responded, “Negative.”

These short bursts of communication were all I originally heard. Two Changelings working the vats would bring it up, give a brief reply, and then carry on with their duties. Initially I ignored it, and let the conversing sounds and aromas go through my senses and out again. But something happened; it, whatever it was, started.

“Has any conclusion been reached?” I overheard a worker say one evening.

“Negative,” the reply came. “Reports of casualties were confirmed.”

“Casualties?” I breathed, my voice stammering a bit.

With a quick twitch, both of the other workers looked at me. Their gaze seemed somewhat aggressive, like how a guard would stare down down a trespasser. As they stared at me, I felt myself recoil slightly, my hemolymph pulsing faster through my carapace. I became more unsteady, as if I'd collapse if they kept their leering eyes on me.

"What is it? What do they want?!" I thought, my mind frenzied. "Wait..."

I'd spoken out of turn.

It wasn't usual for Changelings to intrude on their kin's conversations. It was far from punishable, but still wasn't common as it tended to waste time. Normally I would just accept this and continue, but something kept me from it; an odd sensation of heaviness in the back of my mind appeared when I tried to push the issue aside.

“Correct,” my sisters said in unison.

I quickly forgot about the odd reaction as their words registered in my thoughts. I slowly turned my head away as the others continued on with their tasks. A soft sigh escaped my mouth. Just the thought of my kin being destroyed seemed to make me move slower.

“Perhaps this is why I wasn't born a guard.” I thought.

For the rest of that day I moved somewhat slower than usual. I tried to increase my speed, but the will to do so wasn't enough. My work lagged behind, and when my time of rest had come I noticed several unfilled honeycombs sitting near my station.

I began to suspect something was wrong with me.

I spent the night in my assigned resting comb, a small hexagon hollowed out of the lower section of the Hive's side wall. I let my limbs go limp as I tried to relax. My mind was full, and for the first time, I noticed it. To my chagrin, I had no idea what it truly was. The odd reactions, my lessened speed and drive... I had no idea, not a single clue.

My head perked up as I felt the membranous wall shift and bulge next to me. I peered out from my resting comb, watching as a Changeling I was quite familiar with wiggled into hers. We were both workers, our emerald-green eyes yet another set among the countless numbers of our closest kin.

“Ebony?” I whispered through the wax, my voice feeling slightly softer.

“Yes?” she replied, her tone as flat as all the others. “Chrysalis, is something wrong with your voice? I would recommend you to have it looked at if so.”

“I'm starting to wonder if I should.”

“Rest might be helpful,” Ebony said. “Sleep for now. Perhaps it will be healed by morning.”

The wall between us pulsed less as Ebony's breathing slowed. As she drifted off to sleep I tried to put the odd thoughts from my mind. It took some time, but sleep eventually came for me as well.

Something wasn't right.

I didn't know what, but I could feel that I wasn't in the Hive anymore; I was somewhere else!

I opened my eyes to find myself in a surreal world. All around me I saw gray fog, strewn debris, and a dull sludge that coated the landscape. Tall hills rose up from the north and south, all of them smothered by the strange flowing refuse that spread around me. I was confused as a light rain drizzled through the air, but I neither smelled it nor felt it as it splashed against my exoskeleton. I felt my pulse skip a beat; whatever had sent me to this alien land had apparently brought along my odd reactions as well.

I felt my breathing grow heavier, my heart beat faster, and my senses become heightened. I didn't think myself safe where I was. I felt exposed being away from the walls of the Hive. My eyes darted left and right, trying to pick out the towering walls of my fortress home. Instead I saw nothing close to it; I saw just a vast, barren, dead landscape that stretched into a winding valley.

A gurgling noise–like polluted running water–began to sound around me. I felt my eyes stretch open wide as the flowing muck stirred. It swirled and twisted, flowing around itself as a perfectly spherical eye floated to its surface. It glared at me, scrutinizing me as if to pierce my hide with its gaze alone. I felt myself tense for a moment, growing stiff in the joints for some reason as my heart rate soared. As more eyes bubbled up from the sludge, I took to the air, my wings beating as fast as I could make them. The sludge was partly blown away as I ascended, its eyes staring at me as my wings' gale forced it to retreat.

I didn't know where to go. I had no bearings, no landmarks, not a thing that could guide me back to the Hive. Out of options, I darted down the valley, trying to escape that staring ooze.

A loud moan sounded from behind me as I flew. Craning my neck around, I saw the living slime pour through the valley, shrieking and groaning as it went. My gaze turned back forward, trying to find some way to escape that crawling monstrosity. Ahead of me, I noticed the valley widen and open up into a broader landscape.

Along the open ground lie dozens of still forms. They resembled Changelings, but were different somehow. They were thicker, with bodies coated in a fibrous substance. Their wings looked Changeling enough–each airfoil made of transparent membranes with a dull blue tinge–but were more symmetrical than those of my kin, and were tipped with smooth, wide curves. All of them were laying still in the midst of the gray. As I flew over them I realized that they were also lightly coated in remnants of the sentient sludge that had attacked me moments ago.

I hovered over to a nearby body, the thought of the rampaging muck fading from my thoughts. Her form looked stiff, dead, and lifeless. The threadlike material that coated her form appeared matted in areas that the sludge had stuck to, and her half-lidded eyes glazed over with a ghostly white.

“What are you?” I breathed as I looked the corpse over.

I cut my inspection short as I saw movement in my periphery vision. I jolted backwards as I noticed the gray land swirl around me, mixing in with itself as it manifested more of that horrid slime from before. Eyes bulged out of the living mass as drops of it fell around me, mixing with the rain. I tried to back away, but found myself surrounded. I began to panic, my heart racing faster.

I vaulted into the air, my wings beating as quick as I could make them. I felt my eyes water as I soared upwards through the rain and sludge around me, the sky becoming a hazy torrent as I struggle to escape.The rain billowed, and I shook as the cold sank into me. My eyes stung, and the world around me became little more than a mess of sludge and water. A faint whimper left my mouth; I was lost, completely ensnared in the storm.

"Help!" I called out, confused and shaking. "Someone, please get me out of here!"

A dull rasping wheeze drifted through my ears, the noise just barely louder than the storm. As I wiped the debris from my eyes I cringed; I was met with the glowing white gaze of the body I had seen on the ground a moment ago, the corpse's eyes no more than a hoof's length from the end of my snout. It shrieked at me, its loud voice filling my ears. I recoiled, forcing myself away from the undead being as it continued its piercing noise.

I covered my ears, trying to block out this howling monster. I tried to look away, but something stopped me, a sort of curiosity that forced my attention despite my urge to flee. At first I thought it was just a trick of the rain, but I noticed something about the creature; I saw its thread-like coating melt and slide away. Like a melting piece of ice, its outer layer dissolved in the rain, revealing a Changeling's thick and chitinous hide. Its wings rotted as holes appeared in its legs. Its eyes widened, segmenting in a regular hexagonal pattern as the metamorphosis ended. Blackened limbs thrashed about as it flew towards me. Sharpened fangs gnashed at the air, moving closer and closer to me as its wail echoed through my ears.

My eyes snapped widely open as I felt my breathing pounding inside my abdomen, a dull pain soon following. Scanning around, I found myself once again in my sleeping comb, the wax holding me tightly. Ahead of me, Ebony waited by its entrance, my colleague looked at me as I lay there in that awful state, her expression blank and her voice nigh toneless.

“You look as though you're suffocating.” Ebony stated, her voice plain but urgent. “Do you need help?”

“No.” I replied, trying to slow my breath. “No, I'm alright.”

“I would request a new sleeping comb.” my nest-mate added. “That one seems to be too small for you."

“Now then.” she continued. “It is close to our scheduled work period. We should stop by the feeding grounds before anything else.”

I silently nodded, following Ebony as she vaulted upward.

My colleague flew ahead of me towards the feeding grounds, a large and flat section of honeycombs where passion elixir was rationed out on a daily basis. Normally I would have been right alongside her, but now I found myself unable to keep up. The memory of last night was still fresh in my mind and the more I thought about it, the more I noticed how it'd made me react oddly, like how I had when I overheard those other Changelings the previous day. That place I was in was equally troubling. I had no idea how I could have possibly left the Hive, traveled there, and somehow gotten back in what felt like an instant.

"I-it... must not have been real," I thought. "Just an odd hallucination, or something of that sort. It must have been..."

But even if it had been nothing more than a figment of my mind, it didn't change the fact that it had felt real enough.

We soon landed in the feeding grounds, joining the many other workers there. Three guards patrolled about, dishing out the rations of elixir to the waiting Changelings. Ebony and I waited our turns for our meals and lined up with the others.

“Diplomacy?” I heard a worker buzz out.

“Correct,” another replied.

I looked over my shoulder as I overheard them.

“Negotiations... With the East... Peace-talks...” several others chimed in.

They had my full attention. I looked around as other workers joined their conversation. Peace-talks... it was not a common phrase amongst Changelings. Negotiations were usually an exchange of resources or territory. Talk between neighboring Queens was almost unheard of.

“Ebony,” I began, “are you hearing this?”

“What of it?” Ebony replied, her mandibles now filled with passion elixir. “It's irrelevant; the Eastern Swarms would not dare attack the Hive.”

I didn't respond. I was too busy with my meal.

“They couldn't win,” she concluded, downing her mouthful, “even if they are half the beings they claim to be. Our forces are too strong. They would be overrun.”

I still had no reply. I felt another bout of strange behavior sweeping through my mind. My eyes were somewhat closed, my head lowered, and my attention elsewhere. It felt as though everything other than the Hive's future was distant to me. Even Ebony, one of the few individuals that I had repeatedly been around, felt as though she were miles away, despite being right on the other side of the same hexagonal honeycomb.

“Are you still not well, Chrysalis?”

My head shot up as I heard my name.

“I... am fine.” I lied.

Ebony merely stared at me. Her eyes seemed to look straight through me, as if my outer shell was transparent. My fellow Changeling's look was that of curiosity, the sort she'd usually give an unknown being who'd entered the Hive. She smelled the air, her nostrils flaring slightly. Exhaling, Ebony nodded her head slightly and shifted her gaze to meet mine.

“For a second,” she breathed, “I could have sworn your pheromones smelled the same as...”

A loud buzzing cut her off; a sickly-sweet smell followed it.

Ebony craned her neck around, aiming her sight at the noise; I followed suit. She merely stared at the Changeling hovering near us, but something made my eyes widen and caused a small stirring in my thorax. This Changeling was not the usual pitch-black that most were. It was different, and even in the pale light of the Hive their carapace stood out.

The Changeling before us was blue and golden, their chitin a sapphire hue mixed with streaks of fine yellow. The odd one's wings matched the amber lines that ran though its exoskeleton, ending in thin, solid tips that formed sharp points of goldenrod membrane. This Changeling was bigger than most, and what startled me more than anything was its smell and voice.

“Her highness requests that all assemble at the core at once,” the drone spoke, its voice coming out deep and dry.

Ebony merely nodded, her clicks and smells attuned in acknowledgment as she flew off into the Hive.

The reactions took hold of me again. I couldn't believe how calm she'd just been. It's a rare sight when drones are seen outside of the Queen's personal chamber, and it's rarer still when they actually speak, much less deliver a message straight from the Queen herself!

As the drone flew off, I couldn't help but stare. There was something mesmerizing about seeing a male Changeling that I just couldn't ignore. The drone’s sleek form, deep voice, and long, powerful wings drifted through my thoughts. For a split second, I felt the hemolymph work its way into my face, tinting my head with a dull green shade. I shook my head quickly, forcing my green life-fluid back into my abdomen. It didn't take long to return though. Images of that gold and blue being came back to my head as details of his figure washed over my thoughts.

“W-what in the world?” I breathed, shaking my head once more. “What was that about?”

Trying to put the odd sensation from my mind, I flew off towards the core as I heard the buzzing of my sisters soon erupt from all corners of the Hive. I kept calm as I flew, the odd reactions I had becoming a mere oddity in the back of my mind.

Several smells drifted through the air as I flew.

“Keep up.”

“Move faster.”

“Too slow.”

They all had the same meaning.

Looking around, I noticed I was flying somewhat slower than I had imagined. I increased my speed as I saw the others begin to overtake me. Eventually I matched up with them once more and continued along, their pheromones of disapproval dissipating shortly afterward.

“What is wrong with me?” I thought, seeing my head was slightly lowered.

I lifted my gaze as a strong scent floated through the room. It was sweet, gentle, and nurturing; it was the kind of smell that larva awoke to on their first day of life. One by one I noticed my kin also fall under its soothing influence; their wing beats slowed and their forms descended through the air, each landing softly on a platform of softened wax. All of us knew it well, and I breathed in the wafting aroma as I joined my siblings on the floor. The wonderful scent was the maternal pheromone of our Queen, and soon her highness, our mother, appeared atop a high pillar of wax-coated honeycombs in the room's center. We all looked up and screeched a saluting cheer, for before us was our matron and ruler, Lady Scarlet Cocoon.

She landed atop a pedestal of ancient stone and honeycombs, the dull platform accenting her sparkling red chitin. Long webs of semi-translucent magenta membrane draped off her head and rear, slightly resembling the odd cluster of stringy material from the beings in my dream. Her wings were broad and long, each easily one and a half times her body length, and tipped with an ornate crimson edge.

I watched as our matron gazed over the swarm, her expression a calm smile. I tried to stay alert, but our Queen's bright red gaze was hypnotizing. At the time I didn't understand what it was. Her expression, a thing that Changelings regarded as trivial, held my attention like the Queen would cradle a hatchling. Between her gentle grin and enchanting aroma I found myself becoming more relaxed than the others; I had fallen into a frame of mind that reminded me of sleeping soundly in a soft, fresh comb.

“My children,” Queen Scarlet's voice echoed, “I personally thank each and every one of you for your patience in this trying time.”

The horde was silent and attentive, unblinking and steadfast. They watched with an almost blank look in their eyes, the same look I remembered myself possessing not more than a few days ago. I couldn't say I wore the same expression; I was wrapped in the Queen's words. An awe came over me as I listened. It was a sensation like none I'd felt before.

“The growing threat of our neighbors to the East has dwelt in my mind for some time now.” She continued. “However, I have remained firm in my decisions; negotiation is preferable to war, and communication preferable to separation.”

Such a big decision, and yet she made it seem so easy.

“Rest assured, I will endeavor to find an end that benefits us all.”

And said with such grace...

“Stand resolute, for a new day will dawn, and with it a better future.”

As our lady's words ended, the horde slowly dispersed. One by one my sisters returned to their stations; the guards left for the exterior, workers retreated into the mixing vats, and soldiers returned to their rounds. All were soon where they were before, all but one.

I found myself unable to move, still amazed and awestruck by the beauty of our Queen and her words. Her highness had spoken for no more than a few minutes, but those few minutes I remember well.

“Incredible...” I whispered.

Before I could take to the air I felt the cool ground slam against my back. I looked up in shock as the slight pain of the impact coursed through me; a drone had pinned me to the inner chamber's floor.

He looked me over as my eyes went wide, the male taking curious sniffs at me. I could feel myself tremble slightly, similarly to how I felt in that odd vision the previous night. I had heard stories of prey doing this. They would start shaking when the hunters revealed themselves. Their eyes would go wide, their hearts race, and they might even scream until every drop of love was completely drained from them. I never thought, even for a moment, that I would come to know this sensation. I never pictured that I would be, what I heard the hunters call, afraid.

“You smell... interesting.” the drone croaked.

“What do you mean? What is that aroma?” his fellows soon replied.

I watched the drones encircle me, and felt each one leering at me with their widened eyes. I saw them get closer, felt their breath... it was too much.

I screamed.

No, that's too light of a word.

I shrieked, overwhelmed with a drive to force them away.

My eyes snapped shut as I tried to shut out the images of the drones. I was confused, breathing heavily, and shivering. I felt my body go cold as panic shot through me like a poison dart.

And then, in an instant, it ended. The drones retreated, the horror stopped, and I heard a voice that, at the time, I came to identify with safety.

“Open your eyes, little one.”

I slowly lifted the chitin shielding my vision. My eyelids felt heavy, but eventually I managed to force them to slowly open. Meeting my gaze was the gentle figure from moments ago. Queen Scarlet's gentle eyes cut away at my negative reactions, the taller Changeling lifted me up in her strong aura. As she lifted and lowered me, I rolled from my back and sat down, never breaking eye contact with the Queen as she continued that beautiful grin.

An instant later, the fear drained away completely as the Queen's mystic aura vanished. I looked up at her calm expression as drops of water beaded under my eyes.

“Huh?” I gasped, wiping the moisture away.

It was the first time I'd ever cried. It wouldn't be the last, unfortunately, but at least my first tears were sweet instead of bitter.

“Are you all right?” the Queen asked, the dull glow of the Hive's luminous fungus radiating off her splendid form.

“Y-your highness, I... I...” I sniffed. “I don't know what just happened.”

Queen Scarlet looked me over. She paced about me for a moment before sitting down, smelling the air about me as she did. Her eyes widened slightly and then closed, her normal expression returning shortly after.

“Something wonderful happened,” she replied after several seconds, “although you might not understand it just yet.”

“No, I don't understand.” I continued rubbing my moistened eyes. “What is wrong with me? What is making me react differently like this?”

“Hush now,” the Queen whispered, “it's alright. It will take some time to fully grasp, but you have a gift that few of your sisters can truly comprehend. But first, I'm curious; what is your name, little one?”

“Chrysalis.” I responded, my throat somewhat sore. “I'm a worker near the upper ledge.”

“I'll never let that name leave my memory, Chrysalis.” Scarlet said, her voice as gentle as ever. “But for now, please, try to forget about that... incident with my drones. They tend to be a little over-reactive at times.”

I heard a faint buzz to my side as the Queen's sentence ended. Three drones, the very ones that had attacked me, bowed to the both of us before flying off back to the Queen's private chamber.

“So, your Highness, what should I do?” I eventually asked. “These reactions have been...”

“True emotions.” Scarlet interjected.

“Emotions?” I replied.

“The 'reactions' you mentioned. I think they're something more than that.”

Lady Scarlet took to the air, her long wings beating rapidly.

“Chrysalis,” she called, “follow me, and try to keep up!”

I nodded as I flew up to join her. As I approached, I became slightly confused as her Highness' expression changed. Her grin grew slightly wider as her eyes squinted at me.

With a quick vault upward, Scarlet bolted ahead of me. I gasped as I saw her glide and soar throughout the upper levels of the Hive, her wings glistening as she flew.

“Catch me if you can!” I heard her call.

In the past, I would have reacted differently. I would have thought this to be insanity. I would have merely waited for new orders, gone back to my station, and carried on with my routines, but now... I felt the reactions, my emotions, flow through me as her Highness' challenge met my ears.

I felt myself take on her grin as I watched her dart and flutter about.

And I simply couldn't resist.

“I'll do more than that!” I called back, feeling my wings beat faster.

Lady Scarlet darted to the side as I flew up to join her. A warbling sound escaped her mouth as the two of us hovered about.

“What was that?” I asked, not sure what to think of her sound.

“It's called laughter,” She spoke. “Now don't fall behind.”

She led me further up the Hive's central shaft. As we flew, I looked down at our home, and for the first time realized that it was captivating to behold.

Dense clusters of combs hung from the walls, glowing in the dull light of many fungal pods. Bits of reflective crystal spread the light around, illuminating everything from the upper layers to the vats below. Lines and groups of Changelings drifted through the open core as others clustered about on the walls and floors. The black, green, and gray blended together, forming an ever-changing prism of life.

As I gazed down, I felt my eyes moisten again. Queen Scarlet's eyes closed as she smiled, my matron watching as I rubbed the fluid away.

“Incredible.” I breathed.

“And now you know, my child.” Lady Scarlet grinned, floating closer to me.

I looked up at her, my expression confused.

“Behold, Chrysalis,” she spoke as we both looked down. “This is your first glimpse of true beauty.”

It felt like an eternity. We hovered there for some time, watching the Hive move, breathe, and live. I felt my heart beat faster, and worried that it was some horrid reaction, but as Queen Scarlet flew next to me, I realized that this was nothing detrimental; it was awe, and wonder. As I looked down at the hive, I wished that Ebony was there with us. I wanted her to see just how amazing the Hive looked, how breath-taking it really was.

As her name came into my mind, I thought back to my nest-mate. She had always been near me, physically and in my mind. She had learned with me, worked with me, and at that moment I wanted her to feel these reactions and see our home from the air.

“You're thinking of someone, aren't you?”

I turned towards my Queen and nodded, only to be puzzled further as Scarlet shook her head.

“Come, follow me.” she spoke, turning towards the Hive's towering ceiling.

I joined her as we touched down on a disk-shaped platform high above the rest of the Hive. From the platform I made out a geodesic hemisphere. It was dull in color and very smooth, and not possessing a single honeycomb upon its surface. Eight drones guarded the only entrance, a few of them appearing a bit too familiar. I cringed slightly as I walked past them and into Queen Scarlet's personal chamber.

“You need not worry,” the Queen said, glancing at her drones. “I'm certain they've learned their lesson by now.”

A thick door closed tightly behind us. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light of her highness' quarters, I felt my jaw drift open slightly.

It certainly had not been what I had expected. Within Queen Scarlet's chambers were items clearly not of Changeling design. Various slabs of what I thought was very thin wax lie strewn across a dull brown table, symbols stretching over their surfaces. Stone arches, completely free of comb and fungus, reached up towards the dome's ceiling. A burning flame shown from within a reflective case as the assembly hung from a chain, shining its amber light across the room and casting flickering shadows across many surfaces. Odd, colorful objects hung from the walls, some depicting what appeared as strange living things. The centerpiece of the room was an oblong, somewhat ornate... thing. It appeared soft and spun from some sort of delicate material, its purpose made clear when her majesty sat down on it. With the Queen in the center of her room, it looked oddly complete; an otherworldly gem flickering in the light of the small flame hanging above.

“What is all this?” I asked,nearly gawking at all the odd fixtures.

“Various things I've acquired over the years,” Scarlet replied. “Remember, my role as Queen can take me to many places and give me many obligations and duties. Sometimes I must even lead other Changelings directly in their tasks, including hunters.”

“You've worked along with the hunters?”

I was awestruck. I never doubted that Changeling Queens were powerful, but to work along the hunters was a job for only the most capable of our kind. No doubt a Queen could accomplish this, but to put a matron of a Swarm at risk was almost unthinkable.

“Never mind that for now,” Scarlet sighed. “Come here; there is still much you don't know.”

I walked over to the Queen's odd seat. Gently tapping my leg against it I found that it was indeed as soft as I thought. I stepped up onto it, nearly losing my balance as the fabric curved beneath me. To Lady Scarlet's amusement I tripped, my face landing in the conforming material.

“I don't think I've ever seen bedding quite like this.” I laughed along, sitting up.

“It's silk,” the Queen grinned.

For a second, I felt my earlier meal work its way into my throat.

Silk?! What monster makes their bedding out of the fibers larva are wrapped in?

“Relax,” She chuckled. “It's not Changeling silk at all; it's a completely different material.”

A shudder and sigh went through me as I looked back down at the bed. Despite it being the silk of another kind, the thought of using the thread of a larva for such a thing seemed repulsive.

“I imagine you're still wondering a great many things, Chrysalis.”

“To be honest, yes,” I replied, my attention snapping back to her. “I'm not sure what's happening to me. Just a few days ago I was another worker churning the vats, not questioning anything. Now I find myself with these reactions, these emotions, and resting with you in your private chamber.”

“When we were flying I had asked if you were thinking about someone.” Queen Scarlet said.

I nodded.

“Chrysalis, besides the two of us, have you seen anyone in the Swarm that behaves like you have been?”

“To be honest, no, I haven't,” I spoke, thinking about my kin.

After a long sigh, the Queen continued.

“It's because they cannot,” Queen Scarlet breathed, her voice softer than before. “I can tell that you seem to have a new perspective on that one you'd thought of before. You want to be near her at times just for the sake of it; you consider her a friend.”

“A what?” I asked, my head listing slightly to one side.

“A friend,” Scarlet looked downward. “Someone that you care for, and wish to see succeed merely because you do.”

“Did you ever have a friend, your Highness?”

“A long time ago,” She said, rubbing her eyes, “but not anymore. They are, unfortunately, long gone from this world.”

I felt my heartbeat slow slightly, my eyes also beginning to grow wet. I had barely known emotion for a few days, yet for some reason I thought that I could begin to understand what our swarm's matron was feeling. She looked up at me, her calm smile ever present on her face. She wrapped her front wing over me, a little to my surprise, but as she held me I felt calm, my heart rate picking up again. As I draped my smaller wings over hers she began to hold me tighter.

We sat there in the grasp one-another for some time; the hanging lantern's glow diminished slightly as its fuel began to run dry.

“Thank you, Chrysalis,” Scarlet whispered, her magic already enveloping the lantern.

“It's all right, your Highness,” I laughed, watching her pour more fuel into the fire, “I think that both of us needed that.”

“I'd say you were right,” she giggled back.

One question still hovered over my mind as the Queen sat down next to me once more. For some reason, a part of my mind didn't want to ask it. Emotions were such new things to me, and yet so mysterious.

“Something on your mind?”

“Well, actually,” I stammered, “I was wondering something.”

The Queen looked at me, curious and attentive.

“If most Changelings cannot feel emotion,” I asked, “why can we?”

“I'm glad you asked,” she smiled. “It's true that most of our kin cannot feel as we do. In truth, Chrysalis, only Queens can truly emit, perceive, and understand true emotions.”

“B-but that makes no sense, I'm not a Queen like you. I'm just a worker, one of the thousands that the Hive has.”

“Not for long.”

As if triggered by her quiet words, the room around me began to dim. I felt oddly tired and weary, my body feeling almost undone. I collapsed over into Queen Scarlet's odd bed, my eyes slowly closing as I looked up at her.

The Queen lowered her head to mine, a soft, rhyming set of words escaping her mouth. They flowed together like a stream of water, drifting in and out of my ears like a soft current.

“Your Highness, what is that sound?” I asked, my voice dull and raspy.

“It's called a lullaby,” Lady Scarlet whispered. “It's something you sing to ones you care for before they fall asleep.”

“Fall... asleep...” I muttered.

I felt myself go rigid and tense as my eyes locked shut. As I fell into the deepest sleep I had ever felt, I heard the Queen's soft words dance about through my thoughts. Whatever was happening to me, I felt protected and safe. With my Queen, my mother, watching me, fear had hesitated to show itself. I was quite lucky for that too...

My metamorphosis had begun.

Rebirth

Do you know what it's like, being born again?

I'll tell you the secret only Queens know. Most Changelings are born only once. Their eggs hatch, they grow, pupate, and live. They only know creation once and forget about it almost immediately. We Queens are different. As our old selves begin to fade we quickly recall our first birth, and our journey toward our next. It's true; we are born twice.

As I felt sleep grip me in my matron's chambers everything seemed blurred. For the few minutes, before the world completely fell away, I heard the buzzing of the drones and a few scant whiffs of command pheromones, and after that nothing but darkness.

It made me remember the time before my emotions had surfaced. I'd gone through this same emptiness night after night; there were no visions, no feelings, just void. It felt cool and calm, comforting in the same way I'd felt when Queen Scarlet had her wings draped over me. The sleep made me think back to my first memories as a larva, still huddled up tightly in a growth comb. I felt like nothing would hurt me here, like I was safe until I had to wake up.

I couldn't tell how long I remained like that, in that state of almost nothingness. The blackness seemed to go on forever, and time itself felt oddly absent. I almost forgot myself, strange as that sounds. In the midst of the calmness I almost forgot that I was there. My sense of self vanished, my mind going blank, and my whole physical being began to feel... faded, as if it wasn't there.

Thinking back on it, I sometimes wish I could return to that emptiness. It reminded me of a simpler time in my life when I didn't have to worry, or feel at all for that matter. A time when all I had to do was rest and await the next day. It's strange, really. I can't even really describe it correctly. How does one who now has emotion describe a time when they had none?

Towards the end of my long slumber, I started to come back, the void surrounding my mind fading away. A humming sound began to drift in from the distance. It grew closer, clearer, more coherent. I stirred a bit as it began to focus itself. From the hum came punctuated highs and lows. Words formed out of the sound... A voice.

“Who is...” I muttered as the sound became more clear.

“... and behold, you will all look down upon your prey as the great feast begins!” the words echoed.

“W-who is...” I thought again, shuddering slightly.

I felt odd when I did that, feel myself shiver. In the depths of this metamorphic sleep I didn't realize what was going on. I hadn't realized I'd forgotten myself yet. With each word a bit more of me came back from oblivion. I began to feel my limbs again.

“Fret not,” the voice continued.

My torso began to move. I felt my breath rise and fall.

“as in the end,”

My wings twitched.

“we shall do as we have since time long ago; We shall rise!”

And then my senses sprang back to life.

My head pounded for a moment as a flood of sight, smell, and sound slammed into me. Loud, shrill cries began to sound as the first voice went quiet. I felt an urge to recoil and hide. The sounds ran rampant through my ears, and a sort of churning sensations appeared in my abdomen. It became worse as the bright lights of the glowing fungal pods came into view, their normally calm glow like brilliant daggers in my eyes.

“Oh,” I groaned to myself, wincing through the pain, “what is this?”

Their chorus diminished slightly and the pain began to dissolve. My eyes adjusted to the brightness, and I took in the sight around me. An image of the Hive's center unfolded as I found myself standing atop a pedestal overlooking the Swarm. Every comb, every column, every visible surface clamored and buzzed with Changelings, writhing with life in all directions around me. They let loose their voices and buzzed their wings. Their pheromones gave the air a thin, yet noticeable hint of hotness; they were anxious, and awaiting something.

“At last, the hunger our Hive has been cursed with will be sated, and our swarm will once more be full with life and energy.”

I felt like my eyes went wide as the words echoed through the throng of blackened forms. The words were mine, but... not mine. I had said them, felt them, and heard them, but it wasn't my voice, nor my will.

“What's going on?” I tried to say.

“So to all of you,” my mouth spoke.

What is this? Maybe I couldn't hear over the Swarm?

“Where am I?” I questioned, feeling my hemolymph flow faster.

“May our wings fill the sky,”

The words came, but still weren't mine.

Why can't I control myself?

“And may love fill our Hive!”

“Stop it! Stop it!” I tried to scream as the noise of a thousand buzzing Changelings filled the room. “I won't be controlled like this! Stop!”

And yet not a word. I could only scream inside as the horde around me cheered. I couldn't control myself. I'd just managed to return to a physical state, and already I felt like I didn't exist anymore. It made think of when Scarlet's drones were upon me. I could already feel slivers of fear working their way back into my mind.

“Your Highness.”

My head turned. I felt like I was going to jump backward a step, yet still a stone I remained. A drone sat in front of me, no others, just him.

“I'll be done in a moment,” I heard myself say.

Did he just call me 'Your Highness'? Why would he call me...

Turning back to the crowd, my wings flared open and command pheromones drifted through the air. An almost silent sigh came from the assembled Changelings as they caught my scented command. The group dispersed a few seconds later, each returning to their place in the Hive.

The drone spoke up over the flurry of wings.

“There is still no word from outside the valley, your Highness.”

“I thought as much,” I involuntarily replied.

I was about to say something else, I was sure of it, but a twinge of pain pushed the words from my mouth. Looking down, I noticed a small hole on the end of my front left limb.

“You too, your Highness?” the drone asked.

“I'm afraid so,” I replied, “I'm afraid so.”

Something was strange. The hole on my leg felt alien and unnatural, yet all my life I'd known them as just another part of a Changeling's body. I looked over at the drone. He too had a few small cavities on his rear legs, but other than that his chitinous body was intact.

Why does it feel so strange to have something I've always known?

“How many others?” I asked.

“Hundreds, if not all,” the drone said.

The room was silent for a moment. I lowered my head and closed my eyes half way. The energy in my body quickly escaped from me. I don't know what it's called, the emotion one would feel, but whatever it's called, it was... uncomfortable.

As I sat there, confused and buried in a mix of my thoughts, I noticed something on the wax-coated floor.

A reflection...

But something was off about it. It was tall, with a bluish stripe on its abdomen, not a solid blue like the drones but rather something somewhat lighter. The figure was thin and lithe, built seemingly for sneaking but too tall for a hunter. Its wings were broad and long, draping down to the floor like a solid spider web, and instead of a sharp horn, a flexible antenna adorned the top of its head.

“Who is...” I began to think.

I felt an odd shiver. The reflection was mine, but not mine. I felt a small pinch in the back of my mind. The realization came in quickly, flashing through my mind as the reflection had darted through my vision. This world, these eyes, this body... I was in them, yes, but all of them were not my own.

“Has anyone-” the not-me began.

“Your Highness,” the drone interrupted, “No one has contacted us from outside the valley, nor has anyone within. I ask for your forgiveness for my interruption, but we, our Hive, are alone.”

The world around me began fade as the drone and I sat there.

What? No, wait! What's going on?!

As the blackness slowly filled in around us, I felt my wing drift over the drone's blue form. I leaned in toward him, my movements similar to the gentle gestures Queen Scarlet had given me. I felt like he should react somehow, like he should do something he's not. My heartbeat increased slightly as he looked up toward me, but then just as it my energy started coming back, it sank again as the words left his mouth.

“Your Highness,” he said, his voice flat and unchanging, “What are you doing?”

My wing drifted back to my side as I felt myself slouch slightly.

“Then we have lost ourselves...” The words, barely there, floated between my lips as the darkness enveloped my senses again. “Truly, we are lost.”

“Lost? What?” I said against the void. “What does that... no, no please, wait!

I was alone again in the dark, but although I'd fallen back into my deep slumber, the sense of security was gone. I felt alone and vulnerable, not that different from how it had felt staring at that hole in my—or was it her—lower leg.

The worst part about it was not being able to move, to cry, or to yell. I felt so confused and so alone, and all I wanted at that point was for it just to stop. I wanted the feeling from before back, the calmness, the security... but at the same time I was curious, and growing restless. I had no idea who that was or what was going on. I wanted to know more, to know why that Queen whose eyes I saw from was in pain.

As my mind began to cloud itself, another hum faded in from the void. I began to listen in as another voice formed from the blackness around me.

“And yet the weather grows colder still...” a new voice, this one more stern than the last.

I felt myself reform again. A chill went through me as my body reformed, a bitter cold pouring through my mouth and nose as my senses came back to me once more. My eyes opened again, and I found myself atop a rocky hill. The weather was frigid, and the sky above was a thick, off-white color, nothing like the tales of an endless cerulean ceiling I'd heard about from the hunters. A rocky fortress sat atop a mountain in the distance. It looked like it had been etched with acid and left to rot atop a pile shale bones. It was a stark sight to behold.

“Are you even listening, Honeydew?” the stern voice snapped.

My eyes darted to a table in front of me. Around me sat other Changelings, each tall, powerful, and to my relief, familiar in anatomy.

“What a name. Honestly,” the Queen to my left snorted in a gravely voice, “as if anyone still uses the titles of old.”

“We're not here for flattery,” another glared. “Let's get on with this.”

“Well, if you ladies are quite done bickering,” a fourth Queen spoke, her voice as harsh as the first, “Let's proceed to the matter at hoof. The Northern Swarm has, as stated, laid claim to the area from the flat lands northward. The rest of the land is not our concern, nor is the prey living upon it.”

“As if the Western Swarm cares.”

“Same goes for the South.”

“The Eastern Swarm will... consider this for now.”

“And what say the so-called High Swarm, hm?” the Northern Queen spat.

I felt my numb limb stretch upward. Lifting a half-frozen piece of wax and a ragged quill pen, this new not-me began to write, the other Queens snickering and poking fun at... whomever I was seeing through.

“Can't speak, how can she lead?”

“I heard she was ill and lost her voice.”

“Lost her voice. What next, her Swarm?”

“No, maybe all her drones!”

I felt myself become warmer on the inside as their harsh comments filled my ears. This heat wasn't comforting though, it was bitter like the cold, and frenzied me slightly. My writing finished, I—rather forcefully—slid the parchment across a stone slab in front of us, my words made visible to the assembled Queens.

“Whatever works to avoid conflict amongst ourselves. If the new territory claims can prevent our kind from turning on one another, the High Swarm approves.”

“Sheesh, no need to get all poetic,” the Western Swarm's Queen said.

“If we're all quite done here, I think we should adjourn,” the Northern Queen piped in.

“Best idea I've heard out of you lot all day.”

“Whatever.”

“Good riddance to you all.”

Insults said and done, I watched the other Queens disperse into the sky, each taking a direction and not looking back. I stood, my limbs still numb. I opened and flapped my wings, drops of cold dew falling to the rough ground. As I readied myself for flight I heard a voice from across the stone slab.

“So you really can't talk, can you?”

I looked over at the voice; the Eastern Queen had returned.

“Oh, there's another thing I've been meaning to ask,” she continued. “Why do you cling to that old name? It's not like the ancestral world still exists, even if you do claim your swarm is built upon where it stood.”

I looked away. I wasn't sure why, but I felt a burning in my chest. It wasn't the same harsh hotness of before, but something else. Whenever she spoke of the not-me's name, no matter what the insult, the heat inside became more intense. I felt as though I wanted to show her otherwise, prove her wrong, and yet I still felt myself holding back against the urge.

“So who gave you that dusty old label anyway?” the Eastern Queen continued. “Was it your nest mates?”

I remained still, even if the heat in me hung in my heart.

“Your fellows in the Swarm?”

Still I stood.

“Rosedust?”

The name made me stir. I felt as if I'd been thrown into a wall. That name, whomever it belonged to, brought up feelings I hadn't quite been through before. They felt similar to how I'd felt when Scarlet told me of the exclusivity of emotion to Queens; it was a feeling of not being able to do anything.

“Ah, that explains it,” She pressed on. “Despite all your talk of not wanting war, all your words of cooperation you're really just out to appease the Queen that came before you. All the time you've tried to keep the peace between the swarms you've really just been cuddling up to the rancid old ideals that your mother stuck inside your head.”

I felt the heat again, boiling inside now.

“Get over it. The old ways are dead and gone. Whatever happened, this is the world now. We are Changelings, predators, hunters. The old ways don't apply now, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll become a real Queen, not this overgrown nymph hiding under her dead matron's shadow.”

I felt myself tense. The heat inside boiled. My eyes began to water. I felt the not-me's desire to sit still, to not lash out, but I also felt it clash against the fury inside that was mounting with each word of the Eastern Queen.

“Or,” She said after a long pause, her words sharp and acidic, “Maybe those are your thoughts, Honeydew.”

She leaned in towards me.

“After all, who can tell? You're as silent as a stone without a piece of wax in your hoof.”

I felt myself twist around, the fury consuming my movements. It felt oddly good in a way; that release of energy. I can't really remember what happened. All I know is that when my clarity returned I had the Eastern Queen pinned to the stone slab, a thin trail of hemolymph dripping down the rock's side.

I panted, letting my breath return to normal as I took in what I'd done. My eyes moistened more, the excess cascading down the sides of my face as the fallen Queen's blood did the same on the slab. After a few seconds, I felt her move beneath my hoof. She laughed softly, turning an eye towards me.

“See? Was that so hard?” She breathed. “You hypocrite.”

I felt my head tilt backward, my grip on the other Queen release, and all the wind I had in me escape through my mouth in a silent screech as the world faded back into darkness again.

Never had I seen more than one Queen before, and never had I felt a feeling like that, the burning inside. It hurt, yet I hadn't wanted it to leave, and with every harsh word the Eastern Queen had said the heat in me would intensified.

It was the first time I'd ever seen a Queen act this way, too. From what I remember, Queen Scarlet had always been kind and gentle. Queens, from what I knew, were to watch over their Swarms with a sort of caring grace, not with the spite and contempt I'd seen just a few moments ago. It was just unlike them.

It felt wrong.

And what I did to her... I couldn't believe I would ever assault another Changeling, especially a Queen. The fury I'd felt, the wetness of my eyes, and that deep disdain I'd seen in the other Queen as I held her there, wounded by my hoof, to the stone slab.

And yet she laughed.

She'd laughed at me. Sitting there—in pain worse than a simple injury, I'd imagine—and yet she laughed.

I'd laughed some when Scarlet had been showing me the Hive, and she had laughed in return. Laughter had felt pleasant then, and yet this Queen's laughter... it felt the opposite; it felt wrong, scornful, and dejecting.

I sat there in oblivion. I didn't want to cry anymore. I didn't know why either, all I wanted was to wake up. I wanted out so badly; it was all I could think of at that moment.

Another humming caught my attention.

“No. Not again...” I murmured. “Not again!”

I tried to move, senseless as it was. I wouldn't be thrown into another body. The curiosity was gone; I just wanted it all to stop. I wanted to be me again.

“No!” I screamed, hearing the sound come nearer. “No!”

My senses came to me much quicker this time. I was a bit startled by my surroundings. I sat in a small room, its walls covered in the same fabrics and ornaments of Scarlet's chamber. The oil-drinking light burned brightly above, it surface less tarnished but still familiar. A bound stack of that... wax-but-not-wax... sat in front of me, a quill suspended above it by a green aura of magic.

“Your Highness?” a voice chimed.

“Now what have I told you?” I felt myself say, never turning my attention from my parchment stack.

“No more formal stuff with you in here?” the voice spoke.

“And what do you call me?” I continued, forcing my expression to stay neutral.

“H-Hedylidae...”

“What was that?” I laughed, wrapping my wing over the voice's owner.

“H-Hedylidae!” the other Changeling laughed back.

The not-me lifted her wing, revealing a smaller Queen. She was a bright red, with long, broad wings and a membrane of crimson over her head and rear. Her bright eyes seem to have a shine to them, and even though she was far from a juvenile, her voice was high in pitch.

Not possible... could that be...

The not-me looked down at the younger Queen, the sides of her mouth turned up into a gentle expression I'd seen many times before. The younger Changeling grinned back. They sat next to one another for some time, the young Queen staring at the parchment as I flipped through them, scratching words on to the sheets as I did.

“Is that Scarlet?” I thought, my mind feeling more energetic. “Is this her past? Is this her Queen I'm seeing through?”

Perhaps it had been the past I was seeing, perhaps it was a dream. Either way, I strangely found myself unable to concentrate. Past or dream, Scarlet or not, this place I was seeing made me feel calm, not like the void, but calm. I felt safe again, content to just sit there with the young Queen, the not-wax binding in hoof and a quill in my aura. I knew these thoughts weren't mine, they were somehow those of another, but right then and there, for however long it lasted, I wished they could have been my own.

I'm still not sure how much time had passed since I first looked through the eyes of this Queen, but eventually the younger one spoke up.

“Hedylidae?”

“Hm?” I softly replied.

“Why do we need to search for new prey?”

The quill slipped in my aura slightly.

“It's because,” I said with a small sigh, “they only last so long.”

The young Queen seemed a bit confused.

“But the hunters told me that they eventually regain the love they take from them.”

“True, they do regain their lost love and can be harvested from again,” I replied, But they themselves only live for so long. They are mortal; they die eventually.”

“W-what? Why?” the red Queen asked.

I thought her eyes might moisten for a moment as she considered the not-me's words.

“Their bodies only last so long before they wither and wilt like old fungus,” I said. “It's annoying, but it means that we have to keep looking for new prey every now and again.”

“That doesn't happen to us, does it?” The young Queen asked, her voice sounding rushed and afraid. “I don't want to end up wilted and gone!”

“Shh, relax, relax,” I calmly spoke, wrapping a wing around her. “You need not fear that. Changeling's don't wither and die with time, my dear. We live on as long as we have our prey to sustain us.”

The other Changeling's fear subsided slightly.

“Tell me, how long do you think I've lived for?” I asked.

The younger Queen shrugged.

“I've been on this world for nearly fifteen thousand moons, my dear,” I said, feeling a bit more energetic as I did. “The only way a Changeling can die is if we are injured beyond any hope of life, and do not let your mind dwell on that either; a Changeling's body is quite resilient.”

I felt myself recoil a bit as the younger Queen buried her head in my wing. A soft sob drifted through my ears as she spoke up.

“I-I don't want to die... and I don't want you to die either...” She cried softly.

“Oh, oh, calm down now,” I whispered, letting her curl up next to me. “Listen, neither one of us is going to end up gone, alright?”

“P-promise?”

“I promise,” I replied, drying her eyes.

My view began to darken again. The void reformed, clear and constant as it was before, but my mind remained in pieces.

Prey... die...

Mortality, life withering and dying... It's not something I'd thought of before.

It was the first time I'd ever truly thought of death. I'd heard of Changelings being killed and lost while hunting, of course, but never had I thought that time might take my kin from me. The thought sapped my energy, made me feel vacant and hollow even here in the dark.

And made me feel like I wanted to cry again.

B-but Changelings don't...

Strange as these visions had been, I felt like I trusted that last Queen's words. Not once had I ever seen a Changeling rot and wither away. Never had the floor of the hive been coated with the corpses of fallen kin, nor had I seen a vast number of new Changelings flying about the Hive to replace any large amount of dead. Perhaps it was true. Maybe time couldn't touch us.

I let my mind calm for a few moments, thinking of this third Queen's words. Her soft speech stuck in my mind, reminding me of how Scarlet had always treated the swarm.

“She said she was thousands of moons old...” I thought.

I felt my energy return as a I considered something I hadn't ever thought of before. How old am I?

How long have I been on this world? I never did bother to count the days of my life; I saw no point in it before my emotions surfaced. Perhaps I'd existed since the earliest days of the Changelings. Maybe I was only hatched a few days ago. I still have no idea how long I've lived for, not even to this day.

Thinking on it only brought me more confusion, and more lost energy. The dullness of it started to creep back into me when another hum started to drift out from the emptiness. I listened, trying to make out the words as the sound drew close.

“What?” I thought, hearing the voice.

There were no words this time, only a gentle hum wafting out of the darkness. It was soft and gentle, climbing and sinking in pitch, and swaying to a steady yet slow beat. As I started to become solid again I pictured myself letting out a small gasp; the sound was familiar.

The room solidified around me. It was the same room as before, but this time I felt little comfort here. The hanging light was out and the room was draped in shadows. Several small fires burned, their flames kept lit by ever-melting pillars of wax. Some items were knocked over, broken, and almost seemed sad themselves. The bright, colored squares hung to the wall on slanted angles as if creeping up the wall. The bound collection of thin sheets sat open in front of me on a slightly burnt piece of wood, a fine set of green symbols scratched into its surface. This place, these objects, were so familiar but they felt wrong, tainted almost.

I turned my focus back to the song as the gentle tune drew to a close. Feelings of the Queen I saw through started to come to me.

I felt tired and sore. My back ached as if I'd flown for too long, and my limbs appeared scratched and battered. The odd webbing I had—the ones Queens have on their heads and rears—was matted and scorched, slivers of it hanging in my face.

I felt myself shift slightly. My sore limbs made it unpleasant, to say the least. My aura reached out, slamming the bound squares closed. My mouth shifted into a grin as my head tilted up.

“And she promised...” the not-me spoke, her voice warbling slightly.

In my mind I shivered, the energy my mental self had draining as I heard this Queen speak. The voice was calm and gentle but had a sort of agitated trill to it. Like everything else in this room it was familiar, yet disturbed.

“Well,” I continued, slowly standing, “so much for words...”

I looked around. Dark as it was, I could make out several shapes on the floor. They looked jagged in some parts, smooth in others, and each gave off a scent that made me cringe slightly.

“A-and that we'd never lose each other,” I laughed, my grin growing wider.

I felt my aura form around the hanging light. A few sparks formed inside of it as I focused and with a small click and a rush of air, light poured out as a flame began to burn. I still wish it hadn't.

The stone walls were stained green and blackened in spots. The entrance was nearly caved in and the stone itself had splintered and cracked inward. Bits of metal and wood lay strewn across the floor, leading to the mass of shapes lying in front of me.

“S-so much for that too,” I spat.

The not-me looked back to the still mass of things. I felt myself shiver slightly as the forms became clear to me, and they were something that I hope I never have to see in that state again. The shapes were Changelings, each lifeless and unmoving. Their bodies were twisted and cut. Some had scorches on their limbs and thorax while others were burnt into shapes barely recognizable. Horns were broken, wings were shattered, and the all of them wore twisted expressions that seemed to scream even in death.

I felt like I'd swallowed stale elixir.

“Although she was right on one thing.”

To my disgust, I watched myself step over the mass of dead Changelings toward the broken entrance. Just outside the doorway I noticed a larger form lying splayed out on the stone. It was thin, tall, and just as broken as the others. It was drenched in hemolymph and reeked of rot and decay, yet despite all of this I couldn't help but feel that empty slowness inside again. What still bothers me, even now, were the eyes, those faded eyes looked up slightly, looking horrified, yet serene and calm at the same time.

I felt a mix of that burning and a hollowness inside. My eyes watered, and my breathing became a bit chaotic.

“I'm never going to die,” I sobbed through my grin. “Do you hear me, Hedylidae?”

I froze inside. The twisted mess in front of me, that already-rotting body, was the same Queen I'd been just moments ago.

I wanted to look away so badly, but I still remember it... those calm eyes looking back at me.

“Well?!”

And then I saw it; the pinnacle of this horrid vision. In the shed hemolymph on the floor was a reflection. The doubt was gone then and there; that young Queen from before was the same I was seeing through at that moment.

“Answer me!”

She was the fallen Queen's daughter.

“Answer!” I screamed, shoving the body with my hoof.

She was fourth Queen of the High Swarm.

“Now!”

She was Scarlet, and she had killed the Queen that had come before her.

“T-this can't be real...” I thought, my mind slipping. “It can't...”

I struggled against my vision, my senses, and the frenzied state of my mind. In the end though, it was too much. I screamed inside. I screamed myself to pieces... and the world around me shattered as well.

I didn't know exactly when it ended. As the vision splintered apart I remember being thrown back into the void, but after that I found myself lying on my back. It was dark and cool. I noticed a faintly glowing mass above me, the bottom of it burst apart and dripping with a pale green fluid.

“W-where...” I began.

I twitched as I heard it. It wasn't a vision, or another not-me.

“I can speak again,” I panted, my senses slowly adjusting.

I was excited.

I had no idea where I was or what had happened, but I was excited. I will say this, after being apart from one's self, it is a relief like no other to come back.

I rolled over and righted myself. My legs stretched and bent, but all too soon I found myself lying back on the cold ground. I was a bit confused, but I couldn't care less; I was just elated to be me again. After a few tries I managed to get myself up, although it took some time to actually move about.

After a quick walk about, I tried to make some sense of where I was. The area around me was mostly barren, save for a few spots of glowing fungal growth. A pool of water sat near the transparent green... thing I'd found myself beneath, almost perfectly triangular rocks jutting out of its flat surface. A tall shaft towered above me, although from where I stood it was impossible to tell just where it led.

“Now if only I-”

“Chrysalis,” a voice said.

I froze as the sound met me. All at once, memories of my last vision flooded into my mind. The laughter, the sobs, the screams...

“Scarlet...” I murmured.

I heard faint hoof beats behind me as she approached.

“Well?” I heard in my mind. “Answer me!”

I shivered slightly my eyes closed tightly. I thought back on the vision, back further to the drones, the first time I'd felt fear. My eyes watered; I was afraid, and vexed at myself for it. After all, what Changeling truly feared their own Queen?

“Chrysalis?” Scarlet asked, merely inches away.

“What?!” I yelled, turning to face her. “What do you want from me?! You killed her and now you turn to me! What do you want?!”

I opened my eyes. My matron had recoiled slightly, her own eyes wide. Her mouth was down-turned slightly and a look of genuine concern was spread over her face.

I felt my legs give out below me. I fell to the hard stone floor in a shaking, crying mess.

“J-just don't...” I sobbed, “don't hurt me... please don't...”

I cringed as I felt her wings wrap around me. I waited for the pain I'd surely feel, but nothing came to me. I felt small drops of water drip on my neck as a quiet cry floated into my ears. My eyes drifted open; Scarlet's wings enclosed me, but instead of a fierce attack all she did was hold herself snugly to my side.

“Chrysalis, what happened?” She asked, leaning away slightly. “What did you see?”

I remained silent, my breathing still fast and my hemolymph pounding in my head.

“I... I should have told you,” Scarlet began, stifling her own sobs. “Queens, well... we're not born as normal Changelings are. We grow into ourselves, and getting there can be... hard.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to calm myself.

“The dreams you had while you were growing, well,” she said, “they're something every Queen goes through during her metamorphosis. I had them, my Queen did, every Queen has. It's something of a right of passage, I suppose, and some of them can be rather frightening.”

“They... weren't real?”

“No,” Scarlet dried her eyes, “no, not at all.”

“B-but it seemed so...” I stammered. “A-and you--”

“Chrysalis,” Scarlet interrupted, draping her wing on my front limb, “I would never want to hurt you. You know that.”

I didn't think at that point. I didn't need to. All at once I found my own wing wrapped around her, the two of us embracing one another. I felt calm inside again; the visions just a distant blemish in the back of my mind.

I noticed a new feeling inside as we sat there. It left a faint taste of passion elixir in my mouth.

Eventually we leaned away from each other, our wings folding flat to our sides. I noticed something was a bit off; my matron seemed to be on eye level with me.

“Scarlet,” I said.

She tilted her head in response.

“Why does it seem like you're... shorter?”

Scarlet barely managed to hold in a laugh.

“Come with me,” she said, walking over to the pool of water.

I followed my Queen to the water's edge. I felt uneasy, and off balance, as if I was missing pieces of myself. The feeling made me uneasy and a bit skittish, like needing to flee and not being able to. As I stumbled over to the stagnant pool, my matron motioned towards it, gesturing for me to look in. I was slightly nervous for some reason—I'm still not sure why—but none the less I slowly managed to look into the pool.

It was like the visions all over again. A new reflection greeted me, that of a Queen, but this one was different. The strange webbing was present, yet the strands were a pale bluish color. A jagged horn stood out from my head, and light green eyes followed my sight as I looked over myself. My chitin was black as it was before, and a green band surrounded my wing section. All of it ended with thin, long limbs, another set of blue strands on the end of my abdomen, and a broad pair of wings growing from my back.

“This is...” I breathed, “me?”

I felt a hoof on my back.

“And it's no vision this time,” Scarlet said, her gentle expression back once more. “And if I may say so, Queen Chrysalis, you look amazing.”

It was the first time I'd ever been called a Queen. It was a title I'd grow used to, but right then and there it was different... unique in a way, like a thing that only Scarlet could have given me. We sat there at the water's edge for a while, content to just be with each other. I still don't know what it's called, and I didn't consume anything while we were there, but for the rest of that moment, strange as it was, I tasted fresh elixir in my mouth.

Ascent

It's strange how different things can become. As I sat there with Queen Scarlet I still found myself in a state of slight disbelief. As the sweet taste in my mouth faded I found myself drifting back to the image in the water. The tall, thin form reflecting in the pool's surface was mine, not another not-me from my visions, but a shape that was undoubtedly my own. I felt a sort of hollow churning in my upper thorax; it was slightly nauseating in a distressing way. Reality sank in; I realized that I'd never be the same again. I'd never return to a sleeping comb, hover about with Ebony, or fly about to the feeding grounds.

I'd never be a worker again.

My head drooped as a dull coolness wafted through me. It wasn't the maddened frenzy of my second metamorphic vision, but the feeling was similar. I remembered when my sister workers—or perhaps former sisters now—had talked about the casualties from fighting with the Eastern Swarm. There was a loss inside, a hollowness that formed near my heart. Perhaps this dismal sensation was more akin to that, or perhaps they were one in the same.

Adding to it, my longer limbs were as unsteady as when I'd emerged from my cocoon and moved with an awkward twitch as I tried to keep them in line.

“This won't do,” I thought, trying to put the hollowness down. “I wonder if...”

I fluttered my wings a few times. They were heavier and less responsive, as if I'd gotten them covered in wax. My coordination had vanished along with my old body; one flap at a time my wings fell in and out of sync with one another. I listed from side to side as they faltered about on my back. As I nearly tipped over I stopped, folding the transparent membranes flat against my sides.

Still no good...

I noticed a glint of red turn toward me out of the side of my eye. I lifted my head and looked over. My hemolymph slowed; Queen Scarlet had been watching me this whole time. Her head tilted slightly, a blank expression soon plastered itself over her face. She leaned forward a bit as she looked at me, her gaze lacking the calm radiance I'd come to know. In its place was a sort of scrutiny, an analytical stare that lacked any of the warmth I'd seen before.

“Don't let me stop you,” she said. “Keep trying.”

I looked away, and down at myself again. The emptiness started to slowly seep deeper into me.

My legs are shaking, my wings are off balance... What was left?

“My aura!” I thought, my head perking up.

I let my aura flow into my horn. Just as it had many times before I focused on my body's mystical energies. A green haze built up inside. It pulsed slightly as it built, and after a few seconds I noticed the edges of my mouth turn up into a small grin. My unsettled insides began to quiet themselves. I relaxed in my aura's glow, the last bit of my old self.

“Now try letting it out,” Queen Scarlet spoke, eying the glow around my horn.

“But, why?” I asked.

“Just try it,” Lady Scarlet insisted.

I focused again, pinching the aura's bubble at my horn's tip. I tried to relax a bit, remembering the few times I'd actually let my aura loose.

“I've done this before,” I thought.

I've done this before...

I closed off the bubble's end and let the energy quickly wane, but as the glow left me it immediately became different. I'd expected only a green flash of light, but this was... so much more. My horn stung and burned inside slightly, the power much greater than it had ever been before. A burning stream of arcane energy raced away from me, burying itself in an adjacent wall. Rocks fell from the hole I'd torn in the stone, a loud splashing accompanying their rumble as they cascaded into the pool below.

I sat there as my horn cooled, my muscles tensing and relaxing as the heat subsided. A sort of coldness and hotness went through me at the same time, making me eager to flee and yet wanting to stay. Seeing that kind of power brought back my want to run and hide; it was akin to how the drones had swarmed me before my metamorphosis. It burnt inside, and made me twitch, but something else also managed to rise up from within. It was an energy of sorts, a feeling that I could do anything. It made me remember when I'd seen the Hive from above, only instead of awe and wonder there was control and potential. But as much as I wanted that feeling to stay, a part of me desperately wanted it gone.

“What is this?” I thought aloud.

I shivered slightly. My senses were slightly heightened, and a small pain, a throbbing, formed in the back of my head. It wasn't intense, but it was uncomfortable all the same.

I let my eyes wander around, trying to chase the discomfort away from my thoughts. I noticed a change in my matron as my vision glanced over her. Gone was that blankness on her face; her usual grin was back.

“Follow me,” Lady Scarlet said. “There's much to do.”

“Already?” I asked, pushing the feelings down. “Scarlet, uh... your Highness... there are still things I want to know.”

The unpleasant hole inside me grew a bit. With a sort of energetic step, Queen Scarlet made her way towards the center of the room, looking back at me as she went. Something about her was disturbing to me; her slightly excited demeanor didn't help my sensations diminish any. As she approached the room's center, the strange burning inside—the same one from my visions—began to build up inside, dripping into the hollowness. I felt as though I were suddenly much less than her as I watched her confidently and briskly make her way to the middle of the towering open room.

“All in good time, I promise,” my matron eventually replied.

The burning kept going inside. Steadily the dull heat built up as I watched my Queen effortlessly flit about. Carefully, I managed to stand, my limbs trembling slightly as I put my weight on them. Trying to balance myself was as if I was standing on immensely long poles. Each step made me feel as if I'd fall from a great height.

“Come on now,” Lady Scarlet said. “You wouldn't want me to leave without you, would you?”

Another twinge...

The void in me began to fill with the hot sensation.

“Is she trying to provoke me?” I thought, my uneven movements getting faster.

I managed to stumble my way over to her side, Queen Scarlet seeming anxious to fly. I looked at her with a sort of glare. I didn't know why, but I became a bit frenzied by her movements; her almost care-free demeanor was abrasive on my mind as I floundered about.

“Follow me,” my Queen said as she rose into the air.

Her voice had a sly sharpness to it. It was calm, but held a slight, subtle bit of aggressiveness. It reminded me of the Queens from my visions, that disinterested assertion, and the deep burning inside I'd went through, and was going through again.

“Why?” I thought, feeling my eyes moisten slightly. “Why are doing this to me?”

My wings twitched. I let the translucent layers slide sideways and down. They began to flap and buzz, sending me slightly sideways and backward as I tried to gain control over them.

I rose up, only to fall again as I struggled with my new wings. Buzzing, vibrating noises echoed around the room as I hit the ground again and again. I became sore, my body slightly bruised from the falls, the burning inside getting worse. I didn't understand why this was happening; I felt lowly and weak without my flight, and yet my matron seemed unaware, or perhaps even energized by it.

I looked up to see Lady Scarlet merely watching from above, her front limbs crossed.

“Come on now,” she said.

“Stop it...” I growled to myself.

My wings began to beat furiously. I shot upward, propelled by wind and a frenzy from deep within me. Queen Scarlet smirked and darted away, daring me further forward with each flap of her crimson wings.

My abdomen started to hurt inside. The buzzing of my wings slowed, and I struggled to right myself as I began to dip and turn sideways in the current of air billowing from beneath me. Queen Scarlet just looked down at me from above, her excited grin diminished into the same blank stare from before.

A sharp pain, like I'd been stabbed, made me look away; I'd flown into the rocky walls around us. I fell for a moment, the burning inside cooling into a shiver. My eyes watered, and made me want to escape again. Time was slower as I plummeted toward the ground below. I remembered how the drones had crowded me, and the look Lady Scarlet held in my visions. The stone-encrusted walls around me seemed to also close in around me as I spiraled downward.

“Enough...” I sobbed. “Enough!”

I spread my wings wide. I slowed as the air from beneath began hitting me in waves. My insides lurched, but it all was soon quelled as I entered into a gentle, spiraling glide. As my fall slowed, I relaxed my breathing and dried my eyes. My body was sore and tired, like I really had been lit on fire, and I wanted to crawl into a sleeping comb. The burning inside flowed mostly away—the pit empty once again—although behind the exhaustion it still singed like dying embers.

I was tired in more than one way; a worn sensation lingered inside as I slowly neared the ground. It was heavy and jagged on my mind, scraping along the sides of my thoughts as I had against the vertical tunnel's walls. It kept taking me back to Queen Scarlet's taunts, as if to rekindle the burning.

“I need... I...” I muttered as I neared the ground.

I wanted to relax and stop for a while. I had a new body, new sensations, and I had no idea how to use either of them. I wanted to let it stop for some time, to relax, to let the burning cool and the pit fill in, but what I said surprised me.

I need to catch her.

My words startled me. I didn't know why I'd reacted to my Queen's behavior like this, nor why I was so focused on it, but right then I felt a sort of determination, a deep wish to catch her that mixed and mingled with a frenzied aggression.

I let my breathing rise as my wings slowly began to flap and flutter again. They were heavier and ached where they met my back, but I managed to get them to move, first in gentle twitches, then in slow flaps. My spiraling flight shook and listed slightly as my wings moved—still out of time with one another—and after a few moments began to buzz again. I noticed the rocks around me cease to move, and the wind around me slowed to a gentle breeze. The air beneath my wings was moving again; I was hovering.

I began to pace myself, my wings still drifting in and out of pace with one another. Slowly, as they flapped, the membranes on my back began to move into more a pattern.

“One... Two... One... Two...” I thought, pacing my wing beats.

The rocks around me began to shrink away, and as I looked upward I noticed Queen Scarlet seeming to inch closer to me. A grin instinctively spread over my face as my eyes sharpened into a glare of my own. The soreness went to the back of my mind as I began to climb faster and faster. Physically it hurt, but inside there was a beat of sorts, a rhythm that came from deep within.

“Well well,” my matron called, her voice warbling slightly. “Now come on!”

Enough... Enough...

It was like the fire was pushing its way into my mouth with each word my matron spoke. Her words made me feel weak again even though I'd managed to get my flight back.

“Doesn't she notice that I'm flying again?” I thought, a growl echoing through my head. “Doesn't she notice?!”

“Well?” Queen Scarlet said.

“En—“ I started to say.

My eyes went wide and my mouth clamped shut as I shook briefly. Even after the visions, after the emotions, I still couldn't believe I'd almost done that. I almost shouted an order at my Queen.

“What am I thinking?!” I thought, feeling my flight slow.

I nearly shouted at her, nearly demanded something of my Queen. Despite my heated heart a sharp chill pierced the back of my neck. It was wrong, very wrong, and like a worm writhing in a pile of dead fungus, the cold began to creep along the back of my head.

Is this feeling, this hot inside, really worth it? I don't even understand these sensations, and I'm suddenly letting them control me?

I stopped, slowing to a hover. The stinging heat inside changed, becoming diluted and heavy as the creeping, icy sensation became numb. I thought of how I used to act as a worker, calm, efficient, obedient, and without these reactions—emotions—corroding my mind. I wanted to find a way out, to make this stop.

“Chrysalis!” Queen Scarlet called.

I looked up, seeing my matron even farther away than before.

“You still have questions, yes?” she said. “Well then, I suggest you keep up! It's the only way you'll ever find out!”

I found my throat somewhat dry as I listened to the Queen's words. Through the burn and the chill I managed to let some thoughts flow through.

I'll catch up to her

My wings began to beat faster.

And when I do, she'll tell me what I need to know

I swallowed, breathed, and let my wings resume their pattern.

I will catch her!

I raced steadily higher, the air beginning to grow fast and strong around me. Queen Scarlet darted away, her red form disappearing into the shadowy tube above.

The vertical tunnel grew cold and dark. About the only warmth I had left was the tiredness, the soreness in my abdomen. It hurt; I needed to find a spot to rest, hopefully after I'd caught up with Queen Scarlet. My breath grew heavy, and echoed in the cylindrical chasm around me. It made me realize something, just how quiet it was.

The only sounds left were the buzzing of my wings, the drip of water off the rocks, and a moan coming from the faint breeze that sank down from the shaft's top. The echoes grew as the rocks became more hard and packed together, the buzzing of my wings becoming a wash of sound that surrounded me. I don't think that I'd ever felt sound before. It vibrated and made me shake inside, almost as if mere noises had suddenly become a physical force running through me.

The echoes swirled around me, and matched the rhythm of my wings. They flowed and bent around the rocks and into my ears, making me drift slightly as I flew. It brought my mind back to the Hive—how it looked from above—and the time Queen Scarlet had spoken to me before my metamorphosis. The sounds drifted and flowed, working together as they flew around each other like Changelings in flight. I thought my matron had used a word for it; beauty.

“Just like her lullaby,” I thought.

I wanted to learn about the echoes, an inquisitiveness of sorts. The sounds were strange, and I couldn't quite describe the surreal sensation as I let the voices of the darkened shaft reverberate through me. It wasn't long before this desire started to slip away, burning inside to blame. The soreness crashed through me again. It singed around my joints, and made me sluggish and heavy, but it didn't matter; I had to catch up to Queen Scarlet.

Catch her.

“Catch... Her...” I said, repeating my thoughts.

I let myself repeat the phrase as I continue to ascend. My throat burned, my exhaustion creeping further into me like hot tar. I noticed my wings shake irregularly, fluttering out of time again, but I kept up the rhythm of my voice.

Catch... Her... Catch... Her...

The cool air around me began to speed up slightly. I didn't understand at first; I wasn't ascending any faster. The sounds around me began to echo faster and lighter, their intensity diminishing. It finally came together in my mind as I saw a light form ahead of me; I was near the tunnel's mouth.

The downdraft from the opening pushed against my wings, forcing me back down. My body ached badly. I started to slow as the grinding, grating heat inside latched on to my joints. A twinge of panic began to grow in my mind; for a moment I imagined myself being swallowed by an enormous beast, the tunnel its mouth, the wind its breath. I struggled against the breeze, my body stiffening under the pressure and pain. I began to ascend once more, the light from above enveloping me as I climbed. With a quick gust of wind I began to move faster; I was out of the tunnel.

It was loud at first. After the tunnel ended and the Hive began, My ears pulsed as the air around me began to whistle and howl. Without the pressure of the air sinking down on me I few upward faster than I'd ever gone before; even the times I'd fallen seemed slow in comparison. I panicked; I'd never flown this fast before, not as Queen nor worker. I slowed my tired wings, hoping to slow myself. My heart pounded; In a matter of seconds I had neared my home's rocky ceiling.

My eyes slammed shut and my wings folded backwards, and I waited for the hard grip of the rocks above.

“Chrysalis,” a voice echoed, “open your wings. You can't catch me if you're not going to fly.”

Scarlet...

My wings may as well have been on fire as I flung them wide open, the hot pain in me rising as the wind fell away. I slowly opened my eyes, my hemolymph pulsing in my head. My snout was less than a hoof's length from the rock, the distance—to my relief—increasing as I began to glide down.

A small wind current turned me over, my wings carrying me down in a steady descent. I was truly exhausted; my body and mind burnt and ached from the hard flight up. If I hadn't know better, I could have been a living coal fresh from a fire. Through my tired eyes I saw the light of the Hive below, Changelings darting about in all directions as the glowing fungal growths along the walls lit up my towering home. It reminded me of the first flight I'd made to the top of the Hive.

“It really is beautiful,” I said, my voice dry and gravely.

I let my eyes drift shut slightly as a darkened disk just below me blotted out the light from the lower levels; I was approaching my matron's home once more.

I was still quite sore and tired, my muscles swollen and stiff. My eyes seemed seared shut. It hurt, but I held in the pain, and managed to open them again.

A familiar stone, circular room surrounded me. Odd objects sat on shelves, colorful images hung from the walls, and the dull orange shape of the brass, oil-drinking light hung in its usual place. There was a smooth material below me. Sure enough, Queen Scarlet's flexible cushion was in its proper place too. The soft seat hugged my body gently as I slowly shifted about.

“Silk, but not our silk,” I reminded myself, staving off the thought of resting on a larva's wrappings.

“Good that you remember that.”

My head rose slightly. Not more than two leg's lengths away was Queen Scarlet, resting quietly on a second seat. She was relaxed and looked rested and serene. Her expression held her usual calm and gentle look, her eyes partly closed and her mouth turned slightly up.

“I'd hate to see you become ill after managing to get up this far,” she said.

My surprise started to sour; the heat began to build up inside again. Pain went through me as the fire in my abdomen grew, a fire inside to match my scorched, aching body. I moved around as my worn muscles tightening again. I heard the cushion fold with a dull crunching noise while I dragged myself forward, inching closing to Queen Scarlet.

“Why?” I hissed. “Why did you do... all of that?!”

“Chrysalis,” she whispered.

“What for? What was it all for?!”

A growl worked its way into my voice. My mouth hung slightly open, my fangs bared. My breathing became heavy and hot as if the flames in my mind and abdomen were a real fire working its way through me. My pain seemed like it was ready to turn me into a living inferno.

“Anger, doubt, pain,” Lady Scarlet murmured, “and I think you've learned hints of a few other things too.”

“I don't care about those words! I don't care about these reactions! Why did you do those things?! Why?!”

My voice immediately left me, the fire in my throat snuffed out. A cool shiver made its way through me as Queen Scarlet wrapped her front limbs around me. She was warm, not like this heat billowing inside me, but in a comforting way, a soothing way. Her body heat began to melt its way through my chitin, slightly soothing the muscle below.

“Chrysalis,” I heard her say, “you don't enjoy this, do you?”

I felt my eyes water.

“No,” I breathed.

“What you've been feeling is another emotion, a very powerful one, and from what I've seen you've encountered its many forms as well,” my matron said. “Tell me, how did it progress? How did you react?”

“I... I became like this when you watched me try to use my aura. It got worse as I saw you moved so quickly and energetically when I couldn't,” I said. “I felt so much weaker than you. It frenzied me. I started feeling hot inside, like I was on fire, and I wanted to catch you and... and...”

My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes. My breathing became pulsed, and my voice reduced itself to short whimpers and cries.

“I don't know what was wrong with me,” I sobbed. “What Changeling wishes to harm her own Queen?”

“Chrysalis,” Queen Scarlet spoke, holding me tighter, “it's alright. I harbor no anger of my own towards you. How could I ask you, another Queen, to not feel?”

Her limb gently stroked my back. My tears lessened, and the pain in my abdomen began to fade as my breathing returned to normal.

“I—” I began.

“No, Chrysalis, I'm sincere about this; it's okay,” my matron interrupted, her voice shuddering as mine had. “I should be sorry. I acted that way with purpose, I admit. I wanted to give you a drive to escape the Hive's depths. I wanted you to grown and learn from it, to discover your emotions, to experience them. I see now that I pushed you a little farther than I had intended. Chrysalis, I'm so sorry...”

It was like the world had paused as Queen Scarlet spoke to me. I became confused inside, the remains of the heat inside clashed with my thoughts.

“I... I...” I started. “I want it to stop...”

“Hm?” my queen asked, her voice returning to normal.

“How do I stop it?” I asked. “How do I put out this burning inside?”

“I know a way,” Lady Scarlet spoke. “Imagine your anger as fire that has almost completely surrounded you. It's hot and scary, I know, but remember; fire is quenched by water, so to escape it you need to act as water does.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Let your mind flow to where you want to be,” Queen Scarlet replied. “Try it. Visualize it.”

I closed my eyes, bringing to mind the few times I'd ever seen a burning flame.

“Do you see it now?”

I nodded.

“Good,” my Queen said, “now let your body become as a river, imagine calmness as your goal, and let yourself drift towards it.”

I did as she asked. Within my thoughts I pictured being surrounded by flames with only a narrow pathway out. I let myself become the water of a stream. In my mind, my chitin became clear and transparent, my whole form taking on a light, shimmering blue color. I thought of a clearing, a calm area just on the other side of the hole in the wall of seething fire. The inferno circled around me, but I remembered my matron's words. I relaxed myself, pushing away the influence the burning had over my mind. My mental self melted into a stream, my body becoming a current of water, and as my matron said, I flowed, cascading over the flames and reducing them to smoldering coals. It was like the visions I'd had before, only for once it was refreshing.

My eyes opened, returning me to the real world around me. My breathing was slower, more relaxed, and the fire inside had, finally, gone out. I sat there for some time, relaxing in Queen Scarlet's embrace. I was exhausted—my joints and muscles still singed and scraped against each other—and had a mind full of questions, but the burning—that intense heated frenzy inside—had finally been quelled.

“It feels better, doesn't it?” my matron finally spoke.

I didn't say anything. I only nodded slightly and gently wrapped one of my own front limbs around her.

“You'll find that works on more than just anger,” Queen Scarlet said.

“Anger...” I spoke.

“Yes, anger. It's what you experienced on your way here, and what you managed to defeat just now,” Lady Scarlet replied. “It's a frenzy inside mixed with that fire you just put out. It has different faces—jealousy, rage, and hate—but at its core it a consuming fire that drives you to exact vengeance on something you perceive as hurtful.

“When I took off, and you viewed yourself as weaker than me, you began to feel jealousy; you wanted to fly as you always had. You wanted to use your aura as you had been able to do before. When I taunted you, you began to drift into a mix of hate and rage, culminating in that fire you found inside yourself. You wanted to catch me, to find out why I was doing those things to you... and to get back at me for it.”

“N-no,” I quickly said. “I couldn't... I couldn't hurt you.”

“Whether you realize it or not, a part of you wanted to,” my Queen said. “That's what happens when anger progresses too far.”

“What can I do,” I asked, “to keep the anger away? I don't want to hurt you.”

“Chrysalis,” my matron spoke as she let go of me, looking me straight in the eye with her calming gaze, “I know that. Despite the impulse of anger, I know you wouldn't want to hurt me. Anger is another emotion, and despite its destructiveness, it isn't all bad. Remember how it drove you, how it kept you going?”

My expression relaxed a bit.

“I see you do,” Queen Scarlet said through her grin. “It's good that you remember that. In times of danger, anger can fuel you and give you renewed determination. The trick is to not let your anger consume you.”

“To let myself... flow?” I asked.

“Exactly,” she replied.

A pain went through my back, a reminder of my exhaustion.

Queen Scarlet motioned towards her seat. We both sat down on her silken cushions, my matron helping me slide back to where I was resting before. It would be a little while, she mentioned, before my muscles had rejuvenated themselves, and I was all too eager to rest until they had.

“Queen Scarlet?” I quietly said.

“Yes?”

“Could you... do what you did before? Those rhythmic words, I mean.”

“Ah,” she spoke, “a lullaby. Of course, Chrysalis.”

I relaxed as heard the melodic sounds drift into my ears. I remembered the way the sounds reverberated around me in the tunnel. It wasn't intense and palpable, but the pattern of noises and words still brought rather pleasant feelings as they danced their way in and out of my ears and mind.

I felt my eyes get heavy, sleep just around the corner, but before I began to drift away into my slumber, I noticed something strange as my matron finished her tune.

“Take a rest, Chrysalis,” Queen Scarlet's voice echoed.

I heard her voice...

“There will be much more to come after you wake.”

But... her mouth was closed...

“How did she do that?” I thought. “How does one talk... without talking?”

Queen Scarlet's eyes widened slightly. She turned to me, my matron's stare a mix of calm and inquisitiveness.

“Did she... hear me?” I thought, feeling a bit uncomfortable inside. “Queen Scarlet, can you hear what I'm thinking?”

“Well aren't you a clever little one...” Lady Scarlet's voice echoed, her expression shifting into a grin. “I didn't think you'd come this far for some time yet.”

This wasn't her voice... These were my matron's thoughts!

“Lady Scarlet,” I thought, “what is this? How are we speaking... without actually saying anything?”

My Queen's smile widened.

“It's something I imagine you'll find very useful in the future, and is yet another thing we Queens poses.”

“What... what is it?” I asked, my curiosity trying to hold off my sleep.

“It's called mind-sharing.”

Coronation

When I was still a worker sleep was just a resting period, a time to rejuvenate myself. I had no visions, no strange feelings, just rest, as if I didn't even exist when my eyes were closed. I'd sit there in that state—between being real and not-real—wondering when I would wake up.

I suppose it's another thing that was part of the old me.

A few passing thoughts drifted in and out of my mind. I began to remember the visions that I'd had before my tiring flight to Queen Scarlet's chamber. It worried me; I didn't really want the thoughts to return. I just wanted to sleep, to stay in this calm void, but unfortunately that wish didn't come true. My ears perked up as I heard a noise. It approached, and I waited, dreading what world or time it would take me to.

“There must be some other way...”

“There isn't, I've told you this before. Why won't you listen?”

It started out different this time. There were no lights, no images, just sounds. Two voices argued in the dark all around me. I looked about, trying to pinpoint where they were coming from, but they just echoed and darted about the emptiness that encircled me. The sounds continued as I sat there, hoping the noise would go away.

“It must remain as it was,” the first voice said, “for if we disrupt things it will only lead to our destruction! I've tried to tell you this again and again; we must remain as we are, now and forever.”

It almost sounded like it was sobbing...

“It wasn't like that before and it doesn't have to be like that now. You know this,” the second retorted. “We were together once, and can be one more. If the stone can be retrieved-”

“That stone is lost!”

I recoiled slightly as the first voice shouted.

“It is gone, now and forever. It. Will. Not. Be. Returned. Why can't you see that? The past is gone and won't come back no matter how much you may wish it so. The prey are just that; they're prey, and their well-being comes second to that of our Swarm, or do your own kin not matter to you anymore?!”

The first voice trembled slightly, becoming more and more agitated—angry—as the argument continued.

“How dare you?!” the second retaliated.

I cringed as the hissing, crackling sound of combat magic sung through the air. Each blast bent and stretched the void around me. An image started to form. There was a dimly lit room with two Changelings inside, one standing proudly and the other lying crumpled on the floor. The walls were stained green, various ornaments were torn and destroyed, and small flames jumped in rage as they ate away whatever they could latch onto, their burning noise joining the chorus of the first Changeling's spells.

“You cannot win this,” the standing one spoke, her voice quick and aggressive like the flames. “It is lost to us, and apparently so are you .”

“You would strike me down?” the second said, sounding close to sobbing. “You would kill me? To think, we used to care for each other so much...”

“Be silent, you,” the first hissed.

Her voice made me shiver; in just three words she'd made it as if the flames had turned to ice.

“You claim to live for this Swarm, to want to see it improve and grow...”

Hearing the fury in her voice made me feel as if I were covered in slime, like I'd fallen into the elixir vats and pushed under the surface. Her words didn't flow from her mouth, they dripped from it.

“And yet look at what you've done here,” the first spat. “You sent my guards—my soldiers—out searching for some ancient artifact that may very well have been destroyed eons ago while the rest of our swarm lies hiding in our Hive, starving to death as you're out gallivanting after a several thousand-year-old rock! You have squandered our resources, have gotten our kin captured and possibly killed while I've been here trying to keep our Swarm stable. I can say quite well that I've been looking after us. You however...”

A crack of magic thunder split the air as the Changeling on the floor was sent crashing into the wall behind her.

“Maybe,” the first said, “you should have though things over more thoroughly.”

“I...” the second Changeling rasped, her body still pinned to the wall by the first's aura. “I know you don't really believe this. You know I'm right, and I'll prove it... I will... see... us rebuilt... to what we were before...”

“Oh?”

“Even... if,” the second continued, “I have to stop you... I'm sorry... I really am...”

The battered Changeling's horn began to glow, her aura steadily building as she siphoned love energy from the Hive.

“Don't make me laugh,” replied the first.

With a crackling blast, both Changelings let loose their power. The room lit up for a moment as their magic collided, singeing and burning everything that wasn't already consumed in flames. What scared me most was not their power, but their faces. For a moment, as the vision flickered and fractured in the blast, I caught sight of who they were.

Against the wall was the Queen from my metamorphic visions, the one who the younger Queen Scarlet had sat with. It was her own mother, Hydelidae.

“And... th-the other...” I whispered to myself. “Was...”

The light quickly faded, the flames turning to darkness. My vision cleared, and before me were two red eyes staring straight at me.

“Chrysalis?” Queen Scarlet spoke.

I screamed as my eyes snapped open. Around me were my Queen's various belongings, her odd ornaments hanging off the walls of her chamber. The burning brass light still hung above me sending its dim light across the room. A silken fabric was beneath me; I still sat on my Queen's soft sleeping cushions. I was back in my Matron's quarters.

“Chrysalis?” Queen Scarlet repeated.

I adjusted my eyes and saw my Matron sitting in front of me, her expression once again calm and gentle, although mine was anything but.

I didn't need to see myself to know that my eyes were pulled wide open and my mouth stretched downward slightly as an emotion—fear—crept into my body.

“Another bad dream, I see?” My Queen asked, her voice quiet and concerned.

“Dream?” I asked. “You mean those...”

“The visions you have when you sleep,” Queen Scarlet quietly interrupted, “are called dreams. Creatures with true emotions have them during their slumber.”

I didn't respond, my eyes turning away from my Queen.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you before you slept, but Chrysalis, the things you see in your sleep, your dreams, are not just a passing phase of your metamorphosis; you'll have them nearly every time you sleep. Sometimes they're harsh, sometimes they're gentle, but remember this; they're not reality, just figments made up by your mind.”

Just figments... Queen Scarlet would never...

Memories of my latest visions—dreams—came quickly back to me; I remembered the fire, the shouting, the heat, and Queen Scarlet's fury against her own Matron.

It's not reality... But why would my mind—I—conceive such a thing?

“Care to tell me about it?” She asked.

My head perked up, my expression still the same.

“It helps sometimes,” My Queen reassured.

Queen Scarlet's eyes dropped downward slightly.

“I can remember talking to my Queen about my first dreams,” She continued. “It helped to take away some of the pain when I was getting used to having them. If you want, I could listen...”

“No,” I interrupted, “I'd... I'd rather not talk about it for now, if that's acceptable.”

“Alright,” Queen Scarlet softly spoke, once more giving me her full attention.

My Queen's expression became more energetic. She quickly stood up and made her way to her chamber's exit, motioning for me to follow.

“If you ever do wish it,” she said, watching me slowly—and clumsily—stand, “be sure to let me know if you do want to talk about something.”

I nodded.

“Oh, and Chrysalis,”

Her mouth didn't move... Mind-sharing.

“Ah, I see you remember,” Queen Scarlet's thoughts echoed. “I know this all is very sudden, but try to keep up. There are many things for you to learn now that you're a Queen.”

My matron and I stepped out onto the ledge outside of her quarters, the two of us looking down over the bustling network of Changelings working in the Hive below.

At least this remains the same.

“You need never worry about that,” my Queen thought, looking at me. “In one way or another, our Swarm will always remain.”

“Moving to the vats...” a voice rang out.

“Heading out. Guard rotation is in progress,” another joined in.

They were different from Queen Scarlet's. They were smooth, yet quick and lacked the energy or emotion of my Matron's.

“I must go this way,” another joined in.

“Too slow; I must move faster,” interrupted one more.

They're like mine used to be.

“They're the voices of your siblings,” my Queen thought. “Remember, unlike the two of us they cannot hear another Changeling's thoughts, just as you once were unable to do.”

“Yes,” I said, aloud, “none of us could. We would just think of a simple command or task, and then our pheromones would deliver... the...”

I paused as I realized it; I had not smelled the Hive's pheromones, even while out in the open central shaft.

I inhaled briefly. I could still smell the scent-based language of the Hive below but it was... different; diluted in a way, like it had been mixed with steam or mist. The messages felt distant, farther away, and harder to understand. It was like standing in a crowded hall or near the edge of an over-worked vat; the messages were blended, mixed, and hard to discern from one another.

My head drooped as I tried to focus on the scents. I felt like my stomach had been twisted into a knot; I could barely make out one conversation from another.

So another part of me is gone too...

“Chrysalis,” Queen Scarlet spoke as she walked towards me, “I know you're still used to your old ways of life.”

I felt my Queen's hoof slide under my muzzle. She gently lifted my head up, turning me to face her. Queen Scarlet's calm expression shifted slightly; the sides of her eyes turned downward but her mouth's edges still rose slightly.

“In time though,” she said, her hoof dropping back to her side, “You'll master these new ways too. As goes your pheromones, don't worry, you'll be able to regain that with time. It will take a while but rest assured it will be an ability you will have again.”

“I hope so,” I whispered to myself.

I tensed slightly as a quick buzzing filled the air. In a quick red flash, Queen Scarlet jumped off the stone ledge and took to the air. She leaned her head back slightly, her mouth's edges turned upward again.

“You have things to learn, Chrysalis,” she called. “Follow me, if you think you're up to flying.”

I breathed deeply as I stood up, my wings starting to move as I walked towards the edge.

“Remember what she said,” I said aloud to myself.

The distance is the barrier...

I willed them to move. The light pressure in my back muscles started, just as it always had as I willed my wings to move faster. My own buzzing joined Queen Scarlet's.

My will to fly, my channel...

The Hive's towering heights came into view again as I looked over the ledge. I grimaced slightly, but forced it back as I saw my Matron's lively expression looking back at me.

And I, the water...

“Now,” I breathed, “flow...”

I barely noticed leaving the ledge. Just as my mind had envisioned it, I lifted off from the platform and into the air, my wings keeping me aloft without fault. I paused slightly; my own mouth had curled upwards a bit.

“Well done,” my Queen said, drifting over to me.

“Queen Scarlet,” I began.

My Queen tilted her head slightly.

“Where did you learn that?” I asked. “How did you learn to envision yourself... flowing?”

“That,” she replied, her voice drifting up and down in pitch, “is a secret.”

Her remark confused me, as did her tone. My Queen sighed, letting her face regain its normal appearance.

“And that is called humor,” she said, placing a front limb on my shoulder. “It's one more lesson that you must learn before you accept your role as Queen, a time that, I fear, might approach a bit more quickly than I'd hoped.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, my heartbeat fluctuating—fear—as I listened.

My Queen sighed, sensing my anxiety.

“I should tell you, Chrysalis, before anything else happens,” she began, “that up until now your status as a Queen has been kept secret from most of the Hive; only I, my drones, and a few guards know. Before you can really begin to grow and learn about being a Queen, and begin truly adapting to your new station, you should be... introduced, in a way, to the rest of the Hive.”

“Introduced?”

“They need to see you, hear you, and know you, not just as their kin, but as their Queen,” my Matron continued. “In a few hours I will assemble our Swarm at the place where I first noticed you, the meeting ground where I call all our Changelings whenever I must inform them of something of the utmost importance.”

I wondered for a time after that moment if my chitin had turned gray for a second after my Queen had said that. I felt fear, and the diluted pain in my stomach, at the thought of my entire Swarm focused on me and me alone.

“I can see this unnerves you greatly,” Queen Scarlet said after a short pause. “Don't worry; I was as well.”

I briefly looked to the side before focusing on my Queen again.

“You had to do the same?” I asked.

“Quite a long time ago, yes,” she replied with a grin, “and I imagine it wasn't nearly as well performed as the speeches you're used to hearing from me.”

I couldn't help but grin as well; perhaps emotions were easy to spread among those who could feel them.

“Well now,” my Matron continued, “that isn't for another few hours yet. I still have another lesson for you. Follow me; I think it's time we practiced your mind-sharing a bit more.”

My Queen led me downward through the Hive's central shaft. We kept to the side, occasionally hiding in a few rocky outcroppings and disused combs. Queen Scarlet assured me it was to keep me hidden from any workers who may be flying by. As the Hive buzzed with life around us we gradually made our way to the more busy sections of our towering home. This level sat just above the vats, my old task, and was where guards watched over the workers, ensuring order was kept.

Queen Scarlet motioned for me to look over at a group of workers stirring the still-fermenting passion elixir.

“Steady... Steady...” the one thought, stirring the thick, rich fluid.

“Stir... Stir...” another mind repeated.

“Drift...” a third added.

“Steady...”

“Stir...”

“Drift...”

The thoughts came one after another, almost synchronized. The minds of the workers, although separate, formed a pattern as their motions melded together, forming a sort of rhythm as they spun and mixed the elixir.

“Steady... Stir... Drift... Steady... Stir... Drift...” the group repeated.

I felt my head nod slightly as the workers' thoughts repeated and cycled. The mental chorus reminded me of the beating I had heard when flying up through the Hive's main shaft shortly after I'd emerged from my cocoon. The thoughts of the workers below us, although not quite as entrancing, still held a beat of sorts.

The strangest part of it is that it felt familiar in a way, as if I'd heard it before but never really took the time to notice.

“Maybe thoughts aren't all that flows,” I thought.

“And maybe you're a better learner than I was.”

I looked over to my Queen, her face holding a strange expression. Her one eye was slightly more open than the other, her brow half raised and half lowered, with her mouth's edge curved up slightly.

“You're not trying to make me jealous, are you?” she added directing her thoughts to me.

“Jealous?” I mentally replied. “My Queen, I'm not trying to make you do anything; I'd never presume to...”

“Chrysalis, relax,” Queen Scarlet interrupted, rolling her eyes, “it was merely a jest.”

I felt my head tilt slightly.

“Let's hope you can learn more about emotion as quickly as you could figure out the Hive's natural patterns.”

We rose to the air again, the still faint smell of pheromones drifting about. We began to drift towards a group of guards near the Hive's entrance, my Queen doing well to keep us out of sight of the others. Settling down near a group of the red-tinted changelings, my Queen and I shuffled out way behind a rocky outcropping, staying out of sight all the while.

It made me wonder just how many times Queen Scarlet had done this, sneaking about the Hive.

Could she have been watching us all this time?

My thought provoked a small noise from my Queen.

“Maybe I have and maybe I haven't,” she thought in my direction. “But for now, watch.”

I turned my focus forward.

The guards went about their duties in a timely order, pacing rhythmically back and forth in front of the Hive's entrance. Red chitin shimmered slightly in the light shining in from the outside, the guards not seeming distracted by the brightness. I started counting their steps.

One, two, one, two...

Always synchronized with each other.

I felt my head nod slightly with the steady hoof beats of the guards as they tirelessly patrolled.

Every now and then a few more guards would join in as three or four would leave, heading off to rest or patrol another part of the Hive. The new arrivals would fall in line without missing a beat.

One, two, one, two...

Always keeping perfect time.

“My old task,” my Queen thought. “We constantly patrolled from sunrise to sunset and sometimes longer, never losing our rhythm. Even eating was done to a pace.”

“So you were a guard,” I said, my Queen's red chitin now suddenly an obvious clue to her past.

The guards suddenly froze. I felt a chill go through me as Queen Scarlet pulled me tighter back behind the rocks. The guards cautiously smelled the air, gazing around in place as they sought out my voice. Seconds felt like minutes as they scanned about.

“Careful,” my Queen thought.

I noticed a faint scent drift away from my Queen, her translucent wings gently wafting it towards the alerted guards. As the pheromones reached their target, the guards relaxed slightly. A few moments passed, and with a slight shudder all the guards returned to their tasks, the Hive's entrance once more filled with rhythmic pacing.

I relaxed a bit, a small sigh escaping my mouth.

“You really need be more careful,” Queen Scarlet said. “Guards are very proficient at detecting the faintest sounds.”

I nodded.

I followed my Queen's gaze back to the guards as a pack of hunters suddenly landed. Striding in through the Hive's entrance, these blue-banded changelings hesitated only for a moment as the guards checked them over. I smelled their pheromones, mixed and muddled as they still seemed to me; the guards were... curious, cautious... and anticipated frauds. It wasn't until one hunter muttered a phrase to a guard did the others back away. With a nod from their red-clad siblings, the hunters took off once more, flying down towards the vats to deliver the supply of love that they had pilfered from our prey.

I remember seeing hunters on occasion. At the vats, they would stop off every now and again, regurgitating the love they had accumulated in their journeys across the world beyond the Hive's walls. They never stayed long, and rarely spoke to any of the workers. Mostly they just arrived, dropped off their love, and left. I never really wondered before what went on in their lives; I had merely been content to know that they brought love into the hive, collecting it from our prey, congealing it from energy to liquid form, and then leaving it in the care of the workers.

My Queen and I sat for some time, waiting for the hunters to return. As they did, several crawled into sleeping combs that sat near the Hive's entrance whilst others headed back out into the world.

“You'll see more of them in the future,” Queen Scarlet thought, slowly making her way back towards the Hive's interior.

She motioned for me to follow.

“My Queen, I'm sorry about before,” I thought, following my matron away from the guards.

“What's that?” Queen Scarlet thought. “I can't quite make out your thoughts; it's getting rather noisy!”

I noticed my Queen take to the air. Darting swiftly around the Hive's walls, Queen Scarlet began to make her way from ledge to ledge, staying just out of sight of the many eyes of our Swarm. As she grew more distant, I noticed it became harder to hear her thoughts; the constant sounds of the swarm—the buzzing and chattering of changelings—drowned out her mind.

“Keep up!” I barely managed to make out. “You'll have to follow me if you want to stay in contact!”

With a quick breath I took to the air, hugging the walls of the Hive tightly as I followed my matron. We darted and flitted about, our unseen flight about the Hive growing faster as I struggled to keep pace.

“Chrysalis,” my matron thought, “do you remember what I said earlier?”

“Regarding?” I thought back, ducking behind a ledge.

We continued on, our flight taking us lower and lower into the Hive.

“I believe I mentioned something about speeches earlier,” Scarlet thought.

“Yes, I recall that.”

We passed a few more rocky pillars.

“Well...” she thought, suddenly coming to a stop mid-air.

As I reached Queen Scarlet's side, my eyes beheld a sight that will always be with me. We had stopped in one of the first places I'd ever experienced my emotions; the Queen's platform in the Hive's core. Surrounding us were score upon score of changelings, each summoned mid-flight by my Queen's pheromones. I felt my heart race. I had never had so many eyes upon me before.

“It is time,” my matron said, guiding us both to the pedestal below.

“My children, my Swarm,” Queen Scarlet's voice rang out, “there is someone you must all meet, as you must all come to know her quite well.”

I was awash with fear and tension as my Queen's words echoed through the Hive, yet at the same time I felt something deeper, a small spark of confidence in the middle of the panic.

“She is someone who holds equal status, and soon equal power, to myself, and should be treated as such. Now, for the first time ever, allow me to introduce Queen Chrysalis, fifth Queen of the High Swarm and your newest sovereign!”

A thousand voices chattered in salute as my matron stepped back slightly, allowing me to take the stage. I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat—fear—as I made my way forward.

“T-to all of you,” I said, a twinge of nervousness in my voice, “my siblings, my sisters, it is my hope that I am worthy of your respect and loyalty. Fear not, for even though I have yet to fully grow to my station, I pledge myself to you as your newest Queen.”

I looked over my shoulder, hoping Queen Scarlet was still there. To my immediate relief, my matron was, and better yet was nodding in approval.

“Remember this, my subjects, I stand here, now and forever, with all of you.”

One by one, each changeling began to stomp in applause as chattering voices filled the air. Their applause was reassuring, even if it did lack any real emotion.

“Not bad,” Queen Scarlet thought to me. “Not bad at all for a first time.”

I felt my mouth curve upwards at the edges.

“There is still yet another lesson for you to learn though, Chrysalis,” my matron continued. “It's time you learned more about emotion. I have a task for you, your first real task as Queen.”

Author's Note

What to say here.

It has been more than a year now since I've touched this fanfic and quite honestly it's been a year too long. Unfortunately real life setbacks had piled up to the point where I just couldn't write anymore. I could go into detail about that, but trust me, you wouldn't want to hear it.

All I can say is that this fic is back, and I'm hoping to continue it all the way to the end.