Chrysalis landed hard on the cracked dirt, her body hurt far more than her pride. She and her brood had been ejected so violently, they were already halfway back to the hive when they landed. Crawling to her jagged hooves, she looked balefully toward the shining pink dome all the way across Equestria, like a little pink marble on top of the mountain. Shaking her head at it, she turned, and staggered forth to see if she could tend to the wounded.
How had that all gone so wrong? Her hive was never meant to be suffering like this. Chrysalis had tried her best, but when the time came that her deception was revealed, she just hadn’t been sure what to do. Should she flee? Should she disguise herself again? What should a changeling queen do to ensure the safety of her hive? Instead, Chrysalis ordered a full frontal assault at the height of what she thought was an unprecedented victory. She let her hubris get the best of her, and forgot all about that little pink princess. Now she was reaping what she’d sown, gathering what survivors she could find to limp back to the hive.
Chrysalis cursed herself for not holding them back, for not keeping them safe as was her duty, for not sticking to the plan. But on some level, she had to accept that it was just a part of who she was, of what she was. Brash, impetuous, powerful, Chrysalis was a step apart from her brethren who were more specialized in disguise and stealth. She was the only one who had the power to maintain an alicorn’s guise for so long, but she was not the cleverest changeling who ever lived, nor was she the most controlled. She hadn’t been able to perfectly mimic the princess, but she had managed it for quite a while.
The swarm reached the hive without too much trouble. Taking one more look back, Chrysalis couldn’t even see Canterlot anymore. She wondered if they would forgive her. She wondered what her brash actions had cost them all. She worried for the future of the hive, but Chrysalis also felt strangely at peace. The Canterlot Wedding had not gone as planned, but it could have gone so much worse. Chrysalis made some bad decisions in the end, but she held her disguise all the way to the altar itself. Not even Celestia suspected she wasn’t who they thought she was. She even pulled one over on the illustrious Twilight Sparkle, who had been completely fooled by Chrysalis’s act in the end. The troops were battered, but alive, and at least some things had gone according to plan.
Chrysalis easily navigated the labyrinthian tunnels of the hive of her birth. Some of the guardians and the incubators, and the feeders looked at her and her ragged, bruised army as they returned to the heart of the hope for a changeling future. She stood before one of the few chambers they could afford to sculpt into beautiful architecture, the grand hall. One day it might entertain foreign dignitaries, but for now it was only the throne room.
Changeling royal guards stood at attention as Chrysalis approached. “At ease,” she told them, letting them know in her own curt but subtle way that everything was going to be okay. Chrysalis stood before an empty throne of green jade, regarding it thoughtfully. In a very important symbolic gesture, she removed the crown from her head, and placed it on the seat of the throne. This would cement Chrysalis’s loyalty to the hive, and deliver a strong message that she would not tolerate any who thought to take power in absence of their queen.
Her task fulfilled, she turned and headed out of the throne room. She’d be back later to take care of things, but for now Chrysalis had something she really wanted to see with her own eyes, in light of their humiliating defeat. On the way out, one of the royal guard couldn’t resist asking, “Were we victorious then? The ponies are defeated?”
“Everything went according to plan,” Chrysalis growled, without turning around. It was a lie, but she couldn’t stand to admit the truth. Not to the lowly royal guard, who hadn’t been out there putting their lives on the line, who hadn’t seen the power those ponies possessed, swatting aside an army as if it were but a single fly. They could find out when the news of their victory reached them through other channels.
Instead she returned to her hive’s comforting twists and turns, travelling down to the dungeon levels. There could be found the desperate, the criminal, and the ponies in their hive. Held in suspended animation were the ponies who knew of their hive’s location, or couldn’t be trusted to be released. Their dreams fed a lot of larva, but it was an unenviable existence that Chrysalis wouldn’t wish on all but the worst of her enemies.
One lotus pod was separate from the others, protected within its own warded, locked and barred room. These wards, locks and bars, Chrysalis removed, for she had put them there herself. In this chamber was what could be the hive’s greatest salvation, or their final doom. Chrysalis approached the pod, the only one in the room suspended in a pillar of amber from floor to ceiling. A moment of fear flared in her black chest as she contemplated what horrors would fall on them if it was empty.
It wasn’t.
Floating serenely in the chamber was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the pink of her coat turned dark by the green glow of her stasis fluid. “Well, princess,” Chrysalis told the sleeping alicorn. “It looks like your ponies have been defeated, and all your armies and power are helpless to stop us.”
Cadance didn’t respond, nor would she hear Chrysalis’s words. They were only for the benefit of Chrysalis herself, and the anxiety that tore at her heart. However much changelings were masters of disguise, they were playing a dangerous game here, with the highest stakes.
A changeling came charging up behind her, saying, “General Chrysalis!” He stopped then, likely realizing where he was, and how dangerous it was for him to be here.
“Ah, hello lieutenant,” Chrysalis greeted him smoothly. “How has the hive been since we were away?”
“Hunger is a problem, but now that we are no longer preparing for war, we can... return to love collection.” the lieutenant said tentatively, “Peace has been maintained for now.”
“And it shall be maintained until the queen returns,” Chrysalis said confidently
“But they’re looking for a leader,” the lieutenant said uneasily, “They want to know that the day is won, and the hive is safe.”
“And I suppose as the great general, victorious in defeat, I can be that leader,” Chrysalis replied smugly. “I may not be the queen, but until her return, I think I can restore our hive’s confidence again. The day may be dark now, but the ponies have been defeated, and it’s only a matter of time before they will be forced to recognize us as a tribe and a nation.”
"The ponies truly suspect nothing?"
The general's harsh laugh rang through the hive. "They have no idea what's coming."
