Twilight had awoken from her slumber, but when she had awoken, she was not in a place she recognized. She wasn't on her comfy bed, and the ground felt hallow. She knew she had to get her bearings. But she had to proceed with caution. She knew this was no dream, or she wouldn't have felt the crick in her neck. As her eyes adjusted, she found herself in a familiar sight. It looked to be a changling hive, but there were no changelings, and the decor seemed far from what King Thorax used.
Then it hit her like the Canterlot Express. This was the work of Queen Chrysalis. "Chrysalis! Show yourself!" Twilight demanded.
"Now now Twilight, you need to relax. If I had wanted to hurt you, you'd already be in a cocoon, slowly being drained," Chrysalis stated as she revealed herself.
"What is this? Another plot to take Equestria? To get to my student? To......" Twilight paused as she saw Queen Chrysalis's figure.
"I suppose you realize I am not here to harm you now. I do apologize for how this meeting has been set up. But I couldn't just waltz into your castle and speak. I would have been captured and put in chains before getting a word in with reputation I hold. But I have left that past behind me. I now understand finally what your student Starlight Glimmer was trying to tell all. And I know she has you to thank for that. After this meeting is over, be sure to give her my thanks," Chrysalis said.
"O....kay, but why is it you wanted to speak with me?" Twilight asked, still a little on edge, hoping this wasn't some kind of trick.
"Because, after careful studying of how all the other Princesses act, I can only trust you to understand, and believe what I have to say is genuine. Princess Flurry Heart's a bit too young, well, speak to this about, so I can't really judge how she would react towards me yet. But I know I can trust you to listen to what I have to say," Chrysalis assured her.
"Alright, well, what did you want to tell me?" Twilight inquired.
"To tell you the origins of my past, and to better prepare for what may come one day," Chrysalis stated.
"What may come?" Twilight pondered.
"Take a seat, and I'll explain," Chrysalis offered.
A seat soon rose next to Twilight, and while it was connected to the hive itself, the seat was actually quite comfortable, as Twilight sat down. Chrysalis soon took a seat of her own she conjured up, and sighed, "The story I am about to tell, does not have a happy ending. But I ask you to hold your judgement til it is finished," Chrysalis pleaded.
Twilight nodded and Chrysalis began, "Once, long ago, during the early days of Equestria, I used to be an alicorn like you. A rising pupil of Queen Gaia, who is consider mother to us all in some legends. I was being taught alongside Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We all had our strengths and our weaknesses, and showed great potential. Both Celestia and Luna looked to me as an older sister. They even considered me family, as did Gaea offer me a place as their older sister. I had happily accepted. There was so much love to be had, and it was so great to be accepted. As we got older, we all did get a little ambitious, but Celestia was the most ambitious. While I admit her ability to raise the sun on her own was a feat of it's own as well as our little sisters raising of the moon, Celestia had a quirk to want more. Not that she always meant for it to overtake her good judgement, but more often then not at her young age, it got the better of her.
But soon things started to change. As we started to get more and more notice among our subjects, much like what happened to our sister Luna 1000 years ago, the same thing happened to Celestia, but not to the point she turned dark, but that would change the course of Equestria's history. See, you probably wouldn't find this in ancient scrolls or anything, but I was considered a very beautiful alicorn. I didn't try to gloat about it, but my beauty alone drew a lot of subjects close to me. I had stallions trying to seek my hoof in marriage. I had mares looking for advice on beauty. Sweet Mother Gaia, I had children wanting pictures with me, and some with the more timid side would run to me in aid, should someone or something scare them."
"Chrysalis, this all sounds like a nice story, but I fail to see why Celestia would turn against her own sister. She doesn't seem to be the jealous type," Twilight inturrupted.
"I know it sounds like a work of fiction to you, but Celestia's more complex then you think. To continue, while my sisters themselves were receiving their own popularity, Celestia noticed that mine seemed to be far greater. And she didn't like it. She thought I was getting too respected for my own good. So, one day, she challenged me. We would do a series of test to see who scored best of the two of us, while our mother and little sister acted as mediators and score keepers. There were many tests. Feats of Levitation. Our maneuverability in the air, and many other things," Chrysalis continued.
"Let me guess. Princess Celestia won," Twilight figured.
"One would assume. The match was awfully close. I even complimented my sister on her dedication and motivation. But she was all about knowing. Knowing who was better. When she found out I had narrowly bested her, she was in utter disbelief. I understand a lot of ponies look up to Celestia these days, but at that particular time, her jealousy and ambitions had thwarted her focus. It wasn't long after the tournament, Mother Gaia was deciding to name me a queen alongside her. But that's when it happened. Celestia's rage had won her over. She claimed that I was a monster who had been cheating to best her at every turn, only wanting the love and adoration of our subjects, and that I would do whatever I could to get it, and my own beauty was the perfect guise to throw them off. She then did the unthinkable. She used magic that we as a family had done our best to avoid using, and she cast a spell at me. Luna was about to jump in and save me, but knowing she was too young and innocent to take such a spell herself, I pushed her out of the way with my own magic, with no time to shield myself, and mother was in too shocked of a state to react in time. When the dust settled, I saw what Celestia had done to me. Our subjects screamed in terror, and ran. I saw my bug-like form and felt myself literally starving for love. Celestia told me she had cursed me for my treachery, that she had "revealed" the monster I was supposed to be, and drained me of all love and acceptance. I had no idea how long this curse was to last, but I felt it might be for eternity. After that, I ran from the Castle. Over time, I learned how to survive off the love of others. But that love also gave way to me discovering that I had many qualities most insects do, like bees and ants. I was to start a hive. The love alone was enough to start my offspring that eventually formed what is now Thorax's hive. In recent months, I realized I had become the very monster Celestia said I was. I had become so filled with hate, that I was willing to hurt my own sisters to get love back. Mother Gaia never would have wanted that. No amount of love was ever going to offer me freedom from my Changeling form. I could easily turn myself back to the way I once looked, but when I look at my reflection, it would just bring back painful memories of what I once had. And so, as of recent weeks, I accepted that this Changling From was who was, and I would have to remain this way," Chrysalis said.
Twilight's jaw was open agape to the point it was nearly hitting the seat she rested upon. When she came back to her senses. "But, why was there no mention of you in the history books?" Twilight asked.
"That part, I am not sure. I would think Celestia would put in some clever lie to state my betrayal of pony kind, but maybe Gaia had something to do with it," Chrysalis hypothesized.
Twilight thought about things for a moment, then she answered, "I know what needs to happen. Come with me," Twilight said, before having Chrysalis lead her outside of, what was actually not a very big hive, but rather a small home for a changeling to live that may have been cast from their hive or something.
Twilight soon trotted back into Equestria, and the moment Chrysalis realized this, she disguised herself to not draw attention. After getting a ride from a royal pegasus chariot to Canterlot Castle, Twilght and Chrysalis trotted into the throne room, Chyralis was nervous, for she felt a little on the weak side having not fed on love in so long, and having not to feed on it after changing. Celestia and Luna were both at their thrones looking over some paper work when they noticed the two walk in. "Ah, Twilight, how good to see you dear. And who is your friend?" Celestia inquired.
"You can show them now," Twilight said softly to Chrysalis as she laid a hoof on her shoulder.
Chrysalis soon dropped her disguise as she trusted Twilight. Celestia and Luna gasped at her reveal, and the guards pointed spears in her direction. "Twilight! Get away from her! She's gonna h-" She was cut off as Twilight raised a hoof.
"Princess Celestia. There is no need to rush into things. Queen Chrysalis and I have had a very long talk. She has told me a lot about what happened many millennia ago," Twilight told her.
"She's only trying to have you drop your guard," Celestia claimed.
"No.... sister, I am not. If I were the Changeling I once was, I would not revert to the form I am now. I cannot revert back to that previous form. Trust me, I have tried, and I got a twinge in my neck from it. It only happened recently though. I came her to tell you, that I forgive you. I forgive you for what happened. And I am sorry for all the chaos I caused in the past. It was not the way mother would have taught us. She would want us to lead by example and not by fear and intimidation. And I was blinded by even my own hatred for so long. I can't expect you to forgive me. But just know that I forgive you," Chrysalis informed Celestia.
Chrysalis turned around and began trotting towards the exit, as the guards made way but kept their weapons at the ready. Just as she was nearing the doors, she heard, "Wait....... please.... come forward. There is something I must say, and I have something else as well."
Chrysalis turned in surprise. Was Celestia really beckoning her, after all she had done. She soon obeyed and trotted forward. When she neared the foot of the steps to the thrones, she stopped. Celestia then cleared her throat, "I.... I forgive you for what has happened. It was because of my own foolish actions that lead to your actions, and I need to take responsibility for that. I know you already forgave me, but I am sorry for what I did. I was young jealous, and too wound up in my own little world, that by the time I had realized what I had done, it was too late. That's why I kept all knowledge of you hidden. I didn't want ponies of the future learning of that dark time. And I have something for you..... Artemis."
"Artemis? The Fabled Alicorn of the Wild? That's you?" Twilight gasped.
"Just wait and see," Celestia said as she beckoned Chrysalis up to the throne.
She soon lit her horn, and the whole throne room was engulfed. When it settled, standing beside Celestia was an alicorn that stood slightly higher then Celestia herself, her mane and tail color, while flowing, resembled the colors of the trees and the grass. Her fur was of a river blue, lighter then Luna's dark night blue fur, and her eyes were as golden as the sun at sunset. "Welcome back sister," Celestia said before she hugged her then said, "Or should I say Queen Artemis."
"Well, technically I'm still a princess. Remember, mom talked of me becoming a Queen like her, but it was never made official. I only called myself Queen Chrysalis in spite of your past jealousy," Artemis admitted.
The two sisters laughed, then Luna joined them in a hug. Twilight watched from below and had tears of joy in her eyes. Then a voice came from nowhere and said, "Well, it's nice to see you two finally made up."
Twilight turned around, then fainted as she saw another alicorn mare. Queen Gaia herself. Celestia, Luna and Artemis all looked to the throne room doors and gasped, while all the guards bowed. "Mother, how much did you hear of that?" Artemis asked.
"All of it. I was beginning to wonder when you'd come back and stay with the family Artemis, though your last two visits weren't exactly very fitting of you," Gaia teased.
"Heh heh, sorry about that," Artemis apologized.
"No need to apologize. Celestia's partially responsible for that. Trust me, she got a good talking to after you left," Gaia said.
"You don't want to know how that went," Celestia warned.
"Trust me, you really don't," Luna added.
After getting Twilight back to her senses, the five alicorns made their way to the dining hall, there, they were greeted by Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor and Prince Blueblood. All the princesses laughed at how much the two stallions were trying to impress both Gaia and Artemis, and Artemis explained to Cadence that she would find a way to break Shining Armor's composure as well as Blueblood's to bring them down a few pegs, and Cadence said she couldn't wait to see how that was gonna go.
Now all Twilight had to do was explain to her friends back in Ponyville what happened. Hopefully Starlight would help her to help them see the reasoning, cause this was gonna be one chaotic meeting when she got back to Ponyville.
Author's Note
End of the story. Let me know what you think. I thought I'd throw in a different take on how Chrysalis became the bug-like Queen she was of the Changelings. This is just a new possibility headcanon to add out there.
It was inspired by the Greek Myth of how Arachnid had made Athena jealous of her weaving, and Athena had cursed her. Idea sprung into my mind after recently watching an episode that starred Arachnid of a show called "Class of the Titans" I found on youtube.
Let me know what you think. I know it doesn't exactly match the myth portrayed in Greek mythology, but bare with me. Thanks for all positive comments and constructive criticism.