Chrysalis wasn't just angry; she was furious. She'd just lost her two top changelings to the ranks of that traitor, Thorax. She only had ten changelings left to work with, and most of them were fairly incompetent.

I can't believe this group was my best and brightest! she raved in her head. What a group of idiots. Now I have to think and plan--something even they can't mess up. The noise of the drones' chatter, their buzzing wings, and their rustles as they shifted position were slicing through her concentration like knives. She groaned.

"You all just can't be quiet and let me think, I see! Hmph. I'm going to go somewhere quiet where I can focus. Do you idiots think you can keep yourself from calamity for half an hour?"

"I'll keep them in line!" Chitin offered eagerly. Now that the two highest changelings in the ranks were gone, it was anyling's game, and he was determined to make it to the top.

"See that you do," Chrysalis hissed, turning and trotting into the woods.She'd gotten far enough that the babble and noise of the camp had almost entirely faded away when she heard the buzzing of wings behind her. She turned around. "Ugh, what is it? I told you fools, I need to be alone to think!"

Elytra landed on the path behind her. The trees cast dappled shadows over her white exterior, but the parts still in the light sparkled like stars.

"What are you doing here?" Chrysalis hissed. "Go to Thorax's Hive where filthy traitors like you belong!"

"No," Elytra said simply. "You're my queen, and you always will be. Why would... whatever this is-" She gestured to herself. "-change that?" Queen Chrysalis said nothing, so Elytra added, "To be perfectly honest, I could never stand Thorax, even before he left. He was such a wimp, and a goody two-shoes to boot."

The queen couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. It was the first time Elytra had ever heard her laugh. "I'm glad we agree."

"May I be frank with you, your majesty?" Elytra asked.

"If your frankness includes continued insulting of Thorax, I'm all ears."

"I've been thinking a lot recently, and I think I understand something." She approached Chrysalis and sat down on a large, sunny rock. "My whole life, I've been trying to be the best in the Hive, and I only now realize why. I wanted you to be proud of me. I wanted you to tell me I did a good job."

"Oh, please tell me we're not getting into such sappy things," Chrysalis groaned.

Elytra rolled her eyes. "If you mean begging and pleading for affection, no. We're not."

"Thank the heavens."

"The thing is, I was wrong. And it was actually Carapace who showed me that."

"Don't even mention that little-"

"If you allowed him to come back, he would," Elytra interrupted.

"How do you know?"

Elytra paused. "Because I know him. I know him better than I ever realized I did."

Chrysalis snorted. "So, tell me. What did he show you?"

Elytra answered her question with one of her own. "Did you know he loved me? I didn't. Not for a long time. He was waiting, see. Waiting for me to love him back."

"A wise course."

"Then he stopped waiting. He told me how he felt. He kissed me. And in that very moment that he stopped waiting, that was the moment when I loved him back."

"Is there a point to this?"

Elytra pressed on. "It's going to be the same way with you. I can't expect you to suddenly start caring about me... I have to care about you first. And..." Elytra hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to phrase the next part. She knew it would make Chrysalis angry, but it had to be said. "Your majesty, would you rather be feared by the changelings, or loved?"

"Loved, obviously. It'd give me food for life, for one thing. But they'd never do a thing I said if they weren't afraid of me."

"Are you so sure about that?" Elytra asked.

Chrysalis tried a different vein. "Well, it's not like I can just stomp my hoof and make everyling love me, now is it?"

Elytra took a deep breath. "That's what I was just talking about, though. Sometimes you have to love before you can be loved in return."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You went from hissing at me and calling me a traitor to talking respectfully with me in under a minute," Elytra reminded her, "because I showed you respect and loyalty."

"That's not the same as love," Chrysalis protested.

"You and I both know it is," Elytra replied. "Don't you taste it?"

Chrysalis lapsed into silence. Elytra knew she was angry at being challenged in her methods... but not angry enough to send away a good source of love.

They sat there, side by side, for a very long time. Suddenly, Elytra felt a tiny, tentative pinprick of love sent back towards her. Chrysalis looked surprised, probably at realizing that sending love outwards was more filling than absorbing it in. Elytra had been surprised when she first realized it, too.

They sat for quite a while again, Chrysalis slowly increasing the amount of love she sent out as she grew more confident. It still wasn't anywhere near the levels of total release required for transformation, but it was a significant amount. Finally, Chrysalis stood up and took a deep breath. Elytra watched with bated breath, expectant. Would she do it? Would it work if she did?

Chrysalis reared, opening her arms, and a warm glow emmitted from her heart. Elytra's breath caught as concentric rings of light emitted from Chrysalis's torso, and teal blue light wrapped around her, encasing her in a crystaline coccoon like Elytra had found herself in. Tentatively, she tapped it, and a blinding explosion of pure white shot out of it, bathing half the forest in light. Chrysalis, in the center of the light, touched the ground, and Elytra gazed at her in awe.

Her mane was thick and full, a teal green-blue with a lustrous sheen to it. Her chitin shone in the light with a blue shade, the same color her mane had once been, but lighter. Her underbelly was a deep, forest green, and her wing cases were pale blue. Her wings were tall, looking like the wings of a dragonfly. Her horn stood tall and straight, no longer full of holes, but most surprising was her other horns.

They stood near her ears, curled backwards like a ram's. They were pure gold, reflecting the dappled light of the trees in brilliant sparks. They shone like the very sun.

Chrysalis, after examining herself briefly, was quick to break Elytra's awestruck silence. "I look like a peacock."

"You look magnificent," Elytra responded. "Your horns, they're-"

"Horns? Plural?" She turned and spotted a stream nearby. Trotting over, she gazed at her reflection. Unexpected even to her, tears welled up in her eyes. "I haven't been beautiful since I was Princess Cadence," she whispered. "And that was only a guise. Now-" She couldn't continue.

Elytra trotted over and looked up into her face. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Author's Note

Please don't be mad at me for reforming Chrysalis. I hope I did it well and it didn't feel too forced.