From Chrysalis to Butterfly

This day is going to be perfect.

And that's how it had started out. She'd had a plan, had a plan for months. Her Changelings had multiplied like rabbits, increasing their numbers—and with them, defenses—by the thousands. Not only had they invaded Equestria, they'd invaded Canterlot! Of all places, ponies would have least expected a first attack on the snooty capital city. Twilight, that foolish mare, she'd never mattered, not even at the finish line.

The Queen of Changelings had had it all. Yes, the spotlight was a bit more pressure than she was used to, but it was hardly more difficult than managing the attention she received at her own palace. She'd been acting there, too. The only difference was a bigger audience, wasn't it?

The hardest part? It hadn't been the preparations, the draining, it hadn't even been the battle with Celestia. No, the hardest part had been the first. The hardest part had been fitting in.

Ponies always took everything for granted, especially the princesses. They thought it nothing that they could raise the sun or moon, it was of no meaning to them that the could fly and do magic. So what, the Changelings thought little of it—it was a common trait, found in each and every one of them. But the alicorns? They shouldn't go flaunting their gifts in the face of others—especially earth ponies. If they weren't always so damn cheerful they might have looked up and felt the envy they deserved. That would've been nice. Envy tasted good, too.

Chrysalis may not have had many emotions, but she understood those of others.

The queen had always been a modest Changeling. She wore no crown, and really the only thing that made her stand out in a crowd was her size and mane. Half the time she disguised herself as a normal Changeling anyway. Yeah, her subjects could tell the difference, it just made the queen more comfortable that way. She didn't need a throne to feel respected.

As much as she hated the Princess of the Sun, Celestia had had a point: her one flaw, the entire reason her plan had failed, was that Chrysalis had revealed her true form. She'd fooled everyone else—maybe she could've tricked Cadence into believing she was insane. Poor pony'd been in solitary confinement ever since she'd been replaced. She wasn't too far from being completely out of her mind.

And Twilight? Eh, she was never a threat. She had been viewed as overprotective from the moment she began suspecting Chrysalis.

Capturing the princess had been easy. Poof, flame, gone. Of course she'd had to find the right time, the right place. She'd had to be able to replace Cadence convincingly. That'd been tricky, that'd been the toughest bit. But even that was no major roadblock.

Just watching Cadence for a couple weeks gave Chrysalis enough information to create a successful duplicate. Fooling Shining Armor had been easy—once she'd started draining him, he'd lost most of his energy and all of his suspicions. And once he was convinced, he would defend "Cadence" as he would his sister. And he loved his sister.

The wedding preparations had been fun. It'd felt odd when Chrysalis had first noticed it. Real emotion of her own was unusual and hard to come by, even a little uncomfortable when actually experienced. But all that organization, the party decor, the pastry samples, every pony looking to her for every decision. . . . It was nice. Yeah, it did get old. But it'd never been permanent, and the queen had enjoyed it while she'd had it. Which hadn't been long.

It was surprising how much one missed the things they thought they despised. Her subjects' cold manner felt oddly uncomfortable after everypony looking after her every whim in Canterlot.

The wedding had started out fantastic. That was the day when everything had almost come together. Like her plan had been a present and the wedding was a bow. It secured the whole deal, wrapped it up neatly in one neat little package.

Cadence had destroyed it. Like the gift had been a Sapphire Cupcake and the princess had been a birthday Spike. She'd swallowed the whole thing in one ridiculous bite. And she opened her mouth when she chewed.

Sure, Changelings weren't known for their manners, but at least they tried.

Queen Chrysalis had had a plan. A well-developed plan that had taken weeks simply to draw out. And the same foolish ponies who had stopped Discord and Nightmare Moon had stopped someone who hadn't even been in it for herself. Having an entire empire to yourself was nice, but it wasn't something she would have chosen for herself. There was one emotion that, no matter how she denied it, was always flickering at the bottom of Chrysalis' heart.

Love.

Yes, she loved her subjects, loved their quirks and uniformity and loyalty and everything about them. Leadership was not her best skill. If she was a pony, her cutie mark would probably have something to do with writing, maybe, or gardening. But it was love that kept her head high and her voice cool and controlled, love that forced her to pick her hooves up and run across all of Equestria just for her Changelings. When duty called, Chrysalis was always one to answer.

She'd known that her plan was a risky one, but she just couldn't stand to see them starving, pawing at the ground for real solid food when there was no emotion to be spared. She would probably even let them feed from the little feeling she had. But no—they couldn't know. There would be a rebellion, of course there would. A leader who put her emotions before her duties? Unacceptable.

Besides, Chrysalis didn't have nearly enough power to to remain standing with thousands feeding off of her.

The Changelings, to put it mildly, were furious. They had the right to be, of course. To have a Nirvana just at your hooftips, and then to have it snatched away. . . . There were no words that could describe such a thing.

Chrysalis forced the thoughts of an upcoming rebellion from her mind and fell gratefully into her waiting bed.