Project: Chrysalis

7. Giggle at the Ghosties

The corridor was dark, cold, and indifferent. The sparsely placed lights gave the ponies just enough light to see…and left just enough shadow for something to hide in. The weak lights produced from unicorn horns did little to brighten up the hall. The sound of hoof steps on the icy concrete was the only ambience. Large, multi-colored eyes trained the ceiling, the preferred hiding spot for a lurker.

Several dozen yards had gone by, and nothing but pipes and wires showed up. Twilight glanced at the map.

"Everypony, turn right here." She whispered

The change in direction was slow and deliberate, as the group readied to face whatever was around the corner. Set to attack, they quietly inched to the next hall, trembling in fear and anticipation. Here it was, the moment of truth. One more step...

Nothing.

The hallway was empty. Everypony breathed a collective sigh of relief and continued towards the exit. The changeling queen was nowhere to be seen.

But Twilight suddenly had a thought. Up until then, she pictured them being attacked by a large monster, the same one that killed the guard a little while ago in gratuitous violence. The dark rooms would be an ideal place for her to dwell and lunge at an unsuspecting pony. But this was a changeling after all. The queen could change form at will, disguise herself as anypony at any moment near flawlessly. Minor personality quirks could give it away, but the gravity of the situation negated the disadvantages posed by a gap in ruse.

Anypony...everypony...could be the queen...hiding under a guise of magic, taking sadistic pleasure in seeing the others become paranoid, turning on friends...

The realization hit Twilight like a piano falling from a tall building. She had now caused herself to slip into paranoia, uncertain if her "friends" were the true-blue ponies she loved.

The last thing she wanted to do was induce panic, but it was only right to alert the others. She cleared her throat and began to speak:

"Ahem...everypony! I think we should do our very best to make sure we all know where each other is at all times...the changeling...she could be disguised as..."

Before she could finish, Pinkie Pie screamed an ear-piercing scream, beginning to hyperventilate. "Nononono she's nowhere near here..."

"Relax, Pinkie. It's ok. Nopony is the queen. And as long as we pay attention, she never will." Twilight lightly grabbed the straight-maned earth pony's chin and directed her face towards her own, smiling. "Do you think you can do that?"

Pinkie's breaths became deeper and she wiped her eyes. "Mhm." She nodded and stood up. The two fillies shared a quick embrace, and continued walking.

The issue aroused Antlion's curious side. "Doctors, how does the changeling "queen" shape shift? I saw it warp its body, and the pictures I saw of her do not at all resemble the equine-like being. And...don't lie."

One of the older, portly doctors took it upon himself to answer. "It's a two-fold process. Dr. Sableheart gave it the ability to change the type of cells throughout its body, such as making muscle cells into neurons and bone cells into skin cells. This is the first part, and allows the creature to change body shape and size, as its base form isn't quite like ponies. It really was a genius example in genetic engineering"

"So she chose to be a hulking beast...hm...what's the second part?"

"From what we can discern, a magical field envelops IT, giving it the appearance desired. Its exoskeleton is non-cellular, and so the field is necessary."

"And SHE was intended for...espionage...Celestia?" He turned his head to the now ostracized alicorn. "Why did you authorize her creation?"

The solar diarch paused a bit, and then responded, a deep guilt in her voice. "Twenty years ago, genetics was the newest science, and well...I felt it important to weaponize it...I'm sorry...my priorities weren't clear. This new age of science and technology still baffles me...a...and...I feared another nation would...develop biological weapons...but I regained my senses...I shut it down."

"The damage was done." Antlion somewhat unnecessarily sneered.

Twilight thought over what had been said and concluded something. "Wait...how could a Caballiulus become cellular...AND use magic?"

"Um..." The doctor stuttered. "I told you it was genius."

"Yes!" Another old doctor added. "Project Cure-All is based around changing the caballiuli into cellular creatures...and I suppose the magic was something bestowed when it came to...life?"

"I guess that's as good an explanation as any...and why do you all insist on calling her an 'It' "? Twilight asked as the end of the corridor was in sight.

"The changeling queen is a mindless creature, genderless, and non-sapient. It probably spawned the swarm by binary fission or something. Dr. Sableheart told us it could not think, reason, or speak."

"Um that's clearly wrong. The queen spoke during the attack on Canterlot. And she planned the attack. How could you say she's not sapient?"

"Simple tricks picked up, like a parrot that can talk."

"This is different! Why are you ignoring the truth?"

Before the scientist could defend their stance, Antlion ceased the opportunity. "Because! It's how they justified their actions. They needed to believe SHE was an object that could be probed and experimented on. Dr. Sableheart seems like a twisted pony to deceive you."

"Sableheart was a genius! And the greatest scientist to ever come out of the RSS!" Chairpony Vixen yelled, joining in the conversation.

"I'm sure he was." Antlion said, heavily laced with sarcasm.

Another corner and the group tip-toed slowly to the edge, slowly moving to the next hall. This was the last hall before the exit, and a red "exit" sign could be seem at the end. However happy everypony was, the tone was remained somber.

Rarity in the meantime had developed her own questions, and took it upon herself to ask them. "Excuse me, doctors, but did you ever name these creatures? The queen could clearly speak, but never divulged a name."

"#16. I don't know where the name 'changeling' came from, but it wasn't us."

"Perhaps she gave it to herself."

"Seems plausible." Agreed Twilight.

Rarity continued. "Did you ever give her a nickname? #16 seems too cumbersome."

"Well Dr. Felthoof, her caretaker, did tend to call her by a name. He got it from the codename of the project."

"Which was?"

"Project Chrysalis."

"Hm...Chrysalis."

"Yes. The program was named after the idea of a creature changing form, like a caterpillar metamorphosed in a cocoon."

"Such a pretty name for an evil monster."

While the group was walking, the sole guard trailing the party felt something grab his body. Before he could protest, a black, wet tentacle covered his mouth, and another wrapped around his chest, hoisting up into the ceiling beams. A hard, sharp object touched his throat, and CRACK! A swift stab crushed his larynx. He could not alert the others. He moaned in silent agony as other appendages dug into his sides, while a toothed maw clasped around his head. The last thing he felt was the bones of his skull split open.

The sound of blood dripping on the floor was the only indication of the stallion's absence. Fluttershy turned around and looked up, seeing a dark object slither through the ceiling and towards the exit. She jumped back.

"A...a....there she is!" The yellow pegasus said, pointing at the shade. Applejack and Antlion each fired their weapons, and hit the changeling, causing a piece of her leg to fall onto the floor.

"Come on y’all!" The farmpony said charging towards the exit and the beast.

Before she could react, though, the spider-like mutated form of Queen Chrysalis covered the exit door. Just as before, she crushed the mechanisms driving its operation.

Their spirits crushed, everypony stood watching their chance for escape destroyed. The two gun-slinging ponies readied another volley and shot, hitting the queen in her torso. The shotgun blast blew a hole in her abdomen, causing snake-like intestines to fall out onto the floor. The changeling shrieked in pain, and her eyes leaked tears, unseen in the darkness. The blast was more than she could take, and her deteriorated state was intensified. Pieces of her armor and bits of flesh fell off, rattled from the concussive force of the slug.

Applejack and the doctor loaded again, but were pushed away when the queen lunged forward, knocking the two back with a leg. She opened her mouth and with lightning speed a tongue-like organ flew out, tipped with a small mouth line with razors for teeth. It grabbed the leg of Pinkie Pie, who tried her best to avoid it. Immediately everypony available grabbed onto her hooves and desperately tried to pry her from the tongue, whose teeth were digging into the party-pony's leg, gnawing flesh from boned.

She cried and wailed in pain. Twilight yearned to end her friend's suffering, and levitated her axe and SWOOSH! The axe head landed straight on the tongue, severing it from Chrysalis' mouth. Pinkie crawled out, hugging her friends dearly, looking at them with large eyes. "Thank you so much!" She cried, never minding her skinned leg. The monster, bleeding profusely from her tongue, tried to retreat. Celestia however wouldn't have it.

With a flash of her horn, a beam of powerful magic shot at the beast's side, reopening the wound that had just healed moments ago. Limping away, Chrysalis shrieked in pain again as the stinging and burning sensations were almost too much to bear. Slipping into darkness, everypony thought she was gone for now.

But her final act in that corridor came from a long, barbed appendage shooting into the crowd, hitting straight into the skull of Pinkamena Diane Pie, killing her instantly. The Element of Laughter's body was pulled into the darkness, and the sound of the queen's steps quickly faded away.

Ripped straight from their hooves, the five best friends couldn't do anything, not even breathe, as they stood in disbelief that their jovial friend was gone. A few moments later and they all broke down, covering the floor in tears, yelling the name of their beloved pink mare. Twilight contemplated giving up, and found herself without the will to get up. Rainbow Dash lost the desire to fly. Applejack, boiling with rage and sorrow, tilted her hat, and grit her teeth, pumping the shotgun.

"I'm sorry, Pinkie...we couldn't save you...but you can be sure as hell we will avenge you. Where's the next closest exit, Chairpony?" She didn't look up from the ground, nor did her heart stop being broken.

Vixen's tone was solemn and quiet. "This way..."

"Come on everypony. Her sacrifice won't be in vain. Y’all can go through the exit, but Ah ain't leaving until Ah have that FUCKING BITCH'S HEAD!!"

Applejack again led the group. The orange pony needed somepony to blame, and Celestia was pretty guilty in her eyes. She glared at the Princess with a thousand times more malice than Twilight had earlier. Applejack maybe wouldn't mind if the white alicorn became another victim of the Changeling Queen.

The farmer mare, stepped forward in a cautious yet deliberative way, seething with rage. The fire in her eyes was contrasted with the wet streams dripping from them.

She was out for blood.