Queen of the Crystal Empire

Chapter 1
Pride

You are Queen Chrysalis, beautiful leader of the changelings, ruler of.... Ruler of. You sigh to yourself. Your lands are dry and barren, and your reserves have long since been used up. The situation is becoming desperate rather quickly. You're currently standing at your decaying stone castle balcony, looking out over lands that you were once proud to call yours. Now they seem to only leave a pit in your stomach. You can feel it even through the starvation. You lean over your balcony and look around at the ground immediately below. Changelings everywhere you look, and most aren't moving much, if at all. If something doesn't change very soon, you will be their last leader. The one that ended the changeling line through incompetence.

"No!" you shout to yourself. "If I were not so merciful as to spare those ponies that opposed me, my attack would have succeeded!"

One of your legs gives out and you collapse forward onto the edge of your balcony, causing some of the black chitin of your foreleg to chip away. Weakness. The last flame of rage dies out from your body. You are too exhausted to continue being defiant. You take a deep breath and force yourself to stand with pride once more. You are their leader. They look to you for strength, guidance, and, in desperate times like this, solutions.

You turn away from the pitiful view and slowly walk back into your sparsely furnished castle with a slight limp. Where once this place reflected your own pride in yourself and your subjects, it is now only a reminder of how far you've fallen. Everything that could reasonably be moved was traded to merchants for supplies by disguised changelings. The only thing left in your private quarters was your royal bed. It's too large to be traded. At least, that was the excuse you used at the time. Now you regret not allowing it to go with the rest of your junk.

With a groan, you collapse onto your bed and cover your head with your hooves. You needed a new tactic if you wanted to lead your subjects out of this situation, one you haven't considered. Even one you wouldn't like if that's what it took. You already had one in mind: one you loathed so much you intended to die well before putting it into action. You could die clutching your pride, but what of your subjects? Would you demand they die with you? No. You will do anything they need you to do.

The time has come for one last, desperate attempt that would see your pride forever diminished to that of a common beggar. You roll over onto your back and shout, "Guard, enter my quarters!"

Immediately, the door swings open and an armored guard enters, then kneels down. "Yes, my queen?" his voice echoes throughout the mostly empty stone room.

"Fetch the healthiest messenger for me, and be quick about it."

Without another word, the guard nods and quickly exits the room, closing the door behind him as he goes. You cough a few times and remain where you are. This message would require careful wording; you had to make it work. Since your pride was soon to be destroyed in its entirety anyway, you may as well make it as pathetic as possible.

Minutes go by until there's a knock at the heavy wooden door. On the other side, you hear your guard speak, "My queen, I have returned as ordered."

You roll off your bed and collapse to the floor. With no small amount of effort, you force yourself to stand once more and control your breathing. "Well done. Allow him to enter."

Your door creaks open and a slender changeling enters. He immediately bows and the door closes behind him. "Nodus, here as ordered my queen. You have a message you want delivered?"

"Of course. Pay very close attention. This may very well be the most important message you will deliver in your lifetime," you say with measured assurance. "You will be delivering this message to..."

You have to stop for a moment as your body itself revolts at your attempt to call for aid. The messenger waits patiently and quietly, alert and ready to memorize every word that you speak.

"Canterlot, of Equestria, to Princess Celestia herself. You will deliver this message directly to her and nopony else. If they refuse, you must insist, as peacefully as you can." You speak slowly and deliberately, every word considered twice over. After a brief pause, you continue, "I, Chrysalis, queen of the changelings..." You don't get far before you must pause again. These ponies will expect some form of apology for your actions. "Apologize for my previous, hasty actions. My subjects were on the brink of starvation and needed to sustain themselves, and I had not considered there might be an alternative to force. Changelings had always been mistrusted and despised in every previous land we had attempted to make peaceful contact with for reasons you can likely discern. However, perhaps Equestria will be the exception, and answer our call for aid. I fear we will not survive without your help."

Your subject twitches slightly as you complete your message. It is harsh news for anypony to hear, least of all from you. Surely his vision of you is now shattered.

"I understand, my queen. I have received and memorized every word of your message. I believe I can get close to her using one of her guards to—"

"No," you cut him off, "if this is to work, they will expect a gesture of good faith on our part." You place your hoof on your subject's shoulder. "You will be delivering this message with no disguise, and you are not to use one while you are in Equestrian territory."

You can feel the fear emerge from your messenger. He will be completely exposed and vulnerable. With a deep breath, he finds his resolve with a firm nod. "I understand. It will be as you order, my queen."

"Good. Repeat the message back to me. If I'm satisfied, you may leave at once."

As ordered, the messenger repeats back everything you said, word for word. Once done, and with your permission, he raises his head and flies out your balcony door. Now you must wait. It would take him days to reach Canterlot, and you had nothing else you could do for the time being.

About a week later, your messenger finally returned. Your bed was traded in the meantime to help keep everyone going just a bit longer. You had nothing left here now. He lands behind you on your balcony as you look over your empty room and remind yourself what's at stake. "Report."

"My queen, the princess Celestia of Equestria considered your request for multiple days before giving me a message to deliver to you. It is as follows: 'Queen Chrysalis, your past actions were abhorrent and deserve nothing less than harsh retribution.'"

Your eyes narrow and your heart sinks.

Nodus continues, "'However, that punishment should come in the form of reflection and repentance, not exile and execution. As such, I will allow you a second chance to properly represent your changelings. You are hereby invited to the Crystal Empire to plead your case directly and begin negotiations with the leaders there.'"

You nearly fall to the ground in relief; your final gambit is going well so far. Now you just need to negot—

"'You may remember them from Canterlot. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor will determine your future.'"

Your head whips around quick enough to cause your subject to jump and silence himself. "Repeat that last sentence to me," you say as you approach, your left eye beginning to twitch.

Nodus gulps and repeats the sentence once more, "'Princess Cadance and Shining Armor will determine your future.'"

"I must rely on the two ponies who have the most reason to destroy us for our continued survival?!" you shout at your messenger. You pant in rage and your subject looks around in panic. "Unacceptable! How dare she pretend she wishes to aid us and then throw us to the timberwolves! That vile—"

"M-my queen, there is more," your subject says with a shaky voice.

You pant a few more times, but then take a deep breath and try to calm down. "Proceed," you say in a steady voice, damming a torrent of rage.

"'They were, understandably, reluctant to host you after your previous encounter. With the help of Twilight Sparkle, however, we have convinced them that in extremely desperate situations, ponies will act in rash ways they normally wouldn't. They assured me they would give you a fair chance.'"

"Why do I need to play guest to them at all? Why was I not invited to Canterlot to speak to that princess instead?" you ask, not really expecting an answer.

"She seems to think we can only consume love, and insisted you would find it there in grand abundance. Shall I continue the message?"

You sigh and rub your head, "There's still more? She's very long-winded." After a moment of respite, you wave your hoof, "Proceed."

"'You have been given permission to bring a small contingent of changelings with you to act as royal escorts. Neither you nor them are to disguise your true form at any point during your visit. Such an action will be viewed unfavorably at the very least, or as an act of aggression at worst. Perhaps one day, such measures will be unnecessary. I wish you well, and hope you are sincere in moving relations forward. Princess Celestia.'" Once Nodus finishes the last line, he collapses to the stone floor in exhaustion. "Apologies my queen, I've run out of stamina."

You look down at your subject. "There is no need to apologize. You have done well. Rest there if you must," you say passively as your mind wanders elsewhere. An abundance of love? Are they offering it freely? Surely they would not just give themselves over like that. "I shall simply have to see for myself," you say as you step over your exhausted changeling and fly down from your castle.

If there is love to be collected, you will take those who can store the most of it. Once gathered, you will leave immediately; you're out of time to scheme. For the first time in your life, you will have to put yourself entirely at somepony elses mercy.

As a common beggar.