The morning had come.

The queen, alone and tired, stood before her mirror and stared at herself for a moment, contemplating what she should do. Angel, was asleep, resting in his chambers after what had transpired the previous day. But she knew that they had a long road ahead of them, and that they had much to do if they were to make this work.

She stared at her ghostly form, a mirror image of herself in both appearance and essence, as she contemplated what was to come.

She had to think about the future, but that was a lot easier said than done. Chrysalis was the leader of a race, a queen, a leader, and a mother. And that would be enough to be responsible for on its own, but it was not enough for her to handle the rest of the matters that had arisen recently.

She sighed softly as she continued to stare at her reflection. There wasn't much point in staring. The incorporeal have no need to fuss about vanity.

Still, there was something about staring into her reflection that soothed her, helped her to think more clearly about the situation that she was in.

What will happen now?

The hive was secure, at least for now. And while she had no idea where Angel's mind would be headed after everything that had happened, she felt confident that he would be able to move forward and become the leader that he needed to be.

...Leader was a bit of a stretch. Tool. Yes, the tool he needed to be.

Goodness, they'd spent too much time fused together. She didn't usually talk like this, at least not without the influence of others.

To have her mind be silent without battling an extra nudge here and there without an audience of commentators... It was strange now. She had gotten so used to it, and now the silence was almost deafening.

But she had no time for distractions. Lack of or otherwise. There was a lot of work to be done, and she needed to focus. She had to think about the future, and how to best ensure the safety and prosperity of the hive.

Angel had made a mistake. He had trusted in the wrong ponies, and he had paid for that mistake dearly. But that did not mean that his actions had been without merit.

He had been right to try and trust in the ponies. He had been right to believe in them. He had been right to care about them. And that was something that Chrysalis could not fault him for. That single olive branch to his 'creators' was what had established the most basic premise of a sustainable food source for her hive.

Without his actions, they would not be where they were today.

He was a child, he didn't know any better.

And that was a good thing.

Children were a valuable commodity. Creative geniuses or absolute morons, they could see things no one else could. Without him the concept of love-farming could have taken decades rather than being an immediate and integral method of sustaining the hive and its colonies. It was an even further travesty that his method of rearing the ponies and subsequent culture of pony husbandry- had been all but lost during the Great Purge.

That was a shame.

If not for that loss, the hive would be much larger and more stable. And the following setbacks after that did not help either.

Chrysalis sighed as she turned her thoughts away from the past and towards the present.

There was a lot of work to be done, and she did not have time to dwell on the past. She had to focus on the future, and what was to come.

Chrysalis's attention was caught by the sound of hoofsteps approaching her chamber. She looked over and saw a changeling guard enter the room, and she could sense the apprehension and anxiety coming off of him.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice echoing in the vast chamber.

The guard seemed hesitant, as if he did not want to disturb her.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Your Majesty," he said, his voice low and respectful. "But there are a few things that require your attention."

Chrysalis sighed, a small part of her relieved that there was some task or problem that would take her mind off of things for a bit.

"Very well," she said. "What is it?"

"It's Angel," the guard replied, his voice wavering. "He's gone missing."

The news struck Chrysalis like a ton of bricks, and she stared at the guard in disbelief.

"He's what?" she asked, her voice laced with both concern and anger.

"He's missing," the guard repeated, his voice trembling slightly.

"When did this happen?" Chrysalis demanded.

"This morning," the guard replied. "He was brought to his quarters last night, and the guards were supposed to be watching him. But when the guards went to check on him this morning, he was gone."

"How could this have happened?" Chrysalis questioned.

"We don't know," the guard admitted. "But we're looking for him. We'll find him."

"You had better," Chrysalis snapped.

The guard flinched, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, bowing his head.

"Now, get out," Chrysalis ordered. "I will take care of this matter myself."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," the guard replied.

Chrysalis watched as the guard turned and left the chamber. Once he was gone, she let out a frustrated sigh.

Of all the things that could have happened, this was the worst possible scenario. There were a multitude of better ways to go about handling this internally, rationally, collected and strategically.

But without a ready counsel of voices to give her a very immediate response to possibly bad ideas and overthinking, Chrysalis had been forced to act on her own.

And now she was in a bind. She had no idea where Angel was, or how to find him. She didn't even know if he was still alive.

That last part was splitting hairs- the hive was large but not so much for a changeling to get hurt in. And if they were smart, they wouldn't go somewhere dangerous.

But Angel was a lot of things, but he wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box. Not this year.

"Oh, you fool," the changeling queen sighed, "Where could you be?"

Author's Note

Corruption! You art my father!

I'd wanted to consolidate this into the chapter it was supposed to lead into, but I'm not fond of switching point of views. So I'll be trying to keep a single point of view per chapter.