Chapter 1 - Prologue - Chrysalis

Queen Chrysalis stared down at the androgynous drone giving the standardized report for this cycle. She put in the extra effort to appear interested in the routine report, as befitted a changeling of her position. Morale among her underlings was already questionable enough at times without her doing anything to make them feel unappreciated. After all, she’d learned that lesson quite expensively, hadn’t she? Appearances were important, even for the supreme ruler of allied space, Queen of the entire Constellate.

“... Production from the Minotaur and Diamond Dog mining colonies are down another ten percent and twelve percent, respectively. This is causing concern from the factory world, Tauros. They claim that their stocks of molybdenum are already depleted, and that lack of raw material will force them to miss their production quotas if supply shortages worsen.”

Chrysalis quietly groaned. She didn’t know what molybdenum was for – who cared about little details like that? But she knew that the planet Tauros, home of the minotaurs, was an enormous portion of the Constellate’s manufacturing capability. If they slowed down production, then delivery of everything from defensive starships to electric toothbrushes could be delayed … which would only further complicate the intricate – and rather strained – relationship between the Constellate and all of its member worlds.

It had been such a stupid mistake. Daily, she found herself wishing she could travel back in time and undo it. Things had been going so well for so long, she’d gotten cocky. She’d gotten carried away. It had always been tradition to broadcast the oviposition of major planetary leaders. It helped solidify relations between everyone in the Constellate, reminded them that they were all one species now, at least from a certain point of view. But in the heat of the moment with the Emperor of the Draconis system, her passion had gotten the better of her and she’d triumphantly yelled certain infamous words about ‘breeding stock’ and ‘my broodmare bitch’.

That little slip-up had greatly reduced volunteers for the changeling breeding program, especially concerning as changelings required the assistance of another species in order to reproduce. As a species, they were extremely adaptable and capable of changing to suit any environment or new species they encountered – hence the name – but they had never overcome that singular, fundamental limit of their own biology. After her broadcast outburst, there had even been whispers of revolt and uprising against the Constellate itself! Luckily, that had died down with time, over the course of many epi-cycles. But relations with many of the worlds under Constellate protection were still tense, despite numerous apologies and goodwill tours.

“... Three new incursions from Predacon Warlords have been successfully repulsed, with no enemy survivors. Minimal losses in the Constellate fleet.”

Ah, some good news for a change! Lately, the Warlords from outside of Constellate territory had been growing bolder. Too bold. A resounding defeat was just what they needed.

Though… Come to think of it, allowing a few Warlord raiding parties to break through into the heart of the Constellate might be just what the various member worlds needed in order to remind them of why they should be so grateful to be a part of the Constellate. Perhaps if she reassigned the fleet and allowed just a few to slip through before being eliminated? Ah, but that was risky… If word got out that it was intentional, that would make tensions flare even worse than ever before…

“... And on the outer rim, it seems that a new species has developed faster-than-light travel and made contact with Constellate representatives. They’ve been entered into processing and will be—”

“A new species?”

The drone stuttered to a stop. It was nearly unheard of for Chrysalis to interrupt a report. He checked the tablet in his hand, as if to make sure of what he’d just said. “Y-yes, Queen.”

She touched a finger to her lips. It had been ages since the last time a new intelligent species was added to the Constellate. This might be just the thing to distract leaders of the member worlds from her regrettable behavior in the past. “Are they biologically compatible?” Almost everything was compatible with changeling biology … but there were outliers. Especially anything silicon-based was difficult to adapt to.

“They … they haven’t finished intake processing yet, my Queen.”

“Show me.”

Hesitantly and very deferentially, the drone stepped forward. He kneeled as he held the tablet up toward her. She didn’t take it from him. He could function just fine kneeling there as a display stand for the moment.

As the drone said, the new species hadn’t finished intake processing yet. They hadn’t been analyzed and categorized. There was precious little data about them yet, aside from a picture. But the picture was promising. A colorful, bipedal species – one white and blue; the other pink, yellow, and violet. They wore bulky and primitive vacuum exposure suits, obscuring almost everything but their faces. How were they already traveling faster than light without learning how to make much better exposure suits out of nanofabric or energy shields? Or perhaps bioengineering themselves to survive the vacuum of space without a suit, as some races in the Constellate had? Oh well, no matter. Such questions would be answered in due time. For now, though, perhaps they could be useful.

“Have them brought to Constellate Prime,” she told the drone, dismissing him.

“But my Queen! They haven’t been processed yet! There could be unknown—”

“I will process them personally.” She grinned, showing her fangs. “See to it.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

As the drone scurried away, Chrysalis ruminated over the picture she’d seen. Far from the worst-looking species she’d ever initiated. She was going to enjoy this. But she’d have to make sure she was on her best behavior, too.

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“My Queen, the new arrivals have, uh … arrived.”

Not exactly eloquent. Chrysalis let out a little sigh. As many times as she’d told her drones to think before they spoke, the lesson never seemed to fully sink in. It was somewhat tiresome at times, having to be the brains of the entire Changeling race. She’d gathered the best and the brightest around herself, but that wasn't saying much.

But no matter. It was the reason she would be doing the talking with their new guests personally, not leaving this to the questionable talents of her underlings. She turned toward the huge window behind her, facing out into the expansive view of space her throne room offered. Not to admire the view outside of the massive space station, but to check her reflection. Resplendent, as always. A couple strands of her mane, artfully out of place, hanging in front of her face exactly where they should be; her stylish cream-colored gown exposed a generous amount of cleavage and leg … but not too much. She wanted to entice these newcomers, yes, but she also needed to make a resounding first impression. It wouldn't do to have her first meeting with them looking too slatternly. Elegant seduction would be her goal, and she looked the part perfectly.

“Show them in,” she said without turning around.

The drone left at once, and soon after she heard the door of her throne room opening, followed by quiet footsteps. Still, though, she didn’t turn. It would help the newcomers know their place, and it would help her develop an air of mystery … which would hopefully make her all the more attractive in the long run.

Only after she heard the door close did she turn around and face them. They were alone with her in the cavernous room. And, hm … yes. Much more attractive than their bulky clothing from the photo would suggest. It was immediately apparent that the pink one was female. She’d gotten a lavender gown somewhere along the way to Constellate Prime, and it showed her figure to wonderful effect. Not as tall or as slender as Chrysalis herself, but otherwise nearly a match in looks, perhaps even a bit more curvaceous. And the male… Oh yes, he’d do nicely. This species had oddly flat faces with barely any muzzle to speak of, but the tight-fitting clothing showed his broad chest and firm legs to good effect. Was that what they’d been wearing under the suits, or had he also gotten new clothing along the way? It didn’t look quite like anything she’d seen before in the Constellate, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything – her domain was far too large to know everything about. It could possibly be some new fashion, perhaps from the Griffon planets. They do enjoy tight-fitting clothing like that on the lower half, though typically Griffon males would go topless…

“Uh… Are we in trouble?” the male asked.

An odd choice of first words, but Chrysalis had heard stranger.

“Not at all,” she told them. “Am I correct in assuming that your species only recently developed the ability to travel faster than light?”

The female stepped forward, perhaps a little protectively? “Yes,” she said guardedly.

“We’re the very first ones!” The male stepped around the female excitedly. “My sister invented it all by herself, she’s a genius!”

“Shining!”

“What?”

“Well then it sounds like introductions are in order,” Chrysalis said, taking back control of the conversation. “I am Queen Chrysalis, ruler and protector of the Changeling Constellate and all of the systems within its domain. I’m here to personally welcome you as guests of the Constellate, and to welcome your species into full Constellate membership, should you agree to join.”

“But we … we’re not leaders,” the female said, “we don’t speak for our whole species.”

“You do now.” Chrysalis stared her down, daring her to disagree.

The male interrupted their staring match. “I’m Shining Armor, you can just call me Shining if you want. And this is my fiancé, Cadance.”

Fiancé, hm? That could pose an interesting challenge. No wonder the female was so defensive. Chrysalis smiled as sweetly as she was capable of. She’d seduce him yet. “A pleasure to meet you, Shining.”

“Shining!” the one called Cadance seethed. “You can’t just tell them everything! We … we don’t even know who they are! Or what they are!”

He huffed. “Well you told her my name first.”

“I didn’t—” Cadance paused for a moment. Then turned toward Chrysalis instead. “Why should we even want to join your … your constellation?”

“Constellate. And I’m glad you asked, Cadance.” As much as she was trying to be polite, Chrysalis couldn't help but rub it in a little: for all that names mattered, she knew the female’s name. But on to more important matters. “Joining the Constellate will give your species access to all of the Constellate’s considerable culture and technology, which I’m sure you’ll find more advanced than your own.” Well, not all of the technology, actually. Some things were just too sensitive. But little details like that could be left out for now. “More urgently, you should know that this galaxy is a dangerous place. You’re fortunate that you found the Constellate first, rather than running into a cruel Predacon Tyrant or virulent Eldrazi Mind Contamination hordes. And until your fledgeling home planet is under the protection of the Changeling Constellate, it will be at grave risk of being detected and obliterated by such dangers.”

“Oh…” Well, that seemed to have quieted her down. It seemed she could listen to reason after all.

“Of course … membership comes with a price. You see, we Changelings are biologically incapable of reproducing on our own.” Once, eons past, that hadn’t been the case. Back when there were Changeling kings around for the queens to implant their eggs into. But their lineage was lost long, long ago. “In exchange for the numerous benefits Constellate membership brings, we Changelings only ask for a few male volunteers to assist us with our reproductive cycle.”

“Is that what all of this is?” Cadance asked, her doubts resurfacing. “You’re just here … here to get my fiancé inside of you?”

“Quite the other way around, actually.” Though she was speaking to Cadance, Chrysalis eyed up Shining, already imagining it happening. “A Changeling queen requires a consenting male host to implant her eggs into. Once the eggs have incubated and hatched, the host’s body will expire.”

Shining went pale. “What? You mean, like, dead?”

“Not to worry. The instant it happens, we transfer your consciousness into a clone grown in the intervening time. You’ll hardly feel a thing, and nothing will be different afterwards. We have a long history of practicing this procedure, and it has a one hundred percent success rate.” Well, more like 99.999%, actually. Nothing is certain. But no need to go into pesky little details like that. “For planetary leaders like yourself, the ceremony is broadcast live to every corner of the Constellate. Because, you see, thanks to this procedure, our breeding pools and genetics are combined – we are all one species. That’s how the Constellate can thrive without internal strife.” Another little omission. Without much strife. Again, she could spare those pesky little details for now.

“I… I don’t know.” Shining was backing away, glancing around as if looking for an exit. “It just seems really, um…”

“Honey…” Cadance stopped him by grabbing his shoulders and snuggling close. “It sounds like something we should really consider carefully.”

“You … you want me to do it?”

Cadance shrugged.

“But, but… There’s no way I could—!”

“Come on, Honey. It doesn’t sound that bad.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t sound that bad? Did you forget the part where I’m gonna die? Or the part with the squirmy alien eggs inside of me? And, and … I thought we were supposed to be, you know, exclusive. Right? Wouldn't that be a pretty big problem?” Shining suddenly looked up at Chrysalis. “What happens if we refuse?”

“Nothing at all. As I said, Changelings are biologically incapable of performing with a host male who doesn’t consent. Am I to understand you wish to refuse?”

Before Shining could say anything, Cadance stepped in front of him. “We’re not sure yet,” she said, with admirable diplomacy.

Disappointing. Chrysalis had almost been hoping they could begin right here and now. Seeing these two – far more attractive than most denizens of the Constellate – had certainly put her in the mood, and the live broadcast could have been arranged on a moment’s notice. Oh well. She hadn’t gotten to her position by being impatient. She could wait. All things in due time. “Very well,” she said. “We’ll talk again at a later date. For now, my drones will see you to some of our best guest quarters. Feel free to discuss it between the two of you.”

Revealing that the conversation hadn’t been as private as it might have seemed, the throne room door opened at the very moment she dismissed them, and in came half a dozen identical drones to guide the two newcomers on their way and see to any of their needs.

Now it was time for her to wait…

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Chrysalis brooded in her bedchamber, sourly watching the live feed from the hidden cameras in the newcomers’ suite. Depressingly, there still wasn't much of interest to see. Had they guessed that they were being watched?

It had been nearly a full epicycle already. They had met several more times. They had sampled what the Constellate had to offer, and they partook readily enough. But Chrysalis found herself not one iota closer to her prize. She didn’t even know where they’d come from yet! Their faster-than-light technology seemed to be of a kind that Constellate engineers had never seen before, though they theorized that it might work on principles similar to what the Cybertronians use. That meant that her astrogators found themselves completely incapable of tracing the newcomers’ origin.

She’d told them to report to her – and only to her – if they managed to locate it. The last thing she wanted was for the two of them to find the location of their home planet and return without joining the Constellate. But how long was this going to take? Would they ever agree?

It was time for something more decisive. A plan she’d been ruminating on for some time now…

Talking to them together seemed to be going nowhere. She needed to split them up, talk to them individually … but they would be instantly suspicious of any effort to do so. Unless it was their idea. She would invite them both to a rather different sort of conversation. One held in the royal baths. The male, Shining, would of course be put off by the idea of meeting in the nude, he’d be sure it was some kind of trick to take advantage of him. So of course he would refuse the invitation. Cadance, however, likely would accept the invitation, though, which would allow Chrysalis to meet with her alone…

Author's Note

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