It was the last day before the race. Rainbow Dash and Gabby had just finished today's training. It was mainly light exercises, with just a couple of runs through the course to the actual finish line to make sure Gabby knew the route. They didn't want to exhaust her the day before the big race.

Gabby had improved a lot in the past two weeks. Gilda had raced against Gabby a few times and it was close. Gabby had actually managed to beat Gilda a couple of times, particularly if Gilda made a mistake that let Gabby get ahead of her. So it wasn't as one sided as Rainbow Dash had been somewhat worried it might have been.

There were a couple of other fairly strong contestants too. Particularly Griffons that were athletes to begin with and a couple of Griffons from noble families who could afford great personal trainers. But Rainbow Dash wasn't worried about them. Considering how greedy Griffons tended to be, she was certain the vast majority of them would get caught up in the distractions Taylor and Twilight had been planning.

Rainbow had almost been tempted to warn Gabby about the distractions but managed to refrain. It wouldn't have been fair if she'd known what to expect when none of the other contestants did. Besides, she doubted Gabby would fall for the tricks they had in mind, regardless. And if she did, well… That was the point, wasn't it? To weed out greed?

Rainbow and Gabby were currently sitting on the ground next to the start of the course after today's exercises. Rainbow drank from her water bottle, then set it down and looked at Gabby. "Whew… So, how you feeling about your odds, Gabs?"

"I'm feeling great! Thank you so much for your help the past couple weeks! I can win this, I'm sure of it!" Gabby said excitedly.

"You sure? You've got some pretty stiff competition, it looks like," Rainbow inquired, with a smile.

Gabby nodded confidently. "I'm sure!If I become Queen, I can do so much good. I can fix Griffonstone and help everygriff! A lot of Griffons would probably try to suck every last bit from everygriff that they could. That would just make the situation even worse… I couldn't stand seeing Griffonstone fall apart like that. So I've gotta win no matter what! But if I don't, I hope Gilda takes it. She would be way better than most Griffons too."

Rainbow huffed. She was still irritated with Gilda, but training with Gabby every day and having to interact with Gilda regularly as a result, she wasn't quite as angry at Gilda as she used to be. Especially in comparison to most other griffons. "Yeah… I guess… But I'll be rooting for you all the way. I think you'd be a great Queen. Way better than Gilda, that's for sure."

"Aww! Thanks! I appreciate it," Gabby gave Rainbow Dash a big friendly hug. Releasing her, Gabby looked towards the course. "I can't wait for tomorrow. Whether Gilda or I win it's going to be great either way! I almost wish you could join in just for the fun of it, but Weaver was pretty clear about it being Griffons only."

Rainbow smiled at her. "Ah, it's no biggie. When you win, I'll race ya whenever I come visit Griffonstone, if you want. Assuming you're not too busy fixing this place."

"Yeah! That sounds fun! But it's not really the same as a big race with a bunch of Griffons participating… Hm… Maybe we could make this race an annual thing, with two separate categories. One category where any species who can fly can join in, and one for just Griffons."

Rainbow gave her a curious look. "Why two? Why not just have the one and let everypony participate regardless of species?"

Gabby sighed, "I'd prefer it to be just one, but I have a feeling a lot of Griffons wouldn't be too happy about it. Taking it as a cultural thing or a matter of national pride. So I just think having two categories would make every-griff happy, and prevent a lot of major disagreements."

"Already thinking that far ahead, huh?"

Gabby nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! If I win, I have to be ready. Being Queen of Griffonstone is a big responsibility and a lot of Griffons will have a lot of different opinions. I'd need to be able to try and get everygriff to cooperate as best as possible. That's the whole point of this, after all. To unify Griffonstone, right? So I've been thinking ahead a lot and I have a ton of ideas!"

"I look forward to seeing what these ideas might be," A voice said from behind them.

Rainbow and Gabby turned and saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Twilight.

"Princesses!" Gabby exclaimed, startled. She got up and bowed to them.

Celestia smiled at them, "Please, rise. There's no need to bow."

Gabby rose, with an excited look in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, I'm really honored to meet all of you! I'm Gabriella, but everyone calls me Gabby!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabby." Princess Luna greeted her.

"Hey, Rainbow, Gabby," Twilight waved at them. "The Princesses just arrived an hour ago. I mentioned Rainbow Dash has been helping you train for the race tomorrow, and they wanted to meet you."

"We'd like to meet with a few of the other candidates as well, of course. We'd like to know who might be the next king or queen of Griffonstone. But since you're Rainbow's friend we thought we'd meet with you first." Celestia said with a friendly smile.

While the Princesses were speaking with Gabby and getting to know her, Rainbow walked over to Twilight. "So, if the Princesses are here, how'd their meeting with Skitter go?" She asked quietly.

Twilight shook her head and responded in a similarly quiet tone, "They didn't have one. Apparently Luna talked to her in her dreams and she said she wasn't going to talk to them or interact with them while they're here. Specifically Celestia and Luna. She is speaking with Shining Armor right now, though. Since he and Cadance are here representing the Crystal Empire instead of Equestria, and Shiny is no longer the Captain of the Royal Guard in Equestria and is officially the head of the Crystal Empire's military. She might talk with Cadance, once Cadance is done meeting with the contestants. But not Celestia or Luna."

"Seriously? I don't get it. Why would she be willing to meet with Cadance and Shining Armor, but not the Princesses?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

"I don't know. I don't get it either. I can only assume it's for the same reason she didn't want us telling the Princesses what she had planned before it became public knowledge… I'm getting the distinct feeling she just doesn't trust the princesses for some reason, but I don't get why she wouldn't. It makes no sense. She clearly trusts Queen Amore, so why not Celestia and Luna? Especially when they've done so much to help her… It's confusing."

Rainbow Dash sighed and face-hooved. "Fine… How's her meeting with Shining Armor going then?"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. He was led off to meet with her by some Crystal Ponies. It wasn't like she came to greet everypony when they got off the train. I think it's just about security for the race? I'll have to find out later when he's finished speaking with her. As long as Celestia's here, I can't meet with Taylor either since I'm Celestia's protege. At least, not publicly. So, we'll just have to wait to hear back from Shining Armor, before we can get any updates."

"Ugh… Sweet Celestia, this political stuff is so bucking frustrating…"

Twilight nodded. "You're telling me… But she has her reasons, even if she hasn't told us what those reasons are yet. So we just have to trust her. She agreed to our idea so it's not like she's doing anything wrong. Otherwise I doubt she'd be willing to meet with Shining Armor or Cadance, instead of just the Princesses."

"Captain Lance, you've told me your scouts haven't found any signs of any dens or hideaways where Chrysalis might be keeping anyone they might have kidnapped?" I asked.

Shining Armor, Sapphire Lance, and I were currently in a tent in the Crystal Soldiers' camp. I was focusing on the emotions of everything around us, making sure there were no eavesdroppers.

"That's correct, your highness. That said, since we've had to have our scouts travel in large groups to avoid the risk of capture and replacement, we've not been able to search very broadly. So it's possible we may have missed something. Some Griffons have been reported as acting strangely recently, so we're operating under the assumption some of them have been taken. We just don't know where they're being kept." The Captain reported.

Shining Armor frowned. "Hm… What about the Abysmal Abyss? No one goes down there, so maybe Chrysalis could be keeping them there."

"She'd have to be keeping them pretty far down if she was keeping them there. I fly over the Abyss regularly. So I'd sense their emotions if they were anywhere near the top. But the wind gets stronger and stronger the further down you go. It was surprisingly difficult even for me just to get the Idol from where it was in the Abyss. So I think it would be pretty impractical to carry unconscious griffons down the cliffside in that wind. Unless they were just killing them and dumping the bodies. Which, I suppose, is a possibility. It's a canyon so there has to be a bottom. If we follow the edge of the canyon we should be able to find where it opens up, then maybe we could send a team across the bottom, without having to put themselves in danger repelling down the side, to scour it for corpses." I suggested.

The Captain shook his head. "We've already scoured the bottom of the Abyss. That was one of the first locations we searched, as I had similar thoughts. However, the unicorns and earth ponies I sent found only bones. Long dead. No fresh corpses. There were a couple of caves at the bottom, but there was nothing of note in any of them. The powerful winds, of course, make it too dangerous to send any pony to search any higher up the canyon."

"Good job, Captain. But that doesn't leave us with very many places the Changelings could be keeping anypony they took." Shining Armor said, raising a hoof to his chin in thought.

"Since it's been roughly two weeks and the race is tomorrow, I'm officially considering anyone they took as good as dead. At this point looking for them is strictly to find out who they replaced, to capture the changelings disguised as them, and to return the corpses to their families. But if we haven't found any sign of them yet, it's unlikely we will before this is over… At this point I think we should call off any searches, and focus on defense instead." I stated.

Shining Armor gave me a disapproving look. "Weaver, if you really think anypony's been replaced, we can't just give up the search. We have to keep looking."

I shook my head. "No, we don't. First, like I said, they're probably already dead and I doubt we'll find anything before the race tomorrow, if there's even anything left to find at all. So there's no point. Second, ultimately the Griffons aren't either of our responsibility. That may sound harsh, but it's true. They're their own separate kingdom, destitute as their kingdom is right now. And it's not like they can say we didn't try. Finally, ensuring Chrysalis can't do anything to interfere with the crowning of the next king or queen. That takes precedence above a handful of civilians, since it has national implications. So dedicating manpower to this would be an illogical waste of resources."

I stepped over to a table and looked at a map of Griffonstone with the race track drawn out on it. "The fact Chrysalis doesn't seem to have made any moves yet worries me. I know she has agents here. So she has to be planning to do something tomorrow. I don't know what but I have my guesses. She might try to sabotage the race somehow. She might have mind controlled or bribed one of the contestants, and plans to use them against me in the future. She might even have one of her own Changelings in the race and might be trying to steal the Idol that way, so the Griffons don't unify and I can't get them as an ally or get the military assistance I need from them."

"Why do you need help from the Griffons, specifically? You have the Crystal Empire and Equestria on your side. We should be more than enough against Chrysalis. I mean Equestria's already defeated her quite a few times. So why go to all this trouble in the first place?" Shining Armor inquired.

"I saw an easy opportunity to gain another ally and I decided to take it. It's as simple as that. How often do you think such easy opportunities come along?" Not technically a lie, but not the whole truth either.

I didn't trust Shining Armor enough to tell him. He grew up in Equestria. He was the Captain of the Equestrian royal guard not long ago. He'd only known Queen Amore for a few weeks, whereas he'd known Princess Celestia his whole life, effectively. So he was more loyal to the Princesses than he was to Queen Amore. His only loyalty to Amore was through Cadance and her relationship with Queen Amore. I trusted the Captain far more than I trusted Shining Armor. So I wasn't going to tell him I was skeptical of Equestria and believed the Princesses wanted my hive as a puppet state. He might report that to the Princesses, and that could make securing my independence significantly harder.

Of course, I could potentially flee to the Frozen North if I really needed to, but I didn't want to have to resort to that. Relying too heavily on Queen Amore's generosity felt wrong, and I didn't want to end up becoming subordinate to her, even by technicality through circumstance, either. If I was going to have to be a Queen, whether I liked it or not, I wanted complete independence.

Shining Armor sighed. "I still think we should keep looking… Captain, you've been quiet. What do you think? Maybe you can serve as a tiebreaker here."

The Captain thought for a moment, with a grim expression on his face. After a moment he huffed, perturbed by the situation. "As much as my heart goes out to any who have been captured by Chrysalis' Changelings, Queen Weaver raises some compelling points." He looked at me. "Your thinking is rather cold and pessimistic, your highness, but I can not honestly say you're incorrect. So I believe we should call off our search and start focusing on defense."

Shining Armor wasn't happy to hear that. I could sense it. But he relented. "I don't like the idea of leaving Chrysalis' victims behind. I still have hope they're alive and I'd like to save anypony we can. But it looks like I'm outnumbered here."

"The Crystal Soldiers are under your command, as the head of the Crystal Empire's military. Queen Amore sent them to help me but I'm just an ally. So you could decide to take over and have them keep searching regardless. I couldn't stop you and I wouldn't try. I'd just have to find some other way to make do."

It was the truth. I couldn't stop him, and I wouldn't bother trying. I wouldn't like it, of course. But I wouldn't cause a diplomatic incident by trying to usurp Shining Armor's authority if he decided to throw his weight around.

I'd have figured something out even if Queen Amore hadn't convinced me to let her send the Crystal Ponies. Fifty soldiers honestly wasn't that many to begin with. But the more men I could trust not to be changelings in disguise, the better. It was the entire reason I'd taught them any Master/Stranger Protocols in the first place. The Captain had agreed to not share the protocols with Equestria, and Queen Amore was the only person in the world I trusted right now and her Crystal Ponies saw me as a hero. So the Crystal Ponies were the only group I was willing to teach how to counter me, so I could know with reasonable certainty that none of them were replaced and could rely on them to fulfill their roles.

I'd just have to compensate with the griffons who I couldn't trust to not be changelings in disguise, or I'd have to try and compensate for however many soldiers he had in the search parties by myself. Either of which could result in more people getting hurt or killed in the crossfire. I couldn't be everywhere at once, nor could Shining Armor, or Twilight, or the Princesses. I would make do without them if I had to, but it would be a lot harder.

Shining Armor shook his head. "No. As much as I don't like your decision, this is your operation, Weaver. So I'll give you my advice and input, but I'll let you make the decisions. As long as you don't put my soldiers in unnecessary danger or throw their lives away, I'm following your lead on this. Especially since I only just got here, so you have a way better grasp on the local situation than I do."

"The local situation is about as horrible as you'd expect, if you know anything about Griffonstone at all. Likely a lot worse than you expect if you don't know anything about them. It's a miracle this country, if it can even be called that right now, is still standing at all… But I can fill you in on more of the fine details later since they aren't really that important." I stated.

I looked back at the map on the table. "For now, we need to make plans. Like I said, I can think of a few different things Chrysalis might be plotting. We need to work on ways to counter them. And if either of you have any other thoughts on things Chrysalis might try, tell me. Since we have no idea what she's plotting, we need to try and cover every possibility as best we can. First, let's work on escape routes and safe zones to lead civilians to safety, and to try and keep them safe. The main issue there is going to be the fact that there might be changelings in the crowd. So any guards are going to have to keep any civilians at a distance and watch them, while also fighting any obvious Changelings. So we'll need eyes in front and back. But we can't allocate too many soldiers to defending the civilians. We only have fifty ponies. We have to have enough to guarantee the Idol is kept safe too, or all of this is going to be for nothing."

The Captain stepped forward and began looking at the map as well. "Obviously we don't have the numbers to protect both the civilians and the Idol from any sort of large assault. We're going to have to rely on the Griffons to help us, one way or another. It's a problem since we can't be sure there aren't changelings in their guard, or how many there might be, but we don't have a choice. My prince, you're extremely good at making shields and you're a strong fighter. So I believe you should be in charge of the group leading the civilians to safety and defending them. If there are too many changelings in the Griffons' guards, you're likely our best choice of mitigating losses. Both among the civilians and our own soldiers."

Joining us around the map, Shining Armor nodded. "I can do that. I'm sure Cadance will be willing to help me on that front, too." He looked at the map and tapped his chin with his hoof in thought before pointing to several spots on the map. "Hm… I'm thinking here, here, here or maybe here look the most easily defensible for a large number of Ponies, er… Griffons. I'd need to see them directly to be sure, but until then they might be worth considering as evacuation zones."

We spent the next several hours discussing strategies and various contingencies for different possible situations.

Queen Chrysalis was growing increasingly frustrated. Her drones had replaced several of the griffons guarding the Idol of Boreas. However they had learned about the enchantments placed upon the glass box it was in. So they couldn't steal it without summoning Weaver.

That wasn't necessarily a problem in and of itself. In fact it was foolish of her to have put such a spell on the container, as that meant they could set up an ambush in the middle of the night and try to kill her while she was still caught off guard.

However, it would also set off alarms that would alert the rest of Griffonstone, alerting any guards that hadn't been replaced including the crystal ponies. And if they didn't manage to kill Weaver before backup arrived, they would have a serious problem on their hooves as they had to fight half of Griffonstone as the Griffons tried to take the Idol for themselves and the Crystal Ponies fought to protect Weaver.

She had planned this well.

Taking it now or even while it was in transit to the finish line would be impractical, considering the heavy guard it would be under. The only point it would be exposed would be during the race itself.

It seemed less and less likely that she was going to be able to avoid a direct assault.

But she still had options. She could just wait until after the race, let Weaver think she had won, then assassinate the next king or queen and take the Idol. Whatever alliance she forged would collapse and the Griffons would succumb to division and infighting once more.

Of course the Idol was likely to be kept on display behind layers and layers of enchantments and defenses. And Weaver was likely to work out a line of succession of some sort with the victor. So it wasn't a guaranteed thing.

Another choice would be to enter the race and "win" the Idol.

Well, not her specifically since Weaver would sniff her out immediately given how much she hated Weaver and wanted her dead. But one of her soldiers would suffice in her stead. Pharynx would have been her first choice as her best and strongest soldier, but he was still having issues caused by what he had witnessed. He would do it if Chrysalis ordered, but the fear and dread radiating from him would risk giving him away. Not to mention it could serve as a distraction. So another soldier would have to do.

It would be guaranteed to be the genuine Idol as there was no way the Griffon Nobility would tolerate anything other than the real thing. They'd keep their eyes glued to it the entire time it was being moved, so if Weaver tried to swap it out for a fake there would immediately be an uproar.

However, Weaver would surely realize this was a possibility and would try to compensate with an increase of guards. Twilight Sparkle and one of her friends were here, and the Princesses were likely to be present as well for political reasons, and they would likely join the fight to try and stop Chrysalis from taking the idol. If something didn't take them out of the fight before it could get started.

But knowing essentially what Weaver would do and who might be there, Chrysalis could plot around it to some extent, even if a direct assault was necessary. So it was her best course of action at the moment.

To that end, she had spent the last week preparing. She'd put quite a few Griffons and Minotaurs, and even a dragon or two, under mind control spells. They would all fight and die for her, on command.

And when she'd heard of what Weaver was doing and had come here, she expected she might need a little boost, so she had her changelings smuggle over a thousand of those cat creatures from that land they had crashed into after being ejected from Canterlot to a relatively hidden spot on the southern coast of Griffonstone, under the guise of pony merchants transporting cargo. Anyone who tried to inspect the cargo would become part of the cargo, and be replaced for as long as necessary to ensure the plan went smoothly without being discovered.

So Chrysalis, Elytra the soldier who was going to be participating in the race, and nine of her other most elite soldiers who she needed to be as strong as possible for the coming event headed off to the meeting zone. All of them flying off individually, each disguised as griffons.

They landed on a ship docked on the beach.

The drone that had been posing as the ship captain stepped forward and bowed, "My queen, we have the cargo just as ordered. One thousand one hundred and fifty of these creatures. We had to effectively drain an entire town of these things to get as many as you wanted, but I suppose that doesn't matter. With some extra we brought as rations for the crew. There are leftovers that we didn't devour on the way here. Making it about one thousand one hundred and eighty in total. We heard from the messenger you sent a couple days ago, so the creatures are already divided into eleven rows in the cargo bay. There's a hundred each for your soldiers, with a little extra for Elytra. Your row has the most, of course, with one hundred and fifty five of these creatures. I just finished triple checking the count, personally."

"Excellent…" Chrysalis stated, satisfied with the report.

The Captain led them down into the ship's cargo bay.

Even now, the love was thick in the air. Their loving nature was holding strong even now. If anything it was stronger from their hardship and long journey together, with only those with them in their cages for comfort. Good…

There were a few ponies and quite a few griffons unconscious and encased in cocoons, in a state of suspended animation. The original crew of the ship that her drones had taken, and any dock workers who had tried to check their cargo. And all the Griffons they'd kidnapped and replaced or who had seen the ship and had gotten too curious for their own good, who Chrysalis had stored here far from griffonstone, so Weaver wouldn't find them.

She walked over to the highest and longest row of stacked cages. She looked into the cages and saw the felines within starved and emaciated, having been fed only enough to survive the journey here, clinging to each other and cowering away from her having learned to fear her despite their otherwise loving and trusting nature from the time she and her hive had spent in their little pathetic kingdom. She chuckled, savoring the fear and misery. She then opened her mouth and began feasting upon their love, draining them until they were nothing but lifeless husks. Her soldiers followed suit with their own rows of cat creatures.

The captured ponies and griffons were split between her and Elytra. With Chrysalis getting two thirds of them, while Elytra was allowed to feast upon the remaining one third.

Having gorged on so much love, there was no way Elytra could lose the coming race. And there was nothing they could do to test for it as it wasn't a steroid nor was it a performance boosting spell. Therefore, it would be untraceable despite giving the soldier an insurmountable edge.

Of course, no amount of love would be sufficient for any of even her strongest soldiers to stand against alicorns. So she had other plans in that regard. But it was a necessary precaution regardless. They didn't need to win. They just needed to buy enough time for Elytra to get away and throw the Idol down the Abysmal Abyss or otherwise destroy it or escape with it. Who knew. It might serve as a decent trophy to mount in the Hive, assuming Elytra managed to get away with it.

As Chrysalis finished devouring her portion she noticed one of the soldiers she'd chosen wasn't eating… Who else, but Pharynx? She grit her teeth in frustration. Ever since the train, his fear of weaver and apparent trauma from what he had witnessed had started becoming a problem. If he wasn't one of if not her best soldier, she would have executed or banished him already. Especially considering his prior failure to kill Weaver.

Chrysalis approached him with a sneer on her face. "Don't tell me the great Pharynx, the so-called best warrior in the Hive, is sooo scared of some upstart false Queen he can't even eat."

"N-no, my Queen! I'm going to eat! I was just… I… I just got lost in my thoughts, that's all!" Pharynx said nervously, bowing to her.

Chrysalis circled around Pharynx like a shark circling its prey. "Good, good. I was becoming worried you might be so scared of Weaver, you have started losing your usefulness to me and the Hive. If that were the case, I'd have to start reducing the love rations for you and that miserable maggot of a broodmate of yours. The one you call a 'brother'? Pah… I know the 'love' you have for each other. The bond. The prey-esque sentimentality… What's his name? Mandible, no… Chitin? Also no… Hm… The pathetic one. The most useless drone I've ever had the misfortune of hatching in all my centuries… Ah yes, Thorax… Honestly, his egg must have gotten damaged before he hatched, and it made him come out defective. I should have crushed him as a larva, when I first noticed his divergent behavior and saved myself the love it took to feed him for all these years… You know, if you weren't vouching for him I'd have executed or exiled him by now for being nothing but a drain on Hive resources. It certainly wouldn't be the first time…"

"Th-there's no need for that, your highness! I'm s-still just as effective as ever! I… I'll prove it to you tomorrow!" Pharynx assured her desperately. Fear and worry wafted off of him in a thick cloud of emotion.

Chrysalis gave him a cruel smile. "I certainly hope so. Because, it's not you I'll punish if you don't. I'll start by tearing Thorax's wings off and reducing his rations to the point of near starvation. He won't even have enough energy to molt. Then if you continue to prove useless, I'll tear off his elytra. Or maybe I'll gouge out his eyes? His teeth, his tongue, his ears, his horn… Then I'll peel the carapace from his flesh. All while you're forced to watch and listen. The screams of the lings Weaver disintegrated at the train which bother you soooo much will be nothing compared to the screams of Thorax when he suffers your punishment for your ineffectuality. You will choke on his suffering…" She put a hoof under his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes, giving him an eerily calm look. "Do we understand each other?"

Pharynx swallowed hard and nodded. "Y-yes, my Queen…"

"Then eat." She stepped aside. She watched as Pharynx ate, making sure he finished the creatures entirely. She fully intended to follow through on her threats if he didn't live up to her expectations. If he performed any worse than any of her other elite soldiers. He was supposed to be the best of them, so she fully expected that to be on display tomorrow.

When the last of the love had been drained from the cargo, Chrysalis ordered her drones to dispose of the carcasses.

Her drones sailed the ship back out to sea before setting it on fire and abandoning it, once they were far enough away that the fire wouldn't be spotted by any griffons, dragons, or pegasi in Griffonstone.

Author's Note

If you remember way back in like chapter 7, Pharynx essentially got PTSD from watching Taylor disintegrate Changelings with her devouring swarm spell. And from how ruthlessly she killed them in general but yeah. So he's not in a good state right now. And Chrysalis isn't happy about it.

If you're curious, I was using a bit more inspiration from the comics in that last scene where Chrysalis made Pharynx look her in the eyes.

The expression she has in the second to last panel, where she says "I was talking about you." is effectively the expression I imagined she had in that moment.

Also, I didn't quite know what that weird shell thing under changelings' wings are called. Typically elytra go over a bugs' wings to protect them. But with the changelings it's kinda backwards for some reason? Or I guess that could just be a weirdly colorful part of their carapace for no real reason? Either way, that's what she was referring to when she said elytra. Though I suppose I could delete the mention of that, since I suppose Changelings don't really have elytra in the traditional sense? At least not until Thorax redeems them. It's kind of odd anatomy, to be honest.

Anyway, if the evil's going too far, I can try to dial it back a bit and just have her threaten to execute Thorax instead of threatening torture and death. Let me know. I'm still trying to tweak and adjust my depiction of Chrysalis. So I'm more than willing to go back and change her dialogue a bit.

Same with anything else in this chapter if you have any criticism, let me know!