Author's Note

SORRY SORRY SORRY, it's been a long time and I'm sorry Doctor_Den and nautica for this taking so long. But between my friend having school and not being able to edit for me for a bit and my own personal family issues that came up, yeah. and there's like five more chapters already written up and waiting for my friend to edit and that's pretty much all you're waiting on at this point. I still haven't gotten to the point in the writing I want to get to but don't worry, the original goal of actually finishing a story is still there. I will not abandon this story I promise you. Even if it becomes an actual garbage fire I will at least write it to it's completion. Please comment, I'd love to hear what you think of the chapters and am welcome to feedback.

6

Chrysalis had a big day ahead of her. This plan of hers to impersonate Twilight was make or break. She had only seen Twilight in court just yesterday, the one time. She hadn't had time to get to know her mannerisms and the way she normally acted. She may have been the Queen of the Changelings, but even she admitted her acting skills weren't quite on the level some of her drones had. The only thing she lacked in that department was experience.

She made her way around the castle disguised as the same pony she had impersonated the night before. She was making her way slowly but surely to Twilight's chambers, facing very little resistance along the way. A guard here and there stopping her for a second or two to ask what she was doing, but nothing else.

Her plan had worked, Twilight was in a deep sleep by the time Chrysalis arrived. It was still early in the day, an hour before she had been woken up by the guard pony the day before. Chrysalis spent a minute getting the disguise just right, the flowing starry mane being the most difficult part of the transformation.

She was ready to start restraining the princess when her sleeping form started to stir. Chrysalis had a very faint hope that the pills would have just killed Twilight and let out a sigh when she saw that wasn't the case. Testing another theory, she retrieved a pair of scissors from a nearby vanity. She held them high in the air with her magic, and with the speed of a Fulgur Buck, she drove them into the sleeping alicorns form.

The crumpled scissors gave Chrysalis her answer. Twilight was, in fact, a real immortal, which meant she would have no easy time taking over and that she would no doubt recover soon.

There were no actual restraints that Chrysalis could put on Twilight that would work at this point. Her magic was still too weak and unfed to overpower Twilight or bind her. And ropes would do nothing but make things a little awkward when Twilight woke up. No doubt there was a cleaning staff as well that would come by to tidy up the Princess' room, which meant she would have to hide Twilight.

The closet? No, too obvious and awkward. Somewhere in the garden? No, groundskeepers would find her. The dungeon? She didn't even know if there was a dungeon! Her safest choice was to keep her right where she already was, in a comfy bed. The best she could hope for was a full day. At worst? Just a few hours.

Clearing her throat, confident she had her disguised form perfect, she added a few layers more to the bed, and walked out of the room. Chrysalis saw two guards already stationed outside the room, no doubt suspicious where the medicine pony had gone.

It gave Chrysalis a brief pause, if the guards were intelligent enough to think for themselves they might have wondered where the pony had gone.

As it was, neither of them gave a second thought to anything when the Princess was involved.

“Find Fingerprint Shield and bring him here,” Chrysalis said, almost forgetting who she was supposed to be imitating. “Please.” The guard to the left of the door was already on his way by the time she remembered to add the nicety to her demand. The guard she had requested was there in no time at all. She had plenty of patience left before she would have gotten upset. “Good, you're here. There's a pony in here I've allowed to take a rest in my room. She seemed very overworked. I want you to make sure that no one enters this room,” she lied.

The grey guard saluted her and took his place in front of the door.

Chrysalis was panicking a little by this point. She didn't have much time and there were quite a few things that needed to be done. But what should be handled first? Disrupting the creature relations? She had had help when she turned the different ponies on each other and there was little she could do while in this position. Perhaps she could deal with her current lack of love. She had had a buffet the other night but it would have been dangerous to eat it all then. An upset stomach full of love was not a pretty sight. Or she could deal with the general state of the surrounding city.

That was it, she decided as she sat down in the throne room. She would deal with the general state of the city and its lack of love. She wouldn't be able to find enough love and eat it all fast enough before Twilight woke up. So she would have to play the long game. She was prepared to do that from the beginning but this opportunity was too good to pass up.

“The first thing today is the zoning laws around physical contact sports arenas,” A tall yellow unicorn said from the center of the throne room. “As you are aware there have been injuries caused by certain species being at severe disadvantages and a complaint has been filed by-”

She allowed the unicorn to continue. She didn't want to show her hand too soon, allowing a sense of innocence to exist if she was found out too early. If Twilight had come upon her now she would see Chrysalis continuing the day without any trouble, an act that would not constitute punishment. In some small chance it could even be praiseworthy. It was too soon to tell with these things, having only had a day free from her prison. With the sappiness of Equestria, good deeds would no doubt be rewarded in some fashion.

The unicorn continued. There had been issues brought up with multiple businesses and some laws that had to be cross examined with the complaints. Following the rule of three which had appeared to be an actual force in the world she was in, she allowed there to be two cases brought before her, both of which wasted her time by being dismissed by a law that negated the complaint. Perhaps it was pity she had for the princess but she told herself to suggest a vetting group to go over these sorts of things before they reached her. That way when she took over she wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense.

The yellow unicorn opened his mouth to present the third charge when Chrysalis decided to put her plan into motion.

“More gardens,” Chrysalis said, startling the yellow unicorn into silence. A stunned look over his face, no doubt instances of interjection being rare. Perhaps to the ponies and creatures beneath the princess, an interruption in this manner meant something more. Perhaps it meant that the Princess was upset, or something was urgent, or any other number of things. She couldn't gauge the tension that entered the room without looking suspicious however and left the wide eyes that all focused on her to do the talking.

“It isn't anything that serious, there's no need to worry about it,” Chrysalis continued. “I was just thinking about the state of Canterlot, and how I could improve it.”

“The, state of Canterlot, your highness?” The Unicorn cleared his throat. “Is there a problem with Canterlot?”

There was a wavering tone to his voice. Chrysalis couldn't ignore it, and was intrigued. So there was precedent for when The Princess interrupted a meeting, and it was perhaps something to be afraid of, despite her saying otherwise.

“Calm down, it's nothing big, it's not like I'm announcing a war,” she said with a chuckle, attempting to lighten the mood. The unicorn gave an awkward laugh before letting out a sigh she almost missed.

The others in the room had similar reactions. It was interesting, but that could wait until she was more prepared.

A word Twilight had used before came back to her: “Conquered.” She would have to look into how accurate Twilight had been in her word choice. Something told her from how overly descriptive the princess was with every detail that words were chosen with precision.

“As a personal project of mine I have been looking into the citizens of the city and have come to a conclusion. They are being stifled. The buildings and businesses are perfect for generating the money we need but it has gotten out of hand,” Chrysalis said, getting her plan over and done with. “I would like if any empty buildings were removed and the plot of land replaced with a public garden. Perhaps a park where it appears good to have one. My concern for the quality of life for all the creatures living in Equestria fuels this decision, if you have any complaints.”

The yellow Unicorn shook his head, the worry in his eyes showing the frustration this would cause him later down the line. He dreaded the work he was now tasked with. She had experienced that feeling a million times over whenever she presented the hive with a task. The work always gets done, no matter how frustrating it may seem to deal with. Any whining or moaning done by this pony would not be felt, making the choice much easier than it had ever been.

After a moment of making notes on his own documents he opened his mouth to speak again. “Would you like this project to be done by your personal groundskeepers staff?”

“No,” Chrysalis said. “There are plenty of businesses in Canterlot. Find one that can get the job done and hire them instead.”

“Very well. Was there, anything else, your highness?”

“One more thing,” she said. “A personal guest of mine was offended while taking a visit to Canterlot. A Unicorn and a Minotaur, in tweed jackets, running a clothes store. Perhaps they should learn a thing or two about polite manners in regards to Cuckoos.” She spat the word, feeling unclean as she feigned a defense against the deformed evolution of her beautiful changelings.

The yellow unicorn made a small sound of fear, and quickly nodded his head before leaving the room as fast as possible. The only ones left in the room were the few guards that lined the walls.

A sense of unease came over her. An intangible feeling she couldn't trace to a physical source or logical conclusion. Perhaps she had sensed that Twilight had awoken and was on her way. She didn't like that idea. And she couldn't taste anything. She was curious if she was being watched the same way she was in the garden, and she couldn't test further with the guards in the room.

Chrysalis sighed before saying, “I'd like everyone out of the room, now.” She didn't yell the demand, just put it in her voice that it was a final order. The guards didn't have to be told twice. A pink Pegasus pony that had been sitting behind the throne to the side that she hadn't noticed flew out of the room carrying a heavy black bag with her.

Taking the same risk she did just yesterday Chrysalis changed back into her majestic opal black, chitinous form. She stretched herself out, limbs creaking and cracking as she moved. She had sat on the throne similar to how a pony would, making it quite uncomfortable. Back in her hive her throne was a large stone throne, cold and perfect for laying down and resting. There was no need to sit up straight and lock her joints for hours when she could lay comfortable and give orders throughout the hivemind. The pillow underneath her didn't help any either, the softness only made her sink into an uncomfortable height where her plot fell too low for her front legs to properly support her.

Having taken a moment for herself and taking in a few relaxing breaths that shuddered her whole body, she decided to test her theory.

“Alprecha, was it?” Chrysalis spoke into the empty room.

“How do you keep doing that?!” The white pony shape said as it appeared at the bottom of the steps. She was almost where the yellow Unicorn had been.

Laying down, appearing nonplussed by the appearance of the Cuckoo, Chrysalis tucked her legs under her and rested her chin on the floor. “You knew it was me then?”

It wasn't a question. That much was obvious to Alprecha. This dark creature that impersonated the Princess had cleverness in her voice. A certain part of her knew that this wasn't a Cuckoo, or anything she had ever seen before. The introduction of being Queen of the Changelings was absurd.

“You knew it was me and did not reveal me,” Chrysalis said. “Why is that?”

Alprecha had thought about calling Chrysalis out earlier. All throughout the presenting she had considered when would be a good time to do so, passing up every opportunity almost against her will. “I was going to.”

“But you didn't.”

“I waited too long.” Alprecha had an idea as to why Chrysalis doing this could be good. She had been instructed to look for the good in things first, no matter how many times she failed to do that. Perhaps Twilight just wanted a day off, and this creature could fulfill the role. But that was stupid, she knew it was stupid and was just waiting to see what would happen. She promised herself that at the first sign of trouble she would reveal the truth and expose the goings-on of this Chrysalis.

There was a thudding sensation against the inside of her skull. Alprecha stuttered in place as the sensation got stronger until her vision shook. There was a din in her ears that seemed to be almost recognizable sounds before it all let up in an instant.

“What...” Alprecha recovered herself, looking up at the smug face that laid on the floor above her. “what was that?”

“Call it, incompatibility,” Chrysalis said. “I suspected I was too weak before but now I realize that we are entirely different. There is not only a wall between us mentally that your kind can create, it is also a different language,” she lied. That small taste told her that it would be difficult, but she could use what the Cuckoos had.

“What are you talking about?” Alprecha pointed an accusing hoof at Chrysalis. “What were you even trying to do?”

Chrysalis blew a puff of hair out of her face. “I was only trying to greet you. Seeing how it went at the party made me curious. But that's not important.” Chrysalis said as she stood up slowly. “Do you plan on revealing me now?”

“What did you do with Princess Twilight?!” Alprecha shouted, the main issue coming clear at seeing Chrysalis' upright imposing form.

“Nothing harmful I assure you. I would not have dared try and harm her.” Chrysalis said. “She is only asleep in her bed, and when she wakes, she will come here, and I will step aside.”

“Why would you do that?” Alprecha asked, unsure of what to do next.

“To give her the day off, to let her sleep in,” Chrysalis lied. “Think of it, as an act of kindness.”