Chapters Chrysalis wakes up buried under a heavy darkness, groggy. "Did I win? Where am I?" she wonders, having lost her recollection of what had recently transpired.
She gradually recalls developing a plan to take over Equestria and get revenge on the ponies who ruined their invasion of Canterlot. How she and her Changelings systematically took down and supplanted each one of them. From the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the Alicorn Diarchs, Celestia and Luna, to Shining Armor, Cadance and her deformed spawn.
Suddenly what happened at the end came back too. How that little traitor Thorax led a rescue mission along with two unicorn mares and the Lord of Chaos, Discord, all ending with her being blown into her throne by a wave of love, and finally her entire throne room exploding from a tremendous burst of energy resulting from multiple Changelings present sharing love.
Then fury coursed through her dorsal channels, completely awakening her.
Extricating herself from the rubble, Chrysalis hisses menacingly, ready to pick up the fight where she left off. Unfortunately for her, she was out of commission for too much time, long enough to allow the traitor and the others to free all of their prisoners.
But before she has to fend off against more opponents than she could count at the moment, she was caught off guard by the one called Starlight Glimmer approaching her.
In a mix of confusion and caution, barely standing now that the injection of fury has subsided, the Queen could do nothing but listen to what she knew would be yet another of the speeches that this unicorn mare seemed to be fond of.
"When Twilight and her friends defeated me, I chose to run away and seek revenge! You don't have to!" Starlight pleaded, getting closer to her. "You can be the leader your subjects deserve." She concluded, the strong winds dramatically blowing her hair accentuating the resolve and conviction with which she had expressed herself.
Chrysalis looked at the ground, conflicted and a little scared of her words. Was she serious? After everything that had happened, after everything she had put them through, this mare was extending to her a hoof in friendship, willing to forget and forgive all of her transgressions?
But above all.
Was SHE serious? Was she considering doing it? Was she insane? Had that unicorn's words about finding a new way of life for the Changelings through friendship and sharing love gotten to her? The fact that her hoof was slowly approaching Starlight's seemed to suggest as much. Was she willing to admit defeat to get what this pony was talking about?
The thought of running away and seek revenge crosses her mind. But as quickly as it came, it was gone. After what Starlight had said, Chrysalis considered that course of action would be derivative and lacking in originality on her part, even if she believe she could successfully carry out her revenge.
Weighing her pride against everything else, her kingdom, her power, her subjects… her children; they obviously won out, after all, they were the reason she had done and would do everything. Still, it was hard to swallow all that bile.
But NO! Less than half an inch from joining hooves, Chrysalis realized that if she was willing to admit defeat —not that the Queen would ever acknowledge it as such— it would have to be on her terms, not the ponies'.
"FINE!" Chrysalis shouted, smacking Starlight hoof away. "I... accept this peace offering. By the grace of the Queen of the Changelings, you are all free to go now."
With that said, the aforementioned Queen of the Changelings marched regally, with a monumental effort on her part to hide the limp in her right hind leg and the accompanying pain, towards seemingly the only way out still standing.
*Ahem* somepony cough loudly.
"WHAT!?" Chrysalis screamed, a hemolymph vessel on her forehead ready to pop, spinning around, her leg pain be damn. "You've already stopped my plan, destroyed my hive and compromised my kingdom's defenses! What more do you want!?"
"A proper reformation," Starlight said, not quite there, staring at her swatted hoof.
"Friendship," Twilight added.
"Apologies for all the wrong you've done to us," Cadance demanded, her husband off to the side and her filly on her back, the three of them looking not too happy.
"A proper peace treaty between our species," Celestia finished.
"HA!" A dry laugh escaped the Queen's throat, a hair-raising sound halfway between the hiss of a cat and the shrill creaking sound of a cicada. "No. Never. Not in a million years. And not in the mood right now, Celestia," Chrysalis replied, pointing at each of them before turning and continuing her retreat.
"If you want my word backed by ink, it'll have to wait. I'm not that hard to find, not now that you know where I live."
Wanting to end the argument as short as it was and avoid giving the ponies a chance to change their minds, Chrysalis shot off the throne room now turned atrium, visibly limping, unable to help but wince in pain.
"What do we do now?" Approaching an unamused Celestia, Twilight asks.
"We take our small victories home and celebrate them," the Diarch of the Sun replies, now with a warm smile adorning her features.
"You're right, Princess," Twilight says cheerfully. "Are we all ready to go?" the Princess of Friendship asks the rest of her friends, who cheer in agreement.
Ready to cast a teleportation spell, Twilight stops, noticing Starlight's downcast state.
"Are you okay, Starlight?" Twilight approaches her, worried.
"Did I do right?"
"What?"
"Did I do right?" Starlight asks again, this time her self-doubt apparent. "Because I'm not entirely sure that I did right."
Twilight beamed at Starlight and places a hoof on her shoulder.
"Starlight, you rescued us, stopped Chrysalis' plans, and convinced her to make peace with us. You did wonderful, and as my student I couldn't be more proud of you." Twilight stated and the rest agreed in unison.
"Thank you very much, Twilight," Starlight blushed at the compliment, regaining some modicum of confidence and tranquillity. But one worry still persist within her. "Can we trust her? Can we really be sure that Chrysalis will stop being evil and uphold her word of peace with us?"
"I think so," Celestia chimed in. "Something tells me that we will eventually make peace with the Changelings, whether Chrysalis wanted it or not." The Princess of the Sun concluded with a great deal of certainty, her smile widening as she observed a group of reformed Changelings talking happily with Thorax.
Author's Note
So, this little story came to me a few days ago, and not wanting to put off writing and publishing it until I've finished the current big story I'm working on (which will probably take me the rest of next year to finish), I've decided to post it now and probably finish posting the rest of it before the year is out.
Rewatching To Where and Back Again - Part 2 for the development of this story, I found it extremely amusing how Starlight is quick to declare Chrysalis dead and Thorax as the new 'leader' of the Changelings, only for her to take the title away from Thorax to give it back to Chrysalis the moment she is shown to be alive.
Chrysalis read the final copy of the peace treaty between the Ponies of Equestria and the Changelings of the Warmlands, formerly known to the rest of the creatures as The Badlands.
She had already agreed to do so, but that didn't mean she would make things easy for Celestia. It had taken the Princess multiple attempts spread over several months to schedule a meeting between the two sovereigns. Chrysalis finally relented when Celestia threatened to send the Element of Laughter to the hive as her envoy so that the Queen would finally give in to the meeting.
For three days Chrysalis had been living in Canterlot Castle as a captive guest. Celestia had made sure that the Queen remained there until the peace treaty was properly written, was to the liking of both parties, and was signed and sealed by the both of them.
So for three days the Queen of the Changelings had been meeting with the Princess of the Ponies, locked and confined for far too many hours in Celestia's private study. Chrysalis wanted to exasperate Celestia, to push her to prolong and postpone the negotiations for as long as possible, but the Princess's patience proved to be an insurmountable obstacle even for her. Chrysalis came to believe that Celestia had been stretching out the days by a couple of hours each to accomplish this, but even her Changeling companions told her that was not being the case.
Part of the Changeling Queen would have liked to make this historic event a grand, celebratory affair, with bombastic parades winding through the city streets, with public speeches in front of packed crowds; but because Celestia was the first to suggest it and Chrysalis would never allow her that kind of satisfaction, she vehemently refused to let it happen in such a manner, demanding instead that it happen as a private affair and behind closed doors.
As far as the peace treaty went, it was a fairly standard one, if Chrysalis had ever seen one in her long life, and a fairly loose one, even before the changes she demanded.
In short, these were the main points of the treaty:
Establishment of borders . The Kingdom of Equestria recognized the Badlands as sovereign territory of the Changelings. Bordering them with the Macintosh Hill to the north and east, and with the Chrysalis Canyons to the south and west connecting them to the Forbidden Jungle. Reciprocally, the Changeling Kingdom recognized the borders of Equestria and its annexed territories.
Processes to resolve future disputes . Any future disputes between the nations, whatever they may be, must be dealt first and foremost through dialogue, in order to provide an opportunity for a peaceful solution, with the intention of preventing the conflict from escalating.
To avoid conflict of interest, it was agreed by the two nations that the Dragon Lans, represented by Dragon Lord Ember, would serve as an impartial third party and mechanism for negotiation, consultation, conciliation and arbitration of said disputes.
Access to and sharing of resources . It was at this point that discussions became heated, as sensitive issues began to be raised here. While Celestia, representing Equestria, now recognized the borders of the Changeling Empire, in the past this had not been the case, entirely due to Equestria's lack of knowledge of the existence of said borders, who by this point had already established towns within the Warmlands.
Celestia vehemently refused to let these ponies, who by this point already had generations of family living there, be evicted. The compromise agreed upon was to grant these towns the status of a confederate state between Equestria and the Warmland, making it the first space where Changelings and Ponies would live together on equal terms.
Status of refugees and prisoners of war . This was added to the peace treaty as a mere formality, since what was written here was settled even before the first draft of the peace treaty was conceived. This was because Equestria did not have any Changelings as prisoners. As soon as Everypony returned to their respective homes, the Changelings still there, taking their places, were promptly sent back to Chrysalis in the Changeling hive. And while Celestia was very patient with Chrysalis in formalizing the peace treaty, the Diarch of the Sun was quite unrelenting in demanding that the Changelings release and return any creatures, not just ponies, that they held prisoner.
As an addendum to this point, Celestia agreed that any Changeling still disguised in Equestria could continue with said life, if they so wished and as long as it was not the result of identity theft.
In the future this point became a source of headaches, moments of embarrassment and awkwardness for both parties, particularly when some of the families of returned ponies spoke out loud about how they ended up preferring the Changeling over their returned family member. Not to mention the paternity or maternity lawsuits that occurred, with half of the cases becoming worse when it was established that Ponies and Changelings could not reproduce with each other. All of this culminating in the creation of an Institution for the handling and resolution of Changeling-Pony family matters such as those exemplified here, and in some instances, stranger and more bizarre cases.
Debt Resolution . At first Chrysalis had demanded compensation for the damages caused to her hive during the events she did not wish to mention; however, when Celestia responded with receipts for all the expenses incurred to repair the damage caused by the Changelings during the events of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding to her castle and capital city... The Queen of the Changelings was quick to forgive and forget.
Definition of forbidden or disallowed acts . Celestia originally wanted any Changeling who wished to live or visit Equestria to do so without disguise, and even outlaw shape-shifting. Chrysalis, in a fit of indignant rage, let the Princess know that for Changelings, disguising themselves was more than a way to prey, commit deception and subterfuge, it was an important part of their way of being and living. That prohibiting a Changeling from using their shape-shifting abilities would be akin to prohibiting a Pony from following the call of their Cutie Mark!
Much to Chrysalis' surprise, Celestia actually listened to what she had to say and reconsidered her proposition. Ultimately, Celestia agreed to not penalize Changelings for shape-shifting, as long as this action was not done with the clear intention of violating any of the laws that the rest of the creatures of Equestria adhere to.
Once these and other smaller, finer points were properly drawn up and agreed upon, Chrysalis read the peace treaty once more, her patience finally at an end, unable or unwilling to find a detail worth prolonging her captivity.
With a deep sigh, the Queen of the Changelings floated a quill with which she wrote her name and then stamped the seal that represented her and the Changelings on it, right next to Celestia's signature and seal.
"What?" Chrysalis asked once she noticed Celestia looking at her with scrutiny.
"Nothing. I've noticed that you haven't gone through the metamorphosis."
"Yeah, that's right. What about it?"
"I was just wondering, how did you plan to follow through with what you just committed to?"
"I have my ways."
"And pray tell, what are those ways?"
"Oh, you want to know? Well, tough luck! For as long as I and the rest of the Changelings who are wary of that miraculous transformation abide by the laws and rules imposed upon us and you cannot prove us of the contrary, you need not worry about it."
And with that, and after several hours of being seated, Chrysalis stood up from her seat, heading for the exit.
"If there is nothing more to discuss and if you will excuse me, I am finally done with this place."
Despite her complaints regarding how long it took them to finally come to a peace agreement, the truth was that the entire affair had taken place within the limited time set by Celestia. In fact, they had finished a few minutes early and Chrysalis' attendants hadn't finished packing her belongings and preparing her carriage yet; so she had quite a bit of time to spend as she pleased.
As such, the Queen of the Changelings decides to take a break in what she was informed by the castle staff was a common waiting room.
Entering the place, all eyes were on her and all the owners of those eyes began to evacuate the room through the multiple doors that gave access or exit from it, emanating a repertoire of emotions that ranged from disgust and indignation, to fear or caution.
Fine, thought Chrysalis. She had signed a peace treaty with the Ponies, that did not mean she wanted them to suddenly feel like they could approach her and showing her unrequested trust.
Looking around, she was glad to have the whole space to herself, when suddenly the presence of someone else reaches her, first through her Changelings sences and then through her eyes.
It was a lavender Unicorn. Yes, Starlight Glimmer, the Queen remembered her from that day, the one who had orchestrated the invasion of her Hive and was responsible for the downfall of one of the greatest conquest plans ever seen in the world.
They had met a few times since then, and every time they interacted even a little, she had made sure to make it clear how much she detested her.
The reason Starlight was still in the room was because she was very concentrated reading a book titled "My Town and I. How to Take Care of a Town", probably related to her reason for also being there in Canterlot Castle.
Like a cat that has set its eyes on a prey, Chrysalis slowly, cautiously closed the distance between them, her hooves barely making a sound as they moved on the carpet.
It wasn't until the tall Changeling's shadow fell over her, obscuring and hindering her reading, that Starlight noticed her presence.
With a dry gulp, Starlight put down her book and looked around worriedly, hoping to see someone, somepony who could serve as a witness and with their presence could stop Chrysalis from attacking her, but her eyes found no one. Well, no one but the Queen.
Chrysalis's gaze was heavy and through her eyes it pierced her to the soul. Starlight thought that if she blinked, that would be the last thing she would do.
Then, Chrysalis's long, twisted horn began to glow a sickly, toxic green.
Fearing an attack from the Queen, Starlight shielded herself behind her book.
But the attack never came. Instead of a blast of magic, Starlight saw the beginning and end of a bubble of emerald fire manifest in front of her, where Chrysalis stood.
Slowly, cautiously, Starlight lowered her literary shield, and once she could see what was in front of her, the book and her jaw fell to the floor.
Where once stood the hole-filled, dark-chitined, cursed-looking Queen of the Changelings, stood someone completely different, and yet it was ultimately Chrysalis.
Her chitinous body had turned so light blue it was almost white, a thin layer of fur growing over it. The holes in her legs, in fact all the holes on her body were gone, filled with what should be in their place. On her chest three like-gems round aquamarine-colored protuberances could be seen. Her mane and tail, now of a bright, shimmering turquoise color, had grown in length and volume. Her wings, her whole wings, looking like pointed dragonfly wings, flapped a little bit as if they were being displayed and shown off in all their shimmering glory, before folding up and sheltering within a dark cyan elytra. Her facial features had softened, looking healthier, less gaunt. Her horn, which had previously looked like a branch from a decrepit tree cursed to never bloom nor to die, now looked like a graceful curved bone, resembling the top half of a crescent moon.
Her eyes, well, if there had to be one thing that made it unmistakable that the creature in front of her was the Queen of the Changelings, it had to be her eyes. Because those were Chrysalis' eyes, arrogant and full of contempt. And yet, they were of a lighter, brighter color.
Once Chrysalis concluded that Starlight had had enough of admiring her, and taking advantage of the mare's still-present state of shock, she approached her and whispered in her ear:
"Go ahead, tell them. No one will ever believe you."
Starlight had not finished processing what had happened, when a knock on one of the doors finally brought her out of her stupor.
"My Queen, your belongings have been fully packed and the carriage is ready to depart," a Changeling said from the other side of the door.
A flash of green fire brought the Unicorn attention back to the front, where Chrysalis now stood in her unreform appearance, walking towards the exit, leaving a confused and dismayed Starlight alone in the room.
Chrysalis took a seat inside her carriage, ready to take her to her next destination, in the Chrystal Empire. That cowardly grub of Thorax might be one of her own, but after what he pull off that day, sending him as an ambassador to the Crystal Empire was the best compromise she could come up with in such a short period of time. Not only would this keep him away from her, it would finally make something useful out of him, not only as a repository of invaluable pony information, but also as a channel through which the Changelings could access the kingdom where food was abundant in the environment and bring those two important things back to the hive.
"I sensed that you were with someone in that room. Which was it this time, the mint green one with butterfly wings, or the white one with a moth motif, your Majesty?" the driver asked from his post, directing the rest of the Changelings pulling the carriage.
"The iceblue with dragonfly wings," the Queen replied, opening a container in front of her, in which were several crystal flasks, all containing a pink liquid in different shades. After a few seconds of appreciation, she chose one labeled "Baiser de la Rose." Uncorking it, she first smelled it; images of a couple enjoying a romantic moment on top of a hill surrounded by rose bushes in the middle of a sunset flashed through her mind. Once the scene faded, Chrysalis brought it to her mouth and drank its entire contents.
"Miss Glimmer, I presume. How many have been with this one? Three ponies that you have deceived into believing that her Majesty has gone through the Glowing Metamorphosis? If I may give my opinion." The coachling was silent for a few seconds, taking his Queen's silence as permission to continue. "The creamy white one with the golden fluff chest and four transparent purple wings is a favorite of mine."
"Four. The Element of Kindness, the Element of Loyalty, the Element of Generosity, and now that insufferable Starlight Glimmer. And I’m saving that appearance for Celestia, when her time comes," Chrysalis replied, returning the flask to its place, placing around her neck a peytral made from the remains of her former throne.
Chrysalis could trust Celestia not to blast her on sight or poison her food, but she couldn't grant the same trust to Shining Armor or Princess Cadance, not yet.
Author's Note
I'm going to be honest here. When I came up with this story, this is as far as I got with it, never imagining that it would become so popular, popular enough even to be in the featured box on the front page. And with that, gaining your attention and expectations. This naturally scared me a little, making me think that I would be doing you a disservice by ending it here, like this, when it's apparent that more is expected of it (and I myself believe that there is more to this story).
But truth be told, after much consideration, I feel I would be doing a disservice to everyone, you and myself included, if I pushed myself to write more than I had originally planned. Therefore, I have decided to mark this story as complete here, and if in the future I organically come up with a new chapter to add to it, I will do so.
But right now my attention is focused on writing the SINS story; I'd be delighted if you guys decided to give this one a chance, and it would be even better if you end up liking it. A new chapter is on the way.
If what you want is more stories starring Chrysalis, I have 'The Black Heart ' for you. A more serious story where I present how I would handle the reformation of our beloved and charismatic Bug Queen.
As always, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story. And I will be reading all of your comments, even if I don't respond to all of them.
