Consciousness was one of those fleeting things to Queen Chrysalis. She could catch occasional glimpses of the world between fits of nightmarish imagery and pain. Her body was damaged, severely, from the blow that her prey and that foul pink alicorn she had taken the place of dealt her. A few of her drones had landed nearby and while they were likewise injured, their first duty was to save their queen. Once, she felt herself being lifted onto some form of litter as three of of her loyal drones began to drag her through the woods.
Even unconscious, her mind could feel the thrum and busy workings of the hive and her scattered drones. She sent the regroup order to them and felt many of them begin to slowly make their way home. Some could not move, and had their consciousness severed from the hive to starve or succumb to their injuries if they could not handle individuality or heal themselves. Some would find their way home and would be reintegrated, the rest she did not care about. They were merely drones, after all. While she cared for them all, some sacrifices had to be made for the good of the hive, and those that were too far away or too injured to return quickly were simply a hazard if left connected to the hive mind.
When she finally awoke for more than a split second, she was in a familiar location. The deep, misty coolness of her hive. She looked herself over and decided that her minions had done an admirable job in treating her injuries. Had she birthed a princess before this whole fiasco, they would have just left her to rot away where she fell. Moving herself, she stood, and found that she could indeed manage the pain long enough to acquire sustenance. Once she had fed, she would be able to heal herself rapidly.
Exiting her private chambers, the queen made her way slowly to the holding pen, where brainwashed slaves awaited the drain of their emotions that would end in their death or transformation into another loyal drone. She passed by several guardians and entered the chamber, the familiar buzz of wings filling the air around her. She approached a young pegasus filly with a rose colored mane and soft tan coat with a smile, "Ah, hello my pet, your queen is hungry."
"My Queen!" shouted the pegasus, eyes gazing up at her in adoration, "Oh, my queen, it has been so long, where have you been?"
"I had some things to attend to," she said simply, her face taking on a look of confusion. Normally this room, with its population of seventeen ponies, would be full of that delicious energy they called Love. She could feel it as easily as the pegasus could feel the wind across her feathers. Yet, the energy was not there. She knew this pony loved her. The changeling had fed off this one just before she left to begin her conquest of Canterlot.
The queen closed her eyes and opened the hive mind, casting her presence through the entire hive. Every single changeling was hungry. Some were starving, and none could feed. In desperation, a few had gone out of the hive for fresh subjects, but they were finding it impossible to harvest any feelings from any pony, "This... is impossible..." the queen whispered to herself.
"What is, mistress?" asked the still spellbound pegasus.
"You love me, do you not, Flitterwing?"
"More than anything!" she replied with a huge grin.
The queen turned and left without another word, her stomach grumbling at the lack of sustenance. Her path took her to the main room, where all the drones were gathered, some fighting among themselves for some minor dominance and first feeding rights. She pulsed a command through her connection with the hive, and all of her subjects immediately came to attention. A squad was sent to retrieve the drones who had left to seek fresh cattle. Others were sent to determine if a different emotion was now their food of choice.
Days passed, the hive around her growing hungrier and hungrier. The ponies she held dominion over simply sat in their room, blissfully unaware of the situation. Finally, in desperation, a single drone began to eat some of the food they brought for their herd. It ate until its stomach was swollen. It felt... satisfied. Normal pony food could only serve to sit in their stomach like a dead weight until purged. It was useful for keeping up a disguise, but it brought them no pleasure, no sustenance. Now, however, the drone felt satiated. The hunger that had driven it to the desperate act just to feel full was gone.
It sent a message through the connection it had with its hivemates. They scattered out into the swamp and began to gorge themselves on plant matter without regard for its actual nutritive value. Moss, algae, lichen, anything green was rapidly consumed until the swamp was but a shadow of its former glory. Chrysalis emerged, gaping, at a field of groaning and passed out drones. Their hunger had been sated, but her own still raged within. Taking a look at the tree which housed the entrance to her home, the queen of the changelings flew up and looked at the leaves, taking a tentative sniff. It didn't smell any different. She grimaced and yanked one of the small green things free with her magic, holding it up to her mouth. Her drones had confirmed that they could feed on this stuff, but something held the queen back.
Eating this made her no different than the rest of the world. The uniqueness and power of her race was now simply transformation. She sighed as her empty stomach howled for sustenance and put the leaf in her mouth with a sneer, expecting the horribly bitter sensation that usually came with such things. To her infinite surprise, it was simply a clean, fresh taste. She wanted more. Her magic yanked every leaf off of the tree, leaving it bare and stuffed them into her waiting maw by the mouthful.
She thought, while she ate, that there was so much more love had to offer than these plants. It came with its own unique flavor from each pony, the best of them an almost bittersweet taste as if they could realize their love was being drained by something they didn't really love. It was so delicious and fulfilling that even a few seconds of real love could feed an entire hive for a week. That was now all a memory, thanks to that blasted alicorn.
Soon, she joined her drones on the ground, too full to move. She laughed and cursed in the same breath, picturing the two lovers in her mind that she was now sure had done this, "Oh, my dear Shining... You and your little wench's spell had a little side effect... When we are strong again, we will come for you once more, but not for your love, no. Not for love, but for something much, much sweeter...
Revenge..."
