Metamorphosis

by PonyThunder

Chapter 1 - The Barren Waste

Recommended Ambience

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Chrysalis turned her gaze upward toward the moonlit sky, eyeing the storm clouds rolling ominously above while it rained around them. Her hooves trudged through mud, rain sliding down her tattered legs as strain ached throughout them with each and every step. Marching silently in the dead of night, Chrysalis led her most loyal followers through the barren wastes outside the borders of Equestria, the air cold and moist; a miserable dampness that engulfed them as they continued forward through the downpour.

It had been several days since she had been banished from Equestria. And this time was different, she had slowly been coming to realize. Even the outlying city-states beyond Equestria's borders had increased their military presence, and had been given orders from the Royal Guard to attack on sight.

Chrysalis sighed as she trudged through a particularly soggy spot. Somehow, the day had arrived where she could no longer rely on extorting their empathy to get what she wanted. Despite knowing they'd say otherwise, even ponies had a limit to their forgiveness, and she had surpassed it, driving her further outward than ever before.

In the past she could always return to the hive, but with Thorax and the others greatly outnumbering her own troop, she didn't have much of a choice but to travel elsewhere. Whatever chance she had of gaining the upper hoof by manipulating their hope -- or their pity -- it was finally gone for good.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. Stopping for a moment, Chrysalis looked back over her shoulder to cast a watchful eye on what remained of her followers. Only a small group of loyal soldiers marched behind her, looking weak and destitute while being engulfed in the downpour of rain falling from above. Their faces were so sullen and lifeless, as if they were too tired to even care about their misery.

Returning her gaze forward and watching her hooves soak into the mud, she wondered why they still chose to follow her, even now in this most pitiful state of defeat. There was no hope for her to earn back her reign. Not for quite a while at least, as she needed much more time to create a new hive and recoup her strength. But it still made no sense -- surely they were aware of Thorax and the stories told by changelings who had been converted to his side? She had an explanation of course, which was that they had been brainwashed into friendship, but that was a poor excuse at best. They were weak, yes, but even she could admit that at the moment, their strength surpassed her own. Again, she couldn't help but wonder: why were these changelings still willing to follow her?

"Queen Chrysalis," said one directly behind her, his legs shaking, "when can we make camp for the night? I'm not sure how much longer I can keep my hooves on the ground," he said as another flash of lightning briefly illuminated their surroundings.

She observed the skies once more, listening to the sound of its accompanying thunder in the distance. There was no indication that the storm would cease anytime soon. In fact, it had been starting to pick up. The landscape surrounding them was mostly rocky with a few patches of grass and dirt here and there -- nothing that would give them any sort of shelter from these harsh conditions. And as she continued observing, a haunting possibility that not all would survive to the morning entered into her mind.

Not wanting to entertain the thought further, she shifted her gaze to the horizon and a distant mountain range caught her eye. It would be a long trek, but there would almost certainly be caves that they could use to take shelter, possibly even settle down in. She'd been longing for a dwelling like her hive for quite some time now. Perhaps it could even be the end to this arduous journey.

At that thought, her mind was settled. "We will make camp in those mountains," she replied, rain traveling down the contour of her hoof as she gestured toward them.

The changeling squinted at the horizon, groaning at the prospect of walking for a few more hours.

Chrysalis turned around toward him, listening to the raindrops pitter-patter bluntly against the mud as he stood weakly before her. Another bright flash of lightning and loud roar of thunder filled the silence as she stared downward at him, the changelings from behind watching with uncertainty about their queen's potential course of action.

"I'm sorry," he winced, expecting punishment.

Chrysalis considered her response. Under normal circumstances, the punishment for speaking out of turn was harsh. But an unfamiliar feeling surfaced in her mind. Something she couldn't quite understand, but made her question what to do. Nevertheless, she brushed it aside and came to a conclusion a different way, realizing that this changeling would not benefit from punishment for expressing weakness, and neither would making an example of him help the others. Perhaps with an actual army it would, but not now. Punishment would serve no useful purpose.

Ignoring his apology, Chrysalis knelt downward beside him, her hooves digging into the mud as the others watched with surprise. Moments later, her jagged horn began to glow a bright greenish color. The changeling, briefly opening his eyes to see what was happening, recoiled in shock and braced himself as an greenish aura of magic emanated from her horn, swirling through the air toward him. The changeling closed his eyes, fearing what was about to come as those behind watched in awe, quickly realizing what kind of magic their queen was performing.

The queen hardly ever chose to bestow essence on her followers, if ever. That had only been reserved for extremely dire situations, as it had been determined long ago that the practice bared far too much resemblance to those of ponies. But it was also impractical, as it was much simpler and more efficient to simply drain the energy from other living creatures, rather than distribute it between each other. Within an open ecosystem, they simply had no need to distribute essence amongst each other.

But, without any creatures around, this was the only alternative. And she needed every last follower she still had.

Immediately feeling the energy fill his body with vigor, the changeling's legs stopped wavering and he was able to stand up strong. Too stunned to speak, he waited for Chrysalis to say something, as did the rest of her troop, mouths agape in the rain as the aura of magic slowly dissipated into the air around them.

Chrysalis, out of breath, used all of her strength just to return to her hooves, staring blankly at them for a moment. She could only imagine what they were thinking: how pitifully terrible a leader she was to have gotten them into such a dire situation in the first place. How weak and vulnerable she must be in this moment. Her life had been a long string of elaborate plots and catastrophic failures. Surely they were well aware of that, and now she stood even more weakly before them, breathing heavily while dripping wet in the rain and the mud.

Lightning flashed and thunder followed as the rain continued to fall steadily. They awaited her voice, but she said nothing. She simply turned around, refusing for her weakness to be on full display. She couldn't. Not now, when it wasn't clear how much longer her troop could last. If they saw how truly weak she was in this moment, she feared she may lose their trust. Or worse, their respect.

"Let us continue towards those mountains," she said, her voice rasp. She lifted her hooves out of the mud and continued forward once more, feeling even more strain and aches, this time through her entire body. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to last, either.

---

"We can't keep going like this. Our numbers are dwindling rapidly, and there simply isn't enough essence to go around."

"You don't know that. Maybe we can turn things back the other direction."

"With every transformation, we gain another leech and lose another of our own. To me the trend is clear."

"You shouldn't use that word. It's unfair to speak of them like that."

"I don't care. It's what they are, and what they do."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"What some have been saying since this began: rid ourselves of them and seal the perimeter. Save those of us who can still sustain each other."

"That's terrible."

"Perhaps so. Maybe if we had more time, another way could work. But we've waited too long, and now it's our only option. I am their king and I need to make the right decision, no matter the cost. It's simply what we must do."

"What will they do? Die?"

"They will do what is necessary, just as we will. It's the only way. If our kinds continue to live together, none of us will survive, my love. It's better that our kinds stay apart."

"We are the same kind."

"Many would debate that."

"Now you're just being stubborn."

"Maybe I am, but at this point I'd rather be stubborn than dead. Or worse, lose you."

"Is there really no other way?"

"If there is, my queen, it is beyond me and everyone else, and we may have already wasted too much time trying to find it."

"It just doesn't sit well with me. Nothing about this feels right."

"Change never feels right, yet it happens all the time."