High above the Appaloosan mountains, moving at roughly 200 meters per second in short bursts of magical energy, Prince Blueblood used the downtime between bursts to go through the details of how he would take down Queen Chrysalis.
His plan was to arrive at the Changeling Kingdom before the Elements of even Harmony left the mountain passage, and under an illusion of invisibility, spend an entire day preparing for the Secretariat Comet's arrival.
His heart was beating in excitement just thinking of how powerful he'll be with the Comet boosting his magical power, how good it would feel to finally have a win under his belt after so long, and how much stress he'll lose after beating the Changeling Queen into the ground.
It'll feel so good~
And then he wiped those thoughts from his mind.
This wasn't like his last fight with Chrysalis, the two of them off in the middle of a forest away from everybody else.
This time, she had hostages: Three little fillies she kidnapped from Ponyville.
This was a fight he had to take seriously, unlike his last fight with Chrysalis, outside of Canterlot. This will be closer to their fight on the train, where he had to watch out for the Yak delegation.
Unfortunately, unlike that time, Starlight won't be here to teleport the civilians to safety.
He couldn't rush in without a plan of attack, he knew that. He had to prepare for the fight.
Fortunately, this time it won't be like his preparations for Sombra. Sombra's preparations were defensive in nature; he was going against a relatively unknown opponent at that time and had an entire city to keep safe.
This time, his preparations will be offensive, against an opponent he knew well.
He knew how Chrysalis fought, he knew how she acted, and most importantly, He knew how he could take her down.
"Mercury!" And with another burst of magic, Prince Blueblood flew off, leaving behind little more than a vanishing trail of golden light in his wake.
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"Hehehe... Everything is going according to plan..." Deep south of the Equestrian border, through the Forest of Leota, lies a place called the Froud Valley.
Within the valley sits the newly conquered Changeling Kingdom, a queen so evil and vile cackled with uproarious laughter at the success of her plan.
"I still don't understand why this place wasn't on any map." The Changeling Queen's laughter died down as one of three little fillies spoke up.
"Maybe it was on a map; we just never read it." A young Earth Pony answered the question of her Unicorn friend.
"I don't really care about maps," The Pegasus filly of the group said as she tried making herself comfortable inside the green cocoon all three were stuck in.
"Do you little fools wish to learn how I got this kingdom? Is that it?" Queen Chrysalis asked the three fillies, momentarily taking her eyes off the crystal ball that showed her Twilight Sparkle and her friends splitting up thanks to her plan.
"We have like, two more days to wait before the girls get here, right?" Apple Bloom pointed out.
"Yeah, there's not much to do here other than wait," Sweetie Belle continued.
"And also be bored, and hungry, we haven't eaten anything since like... What? Yesterday?" Scootaloo added, a grimace on her face as she rubbed at her stomach.
"The night before yesterday!" Sweetie Belle helpfully corrected, before her face twisted into a frown as her stomach growled.
"Grrrr- Fine!" Chrysalis shouted, slamming her hoof on the floor, "If it will get you brats to stop talking..." She turned to one of the Changeling guards standing near the door to the room she and the fillies stayed in, "You!" She pointed at the changeling, who quickly stiffened as his queen pointed at him, "Bring some food for these horrid pests to eat!"
"R-right away! Your Greatness!" The Guard saluted and quickly ran away, wanting to be as far away from his queen as he could.
"Good, now that that's dealt with," Chrysalis turned back to the three little fillies, "Sit quietly and listen, as I spin you the tale of how this small kingdom became mine and mine alone!"
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It began as a story of love.
The ever-horrid Queen of the changelings, with a carapace of coal and a heart of stone, whose victories tasted of emptiness, and whose losses tasted of rot.
After her defeat at Canterlot, the expanding barrier powered by the Princess of Love's newly awakened Alicorn powers, together with the Captain of the Royal Guard's defensive prowess, pushed the Changeling Queen and her army away from the capital of the Pony nation, flinging them far outside the borders of their land.
The destination of her flight was a small town of lovely little Lynxes, their pacifistic natures causing them to overflow with love, painting the very scenery around pink with flowers and grass.
Those Lynx were small, fragile, and oh so willing to give away their love to anything that would take it. From the sick, to the injured, to the hungry.
And she was Hungry.
And she ate.
Her minions followed in her example, devouring the love from the small feline creatures.
Her takeover of the small town was as swift as her arrival.
"We'll have the rest of the place converted to our needs within the month!" A Changeling saluted as he walked up to her, "But it may still be a while before we can attack Celestia again. She'll be expecting us."
"That's why Celestia isn't going to be our target," Chrysalis said, her tongue licking the soft yet chapped tissue that was her upper lip as she drained the love of a small and defenseless Lynx until it was little more than an empty husk, struggling to find the willpower to keep itself awake. "Our most recent outing showed that even though my power has grown tremendously in the recent months, we are still a way away from beating that burning barbarian into the ground."
Her story wasn't one of vengeance.
"I have realized that Celestia was merely a distraction," Chrysalis said softly as she sat down on the ground, tossing the Lynx she held to the side like an empty can of soda, "Cady and Bloobloo made sure to remind me what I was really after~"
Her story was one of love.
"The upcoming Secretariat Comet will make it so every magical being in view will grow in power under its influence," She explained calmly. "Whether it will be five minutes, or a bit over one hour, as long as the Comet's influence can be felt, I would be within my fullest potential, with a virtually endless supply of magic for that duration..." A smile spread across the carapace that was her face.
Her love was not one of a romantic nature.
"For a time between five minutes and one hour, I will be the strongest I have ever been," Chrysalis explained to the Changeling. "During that time, I will only need a little push to reach the threshold needed for It."
"The threshold?" The Changeling guard tilted his head in confusion.
"Me taking on It's appearance is a trivial matter, but It's appearance is something that should never be treated as trivial," Chrysalis spoke slowly, her eyes softening as her smile lost its edge. "I do not wish to simply look like It," She told him.
"I wish to become It. Not simply body, but mind and soul." Chrysalis let out a breath as her smile began to shake, her eyes watering as if simply speaking aloud about her plan brought her to tears.
Her love was one that went beyond that of a partner.
"Let me ask you, Bug, what is a Chrysalis?" She asked through shaking lips as she turned to look at her guard.
"It's like a cocoon, right?"
Her love was one that went beyond a child and a parent.
"That would be close, but incorrect," Chrysalis explained calmly, her eyes softening as she stared at the Guard. "The cocoon is the silk casing spun by a moth before it begins to pupate, while a Chrysalis is the pupal stage of the butterfly." Chrysalis put a hand on the Changeling's shoulder and slowly pulled him in closer, as if inviting him into a warm hug.
Her love went beyond conventional descriptions of what compromised the meaning of Love.
"During the chrysalis, the caterpillar sheds its skin for the final time as it begins the process of metamorphosis." Chrysalis slowly explained as she began to rub her leg on the changeling's back. "It is not changing its appearance like a camouflage, but a full transformation into the next stage of its life cycle. To refer to the process of pupating as mere shapeshifting ignores a simple fact of the matter." She spoke softly as she leaned closer to the Guard's ear, ignoring the emotions of discomfort and fear that began to waft off of him like sweat.
Her love was one that was mired in disgust.
"You are a simple caterpillar," She whispered to the Changeling.
For what could possibly be more disgusting?
"I am still pupating," Her smile widened as her grip on the changeling's back tightened.
More representative of her existence as little more than a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit?
"And you will never become a butterfly."
Than the hideous, horrid, belching love to supplant the unearned position of divinity?
And with a soft exhale, Chrysalis let go of the guard, his body growing limp as every drop of magic, every emotion he ever had, was sucked away. Leaving an empty husk without even the will to keep breathing.
A fitting punishment for a hideous bug such as him for daring to question her.
Her story was one of disgust.
A story about how a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit could become the one thing it ever loved with all its being.
Her story was of the blasphemy of trying to become perfection itself.
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Under the light of the moon, hidden beneath an illusion away from any prying eyes, a Unicorn began his preparations.
He only had a little over twenty-four hours to make sure everything he needed was in place, while still making time to rest up before the big event.
He had to make every moment count.