The changeling queen groaned as the song looped again, but it was out of pain rather than annoyance. Being a biped really did wear on a quadruped's back, even one who could move her bones to take the shape of a human. She just didn't have the proper musculature. When no one was around, she hunched over to put her back in a more comfortable and natural position. This helped a little, but unfortunately she couldn't do it very often or for very long. Not for the first time, she wondered at her foolishness of choosing this game, of all games, to infiltrate. And she chuckled at Celestia's foolishness of leaving the mirror portal room unguarded.

"My queen, are you alright?" the little sour ball asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Chrysalis replied in as calm a voice as possible once she'd straightened up. "I just thought I dropped something. I didn't."

"Oh. Well, as soon as the arcade closes, you'll have a visitor," the ball informed her. "She came to the castle last night looking for you but I sent her away."

"Thank you," Chrysalis replied, smiling at the sour ball even as she remembered trying to feed on his love. It had left a distinctly sour taste in her mouth. "What was her name?"

"She was quite a strange caller. She said that her name was Princess Twilight Sparkle," the butler informed her. Chrysalis froze. Twilight was here? And since when had she become a princess?!

"Very well. Please come get me as soon as she arrives," Chrysalis told him. Sour Bill had noticed that Vanellope's speech had changed, but he put it down to her new role as queen. Once the sour ball had walked away, Chrysalis once again sagged and walked out of the castle to check on her new hive.

The screaming reached her ears before she'd even got halfway down the tunnel. Growling, she vowed to have a serious word with her changelings about keeping the noise down.

"Make her shut up!" the changeling queen snapped. "I can hear her halfway down the tunnel!" Still fuming, she stalked towards her prisoner.

"Wha? Me? How is that me when I'm here?" the true queen asked, looking at the changeling queen and then back at herself.

"Idiot girl," Chrysalis chuckled as she turned back into herself. Standing on all fours again felt so very relaxing, and she took a moment to smile in relief.

"Who are you? Did Turbo or one of his buddies put you up to this?" Vanellope demanded, struggling against the red vines.

"Who? No, I'm Queen Chrysalis, and this will be my new home. You will help feed my swarm for many years, especially if I keep your husband locked up," Chrysalis replied, sneering at her. Vanellope shuddered at the sharp fangs.

"Don't hurt Ralph," Vanellope pleaded. "Leave him alone, his game's almost got unplugged before and it was bad enough then."

"Game? What are you talking about?" Chrysalis asked, walking closer to the queen and staring down at her.

"You've taken control of my game so how do you not know what the games are?" Vanellope wondered, looking at the changeling with wide, confused eyes.

"Does anyone else know what she's talking about?" Chrysalis demanded, looking around at her swarm.

"She never stops talking about it," one of the guards admitted. "Apparently this is an arcade and she and her husband are from two different games. Of course she's from this one but you already knew that."

"Hmm," the changeling queen hummed thoughtfully, "I'm thinking that we can use this to our advantage." With a swift kick, she'd knocked the girl unconscious again so she could discuss her plan with her swarm without the queen overhearing.

"So does everyone understand the new plan?" she asked once she'd finished explaining it. To her delight, heads all around nodded in the affirmative. "Good, good. I'd better return to the castle now to trick Twilight into believing I'm still the queen, and then I'll go over to the game her husband's from to scope out the levels of love there." She departed, turning back into Vanellope and once more cringing at the pain of standing on two legs.

To her disbelief, the gate wouldn't allow her through, no matter how much she pounded on it or shouted at it.

"What is this forcefield?" she hissed, running at it to try to weaken it. She contemplated the idea of getting her changelings to pound against it, which had worked for the last force field, but decided that it was too risky. Screaming in defeat, she stalked back to the castle to await Twilight Sparkle. Surely she'd be able to trick her, even if she was unable to do anything else. She'd tricked her before, after all.