Chrysalis stood, laughing with her horn flaring a bright green, dominating the vantage point of the main hive chamber, and before her... knelt a slightly-smaller changeling queen, clenching her teeth and closing her teary eyes. This younger queen, as it just so happened, was Chrysalis' younger sister, Cocoon.
"S-sister... please...!" Cocoon begged. "Have pity!"
"Pity?!" Chrysalis thundered. "PITY IS ONLY GIVEN BY THE WEAK!"
It had been only a few days ago that the former Queen of the Hive, Chrysalis and Cocoon's mother, passed on from old age. It struck the latter quite hard, leaving her in a vulnerable state of grief, but the former... could not be any more pleased. In fact, Chrysalis utterly despised her own mother, particularly due to her holding onto ideology that the three pony races clung to, which she saw as... ineffective. The elder sister was indeed relieved that their "incompetent" mother was dead.
Being the manipulative, conniving demoness she was, Chrysalis took advantage of her firstborn status to take ascension to the throne, rather than submit to her little sister's idea of a democratic election. And now... she was actively working to have Cocoon banished for challenging her view of how the hive should be run.
"Chryssi, listen to me!" Cocoon said. "I only have the hive's best interests at heart! I want us all to cooperate and build a lively community where everyone in the hive is happy and healthy! Perhaps even to once again become allies of the ponies who exiled us many generations ago!"
Chrysalis laughed wickedly. "You believe in such a childlike fantasy? This is what makes you weak! You are too trusting! You do not see that they must be punished for what they have done to us!"
Cocoon shook her head, eyes teary and jaw agape. "Chryssi... b-big sis... please..."
"And I do believe I shall enjoy becoming an only child!" Chrysalis declared.
Without any further hesitation, Chrysalis's horn flared brighter, and Cocoon was enveloped in the light as she began to levitate. A golden tome sitting atop a pedestal glowed as well, opening its cover and several pages. Cocoon's pupils went small as she realized what this entailed; that tome, as it just so happened... was a prison.
"N-no...! Sister...!" Cocoon begged.
Chrysalis did not listen, and continued laughing as a beam of light emanated from the tome, straight onto the younger queen.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!" Cocoon screamed as she was sucked into the tome's pages, being stretched by the space distortion the magical imprisoning process generated.
Cocoon then disappeared completely into the large book, which closed its cover once Chrysalis completed the spell. The newfound Queen of the Hive then locked the latch into place, and from there, performed another spell that conjured a black hole-like portal, which she tossed the tome directly into, the book spiraling into the long, winding vortex, growing smaller until it disappeared from sight. Once she no longer saw it, Chrysalis closed the portal.
"YES!" Chrysalis cheered. "At last, my weak, pathetic little sister is gone forever! Ahahahahahaha...!"
The new queen turned her focus to the crowd of changelings that made up the hive, all of whom happened to be present in the chamber, staring in utter shock at having witnessed the banishing of Queen Cocoon.
"Now..." Chrysalis spoke to her subjects, "...bow to your Queen!"
Fearfully, the changeling drones responded, fearing what she might do if they refused.
-Thursday, June 8, 1989. Atlanta, GA-
It had been yet another long, grueling day at the bookstore, but William was finally able to clock out for the day. Despite the silver lining of receiving two days off to look forward to, he knew the weekends were seldom better than his mundane work routine, since he never had plans, and didn't have a particular... fondness for his place of living. Regardless, the young man pulled into the car shelter next to his home, where he locked his car for the night and went inside.
William took the lid off his crock pot to reveal some beef stew that finished slow-cooking a short while ago, and was now being kept warm. He grabbed a bowl and spoon, and took three ladles worth of his pre-made meal, before he unplugged the crock pot and sat at his empty table. As he slowly ate the stew, a spoonful at a time, he glanced around his home while contemplating what exactly led him to where he was now.
His place of living was not anything to remotely brag about. It was a small, prefabricated home, about six-hundred square feet, with two bedrooms and one bathroom. He, of course, used the master bedroom as his own, and turned the secondary bedroom into a sort of office, with a writing desk, a computer, and filing cabinets, as well as use the closet for storage of boxes and other supplies he was not using at the moment.
The kitchen had sturdy cabinets and counters, as well as an electric stove, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, blender, toaster, sink, and dishwasher. His living room had a futon sofa in front of a coffee table, which was flanked by twin armchairs facing inward. A modest Goldstar-brand CRT television sat atop a stand, which contained a VHS cassette player, an Atari 2600, and a Nintendo Entertainment System.
His only car was nothing special, either. It was a matte-aluminum '81 Chevrolet Chevette. A five-door hatchback, it was a modest car. He wanted a sports coupe as a first vehicle, but due to his financial status, he was forced to compromise when getting his first car, and his mother happened to have some connections with her clientele, one of whom sold the car for practically a steal. He felt more fond of the car than he believed he should, but he figured it was because it was his first car... the only one he ever owned to date.
As for décor, William really favored simple art pieces. He had minimalist sculptures and vases on various surfaces, such as bookshelves and hallway tables. Several potted, artificial plants filled the small home as well. When it came to the hanging portraits, while just about everyone he knew had nothing but pictures of their families and friends, he strongly favored still-lifes, abstract art, and landscape photography, which made up the majority of his wall art.
William would have pictures of his family... that is, if he was able to start one of his own. But, he settled for what he currently had as he did not want to be reminded of... the type of relationship he did not have. Besides, pictures of actual people also reminded him too much of the reality and world he passively despised.
Overall, his home decorations were minimalist and spartan... but it was mainly by conscious choice more so than his financial status.
William Schaeffer lived a meager life, getting the most reasonable, budget housing he could find, as well as material possessions, and living paycheck to paycheck, just trying to keep food on the table and make ends meet. He was never willing to invest in assets or shares, as the time needed to yield substantial return was too long to be practical for his wellbeing. Large wait, small return, not worth it. Besides, right about now, he needed to save every penny he could get his hands on.
One thing William prided himself on was how tech-savy he was. He was really into computers, while many people around him, he noticed, were not. His personal flagship device, kept on the desk in his office, was a Commodore 64 home computer, complete with its own dedicated monitor, and a number of peripherals. It included two floppy disk drives, one 5¼-inch, and one 3½-inch, a printer, a mouse, and a modem. He frequently made use of the GEOS V2.0 operating system as the default program when he wasn't playing games. He also found he could use a controller from his Atari 2600 console for games.
While not a programmer by any means, William solidly qualified as a power user. Plus… he even knew some basic hacking skills. He found himself dialing his modem into the university BBS server during his time in college as a means of "correcting" any poor grades he had (there was a password required to access, which changed each month, but he knew where the faculty kept them written down). It surprised him that he was never caught for phreaking, but he was smart not to bump anything up too high.
School had been very boring and tedious for William, and he was glad it was all over. However, even though he graduated college, he was still in debt. While he did receive some federal student aid, it was not enough to cover it completely, and though he applied for many scholarships and wrote several essays, it turned out to be a waste of effort, as he never won any of the lottery drawing for winners. And speaking of graduating college... there was something in particular that really bothered him, now that he's graduated... but it's not something most would actually consider at first thought.
In any case, the evening grew darker as it became late. William readied himself to go to bed after a bit of downtime playing video games, watching some television, and a shower. He pulled himself under the covers, switching off the light, and hoping that he would be able to have some pleasant dreams to keep him sane... if only they could be real.