Prologue
A steady wind blows through the Everfree Forest. The sun overhead barely visible as its afternoon rays peak through small crevices in the foliage. The creatures, bugs, and various floral inhabitants of the forest were going about their daily routine.
Suddenly, the sound of pounding hooves breaks through the quiet atmosphere. Two dark shapes rush through, passing poison joke plants, upended roots and smaller creatures who jump quickly out of the way. The two shapes, with dark gray bodies, holed hooves and wings resembling a flying insect, head at a steady pace towards their destination. These Changelings are making their way to the Hive, hidden deep within the Everfree forest, away from the prying eyes of any pony or being who may watch for them.
After a few more minutes of galloping, the two come upon a small grove of trees. Only slightly shifted as not to look suspicious, they make their way through them. Coming upon a clearing behind the trees, the changelings slow their gait and trot their way to the entrance of the Hive. The structure itself, impressively tall and gleaming in the afternoon sun, held not only the many workers and soldiers of the changeling colony but also the great ruler of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis who would soon give her daily orders for everyone in the colony.
As they made their way inside, the two changelings could hear the excited chatter of their fellow colonists and smiled to each other as they traveled deeper inside.
"So, you ready for another day of work in the Hive?" the first one asked.
"Of course! I'd do any type of work for this hive! I just hope it isn't too much work..."
"What? But you just said-"
"What?"
"Nothing, you're an idiot..."
"Oh, shut up! Let's just get going!"
"Uh-huh."
The changeling watches his friend run ahead in a fluster. He gives a playful smirk and chuckles softly before following him. Eventually, they make their way into a grand room where a crowd of changelings stands waiting for their queen to step out onto the balcony to tell them their day's work.
Inside of her room, Queen Chrysalis stands grandly before a window overlooking out the Everfree Forest surrounding the Hive. She takes a few more seconds to breathe in the summer air, before turning and heading towards her dresser on the closest wall.
On top of the dresser, a small box sits upon the dark wood, containing a project she has been spending weeks working to perfect. Opening the box, the soft glow of a crystal emits around the area, the light reflecting off the queen's face. Above the crystal, engraved on the inside of the box, are the words "Life Crystal".
Chrysalis laughs softly as she admires the crystal.
"Oh, how fantastic this truly is to have created such a powerful crystal." She laughed. "Soon enough, I will make endless changelings to aid in my quest to take over all of Equestria!"
Chrysalis looks down towards the crystal and carefully examines the object all over. She sighs, thinking about how easily Princess Celestia could detect such powerful magic from the Hive. Should she somehow be looking for anything close to the Everfree forest? Chrysalis frowns momentarily at the thought.
"Ugh. I can't, unfortunately, use the crystal here because that idiot Princess Celestia could swoop in and ruin this entire plan. After all that work, this is something I cannot allow!"
Chrysalis paced around her room, thinking of where she can hide the crystal so it will be safe from any pony finding out about it. She needed to make sure that nothing will foil her plans for an endless changeling army.
As she rambled to herself about potential hiding places, her musings were cut short when she heard a knocking on the door, ruining the silence in the room. She opens the door instantly, scaring the changeling as she looks down upon him.
"WHAT!?"
Her voice echoed through the halls and out towards the primary area where the changelings had gathered to hear the queen speak. Worried looks appear on their faces as they stay quiet to listen to the commotion. The unfortunate changeling, now on his back, slowly stands up to speak towards the queen.
"M-my queen, w-we are all fully gathered for the day." He hesitantly stated.
"I will be there soon! DO YOU NOT SEE I AM BUSY!?"
The changeling nods quickly and closes the door before running down the hall back towards the rest of the changelings. Chrysalis groans and looks back down at the crystal, as she casts one more look out towards the forest and smiles.
"There must be somewhere in the Everfree forest I can hide my crystal. The forest itself is one large hiding spot! All I would need is to find an area perfect for the crystal with enough room to create more changelings to grow my army!" she exclaimed.
"The only genuine problem is where?"
She looks towards the Everfree Forest before using magic to lift the box from its place on the dresser. Opening the door, she made her way out of the room and down the hall towards the balcony. Standing in full view, she looks down upon the changelings and lifts the crystal in the air in full view of her subjects. She takes in a deep breath to speak. The room goes quiet, as changeling guards move to stand next to her.
"My fellow changelings, today is a glorious day for our hive! Today you will go about your chores as usual, but with a much greater purpose in mind." As she said this, she lifted the crystal high for all to see. "After countless trials and my personal magic, this crystal will be our source of power to take over all of Equestria! We will make endless amounts of changelings, enough that those precious ponies and their princess can do nothing to stop us!" she declared.
The changelings cheered, the noise echoing throughout the hive as Chrysalis smiles down at them all. She floats the crystal back towards her, as she puts the crystal safely back into the box before closing and locking it. She looks down at her guards and walks towards the stairs leading down from the balcony.
"Both of you follow me. We are going to find a safe spot for this crystal so the princess can't ruin my plans."
The guards nod and follow in front and behind her. As the changelings scatter to go back to their jobs, Chrysalis and the guards make their way outside of the hive, and into the forest. The wind blows around them, Chrysalis' mane moving with it. All three can hear the ambience of the forest around them as they travel further from the hive. As the last glance of their home disappears behind the thick foliage, one guard looks up at the queen.
"Queen Chrysalis, how far were you wanting to go to hide the crystal?"
"Do you have a problem with how far I'd like to go?" she questions, casting a glance at him.
"No, my queen. I just wouldn't want you to lose the spot-"
"YOU do not need to worry about ME losing anything!" she screamed, moving to stare directly at the guard's face.
The guard quickly nods, gulping Chrysalis, moves back upright, and continues walking. All three continued their pace down a withered trail through the forest. After ten more minutes of walking, one guards suddenly yelled as he falls down a hole that appeared on the path. Caught completely by surprise, the changeling didn't use his wings as he fell about twenty feet below. Luckily for the changeling, there was some water to catch his fall, though he still kept some minor injuries from various rocks on the way down. The other guard runs towards the hole, with Chrysalis following suit. They both look down towards the guard, as he looks up at the two and groans softly in pain.
"Are you ok!?"
The second guard says down towards the other. The fallen guard slowly stands up from the water, as Chrysalis uses her magic to send her and the second guard down into the cave where the first fell. Once down, Chrysalis and the two guards took in their surroundings. They walked ahead, following the natural trail that had formed underneath the forest floor above. A short time later, they came up on an opening in the walls leading into a larger room in the cave. Walking in, the guards watched their queen making her way towards a smooth rock structure sitting in the middle of the room. Its shape resembled that of a pedestal. The queen smiles as she reaches the structure. Bringing out the small box, she opens it to once again reveal the crystal. She uses her magic to lift the crystal into the air and place it on the pedestal.
"This is a perfect place for my crystal to be." She says, noting that the only way into the room was the entrance she and her guards had just walked from. Placing the crystal back into its box and back onto the makeshift pedestal, Chrysalis makes her way back towards the pathway, with her guards following behind her.
"The only problem is the entrance above." She noted as they made their way back to the hole leading down to the cave.
"My queen, we can cover the entrance with bushes to help make the hole camouflage, so no pony can discover it." One guard spoke up.
Chrysalis looks down at the two guards, then back up at the hole. She nods at them to allow them to make their way back up. The second guard grabs the first, and carries him, as his wings are still slightly in pain and can't be of use. Chrysalis floats up slowly after them till she exits the cave. Once out, the guards pile up leaves and downed branches to cover the hole. Chrysalis observes them for a moment, then halts them with her voice.
"That will be enough."
They nod, both throwing down the last pieces they have on their hooves. They then look over at Chrysalis, waiting for her next command. Chrysalis hums. Turning around, she walks back down the trail, her guards following behind. The three make their trek back towards the hive, knowing there are a still a few things needing to be done before the day ends.
As they travel further away from their newly found hiding spot, Chrysalis looks back and a sinister smile forms on her face. With this step now complete, she knows her latest work is steadily setting up, all according to plan.
Author's Notes
I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of Frostbite's Life! I am hoping to make this a long story, with new characters to enjoy and learn about! If you have any suggestions or questions, ask them and I'll do my best to answer them!
Thank you again for reading!