Flip. *Sssssssss.* Flip. *Ssssssssssss.*

My burger patty flipped on the grill, causing it to sizzle. The aroma filled the air. I stared at it, my mouth drooling in anticipation.

Chrysalis had told me once that changelings have almost no sense of taste; the little that they could often disgusted them. They still need physical food to build and sustain their bodies, but eating is not an enjoyable experience for them. I had the misfortune of discovering that she was correct, to an extent. It turns out that meat does not taste bad. In fact, if it is still bloody and barely cooked, it tastes fantastic.

After two weeks of lame food, I find myself standing by the grill, waiting for the heat to clean my meat before I devour it. No bun, no toppings or condiments or seasonings, just bloody beef. I can feel my mouth watering at the thought.

[Hey, Chrysalis! I found something tasty! And you can't have any!] I taunted her. Levitating the burger patty off of the grill, I bit into it, savoring the flavor. A thought crossed my mind. I concentrated on the flavor and scent and willed Chrysalis to experience it.

In the changeling hive, Queen Chrysalis had her face buried in another one of the military books that William had sent her. It was a training manual for spies. Though she and her hive already knew most of that information from experience, It served as a nice refresher and alternate perspective on the act.

Her stomach grumbled. She had not eaten lunch yet, despite the late hour. 'Mushrooms again... *Blech*...' she thought to her self.

[Hey, Chrysalis! I found something tasty! And you can't have any!]

Chrysalis was suddenly overcome by a smell and taste completely new to her. She had never experienced anything like it in her 1600 years of life, and she liked it. In fact, she liked it so much in comparison to the horrid mushrooms that she would claw her way to his universe to get a bite. Chrysalis's stomach rumbled in agreement.

[What was that?!] she thought. This was one of the few times in her life that the queen could remember being envious of another. She just wished that she could SEE into his world, to REACH through the wall that separated them.

As her heart filled with desire, the air in front of her began to crack. Then it split open.

The changeling Queen stumbled back, startled by the appearance of a hole in reality. She knew this to be true because she could see William through it. For the first time, the creature she had only seen through months of dreams now sat opposite a window that had no right to exist.

'What. The. Hell.' I thought. I was sitting and enjoying my meal when the wall split open. Across the gap stood a very bemused Chrysalis, who was accompanied by a few of her changelings. The caverns behind her glittered, shining stones embedded in the walls and a green luminescent fungus growing on the roof of the room.

"Chrysalis?" I asked.

She blinked, then nodded. "Did I do this?" She wondered aloud.

'Dear god, her voice! It sounds even stranger in real life than it does in the dreams,' I thought to myself.

Chrysalis, her curiosity getting the better of her, kicked a loose stone on the ground, It rolled through the crack without any difficulty. I scooped up the stone, amazed at this development. I pocketed the stone and walked up to the portal. I tried to walk through, but my face slammed against something solid. Clutching my sore nose, I scowled at Chrysalis's mirth. I put my hand up to the crack, only to find that it has stopped. It felt like there was a sheet of glass blocking my way. Chrysalis walked up to the crack; a tap of her hoof confirmed that she too was blocked from crossing.

"So... What is this? Was that just a freak incident with the pebble, or is it just the two of us who can't cross this... thing?" The confusion was evident in my voice. "How did this happen, anyway?"

"I do not know. I was overcome by that flavor you tortured me with. I wanted to eat some of that myself; I had to get to it. Then this portal just appeared," she said. I expected her to continue, but she didn't. Instead, her horn lit up and MY plate was enveloped in her aura and floated over to her. It passed through the portal with ease. Chrysalis grabbed my burger and bit into it. A smile crossed her face as she moaned in pleasure. The changelings around her also moaned, caught up in the pleasure spreading through her hive mind. "What is this wonderful dish?" She asked, her mouth still filled with my food.

"That. Was. My. Burger. Cow's meat, if you must know." The disgust was evident on her face. Over a thousand years of living as an herbivore cannot be good when you suddenly find meat delicious. Chrysalis didn't gag, despite her revulsion to what she just ate.

One of the changelings next to her, spoke up. "King William," he said, referring to my status as a royal changeling, "Do you remember me? I'm Reflection."

"Reflection? Ah! It's good to see you! Thanks so much for saving my life. How are you? Did Chrysalis reward you for your efforts?" I asked at a rapid fire pace.

"You're very welcome," the changeling said. A bashful blush appeared; he/she was obviously embarrassed by the admiration. "My Queen did indeed reward me. My vacation to Las Pegasus was very fun. The Queen, in her generosity, gave me a thousand bits to spend there, and I came out of the casinos with a profit!"

"Wow. That takes some good luck. Congratulations," I said.

"Umm, I was wondering," Reflection paused. Her feet shuffled forwards to the edge of the portal. “Umm, could I… have some meat, too?” The changelings surrounding her had mixed reactions to his/her request. Some started drooling as well, while others looked away in disgust. Those who looked elsewhere soon turned back; the smell of the meat overpowering their initial reaction. Chrysalis herself looked mildly disturbed by Reflection’s request.

“Uhh.. Sure,” I said, tossing him/her the other burger patty. S/he bit into it; her expression matched Chrysalis’s original expression on the first bite. “Oh, my magic!”

“What? What happened?” Queen Chrysalis asked.

“It replenished! Only a teeny-tiny bit, but it did! The meat gave me magic!” The other changelings, excited by the prospect of a delicious food that could also restore magic, rushed towards the portal. The closest one tried to stop, but was pushed through by its excited comrades behind it.

‘It seems that only Chrysalis and I can’t cross.’

“Hey! Back off!” I cried, now surrounded by hungry changelings. They reluctantly complied, but their excitement was still plastered on their insectoid faces. “I don’t have any more! Your queen and Reflection ate my whole lunch! Go back through the portal.” The disappointed bugs hung their heads and returned to their queen. “I’ll get you more, but feeding you won’t come cheap…”

Chrysalis spoke, “Despite my aversion to the idea, If my changelings want it, then I suppose I should figure out how to fund you for the meat.”

“We’ll figure something out. But, if I’m going to make a buck doing this, the it will be a pleasure doing business with you,” I spoke, giving a slight bow in the process.

The queen turned to her desk, where her unfinished book lay. As she did, the rift closed behind her. ‘I really need to learn how that works,’ I thought to myself.

They say practice makes perfect, and in this case, ‘they’ would be right. A few minutes of practice lead me to finding out that I can open a portal whenever I will it into existence. It is only a fraction harder than the snap-flash that I usually use to send thing to Chrysalis. I learned a few thing from my experimentation. First, the portal opens when you want it and closes when it’s no longer needed. What defines ‘no longer needed,’ I don’t know. At least it stays open as long as I do need it. Second, I can move my end of the portal with a gesture of my hand. This includes changing the size. He end stays put regardless of how I move mine. And thirdly, I discovered this one by accident; The portal’s edges are wickedly sharp. I’ll need a new table, as the corner of it is now sitting on the floor in Chrysalis’s office.

“Could you please stop with the portals? They are distracting me from my work,” the queen grumbled.

“Awwwww, come on! You have to admit this –“ I was cut off by the portal slamming shut. “–is really cool,” I finished, although she could not hear it. ‘So, she can close my portals. Good to know. Now, I need to make lunch again… damn.’

Chrysalis strode into the dining hall in the changeling cavern’s common area. The mood in the room was unusually sour. In fact, most of the changelings were only frowning. Their hooves only pushed the glowing fungus around their plates.

“I want meat…” some changeling spoke.

“Meat…”

“Why do I have to eat mushrooms?”

“Meat. Delicious meat…”

The complaints followed Chrysalis across the room. Her head hung lower as the infectious mood took its toll. She sat down at the table, awaiting her plate of fungus.

"..."

Her head jerked up, eyes wide. Had she really just heard that? She listened carefully to as many conversations as she could, her mind searching the hive for the speaker.

“I mean, really. Why can’t we just eat the ponies?”

There it was. She had heard it correctly. Know knowing what was said, she searched the hive mind for the memory of the speaker. Changeling #732983 said it. Chrysalis called out his number. The changeling, startled by his queen, jumped.

“Y-y-yes your majesty?” it asked.

“What was that about eating ponies?”

“Ummm… well… umm… I heard that the meat King William gave was really tasty. I thought that, well, we already feed on the emotions of ponies, so why not their meat too? Sometimes, one of the cocooned ponies dies and we just toss the body into the river. But what if we ate it? Share it among the hive? Even just a taste would be so much better than the mushrooms we eat…”

“I see your point. Although I personally am against the idea, this concerns the well being of the hive. I shall ask the hive for their opinion.” Chrysalis’s crown lit up as she finished speaking. <<Attention, my children. Would you be willing to eat pony meat if it supplemented the mushrooms?>> she asked her hive. The hive mind exploded with a resounding yes. The few no’s she got came from converts, as expected; however, their opinion hardly weighed in against the support for her proposal. The queen sighed, accepting her children’s desires, <<So be it. Meat is food. Cocooned ponies who die are to be served in the mess hall with the mushrooms. Pony meat served in the hive is food. This information is never to be shared with any non-changeling.>> Her command altered the very subconscious of the hive mind, making the command an intrinsic part of her changelings’ psychology.

Chrysalis's heart weighed heavy, knowing that she had taken another step away from the pony she had been oh so long ago, before Discord had taken it all away.

Author's Notes:

*Ding* Have a chapter.
No, this story has nothing to do with my other story involving meat eaters. This chapter's idea came first.

Oh, FYI: although this isn't part of the story, Changelings only like meat because they got bound to a meat fanatic from another universe. This is William's influence on the MLP universe.

I plan to start focusing more on Chrysalis as this story progresses. My whole third section of this story will focus on the Canterlot Wedding. About 7 chapters for two episodes!

(edited 12/21/2013)