Chrysalis strode calmly down the corridor, her mind abuzz with the activity of her hive. Things were going smoothly on the building front and her special chamber was almost complete. The Queen smiled to herself and moved her head slightly to the side to allow a mostly mindless drone to fly past her on its way to the nursery with a small bit of love stored in the chiten around its mandibles.

She continued down the stone hallway for a time before her wings flared open and she sprang upwards into the hive’s complex inner space. With a few easy fluid motions the Queen avoided a few more of the drones along with an operator or two who nodded respectfully as they passed.

The passageway was lit from above by a green light, refracted thousands of times by a glasslike material that was formed through a combination of sand and changeling saliva and the tunnel itself had been laboriously carved and shaped from the ground up from a similar material. Each and every passageway had a purpose, and every one of those purposes served the Hive itself.

It was a beautiful system, far superior to any ‘earth pony architect’ or ‘unicorn city planner’ could ever think up and that made Chrysalis smile. Soon she would strike down the vile rulers of Equestria, enslaving Celestia and Cadence to be her personal bottomless supply of love while she dispossessed of the dragon Prince and Luna.

The rest of Equestria would fall without the support of its leaders and then she Chrysalis would without a doubt control the strongest and most expansive of all the Hives. Oh, she couldn’t wait until it came time to enact her plan it would be-

“Your Majesty, I hate to interrupt your thoughts, but something is required of you,” a feminine voice said from beside her. Chrysalis blinked twice as she drew herself out of her thoughts and turned to see one of her operators flying easily beside her. The operator was graceful and lithe, a short mane of pink hair fluttered around her head and a matching tail emerged from her rear end. It took Chrysalis a moment to think of the operator’s name, she may have only employed twenty or so of them, but it was still a bit of a challenge.

“Ah, your name is Reflection, that’s right,” Chrysalis murmured as the name returned to her before adding. “What business must I attend to? I have already informed each of the drones what their task is and I’m sure that you know your own assignment.”

“I do, and as do they,” Reflection said as she gracefully landed at the entrance of the corridor Chrysalis had been moving towards. Chrysalis frowned as she attempted copy the motion, only partially succeeding. Having played a model for so long may have made Reflection a bit too elegant for her tastes, the Queen would have to see how irreplaceable she was later.

“Then what could it possibly be?” Chrysalis inquired iritibly.

“Your elder sister is approaching, your Majesty,” Reflection answered humbly. “It was believed that you would appreciate being forewarned.”

Chrysalis blinked in surprise and then frowned deeply. “Which one of my older sisters?”

“Queen Aurora, your Majesty,” Reflection answered as the pair began to walk. “She sends her greetings, salutations, and demands an audience with you.”

“She would...” Chrysalis growled to herself. “Very well, I’ll meet her in the usual place then.”

“Very good, your Majesty,” Reflection said before her wings fluttered and she took off, heading back the way she’d come.

Why in Equestria would she be coming to visit? Chrysalis wondered to herself as she stalked angrily down the tunnel, changing paths after several feet and heading upwards. It took her only five minutes to get to her destination, and within that time she had prepped her ‘royal mask’ so to speak.

Chrysalis emerged into a room near the top of the Hive. It was a room of windows and columns while a single large balcony opened from the back. Her eldest sister already there, Of course she is.

Chrysalis’ eyes would have narrowed hatefully upon her sister if not for the time she’d just spent molding her face into a picture of calm. Aurora was everything that she wasn’t.

A well groomed mane of golden hair was tied back in a single flowing tail that descended down her smooth back like a wave of treasure. Her eyes were large and compassionate enough to hide the very sharp wit hiding beneath them and her form in and of itself was alluring.

Aurora’s chiten was a smooth teal and looked almost soft to the touch, unlike the shell of a normal changeling. More than that, she was... plump and waspish atop her beautifully segmented legs. Not at all like Chrysalis’ own thin, spindly figure which was balanced upon hole filled limbs. Aurora’s wings were folded neatly against her back, but even there Chrysalis could see their distinct glistening surface.

“Chrysalis, my dear little sister, how good it is to see you,” Aurora said as she stepped forwards and gave Chrysalis a nuzzle. “You’re looking very well.”

“Thank you, sister,” Chrysalis replied, hardly managing to keep her voice even as her sister mocked her. “You are looking as resplendent as ever.”

“Why thank you,” Aurora responded with a wide smile, displaying two barely noticeable fangs amongst what looked like a sea of velvet. “Your Hive seems to be prospering.”

“Well enough, I imagine yours is much the same,” Chrysalis said before a small insincere smile spread across her face. “So sister, what brings you to my humble Hive?”

“The Equestrian matter,” Aurora answered casually. “You see, I have been in the midst of negotiations with Celestia to ensure a lasting peace between our races.”

Chrysalis’ mask shattered and she stared at Aurora in surprise, rage quickly joining it. “What!?” she demanded.

“I’m suing for peace,” Aurora replied smoothly, as if her sister hadn’t just made a strangled noise that could have broken glass. “I do not wish to see a war between our kind.”

Chrysalis stared angrily at her sister. “Why not? They embarrassed me! Killed my children! Killed me! I’ve been expecting you to send word that you would aid me in my eventual counter attack! Instead I learn that you’re going to stab me in the back!”

“I’m hardly stabbing you in the back,” Aurora countered, her voice still smooth and precise. “I am acting for the good of our species. Also, whatever were you expecting to happen attacking their capital city and kidnapping Celestia’s daughter?”

“I was expecting to win!” Chrysalis raged. “And failing that, to have the support of my family there to help me.”

“Chrysalis... changelings are not meant for war,” Aurora said slowly, as if explaining the concept to a child. “True, we are not fragile creatures, but our best assets are our stealth, our deceit, our intelligence, and above all else, our tact. You have acted without using any of those assets and thus failed not only yourself, but your sisters. I am sorry that this has happened to you, but you brought it upon yourself.”

Chrysalis’ eyes glared into her sister’s golden orbs and a low hiss built in her throat. “GET OUT!” she roared. “GET OUT OF MY HIVE BEFORE I KILL YOU MYSELF, YOU INSUFFERABLE-”

“Hush,” Aurora stated simply, a wave of power flowing through her voice. Without meaning to or wanting to, Chrysalis’ jaw snapped shut. “I was not finished my explanation,” Aurora explained calmly, her voice like honey, clogging Chrysalis’ throat and preventing her from speaking. “As I was saying, we are going to be entering into an alliance with Equestria and if any of the Hives breaks it, the penalty will be the total destruction of said Hive and the death of its queen. No spare bodies, no mind link to another sister, no nothing. Only death.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed and her jaws worked together as she tried to release the rage boiling inside of her. Unfortunately, she could not.

“I’m done, have a wonderful rest of the day, little sister,” Aurora said cheerfully, walking past Chrysalis and giving her a kiss on the cheek as she did so. Then she opened her incandescent wings and took flight from the edge of the balcony.

Chrysalis stared after her for a long moment and then let out a scream of rage and her hoof lashed out and crashed through the floor. Then she did it again, and again, and again. When she was finally finished, the floor in front of her had been reduced to chunks of rubble. The Queen turned her back on the floor and began to stalk back the way she had come. It seemed that if she wanted her plan to work, she would have to accelerate its pace. Then Aurora would see... her and the rest of her sisters.

Author's Notes:

Hope you guys didn't mind the shortness, but I figured it stood on its own well enough

Also BlackWindinSocks has created a Sarah Build if you