I find a large side-cavern with an entrance barely large enough for one of the pony-shaped drones to get through. "Yeah, I'm not going to crawl helplessly through that shit just to get attacked on the other end." I fold my wings carefully, bringing them up so I can examine the flexible talon that caps the main joint. "Well, I've seen these things destroy a metal door that looked like it was a good six inches thick at least. Breaking through a few rocks should be simple enough."

It is indeed simple, but it takes a while. About an hour later I break through the last bit of rock in my way, having cleared a doorway easily twice as wide as I need it to be before I even get my first look at Chrysalis. The fact that her body barely fits in the space she was given confirms my suspicions about Skrau being utterly incompetent and uncaring. The fact that half of her face is outright lacking any kind of tissue over a pony-like skull raises an emotion I never thought I would feel for any zerg; pity. Fleshy membranes stretch between her legs; legs which are too long for the space she has been given up until now and thus she is 'standing' on her knees. Despite the general emulation of a pony body in her overall shape, she has a third pair of legs set midway between the forelegs and hind-legs. The overall impression is that of an old flying zerg queen squished into a pony body. "You are the one called Chrysalis?"

I am, my Queen. I was placed in charge of overseeing the evolution of this brood, and I thus know its secrets. I see one of her legs twitch as she tries to stand, and I quickly move over to her side. "Stop. You're only going to hurt yourself if you attempt to move right now. Your legs are suffering from muscular atrophy due to not being able to move, and I doubt that any of this is going to be comfortable at all for either of us." I attempt to prove my point by manually moving the leg for her; the action eliciting a pained hiss.

Then there is no hope for me, and I must impart my knowledge of the process to you. "I never said that, Chrysalis. I know of two modifications to the basic queen strain upon which you were based, and both of them are able to move freely. The first is the simplest one to do, by turning you into a second-generation queen. The second option would grant you more freedom still by turning you into a broodmother. The second option would give you more power as well, but I would like you at my side as an adviser with experience in creating new sequences. Which do you choose?" I don't wait for a response in order to begin to heal her body as it is.

My Queen, you honor me beyond reason. I have done nothing to earn this other than survive. I roll my eyes in response, continuing to manipulate that same leg while channeling that unique healing energy for zerg into her body. "I'm not honoring you. I'm strengthening the hive by making sure to keep a vital source of information alive. For fuck's sake, call me Sarah. I'm going to regret saving your ass if you keep calling me 'my queen' every time you address me."

Chrysalis actually flinches a bit at the venom in my voice, but she doesn't argue about it. She actually stays completely silent other than a faint hiss of pain until I stand back up and beckon for her to move with me towards the enlarged opening. But...you have done nothing other than make my legs stop hurting. "So? Come on out of that cramped room already." I would, but I am still bound to the hatchery.

"Bound to the...okay, I guess even cerebrates can have fetishes for things." I step forward again, carefully moving around to examine the rest of her body as well as I'm able to do in the cramped space. "The hatchery isn't designed to just stop working if the bodies attached to it are removed, is it?" I place my hands on her side, trying to get a feeling for the rest of her body configuration, and then I draw away in disgust. "That thing had you hooked up like a fucking xenomorph queen...through the wall?"

The cerebrate was not concerned with truly effective use of assets. I believe it was corrupted by being forced to manifest through an inferior local pattern. I feel my temper flare, my nerves still a little raw after sharing in Celestia's grief. "Let's not talk about your source of local essence, ever, not when it comes to the ponies at least. I'm not going to be able to do anything to free you without you making your decision. I suggest you make it quickly."

Then I choose the second option. The title does not seem all that different from the function I currently serve anyways. This actually makes me smile, and I quickly place my hands on her side again. "Very well. This may hurt just a little bit, but the first thing I need to do is sever your ovipositor so I can fix your body without screwing anything else up."

"Sarah, the delivery came! Sarah?" Liz's voice carries and echoes, snapping me out of the trance-like state I had entered to coordinate with Chrysalis as to the best way to start changing her body. Her legs are already visibly thicker and stronger to support a body larger than she currently has, and she is twitching and pulling away from the wall slowly. Your metal pet is calling you away?

"She's my sister, Chrysalis. Family." I receive an impulse of confusion and sigh as I walk out of the room. "She's part of the brood I had before becoming zerg, and to us that is an important bond. Come on, she will want to meet you anyways." I walk off, trusting her body to hold together now with the healing and modifications, while I go back to the main entrance. I find myself surrounded by pony-shaped drones carrying stone in no time, and the crowd quickly parts around me to allow me free passage. "Hmmm, they must be working on making those changes I wanted."

I find Liz holding a large crate and looking around for a place to set it down. "Ugh, I do hope you're planning on having some places in here free of this crap, otherwise we aren't going to be able to store much of anything that isn't made of metal or stone."

"That's not going to be much of a problem. One of the first things I did was order the drones to begin constructing rooms for us. What's in the box?" My enthusiasm is curbed by the fact that I am now completely exhausted, and I can't completely stifle a yawn despite being genuinely curious.

"Books, books, more books, a tea set, tea that smells like pot is an ingredient, a green candle, and a set of simple building tools like hammers. It's been five hours and you look like you're ready to crash after a marathon of bad movies."

"I feel like I've been running a decathlon. Let's go see if at least one of those dry rooms is mostly finished, shall we?" I manage a strained smile before yawning again. "I can have Chrysalis give us a guided tour when we've both had a chance to get some rest, if her legs are up to it and she manages to pull herself away from the wall."

"Ugh! Screw this!" Liz throws one of the children's books across her room in frustration. "I need a break from trying to learn this language, and I need a way to repair myself which I still haven't figured out." She stands up and walks out, moving past her sister's room. "Maybe that Unitrix core I saw in the artifact storage room might help if it has a smart species stored..."

Author's Notes:

So, yeah, another short chapter. This was supposed to be the latter half of the previous one.
Savvy Displaced readers should know what's coming next, and who.

Oh, by the way, the shift to a complete third person perspective at the end there is intentional. There was no way I was going to write the crossover in first-person while having to switch perspective characters multiple times.