Catalyst

“Did you REALLY think you could just stumble into Equestria and immediately be welcomed into the warm hooves of the ponies?”

Queen Chrysalis circled around you, hooves clacking loudly on the cave floor. You look around desperately, towards the cave entrance, but it’s now sealed over with some sort of green goo.

“Perhaps if you were lucky enough to materialize in Canterlot, you’d already be an adorable little mare, cavorting and carefree.” Chrysalis chuckled.

You scan the cave walls, for any sign of escape. In between the pulsing, strangely organic parts, thousands of lamplike, unblinking blue eyes watch you. A low-level buzzing seems to emanate from all around.

“Luckily for me, you happened to materialize in the midst of the Badlands. And now, I have a new plaything~”

You make a break for it, running in the opposite direction of Chrysalis. The myriad blue eyes follow your progress, but don’t react. Chrysalis herself merely laughs, the horrible sound echoing all around. With a sudden WHOOSH, she flies straight past, twirls around, and lands directly in front of you. Your face smashes into the hard chitin of her breast and you crumple to the floor.

“Tut tut, little… huuuu-man, was it? As my guest, I can’t have you hurting yourself. Not when I have such LOVELY things planned for you.”

As you try to clear your head, Chrysalis smothers you in something wet and warm. It surrounds your body, a gently pulsing and fleshy sack. A… cocoon? Then a bright green jelly-like acidic goo pours in, dissolving your clothes in seconds, and you cry out as you feel it beginning to eat away at your flesh. Crying out was a mistake, though, because the goo seeps into your mouth, quickly gurgling away your screams and spreading the burning to your lungs.

You watch in horror as your flesh dissolves away, sloughing off in chunks, leaving raw muscles exposed. The green goo seeps into your every pore, every orifice, spreading the acidic fire throughout your entire body. It feels like you’re being digested. You think you’re going to pass out in pain at any second, but it never happens. From just beyond the semi-opaque walls of the cocoon, a pair of green luminescent eyes watches you intently.

***

It’s been several hours now… or has it been days? You’ve lost all sensation of time in here. It feels like you’re back in the womb. The jelly surrounding you seems to have grown thin, weblike veins which run from the walls of the cocoon into your flesh.

The pain has dulled, although your eyes are red and bloodshot. Looking down at your body, which seems to have shrunken, your exposed flesh is being covered in something black and hard and shiny. Watching closely, you can almost see it imperceptibly creep across your body, slowly encasing you.

You try to poke at it with your fingers, only to discover you don’t have fingers anymore. They’ve dissolved away, leaving only a club-shaped protrusion where your hand used to be. Its edges have turned hard and bony, just like…

Hooves.

Your mutilation makes you furious. You paw uselessly at the skin of the cocoon, screams drowned out by the goo. Chrysalis smiles widely, white fangs glinting in the light of her eyes.

***

The black chitin has almost completely encased your body now, squeezing and straining your organs into a strange new form. You briefly marvel at the twisted horn protruding from your forehead, the strange holes through your limbs. You feel something itching and flittering on your back, a pair of wings.

But the changes to your body can only briefly keep your interest. What commands your attention now is Queen Chrysalis’ eyes. You can’t stop staring at those brilliant green deadlights. They seem to pierce the cocoon walls, your flesh, your mind, your soul. They’re… they’re the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.

No! You shake your head and clamp your eyes shut. Remember, those gorgeous… HIDEOUS eyes belong to the monster that did THIS to you! You curl up in a fetal ball and resolve to maintain your willpower. You won’t let her win!

***

The eyes are in your dreams, too. You try to hide, but they are always there, watching you.

Suddenly, you are jostled awake by your cocoon shaking. Looking around, you see Chrysalis has torn a hole in the top. You gaze up lovingly at her sleek black body, wanting to be held and caressed by her, vaguely realizing that something is wrong with that urge. Then, an amber liquid pours in through the hole, mixing with the natal goo. It tastes sweet. You curl up again and let the warm pulsing of your womb lure you back to sleep, back to the eyes.

***

You’re changing again. Your limbs are growing longer, your body is growing larger, your wings longer. You feel more powerful, and more haughty. When you look around, the blue changeling eyes in the distance seem to lower themselves a bit, in respect.

A few strands of raggedy pink hair float across your vision. Hair? Changelings don’t have hair, do they?

Unless…

You feel around on top of your head, and surely enough there’s a small sprout of growth. It feels like an anemone, four tentacles with bulbous ends.

A crown.

***

Your metamorphosis is complete. You know this, intrinsically. And your beloved mother is waiting.

You chew through the cocoon walls easily with your sharp fangs. As the natal goo mixed with royal jelly sloshes to the floor, you emerge from your chrysalis, wet and glistening. You pump the air with your wings, letting your ragged pink hair flutter in the breeze, and slowly descend to the floor. Queen Chrysalis stands before you, and you kneel.

She gently runs her hoof along your jaw, raising you to your feet. You quiver with pleasure at her touch.

“My new Princess.” she coos. “My new Princess… Catalyst.”

You relish the new name, nuzzling up against your mother. She wraps one foreleg around you affectionately. Chrysalis chuckles softly.

“Yes, your birth will strengthen us greatly, Princess Catalyst. But Equestria still has four princesses, and our royalty numbers only two. We will need more.” She gazes at you intently. “Are there any more humans in Equestria?”

“Not that I know of,” you reply. “But I know where we can find more.” You tell her about the Crystal Mirror, the human world. She can barely contain her glee.

“Ohohoho, yes, EXCELLENT! Thousands of helpless hu-mans just waiting to be harvested. My dear daughter, your first task will be to invade this world, and bring me back an army. And together,” she holds you close, “we will finally bring Celestia to her knees!”

Your cackling laughter mixes with hers and the harsh buzzing of thousands of changelings, echoing off the cave walls, reverberating back to your ears as a deafening roar.