After being teleported, Chrysalis momentarily spent her time scowling at where she thought Arceus should be. The fact it meant she was looking at a tree as if it had called her fat didn’t matter. She wanted to know about what becoming a pokémon entailed, where her hive would have to make their new home, all the important things a queen needed. Instead, like she expected of anything that wasn’t a changeling, he had given her the minimum and thrown her to the wolves.

With a sigh of frustration, she looked down at herself. Arceus had said there would be no physical changes, but she needed to see it to believe it. From what her eyes told her, she still had four hooves full of holes, her chitin was still black as pitch, and her mane and tail were still that same lovely color she had known. A horn still graced her head, and wings still adorned her back. It seemed that he had told the truth, though she wouldn’t be surprised if that changed later down the line.

With her body still itself, Chrysalis took a look at the forest she had been unceremoniously dumped in. Rows upon rows of trees filled her vision for as far as her eyes could see, with various pokémon climbing or hanging off them. Most of them took the shape of worms or cocoons, the latter extremely uncanny with the way their eyes were still visible, though occasionally she would see birds flying overhead or rat-like creatures scurrying across the ground. No sign of humans for as far as her eyes could see.

That was fine, though. There was still plenty of ambient love in the air, and it would be better to build her hive's new home here instead of some city.

It was at that point that she finally noticed something, Chrysalis’ head tilting upwards as she did. Where Arceus had previously deprived Chrysalis of her connection to the hive, she now felt them, all of them. In turn they no doubt felt her, and if what her link told her was try, they were close.

Shoving her feelings towards the orchestrator of her arrival into the deepest pits of her mind, Chrysalis shot off in the direction she knew her hive was. They were rushing to her as well, neither caring as they trampled through the forest, scaring Caterpie and Ratata alike. At least those near Chrysalis only had to worry about one strange new pokémon stampeding towards them.

Some even considered a pack of beedrill better; at least they flew.

Chrysalis had no idea how far she had run before her eyes glimpsed them. With a young drone at the front, probably having only recently gotten their chitin, Chrysalis slowed as she saw a river’s worth of changelings running towards her. She braced herself, preparing herself as that young drone jumped up and hugged her. Followed by another, and another, and many many more afterwards.

“My queen!”

“The queen is alive!”

“You’re alive, my queen!”

These and many, many more reponses met her ears as she was swarmed and buried under her hive. There was no way she could hug so many at once, having neither forelegs big enough or enough legs at all for the amount of drones swarming her. It didn’t stop her from chuckling and smothering herself in their appreciation. It was only right that she showed it back, by giving them portions of the love she had taken not too long ago.

Chitters and chirps filled her ears as she did, those weak from the failed invasion gaining the tiniest bit of strength. It was only enough to make the hunger pains lessen, but with love rich in the air from all the other pokémon in the forest – and the humans that had passed minutes to hours earlier – that would become a non-issue. Soon they would be strong, and with that they could easily start building a home.

“My queen,” the young changeling from earlier, looking up at her with awe. They had never tasted so much love in their life, “where did you find all of this?”

“From creatures that hold just as much love as the ponies we had attempted to conquer,” she answered, giving them a pat on the head. The changeling chittered at the queen’s affection, leaning into the hoof lovingly. “Now, if you would all give your queen some room, she will explain what occurred.”

Everyling immediately shuffled or crawled off her, sitting their rumps onto the ground and looking at her with big, hopeful eyes. The cuteness was almost too much for her to bear, but Chrysalis was nothing if not strong of will. She would not cave and usher her drones back into a hug pile, as much as she wanted to. That could be left till they were settled in on this new world, and knew that they were on a new world at all, of course.

Clear her throat, she stood up with her head held high. “Listen closely, my ‘lings, for fate has gifted us a second chance!”

It had taken a while, mainly due to the sheer amount of questions her drones asked and how after she had to skirt around the fact she didn’t know all the details, but before long Chrysalis had her entire hive caught up to speed. They had taken the idea of being in a new world rather well, though she was not surprised by that. Her kind had been outcasts back in their original home, ostracized because the idea of feeding off of emotions was too terrifying to the creatures around them. Their home in what ponies called the badlands was not their first…

The promise that this forest could be the last time they ever had to re-settle was more than enticing to her drones.

Explaining what humans and pokémon were was much more difficult, especially when Chrysalis knew she had to look like the ‘ling with all the answers. Humans seemed easier, especially since she could acquaint them to ponies that were more willing to give food. That got a collection of excited chitters from the drones, especially the younger ones. The possibility of not even needing disguises was fascinating to them.

The more dreadful question to answer came much, much later. It had been given from that same young changeling that had led the charge to her. A young drone who had given themself the name Echo.

“What is a pokémon?”

Chrysalis had no idea how long she had stayed silent after that, but it was long enough for her drones to start muttering to each other. Her mind tried desperately to figure out some sort of explanation, but all of them were vague and incomplete. None of them would satisfy her hive, and the last thing she needed after their defeat at the hooves of that stupid pony princess was for them to question if she knew what she was doing.

Think Chryssy, think. If you don’t say something soon then they’re going to… wait, that might work!

“Fr-from what I was shown,” she said, keeping her stance regal and proud while desperately hoping none of the drones had caught her stutter, “pokémon are far more varied than humans. Some are avian, some like insects, and there are lots of them. Humans seem to get along with these pokémon, and shower them in lots of love. It’s why Arceus has made us them, instead of something like humans.”

“So it’s going to let us feed better?!” asked another excited drone. “All we have to do is befriend humans?!”

That was far simpler to answer, as all Chrysalis needed to do was nod. A chorus of cheers met her ears, smiles and happy stomps from everyling before her. Once more, the queen was nearly overcome by the sheer level of cuteness her hive displayed. She put a hoof towards her heart, smiling and holding back tears as she watched them. This might have been the happiest she had seen her hive… ever! All from a little ray of hope given by some insanely powerful creature.

As she remembered her deal with Arceus, Chrysalis shook her head and steeled her expression. She couldn’t lower her guard, not when she would have to leave them in some months. There was so much to do then, so much to prepare her hive for, and as queen of the hive that had to be her focus. She could dote and adore that hope at a later point.

“As much as your joy makes me happy, there is work to be done,” she spoke. Instantly, every drone looked back towards her, giving her their full attention. “Before we interact with these humans, we must build ourselves a home. Many of you are still with me from when we last did it. I trust you to instruct your brothers and sisters who were not, and to find a place in this forest suitable to live.”

“Will we be building it underground this time, your majesty?” another drones asked, standing at attention. It was easy to tell who they were; he had been in charge of the invasion force for Canterlot.

“Yes, Pharynx. With our new environment, that would be the easiest,” Chrysalis answered. “Somewhere that the roots will not hinder digging, yet still with enough cover to hide the entrance from those who would do us harm.”

Pharynx gave a salute, and with some chitters to the changelings around him, he took a group into the woods to fulfill his queen's desires.

Finding somewhere desirable had been easy, and before long the hive was at work. A single tunnel from the surface down underground was built, and from their Chrysalis advised where new ones went and what they led to. Once they got low enough, it was much easier to avoid the roots that riddled the upper levels of their new hive. Before the end of their first week there, what had started off small had become a series of corridors leading to chambers of various purposes. From future nurseries, places to store love, and much more.

Yet Arceus had mentioned there would be changes, even if not on a physical level. Chrysalis found out about one of those two weeks into the development of the hive, when it was nearing its completion, when she heard what sounded like an explosion in one of the chambers above her. It nearly knocked her off her hooves both from how the ground seemed to shake, and the suddenness of everything.

An attack on the hive?! She thought, snarling in rage.

Chrysalis rushed in the direction of the chamber in question, keeping her eyes peeled for any other signs of attack. She knew that things would be that simple, especially with her kind simply planted in a forest. No doubt one of those pokémon creatures had invaded in an attempt to rat out intruders from their territories.

At least, that seemed to be the case, before she arrived at the chamber where the explosion had taken place: the training area. Where she had expected to see drones fighting one of the many creatures that her drones had confirmed to call the woods home, she instead found them all staring at two drones. One had been knocked firmly onto their back, overall fine but with the wind knocked out of them, while the other stared slack jawed at their training opponent.

“How did you… do that?” the winded drone asked, stumbling back onto their hooves.

“I-I don’t know!” the other drone said, bring a hoof to their muzzle and giving it a few taps. “I’ve never done a spell like that before?”

“What kind of spell are we referring to, young ‘ling,” Chrysalis said, the crowd around the two drones easily parting to let her through. At the voice of their queen, the drone responsible for the explosion froze up. “I do believe you know that casting spells capable of rocking the entire hive are not to be cast inside of them.”

Though there was the question of how he had cast such a spell at all. While their magic had proven capable of lightly manipulating objects and other simple things since their arrival, noling had been able to produce anything as grand as they once did. Even transforming had felt more taxing, not in terms of love but something else. A new source of energy within their being, that none of the changelings yet understood beyond possible being part of what now made them pokémon.

“I-I-I didn’t mean to, your majesty, I swear,” the drone said, bowing low with their ears flat against their head. “We were training as usual, and then suddenly I felt that strange energy store up in my mouth and… then everything exploded!”

“He’s… speaks the… truth, my queen,” his opponent replied, still catching his breath. “It was some weird dark ball. I stared at it stupidly, and that led to me getting hit.”

“It does not seem to have hurt you, at least,” Chrysalis said.

“No, but it… makes me feel… exhausted,” they replied. “Like I’ve been… running the entire day.”

Chrysalis’ curiosity piqued at the statement, bringing her hoof to her chin. This was definitely one of the changes Arceus mentioned would come with being a pokémon. Even if it just tired someone out, that could prove very useful for defending the hive, and the human child when that time came.

“Do you think you can replicate it?” Queen Chrysalis asked her drone.

“I think so. It felt very distinct,” the drone replied. He looked at the drone that had been his opponent, and then back at Chrysalis. “I don’t think he can take another one though.”

“Indeed. We shall let him rest,” Chrysalis said, motioning for some of the other drones to take their exhausted sibling somewhere to rest. “We shall leave the hive as well, and find a pokémon to test it out against.”

A sudden chorus of intrigue and curiosity came from the crowd around them. Closing her eyes, Chrysalis let out a sigh.

“None of you will follow us.”

Hundreds of drones all lowered their heads, letting a simultaneous ‘aw’ echo through the training area.

Chrysalis and the lone drone searched around the forest floor, the latter sticking close to the former. They slowly trotted through the forest, looking for something to test on, though Chrysalis would prefer a pokémon. If this was an ability they had, after all, there didn’t seem a better subject to test it out on.

The problem was that, for some reason, there were no pokémon to be found. Usually the area around their hive had caterpie or weedle around it, but they had all scattered. Even the pidgey and rattata were gone! It made the forest strangely quiet, and not in a comforting way.

Did that explosion perhaps scare them off? Chrysalis asked herself.

It was certainly possible, but if that was the case she had to wonder just how loud the explosion was to begin with. She’d have to check to make sure that none of the drones present when it had occurred didn’t lose any of their hearing. That was for later, however, after they found out where the pokémon had gone.

Thankfully, while they did have to stray further from the hive than she hoped, it wasn’t too much farther. Chrysalis was the first to catch sight of the ‘mon in question, putting a hoof in front of the drone to stop them and leaving the two of them hidden behind a tree. Leaning out from behind it, she narrowed her eyes, and remembered some of what Arceus had mentioned of the human she was to guard.

Specifically, the type of pokémon that would be at his side.

Before her was a yellow mouse-like creature, smaller than both her and her drone. Brown stripes lined its back, and it had a tail that zig-zagged into the shape of a lightning bolt. Along with the long yellow and black ears, a slight turn of their body allowed Chrysalis to see red circles on each of their cheeks. They were facing away, munching on a rather delicious looking berry, and humming to themself.

“Is that the pokémon we are going to test it against?” the drone asked quietly.

Chrysalis considered it for a second, looking around to make sure that the Ash Ketchum mentioned wasn’t around. When she felt positive that this pikachu was likely not the same pikachu she would be travelling with later, she nodded to the drone. Quietly exitting from behind the tree, she gave the ‘ling with her some distance.

She fully expected him to take some time to remember exactly how he had done it. That made it a surprise when, as if it was second nature, she saw the drone open his mouth and draw upon that new energy within them. Within seconds, a strange ball of dark energy took form in their open jaw, and once it was big enough, they fired it forward.

The pikachu’s ear twitched, hearing the release of the shadow ball. They only managed to let out a yelp before the attack collided with their face.

Chrysalis could only watch in shock and amazement as that ball of energy exploded, kicking up dirt and grass. That was to say nothing of the gust of wind created from it, leading her to widen her stance ever-so-slightly, just to make sure it didn’t knock her off her hooves. Not that there was any actual danger of that, but the queen was not taking any chances.

When the dirt cleared away, they found the pikachu flat on their back, just like the drone had been earlier. Chrysalis’ eyes sparkled at the power behind the drones attack. The idea that not just they, but herself, would be capable of such feats excited her. Turning to face her drone, she gave a proud, maternal smile to them.

“Excellent, young one! It is clear that you have a natural talent for some of the changes we’ve been granted by this world,” she said. The drone smiled widely at her, unable to help but soak in every bit of praise he was receiving. “Do you think you would be capable of teaching it to your fellow changelings? Mastery of these new abilities is essential to our survival in this world, after all.”

The drone stood straight and proud, basking in the approval of his queen. “I-I’m not quite sure how I did it, but if it is your demand then it shall be done!”

“Wonderful!” Chrysalis said. “Then let us return to the hive and tell your brother and sisters the news.”

They barely managed to turn completely around when a new, far angrier voice chimed in.

“All right!” it called out. Both drone and queen halted midstep, turning back around to see that the pikachu was back on its paws… and electricity was sparky from it’s cheeks. “Which one of you two did that?!”