Queen Chrysalis (Friendship is Magic)

Queen Chrysalis is the former queen of the Changeling Empire and one of the most fearsome enemies to have ever threatened Equestria.

Origins
Over 1,000 years prior to the rule of Twilight Sparkle, the Changeling were merely a species of insect, resembling a fly of sorts. They were, however, intelligent enough to speak. The Ancestral Changeling home was a dark and dreary land, Starswirl the Bearded described the place as having "bad juju". At some point, a "kind wizard" somehow created the Changelings, Chrysalis included.

On his trip through the lands, the absent minded Starswirl the Bearded boarded up there home, laying around signs saying the place was "probably magic" and shouldn't be touched. In his attempts to board the area, he accidentally shattered a cocoon containing Queen Chrysalis. Early Changelings were shown to be disorganized and violent creatures, openly attacking one another. At some point during this time period, Chrysalis asserted herself as the ruler and would go on to rule her Changelings for the thousand years yet to come.

At some point in Chrysalis's early adventures and conquests, she visited the Crystal Empire long before the reign of Princess Amore. The land was chaotic and jagged, the crystals were not finely cut and designed but instead wild and damaged. The empire was inhabited by Umbrum, dark, horse-like demons from the Umbrum dimension, a world without light. Even Chrysalis was put aback by the sheer cruelty and wrathful nature of the Umbra. Chrysalis claimed that the Umbra burnt the homes and crushed the very dreams of the Crystal Ponies as they rampaged around the ruined cityscape.

One of Chrysalis' earliest conquests was of the city of Timbucktu, ruled over by King Orion. After disguising herself as one of the Timbucktu Royal Guards, Chrysalis led her forces to victory and successfully drained the city's inhabitants of love. Later, she posed as the fiance of Emperor Incitatus of Trot, though he later expelled her from the city after she was discovered. She and her forces managed to invade the city and conquer it anyway, but Princess Celestia and the Royal Guards of Equestria arrived to contend with them. Bearing the scars of this conflict, Chrysalis and her forces were imprisoned in a volcano after the defeat of Discord, but managed to escape by tricking and attacking the Sergio.

In search of revenge
After being expelled from Canterlot, Chrysalis and her forces ended up in "Wuvey-Dovey Smoochy Land", where they quickly conquered and drained most of the inhabitants of their love. However, Chrysalis refused to give up on her conquest of Equestria, and was now doubly determined to avenge herself on Twilight Sparkle. To that end, she had her forces invade Ponyville, though the attempted takeover was really a cover for the abduction of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. These three Chrysalis imprisoned in her new castle in order to lure the Mane Six to her lair, as she hoped to use the power boost from the passing of the Secretariat Comet to steal Twilight's magic.

While being tormented by the chatter of the Crusaders, Chrysalis enacted her plans, sending her Changelings to separate the Mane 6 into smaller groups and then sow discord among them by impersonating various members. Chrysalis was highly amused by the results, though the Crusaders attempted to demean her plan when the Mane Six started to realize the deception. In truth, Chrysalis was more concerned about crushing Twilight and her friends than their bond, and intended to conquer Equestria once the six of them had been dealt with. In an effort to silence the Crusaders, she then attacked one of the subjugated natives, though the three were quickly heartened by Twilight and the others' approach.

After making their way through a gauntlet of horrifically disguised Changelings or illusions, the Mane Six confronted Chrysalis' forces, only for all but Twilight to be quickly subdued. Seeing Twilight's power, Chrysalis offered her a place at her side, threatening to harm her friends if she refused. However, she then revealed her intent to drain Twilight of her love and then turn the corrupted Twilight on her own friends. This would prove to be Chrysalis' undoing, as Twilight-her power boosted by the comet-managed to overcome Chrysalis. She and her minions were then imprisoned in their castle by the Equestrian royal guards; they later managed to escape by tricking Twilight when she came to check on them some time later.

Further assaults
In a later bid to seek revenge on Twilight, Chrysalis would join her forces to an alliance led by Radiant Hope, with the Changelings joining in an invasion of the Crystal Empire. Chrysalis and the others were soon subdued, but then revealed that they had only been a distraction. With the Crystal Heart stolen, Hope was able to revive King Sombra, who freed Chrysalis and the others for a renewed assault. Chrysalis and Sombra soon joined forces against the arriving Celestia and Princess Luna, and their cooperation allowed Sombra to turn both princesses to stone. However, the two monarchs soon clashed, and when Chrysalis learned of Sombra's intent to release the Umbrum, she and her forces departed.

According to one account, Chrysalis later launched her own separate assault on the Crystal Empire, while also sending forces to Canterlot and Ponyville to prevent them from sending aid. Her assault on the Empire was repulsed with help from the Wonderbolts, and Chrysalis then led her forces to Ponyville. The Mane Six and Shining Armor were able to contend with her forces using the Armor of Friendship and a potion created by Princess Amore. However, it was only after using the potion to temporarily grow to his adult size that Chrysalis and her minions were routed.

Returning menace
Eventually, Chrysalis' forces captured and replaced Celestia,, Cadance, Shining Armor, the Mane Six, and Spike, with orders to collect the love of the ponies for them and share it with the rest of the hive. However, Chrysalis saw no threat in Twilight's student Starlight Glimmer, who recruited, , and the reformed Changeling Thorax to help her rescue the captives. Chrysalis was initially amused by this attempt, but was caught off guard when Thorax shared his love as she attempted to drain it, causing him to transform. Many of the other Changelings soon followed his example, and Chrysalis found her enemies freed and her former subjects no longer obedient to her will. Starlight attempted to convince Chrysalis to abandon her path of conquest and join her people in their new way of life. Chrysalis rejected this offer and fled, swearing vengeance on Starlight Glimmer.

Eventually, Chrysalis hit upon a plan to use the Elements of Harmony to enslave the Ponies in order to create a new hive for herself. To that end, she took on the form of a photographer and took pictures of each of the Mane Six, as well as stealing a hair from each of them. Using these ingredients, she enacted a spell that created evil duplicates of them, hoping that they would be able to wield the Elements in her service. However, the "Mean Six" proved treacherous, attempting to take the Elements for themselves, and Chrysalis was nearly defeated by Mean Twilight Sparkle. The Tree of Harmony destroyed the false ponies, however, and Chrysalis departed, convinced that servants were of no use to her.

She or one of her interdimensional counterparts was later seen in Princess Eris' castle in Princess Eris' dimension.

Legion of doom
Chrysalis eventually ended up alone in an isolated forest, her mental state decayed to the point where she addressed pieces of wood with Changeling faces carved on them as though they were alive. She was unexpectedly teleported from this place to an unknown location, where she encountered and Cozy Glow who had similarly been brought there. When King Sombra appeared, Chrysalis briefly believed him responsible for gathering them, only for the true culprit to appear and announce himself as. Chrysalis recognized the legendary tyrant, but was also aware of his defeat at the hooves of Gusty the Great, for which she mocked him. Despite this, she bowed to his wishes to try and form an alliance with the other villains, especially after King Sombra's solo attempt to take over Equestria ended with his demise.

Imperious as ever, Chrysalis chafed at Grogar's delay in taking action, while her other two "allies" proved more annoying than anything else. After their disagreements came to a head, Grogar ordered the trio to retrieve his Bewitching Bell from Mount Everhoof, where Gusty had hidden it after stealing it from him. Chrysalis attempted to scale the mountain herself, but ultimately realized she needed the others, saving them from an Ophiotaurus by taking the form of another such creature and then draining its love. Having bonded over their hatred of the ponies, the three worked together to reach the summit, where Cozy convinced Chrysalis to let Tirek drain her magic with the promise that he would return it. She did so, but reacted with horror upon realizing that the three were starting to become friends; she quickly put a halt to such thoughts, and convinced the others to join her in hiding the bell rather than returning it to Grogar.

While Grogar was distracted seeking an alternative power source for his plans, Chrysalis and her comrades attempted to wield the bell's power with no success. Cozy, remembering Twilight's mention of the Canterlot Archives, convinced the other two to join her in traveling there to look for information. Upon reaching Canterlot, they found Canterlot Castle under increased security and the Last Summer Sun Celebration underway. Chrysalis quickly realized that the confusion could be used to their advantage, and adopted both her Unicorn form of Crackle Cosette and the guise of a royal guard to sow dissension. She and her comrades succeeded in retrieving a book about the bell, while also noting the ease with which they had been able to cause division between the ponies.

War on Equestria
Chrysalis and her allies escalated their efforts to sow distrust between, Unicorns, and , while Tirek sought out the spell that would allow them to access the bell's magic. Having done so, the three split its magic between them, resulting in all three undergoing transformations, with Chrysalis gaining magical armor and having various features altered. In their enhanced forms, the trio ambushed Grogar as he returned from an expedition, destroying an amulet he had brought back. They then turned the Bewitching Bell's magic against him, and in the process discovered that it was not really Grogar, but Discord. After a failed attempt by Cozy Glow to master his Chaos magic-and betray her two partners-the trio returned it to the bell before setting out on their final operation.

Chrysalis made her way to the School of Friendship in Ponyville to confront Starlight Glimmer, seeking vengeance for her previous loss to the Unicorn. Starlight met Chrysalis and then teleported them both to a frigid mountain range, seeking to keep her away from the school's evacuating students. The pair then engaged in a heated contest, unleashing blasts of magic at each other as they moved about the slopes. Starlight managed to bring an avalanche down on Chrysalis, but the former queen's enhanced power allowed her to escape and stun Starlight in the process. Encasing her fallen foe in a cocoon, Chrysalis eagerly anticipated prolonging Starlight's suffering as they departed.

Chrysalis then joined Tirek and Cozy Glow in Canterlot, breaking into the throne room of Canterlot Castle and quickly overpowering Twilight Sparkle and her allies. They then revealed the extent of their plans to the beleaguered heroes, and prepared to destroy Twilight by combining their powers. However, 's interference freed Twilight, who made her escape as the others held the three villains back as long as they could. Chrysalis and her allies added them to their growing collection of prisoners, which also included Starlight and the Pillars of Old Equestria. Chrysalis was particularly gratified to enhance their cells-which she evidently produced material for-with the shards of her old throne, which had been used to reinforce the castle's security.

At Cozy Glow's suggestion that she be allowed to absorb the magic the villains had captured in the Bewitching Bell again, the trio fell to bickering. Tirek reminded them that they still had no way to control Discord's magic, and thus refused to allow the use of the Alicorn Magic taken from the Two Sisters. Discord offered to instruct them in exchange for his friends being spared, but used the ruse to break Starlight out of her cell. She swiftly freed the other prisoners, and Chrysalis and her teammates were forced to contend with her, Discord, the Princesses, and the Pillars while Twilight's closer friends made their escape. They soon defeated and reimprisoned them, only to be confronted with a new-or more accurately, very old-dilemma: the Windigos.

Chrysalis was all for allowing the Windigos to ravage Equestria before dealing with them, while Tirek insisted that they be eliminated immediately. However, the Mane Six and Spike then appeared outside Canterlot to face the villains, who opened a portal to face them once and for all. Chrysalis briefly found herself distracted by the logic-defying antics of, but realized that her friends were after the Bewitching Bell the villains had brought with them. She then attacked Rarity, whom she overpowered despite briefly being checked by the Unicorn mare and Spike. Unfortunately, Chrysalis then captured the young dragon and forced the others to surrender or see his wings torn from his body.

With their foes subdued, Chrysalis and her allies launched a joint attack to destroy them, only for a magical barrier to inexplicably appear to defend them. To the surprise of the three villains, an army of Equestria's allies-including Chrysalis' own former subjects-charged into battle against them. The onslaught caught the three off guard, but their immense power enabled them to repulse their assailants. However, Twilight prevented the trio from mounting a counterattack, and declared her recognition of the true power of the Magic of Friendship. Channeling this magic with the aid of her friends, the Pillars, and the Young Six, she unleashed it against Chrysalis and the others, who were stripped of their stolen powers.

Despite this loss, Chrysalis remained defiant, promising that she and her allies would continue to seek vengeance-only to be flattened by a giant cupcake falling out of the sky. This proved to be courtesy of Pinkie Pie, who had captured the Bewitching Bell; Discord swiftly reclaimed his magic from her and returned Celestia and Luna's. The three then confronted Chrysalis' humiliated alliance, and at Discord's suggestion cast a Stone Sleep spell upon them. Realizing what was happening, Chrysalis made a last ditch lung, but was fully fossilized before she could move far enough away. Their defeat was later covered in a story in an Equestrian newspaper.

Personality
Arguably the darkest, most wicked and most vile villain to blight Equestria, Queen Chrysalis has no qualms with killing those who oppose her to get her way. Seeming lacking any sense of a moral code, Chrysalis enjoys toying with others by subjecting them to traumatizing experiences, such as killing a kitten-bunny in front of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to send a message. She has little to no regard for life outside of her own and joyfully slaughtered entire villages by draining each villager of their "love", leaving them nothing more then dying husks. Queen Chrysalis was nearly as intelligent as she was brutal. A skilled manipulator, Chrysalis could masterfully turn the Bearers of Harmony against each other though never could ruin their friendship. In spite of her lack of morality, Chrysalis did have strong maternal instincts and was shown to be rather nurturing towards newly born Changelings.

Chrysalis does seem to have a more noble side to her which has come out on a few occasions. She seemed to be disgusted by the wanton, purposeless destruction the Umbra caused to the Crystal Empire, indicating she may hate beings who are cruel without a greater purpose.

Chrysalis did have a dark, dry sense of humor and would make quips about the situation. She did however, find the sunny demeanor of the Cutie Mark Crusaders nauseating. Queen Chrysalis would sometimes slip between a calm and level headed demeanor to one of furious anger on the dime, and held an incredibly strong, petty and self-destructive grudge against Twilight Sparkle for besting her; a grudge that only grew more vitriolic as time went on. Her hatred for Twilight was so extreme that she willingly teamed up with Radiant Hope just to have a chance at beating Twilight. Chrysalis hated anything to do with bright colors and happiness and preferred to keep herself drenched in the darkness. Chrysalis was shown to not get along with other rulers and violently clashed against Princess Luna and nearly fought with Lord Sombra, though realized that she had bigger goals instead.

Despite her defeats, Chrysalis easily became overconfident, dismissing Tirek's concerns that Twilight Sparkle could still pose a threat to them.

The Storm King
The nature of the relationship is mostly unknown, but the Storm King appears to have a crush on Chrysalis. In his diary, he wrote "loves Chrysalis" next to drawings of hearts, and the cover of his diary features both "SK" next to "QC" next to a series of hearts.

King Sombra

 * Queen Chrysalis: Don't you dare ignore me. Sombra!
 * King Sombra: I already grow tired of you. Remove yourself from my path.
 * Queen Chrysalis: I aided in your rescue! It is my army that defeated your foes! I am a Queen and you will show me the respect befitting a queen.
 * King Sombra: This seems like the perfect amount of respect for a queen of insects. A queen of vermin.
 * Queen Chrysalis: How dare you!

Attire
When she led her army in the Siege of Trot, Queen Chrysalis donned a suit of armor. Made of a bluish-green material resembling Chrysalis' own back, the armor consisted of five pieces: a boot for each of her hooves, and a combination peytral and ridged crupper piece that sat on Chrysalis' back. This piece was connected by a spiked ridge, and clasped around Chrysalis' neck with a yellow jewel for decoration; it left most of Chrysalis' back and sides exposed, allowing her wings full range of movement. The ensemble was completed by a helmet that covered most of Chyrsalis' head, including yellow lenses protecting her eyes, while only her muzzle and horn being left uncovered. A small hole at the back allowed some of Chrysalis' mane to stream out behind her in a Ponytail, and there was also an attachment point for her crown and two spikes resembling tusks jutting out on either side of her mouth.

Software
In My Little Pony: Magic Princess, the character of Battle-Armored Chrysalis is depicted in the armor once worn by the IDW version. The character’s description also references her conquest of Trot; however, she is used in the game’s story to represent Changelingverse Queen Chrysalis.