As the sun began to rise, Flurry Heart lead Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow to the balcony to watch. It was the first time it was rising on its own, as Princess Twilight Sparkle had fixed and automated the Sun and Moon watch from when she first was put in charge of raising them. Twilight was always advanced in more than just magic, but machinery as well, and much like the Mirror Portal she'd managed to combine the two concepts.
It wasn't long before she and Princess Cadance joined them, both not wearing their royal accessories. Queen Chrysalis asked why, and they merely stated that they didn't need to wear it all the time.

" … So, how has hanging out with Flurry Heart and Cozy Glow been? " Twilight asked, making sure to check up on the trio- after all, the Queen was more relaxed than she'd ever seen her.
" It's been… Bearable. " Queen Chrysalis admits hesitantly. " Not as bad as I thought… Quite frankly, I don't want to end up all rainbow and colorful like the rest of my su— I mean, the Changelings. "
" You don't have to, you know. " Cadance chimes in, getting Chrysalis' attention.
" I… Don't? " She asked in surprise.
" Yeah! The Crystal Empire is really close friends to the Changeling Kingdom, so we've been working together to learn just how they changed!" Flurry Heart excitedly began to explain. "As it turns out, it was just because they wanted to change their ways and accept friendship more than anything, and that changelings do have the ability to stay the way they were if they want to! "
" Oh good, honestly, I like Chrysalis the way she is! She doesn't need to change for no-pony! " Cozy Glow giggled.

Chrysalis paused, thinking to herself. If she doesn't have to change who she is or what she looks like, then… Maybe Friendship isn't as bad as she thought. Chrysalis wants to be herself, she doesn't want to have to change, so knowing that she doesn't have to rainbow-ify like the other changelings? Then maybe, just maybe, she'll give it a shot.

" … Fine, maybe friendship isn't TOO bad. It still isn't the best thing ever, but… "
" Friendship isn't all there is, Chrysalis. " Twilight smiled softly. " Believe me, friendship can be hard, but things can be a lot harder without it. "
" We'll get Tirek back, and then we can be a team again! It'll be fantastic! " Cozy Glow grinned.
" Okay, okay, enough with the sappy stuff, can we get back to the sunrise? " Chrysalis complained.
" Of course. " Flurry Heart smiled.

Maybe friendship could be worth a shot. You can be a better person without changing your identity, after all.

Metamorphosis Storyline — End

—-

I wanted to make Chrysalis change like the other changelings, but then I had a thought. What if she doesn't? You shouldn't have to change to blend in. So, the story ends here. Queen Chrysalis remains as she is, though accepting friendship more now and trying not to eat love. Maybe she has those sparkly wings that Thorax had pre-rainbow now, but that's about it. What will she do now? Who knows, maybe another Changeling hive will arise, though this one not as brutal as the last but also not as colorful as the current one… To be fair, I also just really like the designs of the changelings before they got rainbowed, so they get to still exist but also not be entirely evil at the same time.
And yes, the automatic clock was something I took from one of Sawtooth Waves' theory videos, I just think it's neat and makes sense in-universe.