The wind blasted through Chrysalis's mane and whistled through the holes in her legs as she soared through the air. Her eyes slowly moved over the world far below her, gazing with hatred at the happy lives below her. She tried her hardest to take flight, to force her wings to work, but she was hopelessly paralyzed.
The color of the world below her was traumatically beautiful, she thought. Never once in her life had she thought anything was beautiful, at least not without tying it to her own conquests. No... this was different. She realized perfectly that she had failed.
She knew she wouldn't survive the fall.
Everything went in slow motion as she continued to soar over the world, no longer a welcomed resident of it. She helplessly watched as the colors slowly dissipated behind her, replaced quickly by a bland, dark landscape. It was southern Equestria, a place worse than the Everfree Forest. Not a single soul lived there, for it had no natural resources of which to live off of.
As she began to descend to the world below, she couldn't help but feel it was where she belonged. It was dark, uncaring... just like her. At least in her final minutes, she could be in a place she could relate to. As the ground came nearer, she closed her eyes and let the wind whisper a final lullaby as she came crashing down.
For what seemed like hours, she fell downwards with her eyes closed. Knowing her end was near wasn't easy, but at least she could know. And what a way to go, she thought.
CRASH!
Her body exploded in pain as she hit the ground hard enough to leave a large indent in the ground. She cursed her luck as she realized she was indeed alive. Slowly, she opened her eyes and felt a sense of dread. Before her, on the ground, was a splatter of neon green goo, her blood. She still tasted it heavily in her mouth and was aware that it was seeping out slowly from multiple sections of her body.
Strangely, she didn't feel any pain anymore. She was aware that she couldn't move, but at least she didn't have to feel it. Her mane shifted lightly in the wind. It was a mess, much worse than she ever could remember it being. Why that mattered to her at a time like that, she didn’t know. But if she could focus on something else, anything, then she would take it.
Her eyes continued to look around at her surrounding as she waited for her ultimate end. The land around her was dark, depressing almost, even to her. The sky above was gray, not anything like it was further north. This was a land perfect for her, for the evil that lie within her heart.
Her wings moved slowly in the wind, indicating a slight breeze that swept through the rough canyon she lied within. She wanted so badly to roll over and gaze into the sky, something she used to do when she plotted to invade Equestria. It gave her clear thoughts, gave her the ability to search her inner soul, no matter how corrupted it was.
She didn't regret anything.
The life she had lived up to that point was her destiny, the rail she was meant to roll upon until her final stop. She had lived with the knowledge that she would never know a happy life, that this was her destiny. It was painful, now that she thought about it. Maybe, as she thought on her death bed, maybe she did have regrets. There was a fear of death in her, a growing fear of leaving the world behind.
She didn't know what lied after.
Even though she was completely paralyzed, she was aware of a single tear creeping from her eyes, something that hadn't happened for as long as she could remember. She never accepted pain, fear... nothing that tied her at all to the ponies she grew up hating.
She stared ahead as something floated down and landed on a gray flower in front of her. It was something green... a green fire, she thought. As she stared, she realized that is exactly what it was. As the fire began to die down, another landed next to it. She slowly became aware of a slight burning on her body, followed by a realization that she could move her hooves. Slowly, her entire body became un-paralyzed, which brought unbearable pain, but also a sense of happiness.
Rolling over onto her back, she gasped. The entire sky was lighted up with green. Thousands of embers floated through the sky, flying carefree towards the ground around her. She ignored the pain that encompassed her entire body as she looked at the splendor above her. It was beautiful, she thought inside. But the beauty faded as she remembered what they were, what they meant.
A pain inside of her chest erupted, not from the trauma on her body, as she realized they were the faded bodies of her changelings. As they rained down around her, she couldn't help but feel a great sorrow. They were her children in a sense, and a single loss never affected her. But as thousands of them rained around her, she could feel tears falling freely from her eyes.
They had all died because of her. They all were soon to fade into nothingness because she couldn't stay away from Equestria. It was her fault, and the world kept her alive long enough to see it and realize it.
The world around her turned neon green as hundreds upon thousands fell all around her. Magical fire warmed her body as they settled onto the ground around her. She reached out to one, despite the pain, and touched it. As soon as her hole filled hoof made contact, it faded and only a small pile of ashes remained. And even they didn't remain long. Her eyes trailed the ashes as they floated away, fading a final time into the air.
The pain in her chest grew even more as she watched her children fading away all around her. She had brought every single one of the changelings with her, sure that they would succeed. She could have never thought she would be defeated by love... but that was her fault. And because of one simple mistake, she had killed every one of her children.
There would be more in time. Changelings couldn't be killed off... but that wasn't what hurt her. She had raised each and every one of the changelings in some way or another, always caring about each of them. And now she was forced to watch as they faded from the world.
She could close her eyes, avoid seeing them fade... but she felt that would be an insult to them. They only lived to serve her; they never really had freedom from her. As she looked upon them, she realized she did indeed have regret. Regret that they never had a real chance to live. No matter what she did, they served her with unfaltering faith, because they didn't understand that they could have freedom.
The sky continued to blaze with green embers as she looked up. She never knew how many changelings there were, but she was sure there was at least a hundred-thousand. As they continued to fall around her and down the entirety of the canyon as far as she could see, she wished only that there was a life afterwards where they would be free.
A smile came over her face as another ember landed on the flower in front of her. As it burned, she could see it only as its soul. Weakly, she whispered an unheard regret to the ember as it faded. When it was gone, Chrysalis was sure it had moved onto another life, far away from her. Hopefully, none of them would ever have to serve on such as her again, free to find their own path.
The smile stayed on her face even after the ember had burned out. As the ashes floated into the air, the feeling in her chest, the pain now a warm feeling, blazed brighter than all of the embers in the sky. As she turned back over to look up into the sky, she thought of a simple thought.
"Love...? Ridiculous..." she thought, sure that one such as herself wasn't capable of it. No... she wasn't worthy of it. Having fed off of love for so long, combined with the life she was dealt, she was sure she could never be able to feel it, to ever be worthy of feeling it.
But as she watched thousands of her children, the only things she ever cared about, she thought she did feel it. Her heart pumped happily as she remembered the faces of her children, of memories from when she was smaller. Back then, she was carefree... never worrying about leading anything. As she thought back to those times, she wondered if she had indeed felt love before.
There was a single incident from before she could even remember that came back to her in that moment, from a time when she was but a little changeling, even before she knew she was to grow and become their queen.
It was in her homeland, a world away from Equestria. Her caretakers, parents as they were known in the pony world, were showing her how to feed off of love from small woodland creatures. They had left her there, telling her that the best way to learn was to do it herself. Within only a few minutes, she had successfully fed upon the love of two foxes.
Immediately afterwards, she became aware of a green glow coming from within the woods nearby. Curious, she entered them.
In a small clearing, a large collection of green embers were there. At that time, she didn't understand how a changeling died, so she simply thought it was a magical fire. At least, she did until she saw a single changeling lying in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the embers.
She could barely remember the changeling coming to her, looking her in the eyes and whispering something. Something about him was different from most other changelings... his eyes didn't show the hunger for love that every other changeling's did.
When he had left the clearing, she could remember that he too had faded into a green ember. Now, as she thought back to that day, she could remember feeling sadness for the changeling as well as the dying embers in the clearing. For that moment, she remembered that she was painfully aware of a feeling of love.
Why she remembered such a strange thing, she never would know. As she came back to the world of pain she was currently in, she could see that the entire canyon as far as she could see was illuminated with green embers, the very souls of the changelings she had cared for. For once, she didn't see them as changelings... she saw them as free souls, free from her control.
And she loved that they had that chance.
She loved them all.
Her vision blurred as a river of tears escaped from the failing floodgate in her eyes as she realized how terrible of a living being she had been. Only an hour ago, she was willing to take love from an entire country of ponies, living creatures she hated simply because she had been told to. Now, as she looked down the canyon of souls, she wanted nothing more than to see how they saw life. To feel love and cherish it.
But she knew it would never happen. And that was alright with her, as long as her changelings had that chance. And she was sure, even if there was no life after, that they indeed would.
Looking back up at the now graying night sky, the embers nearly having cleared the sky, she felt a sense of peace. Soon, she would no longer bring misery to the world anymore. History would repeat itself and there would be another queen, but she herself would never be a cause for sadness ever again.
As the last ember faded from the sky, she turned and looked down both paths of the canyon. Still, the entire canyon was greener than the grass in Ponyville. She couldn't help but feel they were there, waiting for her to come with them. And she was ready, but first, she wanted to apologize.
Putting all pain aside, she shifted to her stomach and forced herself up. Both her left front leg and her rear right leg were hopelessly shattered, but she still managed to walk to a large rock in the center of the canyon and stand proudly on it.
"My dear changelings..." she weakly started, a splatter of blood flying from her mouth as she coughed. "I... I ruled over you all... with an iron hoof. I..." she tried to continue, but fatigue took her over. Despite all attempts to remain upright, she fell onto her stomach and looked forward. "I was wrong. Love... it's meant to be felt. I w-won't be going with you. Be free, my changelings... and if... if there is another life, feel love... and forget me," she finished, her voice a weak whisper.
Her vision darkened slowly as the embers all began to fade away like lights, lives shutting off. Within only a few minutes, the entire canyon was dark, save for a small circle around her. She gazed with a smile as they slowly faded, until only one remained. It was then that she remembered what that changeling all those years ago had whispered to her in that clearing.
"Be free," she whispered, repeating what the changeling had said to her. With a single exhale, she blew the ember out and smiled. Her vision now dark, mostly from the lack of light, she rolled over onto her back and smiled at the heavens. Even though her body was mostly numb by then, she became aware of a large gust of wind. Her mane flowed in every which direction.
And finally, as if accepting that she wasn't coming, a sea of ashes from the embers floated in the direction of her hooves. The entire gray sky was soon covered with a cloud of ashes, and for just a moment, she saw it as a entire army of changelings on the way to a free life. Her children, the ones she loves, on the way to freedom. On their way to an existence away from her.
And she was happy.
Bidding her a final farewell, the cloud disappeared from her view. Content with the knowledge they moved on without her, she smiled and laid her head back. Slowly, she remembered every event in her life. Major and minor, it didn't matter. She looked over them all with regret, wishing she had done everything differently. But with that regret came a unfaltering happiness.
As her life faded, she was happy that she was even given the chance to live. The track in life, her destiny, always meant for her to realize she could indeed feel love. She wished she could have discovered it sooner, so she could experience it for a long time, but she was happy she was granted the ability, even if it was at the end of her trail.
Bidding farewell to the world, she watched the sky as she felt a slight burning sensation. All around her body, green embers floated up into the sky. Her eyes burned a fierce green as she herself turned into one of the embers. They told a tale, of pain and misery, as she looked up at the sky with a final tear sliding from them. That tear held every bit of pain in her, and after it was gone, only happiness remained.
Her body nearly completely faded, she closed her eyes and allowed her body to whither away to an ember. It's how every life ended, even for the ponies. After the body is gone, and ember of life still remains, in the memories of all that knew them. For Chrysalis, she hoped she would only be forgotten.
Finally, as she thought she wasn't entirely done, she felt her consciousness fade away. Opening her eyes once more to see the beauty of the world, she saw what she wanted and closed her eyes a final time.
In the canyon far south of Equestria, where life never walks, a single green ember, a soul of a important changeling floated into the sky. It was larger than most, but it wasn't any more important than any of the others. It floated far into the sky, and to the north. For miles, it still glowed brighter than any magical fire ever burned, on a mission to go somewhere.
Once over the capital city of Canterlot, the ember slowly floated down. Fading, it grew closer. Nopony was aware of the ember floating above them. Nopony could understand what the ember stood for, but as it faded, everypony became aware of a deep sense of love within themselves.
As the ember faded into a mere speck of ashes, the entire city remembered all at once Queen Chrysalis who only a few hours ago had terrorized them. And as the ashes faltered away and floated into the sky, they all couldn't help but feel pity for the queen.
And in an instant...
She was forgotten.
