"There you go, Angel." I said to my sweet little bunny, Angel, after he was fed. He glanced at the food.
"I don't want that!" chattered Angel. "I wanted that extra-large salad with the cherries and things in it!"
"Now now, Angel, you know I can't get that kind of food. Please just eat what I've given you. Pretty please." I said as Angel shoved away the dish.
"Fine." he sighed and began to eat grumpily. Eventually he ate happily.
After I made sure every-pet was fed, I went to go feed and care for my secret friend. Nopony knows she's here with me. Nopony knows what we did to her and her friends. I can't call her a pet, or animal. She is much more pony-like. She can be whatever she wants, I guess.
I opened up the trapdoor to the basement, and began to walk down the stairs, closing the door behind me. I began to hear her ragged breathing. I was trying as hard as I could to keep her alive, but I was... failing. I had a feeling she wouldn't... Nevermind. She was innocent, for the most part. She didn't deserve what we did to her. She was misunderstood, not evil. She was a smart, intelligent creature like everything else that breathed in this world, and we killed her family and left her for dead.
Killed. I can't think about that word. I am a murderer. Just like me and my six friends, along with a couple extra. We have killed hundreds. And I hate myself for it.
"Fluttershy?" a voice said in the darkness as I went down the last stair. A small cough came after. It was hard for her to talk. Her voice was very strange.
"I'm here." I responded. I reached for the light switch in the darkness. When I found it, I flicked it on, and a dim light filled the room. In the light, she was revealed.
She was like a bug-pony. She had black, bug-like skin and a beetle-like back with wings on it. The wings were shattered, however. She had eyes like a snake - slits for pupils - and they were green colored. She was as tall as Princess Celestia, though she was laying down on a soft bed. Her horn was twisted and tangled, a ruined mess. Her hair was a greenish-blue, and was very long. It didn't even feel like the same material normal hair was made out of. And finally, she had holes, all over her body. They used to be only on her hooves, but her injuries made them go all over her. They covered her whole legs, her torso, her neck, there were even some on her ears.
"Do you need anything, Chrysalis?" I asked the last changeling. She was once a proud queen, stronger than Celestia. Now, lighting her horn had risk of death, and she couldn't breathe without making a lot of noise.
"I need a lot more than you could offer, Fluttershy," said the queen of a dead race,"But I'm hungry for a start. And injured, still. I'll need my medicine, and..." She didn't need to answer the last part. I knew what she ate. I prepared her medicine for her wounds, grim thoughts in my mind. Every time I look at her, I'm reminded of my hundreds of murders. But there was a new thought today. A thought I wish I could deny. A thought, that I wanted to never be true.
"Here you go." I said as I put the medicine on her holes and scratches. I knew it would never be enough. The other grim thought had begun to scare me and hurt me more than the thought of being a murderer.
Tears formed on my eyes. I hugged Chrysalis, hoping it would help, hoping she wouldn't... that I could... She could barely eat, how was I supposed to...
I knew that these thoughts helped her as she ate. Everypony thinks that a changeling would kill you if you let it eat your love. No, it doesn't. It doesn't even weaken you. It just feels funny, rarely, uncomfortable. I gave her the love she deserved. She didn't need to change, and fool me into giving her it.
"Chrysalis," I said through sobs and tears,"I have to get them. I... I'm so so so sorry, but I don't think... that I can save you." I finally finished, and cried while hugging her tighter. I didn't want her to go! She didn't deserve what we did to her! She finished eating, and looked at me.
"Oh Fluttershy." She said as she coughed, and took a couple more breaths. "If you need to bring them... bring them. If these are my last breaths, my final moments, I want them to see. I want them to know. Tell them the secret, Fluttershy. You and I know you can't keep it forever."
Those words gave me confidence. I might not be able to... save my friend, but my other friends need to know what we've done. I wouldn't be able to live with myself otherwise.
"I'll be back. We'll have some more company when I do."
I galloped towards Twilight's castle, all my other friends behind me. I knocked on the door. Listening closely, I heard Twilight's hoofsteps on the other side. She opened the door.
"Hi, Fluttershy! What are all you guys doing here?" Twilight said, a bit confused to why we were here.
"Hi, Twilight. I... need to show you something. Back at my cottage. Can you be there? It's a bit of an emergency."
Twilight looked at me, and all my other friends. "Why? What's going on?"
"That's all she told us. I hope nothin' bad's happened." Applejack replied.
"I'm sorry, Applejack, but something bad is happening. Let's get to my house quickly."
I galloped off. I saw my friends look at eachother, and follow me.
When we got to my cottage, I quickly opened the door, and realized what their reactions might be. I decided that before I show her to them, she could make it a little less... scary.
"It's down here, but... I need to do something first. Will you guys stay up here while I do that?" I said, hoping that they wouldn't follow me.
"Oh come on, Fluttershy! You're scaring us even more!" Rainbow Dash said, clearly annoyed. "Well, except me. I don't get scared. I'm just scared that something bad is happening to my friend. Please, don't let anything hurt you, Fluttershy."
"It won't hurt me. Or you. Trust me." I said as I opened the trapdoor and went down the stairs. I closed the door behind me so the others couldn't hear her.
"Chrysalis? They're here. But, I don't want them to be shocked immediately. So... do you think you have the strength to change?" I had left the light on since our last little visit.
"I might be able to, but I will have to hold the spell on my horn, and even then I won't be able to look different forever... I might have to be revealed as my true self after a while." Chrysalis said after a little while.
"Can you... do it now?"
Silence. Then, a bright green fire erupted from down in the basement. After about a minute, Chrysalis looked like a white alicorn, with wings that faded to the same color her bug-wings were. Her hair was also the same color. And to make it look like I was actually caring for something hurt - or maybe she didn't have enough strength to not look like this - there were bruises and scratches all over her body, mostly on her wings, which appeared to be broken in five places. It made sense with the state her wings were truly in. Her horn was lit with her green magic, holding the changing spell in place.
"Go get them. Before I can't hold the spell any longer." Chrysalis said in a different voice. I nodded, and opened the trap door again.
"She's ready." I said to them, which made them give me surprised, strange looks.
"She?" said Rarity. I nodded, and went down the stairs. My friends followed. I heard Chrysalis's breathing, and I'm sure the others did too, as they began to get more and more worried.
When we made it to the bottom of the stairs, I pointed towards the changed changeling. They all gasped.
"I've been caring for her. No matter how hard I try, nothing seems to help. I... think she may die down here." I said with tears in my eyes. They thought she was an alicorn. I had a feeling that they would feel awful, and then she would change back, and they would feel nothing for her.
"Fluttershy! Why didn't you tell us!" Twilight shouted at me, running toward the fake alicorn.
"You don't understand. You will in a bit, but I just couldn't..."
"She's right." Chrysalis said with a cough. "She wouldn't be able to tell you."
"Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot you were even a pony! What's your name? I'm Twilight Sparkle!"
"I feel like if I told you my name you would feel worse when I'm dead." Chrysalis said grimly.
"Oh, Chr- my friend, I'll try as hard as I can to keep you alive! Don't give up! Never... ever give up..." I said, crying, hugging her close. I knew she would die today. There was nothing I could do to help her now. At least Twilight and the others could learn what we've done.
Suddenly, Chrysalis's horn began to spark. "No..." she said, her voice changing back to normal. She struggled to hold the spell, until it faded. A green flame covered her, and my other friends screamed. Her true self was revealed to them. Her breathing grew raspier. The spell had only weakened her. I should've just shown her normally to them, and she could've lived longer.
"CHRYSALIS!" Twilight screamed, and lit her horn to blast her.
"NO! Stop Twilight! She's as innocent as me and you!" I shouted at my angered friend, jumping in front of her.
Twilight looked at me in shock, her eyes wide. Then, her angry face returned. "What kind of spell have you put on my friend!"
"I have done nothing to hurt her." Chrysalis said, completely calm. It would make sense that she wasn't scared of Twilight killing her when she would die anyway. "I have cast no spell."
"Please, Twilight, believe her! Believe me... I did this. We did this. Look at her."
"I don't care what happens to her!" Rainbow Dash said, flying at Chrysalis.
"STOP!" I shouted and jumped in front of Rainbow. "Please listen! It was my idea to bring her into here! Do you see what we've-"
I was interrupted by Twilight, as she yelled "CHRYSALIS ATTACKED CANTERLOT! HOW COULD YOU TRUST HER!?"
I couldn't take it anymore. My friends were siding against me, caring about nothing but getting revenge on Chrysalis, and trying to convince me she was bad. I snapped.
"HOW ABOUT YOU LISTEN TO ME! We killed her whole family! We MURDERED the changelings! SHE IS THE LAST ONE IN THE WHOLE SPECIES! We put Discord into stone, we turned Nightmare Moon into Luna, we blasted King Sombra, but you saw that letter about him living in a crystal that couldn't spread, we put Tirek back in Tartarus! Discord tried to put the world into chaos, Nightmare tried to bring eternal night, Sombra enslaved ponies, and Tirek stole everpony's magic! What about the changelings? THEY WERE SIMPLY TRYING TO GET A LITTLE FOOD. What did we do?! WE KILLED THEM ALL!"
Everything was silent. My friends stared at me and Chrysalis. The only sound was the changeling's breathing.
"Oh..." Twilight said. "You aren't under a spell... it's true..."
"Don't you see? Chrysalis was trying to get food for her subjects. She even said that to us!"
My friends nodded. They understood! They probably were feeling the guilt of realizing you're a murderer, too, because Pinkie's mane deflated.
"How... did you find her, darling?" Rarity asked. It wasn't hard to tell that she was trying to ignore the subject of killing changelings. I began to explain.
"Well, I had found a wounded rabbit, and it's leg was infected, so I needed to make some medicine to help it's wound. I realized that I was out of a flower needed to create the medicine, so I went to get some. I also knew that the flower grew in the Everfree Forest, so I went in cautiously..." I started, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash.
"Woah woah woah, you're saying you went into the forest alone, without telling anypony?"
"Hush, Rainbow! Our friend is trying to speak!" Rarity said to Rainbow Dash. She let me continue with a quick 'go on'.
"Anyways, when I got to the flowers, there was rustling in the bushes. I got scared, and prepared to fly just in case it was a predator. I did end up flying upwards when I saw an injured Chrysalis escape the bushes. She looked at me angrily, and then realized something else. She gave me a look of fear as she passed out. I didn't know what it was, maybe it was my Element, or her wounds, but I felt like I needed to help her, just like how I was helping the bunny. I carried her back to mt house, down to this basement, and tried to help her for many days. I learned a few things, about how innocent she really was, and the fate of the other changelings. She even told me that they attacked us because they already tried to be peaceful. A very long time ago, they requested peace with a village of ponies, to where as long as they gave them their food, love, they would return it, and would help them with whatever they would need."
"What happened then?" Pinkie asked cautiously.
"They declined. They foolishly said that they were too scary for the ponyfolk, and where probably as loyal as dirt."
They all looked at me, shocked at what Chrysalis had been through.
"Oh Chrysalis... I'm so so sorry... I'm... so sorry..." Twilight said as she began to cry quietly. She knew it was our fault, just like the rest of us.
I noticed too late that Chrysalis's breathing had been very quiet. "C-Chrysalis!?" I said, running to the motionless changeling. "CHRYSALIS?!"
"No..." Twilight said as she watched me cry over the fallen changeling.
My breathing was slowing down as Fluttershy told my sad tale.
I knew I would die very soon. I most likely wouldn't last to hear the last of my own story. I fought hard, but I couldn't fight any longer. I could hear my heartbeat. It was slowing, just like my breathing. I could feel all the love in the room as they grew sad for me.
My breathing stopped. I think my heart did too, since I couldn't hear it anymore. Fluttershy's story now sounded like I was listening to it from underwater. It was muffled. The last thing I heard and felt, was Fluttershy's story ending, and the sweetest, strongest love anypony could ever bring, along with the sweetest words a changeling queen could hear.
Oh Chrysalis... I'm so so sorry... I'm... so sorry...
Everything was black and soundless. But I was peaceful and happy. Twilight, the one who freed Cadence and caused the murder of my subjects, had hoped as much as she could that I would forgive her. She had even given me her love.
She may never know...
But I forgive you, Twilight Sparkle.
