There they were. In a castle. In her domain. It hadn't been much of a surprise, in all honesty. While she had said it to the unicorn's face, Chrysalis had known all along (deep down) that somepony would come to thwart her plans. She just hadn't expected it to be a bunch of rejects. A theatrical wanna-be-magician. A god of chaos, who was just a wet noodle without his magic, that traitor. And the greatest reject of them all.
Starlight Glimmer. The rumored pupil, of the Princess of Friendship.
Then again, she should've known better to doubt a reject. Former Queen Chrysalis thought as the fractured pieces of what remained of her empire, grew as she herself withdrew.
How did things end this way?
There they'd been. Her and her thousands upon thousands of 'subjects'. Everything had been so simple. They could have easily overpowered one single unicorn, and taken care of a traitor, but in the end that foolish ingrate had to sow seeds, that she would later reap.
Changeling kind had been withering away for years. Much longer if her own ascension as queen weren't taken into account. They starved-- her kind, her subjects, the ones she was in charge of taking care of were all starving and the very cause of all their blights, the only one standing in their way- standing to stop them just as they were so close. So close to sanctity. Was Starlight Glimmer, and her pathetic entourage of 'heroes'.
At first, it was laughable. Two of the 'hero' party, had already been captured. One, was a traitor right in front of her. And then there was that unicorn, who had no magic. This would be easy, Chrysalis had thought.
But it never is...is it? Nothing, ever is.
She couldn't believe her ears, when she'd heard those despicable words uttered. Those words that had been uttered and thrown around so many times before. As if it were so simple.
"What if you don't have to feed?" the mare had said.
"RidiCULOUS!" the queen retorted.
Preposterous. Completely ludicrous. She knows nothing! They all know nothing of what it means to be, one of us. A hive. A family. To be the sole provider of a kind that can not feed like any other can, but can only feed on affection. They need a leader. They needed someling, fierce. Strict, unforgiving. They needed, a queen that would keep a remainder of their once vast kind alive.
The very concept of sharing the thing that could preserve that life, was quite frankly, nonsense. The pure notion that such foolishness-- sharing the very thing that keeps us alive-- such insolence! To demand we give the only thing that can barely satiate our hunger.
A hunger that can never be satisfied.
"Exactly!" she exclaims. And the queen in turns only barely desiring to offer her the honor of a glance, as this unicorn dabbles on. "Thorax left the hide and made a friend. He shared love! And now, he doesn't need to feed. You don't have to live your lives starving all the time!" the unicorn states. Begs... Reasons... Procures...Explains. And it works.
All you need is one chance. And in that moment that passed, Chrysalis could hear it.
She could sense it. Taste, it: Doubt.
Not just hers...but theirs. Her subjects, her children, the ones she'd been entitled to keeping alive, were believing her. Believing Starlight, and doubting her. It had begun to fester like a disease. Her changelings were actually going to listen to this outsider, the same outsiders that placed them in this situation to begin with! The same outsiders, that were causing their extinction!
Immediately an anger sparks within the queen, and before she can regain control or realize what she's doing, her horn is lit and the unicorn is being yanked away from her most trusted guards. Right towards her. With a force she didn't think, she even had. "You know nothing of the changelings! OR, what it takes to be their queen." Her eyes narrow in a glower and in an instant Chrysalis finds her eyes locked onto blue pools full of fear.
The stare is brief. A microsecond at best. But the queen-- the former queen, sees it. She had seen it all. Determination. Conviction. Starlight actually believed, her kind could change, and be just like Thorax. Just, like that traitor.
Her magical grip increases and with a toss of her head, the unicorn goes hurdling towards a wall and slams into it with a loud SMACK.
They never understand the queen thinks, as she strides forward, growing ever so near the target of her bane. They never try.
How many times must I explain myself? How many times have I been through this with their "understanding" rulers. It is not that simple. That's why we lie. That's why we hide in disguise. There's no possible way, giving back what feeds us, sustains us. Gives us life and keeps us going, could be better for me or for them. For us.
Because it's not that simple. It never is.
It is never that simple, especially to be their queen.
"I decide what is best for my subjects" she states with venom, "not some muling grub!" and in the midst of those flames of anger, Chrysalis again feels the tinges of doubt within her subjects. Like germinated seeds, she can sense it, in their minds. First it had been Thorax. Now it was three. Then eight. Now thirty. Then a hundred. Then two hundred. Then a four hundred.
The number grows. And it grows...and it... Grows. Their doubt in our ways. Their doubt...in me. "--I know what it's like to want everypony to do what you say" the unicorn says sullenly. "But, I was wrong! A real leader doesn't force her subjects to deny who they are. She celebrates what makes them each unique. And listens when one of them finds a better way."
A second of silence. Their doubt grows. But this can't be.
My subjects, my children, would never betray me. They wouldn't. Everything we've been through. Everything I've done, has always been with them in mind. I must prove to them. I must show them. Prove to them, that I am still their queen. Their ruler. Their leader.
Their shepherd, and their mother. I must show them--
"what a real leader is." Her jaw opens, and with delight Chrysalis watches as energy funnels out of her traitor and into her. So much love. So much concern. So much affection. How long had it been since she'd had even a fraction of this much emotion? Not just scraps or pieces?
But a real meal.
The doubt still lingers, she can still sense it. But it will fade. I've won. I, must win. Their doubt will yield, in exchange for my victory.
The seconds go by. Thorax struggles. He struggles to keep the love in. Look at him squirm. This never would've happened, had you not betrayed your home. Your hive and me. Time seems to speed up, but the hive queen is ignorant. She marvels at the affection, this little one has brought.
Then all of a sudden. The tension in the air shifts.
"...sharing love is what made you different to begin with. You should share yours with Chrysalis!" Starlight states, but if anything it only makes the hive queen smirk.
Till a bright light flashes and before Chrysalis is aware of what just happened she's back in her throne. Watching as her subject, now changes and transforms into something else. A cocoon of energy surrounds the changeling once known as Thorax, and just as the unicorn approaches, he emerges.
He is different.
He is...beautiful.
That's when it happens. Torn from her view, Chrysalis feels that doubt grow. The doubt in her, the doubt in their ways, and then she watches in a fury of energy and light. Helpless, as every. Single. One of her kind, accepts Starlight's words. The words of an outsider. And give out their love, to become a traitor.
The storm of energy that hits, destroys the throne and with it Chrysalis finds herself buried. Seconds fly by and she finds nothing but her thoughts to keep her company, till she regains her senses.
Give up love, and become new as a whole? No... it's a lie. It's a trick. It's not possible. Thorax must have formed some kind of deal, to trick them. To trick me! Love is what sustains us, how can sacrificing it save us? It doesn't make sense. None of this, makes any sense!
""RGH!" she heaves, from the weight on her back, but the anger within provides strength, and she tosses the rubble and debris to the side. With a hiss, she calls to her changelings, but it is only till she sees the sight before her that Queen Chrysalis, freezes in shock.
I can't hear them. Not a single voice. I can't sense them. Not a single changeling. They've all abandoned me...everything I did. All I ever worked for. Everything I became, for them and they all-- my guards, my counselors, my soldiers, the ones I cared for even after we failed in Canterlot...all gone. My children...are no longer, my own.
I watch as she offers her hoof in acceptance. In friendship. The mare who took it all away. The mare who took my kind away. The former queen casts one more look towards her subjects, her students, her soldiers, her commanders...and then she frowns.
Hesitantly Chrysalis, not ...Chrysalis looks at the hoof. Hesitantly, she slowly reaches for it, and as she does she begins to recall. How everyone of her children, every single one accepted this outsider, and threw away the one who had provided for them in the previous years.
Not a single one of them stood with her now. But instead, they were on her side. Starlight's side.
Even after everything she'd done for them. Making sure they didn't slack off and making sure they all contributed to the hive in some way. But now, as she looked at those that had rebelled against her, Chrysalis saw for the first time ever, her hive, her subjects, weren't on her side.
With a smack, Chrysalis swats the hoof away, and rises. Revenge. She thinks, a snarl forming on her lips as she shouts her last words. Revenge, she believes, as she jumps off the edge.
Revenge, she professes as she watches her kingdom. Her empire, her home, fade the farther she goes. Beating her wings as fast as she can.
"Revenge...is all I have left." Chrysalis states with chagrin, as she traverses the lands, to find a new home. To find another hive, to plot...her revenge.
Author's Note
Got to thinking about this a week or so ago. Has been somewhere in my head ever since and after watching a youtube video I decided to type this out.
In case you're wondering why I put slice of life on there. I like to think, that before Chrysalis was dethroned and still in charge, changelings lived it rough, as was sort of clear throughout the final episode. Chrysalis had her throne made out of crystal itself that prevented all other forms of magic except her own, which that alone says a lot about how much changelings were ostracized from other civilization and areas.
A lot of things sort of connected when I was analyzing lines for this story. The anger she showed, when she told Starlight she had no idea what it meant to be a changeling queen, and some of the things Thorax said or mentioned throughout the show kinda got me thinking also as they went through the hive.
Food for thought.
