Cadance stood bewildered. She thought on it for a little bit before finally opening her mouth.
"I'm...you?"
Chrysalis didn't answer.
"I look just like how you described the queen of the flutterponies though. How could I be..."
Chrysalis looked at her when she took notice on how she didn't finish her sentence. "You were the queen of the flutterponies and Eden...was your home, your kingdom."
"Wise are you."
"So everything in the story. The prince, the love potion, being turned into a horrible monster...you were describing yourself."
"Indeed."
"But why did you speak of yourself as another pony?"
"Because she was another pony. I am no longer who I use to be. I am no longer the once powerful ruler who once ruled over a great kingdom. I am no longer the beautiful pony who charmed all stallions. I am...this."
"The changelings...are they-"
"Yes. They were the flutterponies. They were also, at least some, my own children. This land even, the Badlands, was the home for Eden. As you saw before it is just an arid place."
"But its beautiful now."
"That...."
Chrysalis's horned lit up as she swung her head gently. Everything around them became bordered in a green hue and disappeared into clear sparkles.
"...was an illusion."
Cadance stood however, untouched.
"The flutterponies if they are the changelings...where are they? They should have been all over the hive. Why weren't they there?"
Chrysalis turned away from her and closed her eyes. Not bearing to gaze into her's any longer.
"Their dead."
"....no."
"We had gone to long without food and we made ourselves weak."
"Why didn't you come back? Why didn't you contact one of us? We could have helped you!"
"You think I wouldn't?" Chrysalis snapped. "A true queen know's her ones are fed before they sit to feast and I was prepared to give up everything for them. It's been five years since our last quarrel and unfortunately not long after you blasted me from Equestria, my little ones fell ill. That blast zapped us of nearly all our power and in our weak and feebleness we succumbed to nature. Some disease ravaged us and weak on love, our food, they gave in. The broke out into sweats, chills and hives and I knew not what to do."
"Magic-"
"Magic would not work. They were to far gone. All I could do as their queen, as their mother, was comfort them as they took their last breath. But unknowingly...." Chrysalis gave a nervous chuckle. "I was the one killing them."
"What?"
"Cadance, hopefully you've stayed in school long enough, do you know what happens when the queen of a hive dies or begins to die?"
Cadance didn't answer. Not because she didn't know but because she knew all to well.
"The hive itself begins to die." Chrysalis sighed. "I fell ill first but the love my dear changelings were feeding me allowed me to withold the symptoms for a time. All the while they weakened themselves. I was a carrier of the disease before them. Coughing and heaving I thought it had gone pass but I was a fool. They didn't need to catch it to die. All they needed was me to die and we, I, knew none the better. That curse that draconi put on us...he made us more insect like than I thought."
"Their all gone..."
"Yes and no magic may bring them back. I have not much longer."
Chrysalis faced Cadance and touched her horn to her's. Her body morphed back into the stocky winged unicorn that she once was.
"Enjoy it now princess of the Crystal Empire. Your youth and your prestige. At any moment can life steal it away from you. The thought of some pony enjoying what had been my privilege...you have no idea how much that hurt."
"But most ponies have what I have in some form Chrysalis. Weather it be a love, a kingdom or great power."
Chrysalis gave a smile and chuckled. "You however, are a direct reflection of me. Your cutie mark, your empire, your ponies, your life. Love."
"Chrysalis have you ever loved some pony?"
"A very long time ago. What was his name? It was something beginning with sol. He was a beautiful stallion. A stallion who died in war. Her had pure white fur and a radiant mane like Celestia's that shined with the colors of fire. Waving forever in the wind. He fathered half my kingdom before perishing in the first war of the draconi which lead to their embitterment towards us alicorns."
"Weren't those eggs inside the hive?"
"Yes. I lay those when there is no love to sustain us. They are unfertilized. It works for a time to stave off hunger but nothing more. It is not enough."
"But one had a changeling in it."
"That one...that was an egg I laid while sick. It is dead now."
"But who..."
"Fertilized it? A stallion I had fell in love with while trying to find food. Naturally I changed into what he wanted but his love was to endearing. I am not one to give myself to anyone just because."
A wind of silence blew between them before Cadance broke it.
"Chrysalis...What do you plan on doing?"
"What is there left to do but return to dust? Princess, I have nothing left. I only have my pride but even that has waned. Go back to your empire. I'm sure they are waiting if not panicking your return. Do not worry your small ponies."
Cadance touched by her endearment, felt her heart soften.
"Chrysalis."
"What."
Cadance closed her eyes as she felt a gentle breeze blow over. She smiled. "Tonight it is cold. Perhaps it would be much warmer if two beheld one another."
Chrysalis took time to respond.
"Do as you wish."
And so she did. Following Chrysalis back into the hive mind they both laid upon the throne. Chrysalis curled up like a dog while Cdance rested her muzzle on her side.
"I never asked but what was your cutie mark like dear?"
Chrysalis smiled as she kept her eyes closed. "It was a heart...like your's."
"Did it stand for the same?"
"No. It stands for something stronger."
"Like what?"
"A mothers love."
And so Cadance comforted the queen as she, a mother had done her own. She stayed there, through out the night and throughout the cold. Finding solace in having her questions answered and seeing the queen for what she really was. Not a single cough, wheeze or sound of sickness was heard through out the night as Chrysalis slept. Perhaps God had taken pity on her. As her chest lifted slowly every time, Cadance felt her love grow stronger in understanding til finally, the queen and last of the flutterponies...
...had passed.