Where was I going again? Chrysalis thought to herself, as she soared through the air above the Everfree forest. I was... I was in Canterlot. My subjects, Cadence, that blasted Princess Celestia... what am I doing here? I should be at Canterlot, not flying around in the middle of nowhere!
She tried to stabilize her flight in order to turn around. Only then did she realise that she wasn’t actually using her wings to stay in the air. It took Chrysalis a few seconds to process this.
Her thoughts were cut short as Chrysalis collided with a tree and immediately fell to the ground, hitting several branches on her way down. They whipped past her face, bruising and cutting her as she fell. She hit the ground face-first, crushing her muzzle upon impact. Darkness took over her mind as she fainted.
She woke up several hours later, rain dripping onto her through the cover of leaves she was resting beneath. After taking a moment to study her surroundings, Chrysalis decided that she needed more cover than the leaves above her were providing, and tried to get up to take shelter beneath a nearby tree.
Suddenly, an excruciating pain shot up her spine, preventing any further movement. Her whole body ached and hurt, but by far the worst was the pain in her leg. She was badly wounded, but that was only to be expected after being blasted Celestia knows how far into the Everfree forest.
Once again, she tried to get up, and was immediately rewarded with another searing bolt of pain. Chrysalis examined the wound on her leg and was horrified by what she saw.
She was dying, Chrysalis knew. The wound on her leg seemed fatal, and judging by the circumstances, she didn’t have much longer. There was nopony nearby to aid her, and the plants in the vicinity were alien to her. She was alone, with no way of tending to her wound.
So... this is how it ends? My entire life I’ve lived in the shadow of my sister, and now it ends because she lent her true love her strength? I’m even more pathetic than I thought.
She shuddered. Though the tree she was lying under protected her from most of the rain, it didn’t do very well against the cold.
All these years the ponies of Equestria have shunned me for what I am, turning their backs upon the very thing I stand for. Now... it seems they’re finally going to get what they desire.
Chrysalis sat up, cringing as yet another bolt of pain shot up her leg. One of the many advantages of being a ‘changeling’ was that you could alter your body. As such, Chrysalis had made preparations. She hadn’t seen this coming, but the paper and quill she had brought would suffice, she thought.
Using her magic, she parted the coat between her shoulders, levitating a black piece of parchment and a quill from the opening between her shoulders, and rejoining the skin beneath her fur.
She lay down again, taking the quill between her teeth and spreading the parchment in the mud beneath the tree.
To whoever finds this, you are currently reading my final words. Treasure them, for they carry a message that I want my subjects to hear.
All of my life, and most of yours, was lived in the shadow of my sister, Cadance. Most of you might not know this, but I wasn’t always a ‘changeling’.
I was born an alicorn, like my sister was. As Princess Luna is Princess Celestia’s opposite, so am I Princess Cadance’s opposite. Where Cadance spreads love, I feed on it. In the early years of my life, the ponies around me quickly realised what my talent was, and shunned me. Nopony wanted me around, for all I did was feed on the happiest emotion they knew: Love.
It all started when I was first banished from the castle in which my sister and I were raised. I grew up in a loving family, which is why my... talent went unnoticed for so long. The influence of my power was so small that none of my parents noticed. Add Cadance’s ability to spread love to that, and I was safe.
The problems began when my powers continued to grow, and Cadance spent more and more time with that foolish stallion she ended up marrying: Shining Armor. As my power grew, so did my... appetite. With Cadance no longer around as much, and my growing need for love, I started to change. My coat turned black, my horn became what it is today, and I turned into... this. Not too long after, I was banished.
Even the very ponies who raised me didn’t want me around any longer. I was an outcast, a reject, and most of all, an abomination. I was the very epitome of hatred, for I fed on the love of everypony around me. As I roamed the forests around the kingdom in which I formerly resided, I grew hungrier with each passing day. Not too long after I had been banished, I found myself so desperate for sustenance that I started leeching love off of happy couples who were staring at a sunset, or sitting by a lake, or doing whatever they apparently felt was romantic.
Again, my growth is what provided me with even more problems. As my need for love grew stronger yet again, I started to leech more and more off of the same ponies. That was perhaps the most fortunate mistake I’ve ever made, for it gave me you. When ponies are depleted of their love, they turn into ‘changelings’. This discovery troubled me, at first, but then I realised that I was merely taking from the society which had done this to me in the first place. In essence, they were doing it to themselves.
For years we thrived, surviving off of the love between two ponies, adding more members to our legion of changelings with each passing day. We built a hive, an army, and... an appetite. Our need for sustenance proved more than what the society that remained could deliver, and we needed to move. This is why I took you to Canterlot. It was a foolish attempt, to try to rid myself of my sister while also trying to take over the castle. All seemed to go well, at first, but then... well, I needn’t tell you, I should hope.
The most embarrassing about all of this, I suppose, is that Cadance defeated me with my own source of power. She used love to defeat me, the very emotion I rely on for my strength.
But I digress. I do not know why I’m writing this letter, nor do I have anything that you, my subjects, need to know. I do not have much time left, for the wound on my leg is going to take its toll before long. I suppose that this letter could be viewed as an explanation for my deeds. And in some way, an apology.
I was born to feed off of love, and I did so, but was I right to do so? Perhaps... I was never meant to be? Even the royal sisters of Canterlot share a harmonic bond. Neither of them feeds off of something, they just each supply something different. I, on the other hoof, supply apathy, or perhaps even hate.
It hasn’t been easy, living in my sister’s shadow for all these years, awaiting change. It’s ironic, in hindsight, how the queen of the ‘changelings’ was waiting for change to come.
Years I’ve spent nourishing an unhealthy hate towards my sister. Years I’ve spent wishing things to have gone different. Years I’ve spent... wasted. Years wasted to never be returned. Alicorns are immortal by nature, yes, but we can still fall ‘in combat’. The wound on my leg is fatal, and I do not have much time left.
I’m sorry, sister. I’m sorry for taking away that which you work to spread. I’m sorry for stealing that which makes ponies happy. I’m sorry... for disappointing all of you. I can only hope that you can find it within yourself to forgive me for what I’ve done.
With my apologies made, I want to thank my sister. She’s rid the world of a great evil this evening, and even if I am that evil, such an act is one to be applauded.
Years I've spent, wanting for something, anything to change. Now, it seems that my wish has been granted. Finally, I can rest. Finally I can stop taking away from ponies that which makes them happy above all else. Finally... I am free, to never breathe again.
Thank you, sister.
Chrysalis, the ‘changeling’ queen, and both unloving and unloved sister.
Chrysalis rolled up her letter, allowing the quill she had used to write it to fall from her clenched teeth, into the mud. She was feeling dizzy, perhaps even faint. The world was spinning around her as she placed the roll of parchment safely beneath her own hooves, and rested her head on top of those. Chrysalis closed her eyes, and allowed the darkness to take over. That evening, Chrysalis drew her last breath.