My mind raced with possibilities of what could have transpired to reduce Chrysalis to such a state, and each idea seemed more absurd than the last. As stricken as I was with Chrysalis and her transformation, I took no notice of Star Swirl's arrival. It was only when he'd stood next to me and spoke that I remembered anypony else was here beside myself and Chrysalis.
"Celestia and Luna have been searching for Chrysalis ever since you told her of the doppelganger incident in the Everfree Forest, but try as they might, they were unable to locate her whereabouts. Eventually, they enlisted my help, but even with me at their disposal, I am ashamed to say I faired as well as they did in the end. I know what you are about to ask, but rest assured, while it is indeed my spells and sigil work that keep her bound, it was not by my hoof that she was captured.
No, she arrived here in Farasi Mweupe two days prior without warning, much like you did here today. When she stood before the gates to the village she did not look half as monstrous as this, nor was she so horribly addled as she is now, not outwardly at least. There was a slight altercation with the guards upon her sudden appearance, but she was not hostile and merely asked to meet with the Elder. I had arrived here the day before and so went to meet with Chrysalis along with Alemayehu.
I suppose you can imagine my surprise at the sight of the Queen of Changelings standing just outside the gates, tall, imposing, and strangest of all, blindfolded. I could make neither heads nor tails of it until she spoke her demands. As if her arrival here of all places wasn't strange enough, she offered herself up willingly, her only demands being that she be kept here and that we tell nopony of her location. She even allowed me to bind both her body and magic as you see now. When I asked her of her intentions, she turned to Alemayehu and said only one thing in response..."
Before Star Swirl could finish his explanation, Chrysalis—who had gone oddly silent save for a few sick giggles—chose to speak. Her voice was brittle and weak yet somehow still powerful and imperious; it was a voice filled with as much pain and reverence as it was mirth and arrogance. Hearing that voice, I again wondered just what trials she must have gone through to wind up such a depraved and pitiful creature.
"I... 'I am m-meant to be here... to wait f-for Her arrival'... And now you... you are h-here at last. Now I n... n-need only wait for destiny to r-run its course. I have seen it... the future is... is already writ in stone! Th-there's... there's nothing you can... c-can do to stop it, old f-fool! Nothing any creature can do! I kn-know you know w-what's... what's coming, Star Swirl... I know you f-fear it... oh how you fear w-what the future brings... what awaits us all... I can taste that fear e-even now... b-but it's too late... too late..."
It would've been terribly easy for anypony to dismiss the mad Queen's words as the insane ramblings of a truly disturbed individual had they not seen her for what she actually was, but even so, I knew better, and so did Star Swirl if Chrysalis' words were to be believed. I waited for Star Swirl to respond, to deny or rebut her claims, but he remained silent, his narrowed eyes fixed on the raving Queen and his mouth set in a thin line. It didn't take a changeling like Chrysalis to see the truth of the matter. Beneath his grim silence and stoicism, even I could see that Star Swirl was indeed afraid, but knowing that failed to answer the question of exactly what it was he knew. Chrysalis simply laughed again as if to mock his lack of a reply, then turned to face me, her mouth twisting into a hideous smirk.
"G-Go on, Star Swirl, tell Her what it is that you've... k-kept hidden from the rest of the... the world... th-that's what She's here for af... a-after all... so tell Her... tell Her wh-what you've hidden from C-Celestia and t-tried to hide from Luna for so long... s-so many sssecretsss... and I kn-know them all, Star Swirl. If you... y-you don't tell Her... then I will... oh I'll t-tell Her all about what the 'S-Seed of Harmony' really was... I'll tell Her... tell Her wh-what the T-Tree did to me... what it's doing t-to Her... wh-what it's inevitably g-going to... to do to us all if left a-alone... I'll tell Her Star Swirl... I have... so much t-to share with you... T-Twilight Sparkle... so many wonderful things..."
Until her last statement she continued to speak to Star Swirl, but never once did she take her ghastly sightless gaze away from me. Crazed and corrupted though she may have been, I drank in her words nevertheless—let them soak into my mind until they were all I could think about. All my answers, everything I'd been through, all the terror and insanity I've had to endure... if I were to believe Chrysalis, they were all right here before me. I was tempted to believe her, so tempted to believe her every word, but I couldn't... not yet. She was compromised; she may have gained some insight into the knowledge that existed beyond the veil of our limited reality, but it was clear she had sacrificed her sanity in the process. So instead I once again turned to Star Swirl, all but demanding to know if Chrysalis' claims held any truth.
"Utter madness," he muttered before letting out a sigh of resignation, "the Queen of Changelings is beyond help, but she is... not entirely wrong. There are things the other Pillars and I have hidden from the rest of the world—things I myself have hidden from even the other Pillars, things neither they nor the rest of the world is ready to know, secrets best kept hidden lest something truly terrible is unleashed," he finally turned to look at me, his face set in a hard scowl, "you've touched upon truths that will end up destroying you, just as they did Chrysalis and nearly did Luna before her... and Stygian before either of them... you already know this and yet you will not stop here—you can't, and so it falls to me to guide you away from this path you've set for yourself. Come, let us leave this wretched soul; Chrysalis as she is now will only drag you down further, mire you in the same darkness and madness that infects her."
With those words, he turned and began heading back down the stairs. I gave Chrysalis one last look, only to see that same smirk plastered across her twisted face. A flicker of doubt crossed my mind for a brief moment, but I let it pass and turned away to follow after Star Swirl. Before I could so much as reach the first step, I froze in my tracks, my mind suddenly and violently assaulted by the words of the abomination standing behind me.
He will not tell you everything, Twilight Sparkle... he is too afraid of what may come if the whole truth is known. That is why he agreed to my terms... that is why he convinced the Elder to keep me here. Were he able to, he would have simply destroyed me, but he knows he cannot... not anymore. He knows these pathetic shackles are insufficient to hold me... but I've no need to break free. Go... listen to his tale... and once you realize he speaks lies you will return and you yourself will free me. Hurry along now... we have so much to discuss... my Goddess...
Confounded by her last words I looked back to the crazed Queen, but she only laughed that sick laughter, though now it carried the hint of one who knows more than they ought to and refuses to tell—a laugh that was not quite mocking but certainly knowing. Again that temptation to stay and here her out hounded me, but again I told myself she could not be trusted. If her words rang true then I would see for myself rather than take what she said at face value. I was no longer completely ignorant of these secrets, and so I would be the one to judge whether or not Star Swirl spoke the truth. With that thought in mind and the echoing laughter of Chrysalis in my ears, I descended the stairs and returned to the first floor where Star Swirl and Alemayehu were waiting.
Down below, the firepit had been relit in my absence and around the crackling flame sat Star Swirl and the Elder, the latter of which gently and silently motioned for me to sit beside the two of them. They both looked just as grave as when I'd first seen them, grave and expectant. Not wanting to keep either of them waiting, I took a seat beside Star Swirl and Alemayehu nodded once in satisfaction. The Elder closed his eyes and for a long moment, nopony spoke, the other two presumably waiting for Chrysalis' laughter to die down. It did after another moment and where I expected Star Swirl to begin his explanation, it was Alemayehu who spoke first in the ensuing silence—his voice far more powerful and robust than it had been when I first heard it, yet still somehow carrying a softness to it.
"Listen well to the words I speak, filly... for this is the tale of the Janga Jeusi... the 'Black Catastrophe' which befell our world several millennia ago during the dawn of ponykind... and it is a tale that you must hear before all else..."