There was no friendship.
Disbelieved. Rejected. Cast aside. Hated. Her so-called friends, her mentor, even her own brother, all had disowned her, all but openly stated their hatred of her, cast her out like a leper. And all for the sake of her.
Twilight couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened to Cadence. The cheerful, friendly, patient, caring, kind babysitter she’d grown up with… Had all of that been a great big lie? Just something she was obligated to do, or something to get closer to her real objective… But Shining had said it was just the stress of the upcoming wedding… No. No amount of stress could justify the harshness and borderline cruelty that the young alicorn had treated the girls with. The girls had…
Her thoughts took a different turn. The girls had turned on her. Nearly 18 months of laughter and tears together with her, and then they’d dropped her like a hot rock, abandoning her for the chance to wear frilly dresses and be in a wedding. And the more she thought about it, the more she thought about all the times they’d done her wrong, the stronger her anger grew.
“They… n-never really cared about me, did they?” she whispered to herself, alone in her pitch-dark room, the doors & windows magically sealed to prevent anyone from getting in. She’d chickened out of confronting Cadence after being disowned by everyone, and had run/teleported back to the suite she was staying in for the duration of the wedding. Now, she lay on the overly cushy bed, brooding in the darkness.
Twilight’s thoughts continued to delve deeper into the darkness, as her overworked brain and broken heart teamed up to crush her spirit. The other girls, Cadence, her brother, her parents, even Celestia… Abandoning her, scorning her, hating her, conspiring against her… Alone in the dark, the little unicorn allowed long-repressed thoughts and emotions to boil to the surface. Sorrow and loneliness twisted and roiled within her, slowly transforming into much more potent and dangerous emotions: rage, resentment, hatred…
In the near future, many ponies would dearly regret that there was no-one around to pull Twilight Sparkle out of her frighteningly rapid downward spiral. As it was, nobody was present to witness as Twilight’s coat gradually darkened, her Cutie Mark changing, her magic transforming into something foul, her mind splintering and remaking itself as the corruption took hold of her soul…
The day was perfect. The ceremony hall was packed with ponies, well-dressed spectators present to see the wedding of the century. Princess Cadence looked positively radiant in her elaborate wedding dress, while Captain Shining Armor stood proud in his dress uniform. The five bridesmaids – Bearers of the Elements of Loyalty, Joy, Kindness, Honesty, and Generosity – stood upon the steps, waiting for the event to truly begin. Off to the side, Shining’s proud parents watched with misty eyes as their son prepared to be wed, sad that their daughter couldn’t make it due to some stomach bug.
Finally, a hush fell over the crowd as Celestia walked up to the center of the stage, smiling proudly at her younger relative and her groom-to-be. She cleared her throat.
“Dearly beloved,” she began, “we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of-”
Everyone jumped as the massive doors to the ceremony hall were slammed open, cracks appearing on them from the force. They looked as a single pony calmly walked through the threshold and into the hall: Twilight Sparkle. But something was wrong. Her coat was duller in color than normal. The stars that made up her Cutie Mark were darker, their points sharper-looking. But most concerning was the wispy black miasma that emanated from and clung to her form, a jet-black aura of Darkness that flickered like a low flame. She opened her eyes, and those close enough to make out the details gasped as they saw that the sclera were black.
“T-Twilight Sparkle…” Celestia spoke with shock in her voice. “What is the meaning of this? That darkness… What have you done?”
"Something I should have done a long time ago,” Twilight replied with an eerily cold tone that sent shivers down the spines of those who heard it. “For so many years, I repressed and rejected the darkness inside me – all the pain and anger and suspicions and so many other things. But now, spurred on by yesterday’s events, I have embraced it. This is the Darkness that was locked away inside my Heart.”
Twilight looked around at the spectators, her gaze drifting over the looks of confusion and muted horror on the faces of her family and ex-friends.
“You are all wondering what this is about, I presume,” she said loudly. “Well, I will tell you. Miss ‘Pretty Pink Princess’ up there is a cold-hearted bitch who has been manipulating my brother Shining Armor. Yesterday, I came across a discussion between the two of them. And I witnessed her perform a form of thought-control magic upon him. Oh sure, he claims it was a headache spell, but that would not explain the look of anger on her face as she realized he was fighting her influence, the confused and dazed look in his eyes after she performed it, or how immediately afterwards he had completely forgotten what they were arguing about and instantly bent to her will.
“I brought my suspicions to Celestia, Shining, and those five girls up there upon the stage, but they disbelieved me. More than that, they cast me out. My own brother disowned me, stating he wanted nothing more to do with me, that I was banned from this ceremony. The five girls who I’d long thought were my friends joined him in turning their backs on me, betraying me, hating me. And Celestia, whom I have devoted most of my life to, joined them in shunning me, casting me out, severing our relationship as student and teacher.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. She had never said that! She was disappointed in Twilight, but she would never have…
“I did a great deal of thinking last night. I’ve realized a great many things. Like, for instance, that Cadence is a manipulative bitch who planned this entire wedding ordeal just to move herself up in the world; the kind-hearted, caring foalsitter I grew up with was a giant lie, a façade to further her goals. Or that my brother is just as bad, having used me to get closer to the woman who’d tricked him into falling in love with her, and then tossed me aside like garbage the second he no longer had use of me. Or that the five girls I thought were my friends, who I’d shared over a year of laughter and tears with, who I’d saved the damn world with twice, are selfish ponies who never truly cared for me, who were using me to get what they wanted and were only nice to me because they were obligated to, and who care less about me than about the chance to wear a frilly dress!”
The other five Element-Bearers were speechless. Tears were coming to Fluttershy’s eyes.
“I could go on, but I won’t. Suffice to say, though, that now that I have embraced the part of myself that I have long repressed, I am here to seek out those who have so grievously wronged me… and take my revenge.”
“That is enough, Miss Sparkle.”
Twilight turned her attention to the two armed Royal Guards flanking her. “We need you to come with us now, ma’am,” one of them said, the scowl on his face making his intent clear.
Twilight looked to the guards, then to the shocked and angry-looking ponies up on stage, and then back to the guards. She let out a tiny, humorless laugh. Then, two thick tendrils of dark magic surged out from her horn, grabbing hold of the Royal Guards and holding them up a few feet in the air, struggling feebly in an attempt to break free. A small, wicked grin formed on Twilight’s face, her black eyes flashing, and two more, smaller tendrils reached out and wrapped around the guards’ heads. Then, there were two loud, sickening tearing/cracking sounds as their heads were abruptly spun 180 degrees.
Screams of shock and horror rang out at the sudden brutal double-murder. The sight of two of his subordinates – his comrades – being killed by his own baby sister shocked Shining to the core, the horror breaking through the brainwashing spell on him, leaving his mind clear enough to wholly understand just how bad things were. Celestia’s knees felt weak at the sight of her cute little beloved student becoming a callous killer. Fluttershy and Pinkie were both crying, the latter’s mane & tail limp and straight, holding onto each other for dear life. Rarity almost passed out, while AJ and Dash went pale with horror. Spike was hiding behind Celestia, refusing to believe what he had just seen his mother-figure do. And ‘Cadence’ realized that she may actually be in serious trouble.
The response was quick. Two more Royal Guards rushed Twilight, weapons drawn. She simply stood in place, conjuring a transparent Dark-Magic shield that blocked their blades. A black tendril-arm of dark magic reached out and grabbed one of the guards, forming a huge claw, and then slammed him into the ground with incredible speed and force, shaking the ground and breaking half the bones in his body. She picked him up and then did it again, this time head-first, and his skull cracked like an egg. The fourth guard tried to turn and run, only for several spears of Darkness to shoot up from the floor, impaling him. He twitched for a few moments and then went still, and she dispelled the spikes, allowing his limp body to flop to the floor and his blood to stain the carpet.
“How rude of those colts to interrupt a lady when she is talking,” Twilight said.
Horror and fear filled the hall. Several ponies attempted to leave, only to find the exit blocked by an invisible barrier of magic, so the crowd had to settle for pressing themselves toward the walls, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the clearly unhinged Darkness-wielding mare. There was no sound, except for a single whimpered whisper from Fluttershy:
“W-What’ve we done?”
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…” Twilight said as she began to slowly walk down the aisle. “I am here on very important business: namely, making pay those who have manipulated and lied to me over the years. I believe I’ll start with the one who caused my most recent sufferings, shall I?”
As she walked, the flame-like aura of Darkness surrounding her slowly grew in intensity, while sharp-tipped tendrils of Dark magic flickered out from her horn. When she was halfway across, everyone took notice as two bulges formed on her back, growing steadily. She stopped, arching her back, and then there was a horrible ripping sound as the flesh on her upper back split in two places, blood and Dark miasma pouring out. It very quickly became clear that something was forcing its way out, as two blood-soaked feathery appendages, wreathed in Darkness, emerged from Twilight’s back, stretching high; they were a faded purple with black tips, stained red by blood. The onlookers’ horror intensified as Twilight apparently became an alicorn in the messiest way possible; Velvet, her & Shining’s mother, tried to scream, but no sounds came out, while her husband Night-Light was as pale as the moon. Twilight flapped her new wings a few times, shaking a good deal of the blood off of them. Celestia felt sick to her stomach. Twilight started walking again, like nothing had happened.
“I can’t fathom why I rejected this power for so long…” Twilight said. “Why did I deny hatred all this time, when it gives me such strength and life? It has given me the power to right the grievous wrongs made against me…”
“T-Twily, that’s enough!” Shining Armor shouted, his voice tinged with fear; it was terrifyingly clear that his little sister wasn’t just throwing a tantrum anymore. “Let’s all just calm down. We can talk this out.”
Twilight glared at her former BBBFF, her eyes flashing black. “Oh, you’ll get yours soon enough, Shining. But not yet. There’s someone else who’s ahead of you in line.”
She took a few more steps forward… and then vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing directly behind ‘Cadence’, who barely had time to turn halfway around to face her before a Darkness-charged hoof to the face sent her flying, landing several meters away down in the aisle. Twilight flew down at her, firing a barrage of dark-magic bolts. Everyone gasped in horror as Cadence was struck directly by them, being blasted back. After several seconds, she staggered to her feet… and a whole new brand of shock rang out at what was revealed.
Cadence had a feral, fangs-bared look on her face. Her eyes were glowing green. But more importantly, there were several parts of her body where the dark-magic bolts had hit that had lost their normal pink coloring, being revealed as chitinous greenish-black, the holes rimmed by glowing green. It looked as if it was a second layer of flesh beneath her normal pink coat. As Twilight stared, she felt deep shock as she put two and two together. The odd behavior, the not recognizing their little secret greeting, the green glow even though she remembered Cadence’s magic being blue…
“You…” Twilight spoke with sudden realization. “You’re not Cadence… You’re a shapeshifter posing as her!”
In response, a pillar of green fire enveloped Not-Cadence, swirling around her as she shed her disguise. When it was over, the insectoid-looking pony, as tall as Celestia, smirked.
“Shapeshifter is such a broad term” she said in a flanging voice. “We prefer to be called ‘Changelings’. And I am Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changeling Swarm.”
At seeing and hearing all this, Celestia’s heart nearly stopped from shock. Everything suddenly made horrifying sense. This imposter had strung everyone along, even her. Only Twilight had suspected something was amiss, and they’d responded by casting her out. Shining Armor nearly threw up; that… thing had been using him, altering his mind, and… he remembered the briefing on Changelings back in OCS, how they literally fed upon the positive emotions and life energy of their prey. All those headaches weren’t from sustaining the city-wide Shield spell; they were from his life-force being sucked out by an equinoid abomination disguised as his fiancée.
And he’d sided against his baby sister in favor of that bug.
After several seconds, Twilight spoke, eyes flashing black and fangs bared. “This changes little” she said. “All this does is exonerate the real Cadence; I was wrong to think she was evil. But it does not change the sins committed against me by the others – my family, Celestia, my former friends. I will make them pay. But first, I will deal with you.”
Chrysalis laughed. “I have been feeding off of your brother’s love for the true Cadence for over a week now. Consequently, I have gained a massive boost in power. Even before that, I was only slightly weaker than Cadence or Luna; now, I could go one-on-one with Celestia herself and I’d stand a chance of winning! What makes you think that you, a single dark mage unicorn, could defeat me?”
Twilight let out her own little chuckle, head hanging low. “Love is a powerful emotion; that is true. But so too is its opposite. Love can give you drive, the strength to keep going against all odds, but hatred can do that too. The love you have stolen has doubtless made you strong… but you are not the only one who can draw strength from emotions. The love I once felt for those who have betrayed me has been inverted, and the resulting hate has been magnified as I embraced parts of myself that I for so long refused to acknowledge. All those who hurt me will pay, starting with you. Now… allow me to show you… the full strength of my hatred…”
With that, Twilight made the first move, firing a massive continuous barrage of Dark magic bolts. Chrysalis was seen to smirk just before they hit. Twilight did not let up, continuing to fire explosive Darkness bolts like a machinegun. Her target was obscured by the resulting smoke, but still she fired, a constant wave of energy bolts aimed to obliterate the Queen. After nearly 20 seconds, she stopped, panting for breath, and looked at the now-dissipating smoke cloud. Everything looked still.
“Is that all?”
A flash of green was the only warning Twilight got. Before she could react, she was hit by a blast of green magic that sent her flying back. Tendrils of glowing green energy surged out and grabbed hold of her. The smoke cleared to reveal Chrysalis, looking unharmed, the energy tendrils emerging from her horn.
“That was certainly impressive” she said. “My shield spell almost couldn’t take it. You’re too much of a potential threat to allow. …It seems your darkness wasn’t strong enough to beat me after all, little Sparkle.”
The tendrils slammed Twilight hard into the ground. Then, Chrysalis charged and fired a huge blast of raw destructive magic. For Twilight, time seemed to slow to a crawl as her thoughts surged within her mind… and the Darkness tightened its hold on her heart…
Several ponies screamed as Twilight was seemingly consumed by the resulting explosion. The loudest by far was Velvet, calling out her daughter’s name in horror. However, after several seconds, the smoke from the blast was blown away by a surge of Darkness energy from within. Twilight stood, unharmed, her pitch-black aura of Darkness now a roaring flame. Her eyes glowed red, and her teeth were bared as an un-equine feral snarl came from her throat. Her magical energy signature became even more twisted and corrupted, as her power level began to soar upwards. The feel of her power struck fear into the hearts of the captive audience.
“No more games…” she snarled. “Time for you all to suffer…”
Twilight body began to change. Her limbs lengthened as her body shifted form, bringing her up to the size of Luna or Cadence. Her coat darkened and dulled, becoming a violet-tinted black. Her Cutie Mark changed, the smaller stars disappearing while the large one shifted and sharpened, the points transforming into wicked-looking blades. Her mane and tail transformed into fire, shifting flames of purple, dark blue, and magenta with a single “highlight” of jet-black fire. Teeth sharpened, becoming fangs. The feathers of her new wings became dark grey with blood-red streaks. Years of repressed negative emotions, Darkness kept locked away in her Heart, was now truly free.
Twilight’s friends and family cowered in fear as they watched her transform, and felt her magical energy signature grow and darken until it was higher than Chrysalis’ and fouler than Discord’s. But their reactions paled in comparison to Celestia’s.
“No…” the Princess whispered, tears in her horrified eyes. “Please, no… Not again… Not Twilight…”
For she had seen and felt this exact type of transformation before, 1,000 years ago…
“My precious student… H-How did it come to this? How did it all go so horribly wrong?”
Chrysalis stepped back, eyes widening, as she sensed the great and terrible power that now stood before her. “W-What are you?” she asked.
“…Your end,” the Nightmare replied.
Twilight’s Nightmare then fired about a dozen huge bursts of Fire- and Darkness-type magic, racing through the air toward Chrysalis. The Changeling Queen conjured a Shield again, only for it to shatter after three hits, leaving her to take the rest head-on. She quickly loosed a pulse of magic from her body to knock out the dark flames before they could spread and consume her, and then she fired several explosive magic bolts at the corrupted Twilight. The new Nightmare, however, simply stood there, a simple Shield spell repelling all of the attacks without even wavering.
Twilight then rushed forward, a flash of flame accompanying her movements, Chrysalis’ desperate spells bouncing off of her, and then landed a rising blow that sent her hurtling up through the air. The Nightmare pursued her, streaking through the air like a fiery comet, and overtook her, timing it just right and landing an overhead axe-blow with her forehooves wreathed in dark flames, sending Chrysalis hurtling down into the ground in a ball of fire, landing hard enough to shatter the intricately carved stone tile. The corrupted Twilight then formed a huge sphere of explosive Fire and Darkness magic, and then threw/fired it downward. Chrysalis barely had time to scream before the attack hit, incinerating her in a massive explosion which was contained by the dark-magic barrier encompassing the impromptu battlefield.
Twilight landed at the edge of the crater, looking down at the pile of ashes at the bottom. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she concentrated, tendrils of dark magic reaching down and enveloping the remains at the bottom. A sphere of dark magic rose up, linked to her horn, and after several seconds it parted to reveal a confused and scared Queen Chrysalis, alive but gripped by tendrils of dark energy.
“Your suffering isn’t over yet,” Nightmare-Twilight said. “I will not yet allow you the escape of death. …You can take the form of anypony? Good. This will give me a chance to… vent… a little.”
The hall was then filled with two equally terrible sounds: Chrysalis’ screams of agony and the sickening snaps and cracks as Nightmare Twilight telekinetically twisted her limbs, wings, and torso far more than they were meant to be moved. Cartilage and chitin fractured and warped as the Changeling Queen was twisted about like taffy. Finally, her head was turned the same way, another crack abruptly silencing her screams. There was then a flash of black magical energy, and she was again alive, whole, and unharmed, and now looking at Twilight with an expression of pure, utter terror.
“I’d say that about does it for the warm-up…”
Twilight’s new dark magic enveloped and invaded Chrysalis’ body, violating her, and forcing her innate transformation magic to activate the way Twilight wanted it to. Thus, Chrysalis was forced to assume the form of Shining Armor. Twilight snarled, sharp fangs bared beneath glowing red eyes.
“Shining Armor… My older brother… One of the ponies who I looked up to the most growing up… But I know now that such admiration was misplaced. When we were little, he’d take every opportunity to skip out on our playdates, cut them short so he could go do what he wanted. And when I moved to Ponyville, he never visited; hell, he never even wrote! He forgot me! And when he decides to get married, one of the biggest changes of his life, he doesn’t even tell me in person, relying on a letter – a letter from someone else, at that – to tell me only a couple days before the ceremony! And then, when I try to save him from being enslaved by a monster, he screams at me, kicks me out, disowns me! He never truly cared for me! I was just a means to an end, an obligation! I… I hate him…”
Outside the barrier, the real Shining Armor felt as it Twilight’s words were hot knives stabbing him in the chest over and over. Guilt rushed over him in waves as he looked back on his life, looking at all the times he took Twily for granted. And now look where it’d gotten him…
Nightmare-Twilight conjured two large shields around four feet tall, shaped just like the one that made up Shining’s Mark. They floated in midair on either side of her captive, ‘facing’ each other. And then, they moved with sudden, incredible speed and force, crushing Shining/Chrysalis’ right rear leg between them such that the limb practically exploded. Chrysalis screamed in pain, and to the others’ horror Shining’s voice came out of her mouth alongside her own. Blood dripped out from between the pressed-together shields; apparently, Changelings’ blood was red just like ponies’. After several seconds, the large shields parted, revealing that Shining/Chrysalis’ leg had been crushed flat, torn flesh and pulverized bone plainly visible (the Changelings, despite their insect-like appearance, were actually warm-blooded endoskeletal vertebrates, with chitinous natural armor similar to a dragon’s scales, and some insectoid qualities & behaviors).
Before Shining/Chrysalis could say anything, the shields came in again, crushing her other leg. Again she screamed out in her and Shining Armor’s voices, as another limb was pulverized. The crushing, bloodstained shields pulled away again, and then shifted position & angle and did the same to one of her forelimbs, and then the other. Then the lower half of her torso was crushed, causing a dramatic increase in blood; it was at this point that several ponies who would normally faint at such gore were unable to, Nightmare-Twilight’s magic forcing each & every captive viewer to remain conscious, to see and hear everything. Finally, Shining/Chrysalis’ upper half was squashed, silencing her and finally dispelling the transformation. And then, a flash of dark magic enveloped her body, retracting to reveal her alive and whole once more.
Twilight’s dark magic invaded Chrysalis’ body again. This time, the Changeling Queen was forced to assume the form of a certain prismatic pegasus. The Nightmare looked up at her with loathing.
“Rainbow Dash… The braggart, the bully, the insensitive bitch of the group… She bears the Element of Loyalty, for reasons that I cannot fathom. She claims to be a good friend, but I’ve seen plenty that proves otherwise: constant insults and heckling against her friends, pestering me to do things for her, insulting my love of reading and study by calling me egghead or nerd or countless other things, endlessly boasting about her own achievements whilst hardly ever giving credit to others where it is due, abandoning me when I needed her the most! I can’t understand why Scootaloo practically worships the ground she walks on; the poor dear must be blinded to how horrid her object of awe truly is. …After everything the girls and I have been through together, they threw me out for the chance to wear fancy dresses and be in a wedding… In the end, Rainbow Dash is only loyal to herself and her own gratification, and she never displayed any loyalty to me. I hate her.”
Just outside the barrier, the real Rainbow Dash was quivering and trying to hold back tears of guilt and sorrow as she listened to her fallen friend’s words… and of fear as she dreaded whatever was about to be done to her doppelganger. Dash/Chrysalis’ eyes were wide with terror as Nightmare-Twilight formed shifting constructs of magic behind her, slowly approaching the appendages that the real Dash treasured most: her wings. A Changeling’s transformation was more than a simple illusion; it was an actual, physical change, a magically-crafted and -maintained ‘layer of reality’ over their normal bodies. Thus, right now Chrysalis’ wings really were the feathery appendages of a normal pegasus, rather than the insectoid wings of her true form. They were complete in form and function… and in nerve endings.
Chrysalis screamed, in her and Dash’s voices, as her feathers – all of them – were ripped out over the span of a few seconds. Blood streamed from the plucked wings, which were now bare and twitching. And right when the waves of pain had begun to ebb, it was renewed with interest as the bare wings were then chopped off by a magic-forged blade. Dash/Chrysalis wasn’t given time to recover from this before several more of them appeared and began quickly & brutally cutting her apart. A few ponies in the captive audience threw up at the spectacle. When it was over, Chrysalis’ sliced-apart body floated in the air.
Twilight’s dark magic again resurrected her, and then again invaded her body to force another transformation. This time, she was forced to assume the form of a tall, regal alicorn.
“Celestia… I devoted everything I was to her, and how has she repaid me?! Constantly belittling, downplaying, and discarding my concerns and worries, expecting me to deal with all the dangers that threaten her kingdom while she sits on her ass and talks fancy with politicians, never giving me the recognition that I have long since earned! Even after everything I’ve done, all the times I’ve been right, she had no faith in me whatsoever! I’ll bet she never even cared for me at all! I was just a means to an end, a weapon to free her ‘beloved’ sister and smite her enemies, given rare moments of false praise to secure my misplaced loyalty to her! And, she’s always been blind to the true threats to Equestria whenever it mattered! She failed to see Luna’s jealousy and pain and anger until it was too late, and that cost her a thousand years! She failed to notice that the seal on Discord was weakening until he was already out and causing havoc! She failed to notice that Cadence had been replaced by a shapeshifting bug that behaved in a manner totally anathema to the real thing! And she failed to notice the darkness and repressed negativity growing inside of me, and look where that has led! …She manipulated my emotions for her own ends, making me think I meant something to her, when in reality I was just a tool. …I hate her.”
Celestia/Chrysalis screamed as her eyes suddenly burst into flame, rapidly burning away into ash while leaving the rest of her head unharmed. Then her entire body was engulfed in white-hot flames; the ear-splitting, soul-clenching screams lasted until vocal chords were burned away. When the flames faded, a charred corpse was all that remained. Again, Nightmare-Twilight’s magic enveloped and resurrected Chrysalis, and then forced her to take another form: that of a certain yellow pegasus.
“No more!” Chrysalis screamed in her and Fluttershy’s voices, tears of fear streaming down her cheeks. “Twilight, please! I’m sorry! Please! No more!!”
But the Nightmare paid her no heed, listing off Fluttershy’s transgressions and then killing the transformed Chrysalis by seemingly conjuring large invisible claws of solid magic that proceeded to slash huge gashes out of her, all over her body, tearing her apart chunk by chunk. When she’d finally succumbed to that, reverting to her base form upon death, she was resurrected yet again.
This continued for some time, each restoration leading to a new form being forced upon the Changeling Queen, a new calling-out from Nightmare Twilight, and a new horrific death before the next resurrection. Applejack – apple tree roots growing through her body, eventually punching their way out in all directions; Rarity – turned to gemstone and then shattered, one section of her body at a time; Pinkie Pie – stomach rapidly filled until her torso burst open; her mother, her father, the adult forms of a few of her fillyhood bullies; only Chrysalis’ inability to assume forms too much smaller than her true form spared Spike and the Crusaders from witnessing their own horrid demises, and even then they were plenty traumatized just from being forced to witness all of this, clinging to each other in terror. Ponies in the captive audience were nauseous, terrified, in tears, screaming and begging Twilight to just end it already.
Finally, Nightmare Twilight brought Chrysalis back without forcing a transformation upon her. The Changeling Queen hovered in Twilight’s telekinetic grip, nerve endings screaming in phantom pain, her mind nearly broken by it all. Outside, the Changelings had long since collapsed, unconscious or dead, due to the feedback from the psychic link to their Queen.
“P-Please…” Chrysalis begged. “Just let me die and stay dead… Please…”
“…No. I have something else in mind…”
Space-time distorted around Chrysalis, and she looked around in growing terror.
“I’m going to seal you in a pocket dimension, isolated from base reality. In it, you will be subjected to constant, endless, agonizing pain and suffering. You will be unable to die, no matter what is done to you. You will be unable to escape into the refuge of madness, as some torture victims do; the magic of that realm will force you to remain totally sane, always fully aware and understanding of everything, and forced to remember everything that led up to this. Age will not bring death; you will live forever, in your own private realm of eternal torture. The seal holding you in there will be so great in strength and complexity, that no power short of the Four Elder Gods themselves will be able to free you. Goodbye, Chrysalis! Welcome to Hell!!”
While Twilight was busy talking, she hadn't noticed that the bug Queen's horn was glowing. Just as she was about to send Chrysalis to a pocket dimension, the broken changeling summoned a portal and escaped, having realized that she would be unable to conquer Equestria since the former unicorn now had dark magic.
"You escaped, huh? Oh well, I had my fun," Twilight said, and then turned around. "Now I'll give you ponies a last chance to talk to me."