Bruised, battered, and broken, as she lay there in her 'bedding' within the Hive, Twilight Sparkle coughed weakly, looking up at Chrysalis as the Changeling Queen stared down at her. "Why didn't you just... kill me?" At the question, the black queen's expression turned contemplative. Then, after a moment, Chrysalis answered, "You don't fear death... You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe."
"Torture?" rasped the Element of Magic, her eyes widening with fright.
Queen Chrysalis nodded. "Yes. But not of your body... Of your soul."
Paralyzed and unable to move physically, Twilight moved her eyes about, trying to take in as much of her new location as possible, though she saw naught but walls of blackened, moisture-dripping shadow, save for a single gap in the ceiling that let in just enough sunlight. "Where am I?" she rasped.
"Home," the Changeling Queen replied, "where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There's a reason why my Hive is the worst hell in Equestria... Hope. Every pony who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy... So simple... And like shipwrecked ponies turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope..."
Suddenly, Twilight gasped - and then began to hyperventilate - as Chrysalis took the form of her beloved mentor, Princess Celestia. "So, as I terrorize Equestria, I will feed its ponies hope to poison their souls," she continued with Celestia's voice. "I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to "stay in the sun." You can watch me torture an entire principality and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Discord's destiny... We will destroy Equestria and then, when it is done and Equestria is ashes, then you have my permission to die..."
And with those words, Queen Chrysalis turned, and slowly walked away. The final thing she heard as she exited the room was Twilight Sparkle... as the broken mare wailed with complete, and total despair.