Unrequited

by Nineveh

The Colors of Hell | END

Chrysalis bounds towards me with a cheerful smile on her face. "Good morning, Chrys! Did you sleep well?" she asks me.

I smile sleepily, rubbing my left eye with my forehoof and nodding. "Yeah, more or less."

She beams and asks me giddily, "That's good, because guess what day it is?"

I turn my head and squint at the calendar. "Tuesday?"

"No, silly!" she laughs. "September 3rd! You know what that means!"

I stare at her groggily. "Two days after September 1st?"

Her smile drops to a face that says, "Are you for real?"

I chuckle with an exasperated sigh. "Okay, okay, what's today? Just tell me."

She facehoofs and laughs joyously. "It's your birthday, idiot!"

I fall off my bed, screaming. I pop my head up from over the edge. "That's today?!"

She laughs again. "Come on. Let's get you all pretty," she says, pushing me over to my bathroom. "We're gonna go celebrate."

"Where?"

"You'll see."

-

I only trotted forward, unsure of where to go, and unsure of where we were. I am blindfolded, and I can hear Cadence's breath in the silence. I feel uneasy.

"Cadence?"

"Hm?" she replies.

"Where are we?"

"Almost there." There is a long pause and more walking.

As we walk, the smooth crystal sidewalk beneath my feet turn to earthen soil and grass. I feel leaves crunch beneath my feet. It's nearly autumn, and I imagine the beautiful colors of the red, orange, and brown leaves dancing from the treetops.

"And. . . Here we are!" Cadence says, relieving my eyes of the cloth.

I stagger back, breath-taken in awe. I feel tears coming to my eyes. "It's beautiful," I want to say, but the words vanished into the chilly autumn air and up to the dawn-stained sky.

The sky. It glimmered red and orange like the leaves, splitting the dark night sky with its shining rays of joy, which dazzled and shone on the vast water. It painted the sky in hues of a flame, vibrant and colorful with beauty.

The scene now in front of me is all I can see and think of. I stand on the hilly banks of a lake, looking down on the sparkling, calm waters. The mountains and trees that bordered the far side of the lake were reflected of the water's surface, shaking with the waves. We stood in the opening of a forest tainted the colors of the sunset. The morning was a fire.

"Well, it's not much, but it's the best I could do without getting caught," Cadence said sheepishly.

I turned towards her tearfully, squeezing her tight into a hug. "No, no, Cadence. It's amazing! I love it!"

At this, Cadence beams, tears of joy forming at the corners of her beautiful, glistening eyes. "I'm so happy!" She squeezes me back, laughing.

We pull away from each other, and after a moment of staring at each other with gentle smiles, Cadence breaks the gaze and looks out over the lake, sighing. She closes her eyes and inhales the fresh breeze that was now picking up, and sighs again.

"Do you remember?" she asks me, not taking her eyes off the sparkling water.
I stare at her, blinking confusedly. "No, I don't. Well, it depends on what you're referring to."

She now returns her gaze back to me. "You don't? All this time, Chrys. After all I've done for you," she says, her gentle smile slowly deforming into a scowl. "Why, Chrysalis? I trusted you! How could you? Why? Why? Answer me!" Her face was now painted with rage and the tears of joy now turned to tears of sorrow. The scenery of the beautiful landscape, with the trees, birds, and lake burned. All of it. It burned until there was nothing, only black wasteland. The glistening, shimmering rays of sunlight were now gone, faded away by the blanket of ash circulating the air around us.

"Cadence?"

"Don't say my name! I don't want to be with you! I hate you!"

Cadence, slowly, before my eyes, disappeared into a cloud of bright dust, carried away by the rough and humid breeze. "Cadence!"

As I stare into the dark sky, clouded with ash, my eyesight blurs. I feel something something moist on my cheek, but I don't care. Cadence is leaving me, is all I can think.

"Cadence!"

-

My eyes snap open. The first thing I see is the sky. It looks no different than the ashen sky of the dream. It was no dream: it was reality.

Because of my own selfish reasons, I was separated from Cadence. I don't remember anything but the last memory, a faint vision, of Cadence and Shining Armor, a glowing aura around them, and suddenly I being pushed away by some force I couldn't see or feel; the last thing I hear is a scream, hoarse and disgusting, from my wretched mouth. I try to recall my memories, but every time I try, a sharp pain pricks at my head, and I wince.

I feel tired. Fatigued, weak. I feel as if all the energy has been drained from my body. I feel like I've been stretched and wrung of all my blood, even though I have no scratches. Nearby, I see another changeling, laying on its side, eyes half open. The changeling smiles quietly at me. "My queen," it says to me, voice weak and small. "Take what energy I have left. My life is only lived for you." I have no strength to question the changeling. I use as much energy as I can to extract the energy from the other changeling. As the last bit of glowing green is pulled from its body, a sigh escapes its lips, and the body falls to the ground, lifeless.

As I sit up, I feel the hard, coarse soil beneath me, barren and dry. I look around. Dead trees and dark hills and mounds scatter the land in every direction for miles and miles. There seems to be no end. The world around me looks as if it glows green and black in my colors. Is this my land? Is this my title, what I rule? Do I rule the desolated lands of hell?

Hell is not fire. It is not flame. It is much, much worse. It is isolation. Lonely, cruel, cold, dark. Hell does not burn your flesh. It twists your insides, smashing your skull into the depths of depression. The colors of hell are not the vibrant and warm colors of red, orange, and yellow; they are black. They are the darkest shade of black; a color darker than darkness.

It is dark, yet I see everything. I see the unmoving bodies of changelings of my own kind, smaller and them genderless. I see dead trees, dead soils, dead air. Nothing is left alive.

Is this my fate? Hell?

In the darkness I hear a voice from everywhere, echoing.

Chrysalis.

The voice is familiar.

Chrysalis.

It calls again. I try to distinguish the voice. I've heard it before. So many times before. But from who?

One last time, it calls, louder and so clear above my clouded and screaming thoughts. Chrysalis.

Cadence.

I look around frantically, but my efforts are in vain; I see nothing. "Cadence!" I scream as loud as I can. "Cadence, where are you?"

Chrysalis.

"Answer me!"

Stop.

I do so, an unseen force compels me.

"Cadence?"

The voice is gone. I look in the sky, desperate. I scream Cadence's name. No answer. I scream again, over and over, until blood trickles down the sides of my mouth. In disgust, I spit the blood, coughing and hacking my lungs. I collapse to the ground of wariness.

I am still conscious, and I look to the sky. The clouds are still and frozen, forever blocking the sun's bright and welcoming rays. Actually, I don't know what time it is. Day or night, I don't know. Does hell have time?

My head lolls to the side, and a tear passes my muzzle and onto the dirt. Blood softly flows from the corner of my mouth. My chest hurts. It hurts from the screaming, from the heartbreak. My chest aches from the realization that my blindness of unrequited love has lost me a friend, a playmateー

A sister.

I'm lost. I can't see. My vision is blurring. Where am I? I can't see? What's happening?

My panicked thoughts are halted, and my eyes snap wide. In front of me, walking towards me, is a glowing figure. Is it really?

Cadence.

I want to jump up and hug her, but my body thinks otherwise. I lay still, only staring at Cadence, a soft, grateful, and sorrowful smile plays on my lips. I don't want her to see me. She hates me. I don't want her to see me like this. I want to run away, towards, away, towards her. But my body thinks otherwise.

She stops before me. I muster all my strength to tilt my head up to see her. My eyes are half closed, my eyelids are heavy. Cadence smiles and says the words that I only ever wanted to hear, the words that I've only ever heard her say to me. She is the only on to say them to me.

I sigh, giving a small laugh, and tears stream endlessly from my eyes. I begin to sob softly, until I can hold back mo more. As Cadence disappears into dust before me, like in my dream, I wail, screaming and reaching out to her. My throat burns from the pain, but I don't care. I want her by my side. Sister. The only family I ever had.

The last thing I ever see before falling asleep to never wake again are the dark colors of hell, blurred and unseen.

-

My eyelids lift, hoping to find myself at home, safe and warm with Cadence; hoping to forget the nightmare, hoping to start over; hoping that everything was just a dream, that I had never met Shining Armor, Cadence, that I had never been adopted.

But, no.

I open my eyes to darkness, this time, to dark even for me to see. I see nothing, as if my eyes were closed. But, my eyes are wide open. I take a step forward. I gasp as memories of before I woke in the barren wasteland flood my mind, and my knees buckle as the images and flashes of light blind me and overwhelm me. I scream, forgetting my hoarse throatー

But I feel no pain.

I try and scream louderー

But I hear no sound.

I can't feel my beating heart, and I can't hear my ragged breaths. I don't think about that, though. My mind is only focused on the overflowing memories. I remember now.

Cadence smiled sadly, both of us sobbing apologetically, and everything after is only a blur: I teleported away, not caring where I went to; it didn't matter where, just not here. I found myself in a dark cave. I sat on a throne, facing an immense crowd of poniesー changelings.

They praised me as a leader, and with my army, I lost my sense, and terrorized Cadence's wedding. I enslaved Cadence in the caves beneath Canterlot, a place where we would go as fillies.

Next thing I know, I'm flying through the air. I lost consciousness somewhere, and I wake in the wasteland.

As the memories return, I cry. No tears come out. But I cry. I cry, but I feel no emotion. I'm confused. Why?

I stagger at a thought: I am dead.

Am I? So, this is what death looks like. Hell is dark. Hell does not give the luxury of light, or flame, or heat. It is blank, dark. I will be driven mad here. I will be here forever, mad and alone. For eternity, I will remain here.

I remember the mentors at the orphanage, the kind ones, spoke about Heaven, about its riches and luxury. The gates of pearl and the streets of gold. How everything was pure, and everything was perfect.

But now, I know of no Heaven; Heaven cannot exist, because a perfect world is impossible. There can be no world of happiness, peace, or love. Nothing is real. Things like romance, friendship, serenityー they are all aesthetic factors of life, all fake and plastic.

I will be driven mad, haunted by my sins, haunted with demons of the past: and I will become one of them. I will become one of the wretched demons and monsters that roam the lives of fillies. My story will be told as a warning to children: "If you don't sleep, the changelings will come and eat you at night."

And I know I deserve it.

Suddenly, I remember the last thing that Cadence said to me.

And I cry. I cry harder than any time I ever had before. I cry harder than when I found Shining Armor's love for Cadence. I cry harder than my final parting with Cadence. I cry, but no tears come out.

Have you ever cried so hard that your tears dried at your eyes?

The last words that Cadence said, the last three words that I ever heard and ever will hear, gentle and forgiving, the words that only Cadence has ever said to me, the words I will never hear again:

I love you,

Sister.

Author's Note:

Wow, guys! Finally, an update!
This is the official FINAL CHAPTER of Unrequited! I hope you all enjoyed, and have a splendid day!

Look forward to more stories from me!!

Comments

[Burnasius]

It is over. Congrats to you.

[linkman443]

Wow

[Nineveh]

4120179 I thought as I wrote the damn depressing feels...

4120138 About time, too

[Starlight Nova]

This kinda sounds like an alternate universe fanfic. You sure it's not one?

[Nineveh]

4125227 I was considering that, but I thought alt. universe would be something that affects canon scenes directly... Oh. Actually, yeah I think it is..

I thank thee. I'll make sure to add the tag!! Thanks!!

[Brony_Falcon]

Great story. Liked.

[Nineveh]

4126103 Thank you so much for your appreciation!