A Light in the Darkness

By Nightmare Nyx

It's been a year since the events at the Canterlot wedding. A year since the stupidity of Chrysalis started the downfall of the Changeling race. Better living conditions were the only thing she wanted for her dear subjects. A life without hunger or danger, far away from the Badlands. Blinded by desperation, she only saw one option, one way to end the suffering of her little changelings.

~~~

Chrysalis sat in her bedroom, preparing herself for the upcoming task. Spies had told her of a wedding in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, a country that shared its borders with the Badlands. The wedding was between Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the princess of love. She was going to replace Candance while the real one would be held captive in the crystal caves under the castle in Canterlot. This was the moment she had waited for so long, the chance for her to give her changelings a better future, or at least, so she thought.

---

Everything was going as planned. She had defeated Celestia, her subjects had captured those six ponies and the city was under their control. She had done it. She had given her changelings a better future, a future without fear or starvation, a future of which she dreamed since she was small. But suddenly she noticed something, something that opened the queens eyes: she didn't feel any love flowing. She didn't have the feeling of being filled. All she could feel was fear and anger. It was all over the city, in every street, around every corner, everywhere. It was only now the gravity of her mistake struck her. She started shaking, tears filled her eyes, she had to fix her mistake.But how? She couldn't just let her prisoners go, that would be suicide. While thinking she heard some buzz behind her. When she was about to turn around, a pink wall hit her right in the face. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness  was the cry of hundreds of changelings, perishing in pain as the wall of magic hit them.

~~~

Chrysalis floated in a world of darkness, the only thing that was audible in the abyss was a subtle whisper. As she floated, she tried to focus on the whispering.

[size=5]Monster. Monster. Monster.[/size]

She tried to focus harder.

[size=7]Monster. Monster. Monster.[/size]

When she tried harder yet again, the voices suddenly raised in volume.

Monster! Monster! Monster!

"No, I'm not a monster!" Chrysalis shouted at the voices but they only grew louder and louder.

Monster! Monster! Monster!

Chrysalis started crying. "I'm not a monster! I just wanted a better life for my subjects!"

It didn't matter how hard she screamed, the voices refused go away.

"I'M NOT A MONSTER!"

~~~

When she woke from the nightmare, a deafening silence caught the sobbing changeling queen. Fear filled her heart when she realized she didn't hear a single voice in the hive mind.

"No, this can't be true! They can't be all gone! There has to be another explanation for this."

Not willing to admit it, she rushed to the place she called home.

---

When she arrived at the tunnel system where her hive lived, her fears were proven right. When she reached the entrance of her hive, she saw a dead manticore lying on the ground. His body had several burning and bite marks. At least her changelings didn't go down without a fight. She went futher in the tunnels, everywhere she looked she saw the bodies of her fallen friends, ripped apart by the demons of the Everfree Forest. She couldn't deny it any longer, she was the only survivor of her hive. Back outside, she summoned all her powers and destroyed the entrance of the hive. What served once as the home of her and her subjects, was now the last resting place of her fallen friends. "Farewell my little changelings, I'm sorry", and with that she ran into the darkness of the Everfree Forest.

~~~

Today, it's been one year since she lost everything she loved, a year filled with nightmares and loneliness. She had fought for her life, in the daylight against animals, in her dreams against ghosts. After every fight she became weaker and weaker. And as her body slowly died, so did her will to live. The queen, once so mighty and powerful, had become a shadow of herself.