@Background Pony #4530
Far as we could tell, the changelings were initially meant to be just parasitic mooks you could remorselessly cheer for the heroes beating down, because Chrysalis’ portrayal was, overall, very unsympathetic in her debut. When Chrysalis puts emphasis on food, it’s moreso about
power, not survival, and it still didn’t even begin to excuse how much of a sadistic asshole she is, or the fact that she’s singing about how much she loves manipulating and controlling others, as opposed to her intrinsic duty.
The takeaway wasn’t “why isn’t Celestia and/or Cadance trying to appease them and their Queen,” it’s that they needed to be stopped for trying to conquer Equestria in a terroristic attack, as (essentially, since they all look the same) faceless goons trying to harm and oppress its populous, much like the Storm Guard in the Movie.
She may have cared on some level, but in the sense that from the perspective a narcissist sees it, others are extensions of your will/yourself. Real world tyrants have considered themselves to
be their country, after all, and Chrysalis never got a throwaway line showing any real compassion along the lines of “you’ll be punished for beating up my changelings,” in her debut.
@Mildgyth
Also I think it’s a hint that she might not care much about sustainably solving the problem, if she’s trying to sic Twilight on Cadance (who didn’t seem like she was getting adequate sustenance) for kicks, instead of trying to forcibly bend Cadance to her will to cast love spells, which could potentially at least bolster the love supply, if it can’t just make it limitless, before giving up on her if that proved unworkable. Either that, or she isn’t as good at her job as she’d like to think she is, for not knowing about her abilities before kidnapping her.
The whole point of her as a villain was that she was blindsided by the fact that despite feeding on love, she couldn’t
really understand it, otherwise she wouldn’t have fallen victim to a very similar defeat to what the Windigos had.
