• Member Since 25th Jun, 2012
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SoloBrony


I'm here to help. Avatar image courtesy of Taggerung

T

This story is a sequel to The Queen and I, Book 2: People and Problems


Chrysalis had always been taught that a leader should push forward; no matter the setback, no matter the defeat, a strong leader rallies their subjects. They do this because their subjects are helpless without them; without guidance and inspiration, society would fail, and it is that threat which motivates a leader to greatness.

What, then, should be done when a society moves on, no longer needing their leader? What should a leader do if they've become more of a burden than a boon to their own people?

Perhaps how they answer that question is the real measure of a leader's worth.


(Part of a larger continuity of stories. Click here for a complete breakdown.)

Chapters (7)
Comments ( 81 )

What.

Well that's a mystery for another chapter to solve i guess.

It's finally here! The journey you began ninety-nine weeks ago is coming to its grand conclusion! :yay:

Comment posted by storiesatrandom deleted Dec 13th, 2015
Comment posted by Perteks deleted Dec 22nd, 2015
Comment posted by Masterweaver deleted Dec 22nd, 2015
Comment posted by SoloBrony deleted Dec 22nd, 2015

My guess right now is that there are two Chrysalises here—"you" the dreamer and "Chrysalis" the apparition, a rather violent representation of her fears of self-sabotage and how others view her; a bit like Luna and Nightmare Moon.

I think one former Queen used a measure of memory manipulation on her misguided daughter.

OOooooooOOOOOOooooh Damn.

Having read the other fics both from you and the other guy who's name i cannot remember currently i wonder if we get a glimpse into the past when Chrysalis became queen and why this is all happening

6757643 Glad you seem to be enjoying it. By the end, your important questions should be resolved, so you don't need to worry too much about that.

It seems like Book 3 is getting a much more intense reception from random commenters than the other two, heh.

6749301 Such paranoia and suspicion!

Then again, with the changelings, those are usually the correct reactions. Thanks for your comments and speculation; your questions should be answered with the next few posts.

Random comment :P

That scene could be 3 times longer and still same energetic. You make way to short chapters, good but way to short.

6757839 I dislike padding and filler in writing. I prefer things to be concise.

Oh god someone is doing this thing, But i don't think its either of the two.

6789144 Question is, can you figure out what's going on before I upload the next chapter?

Well, that felt a bit Diabolus ex Machina.

6794722 Thank you person, I love your Latin. (My immediate reaction)

Sorry if it felt out of left-field. I was worried that it may come across that way.

Welp. That was kinda outta nowhere

6794764 Sorry that it seemed that way. I hope that didn't drag the experience down for you in any way.

There is a lot of stuff to suggest it earlier in the story, though nothing definitive. The ending recontextualizes a lot of stuff; it may be interesting to look back over some stuff now. I also intend to write a few more sidestories, and some epilogue pieces.

(spoiler alert for those reading from the story's main page)

----------------------
It also feels like it undermines everything this story was going for so far.
Chrysalis wasn't trying to overcome herself to bring peace, to grow as a character. This entire inner drama, struggle and everything are all meaningless. It was all just a nightmare essence lookalike causing bad things to happen.

And then the final outcome left me with a feeling of emptiness. We learn that other queens weren't as bad either... only to see them shatter. Changeling history is destroyed forever. Chrysalis is blinded which sure is a fitting ending for someone who had to suffer and give up so much... not.

All in all it was a really good story, props to the author as I enjoyed the whole trilogy a lot.
Except for the ending.

6794908 (Spoiler alert; responding to a post with spoilers)

First off, I am glad that at least everything aside from the ending was pleasing to you. I definitely get where you're coming from with your criticism of the ending; I don't know how much I can say to assuage that, but maybe I can put a couple of things into context.

You're right, what happens to Chrysalis isn't really a 'fitting end'. Life isn't always fair, even in fiction. That having been said, I'd say that for everything she lost, she gained something far more precious - that's worth consideration, I hope.

Regarding whether or not these things were an internal struggle, or the ending takes away the validity of that. I think it was fairly obvious to a lot of people, since the letters chapter, that Cecily didn't personally feel any malice towards ponies, and that was the result of conditioning and encouragement by outside forces. Overcoming that conditioning was an act of will; the struggle Chrysalis goes through to see ponies in even a neutral light, despite her conditioning, takes up the better part of Book 3. As a sidenote, while I generally try not to spoil this for people (So, even more spoiler alert), the story is meant to be read twice, as there are several aspects of it that are meant to have layered meaning; the emotional context and underlying meaning of a passage is meant to change a little after the chapter's ending, significantly after the book's ending, and the entire fic is recontextualized after the fic's ending. You probably noticed the writing style quirk associated with Chrysalis' mental influence; look for it in earlier chapters/books. That doesn't really 'fix' the problem you present, but all I can say is that this situation doesn't invalidate her struggle, it changes the nature of it; she's not struggling to overcome her own evil nature, she's struggling to overcome her perceptions and impulses, which were not originally hers. A lot of racism is like that.

I am sorry if the ending was a significant downer for you, I get that. It isn't meant to be a very happy ending. More disturbing to me is that you apparently felt it invalidated what you felt before; for that I'm truly sorry.

6794908 There's apparently a spoiler tag, please spoiler tag your post. It's just ]spoiler] ]/spoiler] with the first ] reversed, standard HTML style. This will prevent new readers from stumbling across your post. I just did it to mine.

Also, I hope the epilogues do a little to help with your feelings on the ending.

6796102
Done.
Well, I guess I have to wait and see then :)

“... Do you understand how debate works?”

OOOOH, BUUUUURRRRRN!

6808725 On the one hand, this is such a silly reaction to have to such an intense emotional scene...

... on the other hand this is EXACTLY WHAT I SAID writing it.

6810052 Yep. And I see that you're in the final chapter, now; anything to share?

6749209 Nightmare Cheese? Or Nightmare Bug? :pinkiehappy:

Cya
Raziel-chan

Huh... Maybe it's a mental visualisation of what she could've been like of things went differently?

That changeling has brass balls.

Cya
Raziel-chan

And the plot thickens.

Cya
Raziel-chan

Okay, why do I feel a battle in the center of Chryssie's mind coming?

This is seriously awesome.

Cya
Raziel-chan

Right in the feels, this chapter.

Cya
Raziel-chan

D: Chryssie!

Cya
Raziel-chan

Chryssie... :fluttercry:

This ending made me sad.

Cya
Raziel-chan

6816016 So many comments to wake up to, heh. I hope you enjoyed the story; hopefully, the epilogues will help you deal with the feels.

This is Brilliant!!!!! :pinkiecrazy:
So many feels :pinkiesad2: and so much creativity :raritywink:

6822851 I'm really glad to hear you liked it so much. It took quite a bit of effort to write; there are a little of quirks to the structure and design of the piece. For instance, did you notice that the narrative style, among other things, changes with every character?

I recently put out another sidefic to this (there are several of them), and I plan to put out one more, plus four epilogue sidefics.

I smell changeling traitors.

OH FUCK OH SHIT OH FUCK! THIS IS AMAZING!

Oh noes. This doesn't seem good. At all.

IAWDUOJHowjoiefjaiofja;wpiojhi;ojhfeaojfisujfeiwojfiwuejha;oewjiejahw;fe FUCKING SAAY IT! YOU FUCKING FOOL!

6848443 O.o;

What, in particular, are you responding to?

Oh god what's going to happen?

In all honesty I've been a bit tired of this perspective switch. Sometimes it's especially confusing. This chapter is one of them.

HOLY FUCKING BALLS THAT WAS AMAZING! I was sorta impressed. But also confused. What happened to the eyes of Chrysalis? She can still see right? What happens to the eyes of everyone else? Can she see? I'm so confused right now! Will you continue this?

6848571 The letters of course! The whole thing about Cecily!

6848888 There will be four epilogue sidefics, to give closure and go into more detail on the aftermath. And no, she can no longer see.

6850133 Then what did she see when she opened her eyes?

Curious. Several possibilities present themselves. I'm not going to guess until I get further information.

Also, reading this now. :pinkiehappy:

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