Chapter Nine: Princess Celestia
When the group regained their eyesight, they found themselves in the Chamber of the Elements of Harmony, surrounded by stained-glass murals depicting various historic occurrences. Chrysalis took note of a pair of them depicting the current bearers, one of them showing the liberation of Princess Luna and the other showing the resealing of Discord. These six were truly a special group, it seemed, and she could believe it.
She ceased dwelling on the notion when she glanced towards Celestia, who had brought them here in the first place. Her expression was as serious as the one she wore at the altar when the queen had shed her cover, and nopony in the room dared to speak out of fearful intimidation. For several minutes, the group awkwardly glanced between the princess, the windows, and each other, but Celestia never took her eyes off of Chrysalis.
Eventually, the princess took it upon herself to break the silence. “I received Twilight’s letter, but I want to hear it from your own mouth. Why have you returned to Equestria, Queen Chrysalis?”
“Please,” Chrysalis insisted, “do not call me ‘queen.’ I cannot bear the title when I have nothing left to rule.”
“You’re avoiding the question. Why are you here?”
Chrysalis sighed. “I was here to plead for your aid. Yours is the grandest nation the world has ever seen, and you’ve such little shortage of supplies that you are almost entirely self-sufficient. Surely the use of some of those plentiful resources towards the relief of a struggling foreign power would not be outside the realm of possibility.”
“It would not,” Celestia replied. “But you assume I would trust you enough to provide that aid for your changelings, who very recently invaded my kingdom and threatened my subjects.”
“I knew that you would not,” Chrysalis countered. “That, along with the fear of heightened security, was why I chose not to approach you directly in Canterlot. I’m not stupid.”
“You could have fooled me,” Celestia retorted. “Tampering with the wedding of my niece and the captain of the Royal Guard—the brother of my most faithful student, I might add—in an ill-conceived plot to usurp my throne and enslave the population of Equestria? In my opinion, that was a very stupid plan.”
Chrysalis scowled. “The invasion was meant to feed my malnourished subjects. As long as they may be able to survive off of other sustenance, our biology requires a semi-constant intake of love. There was no other way for me to feed them all at once.
“And as for the usurpation of the throne,” she continued, starting to advance towards the princess, “I had no intention of taking your position until you attacked me. I acted in self-defense. I was not even aware I had the power to surpass you until you forced my hoof, and—”
“And you decided to run with it, is that right?” Celestia inquired, mildly agitated by Chrysalis’ show of defiance. “You know that the reason I attacked you was because you’d kidnapped the bride and manipulated the groom, right? That, and the fact that your forces were trying to break into the city. I had to keep the safety of my subjects in mind.”
“As I had to be mindful of the survival of mine!” Chrysalis shouted, now unrepentantly invading Celestia’s personal space. “Yes, I had to send your niece to the caverns beneath your city in order to take her place. Yes, I had to drain Shining Armor’s energy to sustain myself and allow my changelings entry. And yes, they swarmed the city in order to feed themselves, but you know what, princess? I was out of options! What else could I have done?”
“You could have asked!” Celestia hissed, startling Chrysalis enough to back off.
“...what?”
“You clearly know of my capacity for sympathy if you’re trying to appeal to it now,” she explained bitterly. “If you had simply come to me and requested relief without sabotaging a wedding and sending an invasion force, I would have gladly given you as much as you needed. But in choosing a solution that served your subjects, you had to pick the one that served your own ego as well. You couldn’t swallow your pride and ‘play with your food,’ as you put it.”
“You heard that?” Chrysalis asked. Had she heard her entire debate with the newlyweds? Just sat back and listened to her extended shouting match with Shining Armor?
“I heard enough,” Celestia replied. “Your shouting drew my attention, and you were so involved with your conversation that none of you noticed my eavesdropping during the round of apologies.”
“So...” Cadance interjected. “You know what happened. What we did.”
“I have a basic idea,” Celestia answered. “But a basic idea won’t help me here. I want to know everything. From your initial arrival in Equestria to you being here now.”
This was absolutely not how Princess Celestia expected to spend her day. Granted, her only concrete plans involved conversing with her dearest sister at the start of the day and at the advent of the night, and she intended to just go with the flow for the rest of the day. She could envision herself holding court, sitting atop her throne whilst hearing the suggestions and pleas of her beloved subjects.
But then came that letter.
She was elated at first to see who it was from; it was always a pleasure to see what her faithful student and her friends were learning about friendship. But then she'd read it. She'd seen mention of Queen Chrysalis returning to Equestria and seeking refuge in Ponyville. She’d seen a plea for an audience with her regarding the extermination of her race. She’d seen a notice of urgency from Twilight herself demanding an immediate response. The mention of the changeling queen spending the last few days in Ponyville’s library made her skeptical of certain aspects of the letter, since it wouldn’t be impossible for Chrysalis to have dictated it herself and filled it with lies. Thus, here she was, trying to wrench the full story out of the group of ponies standing before her.
For a few awkward moments, the demand was met with silence, nopony wanting to step up and tell their side of the story. Finally, Fluttershy broke off from the group and moved towards the princess.
“I suppose I should start. It was late in the morning two days ago, and I was just finishing feeding my animals, when somepony knocked on my door. When I opened it, Chrysalis was there, but I thought it was Rarity, so I let her in. Then she shed her disguise... and I admit, I was terrified of her at first... but then we started talking. She told me about how her subjects’ lives were at stake, and I had to comfort her when she started crying. She told me she wanted to talk to Twilight about talking to you, and she thought she’d need me to convince her to listen. But then I had to leave her alone to meet Rarity at the spa...”
“And meet me she did,” Rarity chimed in. “I pried the information out of her about a new pony in town that she was sheltering in her home, and I demanded to meet her once we left the spa. When she led me to her cottage, the first thing I saw was Chrysalis suspended from the ceiling. I was shocked to see Fluttershy treating her well and helping her down, and I got into a bit of an argument with her, but after she told me her story, we agreed to meet Twilight at the library. Chrysalis went in disguised as Fluttershy, but the moment she shed it, Twilight... magicked her in the chest.”
“And that would be why her midsection is wrapped in gauze?” Celestia inquired.
“Basically, yeah,” Spike answered. “I didn’t see most of that, but the next blast she shot off went through the roof and woke me up. I came downstairs and saw Fluttershy—the real Fluttershy—pinning Twilight to the ground while Chrysalis was huddled up in the corner. I heard her side of the story, and we just barely kept Twilight from siccing the Royal Guard on her, but she did eventually agree to let Chrysalis stay and work at the library until she was willing to forgive her. She was busy doing that the whole rest of the day.”
“And she was still at it when Ah came to the library lookin’ for a book on apple trees,” Applejack added. “Twilight was out buyin’ paper or somethin’ like that, so Chrysalis was watchin’ the place herself disguised as her. Ah kinda blew her cover early on, and Ah argued and made a few threats, but she had me listen to her story. And Ah can tell ya, sure as sugar, that she wasn’t makin’ a word of it up. Then Twilight got back and started bickerin’ with her about how she was apparently skippin’ work, and Ah didn’t really wanna be there for that, so Ah put in my two bits, got my book and got outta there.”
“Twilight must’ve gone right to bed after that,” Spike explained, “because I didn’t see much of her for the rest of the night. I woke up the next morning, she was still in bed, and Chrysalis was losing an argument with Owlowiscious—”
“I was not losing!” Chrysalis interrupted.
“Oh, I remember that!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “That was when I came by because my Pinkie Sense was telling me I didn’t welcome Chrysalis to Ponyville yet! I came over, we talked a little bit, Twilight came down, Chrysalis told me about the changelings, and Twilight kind of... well...”
She paused, her chipper demeanor starting to fade. “She went a bit crazy. She started saying everything was Chrysalis’ fault, started calling her an it, said she should just let the changelings all die, and I... I had to slap her to snap her out of it, and she left after that. Ooh! But then there was the party! I brought over a bunch of stuff, everypony came over to the library, and we were all playing games and having fun and—”
“And that’s when I crashed it,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “Twilight broke into my house to tell me Chrysalis was in the library, and she got me to storm in there and take her out. But then everypony else was telling me she was one of the good guys, and she explained everything that was going on, but I felt like waiting until Twilight gave her side of the story. Turns out her side was completely crazy, some conspiracy theory about how everything from the wedding to now was all about her. Everypony else tried to talk her down, but... she said some really hurtful things to us, saying we didn’t deserve to be the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, and we all just left her there.”
“Twilight...” Celestia asked, shocked at what the unicorn’s very own friends were saying about her. “How much of that is true?”
“All of it,” Twilight confessed, locking her gaze onto the floor and refusing to look her teacher in the eye. “I spent half the night crying and the other half staring at the stars... but Chrysalis came back up to comfort me, to tell me everything would be alright. She apologized to me, I apologized to her, and we just sat there for a while, talking and watching the night sky. We went back inside to find the book with the communication spell I used this morning, and I started asking her all sorts of questions about the changelings’ hive mind, which she tried to link to right then and there. But she didn’t hear anything when she did... I don’t think I’ve ever seen anypony look as sad as she was then. I wrote up the letter to you right away and told Spike to gather the other girls so we could wait for you together... and so I could apologize to them. Then Chrysalis came down with the spellbook, I found the one I was looking for, and... well...”
“That’s where Shining Armor and I come in,” Cadance remarked. “We both kind of lost our heads a bit when we saw Chrysalis again, and she and Shining started fighting right away. She told us that the force field we used to force the changelings out of Canterlot was what drove them all to extinction, and... I just couldn’t take it. It boiled down to us agreeing neither of us could’ve done anything different and apologizing as much as we could for what our actions caused. I think you heard the rest, and... here we are.”
Celestia stood there silently, appraising their words. For the most part, all of them spoke favorably and even fondly of Chrysalis. The way they talked about her, she may as well have been a simple pony going through a rough time in her life. Not a single overt hint of contempt in their voices. They viewed her as a creature worthy of her pity, if not her forgiveness.
But even with all these views, the story still felt incomplete. Shining Armor hadn’t uttered a word, and the mare from whom she was most interested in hearing had only spoken towards the end.
“Shining Armor. You’ve been rather quiet. Surely you must have something to add.”
“I don’t,” Shining admitted, rubbing his neck. “Cadance covered our part perfectly. I flipped out on her, and that was the end of it. Besides, you saw a good chunk of it yourself, didn’t you?”
“I suppose...” She turned to Twilight, whose eyes had not left the floor. She moved to confront her, a look of sympathetic concern across her face.
“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student.”
Twilight heard Celestia’s voice, and she knew what she was going to ask. She’d want to know about what happened with her throughout Chrysalis’ stay in Ponyville. She’d want to hear about how she got caught up in her grudge, lashed out at the ones she loved, and stalled long enough to let the changelings die out. She’d want to hear all the things she couldn’t bear to tell her. Twilight knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if Celestia knew the whole story, if she knew that she did it on purpose, she would see some terrible punishment like nothing anypony had ever known. After all, there were no previous records of full-scale genocide in pony history; Celestia would have to come up with something new, something horrible.
As she dwelled on that scenario, she felt a hoof beneath her chin guiding her face to finally meet her teacher’s gaze.
“Twilight,” Celestia insisted, kneeling down to meet her protégé at eye level. “Your letter said that there was more to the story that you were uncomfortable sharing in writing. I just heard from everypony else, and it sounds like your role in this is greater than you’re willing to admit. Please tell me, how much more involved are you in the events surrounding Chrysalis?”
“I... I can’t...” Twilight muttered, her voice cracking slightly.
“I need to know,” Celestia demanded sternly. “I can’t make my final call on this until I know everything. I’m stuck unless you can tell me what they can’t. Tell me, Twilight!”
“Alright!” Twilight shouted, startling Celestia. “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything.”
She tried to speak further, but the words kept getting caught in her throat. It took some time, but with a series of deep breaths to maintain her composure and Celestia’s comforting hoof resting on her shoulder, she seated herself and felt ready to begin.
“I... I don’t think you realize how much the events of the wedding hurt me. All the ponies she targeted were the ones that were closest to me, and even if everypony else was willing to forgive her, I wasn’t. I know I lost my mind a bit once more of my friends started siding with her, and I know I said so many things that I regret, but the worst of it was the part I was consciously and sanely aware of doing.”
“...go on,” Celestia urged, the intrigue in her voice unable to fully mask her worry.
“The thing is...” Twilight continued, slowly losing the composure she fought to keep. “Chrysalis asked me to write that letter to you the moment she ditched her disguise in front of me. I knew about this the whole time, and I knew I was the only way for her to save her race, but I couldn’t do it. I made her work to earn it instead, which just made the bodies pile up more and more the longer I made her do it! And then I flipped out completely and tried to force her out of my life, which would’ve been a death sentence for them in itself! It wasn’t until a few hours ago that I was even remotely willing to write to you, and by then, I’d waited long enough for the rest to die anyway!
“Oh, Princess, it’s all my fault! I killed them all!”
Celestia completely shut down. She didn’t speak or move a muscle. She barely even breathed or blinked. She didn’t even register that her faithful student had started hugging her and sobbing up against her.
Twilight Sparkle had just more or less confessed to the act of genocide through willful negligence. Her precious, loyal student, one of the few ponies in this modern age that she felt a genuine closeness to, had pled guilty to knowingly driving the changelings to extinction.
Even as she regained most of her motor functions and reciprocated Twilight’s tearful embrace, her mind was at war with itself. The part of her that was screaming that it couldn’t be true gave up disappointingly quickly, which left two major factions: the one that just wanted to comfort this poor, broken mare and not burden her with any sort of punishment, and the one that demanded that she face the full and dire consequences of her actions. She would be playing favorites if she simply acquitted her, but... this was Twilight.
She must have sat there in that position for at least twenty minutes, fighting herself over how to deal with everything. Chrysalis, the newlyweds, Twilight... for the first time since the rise of Nightmare Moon, she truly felt conflicted and emotionally overwhelmed. All of them had acted without a full grasp of the impact of their actions, both on others and on themselves, but at the same time, the consequences were more extreme than anything she’d seen prior. She hadn’t had to face a decision this hard since... since...
“What is the meaning of this!?”
Celestia casted a glance towards the doorway, and there stood Princess Luna herself. She looked tired, irritated, and above all else, confused.
“Luna, thank goodness you’re here!” Celestia greeted through a halfhearted attempt to keep her emotions level. “I think I may need your—”
“I was awakened by a commotion out by the courtyard,” Luna interrupted. “I went to investigate, but there was nary a trace of previous occupancy. On my journey back to my quarters, I heard cries in the Chamber of the Elements. And now I come in to see yourself and Twilight Sparkle in a sobbing embrace and that wretched insect queen fraternizing with the other bearers? I demand an explanation!”
“I was about to give you an explanation,” Celestia countered. “I’m stuck at a crossroads at the moment in regards to...” She paused, sighing. “In regards to punishments.”
“Life imprisonment or exile for the attempted invasion of Equestria,” Luna replied without a moment’s hesitation. “And why, pray tell, was this such a dilemma?”
“Because she’s not the only one I was referring to,” Celestia answered forlornly, looking down at the mare still clinging to her for comfort.
Luna doubled back in shock. “No... sister, your own student? How could you!?”
“I can’t, and that’s the problem!” Celestia yelled back. “You don’t have the whole story. What Twilight’s just confessed to... if it were anypony else, I wouldn’t have hesitated to issue exile and life imprisonment in the place of exile.”
“Impossible! What could she have done to—”
“I let them all die,” Twilight interjected, breaking away from one princess and solemnly turning to face the other. “I had every opportunity to send a letter to Princess Celestia that would alert her to the critical condition the changeling race was in, but... my personal feelings for Chrysalis kept me from doing that until they were all dead anyway. And I knew what I was doing, too. I made it all about her, and they all paid the price for it.”
There was a moment of stunned silence until Luna finally replied. “...why?”
“I thought I made myself clear—”
“Why to all of this,” Luna clarified. “Why has this changeling shown her face on Equestrian soil again? Why were the changelings suffering so? And why are all of you here now?”
Fluttershy sighed. “I guess we’ll need to tell this story again...”
Luna listened attentively as the context to the current situation was given in great detail. She absorbed every word, accounted for every point of view, and weighed every described action and consequence with every other. By the end of it all, she had the full picture, but one question remained.
“How did you expect that to help? I’m just as confused now as Celestia!”
Her elder sister groaned. “That’s not going to help me make a good judgment call, Luna.”
“I’m uncertain that there is a ‘good’ call to make,” Luna responded. “It is difficult to appeal to morality with so many varying shades of gray, and yet we would be failing our duties as rulers to allow these actions to go entirely unpunished.”
“So we’re right back where we started,” Celestia bemoaned. “It wouldn’t be just to let them off easy... but at the same time, I couldn’t live with myself if I had to punish them so harshly. It just wouldn’t be right.”
“Then find that balance between what is right and what is just,” Luna advised, smiling warmly. “It is what you’ve always been skilled at. You did not need me here to tell you that.”
“That’s not to say I’ve always found that balance...” Celestia lamented, her gaze meeting a portrait of Nightmare Moon. When Luna followed that gaze, she felt a surge of guilt and pity.
“You did the right thing, and the punishment was just. It pains me to see you dwell on that event, big sister. What else could you have done?”
After a brief moment of silence, Celestia averted her gaze and sighed. “You’re right, Luna. Thank you.”
Then, to everypony’s surprise, the solar princess walked towards the chamber doors. “I’m retiring to my private quarters to think,” she explained. “The eleven of you may talk amongst yourselves, but I want you all here when I return, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t stray too far from here.” With those parting words, she exited, shutting the doors behind her.
For a brief moment, the only sound in the room was the echo of the closing doors, followed by a long and rather awkward silence. Luna figured that this behavior was to be expected of her sister, but would not have counted on her leaving her in the same room with her niece, the captain of the Royal Guard, the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, including her sister’s student and her personal assistant, and the changeling queen. In all honesty, she was simply expecting to take a wholesome rest from now until it was time to summon the night.
Eventually, she turned to face the changeling. “So... Chrysalis, was it? Have the Elements been treating you well?”
Chrysalis barely even noticed the passing of the hours. After a rather pleasant and informative conversation with Luna, everypony began simply chatting and catching up. It was almost as if the sorrow and tension present in the room before was never there. In fact, though she suspected it may have had more to do with the friendly crowd than anything else, she could swear that Shining Armor was starting to lighten up and relax around her. She subconsciously knew that this was merely a finite moment, a stalling tactic until Celestia returned, but she would have been content with it never ending. For the first time since the discovery in the hive mind, she felt happy.
Unfortunately, the moment was indeed cut short. While they were discussing the subjective quality of baked goods (a conversation Pinkie Pie had started and was strongly invested in), Celestia finally returned, her expression a perfect picture of neutrality.
“Chrysalis, I have a question for you.”
The words killed the conversation in an instant, and everypony turned to face the princess.
“The hive mind is the sum of your subjects’ conscious and unconscious thoughts, is that right?” she inquired, much to Chrysalis’ surprise.
“It was,” Chrysalis answered, her newfound cheer already draining at the memory of that crushing emptiness.
“So you would agree,” Celestia proposed, “that you cannot read the thoughts of a changeling in a comatose state?”
Comatose?
Unbelievable. Even in her panic, she never so much as considered the thought. The possibility—the likelihood—that there were still living changelings that simply could not project their thoughts to her! The word gave back to her the hope that she had lost so many hours ago.
She had never been happier to hear of such a major oversight.
“I... I think I would,” she replied, her eyes watering with tears of joy.
Celestia cracked a smile. “Then I’ve made my decision. First, Queen Chrysalis. And I do believe that you may be able to hold onto your title.”
At long last, Chrysalis was within plain sight of her ultimate goal. She’d gained the trust and companionship of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and she’d arranged for the plea for help to be sent to Celestia. Now she was face-to-face with the regal entity, waiting to hear her final judgment for the changeling race, which, if the princess was correct, was still alive and in greater need than ever.
After a tense, dramatic pause, Chrysalis hoping for and expecting the best all the while, Celestia finally spoke.
“Chrysalis, you and your subjects led a massive assault on a major Equestrian city,” she began. “You disrupted the wedding of my niece and the captain of the Royal Guard, and your changelings caused untold amounts of property damage in their attack. However, you’ve shown your dedication to your people by attempting to provide for them in a time of famine and shedding your pride to seek aid for them in their time of greatest need.
“It is my ruling that, with the near-extinction of your race, you have already paid the ultimate price for your actions. In addition, you’ve shown your desire to repent by working for and gaining the trust of my student and her friends. If I am able to recover the remainder of the changeling population, I will gladly provide for them the medical aid and nourishment they require. And until such time as your subjects have fully recovered, I will allow you to extend your stay in Ponyville under the supervision of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”
The six bearers and Spike cheered at the announcement and swarmed Chrysalis in a massive group hug. The thoroughly overwhelmed queen finally allowed her joyful tears to fall. “Oh, Celestia, I cannot express my gratitude!” she exclaimed. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The changeling race is forever in your debt.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” Celestia responded, “but that won’t be necessary. Though I trust you won’t take advantage of this gesture?”
“After my time here?” Chrysalis asked. “After the events that have transpired these past few days? After everything I had to go through to reach this point? I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Glad to hear it. Now then, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor...”
Shining Armor, as if by reflex, stood at attention as his superior called out his name. As disarming as the last few hours had been for him, and as much confidence as that smile was giving him, he was still incredibly worried. He’d had time to let the day’s events and revelations sink in, and he was still attempting to cope with the consequences of his actions. Whatever Celestia had planned for him, however... he would gladly and honorably accept it.
“Shining, Cadance,” Celestia began. “The two of you, with the combined might of your love and magic, jettisoned the entire changeling population out of Canterlot. As a direct result, they are scattered across the land, all dead or comatose save the queen. Your actions were made out of necessity and desperation to ward off an invading force, but at the cost of untold thousands of lives, and thus you must be reprimanded for them.”
“Your highness,” Shining stated, kneeling before her, “I will graciously accept the punishment for my actions.”
There was another pause. Shining rose to his hooves, beginning to grow nervous. What if the punishment was something incredibly severe? Something that would make him regret saying he’d be able to take it? Something that could keep him away from his family, his wife, his duties, for the rest of his life?
As if reading his mind, Celestia declared, “I thought long and hard about this one... and the best I could come up with was to separate the two of you for a time.”
“What!?” Cadance shouted. “But-but we just got married! Literally everyone in this room was here for it! We only got back from our honeymoon last night! How can you just tear us apart like—”
“Honey, you’re acting exactly like I was this morning,” Shining told her. “I know it’s our marriage at stake, but you’re the one who said we’d have to answer for what we did.”
“Not to mention the fact that I wasn’t finished,” Celestia added. “I will be sending Shining Armor on a field mission to search for and collect any unconscious changeling survivors. I require for him to be thorough so as not to miss any of them, and as such, I expect him to be far outside of Equestria’s borders for months on end. I will not revoke your marriage, nor will I prevent you from contacting each other, but you will be separated by hundreds of miles, if not thousands.” She smirked, now addressing Shining directly. “If it makes you feel any better, consider it a trial to see if your love can survive the long distance. Assemble a squadron at your earliest convenience, because I will be sending you out in the morning.”
Shining bowed again. “Thank you, your highness.”
“I can still see him off, can’t I?” Cadance inquired, walking up to her husband’s side.
“I’d expect you to be there even if I said no,” Celestia answered with a beaming smile. A smile that faltered as she looked upon the subject of her final verdict.
It was finally Twilight’s turn, and she was dreading it. She knew this couldn’t end well, not with all the blood on her hooves. Chrysalis had forgiven her, but she was incapable of forgiving herself. And she wouldn’t blame Princess Celestia for blaming her for everything as well.
Chrysalis, Cadance and Shining were let off relatively easy. She didn’t think she’d get the same luxury.
Before the princess began to speak again, Twilight addressed her, tears flowing freely once more. “Princess... I... I deserve whatever punishment you give me. Don’t hold back on my behalf.”
Celestia looked somewhat confused and distressed by the remark, but she began to list off the charges nonetheless.
“Twilight Sparkle... my dearest, most faithful student... yours is the most severe and distressing crime of all,” she lectured, her voice cracking. “You willfully denied me the information I would have needed to salvage the changeling race, to the point where there are now critically few left barely alive. You did this out of spite for a diplomatic ambassador from a foreign land who had wronged you in the recent past. In this endeavor, you allowed yourself to be consumed by your own hatred and rage, and you focused it not only on Chrysalis, but on your own friends as well. Had you been more careless, you may have rendered the Elements of Harmony useless, or even... I don’t even want to imagine what else!”
The parallel was not lost on Twilight. Her suspicions were confirmed when she shot a glance towards the younger princess, who had noticed and become visibly worried by the same thing.
“This is not the first time you’ve exhibited this sort of behavior, either,” Celestia continued, slowly regaining her composure. “For a sheltered, studious unicorn such as yourself, you are far too emotionally volatile. I have seen you panic and overreact to a missed deadline. I have heard of your paranoia getting the best of you during a time travel incident. And now this rage that has driven you to deny a required service to an entire race... and those are only the recent occurrences in Ponyville. I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve had these destructive meltdowns under my watch. I have delayed this for far too long, but Twilight Sparkle, you need professional help.”
Twilight gaped at Celestia in utter shock. No dungeons. No banishments. No dungeons in the place she was banished to. Just... a psychologist. After everything that happened, after everything she’d said and done, the worst she was getting was a head doctor.
“...that’s it?”
“I can’t afford to do anything else,” Celestia explained. “You’ve needed this for quite some time... I just wish it hadn’t taken something on this scale to make me see that. Plus, ever since you and your friends found and used the Elements of Harmony, we’ve needed them staggeringly often. As such, I cannot do anything that would separate you from your friends for extended periods of time, or anything else that might otherwise weaken the bonds of your friendship, lest the Elements become useless again. At this point, I’m convinced that tearing you away from them would only cause further psychological damage.
“And on top of all that...” she concluded, returning to tears. “I couldn’t bear to lose somepony that I loved dearly. Not again.”
Without another word, Twilight moved in for another embrace, which Celestia quickly reciprocated. She wasn’t sure how fitting the punishment was to the crime, and she felt she deserved something far more severe... but right there, in her mentor’s forelegs, she felt completely at ease for the first time in two days. In that moment, she didn’t need anything but the hug. Those seemed to work often enough.
Celestia was the one to break the hug, regarding her student with a warm, forgiving smile. “You know... you never did give me the friendship lesson you said you’d learned.”
“I think I may have learned a few now,” Twilight stated. “I learned how destructive and unfulfilling it is to try and hold a grudge. I learned how easy it can be to let your emotions get the best of you, and it looks like I’ll be learning to keep them in check soon enough. I re-learned that friendship, while worth fighting for, isn’t always easy. And I know I’ll have to learn how to earn the forgiveness of a friend I hurt before.” She glanced towards Rainbow Dash with that last statement. The pegasus looked away, but Twilight still caught the smile on her face.
“But most importantly,” she finished, “I learned of the true value of second chances. Both getting them...”
Her gaze drifted again, this time to Chrysalis, who returned it with a warm smile of her own. “And giving them to others.”
“One of the most important lessons you will ever learn,” Celestia informed her. “I am very, very proud of you, Twilight.”
Finally, the princess addressed the group as a whole. “Now that this urgent matter has been taken care of, you are all dismissed. Cadance, I would make these next few hours with your husband last if I were you. As for the rest of you, I will arrange for a carriage to return you to Ponyville.”
“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight stated, but heard Chrysalis’ voice join her own with the same words. The two looked at each other... and erupted into a fit of giggles.
The two sisters watched as the group departed the chamber, their shaken spirits somewhat lifted. They still stood there for an indeterminate stretch of time, simply admiring the murals surrounding them.
After a while, Luna turned to face her sister with a smirk. “Your compassion will be the death of you someday, I promise you.”
Celestia merely closed her eyes and smiled. “I’ll be ready for that day when it comes. For now... I think I did the right thing.”
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I don't really think Shining Armor should be punished. Yeah, ordered out on that field mission, but not as a punishment. Technically, he was acting in self-defense of hImself and his fiancé, as well as his country. It is his duty as Captain of the Guard to expel hostile invaders by any means necessary.
It was quite wise decysion, sometime the best cure after a long and dark times is just happy ending, as silly and unjust it may seems.
Nice to see Celestia wise up, but I m not sure that it would be so easy for Chrysalis to just ask Celestia for help, I mean, no ponies would support to let bug like creatures into they kingdom, less give tham love what they need.
I m not sure even how now they want to safe changelings, not only it would take weeks to find tham ( with no quarantie that any of tham will survive long enoght, but who will wilingly give tham love even if they are found ?
So yea, I m not sure that thinks would be so easy if Celestia asked her for help before invading or even now, but I quess it is still better that nothink, the hope is alwais the last think to fall.
Several things.
-Yes, Twilight DOES need mental help. At the very LEAST she needs to ditch the paranoia and immediately going to the scenario considered the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!!!
-If you are in a coma, isn't your subconscious mind still working? I know your conscious mind isn't, but I'm fairly sure that you can and will dream while in a coma.
-If the Elements were rendered useless, Discord's prison would break, and nothing would be able to stop him. Also, all future problems would be impossible to stop. In other words, Equestria would be screwed several times over.
"Twilight Sparkle, you need professional help.”
Well, it's true. Twilight does have... issues. I pity the psychologist, though. He'll have to deal with a, what was it, ah yes, a "emotionally volatile" patient that could potentially snap him in half with a thought if he somehow makes her freak out.
Haha, the entire time I was reading this fic I've been thinking to myself "Damnit Twilight what the flying fuck, changeling's are dying while you act like a complete ass D:" There's justified grudge, but there's being a monster.
I didn't like some parts of this fic - the cast is out of character, Chrysalis and Twilight especially, the decisions and choices they make seem sudden and random. The other bearers could also say something about the changelings wasting away in agony for two days.
In general, I think the idea in and of itself is fine, but the execution could use some work - without exaggerating Twilight's freak outs, with the other bearers calling Twilight out on the fact that while she does nothing changelings are dying, with Chrysalis taking some more time to arrive at the idea that she needs Celestia's help. It would allow for:
- preserving the idea of changeling's being near extinct, due to both Twilight's mistrust, and Chrysalis' wasting time to find a solution not involving ponies.
- Twilight still taking a part of the blame, but she would seem like less of a complete monster she is now - which is massively Out Of Character for her
- some healthier tension between the characters of Twilight Sparkle and Chrysalis - pointing
fingershooves, blaming each other. It might serve as a better main conflict in the story, instead of Twilight's friends turning away from her (which is actually completely justified, since she allowed for a genocide to happen).I also think it's strange how Chrysalis focused on making friends so that she can help her subjects, but didn't checked on them for two days. Oh, and the fact that Twilight gets away more or less scott-free. What you gave as Celestia's reasoning makes some sense, if you squint, but it feels like a weak piece of writing, unnatural and forced. As I said above, you might have been better off if you lowered the scope of Twilight's negligence, make it a couple of hours instead of two days, etc, etc.
Still, you get props for having other characters actually call Twilight on her bullshit.
Please note that I'm not telling you that you should change your story - it's just some random input and advice from someone who enjoyed reading it, but felt it was lacking in places
I'll read the sequel later, tired. Blargh.
Also, I remembered it just now: So the the changelings are dying? Sure, Queen Chrysalis, I'll help you, but I have to go to the spa with Rarity first
The flattest of whats.
Twilight Sparkle, you need professional help.
That line....my day has been made
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there were no survivors.
Ehh, I'm having a hard time taking the punishments seriously.
Shining Armor was acting as Captain of the Royal Guard in defense of the city when the changelings were injured as a direct result of their invasion. Newsflash, violently invading a city often ends in death for some or all of the invading force, and holding the guard responsible for resisting too hard is a terrible precedent to set. This wasn't the slaughter of a civilian population, every changeling on the field that day was there as a soldier.
I don't like the Twilight punishment either, largely because the story wrote her to be guilty of xenocide in order to punish her for it. I simply don't believe that an in-character Twilight would have wasted so much time and let so much death build up.
2073981 Honestly, as far as this Twilight goes... well she's not all there, and Equestria seriously needs her since she's basically what amounts to a superweapon. So, banishment/imprisonment/execution would, in this one case, probably be worst for everyone than what happened.
The whole 'punish the soldier for doing his job' thing though, kinda having a hard time with that one.
But the whole "starving to literal death" thing does kinda explain half of this
[youtube=LFjEintbDXc]
You say twice that there ponies/changeling being referred to eleven but it was ten.
2521375 Fully agree. By attacking the Changelings threw away all rights. If Shining had them chased down and kill the surviviors. THEN it's a crime.
man you really need to redo the end of this. It's killing the story.
Ah
___________
Sense
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Cap.
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2521375
I personally can see an In-Charcter Twilight going that far. I mean she once Mind Raped the entire populace of Ponyville Over a missed report. Not only tried fixing all of Equestria's problems in a weekm but when that failed went on a quest to stop time forever.
Add in all the fridge horror, and psychological trauma from the wedding. I can see her sometimes questionable sanity, going to this level.
But I do agree that the punishment was off.
5567037
Not all rights. I'm pretty sure there is something akin to the Geneva Convention / Rules of Engagement. Those afford undeniable rights to those in war. Lest it be considered a war crime.
But yeah, even conscripted, every Changeling was a soldier. But the use of a super weapon / certain degree of spell that would for any ordinary being cause massive death and injury. That's still a bit above and beyond. And technically a spell of that destructive ability could be considered a WMD, since it acts as a mass driver for living beings. And in such a way as for them to not recuperate in time, thus causing species wide death, or critical injuries To a majority of the populace.
And if it was used on any race but the changelings, I'm sure that such mass murder (without hope of allowing any form of surrender) wouldn't be looked fondly in the international community.
so Celestia get dr wolf to see to twilight!?
I basically see this as, "You took the only option feasible within the time constraints and should be punished for saving Canterlot." They didn't know what would happen and almost had the express permission of Celestia to do it. You don't pull punches when in a situation of self-defense. The changelings were actively attacking and not fleeing, so any force against them would be hard to consider excessive. Especially when all the spell did was erect the original barrier. I wonder if the punishment will last through to the reappearance of the Crystal Empire; if so, Celestia could have just decreed the capture or death of her niece.
Least she addresses that Twilight is sheltered and is not reacting well to emotional trauma. Though they all are to blame for her more recent conditions. Here is someone that has had very few but good relationships with others, she then gains five new friends who she grows really attached to. However, all the beings that mean the most to her turn their backs on her for someone many of them barely know. And then, not even a week later, it all happens again. It was handled terribly as well and Twilight reacted furiously to what she saw as an outsider taking those she loved from her, again.
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She is being merciful plus this was a surprise attack it wasn't War plus as it was stated before Chrysalis already suffered the most Supreme punishment possible and I believe had there been a war the changelings probably would have been forced to pay back the Crystal Empire
Keep telling yourself that.
Tongo