Chrysalis Saviour of Time Chapter 13 · 2:29am Apr 4th, 2019
Welcome to Somewhere Over the Rainboom. Actual discussion, including spoilers, after the page break.
Well, this certainly took longer than I wanted to get out. Oh well, it's out now.
The chapter title is brought to you by the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, as if anybody couldn't have figured that out already. It is based off of the Sonic Rainboom episode from the show. In the grand scheme of things, this is a really big episode for Rainbow Dash. It gets her onto the radar of the Wonderbolts and of course has her perform her famed rainboom for the first time in her adult life. It is, however, not likely something that's gone over much in the history books that focus primarily on Twilight Sparkle, nor would it be part of the tour that Time Keeper was part of. Despite this, it is something that Twilight's actions had a dramatic impact on. Needless to say, this is not good news for Chrysalis.
So, the big differences with Chryssi in Twilight's place? First, Chrysalis doesn't know a cloud walking spell because she never had a need for one. Second, she doesn't know a spell to give others wings, she never had a need for one. This means that the group as a whole do not get to go up and cheer for Rainbow Dash, Rarity never gets her butterfly wings, and most importantly...Rarity doesn't enter the Best Young Flyer Competition, have her wings burn to a crisp and create the need for Rainbow Dash to rescue her and the Wonderbolts who get knocked out trying to save her.
This is a huge change for the episode, and it's clearly not something that I'd be okay with just skipping over, either, since it has long lasting impacts on the show. But, let's go to the start.
Yay for Chrysalis, she got her spa day that she was missing out on. Not really important, but good for her. What is important was Rainbow Dash crashing into her with a cloud and having Chryssi not fall through it. Having our saviour be put into a position where she doesn't fall through a cloud like she should is something I had planned since near the start. This isn't precisely the way I had intended it, not that I knew exactly what I had in mind, but I am happy with the result. It gave her the risk of discovery, and acted as a catalyst for getting her involved in the events of the episode.
Rarity flirting with Twilight to try and manipulate her. While she hasn't shown any indication of doing so to mares in the show, she clearly was willing to do so with stallions at the very least (she takes advantage of a geeky stallion at the market in an episode if I recall correctly, getting him to pay for something). I do not believe it's much of a stretch for her to try and use her charms on a mare to get what she wants, if she knows that the mare swings that way. It's not she has any kind of interest or attraction to any of the stallions she manipulates, or has any intention of interacting them in any way after she gets what she wants, so her not swinging that way probably doesn't really matter. I don't know if it comes across, but I really disliked it when she did that in the show, it makes her seem like a real bitch. Regardless, it's part of her character, may as well use it. Just a note, disliking something that a character does doesn't mean I dislike a character, so please, if you plan on crucifying me for hating on Rarity, just don't.
I wanted to show some of the frustration bubbling to the surface with our time travelling characters. They both get pretty snappy at each other, and to be fair, I think both have legitimate reasons to be upset with the other. Not surprisingly, Chrysalis has the clear upper hand in the relationship. She is more powerful and cruel than Time Keeper ever could be. Still, he gets a few decent jabs in, though he might tone it down a little in the future, given that Chrysalis reminded him just how dangerous she is. Initially, she was supposed to say that she is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, but it didn't feel right. Chrysalis was angry and didn't care about technicalities or facts. She wanted to intimidate him, so she boasted herself as the strongest creature in all Equestria.
There are some setups for future relationship advancements for Chrysalis. First, and certainly the lesser of the two, is Rarity's invitation to join her and Fluttershy for their weekly spa days. I doubt I'll be writing about actual trips, but it does provide some interaction for Chryssi with the two of them in the background. More importantly was the nudges towards reconciling with Rainbow Dash. She's not there yet, but she's getting closer! Rarity and Fluttershy both challenge Chrysalis' interpretation of Dash, pushing her into half questioning herself on the matter. Additionally, we add yet another example of Rainbow Dash saving Chrysalis, this time from falling to her death (even if technically she'd be able to save herself). Thirdly, we get Celestia. The princess pushes for open communication and offers friendship to Chrysalis. She naturally rejects both. Then Celestia plays a little prank on her, lets her go after being arrested for attacking the Best Young Flyer Competition, and flies off even though Chrysalis had believed the princess' wing to have been injured.
I've rambled enough. So long. Next chapter should be based off of the Stare Master episode, though who knows when that's going to be finished.
10/10 chapter, made my day
I do love the way you pay attention to the butterflies with this fic in a way that so many AU stories just fail to.
Fully fed, it might even be true, at least while DIscord's a rock and Sombra hasn't regained the Crystal Empire. But even if it's not, it's definitely something Chrysalis would say.
Now the audience (and Chrysalis) has to wonder 'does that mean she was faking because she wanted to see why Chrysalis was going after it or is it just that she has really good healing magic she was able to apply after the fight?'
On an unrelated note, I hope this new interesting timeline is preserved and not undone by, say going back in time and stopping Time Keeper from landing on Twilight Sparkle so that the whole fic never happened*. That kind of time-travel ending would feel a bit of a cop-out after investing so much time into this version of events.
*saving Twilight would be acceptable if done by pulling Twilight into the future, leaving her confused about what happened all this time, but not by making it so Chrysalis never replaced her in Ponyville.
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While the thought of such a thing had crossed my mind, I do not and never had any intention of undoing the timeline. You can rest easy on that matter. It would leave too much of a bitter taste in one's mouth once all is said and done.
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I am certainly trying to pay attention to the butterflies. I can't guarantee I'll always provide a satisfactory result, but I am trying.
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Speaking of butterfly effects, it occurred to me, Celestia doesn't know Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis know eachother. But Luna does.
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It really would. That kind of thing only works when the focus is on undoing the timeline not on how the timeline shakes out.