//------------------------------//
// Ch. 1: New Life, New Obstacles 
// Story: Inherited Crown, Obligatory Trauma 
// by TundraStanza 
//------------------------------//

"When Twilight and her friends defeated me, I chose to run away and seek revenge! You don't have to! You can be the leader your subjects deserve."

This was what I woke up to.  For a split-second, I gaped.  I was ready to cry out in excitement from seeing an actual unicorn in the flesh.  But then, a million pictures flashed in my mind all at once.  I closed my eyes in pain.  When I opened them back up, I felt a huge weight of realization.

These memories belonged to Chrysalis, the changeling queen.  I was in her body.  I... she... had kidnapped several citizens and powerful rulers in an attempt to take over an entire kingdom.  All of my... her... subjects had just turned around and accepted the idea of giving love freely instead of stealing it to survive.  In doing so, they had destroyed my... her... throne and effectively won for the ponies.

The unicorn standing in front of me was Starlight Glimmer, apprentice to Princess Twilight.  I felt a pit against my stomach, or whatever the changeling equivalent of a stomach was.  These crimes may as well have been my own, because that was how guilty I felt.

Everyone else present looked like they were ready to punch, kick, and blast me into next year.  Yet in spite of everything I recalled doing, this one unicorn wanted to give me a third chance.  It seemed like a merciful offer.  I mean, the fastest pegasus in the world and the embodiment of chaos were right there.  Running simply wasn't an option.

Yet, there was a hint of an objection.  A small voice in the back of my head insisted on living to seek revenge another day.  I had spent so much time and lost so much just to try and take over the world.  How could I let it all go to waste? ... I brushed the voice into an imaginary corner.  That was the voice of someone using the sunk cost fallacy.

So, there I stood.  Starlight Glimmer's hoof was still outreached.  Her violet eyes were, for lack of a better phrase, glimmering with hope.  I slowly reached the hole-ridden hoof I now possessed.  But, I hesitated.  I closed my eyes, turned around, and felt a drop of water pass my chin.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that."

I heard her step closer. "What do you mean? Of course you can!"

My head ached. "I've already driven my subjects to near starvation twice over. And for what? My own power and legacy, pretending it was for their own good? Pathetic." I marched over some debris.

"I've made the same mistake!" Starlight's voice insisted. "I know what it's like to lead others so far away from their best selves! But some pony found me during my state of vengeance and helped me understand that there's a better way. You can still change."

I forced out a chuckle and nearly choked on my own breath. "With speeches like that, maybe you should be queen." I held my hoof over the edge of the plateau. "You couldn't possibly do any worse than I did with the title." After that, I let the rest of myself roll forward.

"Chrysalis!"

Instinct was telling me to use my wings to slow my descent.  I refused to listen.  The wind seemed very strong for what was likely the rest of my life.  I waited patiently to crash and lose all of my senses.

And I waited. ... And I waited.

Gee, it was taking a lot longer to reach the bottom than Chrysalis's memory told me it should have been.  I risked opening my eyes a bit.  The lack of wind resistance pushing up was a clue that something was off.  I glanced left and right, and I was surprised to see a couple different glows of light.  This was magic, if this body's memories were correct.

The ground was getting further away.  I tried swimming against the magic's lift, but it was no use.  Some pony was levitating me back to the roof.  I sighed.  I guessed they weren't satisfied with a guaranteed victory over their enemy.  I was going to have to suffer for a bit longer.

When I arrived back on the plateau, I was surprised that it wasn't just Starlight Glimmer that was casting her spell.  The Princess of Friendship and even Celestia were pulling me.  When their respective casts faded, I was standing on all fours.  I looked at my "saviors".  What did they intend to do with me?

"You mustn't be so quick to throw your life away." Celestia stepped forward. "You don't have very many to lose."

I couldn't meet her eyes. "Why are you of all ponies telling me that? I've trapped you in a cocoon twice now. Shouldn't that warrant some desire for retaliation?"

She slowly motioned a hoof across her face. "An eye for an eye would leave us all blind. True, the temptation to avenge past misdeeds is constant, but we must make an effort to avoid losing ourselves to that vicious cycle."

"You're just saying that." I bit my tongue after that slip.  While that statement was in-character, it also wasn't what I meant to say out loud.

Discord leaned in uncomfortably close. "Oh, believe me. I'd know if she were just spouting hot air. Her genuineness is actually suffocating right now."

Starlight's magic glow managed to shove him back a little. "What he's trying to say is that there's a better way to make up for your past than to rob yourself of a future. You're still the crowned queen, after all. They need you."

"Is that so?" I channeled some magic to my horn. "Then allow me to rectify that."

"Starlight, look out!" called out... that blue street performer unicorn.

There was a tearing noise.  I felt like I was ripping out multiple hair follicles at once.  Yet, I kept casting my spell.  No matter how much it hurt, no matter how loudly I screamed, I kept casting.  Then, with a loud shred and a splat, it was over.

I sat down, breathing heavily.  My crown was laid unceremoniously on the floor.  There was definitely some pus running along the bottom of it.  I think I was sweating along the top of my mane.  I didn't particularly care at that moment.

"Wha...? Why did you do that?!" Thorax was freaking out. "You're bleeding!"

I kept my gaze on Starlight Glimmer. "How about this?" I fired a different spell at the crown.  What was left of the fleshy black ornament was reduced to a pile of dried ashes. "Do you see a crown? I don't see a crown. I'm unfit to be queen."

"Chrysalis, stop!" Mi Amore Cadenza stepped forward. "You're hurt!"

"This is nothing compared to what I've already done to you, Princess of Love." I stomped on the ashes. "I need more pain."

Luna shook her head furiously. "Punishing yourself won't resolve your feelings of guilt!"

"You should all hate me." I flew over to a nearby boulder in the debris.  It must have been raining, what with the small streams running down my forehead and around my muzzle. "Get away from me or take a swing at me.  I don't care which!"

Water leaked from Starlight Glimmer's horn, and she whispered, "I'm sorry."

Then, darkness shrouded my vision.

---(Third-Person POV)

After casting her "sleep" spell, Starlight levitated Chrysalis safely off the tall boulder.  The spot from her missing crown was running green liquid.  It was streaming along her mane and face quickly enough to alarm most of the changelings that saw it up close.

"Quick!" Thorax directed a couple nearby changeling drones. "Get her to the healing chamber!"

"Where is it?" Discord asked. "I can save you a run, now that her magic-stealing chair is gone."

Thorax tapped his head. "Um... two floors underground, and the first open hole to the left."

The draconequus snapped his fingers.  His power poofed himself, Thorax, the two changeling drones, and the unconscious Chrysalis away from the plateau.  Some of the other changelings took the long way down.  The rest shook in place or galloped around, not sure exactly what to do.

Meanwhile, the ponies gathered around into an impromptu circle.  Flurry Heart tried to lighten the mood by babbling cute nothings.  But, she could tell that her parents and the others weren't exactly relieved.  Shining Armor patted his foal until she burped.  Cadance took her back and rocked her around.

Shining Armor scratched his mane. "Is it weird that I thought that was going to go very differently? I thought Chrysalis would've sworn revenge and flee for her life, not hurt herself."

"No, I was thinking that too." Rainbow Dash crossed her front hooves while flying in place.

"Oh, if only I had been more convincing!" Starlight rubbed her temples. "I'm not as good at Twilight speeches as the real thing."

"I don't think that's the point." Twilight raised her brow. "But... thank you?"

"Let me know when it's over." Fluttershy was covering her face. "I can't watch anymore self-inflicted pain today."

"There, there..." Applejack slowly rubbed Fluttershy's back.

"What are we going to do?" Pinkie Pie looked wildly among the other ponies.

"The other changelings will know how to treat her injuries better than we would." Luna rolled her hoof around. "We should probably head home for now to assuage the fears of our fellow ponies."

Rarity tapped her hooves together before holding them up. "But who will lead the changelings in the meantime?"

A few of the changelings, still on the plateau, stopped panicking long enough to perk up.  One of them said, "We should let Thorax lead us."

Another changeling nodded. "He was the first to propose the idea of sharing love and the first one to show that we can survive without stealing it."

Celestia smiled gently at their suggestions. "I'll drop by later with an assistant to finalize the recognition of the changeling hive as its own nation, and its nominated leader."

Discord popped back up on the plateau. "Well, now that that's all tidied up, are you ready to go home, Fluttershy?" He picked her up and squeezed.

"Y-Yes. I think we all are." She strained against the sudden restriction to her windpipe.

Twilight Sparkle stood up. "Alright, every pony.  Let's go home!"

Nods went around the group.  Horns lit up and teleportation spells were cast.
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