Gregor let out a faint sigh, his smile fading. There were times and places. "Then it seems clear. Are you--" He was looking to Starlight, the clearly magical of the two. "--the one that will turn her to stone?"
"Wait, what?" Thorax's head lifted in a jerk of alarm. "Why would you turn her to stone?!"
Starlight shook her head softly. "Funny thing; I learned all kinds of spells, but I never bothered with that one. I know at least a few ponies who have at least seen that magic before."
Bon Bon was looking at Thorax. "Your mom can't be punished by a few firm words, Thorax. We can't keep her in jail a while either."
"But stone?!" He shook his head quickly. "That sounds awful... Isn't there another way?"
Gregor joined Bon Bon in looking to Thorax. "Pardon, but I thought you were consenting to her death?"
Thorax's eyes grew wide as saucers as he backpedaled, almost falling off the edge of the ramp. "W-what?! No! You said she has to be punished. Sometimes changelings are naughty and need to be scolded. That isn't the same as killing them!"
The guards glanced at one another, unsure of how to even properly consider the child-of-demon that balked at the thought of death. Gregor's gentle smile returned as he spread his hands. "You are a good thing, I think. If you would have clemency for your mother, I would be remiss to deny you even the chance."
He turned to the rocking cube. "Your son demands the opportunity to talk sense. Will you allow him the opportunity?"
"Oh, yes, of course." There came a muffled clopping sound. The voice grew closer. "Come here, Son." Her voice was hard to hear, being spoken instead of shouted through the metal. "What do you have to say?"
Thorax nervously glanced about before clearing his throat and stepping forward. "Mother... allow me to be frank."
"You can be whoever you want. You're a changeling."
"That's true... but, really." He raised a hoof, rubbing at the back of his neck with a little cough. "These creatures are ready to... hurt you... Real bad... You did.... not good things."
"If they bow their little heads and acknowledge me as their queen, I wouldn't have to do 'bad' things." The cube thumped, rocking a moment. "Do you have any idea how hard I worked for the hive?"
"And we appreciate it," he hurriedly got out. "But we're also moving on... We won't go back... We like... the new way."
"The new way has you colored ridiculously," spat out the contained queen. "Name one thing that makes it better."
"Well, we have friends now, who adore us." He reached for Starlight and drew her close. She didn't resist, allowing him to hold her between his forelegs. "And we adore them back. We aren't hungry anymore. Well, I mean, sometimes, but then we eat normal food. Creatures are happy to see us!"
"That was more than one thing," petulantly griped Chrysalis with an almost-inaudible huff. "Cheater... Very well."
Thorax blinked rapidly, a smile rapidly growing. "You'll give our way a try?"
"If you let me out." A soft clopping knocking came from the metal closest to Thorax. "I'll be good."
Thorax grinned wide enough to squeak, looking between all the others gathered for silent permission.
Bon Bon was squinting suspiciously. "That was a sudden turnaround," she spoke quietly.
Gregor withdrew, but waved forward, sending his guards forward. His command was a silent as it was certain. Their swords were drawn and ready to deal with the potential treachery of the demon.
Bon Bon glanced towards where the hospital rested, out of sight. Spike or Laud would be nice, but... "Starlight, be ready. Oh, also open that thing." She pointed at the box. "Let's see how this plays out..."
With a glowing horn, the cube's wall facing them came loose. With a loud bang of a hoof against it, Chrysalis knocked it open, letting it slap to the ground. Her chest was still stained red from a wound that had barely scabbed over. "Finally..." She took a step free, looking over those gathered to see her. Her teeth were clenched, two of her sworn enemies present.
One of them happened to also be her son. "And you are their new queen?" She ran a hoof through her mane, holed as it somehow was. "Egg laying must be quite the sight."
Thorax colored at that. "We don't... have a queen. When a boy changeling and a girl changeling love each--"
"--Silence!" She hissed. "I know how that works..."
Starlight raised a hoof. "I don't." Her interest apparently piqued on the nature of how changelings made more changelings.
"Come on... Son... let's go." She tossed her head, indicating just about anywhere that wasn't there. "I'm sure you have so much to talk to me about."
Bon Bon suddenly stepped forward between the two with a strained laugh. "That's a nice thought, but no. If we let you out of our sight, everyone will know who's fault it is." She leveled a hoof at Chrysalis. "Things larger than you are at play." She turned her head sharply to Thorax. "She stays here, in Ponyville. You are free to talk to her as long and as often as you please until we determine she has reformed, or give up."
Chrysalis sneered at Bon Bon viciously. "As if you could contain me."
"If you try to get away, then we have your answer." She didn't look away from Thorax. "If she tries to escape, she will be dealt with, permanently. Do you understand and accept that?"
Thorax swallowed heavily even as Starlight rubbed one of his legs reassuringly. "O-oh, yes... Mother, please... Just hear me out. You would be welcome back. Some of us miss you quite a lot, but only if..." He glanced at the guards, swords bristling and back at Chrysalis. "We'll talk more... later." His wings unfurled suddenly as he stood up properly. "I should visit the injured changeling." And he fled without giving much chance to argue with him.
Starlight huffed as she stood up. "I know you don't want to be my prisoner, so let's keep this simple and sweet. I don't hate you, Chrysalis. This is all about you being, well, you."
Chrysalis stepped free of the cube. "And what is wrong with me? Nothing, that's--"
She hadn't really considered the humans a threat. Fragile things, like spun glass, they could be dashed to pieces with barely a thought. That didn't help when the first guard lost composure and lunged, carving out a great line across her back. She roared in pain, he screamed in battle fury. It caused the others to join. They were upon her, carving her brutally before the shocked eyes of the two ponies present.
With a wet thump, the corpse of the former changeling queen hit the ramp. Starlight backed away from it and the spreading blood. "What did you just do?!"
Gregor pinched the bridge of his nose as he stepped forward, muttering soft prayer beneath his breath. "She.... was an unrepentant demon. I know you planned to offer her salvation, but her duplicitous nature was like salt against an open wound. I apologize for my men's hasty action, but cannot damn them for it."
"You killed her!" squeaked Starlight, shaking like a leaf.
Bon Bon held up a hoof, breathing slowly. "I assumed she would try to get away and we'd have to do it then, though I expected petrification, not... this." She glanced down at the body and quickly turned to Starlight. "She was trying to get away when we were forced to act. That is what happened. Do you understand?"
"W-what?" Starlight stepped right off the ramp, but her magic held her up after falling only an inch. "What are you saying?"
Bon Bon waved one hoof back at the guards and Gregor. "I am saying this is the end of this situation. She is dead. The merchants are avenged, and one less monster roams Equestria. We will not go into details in how she went."
"This isn't right!" Starlight vanished with a pop, her tears sparkling as they fell.
Gregor let out a slow sigh. "An innocent child... She isn't wrong." His attention went to Bon Bon. "You have the edge of one who has seen past their innocent days."
Bon Bon clenched her teeth before pointing at the body. "Can you get rid of that? Parading a butchered body through town will not end well for anycreature involved. Let me be perfectly clear; that was barbaric. That was awful, but it also can't be undone. So let's move forward."
The guards had cleaned and sheathed their blades, standing stoically, far more relaxed for the removal of the demon. Gregor was less stoic. "There was a chance, however slim, that her son, full of hope and light, could have led her from the dark place she had dug herself into. I will pray." He made a slow and solemn religious gesture that the ponies did not comprehend. "We will see the body is purified and burned. Take it." His guards moved to gather up Chrysalis. "Blessings be upon you. Oh... I understand if you are not in... the mood, but now?"
Bon Bon took a slow breath, calming herself. "No, actually... let's go." And they left the ramp. To the merchants, a gift of an opened cube and a blood stain to clean up.
Thorax set a hoof on the shoulder of the sleeping changeling. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.
The changeling opened his pupiless eyes and squeaked, moving to scramble away, but Thorax gently pressed down. "I'm not here to hurt you, promise..."
"But you eat changelings and barf them up!"
Thorax blinked softly. "I... don't do that. Who said I do that?"
"Queen Chrysalis," squeaked the frightened little changeling. "You spit up deformed deranged colorful changelings. She said she'd stop that from happening to me, and here you are!" He was quaking in the bed, jaw clattering.
Thorax inclined his head with a faint smile. "I promise, no gobbling. They became like me because they learned how to not be hungry."
"Not be... hungry?" His shaking ebbed faintly. "So you're not hungry?"
"Well, a little." Thorax pulled out a muffin and casually took a bite. "Mmm, there's a bakery in town that makes these so well. Want a bite?"
The changeling peered suspiciously at the baked good. "Why are you being nice to me?"
"Because you're a changeling. Because you're a creature. Because I like being nice?" He shrugged gently. "You should try it. It's fun." He held out the muffin at the end of his hoof. "It's really good."
He dared to take a little nibble. It was tasty... but he was still hungry. "Where's the queen? I was... hoping she could feed me."
"I could feed you. I already am." Thorax chomped down half of the rest of the muffin and set it on the desk next to the changeling.
"You can do that?! I thought only queens could do that..." He shook his head with clear confusion.
"Learning how to give love is the next step in growing." He put a hoof on his chest and the hoof began to glow. "As a friend, I have love to share. Please, have this." He offered that hoof, the same that held the muffin, towards the injured changeling.
It smelled so much more appealing than the muffin! His fear was forgotten for a moment, slurping up the offered love and slumping back with a happy sigh. "That hit the spot..."
"Glad I could help." Thorax gently patted the covered changeling. "Rest and feel better. Nocreature will be yelling at you anymore."
"Never? Even when I mess up?"
"When you mess up, we'll learn what went wrong, so we can do better." Thorax nodded confidently. "No more yelling."
"No more yelling..." Perhaps he could learn to like this strange changeling.
Was in the feature box, has a crossover tag, and does not have fire tag. Alright I'll check it out.
Well, that felt a bit anticlimatic and pointless.
I said it about Necromancy for Foals 2, and I'll say it here. There's a certain narrative significance that must be accorded to the death of a named character (moreso the more established the character is) and this chapter doesn't feel like it acknowledges that.
This doesn't bode well for the story.
I suspect Chrysalis was being duplicitous, but we'll never know for sure now. Thorax isn't going to be happy when he learns what happened.
Can't say I'm surprised the guards jumped the gun, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it either.
This will have far-reaching repercussions, I think. It will make ponies aware of exactly what to expect from beyond the stars.... I hope Luna doesn't do anything rash.
10145540
Sadly for Thorax this will be a painful lesson in leadership. Sometimes no matter what you can't prevent tragedy. He'll have to be strong emoutionaly for his fellow changelings.
The execution was sudden although I had actually expected that the humans would have already decided to simply execute her rather than the conversation about turning her to stone. I don't think Chrysalis could have reformed though she's to focused on nothing but herself and seems to enjoy the suffering of others.
10145533
10145538
One character is clearly torn up, another will be devastated. The death was short and brutal. Its meaning will not be.
In all seriousness a tragedy.
Also a potential leverage against Gregor. If he cannot control his own men it speaks poorly of his abilities. Bon Bon seems to understand this, I suspect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will as well when they are informed.
It's been a good story so far. I can't condone the killing of Chrysalis, though. She wasn't really 'unrepentant' she needed time. She did not get it. I am disappointed.
That muffin started out as a cupcake.
So much wrong with this chapter. You literally had them saying to Thorax last chapter that she will be KILLED and Thorax literally giving the ok for it! There was no ambiguous double play of words! It's was my entire arguement from last chapter! How do you go from everyone being ok with it, to the start of this chapter and suddenly they aren't ok with it and act like they had no idea when LITERALLY:
There is no misinformation going on here, they didn't say 'deal with it' or something else. They literally said KILL, and he was 100% happy and even gave the go ahead! You can't just flip a character's reaction instantly chapter to chapter.
---
That of course isn't even the WORSE thing. The Humans, literally, just declared war on Equestria. Look at it from whatever angle you want, but they just gave Chrysalis up to the Changelings to be watched over as a Prisoner, willingly I might add, to be dealt with in the Pony jusistiction and justice system. And then without any provoking or aggression, they literally attacked and murdered her, with no justifiable cause. There is no other way to look at this, but as Murder, and literally a Declaration of War.
If this just gets ignored, then what the fuck is the point of this story?! You're just going to have the humans do whatever they want, and only face consequences and conflict when YOU decide something is finally a conflict to deal with it? It breaks all logic and common sense. The humans, the church mainly, have literally done acts that normally would be Declerations of war at least TWICE now! Not landing in the required landing zone and attacking and killing another race, and now murdering someone unprovoked who wasn't in their custody anymore.
How many times are you going to forcefully ignore this shit, instead of actually writing a good story where these plotholes don't exist!
That was... Unfortunate. There will be consequences for this.
Not a fan, to be frank this was shit. Nobody Equestrian side reacted? At all? You have Maud catching a sword with her bare hands and Starlight can't just pop a shield over her the second after the first attack came? Shit it would have been more preferable for you to stone her ass and we never see her again thn to just up and slaughter her in a sentence.
10145797
That sword was coming at her. Ponies have great survival instincts that keep their fuzzy butts from being deaded.
Good thing too. Had they lunged at Starlight instead of the already-wounded Chrysalis, things would have turned out very differently. The humans succeeded in putting down an already terribly-wounded Equestrian. This was not a noble execution or amazing skill. This was a brutal murder of someone already in a wheelchair (metaphorically).
This will not make them look better.
10145632
It is not helping that this is the second time the church is killing equestrians. ( don't forget about the dragons )
10145819
This this makes Gregor's people "look bad" I can't wait for the church hardliners to show up... :)
10145831
I didn't forget, I even mentioned it in my post. They were told of the one and ONLY Landing Pad, they were told SPECIFICALLY to land there and NO WHERE ELSE. And yet they still sent a second ship to a different part of the world, started killing dragons, and even wounded the DRAGON LEADER.
If this was realistic in today's Society, or on any other planet in the Crossover world, that would be literally War, and the people would be murdering the Church hardcore for it. And now we have a SECOND Incident that would be concidered war. I mean think about it, Americans don't just go over to Russia, had over a Prisoner into Russian Custody, and then shoot them in the back after the exchange is over! It would mean war at that point. And worse, this was done by the SAME people, the Church, without being provoked or warning.
The Church, is literally, being allowed to do whatever they want. They can just come in and murderer anyone, and no one is doing anything about it or cares. Bon Bon literally just shrugged and doesn't give a fuck, which being an X-Government Agent, I would think SHE above everyone else would know that this is not a good thing, no matter who got murdered.
At this point, the story feels very stupid, cause any issues are going to get pushed under the rug and ignored, until the Author finally writes one he wants to be the main conflict, except we already had conflicts before hand, twice now, they were just ignored for no reason!
10145831
Didn't the dragons provoke the humans into attacking
Yeah this where the story goes down hill, that was well in poor taste one guard jumping the gun I can handle a well train and discipline group would of subdue the jumper, to later face the punishment for disobedience, but in the other hand this is Chrysalis we are talking about the attempt to reform will have just given her chances to escape and keep on being a throne in equestrians side.
While this does not ruin the story, it will be a uphill battle to get back in good graces
Ow... No wonder Gregor only trusted his guard as far as pointy sticks.
Given magical Changeling chitin, the only things capable of getting through that from beyond Equestria should be Power Swords, Energy Swords, Monofilament and Variable swords, the chitin really being more like titanium wood, graphene, etc.. all mineral organic multilayer, similar to Astartes armor at teh most extreme? Natural materials are nanoassembled at the atomic level in extremely complex fashion?
The origional idea with petrification is every so often they could take her out and try again, then put herback?
Fear is our greatest weapon. Fear, and Suprise.
10145583
That doesn't change the fact that "as a narrative tool, it feels like it's taking character death for granted".
Fundamentally, the problem is that it's been over 200,000 words. The readers' expectations for the tone have been allowed to ossify into something lighter than you apparently intended and, now, it'll be difficult to get away with the death of named characters at all... let alone a sudden "life/death is cheap" twist.
(Once the readers' expectations have been allowed to solidify, any plot twist that's incompatible with them will come across as bad writing. The example I always remember is the effect Cedric Diggory's death had on me after so many books being allowed to solidify my impression of Voldemort as an ineffectual Saturday Morning cartoon villain in an escapist fantasy built around the sense of "childhood immortality".)
You needed to establish death of named characters as a possibility within either the first 30,000 words or the first act, whichever is shorter. That's when western literary culture has trained readers to expect a tone compatible with all major elements to have been established and they will treat that "sustained first impression" as authoritative in cases where later events conflict with it. (TL;DR: Good writing needs to make act 1 a representative sample of the tone of the whole story and the human brain runs out of patience for that after ~30,000 words.)
Otherwise, you have to wind down the entire series-level story arc and start a new one to get away with it... and, even then, you'll lose some readers who don't want it and fail to gain new readers who didn't want the tone of the first arc. (Same principle that makes a good sequel so hard to write. People expect to have to read/watch the previous installments, so you won't get new readers/viewers who don't find them appealing, but people who liked the initial installments want more of whatever they liked about them, so you have to be careful to identify and preserve those elements without doing a stale rehash... and the elements they consider essential will vary from person to person.)
The dragons don't count because "death of unnamed characters, injury of named characters" is categorically different and, if any named dragons did die, it didn't make enough of an impression to stick. (And, even then, "unrecognized named" is categorically different from "familiar named" and "minor background/one-episode character" is different from "major recurring character"... though I'm not sure whether that last one is categorically different or just by degree.)
This sort of things tends to become a "jumped the shark" moment because one major break like this tends to start a progressive unravelling of the storytelling process as the writer's and readers' conceptions of and expectations for the story begin to diverge. (ie. One form of jumping the shark is simply the point at which the readers start to disengage from the narrative because the author's vision for the story has become irreconcilable with theirs. It's a progressive process because readers cling to what they want the story to be while the author incrementally makes that position more untenable.)
...and no, it's not something you can argue with. This all operates in the "emotional, not rational" side of the process... and, in my opinion, how effectively the author manages the reader's emotions is both the hardest part to teach and learn and the "secret sauce" that turns great fiction into amazing fiction.
Hmm, this does not bode well for the reputation of the order. This is twice now that they've taken it upon themselves to be the arbitrator of life and death on Equestria. If I were a member of the Equestrian royalty, I would be wondering whether I could truly trust members of the order not to judge and execute a third time.
What a waste...you burned me with this one. (granted shit like this happens IRL too often)
10146127
Yes, but there's a reason they say "truth is stranger than fiction". (Our upbringing trains us to expect certain invariants of plausibility and progression to be upheld when reading about something crafted by a storyteller.)
I enjoyed the chapter, and/but didn't spot any lurking typos in it. :)
10145620
...Well, thus proving that I am not perfect. :)
Thanks!
Well darn.
That was way too short a death. It's like that D&D meme "Rocks fall. Everybody dies." It's funny as a meme because it's too absurd to have in any serious narrative.
Like others have said, the ponies should have reacted. Not saying they should have been able save her, but to just do nothing? They could have intervened too late and/or tried any kind of healing magic. You could have at least given her the decency of some dying words. No, killing her so quick in this chapter only works if someone just immediately gunned her down when she left the box.
Also, everything 10146000 said here is correct and gets to the point of why 90% of people will see this as bad writing or at least not like it. There's also the fact that since Chrysalis is a well established character outside of this story, that you've borrowed her from another work, to literally write her off smacks of disrespect for a character people care about. I don't think that's intended, but it is the case.
You can still kill her if it serves the story. This is just not the ideal way to do it. Some ideas I would have suggested as a prereader:
1. Have someone shoot her, probably a merchant, since they have guns. It's still rather abrupt, but the method at least lends itself to abruptness. Same with decapitation. Still not great to end her so quick for reasons stated, but it's better than "then the mob chopped her up and no one did anything but watch".
2. Have her be mortally wounded and able to say some last words, maybe something tragic, or something darkly humorous. How many paragraphs you get out of that can vary. This way readers can get some more immediate value from the loss of the valuable character instead of just having your word that it'll matter later.
3. Have her live long enough to be sent for treatment and have some last moments with Thorax, really milk the feels and all that jazz.
Much like option 2, but longer, perhaps stretching into the next chapter.
4. Have her be so close to death that the consequences in the story are essentially the same. You switch second degree murder for attempted second degree murder. She could recover at some point later, but in the meantime all the same political and social ramifications occurr that would if she had just died immediately. She could, after recovery, be reformed or still give us the only finger ponies can and be turned to stone anyway, neatly out of the way of the continuing story.
And that's that. I've read a few of your stories and have noticed that, while I often love the way you write characters and the lore you develop, you have a tendency to make things happen way to fast. Not everything, the pacing of this story has been sedate at times, just that there's usually a sudden "that just happened" moment but not in a good way. It's like you're trying to hit the gas to get some plot element done immediately so you can get to what you really want to write? Intentional or not, that's really jarring to a reader. If it wasn't for that, I believe you'd be one of my absolute favorite authors here. I'm going to continue reading because I think the story is far from ruined by this, but... I just hope it doesn't happen again. The story has been pretty great so far.
10148515
There is no healing magic. No healing magic has ever come up ever in the history of this story or the show in pony hooves. Gregor is the only one with healing magic, and he wasn't rushing to do that.
Perhaps his mistake.
10148637
Yeah, I did wonder if he was going to try that.
I hope Gregor is happy, Starlight is going to bitch slap him. Seriously what the hell was that?
Well, like you said before, the execution was short and quick but the consequences will not. Not by a long shot. Bonbon may want a quick cover up, but by not stopping Starlight she's not going to get her wish. Sweet Twilight will NOT stand to let this be covered up, part of friendship is honesty after all, and Thorax deserves the truth. It was not only his former Queen, but his Mom.
One thing, Equestrians are shown to be able to take an explosion incredibly well, so Changelings should also right? Doesn't everything on that planet follow some cartoon physics level of toughness? So how did a bunch of sharp swords do in Chryssy? Spike's was magic, were the guards packing enchanted (or 'blessed' as the church calls it) swords of their own?
Anyway, yeah, Laud's job and political marriage just got a LOT harder as humans gain a reputation of trigger happy murderers. I can see a few knee jerk reaction laws being passed mandating that all humans be muzzled or something while in any civilized area in order to keep ponies from fully demanding all humans off the planet.
Luna as well will have a field day with this. And while only her old Hive may weep for Chrssy, no pony I can see will really agree with an execution with out a trial, chance for redemption, or being turned to stone being tried first. Or even trying the elements on her first. A straight up execution will really really make things difficult from now on.
And speaking of the Hive, I can see a lot of them breaking off and returning to the old ways over this. If giving love means siding up and being friendly with a bunch of ponies who are friends with murderers, then the hell with the new ways. Gregor may have just made his own personal demons as they specifically call for his own blood.
Also, I can see BonBon getting some really horrible but well meaning treatment. Some ponies may assume her desire to help the humans out and coverup the execution may be from the half human life growing in her and see humans as able to 'corrupt' previously innocent ponies and all Bonbon's arguments about how stupid that is is just the brainwashing taking effect. They could argue that the child should be sent to Tartarus simply because 'Is forcing something (the monster child) to live its entire life as something it's not (a good being) cruel in itself?' 'Wouldn't it be happier with its own kind? (Monsters)'
The ignorant and stupid ideas coming from a place of honest concern would only make the whole thing a lot worse. They could see BonBon herself in need of a good purification by Rainbow laser after the child is born. (Don't want to leave her with a stone fetus inside of her after all.) Yeah, things can only get a lot worse and uglier from here on.
So yeah, this was a quick death, but it will have some permanent and far reaching consequences for everyone.
I realy hope you rewrite the ending, I would say why, but better pepole have said it better.
10175277
The ending? Thorax's scene was off?
10175468
The death of chrysalis
Well that jumped the shark!
10146127
10146137
I am drawn back to this chapter by other comments. Hey, you all read on?
10145599
I don't get why people are so up in arms about this chapter. Yes Friendship is magic, but that doesn't mean you have to be a idiot about leaving a shapeshifting emotivore that has lost every reason to hold back at any of the people it despises including its own children alive. They have given Chrysalis many chances at redemption and each time it was basically thrown back into the faces of the ones offering.
The only thing she isn't changing is her mind about being a sociopath and not believing any other being has any worth. I mean why does she have to always be redeemed. How many times does she have to do evil before being taken off the playing field. Yes this is not a epic battle but does it always have to be? Some times putting down the mad dog and moving on is the best option. I mean why let her out and then basically escalate over and over and over, maybe even finally killing or destroying a loved one or two of their own in her insane schemes for revenge.
Now I wouldn't be saying this in the initial meeting and the offering of peace, but were past three strikes here.
Despite several complaints in the comments, too many for me to tag them all, I'll point out something everyone seems to have missed. Yes the death was quick. So is actual combat with bladed weapons. A SINGLE well placed strike will kill, and usually does in actual combat involving swords with those that know how to use them. Elaborately drawn out duels are things of movies and other fiction. Those guards weren't playing, they were aiming to kill. Chrysalis was fucked.
As for consequences, well she's a declared enemy of Equestria. Some might be upset she's dead, but that doesn't change the fact she's an enemy of the state. About the only ones who MIGHT have serious objections are the reformed changelings. And Thorax honestly doesn't have enough backbone to object too hard. This does point out an interesting bit of logic. Yes humans are far squishier than ponies, but part of the reason they're a dominate species in the galaxy is they can and WILL strike first, strike hard, and strike without restraint. A pony might be harder to hurt, but they're more likely to subdue their foe, if not outright run. A human will KILL the threat as a first option.