The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

The World's Stubbornest Fillies

"...What?" Chrysalis stared blankly at Starlight, her green aura winking out from confusion, leaving her looking like a normal sarosian filly.

Starlight held out a hoof, memories of the day Valey died crawling up her spine and telling her to put it back down. "We are not the same," she said. "I dare you to prove otherwise."

Chrysalis tilted her head, examining the hoof from all possible angled, then stared at her, awaiting an explanation.

Starlight sighed. "We aren't the same," she repeated. "Because if I thought I had found someone who really understood, I wouldn't fight them. That's the kind of pony I've always wished for. And so if you hate me for beating you more than that..."

"As if you'd do otherwise," Chrysalis scoffed. "Look at yourself. If I had won, what could you possibly care about beyond revenge?"

Starlight looked away. "But you didn't, did you?"

"And what if I had?" Chrysalis sat back, spread her forelegs and shrugged. "Words can't express how much I hate you, Starlight. You're afraid to even consider how you'd feel if I had my way."

"Can't they?" Starlight squinted. "You're being rude and mean, but still nicer than I would if things were the other way around. And you might have lost, but I didn't get Valey back either."

Chrysalis growled.

Starlight stared.

"I hate you on levels that are indescribable," Chrysalis threatened. "I loathe you. I despise you. You make me sick with anger."

"You were sick with anger already," Starlight pointed out, not sure where she was going but feeling like pressing Chrysalis's buttons. "Wasn't the whole reason you did what you did because you were mad and alone and had Stanza's emotion stuffed in you?"

Chrysalis lifted her wings and turned, letting Starlight see her flanks.

Where Starlight's cutie mark was an indiscriminate patch of light, Chrysalis's was a pool of shadow, with faint wisps leading away like a cord that tethered across dimensions. Chrysalis held her wings up and turned, displaying the phenomenon from all sides.

Starlight winced. "Is that painful?"

"Rrrrrgh..." Chrysalis set her teeth.

Starlight's brow furrowed. "There's something you aren't saying."

"Why does it have to be you?" Chrysalis hissed. "Why don't you just leave? Why does the pony who cost me everything have to be one who won't leave me alone?"

"But you don't want to be alone," Starlight pointed out. "Which is weird, because Valey said you always tried to drive her away, but I couldn't have used your magic to activate my Nightmare Modules if you weren't really lonely. And you keep saying that's why you wanted those souls for yourself."

Chrysalis spat halfheartedly on the floor.

"Well?" Starlight stared.

Chrysalis pouted and turned her back.

"I was nice to you too, you know," Starlight pointed out. "It wasn't me who ruined your life. If you hadn't felt like your life was already ruined by the time I fought you, then you weren't paying attention. I didn't meet you a lot, but I only ever helped you. I was there with Valey the night you had your foal. We saw what Gazelle did, and we beat him up past the point where he realized it wasn't a game."

Chrysalis's ears pressed back.

"At this point, the only reason I'm being nice to you is because it's a challenge," Starlight continued. "You wouldn't in my place. And you think we're the same. But if you had been nicer early on, we really could have gotten along."

Chrysalis burst into tears.

Starlight blinked. "Are you okay?"

"What a pointless question," Chrysalis growled into the floor, covering her head with her wings. "Do you even realize where or what I am?"

"Tell me," Starlight insisted. "I need to know better than I do."

"Urrgh..." Chrysalis pressed her face into the ground, voice muffled by the boards. "You've split me in half. My soul is tied to the me in my body, and to me of my brand that you're talking to. The other me probably isn't even aware I exist. I'm even more of an abomination than I already was. And now I'm stuck here for eternity, with tormenting the specters of my past as my only solace or pastime. And now you're here, getting in my face and being nice just to prove a point! You don't care. You're just taunting me. Stop-"

Starlight sighed, sat down beside her and put a wing over her back.

Chrysalis froze. "Get off me."

"Fine." Starlight pulled back, but only slightly. "Look. I know you hate me, and I'm sorry I stopped you, but you had to be stopped. And yes, I am only being nice to you to prove a point, because you stole my friend and have never done anything back for me. But while I'm being nice, I'll tell you a secret: ponies are nice to you more often when you're nice first. If you tried it sometime, I'd give you a chance, which is more than anyone else will say."

Chrysalis glared up at her with wet eyes. "That's not saying a lot when you're the only other one here."

Starlight shrugged. "I'm stuck here, and I don't like this place. I need help. I'm giving you a chance. Please?"

"You're just a stupid... foolish kid..." Chrysalis groaned. "Leave me alone! Please! Stop tempting me!"

"Tempting you?" Starlight tilted her head. "What would be so bad about just giving in and coming with me?"

Chrysalis finally met her eyes. "Do you really not know? What it feels like to let yourself hope only to get it smashed against the ground again and again, where every crack you allow in your shell is only pried open with iron stakes and leaves you worse than when you began? You're a filly. You can't possibly be evil enough to do this on purpose. Even if your powers are just as twisted as mine are."

Starlight tapped the ground with a hoof. "I've had that happen before, and I'm afraid of it happening again. That doesn't mean I'm not going to take what I can when I can get it."

She offered a hoof again, and Chrysalis stared at it. "I took what I could, and you were the one to steal it all away from me."

Starlight shrugged. "Would you rather have thousands of captive friends, or one willing one?"

Chrysalis's brow furrowed. "For how many times I've told you to get lost, you'd almost think I wasn't willing."

"Maybe not, but I am," Starlight insisted. "I'm not giving up. And you're the one who's always had trouble getting others to give you a chance, right? If you leave this chance behind, you can't blame it on anyone else. I'm offering. This is your decision."

Chrysalis met her eyes one last time. "You're the stubbornest filly I've ever met."

Starlight nodded. "I really hate giving up."

"Fine." Chrysalis sighed, took her hoof, and stood up. "Let's get this over with. Now what?"

Comments

[Phoenix Kitten]

To quote another fic

“Friends come in all shapes and sizes. You can be friends with almost anypony, if you give them the chance. You can even make friends with somepony who was once your greatest enemy. Just look at the Crusaders and Diamond Tiara. But here’s the really wonderful thing about friendship; even if you can’t really be ‘friends’ with an enemy, you can still put your differences aside to work towards a common goal. Then they become… what did you call them? Oh, right; ‘allies.’”

[Alchemik]

Heh. The power of friendship! Be cool to see where this goes.

[Venlinelle]

It turns out I love the bug queen regardless of what her past is like. I wonder if she remembers all this by Where and Back Again?