Chapter 277 - Burning Rage, Sorrowful Grief
“I didn’t come here for a fight, Chrysalis. I am Tempest Shadow, and I’ve come seeking your assistance in stopping Tirek and Cozy Glow.” You told her, keeping your eye out for any glowing through the darkness. Listening for any movement.
“My assistance? Ha! And what makes you think I need a pony with a broken horn?” Chrysalis scoffed.
“Like you, I conquered many kingdoms and civilizations when I was the commander of the Storm King’s army. Defeating and conquering Canterlot was actually quite easy. Surely that is proof enough of my skill.” Something wasn’t right, you would have thought she’d jump at the chance to take them on.
“And what does that mean to me, exactly? I am fully capable of crushing them myself. No, not crush… Eviscerate.” Chrysalis said
“I suppose nothing. But if you want to eviscerate them, then I’m willing to assist with that as well.” If that’ll get her to show herself, then so be it. You’d light your horn up yourself if you were sure nothing in the room was flammable.
“Assist? Then stand still, and show me what you look like on the inside.” Without warning, you see a green light on the ceiling as two magic bolts are hurled at you. You step aside quickly, making sure to feel for anything, noticing you’re now close to a bed.
“This is getting us nowhere! How could you want revenge if you want to tear apart those willing to help you?” Something was most definitely wrong. You’d think she would have jumped at the chance to hear you out if you agreed with her, yet she wanted to tear you apart.
“Because you’re all useless! USELESS! All that power, all that friendship, and you all lost to them! I WILL destroy them for this. Them, you, and all of ponykind! All will know my wrath!” She bellowed as she fired another stream of bolts at you. Again, an easy dodge. But she was moving around now, you could hear her scurrying around the ceiling.
But the way she was acting. You could sense it in her voice. She was grieving, she was in pain. If everything Anon told you was true, then simply him being captured was enough to set her off. But to go so far?
Unless, it was worse than being captured…
“Calm down! Why would you want that? I’m not only here to help you with your revenge. I’m also here to help rescue everyone as well, and that includes Anon. You ne-” But suddenly, the mere moment you said his name, came a blood-curdling scream.
“SILENCE!” She cried out as dived down at you through the darkness. You dodged her, given the sound of her yelling gave her away. She quickly turns around and tries to fire more magic at you. Again, easily dodged. She wasn’t moving or striking as hard as you had heard she was capable of. “HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! DON’T EVER SAY HIS NAME! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY IT! YOU’RE NOTHING! AND YOU’RE NOT FIT TO SAY IT IN MY PRESENCE!”
…That raw, visceral anger.
At that moment, you felt true pain in the core of your heart.
That kind of anger could only mean one thing.
He was gone…
…
…
“You need to snap out of this. He would-Hyah!” You jumped backwards as she tried to headbutt into your neck.
“SHUT UP! Where were you?! You say you know him, but you weren’t there! Nopony was! You all made him soft, and weak! He walked right into their trap, and they destroyed him for it! HE DIDN’T DESERVE IT! HE HAD ALL THAT POWER, AND HE CHOSE TO HOLD BACK! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT! HER FAULT! EQUESTRIA’S FAULT!” Chrysalis cried out once again as flames began to brighten the room in an emerald green, causing her bed, her photos, her furniture, all to alight into an all-devouring wall of flames.
“You need to calm down! Chrysalis, if what you say is true, he wouldn’t want to see you like this. He’d want you to avenge him. He wasn’t the average pony, I know that. But he would have wanted you to have your revenge while protecting those he cares about, those you care about. I heard how you treat his mar-NGH!” It was no use, she lit her horn, causing the flames to encircle you both, the heat becoming sweltering. She wasn’t in her right mind, she was willing to destroy everything around her. Even herself.
“I TOLD YOU TO BE SILENT! It’s over! I’ll recover my strength by sucking up all the love in this manor, and I will go back and destroy all of Ponyville if I have to, just to make sure those two become corpses! Nocreature here is strong enough to fight them but me! I’ll show you what I can do, I’ll use you as a stepping stone to my conquest!” Chrysalis said as her horn glowed brighter, her wings spreading out, as the flames began to close in on you.
“Chrysalis, stop and think! There’s no coming back if you do this!” She wasn’t listening. It just felt like everything you were saying to her was making her angrier.
“...I’ve heard enough!” Said a booming voice as a magical flash filled the room. Instantly the flames were dissipated as you and Chrysalis were flung and held to the ceiling.
“What?! What is the meaning of this?!” Chrysalis growled as she tried to break free. “Who?! Wait… You!”
“Chancellor?!” What? What was he doing in here? What was he doing?!
“I would have thought you’d have handled the situation better than this. But that is why I made sure to cast an extra spell on the doorknob when I unlocked it. A listening spell so I could hear everything going on as I put Diamond Tiara to bed.” Chancellor Neighsay said as he looked up at the both of you, his stare hardened, as he held you both still. “You’re lucky I arrived when I did.”
“You?! What are you doing here?! Let me free!” Chrysalis growled even fiercer as she tried to free herself, writhing to no avail.
“I will not. You have gone out of control! Though… Hearing what I heard, I think I can understand why. Yes, the same grief Anon held towards you when he thought the worst, I never thought you’d be able to display the same.” Chancellor Neighsay said, as he began to walk forward, his eyes never leaving Chrysalis’s.
“Chancellor, what are you planning?” What did he plan to do? Was he going to destroy her? Did he have the capacity to seal her away?
“Nothing, I just wish to speak my mind. Chrysalis, I’ve heard much about you. I’ve had to, given nopony else seemed to deem you a danger. I’ve tried to learn as much about you as I can, and I realize something like this has happened to you before. In fact, it is what led you to your ‘bet’ with Princess Twilight. Your rage towards Princess Celestia. The loss of your children, am I correct?” Chancellor Neighsay asked.
“You worm! What gives you the right to speak to me like this?!” Chrysalis screamed towards him, her anger building again.
“The fact that it seems without love, you’re powerless, so much so that even I can defeat you as if you were a foal. But I digress, I shall continue whether you want to hear it or not. This grief you feel, this anger. I’ve seen it in students before. Those who try to overachieve, or have failed miserably. Or perhaps that isn’t a strong enough example. No, it wouldn’t be. But the story of the Pony of Shadows, and Nightmare Moon, should suffice.” Neighsay continued.
What was he getting at?
“And what does any of that have to do with me?! All you’re doing is making sure you’ll be just a smear on my wall!” Chrysalis barked at him.
“It is actually quite simple. Their grief, anger, and jealousy made them the beings that they were. You already show signs of turning as bad as they were. In fact, I was told your own captain has not been allowed in this room. Understandable, I’m sure his rivalry with Anon would be something you’d not want to deal with. Which brings me to young Diamond Tiara…” And with that, he suddenly struck a nerve.
“What?! What does this have to do with her?! Grrr, let me loose! This instant!” Chrysalis screamed out as she once again tried to break free of his hold.
“Everything. Think about it. You’re already talking about destroying Equestria. That alone should be enough for me to stop you, here and now. Grief or no grief, you’ve become too dangerous. You’ve lost control, just like they did, and you know it. If you can’t handle being around your own captain, then what of Diamond Tiara? How long until she makes a mistake, and you destroy her for it?” Neighsay asked.
Suddenly, Chrysalis broke out in a different kind of anger. “How dare you! I’d never do that to her! EVER! LET ME DOWN, YOU COWARD! YOU’VE GONE TOO FAR NOW!”
“I’m afraid you have gone too far, or you will. Don’t lie to me, Chrysalis, it’ll get you nowhere. I have to wonder, where did you direct your anger before when you lost your children? When they betrayed you. It wasn’t Princess Celestia, was it? No, not at first. Anon was foolish, wasn’t he? He was the reason Princess Celestia and King Thorax had access to your hive. I’d bet my very position that you tried to destroy Anon first. Tell me if I’m wrong.” Neighsay said as he began to stare her down.
And that’s when you saw it. She suddenly relented. She said nothing, she just stared at him with sorrowful anger as… tears? Tears, they began to flow down her cheeks.
Neighsay actually seemed surprised by her reaction. “I was actually only guessing, but it seems I was spot on. You’re selfish, and you’ll destroy everything around you because you can’t control yourself. I’m sorry for your loss, I truly am. But I will not waste my own emotions on a loathsome insect who refuses to see the bigger picture. To me, you don’t seem to care about anypony. I don’t even think you care about Anon, at least not truly, if you’re willing to destroy him out of anger.” Neighsay waited for a moment for a reply, but she had truly gone silent. Neighsay weakened his hold and brought you both slowly to the charred ground. He then turned around and looked back at you. “I’m done here. If I go any further, my own biases, as you think I have, will take things too far in the other direction. I will go downstairs and question Discord myself. I’ll leave things to you here, now that the situation is handled.” And with that, he walked off, closing the door behind him.
That… Was unexpected. You turned to look at Chrysalis, who was looking away from you, unmoving.
…
“You’re thinking about if you’d actually do it, aren’t you?” You asked her.
“I would have… He was right, I had tried to end Anon before.” Chrysalis said, her tone now full of hidden sorrow as she tried to sound stoic.
“But he forgave you anyway. He just wanted to be friends with you again, and to see you do better.” You said.
Chrysalis let out a sad chuckle. “An idiotic notion, to be honest. I still used him, trying to have my revenge, even making a false version of him to reach my goals.”
“And yet, he still forgave you. Despite your anger, and your want for revenge, you were happier when you swallowed your pride and accepted his friendship. Their friendship…” You said to her.
“Mnnn… It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s gone. I never even thought such a thing was possible.” Chrysalis sighed, almost sounding like she was in pain. “It was my fault. I wasn’t strong enough, and I wasn’t there for him. He said that name to me before, Cozy Glow. I should have investigated her myself. I just… I just thought he’d have taken my advice, and used his magic when he should have.” Chrysalis then looked over at the charred remains of her room, and walked over, grabbing an old photo of her and Anon. She looked annoyed in the picture, while Anon looked quite happy just to be at her side. “I don’t even know what to tell Little Sister. She doesn’t know he’s gone. All I could think about was ripping those two to shreds. But Neighsay, he was right. I grew weaker as I became angry and hateful. Tch, look at me… I’ve become so pathetic.” Chrysalis said as her tears began to fall on the photo.
“...I may not show it. But I do know how you feel. Anon helped me too. Without him, I wouldn’t have seen how foolish I was to believe the Storm King would grant my wish. I want to cry, I do. But if I lose myself, I won’t be able to fight back.” You told her, containing your emotions, even now.
“...I believe you, I can feel it in you.” Chrysalis went silent again as she put the photo back in its spot, still looking away from you. “Did you mean what you said? That you’d be willing to seek revenge? Even if it means tearing them apart?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had such thoughts. Anon once suggested I say ‘Eat shit and die’, so I’d have to come up with something else for those two.” You tell her.
She went silent for a moment, then let out a slightly happier chuckle. “‘Eat shit and die’, huh? That does sound like something he’d say. Did you actually say it?” She asked as she slowly looked back at you.
You nodded “I did, and it felt good saying it. As far as I’m concerned, those two are nothing but shitstains that aren’t even worth the toilet paper.”
Chrysalis let out another small chuckle, as if she was being reminded of him. “Agreed. Hmm, do you think it’s possible to win? Do you think we stand a chance?”
“Hm? Are you asking me that? I would think you already know we have the best odds.” You say, giving her a small confident smile.
“Yes, how foolish of me to ask. Hmn, I wonder if that Starlight Glimmer has returned yet. She’s actually quite powerful for a unicorn. Yes, maybe, if we have a strong enough force, we can beat them.” Chrysalis said in a low voice, as she began to wonder about the odds.
“We can, and we will. We need to gather our will, and make sure everyone knows what is at stake. We all must be willing to fight.” You tell her, feeling a renewed vigor within yourself.
“Oh, I’m sure we all will. We’ll wait for now, for her to return. Then we’ll work out an attack plan, combine all our knowledge of those two together. Because, I promise you, there will be no mistakes. We will crush them, and I will avenge him.” Chrysalis said, standing up, giving you a softer and confident look in her eyes.
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You also told him to be careful about using it. He tried to help the usual heroes see there was trouble but it was too late.
11545665
Ponies are very good but they could use a lesson about the power of words. Anon doesn't always think the same way they do but that doesn't make it bad just different. He has a good heart and when they make complaints about him right to his face especially about his mistakes which he trying to make right as much as possible they don't realize how much it hurts him. How can twilight say she is his friend for making mistakes when she won't even face her mistakes and he isn't as foolish as she is. She unfortunately can't see people dark sides because it just something she can't grasp. On the other hand humans have face their dark sides and although some face it better than others it allows us a bit of awareness that twilight doesn't have.
Well look at that, the Neighsay did something helpful and it felt natural. He was still a bit of an ass, which is fitting cause that's how he is, but he helped get our favorite buggy lady out of the hate spiral.
I also like Tempest and Chrissy getting along once that hate spiral is gone, I always did think she'd like Tempest due to the mare being pretty intense herself when riled. Well that and Tempest isn't as sugary sweet as most ponies are.
11549058
Plus she accepted anon for himself good and bad. Twilight couldn't accept that he made a well meaning mistake born out of her refusal to look past her hero at the facts. He trusted her opinion that starswirl was never wrong and she blamed him for trusting that.
11543612
Yeah the tree was overly harsh. He is a good person and tries to the right thing and it not like twilight doesn't drag her friends into the danger of the week all the time. He did by accident. When your dad is lord of chaos trouble is often right around the corner. Harmony was harsh considering he didn't do on purpose and he saved his friend by being smart. Twilight wouldn't have been able to that.
Chancellor Neighsay, the pinnacle of constructive criticism!
11549275
I'm glad somebody found the irony funny
11549274
I like that the tree has an extremely low opinion of Anon, because for one it probably uses all ponies as a point of reference for judgement of others, and because of its mind reading abilities, it truly understands anon's THOUGHTS, but not his REASON, just like the ponies, the tree can't properly comprehend emotional inconsistency and sees those inconsistencies as flaws.
The difference between a pony and a human is that a human can ignore empathy, and understand when empathy is problematic and why.
"I never should have trusted you" = Pony.
"I should have known better than to trust you." = Human.
The pony won't regret their mistakes involving others, they'll regret the results of those mistakes. It is ALWAYS wrong to regret the results of mistakes rather than what led to them, in my opinion. I mean, take Neighsay for example, he was clearly meant to learn a "lesson" about being wary of other species, but Anon, the human, understood his perspective, and agreed with it EVEN AS HE TRUSTED THOSE OTHER SPECIES. This comes from a place of understanding betrayal can come from anywhere, which in pony world is supposed to be a perspective that would make a pony go at everyone's throats and not trust them at all.
This probably flabbergasted the tree.
....By the way, what chapter was the tree bashing Anon? Nevermind, found it, 226.
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When do you feel empathy is problematic?
11549658
In any situation where someone feels one thing, but thinks another, and those thoughts directly conflicts with the thoughts and desires of the other who understands them only on an emotional level is an example. Another example is when you empathize with individuals within groups who are NOT the majority of said group, and end up making those individuals appear as liars. This is particularly true if those very same individuals are more afraid of someone not understanding them empathetically, individually, than of those who poorly represent them continuing to do so on a large scale.
Other situational examples we also get in the story itself, like when Anon brings Twilight over to Chrysalis, knowing full well Twilight was going to sperg, and completely understanding where she was coming from emotionally, and share in her emotions, but because of his empathetic understanding of Twilight, he choked her out cause he hated how incompetent she was being towards her own goals. Or as he'd put it, "She was being a total sperg." The whole reason he almost went full villain for a minute was because he understood Twilight.
Like, understanding can make you hate something far more viscerally than a lack thereof.
True hatred comes from a place of empathy, and understanding, its why the worst times always come after a time of peace.
When you can understand a feeling, and can share that feeling, it doesn't mean you agree with said feeling, and at times it can make the hatred of said feeling all the more visceral.
Tl : dR
Empathy is problematic when the side who uses it fails to use logic, or fails to reign in their other emotions.
11549696
In that case he asked her to a simple thing try to get know and be her friend. He didn't count her love of lectures getting in the way considering she supposed to the princess of friendship.
11549725
I am 100% sure he knew she'd do it even as he gave her a chance, and simply chose to believe and hope she'd prove him wrong.
11550020
She knows how to do it she just can't resist giving up lectures for when the time is appropriate for such things.
11550022
And understanding that is not always going to be met with kindness.
11550310
Hopefully if it gets rubbed in her face enough times she will learn there is a time a place for everything including lectures. Only time will tell on that front.
mere (?)
set alight (?)
all-devouring
Missing comma after ‘Instantly’. (?)
Chrysalis is broken. Grief is a harsh mistress after all. She'd never act this way, if it wasn't for the circumstance of Anon's demise. She, the queen of the changelings, tearing up in front of strangers. Her mental castle lays in ruins, flooded with the tears of her sorrow.
I wanted Tempest to meet Chrysalis. But what she found was a shell. A poorly worn mask. To hide, to escape, the feelings she had for Anon.
how has your writing been so consistently good through this nearly 3 million word journey? HOW?!
11756852
Extensive imagination of the scenes while at work a d trying to put it all together in words