Damn I like this story a lot. I love the take on Celestia's radical ideas of mercy, as well as the 2 diplomatic circles where you can't harm or be harmed by spells. A lot of creativity and originality in this story

IF the Mane Six and Spike are somehow still alive in all of this, and learned of what happened. I highly doubt that any of them ( Including Twilight ) will ever talk nor ever forgive on what Celestia ALMOST did to everybody on the entire frickin planet they all lived in!!

Heck, I doubt many of her citizens/soldiers will "probably" forgive her either. Even if it's her "mercy" on her own ponies, that's just super F******* UP on immeasurable levels.

Heck, even if Chrysalis finally surrenders. The other races WON'T trust, trade, or ally with Celestia again, when they clearly know of what she almost did to everybody.

But, that's my opinion on thinking a hypothetical aftermath of this.

“So they have aided and abetted a war criminal in the midst of a global genocide with no objections. Truly, I wonder who is more evil. The pony who kills for fun, or the one who looks on and watches without feeling a hint of empathy,” Celestia remarked.

I mean, some war happening that has no effect on your life is like some abstract concept to most; Hell, even reading headlines "millions suffered" is like an abstract concept to my brain.
......
We're so fucked if this Celestia ever appears to us and sees what we done. lol
derpicdn.net/img/view/2020/6/21/2379994.jpg

“Use ice spells, dig deeper, no, we must go to the other side of the planet,” Chrysalis muttered, her head jerking left and right. “No, that won't work. We can't escape this. There isn't enough time.”

Should've invested in that space program to escape to space.

“Do not shed a tear for these mere six. For they shall soon be joined by your entire wretched race,” Celestia exclaimed, gesturing out"

. remember, they kill her sister and do a lot of bad thing. She also insult her race. I doubt Celestia would be good to the Changeling after the war

“So they have aided and abetted a war criminal in the midst of a global genocide with no objections. Truly, I wonder who is more evil. The pony who kills for fun, or the one who looks on and watches without feeling a hint of empathy,” Celestia remarked.

how about the ones watches but can't do anything?

“Alright, alright,” Chrysalis muttered, wiping her forehead again. “We can work with this. What do you want? A ceasefire? Truce?”

“Your complete and unconditional surrender as well as the forfeiture of your entire empire to me,” Celestia retorted.

yeah right, Chrysalis give her a resonable term, but she still want more

“I…” Chrysalis closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I accept your terms, Celestia.”

between going to be a slave for a madmare or death,i rather gone.

Well….that’s one way to stop a war

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more like one way to win a war

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We'll go to the one place uncorrupted by harmony... SPACE!

“You dare?” Chrysalis spat, lurching at the barrier and slamming against it soundlessly. “There are billions of creatures on this planet. You can't simply kill them all because you didn't win? What kind of petulant child are you?”

“Monster that you are, to believe this is but a game,” Celestia muttered.

I cant follow this reasoning at all. evidently the ponies' problems are now everyone's problems, and somehow that's ok because chrysalis said the word ""win"" so she's wrong here?

To be fair, to have that kind of power and never get to use it is quite a shame huh

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It simply illustrates Chrysalis' thinking, and how she veiws the total enslavement of billions as simply "winning" devoid of true context.

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now upon rereading the story it looks like it was actually every single species that got enslaved and not just ponies, oops
(but what about the animals? undiscovered races/species?)

“But my changelings, not all of them are even involved in the war effort. Many simply live out their lives in peace,” Chrysalis explained, the changeling glancing briefly at the trickle of water running past her and off the cliff.

“So they have aided and abetted a war criminal in the midst of a global genocide with no objections. Truly, I wonder who is more evil. The pony who kills for fun, or the one who looks on and watches without feeling a hint of empathy,” Celestia remarked.

Made me think of this.

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Coward, is what you are—trying to find a justification for everything. It's easy for those who have never suffered hardship to judge those with the hardest decisions.

How about the ones watches but can't do anything?

The evilest thing ever is for good people to do nothing. There's always -something- that can be done, no matter how little. Take a gooooood look around at the town you live in, the tools you have, and the fact you are reading a fanfiction site instead of passing out from working a second job's third shift.

yeah right, Chrysalis give her a resonable term, but she still want more

Freedom is the right of any sapient living being. Or did you just so happened to forget the 'BREEDING' line. Let's just take you and your whole family and rape them forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever .......

between going to be a slave for a madmare or death,i rather gone.

See ya you ignorant buffoon. You won't be missed. Notice all Celestia demanded was to set everyone free and to stop their lust for world domination. Hell, the quote's right here:

This is your last chance Chrysalis. Free my little ponies, leave our lands, or face complete annihilation

. No mention of slavery or anything for the loser.
Basically: Get rid of slavery, and get the fuck out, or you die.

Heck, even if Chrysalis finally surrenders. The other races WON'T trust, trade, or ally with Celestia again, when they clearly know of what she almost did to everybody.

Yeah. Yeah they will. Hell yeah they will. Let's analyze this:
Hey, your family and friends and even the neighbor's dog across the street just got saved from being worked to death, fucked to death, burst from babies to death, your babies aren't taught to be fucked to death,, everyone around the world got saved from a slow, and horrific death from being diminished into nothing more than a slave race, if not an outright extinction level event over the course of decades of not centuries. . . .
Or just ending the pain right then and there.

Yeah. Quick and painless would be preferred. They'll be lucky if the changelings aren't hunted to extinction after this anyway. Chrysalis has lost in every single possible way. Everyone dies, or every one of her species dies. . .
However, Celestia seems like the sort to . . . set things straight...-er.............. But hey, that's just a theory.

And this is an example of why no one messes with Celestia.

All the s!

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Such hostility. I don't know if your viewpoint here comes from hardships endured in your life, but I will say simply this. If this had gone the other way, an entire world would have been gone. It would have been the end of everything, including hope. Accept for apparently Celestia and Chrysalis.

Empires rise and fall. Civilisations arise, grow and disappear. Even if there is countless suffering, at some point the suffering might end. Or at the very least there will be a lot less of it. It might take many, many generations but no empire exists forever.

If Celestia had gone through with her threat though, it would definitely have been the end of the line. At least for this world. Of course, I can't know what my decision would be in this scenario. I have no clue what's it's like to live for millennia or have to make decisions on this scale. But with my current viewpoints and knowledge it seems to me that Celestia was the one to give up hope here. She was the one to decide, for every living thing on the planet, that there was no point in fighting had Chrysalis not surrendered. And from her own words it seems she was actually counting on that. In a way, isn't that the easy way out? Maybe she is the coward in this scenario.

Wow. Talk about Exterminatus. She was willing to wipe out all life as a last resort because she lost the war.
What's more terrifying is that other races and kingdoms don't know about it.
Equestria has a gun to there heads.

"Waaaaaaaaah no one will trust Celestia after this!/How could she do this!"

if you're thinking this or anything similar after reading, then you missed the entire damn point of this nice little story.

There's a comedic version of this concept Celestia vs. Garble. As for the breeding camps; very much like illithids (Mind Flayers) in D&D lore. They keep sapient species as cattle for a steady supply of brains/hosts. Changling ruled ponies would probably be plugged into love reactors Matrix style, kept drunk on love potion and illusion magic. Depends on how dystopian you want to go.

Eh, this was more using two characters as vessels to carry out a moralistic argument.

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In the end it isn't about good or evil. If the Changelings win everyone looses. So might as well pull the ultimate "Scorched Earth" approach and flip them off as you blue-ball them with the mother of all asset denials while getting everything to die, including yourself.

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To a truly unselfish person... that is a fair price.

Again, the fate the Changeling's would have subjected the rest of the sapient species of that world IS worse than death. Being reduced to cattle after building cities and crossing oceans is an ultimate ironic HELL!

Seriously, there is a reason why the phrase "Death is better than bondage" is thrown around a lot. Because if history has proven anything to us, it is that being reduced to a RESOURCE will make you WISH they would let you die.