A Vengeful Revelation

by Catpaw616

Chapter 2

Starlight started to walk up the dungeon stairs to make her way outside. Before she was out of view, Starlight looked over her shoulder to see Chrysalis again. Her back was facing against her and didn't seem to be turning around anytime soon. Part of her felt bad for the former changeling queen, but at the same time, she didn't want to sugarcoat the fact that what she did was atrocious and that she deserved to be down there after all the crimes she committed.

Why do I feel bad for her? Am I supposed to hate her? Starlight argued with herself. She almost took over Equestria and captured my friends in the process.

Starlight continued to think these thoughts as she closed the dungeon door behind her. As she trailed along the hall, she was met with Twilight, who was waiting for her.

"So? How is she? "Did she try to escape?" Twilight asked her former pupil.

Starlight shook her head. "No, she didn't, as far as I know," she informed her.

"That's good." Twilight sighed with relief.

The two ponies walked down the castle halls where stained glass windows painted the walls. As they walked, Starlight couldn't help but keep looking back at the dungeon door was getting farther and farther away from them.

Twilight noticed this quite a few times, so she decided to talk about it.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked her. "That's the third time you've looked back."

Starlight stopped in her tracks and stared at her with a bit of embarrassment. "Really? I'm sorry, Twilight. I've just been thinking about some things." She said as she shuffled one of her hooves.

"Like what?" Twilight also stopped walking.

Starlight started to hesitate. How was she supposed to explain this to her without sounding too much like an advocate for Chrysalis? She knew that she had what was coming to her. There was no doubt about that. But there was something that lingered in her mind that had been bothering her.

She just couldn't figure out what.

"It's nothing important." She tried to play it off. "I guess I'm a bit dismayed by what they're feeding her." She admitted although it wasn't completely a lie.

"I can't say that I agree with what they're giving her, either," Twilight responded with a small shake of her head. "But we gave Chrysalis the option to request some other food to eat, but her pride made her refuse. You know what? You were there."

"Yes, I know, but surely she can't be eating spiders and roaches for the rest of her life?" Starlight pointed out.

Twilight just shrugged. "You just can't help someone who refuses to be helped by ponies like us. She's too stubborn and full of hatred for that."

"Erm, yes." Starlight nodded curtly. The last sentence made her uneasy. She didn't know why. She knew it was true.

They discussed more of the matter when they approached the big golden doors that led to Celestia and Luna's throne.

"I'll talk to Celestia about your concerns," Twilight reassured her with a small smile. "She's wise and fair. She'll figure something out."

Starlight now felt nervous. She hoped that Celestia wouldn't take her views the wrong way and give the assumption that she pitied her too much.

"Ok," Starlight said, not wanting to say any more words.

Twilight then opened one of the doors, entered inside, where Starlight could hear the welcoming voice of Celestia, and then closed the door behind her.

Now alone, Starlight made her way back outside of the castle and decided to teleport herself back to the School of Friendship. She had to make plans for the field trip to Cloudsdale next week, and worrying about Chrysalis' choice of food selections would wear her down.

She knew that she deserved it. She tried to take over Equestria twice and would've tried many more attempts if she hadn't been captured. Surely she shouldn't feel bad for her?

But there was something about the situation that felt... familiar. Something that felt a bit close to home.

Putting this aside for now, Starlight had to concentrate as she made a list of the activities to do on the trip. But she knew this would not be the last time she would think such thoughts.

---

Chrysalis begrudgingly ate the last of the two spiders that were left in her food dish after she felt a wave of starvation hit her. They tasted gross, but she figured it was better than eating the apple pie that Celestia and her guards gave her a week ago.

Do they think I need their pathetic food? Chrysalis scowled as she glared at the apple pie from the corner of her cell. They haven't given her anything besides bugs for months, so why are they changing it up all of a sudden? Did they want to see her succumb to their act of help? Did they want to see how desperate she was?

Well, I'm not going to give her the satisfaction. She huffed stubbornly as she turned away from the apple pie.

Chrysalis looked out at the tiny, barred window that loomed on top of the wall. Since she was allowed to fly, Chrysalis flapped her transparent wings and flew up to look through the barred hole in the wall. Due to her chains, her eyes were barely able to reach the window but managed to get a good view.

From what she could tell, it was about the twilight hour. The moon was slowly rising above the mountains as the last bits of the sun withdrew for another day. Ahead, she could see the tiny, innocent town of Ponyville in the distance. The village's lights were brightly lit from here, and much of her disdain, she imagined the inhabitants of the town enjoying their small, pathetic lives; not seeming to care that their so-called righteous Princesses were letting a dignified queen rot in their dark, cold dungeon for months.

She's not a queen any longer. Chrysalis suddenly recalled the moment when she was forced to face Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight in their throne room. Chrysalis wanted to lash out at Luna when she said those disrespectful, incorrect words, but managed to hold her tongue due to the guards giving her a look of daggers, and she didn't want to make things worse than they already did.

Not a queen...

Not a queen...

Not a queen...

The three words ringed inside her head continuously, and unforgivingly. Chrysalis closed her eyes and her jaws clamped down to prevent herself from making another screech of rage.

Once she landed on the ground, Chrysalis forced herself to take deep breaths, letting her rage consume her slowly, before it didn't become hard to deal with anymore. Her hooves stopped trembling and she glanced up at the window. She let out a low hiss.

"Their pathetic lives won't be peaceful forever," Chrysalis told herself in a low voice. And those three will soon see just how wrong they are.

Just then, the dungeon door began to open, and the sound of hoofsteps and chains could be heard from around the corner. Then Chrysalis saw a pair of guards approaching down the hall. Chrysalis opened her mouth, ready to send out a scathing comment. But she hesitated when the guards walked past her for once.

They're not here for me this time. Chrysalis was genuinely surprised.

Chrysalis got closer to the cell bars to get a closer look. She saw the two guards wrapping chains on the floor and putting a plate with an apple on top on the ground. Chrysalis remembered being offered an apple when she was put into her cage, and of course, she refused it.

What kind of monster would be given the same treatment as I did? Chrysalis pondered. Then she started to get to thinking. Hopefully, this new cellmate would be a powerful, ferocious beast like she was. One who wouldn't obliged to these ponies and their pathetic food.

However, the tiny, rare spark of hopefulness immediately went down the drain when the second pair of guards arrived around the corner. It wasn't a ferocious beast or one that hardly had the same resolve that Chrysalis had.

It was.. a pony! And it wasn't just any pony. It was a foal!

Chrysalis's face was a mix of anger, disappointment, and confusion. She did not know which one she felt the most.

What was a pony of all creatures doing down here, locked up in chains? Especially when they seemed to look so young?

Comments

[Doctor_Den]

It’s funny that a child’s pony is placed in the same cold cave as Chrysalis, for which these conditions can be considered natural. We can only hope that Cozy Glow will at least have prison bunks and a blanket. (I don’t know how hardy foals’ bodies are, but if even an adult slept on the floor in a damp cave, most likely within a month he would have caught a fever due to hypothermia and would probably have died without the intervention of doctors. Not to mention children.)

[Wooden Wheel]

Now I can only imagine Queen Chrysalis shouting "I'd rather eat spiders and roaches than any of your insipid pony food," and that Daybreaker part of Celestia's mind whispering with a toothy grin "Yes, let's do that!"