A Storms Lullaby Pg.76  
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I really don’t feel good about this anymore…

@Background Pony #B638  

 
It could be inspired by anime. It’s fairly common there to have a flashback before the villain dies (often a sympathetic one too).

@Background Pony #B638  
I feel similar to your points. I mean, at this stage we almost don’t need to know that Rusty was himself bullied and taunted in a very similar way to Tempest is doing to him now, but it’s a welcome reinforcement of the general theme that all of the characters in this story exist in a spectrum of grey.
 
If that seems contrary to my original comment: I couldn’t help but snarkily quote ACRaceBest, but at the same time I didn’t want to come across as being dismissive or even that satirical.
 
A bully being the product of bullying is a common - and realistic - trope, but also it makes Rusty seem less than a one-note gobshite, which is good. I don’t think it’s used here to benefit Rusty though. One could kinda argue that if Tempest’s torturing of him quickly reveals him as a sniffling wreck then the backstory isn’t actually needed - his behaviour and character is obvious enough. But here we see reinforced the depths to which Tempest is sinking; if Rusty’s past doesn’t justify his behaviour, then how the hell is Tempest justified? Furthermore, Rusty blames her for the death of a family member; is every pony, or person for that matter, out to “do right” by their kin automatically a hero or a villain?
 
Just as a side note, I did wonder - though I now think it most unlikely, as the setup isn’t really there - that this is serving as a flashback to trigger Rusty. All his years of bitterness and hatred that have churned inside him, his vile acts, his self-righteous quest for revenge; here though is Tempest, forcing him to relive presumably one of his worst memories; she is his bully now. Either this is the point that he crumbles into the agonised little foal he once was, or this is when he goes absolutely berserk. Tempest thinks she is in control now, but what happens if she loses it? How does she regain it? What does that result in? And, if we know why Rusty has gone berserk, how does our perception of Tempest’s actions change; how would Thistle and Lulu react, whether they understand or not?
 
But that’s probably not where it’s going. Either way I look forward eagerly to what happens next.  
I think, to paraphrase another brony youtuber, DWK’s view of Sunset Shimmer being Reformed but not Redeemed come the beginning of Rainbow Rocks may be the opposite here; Tempest may actually be redeemed in the eyes of Twilight at least… but is she truly reformed?

Didn’t expect to see Rusty’s backstory. Especially not in the middle of a tense moment in which Tempest goes all Punisher on him, scaring both Lullaby and Thistle.
 
Except for the bad timing, this is much appreciated. It confirms what Rusty said in the flashback to Lullaby about feeling unwanted because he wasn’t an Earth Pony. Probably saw a lot of things he hated about himself in Lullaby, which explains his eagers to give her a beating. Or maybe he genuinely believe that he’s doing her a favor by toughing her up, because the same thing happened to him and he turned out “alright”. Or maybe he felt helpless as a child and beating up somebody weaker makes him feel powerful.
 
Also almost this whole family clan is good dam awful. If you’re not an Earth Pony they look down on you. If you don’t want to do Earth Pony work they look down on you. I’m starting to think that’s it’s a good thing that Thstile was forced to live all by herself without any contact with the rest of her family.

Let me preface this by saying I love this comic and my opinions are more to do with how I refuse to feel bad for this pegasus than any real criticism of the overall comic!
 
Nope nope nope. I refuse to feel bad. Life is hard and it can make ponies and people into bad ponies and people but it doesn’t excuse the bad things they’ve done. That is probably one of the things I liked about Sunset Shimmer’s reform versus any other villain. Hers took TIME. She did a bunch of bad things and it took the course of three movies before people had more or less forgiven her.
 
Even Tempest’s reform doesn’t feel genuine: “Oh, you tried to help a sasquatch dominate our entire land, but you had a traumatic childhood? And now you want to reform? Well cool! Now we’re friends!”
 
I’m sorry, but just because you feel bad and were hurt as a kid doesn’t give you a pass. Redemption SHOULD take time, otherwise it’s meaningless.
 
Again, love the comic but I won’t let this flashback tug on my heart strings 🤣

He been through this long time ago.  
I feel sorry for him now.

@Jarkes  
Indeed! Tempest had Twilight to pull her back to being a pony—Rust hasn’t had anypony to even try that yet.

It’s a vicious cycle of hatred and abuse.

@Damaged
 
It’s called a foil. Tempest went through trauma and became a villain, but eventually redeemed herself and is trying to become a better pony. Rust Wing went through similar trauma, but has no desire to reform.

@LuminousShot  
Yeah, but since the story is literally about a bad guy turned good, who had a tragic backstory (Fizzlepop Berrytwist), it makes sense to show that here for a villain they are trying to punish.

@Damaged  
Honestly, it has the opposite effect for me. Not every bad guy needs a tragic backstory. Some can just be messed up without having gone through something traumatic. They could also thrive in the hostile environment they ended up in, or consciously decide to go down an evil path because that’s just what works best. Being sick and twisted often means not operating under rationality, meaning some rational explanation for why they are the way they are is only for the sake of the audience but might be completely removed from the actual character.

Seems that Tempest triggered a PTSD

@RAF Flütersloh  
Yeah. I’ll give this artist/writer credit, they’re doing a great job of tripping through those emotions.

“We’re going to forgive him, aren’t we?”
 
Not that I’m complaining.