It was nearly the evening of the next day when the alicorn first noted a distinct lack of irritation caused by the changeling queen wandering the ship. He dismissed it at first, seeing as Zelus was busy moping about in their room or some nonsense. Instead he chose to focus on the hoofwork needed for actual combat.
While swinging around a sharp piece of metal properly was difficult in and of itself, learning to sidestep an attack with four legs had left the alicorn tasting the deck several times over the week. It was obviously not something that was taught overnight, and not even the muscle memory he borrowed from Luna could help him here. Luna could use a blade, but according to her memories she actually preferred either attacking with magic or from a distance with ranged weaponry like bows or crossbows. After all, it was her sister that was the close quarters expert. Why learn how to use bludgeons when you were a natural at spell casting? Unfortunately, this affinity for spell casting was not passed on to Cimmerian. While it was undoubtedly easier than it would be for most creatures, it was by no means simple. Therefore he was using his newfound free time to learn how to swing not just sharp sticks, but heavy sticks, long sticks, and spikey sticks.
So it was that Cimmerian spent most of the trip learning how to properly use weapons, and this day in particular to wield a large hammer. Learning how to swing it without it hitting himself in the face, learning how to use the shaft to block blows and even strike quickly and unexpectedly. Learning that his magic could quickly speed up the hammer for a quick strike, but also learning that magic still required time and concentration to slow it down again.
"I'm so sorry sir, I thought you'd learned to remember the backswing by now," one of the griffon guards said, following the wobbly alicorn to the galley.
"It's, it's fine, De- Ber- whatever your name was. I'll be better in a bit. I mean, I heal pretty quick, so a black eye isn't too bad," Cimmerian chuckled even as he almost stumbled to the floor. "Look at the bright side. I didn't bleed all over the deck this time. Much better than my practice sessions with a sword or morning star. You'd think that after almost taking out my own eye I'd remember the center of balance for the weapons is on the weapon, not on myself."
That was what had given him most of his problems. He carried the weapons in his magical grip, but swung them with the idea that they'd swing around him as they would if he were holding them. Such was not the case; if you wanted them to act that way, you had to actually give the swing a pre-determined arc. If you weren't paying attention, you could and would merely rotate the weapon. A bad idea when you were trying to protect your face with it.
"I was going to be using Zel for this kinda' training, but she's been less than helpful lately. Between being distracted by hive issues and the cold having a bad effect on her, she's not been very helpful. I'm sure it will change once she settles down and acclimates."
"Sir, a guard shouldn't have to acclimate. If she can't do her job, she shouldn't be here" the griffon said, a bit of irritation in his voice.
Cimmerian nodded "Normally I'd agree, but this is a changeling queen we're talking about. They run a close second to alicorns in both rarity and magical power. Sure dragons may be stronger physically, but Zel is no pushover. I wouldn't suggest challenging her to an arm wrestling match; she'd likely break your talon. In this case she's the heavy hitter of your team, an ill acclimated one, but one that would be able to lead a charge into a wall of steel if she needed to."
"I think I understand, sir," the guard responded. "Still, I would like an actual team. The others are at least professional about this."
Grabbing a plate and serving himself from the galley's buffet, the alicorn snorted in amusement.
"Man, I've been having to work with what I have for the last few months. I don't know if you realize this, but Shadow has no actual leadership experience besides getting a few ponies to agree to go into the jungle with him. Even then, most of those were convinced by others, while Gleam was just another follower that I appointed secretarial duties. Both have adapted to the changes in our needs well, just as I've had to adapt. You've heard the rumors floating among the guards, haven't you?"
The tom paused, looking uncertain if he should answer.
"The, the ones about you being, not an alicorn?"
Cimmerian blinked, turning back to the griffon. The alicorn stared for a moment before bursting into laughter, moving towards his seat and gesturing for the guard to sit at his table.
"As I told Herrick I'm exactly as I appear. An alicorn that is in a way connected to Luna. In fact I've spoken to her, and she and her sister both speak to me as a son and nephew, respectively, at times. It's my mind that's different. I was born and raised in a very different world. As much as everyone's had to adapt to their new circumstances, my own have been radically altered as well. In fact I don't even think one can reach my home without magic from our location.
"As such, I decided that the best course of action was to help those around me. One thing led to another, and soon my bleeding heart led me to start allowing all those like me into the Temple. Next thing I know, I've got a country on my hooves and a pair of alicorns asking me for help."
The stallion chuckled, shaking his head. "Adaptation is important. We learn to adapt to the changing circumstances or we're swept away. Luckily I've been fairly flexible but there are some things that just bother me."
"Herds?" the griffon guessed, drawing a nod from the dark alicorn. The griffon shrugged, "I don't know much about them as they're mostly a pony thing, but I know even the thestrals tend to use them. Pony births seem to favor mares from what I've heard. Thus if they practiced monogamy like griffons they'd have a lot mares that would be left without."
"Logically that makes sense. Your people are a bit more similar to my own than ponies in many ways. Omnivorous, monogamous, fairly aggressive especially around strangers and the unknown. At least I kinda' guessed you guys were monogamous since I didn't see any, you know" the stallion circled his hoof in the air, looking for the proper word. "Flocks? Would that be the right word?"
The guard nodded, finishing a portion of his meal before speaking "They happen from time to time, but usually flocks are formed by pegasi. Most common flocks of griffons are either after wars or disasters that claim a lot of males, or the Griffozonian tribes in the most secluded mountains. It's strange, but some of those tribes are patriarchal."
Cimmerian choked on his water, pounding his barrel with a hoof and laughing at the idea of patriarchy being the exception, not the norm. "My own people were most often patriarchal, though there were a lot of matriarchal societies throughout the ages. Even in the matriarchies though, males were the ones who led most of the military forces. I don't know many female military leaders off the top of my head. In fact, in my own country there was a time females were not allowed to own property. There were also tales of tribes in the deep jungles, Amazons, that were full of warrior women who some said would abduct men for mating. Depending on the male, they may not have objected that much. Not at first anyway."
"That's insane... what other similarities and oddities have you found?" the tom asked with an inquisitive smile.
"Griffons are real" the stallion deadpanned, drawing a stare of disbelief from the guard. "Yea, imagine waking up to a world of mythological creatures. That's been my reality lately."
After a long and engaging conversation on the topic of culture shock that eventually brought in several other guards Cimmerian retired to his room. As he expected, the changeling queen was sitting in her own bed, a mess of blankets and covers scattered over her form. What he also expected was for her to give him a glare upon entering the room. He didn't expect the queen to not even react.
"Zelus? You up?" he asked, poking the bundle of blankets. When no response came, he started unraveling the covers. After pulling a worrying number of blankets off of her he found out why she was so quiet. Pulling a final blanket free he found a chattering queen buried deep underneath them.
"Oh geeze. Why didn't you say you were cold? Didn't you say you could burn emotion for heat?" the alicorn admonished her, pulling apart the ball of blankets she'd wrapped herself in. The queen didn't answer, merely igniting her horn and trying to pull a few of the blankets back to her.
"I swear, you queens are all impossible," he muttered, hopping into his own bed and bringing Zelus over. Wrapping the two of them in several blankets, about three times as many as he'd find comfortable, he settled in for the night.
<-(0)->
The other queen was a good distance away by now, and the link was starting to wane. Sure Din could still sense Zelus in the distance, thus having a good idea of the location of the group but the information that could flow through the link at such distances was minimal at best. Even now though, she could get a good idea of the other queen's mood. That unfortunately ended up being a combination of frustration, misery, a few pangs of hunger, and oddly enough a faint undertone of despair.
"What the hell is she doing?" the queen muttered, sorting through the still growing pile of requests and notifications that seemed to find their way to her even with the alicorn gone. Gleam and Shadow both lent their aid, as well as the Thrisha when she stopped by, though that wasn't as often as the queen had liked. Pandinus enjoyed speaking with the hen, even if half of what the griffon said made no sense. It was just a pleasant sensation, a sort of white noise as the stallion had once jokingly referred to her hives buzzing as.
Looking across from her at the recovering alicorn, Din passed another simple request form to the mare, encouraging the mare to start thinking. It had been helping, Cadance not merely staring off into the distance stroking Amare anymore, the slightest bits of affection being directed at the proto queen. Perhaps she'd never fully recover, but at least she wasn't cowering in the presence of others anymore.
*poke*
Pandinus blinked, looking up at the mare in surprise. Cadance merely cocked her head, trying again.
*poke*
"What's wrong?" the alicorn asked, her voice barely audible.
"Nothing in particular, at least not anything I can actually affect at the moment," Din answered, still looking at the mare in shock. That hadn't been physical contact. The pink mare had pushed her through the link. The queen pondered a response for a moment, settling on a gentle reassuring pressure through the link.
"I'm sorry" Cadance said in a whisper. "I know you said you'd help, I was just so-"
"I did the same thing." Pandinus said, cutting her off. "Cimmerian offered me food and shelter, a place to call home. I came very close to running when I had the chance. That's why when he asked me to help you, I did. That's why when the other queens showed up on our doorstep I helped. That's why I'm sitting here sorting through this mess, no matter how much I find it frustrating and petty. I've been on the run for a long time with no allies, no hive. I grew up knowing the link, to spend so many years without it was painful and scary. Even if I hadn't cared for you personally, didn't care about what happened to you that, that mess attached to your head, I had to fix it. It was an abomination of something dear to our kind.
"Cimmerian told me there was something called the gold rule. 'Do to others what you want them to do to you.' He wanted others to stay near him so he wasn't alone, so he offered his help and the Temple to them. He protected them. In exchange the ponies here made the Temple a home. He offered me food, shelter, actual love, and a hive, so I offer him all the support I can, even when he wants to do something that goes against everything I know. The fact that Zelus is now working with us I'd never have expected. I thought both would react the way Lestidae had.
"Now I offer you safety, food, and undisturbed sleep in your weakness so that when you recover, you can return my help. The ponies talk about you, how you are the alicorn of love." Queen Pandinus smiled softly at the mare, shifting herself closer. "I believe Cimmerian is correct in this case; had changelings been allowed to speak to you freely, been allowed to approach you without fear of death, many would have named you a goddess of our race. Given your return to what you once were, that may still be in the realm of possibilities, especially since you are now so intimately familiar with our kind."
The pink mare's ears perked, the slightest taste of hope becoming tangible, "Do you, do you really think it wasn't Twilly? That it was one of those, those Nightmares that made her, that makes her do this?"
"Luna and Cimmerian both believe so as far as I know. You will not find anyone more familiar with the Nightmares than they," Din explained to the mare. "Have some faith in Cimmerian. He drives me to insanity, but more often than not he's proven himself reliable."
<-(0)->
Consciousness slowly returned to her, though she knew something was strange. She felt warm, much warmer than she had when she went to sleep. She'd even raided the ships extra supply of blankets and covers the night before. Sure she had a full jar of potent love left, but that was given to her as a last resort, as in 'something's going to eat everyone and she would need a huge power boost to defeat it'. Opening her eyes, Zelus noted she wasn't even wrapped in that many blankets anymore; a few of the extras she'd acquired were on Cimmerians bed.
'Wait, his bed was on the left when you enter the room, so why is-'
"Finally awake?" a voice rumbled, the proximity of the speaker causing the words to rumble against her own barrel. Jumping in fright, the queen looked to her right and spotted the alicorn, head still on his pillow but looking at her with a sleepy expression.
"Had me worried, you wouldn't wake up. Checked your supplies and you've burned through most of your emotion supply. Next time you're running low on food, say something," he scolded, using a wing to pull her in closer. "I fed Din well before we were together, and I fed Mirage and the nymphs before that. All you need to do is ask. Now why were you already running low? We haven't even reached Silver Cavern."
"The training a few days ago and all this cold, it's... it's making me burn much more energy than I should be," she admitted. "I've also never been so cold before, so I'm sure I've burned more than I needed to while learning. The last jar though, it's for an emergency. As for not asking? You've tasted kind of angry these last few days and I really was hoping Luna's ideas would work. Then I wouldn't have to worry about food."
In response the alicorn shifted closer, nearly cuddling with the queen and warming her with both fresh emotion and body heat.
"We'll talk about this when we get back, Zelus. I thought I was clear about my wishes, but I think Din, you, and I are going to need to talk. Make sure we're on the same page. Now go ahead and feed, then we'll head to the galley. Bring your blanket. We'll have something to eat then we're going to the observation deck. We should be coming up on the city soon."
<-(0)->
The thestral hadn't even waited for breakfast to be served that morning, taking off from the ship the moment it was in range her home. A guard attempted to stop her but a quick flash of her identification as well as her urgency had her waved through. She blazed through the streets, nearly taking out several other residents and had to shout apologies to a few friends who asked how her trip was.
Jasmine Breeze darted through the streets even as her wings burned from the distance of her flight. The councilors needed more warning than her simple letter sent through the Talon mercenaries. They needed more than her terrified scribbling, more than what she'd told them in her state of absolute terror upon first seeing the alicorn. Finally reaching the council building, she burst in through the front door, the secretary jumping with a squeak of fear and glaring at her.
"I need to speak to the councilors, now! It's about the letter I sent, and the request that came through the Talons."
The secretary huffed at her, ruffling her wings. "The councilors are currently enjoying their breakfast, interruptions will not be-"
Jasmine didn't hear the rest, having darted past the secretary. She tore down the halls before slowing only enough to not break down the doors to the council chamber. The mare took a moment to catch her breath as the various councilors stared at her, several with food in their mouths. Before she fully recovered, one spoke.
"Ambassador, I trust you know exactly what it is that you've done?" Fruit Fox said, eyeing her with a raised eyebrow.
"Leave off, Fruity. She said she'd be arriving with the one who sent the letter," a second rebuked the first. Turning to Breeze, the older mare smiled graciously. "Now, what was this nonsense about an alicorn sending the letter?"
"N-not nonsense" she panted. "Outside on airship, brought few guards, including changeling."
That last part grabbed the attention of a few councilors. "Poppycock, the only one with any control over changelings is Queen Twilight," Fruit Fox said dismissively.
"What did you see, Breeze," the older mare, Councilor Silver Light asked her gently.
Taking a few more gasps to steady her breathing, as well as a glass of water, the mare began to speak.
"He said he wants to offer, to offer us an alternative to Queen Twilights purification. He talks to Princess Luna, and she spoke to me when I was over there. She said he speaks with her authority, that she trusts him to guard and guide her subjects in her absence. She said Queen Twilight is not, not right. There's something wrong with her. But there's more. He, Lord Cimmerian, he bears the traits of the Nightmare."
Several gasps and sputters of indignation resounded through the chamber at her announcement.
"Preposterous! The Nightmare was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony. Not only that, Nightmare Moon was always a mare, you said this, this Lord Cimmerian, a stallion, bears the traits of Luna's Shadow? Absolutely ridiculous, why I'd-"
"We will allow him to speak to the council." Silver Light said softly, looking around the chamber. "Unless any of you have any objections."
While there was some whispering, no actual objections were raised. Smiling in satisfaction, Light turned back to the ambassador.
"Grab something to eat dear. I'll meet him myself. I'm quite excited to meet the heir of the True Darkness."
<-(0)->
"I gotta admit, I wasn't sure what I'd be seeing when I imagined the capital of the bat ponies, but this isn't what I imagined," Cimmerian commented as the ship approached the mountain. A huge tunnel was carved out of the mountain, leaving easily enough room for two airships to fly right by each other. Flying deep into the mountain, the griffons shifting uneasily as the sky was left behind. There was a twinkle farther down the tunnel, and soon, the entire party was staring at the sight before them, the walls of the cave shimming in the light.
'Silver City. They dug their home in a silver mine,' the stallion realized with awe. It was a beautiful sight, the walls shimmering and shining with every flicker of the lights of their vessel.
Zelus was staring at the sight, mouth agape. The queen had never even been in another city, much less seen a capital. To see so many thestrals zipping about, so many creatures living in one place...
The ship flew through a ward, the air around them becoming noticeably warmer. The queen blinked in confusion for a moment, daring to step away from her mobile source of heat. Realizing it was actually comfortable in the cave, the changeling darted to the railing, giggling excitedly. Cimmerian followed her, allowing a large smile to play across his muzzle. He remembered seeing a few caves when he was younger, but had never imagined something of this scale being done. Seeing the shipyard coming up, and the actual city not so far away, the stallion barely repressed a childish giggle of delight. This was something he'd want to do; to travel this world, seeing the wonders it held. A city on the side of a mountain, another in a silver mine, a castle in the middle of a dangerous forest. There was just so much to see, and over the next week or so he'd make sure to see a few of them at least.
Stepping off the shipyard dock and into the city proper, the alicorn's ears perked as the sounds of a busy market slowly faded away. Curious, he looked around, seeing every thestral present staring at his group. No, that wasn't right. They weren't staring at the group. Nor were they staring at the now-nervous changeling queen. Every single eye was on him, at least every eye that wasn't currently attached to a face that was buried in the dirt.
Looking around at the scene, the alicorn stared with a stoic expression.
"I don't know what I expected."
Surprisingly, several thestrals seemed to be waiting for him near the shipyard, one in particular looking ecstatic to see him. Guessing that the mare and her escorts were there for him, the alicorn made his way directly to the second group. Bowing respectfully he introduced himself.
"I am Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, ruler of the Temple of the Shadows. I sent word some time ago that I desired to speak with you."
The thestral bowed low, stopping just shy of prostration before rising again.
"I am Silver Light, and I am honored to welcome you, Lord Cimmerian, Heir of the True Darkness. Welcome to our city."
The alicorn stopped short at her greeting, wincing at the title. 'Wonderful. More cultists. I hope they aren't all like that.' Looking around at the thestrals in various states of fear and worship he shook his head.
'Who am I kidding. The only question is what kind of cultists I'll be dealing with.'