Start of Negotiations (Twilight) Part 2
The study was much as I’d left it. There were a couple file cabinets that stored notes on several projects of mine aligned against the wall. Next to them was a shelf full of various odds and ends, while the other side of the room housed one of my many pocket libraries
Besides the shelves were a few bulletin boards that Dash called my ‘Egghead Boards.’ They were host to any number of things at any given time based on what my current projects were—usually lots of twine, photos, pins and pieces of parchment.
Nopony else appeared to be with us, however, and the glare I gave Discord spoke volumes.
“Huh…” That was all that escaped Discord’s mouth as he glanced around the room, stupefied.
“Looking for me?”
Words and phrases such as ‘Oh, Celestia! It’s behind me!’, ‘Kill it! Kill it with fire!’, and ‘Die, vermin! Die!’ came to mind as a soul chilling buzz came from right behind me. Without thinking, I swiftly gave my assailant a swift buck to the stomach, and I followed it up with a pivot in place to sock it in the jaw with all the momentum I could muster.
A flurry of hisses, clicks, and whistles erupted from the black, chitinous thing as it flew back into an enormous catcher’s mitt Discord quickly conjured with a flash of light.
“Why, Twilight, that’s hardly how a good host behaves!” Discord chortled.
“You brought me a changeling?!”
“I brought you a guest.”
“That’s a changeling!” I gestured furiously. “Why would you even— How could you— What the buck is wrong with you?!”
“I’m absolutely fine!” Discord grinned, pointing to my guest. “He’s not, though! For shame! Assaulting a diplomat?!”
As the changeling stood, it cricked their neck, and the multitude of plates composing their body rippled with a soft scritch-scratching sound. It— No, he. Discord said he. He gazed at me with a glazed look in his eyes, wings chirping every so often as he flicked them.
“That… hurt….” My ‘guest’ droned without the slightest hint of emotion as he raised a hoof to his face.
“Well, that’s what you get for surprising a princess!”
The glassy look in the changeling’s eyes faded a little as we both turned to glare at Discord. The draconequis was looking at us through an enormous microscope he had pulled from somewhere, his red and gold eye magnified to a massive size via the lens.
“If ve recall, that was part of the bargain you wanted,” the changeling growled—his emotionless echo becoming a harsh buzz. “You refused to let me have this meeting unless I helped you prank the princess.”
The draconequus chuckled with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I wanted you to startle her, not scare her half to death. I’ll admit, your way was better.”
It wasn’t. It really wasn’t.
“Whatever….” The changeling ground his fangs for a moment, running a hoof through his short, ratty mane. His tail flicked from side to side, and he let out a whirring sigh before turning to me. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, at the risk of being assaulted again, I am here to apologize for the Hive of the First Father’s ill-conceived invasion of Equestria.”
What? I blinked, biting my lip to hold back my first response. “I don’t think…” I trailed off.
“No, really.” He shook his head. “You have to believe me. Ve know it may be difficult to believe, but I come seeking peace. Queen Chrysalis is no longer on the throne. Having failed to both provide for the hive, she has… stepped down to allow a new ruler in the hive.”
My face scrunched. “A new ruler?”
He held out his hoof as he gave a low, sweeping bow. “Yes, I am Prince Morpheus Sycadia, once heir and current leader of House Sycadia, now ruler of the entire Hive of the First Father.”
Okay, then…. This was big—really big. Even if there was a chance this was all some crazy lie concocted by Chrysalis, I needed to look into this.
“Prince?” I hesitantly took his hoof only to pull it back like lightning when pulled it closer to kiss it. “Eep! None of that please!”
“Yes, of course, Princess Twilight.” His echo fractured, and for a moment all his plates locked in place, clattering together. “Forgive me if I stepped out of bounds. Ve are simply… trying to do this by the book.”
“Yes, well, save that for Celestia….” My ears splayed back. “I don’t really care for any formalities.”
“If that is what you wish, Princess.” He bowed again, wings flicking.
“Thank you.” I sucked in a breath at the title, but let it go. There was always a time and place for it, and this was one of those times. Levitating a few of the chairs around, I conjured a teapot and water, and arranged my desk to seat two. “Now, care to join me for some tea?”
He tilted his head to the side. “You just said you didn’t care for the formalities.”
“I don’t care for the frivolous ones.” Two cups and saucers joined the pot, and I began heating the water. “Kissing hooves, bowing, things like that. Making tea is different.”
“Ve—” He paused. “I suppose that’s understandable.” Pulling out a chair, he sat and levitated his cup up to examine it.
“Why do you keep doing that?” I frowned.
“Doing what?” He blinked, looking back from his cup to me.
“Switching subjects.” I waved a hoof at him as I took my own seat. “Sometimes you say we. Sometimes you say I. Why do you keep switching?”
“Oh…” he hummed—or rather he thrummed—the normal reverberation to his voice adding an odd timbre to the sound. “I guess that would sound odd to you. Equestrian equish has no real use for the first person collective personal pronoun.”
The what? I felt my face scrunch at the unfamiliar term.
“The first person collective personal pronoun.” He chuckled. “It’s something we adapted from chitri to equish. It’s… oh, how do ve describe it? It’s something a changeling uses to distinguish when they call upon the hivemind.”
“That raises more questions than it answers.” Pouring a cup for each of us, I took a tentative sip and ruffled my wings as I let the warmth fill me. “I don’t know what a hivemind is either.”
“I can try to explain it later if you like.” He shook his head. “If this meeting goes according to plan, we’ll have plenty of time to chat. Before that can happen, though…”
“Right….” My ears drooped. “You’re here to negotiate peace. Listen. I don’t really know if I can speak for the other princesses here.”
“It will be a start if you vouch for me,” he thrummed. “That is all ve can expect from you.”
“Still…” I rubbed the back of my head.
“Please.” His voice fractured again, becoming a harsh buzzing echo that sent shivers down my spine. “Just give me a chance to explain.”
“I—” Biting my lip, I looked at Discord.
He was lounging in an enormous chair and reading an upside down newspaper like nothing was wrong. At some point, he had conjured up silk pajamas and a pipe, puffing out lazy pink smoke clouds shaped like butterflies. The paper was dated to the day after Fluttershy reformed him, the headline and picture taking up a huge, glaring portion of the front page.
“I can do that at least….” I sighed.
“That is all I ask.” The prince shook his head, wings chirping against his side. He stared into the depths of his untouched tea cup. “Look, I know you don’t trust me. Your emotions are laced with all kinds of bitter, poisonous tastes, but I need you to believe me when I say that the hive is— is— is—“
The more he spoke, the more his echo fractured into a harsh ethereal buzz that surrounded me on all sides. I skidded back in my seat a bit at the sound, my wings itching with a need to take flight.
“No, please— I— Ve—” Prince Morpheus’ own wings were buzzing erratically, and his breathing was ragged. With a lurch, he was suddenly standing, his shoulders heaving and the plates over his body shifting uneasily. I scrambled back even more as he loomed over me, and the holes in his legs began to clench and unclench.
“Discord!” I readied a shield spell and risked a few glances at the draconequis. “Now would probably be a good time!”
“Hrmm?” The spirit of chaos gave an exagerated hum as he looked up from his paper, puffing an extra large bit of smoke out of his pipe. “Nah. You don’t need me for this, my dear. Just remember the first rule of bees.”
“W-what?!” I sputtered. “But you said—”
“I said if he became a problem I’d take care of him,” Discord huffed. “Maybe if you took a second look, you’d see that clearly isn’t the case.”
One last deep, ragged inhalation sent a shiver through the prince’s frame before he became deathly still. He closed his eyes, twice—a secondary set of opaque, chitinous, blue haws descending to hide his eyes from me. He was like that for more than a minute before he let out a much more controlled exhalation.
“Forgive us for scaring you, Princess Twilight,” he finally droned. “Ve seem to have taken in too much of your distrust and fear while ve were attempting to monitor negotiations. Overexposure to such emotions can have… consequences….”
“I-I— Wha?” My heart was still racing, and I refused to drop my readied spell.
“Simply put: your fears fed our fears, Princess.” He sat once more, rigid and barely moving. “Ve had a panic attack, and you reacted… poorly…. It led to a feedback loop of sorts that ve needed to deal with.”
“See!” Discord harumphed and went back to his newspaper. “I told you! First rule of bees!”
“They’re more scared of you than you are of them.” My ears splayed back against my head. Inhaling several nice, deep breaths, I forced myself to calm down. “Okay… so my fears can send you spiraling into a panic attack?”
I got a mechanical nod, the prince’s eyes still hidden behind his haws.
“Can that happen to any changeling?”
Another nod.
“Then why in the name of Celestia did you invade?” I returned to my seat and idly stirred my tea.
“A mix of desperation and power hunger.” Prince Morpheus exhaled something that almost resembled a sigh. “The Hive of the First Father is starving, Princess. We’ve been in decline for centuries, stubbornly scraping just enough love together to get by. Sticking to the shadows and leeching off of unsuspecting ponies barely got us the sustenance we needed to live.”
His eyes opened, going from glassy to wide-eyed to glassy again. His breathing hitched for a moment—wings giving a discordant chirp—before he retreated back behind his haws again.
“Even then, we lived, but we could not thrive. Population growth has been negligible at best, a net negative at worst. Something needed to be done.”
“So you invaded.” I glowered.
“No, Chrysalis invaded.” The sigh was more real this time. “I would have prefered a more peaceful approach, but I was barely more than a nymph at the time, and I was hardly in a position to stop her. Most of the lords were backing her claims of conquest and glory, and one voice against her would not have changed what happened.”
“You don’t know that….” I muttered darkly.
“Ve do know that.” He shook his head. “My time was far better spent preparing either to ease our integration with Equestria should she succeed or to take power from her should she fail. It is only thanks to those preparations that we are speaking here today.”
I glowered at him some more before giving a sigh of my own. “I suppose arguing about the past won’t change it….”
“No, it won’t.” He finally opened his eyes again. “And the invasion’s failure has put everyling on a time limit. Equestria’s changeling paranoia. The increased security worldwide. Your changeling detection spell. It has left the hive even more desperate for resources. I was able to use that to grab power and convince the lords to let me attempt a more peaceful solution, but—”
“But now you’re actually starving, aren’t you?” I sagged in my seat.
“Yes.” Prince Morpheus smiled. It was the first smile of his I’d seen since meeting him, and it was a fragile, weary thing. “It only took the threat of our hive’s extinction to end all the backstabbing and petty power plays.”
I bit my lip. “You kind of… uh… make it sound like you’ve never had a friend.”
He chuckled. “I had a few when I was a nymph, but lordship in the hive does not lend itself well to making or maintaining friends.”
I looked into the depths of my reflection, staring into the tea cup before me. “It kind of sounds like you need one.”
“It’s what I’m here for.” His horn lit up, and his still-full cup boiled briefly before he lifted it for a sip. “Although, ve expect that could take quite a while.”
A loud snore made me briefly glance at Discord to see him pretending to take a nap with a life-size Fluttershy plushie. His blue pajamas were polka-dotted with mine and the girls’ cutie marks, and he was muttering something about rainbow laser beams. His silly get up made me smile, and I continued to do so as I turned back to Prince Morpheus.
“Friendship really isn’t that hard if you really give it a shot.”
“Maybe…” he thrummed. “Though, ve’d rather you were able to say that without the taste of cyanide and sour milk leaking through.” His horn lit up and he conjured a scroll from the aether. “Perhaps this will assure you.”
“Holy horseapples, Twilight.” With a snap, Discord was suddenly awake and wrapped around us both, pulling the scroll from Morpheus’ grip. He squinted at it for a moment—still sealed and furled—before pulling out a monocle and scrutinizing it through that.
“Celestia may be the cryptic one, and Luna may be the plothole, but this guy is something else.” Discord twisted about, observing the scroll from every angle. “He is most definitely the ballsy one. I suggest you dissect him for science in the hopes that we can learn how to make Equestrian stallions more like him.”
“Discord, what are you talking about?” I frowned.
The spirit of chaos continued on as if I hadn’t said anything. “I mean, just think about it! The common mare would do nothing but swoon—” And he swooned, suddenly in full makeup, false eyelashes fluttering. “—the royal harem—which is still technically legal, by the way—would reopen in seconds, and the royal guard would finally stop being such pansies!”
“Discord!” I pulled myself from his coils.
“I mean, honestly!” He flailed and almost clubbed me in the back of the head with his torso. “Do you know how embarrassing it was to face the guard when I escaped? They are pretty much the biggest pansies I’ve ever met, and I’ve met Private Pansy who was the origin of the insult. The level of incompetence they show for any threat beyond a senior citizen littering in the park is astounding. Seriously, defeating them is like taking candy from a foal and then deciding to eat the foal instead. It’s a fine metaphorical case of both foal abuse and equicide with a little bit of cannibalism tossed in if you happen to be a pony!”
“Discord!” I gave up completely on being polite and swiped the giant, swirly lollipop he was gesturing with to smack him in the back of the head. “What’s in the scroll?!”
“I don’t know, but it sings with power! Far too orderly for my tastes, though.” The draconequis gave a chesire grin, disappearing with a snap of his claws to reappear curled around me. A chorus sounded in the background as he hoofed me the scroll. “Here! Open it!”
I unfurled it to see arcane writing scrawled across every inch of it. The sheer magnitude of the spell was a sight to behold, and I couldn’t help whistling in appreciation.
I had no idea what it did, but it had far outclassed anything I had ever seen before. There were at least nine layers of magic circles from what I could see. Even the most advanced spells I could think of only went up to five, and that wasn’t even counting the sub-circles.
Morpheus watched us both, gauging our reactions. “This is the culmination of our preparations to show you just how serious I am about this peace. Ve had to send my agents scouring the globe to find all the pieces.”
“You found it, you say?” It was quiet at first, but Discord was chuckling. It was a low, deep, almost sinister chuckle that grew in volume, filling the whole room as the prince glared at him. “Some spells should stay dead, little prince.”
My brow furrowed. “What is it, though? I’ve never seen a spell like this before.”
Discord held up a paw to stop the prince from explaining while looking at him very carefully. “You know, you really are the ballsy one if you’re planning what I think you’re planning.” His voice was subdued in way I only very rarely heard from the draconequis.
“I’ve been around since the beginning of time, and I’ve seen every empire that’s ever been on this little ball of dirt rise and fall. I’ve seen every ruler under the stars, and let me tell you there are only three other rulers I’ve seen who would even think to work up the gumption to attempt what I think you’re proposing with that little paper from Tartarus.”
He pointed to himself. “Me, because, when I ruled, I was just plain insane enough not to worry about the consequences.”
The draconequus pointed to me. “Miss Magic-of-Friendship, because she is not only naïve and idealistic enough to believe everything will work out in the end, but also powerful enough to make it so.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that, but I let it pass.
With a wave of his paw in front of him, a small but cheery sun appeared. “And Celestia, because only her kind of boundless compassion and wisdom would let a ruler realize such a sacrifice was truly necessary. It would destroy her to do it, to be sure, but she would do it to protect her little ponies.”
The draconequus loomed over the prince, bending down to look him in the eye. “The question that needs to be asked is which of those three, if any, are you? Then again, maybe you’re different, or simply a fool. I can assure you though – quite confidently, in fact – that there’s no going back once you sign that.”
And just like that the draconequus’ normal pep was back. He turned to me and gave me his classic cheeky grin. “Sorry, Twinkles. You’re just a little star and this is quite out of your pay grade. Hay, this is out of my pay grade. Give me a couple minutes to grab Madame Grim-about-Grins and her little sister Miss Hates-Fun-in-the-Sun. They’ll want to see this no matter what they’re currently up to.”
He snapped his fingers and was gone. After a second, however, his voice echoed back through the room. “Oh! And, whatever you do, don’t sign anything!”
I snorted and kicked the study floor. “Did he really just run off to grab the others without giving me any explanation at all? He knows I hate being left out of the loop. They all do it too, not just Discord.”
I turned to focus on the prince. “Care to actually explain now that there’s no pony here to stop you?”
Morpheus nodded. “It is easiest to think of the spell as a legal document, a contract between two parties. I figured Equestria might not be up to accepting me, so I figured a little magical insurance wouldn’t hurt.”
He flashed a morbid grin, fangs glinting in a way that sent shivers down my spine. “In this case, the punishment to be inflicted on me should I not carry through on my end of the bargain is death. It would be instant and painless, but it would be death nonetheless. You can see just how determined I am for peace now, yes?”
I swallowed very slowly. “Y-you— You’re—“
Morpheus droned on, apparently not actually expecting or looking for a response. “Yes, yes, ve know. There are plenty of ethical questions about such a choice, but the pros outweigh the cons.”
“How can you possibly say that so calmy?” I reeled away from the scroll, levitating it back to the prince and wishing I could wash my aura of it.
“Simple.” He looked at me with dead, glassy eyes. “Should ve fail, I’m as good as dead anyways.”
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Don't you think that's a little bit too arrogant of a statement to have? Even with the contract being what it is. Like it's putting ponies on a pedestal as if they're the holy protectors of the changelings are the whimpy whimps.
To be honest you can't control a nation, a species, or whatever say whatever you want to say about that you just can't. Contract or not.
It's the same mistake other changeling fics do... they put either side upon a pedestal of righteousness in order to have the other recognize their mistakes. I pray that this won't be the case.
How does Twilight know there are even changelings caste? This is a big assumption from her part.
You think Twilight would have remembered that Chrysalis called them "subjects".
Wait wait wait... are you saying that... this is all Chrysalis's fault? You know how unrealistic that sounds right? Not only that but it also sounds like Chrysalis is being used as a scapegoat and a coward. Though I don't like her as much as the next person I don't like using scapegoats to escape my guilt.
So wait... Chrysalis somehow does feel guilty, but instead of facing the problem or doing something about it... she goes away and lets others handle it? Oh yea Bravo Chrysalis Bravo! You know you could go by yourself? In fact why doesn't she go? Too much for her ego?
Don't you think you're making a big deal out of a geis? Yes a Geis or Geas is like a magical contract that is an "obligation" that the signed one must do. It's like the magical contracts one does with death and stuff. The only way to break the Geas is to break the contract itself but in general though stuff like that are important they CAN be broken. Also it's not so complex spell which is why I am saying you're making such a big deal.
Which is why it's alienatingly mind-numbling on why he would even do it. Is he willing to risk it being abused by the ponies? Does he trust them so much? Why the such change even in desperation? Why not do this earlier and not risk binding a whole race with him in this?
Morpheus... you should have acted sooner. Also you and Chrysalis are not being smart in this fic.
Globalisation.
Unconditional surrender? You're going to regret it Morpheus I tell you this much. You're going to live but as the saying goes is it really a victory if you lose 3 hooves instead of 4?
Woah woah woah... he's going to seal the entire race? Has he asked his own changelings for something like this? Are they okay with that?
I get it you're desperate but duuude... NOT COOL. You're really acting stupid right now ((you as in changelings))
FUCK THE HELL YES! This is the first time I've said it in this fic but in any case Princess Celestia is acting right. Calling Morpheus on his bs of absolute surrender and vows and all like she should.
I think you tried to put your OC in there since you couldn't figure out if Chrysalis was capable of doing this. Her personality ruined your fic but you ended up having "betrayed" her character a bit. This basically and bluntly put ((no offense)) is a copout. From Chrysalis and from you. I am not sure it's even good to say she's even alive in this fic. It would be best ((but ultimately sad)) to say that she was dead. It would also make an impact.
I am still reading but I'm far from liking how the changelings are so stupidly behaving right now. I mean seriously... put all your lives at risk like that? ARE YOU INSANE? Not even in desperation do you do that! Have some dignity!
And what I don't want to see is either side put with "the holy duty" and put upon a pedestal. Because seriously your "intro" gives of that vibe. Okay the changelings are capable of change but giving the air that at any moment a species could blackmail them even with the laws in place makes them look like beggars. I seriously would like you to dispell that for me in future chapters.
This is thick and dry, but I really like it.
I like your invention of ve.
I was thinking the other day, that a language developed by quadrupeds, would have more than right and left in their language. There would be a quick way to note all for limbs, as well as both on one side, and opposite diagonal.
Every time Discord's name is mentioned, I just picture Twilight giving that look that Greviousfan is always drawing ponies looking at Discord with.
You know the one
pre08.deviantart.net/e2bb/th/pre/f/2013/218/4/a/celestia_rageface_wallpaper_by_grievousfan-d6gzie4.jpg
Morpheous's dialogue makes more sense when you picture a small group of changelings. Actually thinking on it a bit more, maybe it's a bit like Pixar's Inside Out if you could hear everything the emotions inside his head are saying.
(origonal remix)
(remix with typography)
DO NOT MENTION THAT NAME
DISSSSSSSSSCOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRDDDDDDDDD
(origonal)
The old version of this chapter (I think) came to mind when I read a magazine article just now (about books called The Enigma of Reason, The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, and Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us):
I just thought that this might be interesting to everyone (including I Thought I Was Toast if he wants to continue this story)
I'm late enough to this story that the comments don't make sense anymore