//------------------------------// // O Sister, Where Art Thou? // Story: Repercussions // by SociallyAwkwardPegasus //------------------------------// A loud, blood-curling scream filled the castle. As the voice of the princess carried throughout every room, a certain human was stirred from his sleep. “W-what the hell was that?” Derrick bleakly replied, sitting up from the bed and rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. Taking a moment to regain his bearings, Derrick noticed a cute, and more importantly, still slumbering changeling by his side. The sight was enough for Derrick to smile down at the potential candidate to his herd. And if her lack of experience in the sack were anything to go by, he knew that Lumen would have a field day exploring all of the sexual possibilities with her. Speaking of which, a certain sexy bat-mare was missing from his bed. He was sure they had all fallen asleep with each other after serving the changeling a seven-course meal. And it wasn't like her to be missing from the bed when he awoke. “I need to go find her,” Derrick thought to himself. As gingerly as he could, the human slid his way out of the bed, careful as to not disturb the changeling by his side. He knew that she had most likely been patrolling from early morning until she relayed the news of the Equestrian’s approach. It would be rude of him to wake her after a rough day’s activities. “Alright, underwear, pants...” Derrick paused as he looked down at his tattered shirt. He could vividly recall the situation where Lumen had ripped it off of his body, demonstrating to the changeling that her human did in fact like it a little rough. “Well, I guess no shirt. Fuck it, I don’t need one anyway. It’s not that cold out.” Seemingly satisfied with his decision, the human made his way out of the bedroom and down the set of stairs at the end of the corridor. It was just then that another blood-curling scream filled the halls of the castle. “Whoever the hell that is, I wouldn’t want to be them right now,” Derrick mumbled to himself as he took a left turn before entering through a large door leading to the dining area of the castle. He was rather surprised to find that not only was Nightmare Moon and Queen Chrysalis enjoying a victorious meal and beverage, but several of the higher ranking officers were invited as well. “Our dearest human, please come and celebrate with us,” A happy Nightmare Moon demanded. While the offer was tempting, he had more pressing matters to attend to. “Sorry everyone, but I’m going to have to pass. I'm actually looking for Lumen. Has anybody seen her?” Derrick was quick to get a response by one of the only officers he personally knew, and claimed as a friend. “Yeah, she is down in the dungeons right now having a ‘talk’ with a certain blue-alicorn.” Derricked winced at the realization of finding out who that voice belonged too earlier. “Alright Copper. Thanks for the heads up. I might be back with Lumen in a bit. For now though, enjoy yourself. That goes for everybody here,” Derrick reiterated out loud, receiving a plethora of raised glasses and cheers. Before the human could make his way out of the dining hall, a certain alicorn queen was right behind him. “How about I walk you there. I am rather curious to see what sort of punishment Lumen has devised for my other self,” Nightmare stated. Her warm breath was infused with the sweet scent of wine, as Derrick couldn’t help but chuckle at the giddiness of his friend. “You and I both know that she is probably enjoying herself right now, possibly a bit too much actually. It would be best to stop her before she kills one of our biggest bargaining chips, though after those screams I heard, I can’t be sure she is even still alive.” “We agree. It would be most unwise to kill that poor excuse of an alicorn. After all, I’m sure Celestia is going to love seeing what happens when anypony threatens our fair city with talks of war.” The queen and human let out another quick bout of laughter as they made their way towards the lower chambers of the castle. Meanwhile, a dusty-brown pegasus stallion burst through the main door of the Canterlot Castle Throne room. His breaths were ragged, as he didn’t even bow when in the presence of the princess. “Princess, I must speak with you at once,” The stallion demanded, his eyes full of uncertainty and fear as he looked towards the monarch of the sun. Celestia, who was busy with the tail end of day court, noticed the urgent and fearful expression of the messenger guard. “Please excuse me everypony, but there are matters I must attend too. My lovely assistant will be more than happy to address any concerns or problems you are having,” Celestia gracefully stated, while simultaneously throwing her assistant under the metaphorical bus. Exiting the room with the messenger guard in tow, Celestia made her way to a private conference room not too far away. “Alright, we are alone. Now pray tell, what news do you bring of the battle?” Celestia’s voice was a bit hesitant, though nothing could prepare for what she was about to hear. “They’re all dead princess, everyone is dead or captured,” The guard replied. The haunting images of a bright flash followed by the sight of thousands of dead bodies was more than enough to bring the stallion to his knees in tears. Celestia’s heart quickly dropped as she forced the stallion to lock eyes with her. Only one questioned burned in her mind and she needed to know the answer now. “What about my sister?” Celestia noticed more tears streaming from the stallion’s eyes as he looked away with shameful guilt. “I don’t know princess. It all just happened so fast. I was barely able to escape with my life before the enemy captured everyone who wasn’t killed. I’m sorry princess, I have failed you,” The stallion lamented, lowering his head with a sorrowful bow. Princess Celestia wasted no time as she assembled a few of her best guards within a matter of moments. “Guards, ready an escort. We are headed towards the port city of Iron Cove, now!” Celestia demanded. The guards could sense the urgency in her voice as they quickly assembled an entourage of soldiers before setting off towards their destination while only one thought burned deeply within Celestia’s mind. “I’m coming Luna. Just please hang on.” Seeing as how the journey to the lower chambers of the castle was going to take a few minutes, Nightmare Moon took the opportunity to ask a question of the human. “Derrick, if I might inquire, how did you know that the Equestrians would situate themselves upon the hill to the east?” Upon hearing the question, Derrick could only chuckle in response. “It’s simple really. I figured Luna was going to be leading the army and from the stories you told me, as well as the information I have gathered from others, she doesn’t really like you,” the human obviously stated. Nightmare Moon deadpanned as the two began to descend a spiral staircase. “Well of course she doesn’t like us, and the feeling is mutual. Though we don’t know what that has to do with anything.” “Well, I wouldn’t really say that Luna dislikes you. It’s more along the lines of; she hates you and wishes to destroy you, everyone, and everything you know and care about. To her, you are a constant reminder of her dark past; an obstacle that must be overcome for personal reasons. And to prove that while stroking her ego, she took an extremely difficult route through a dense forest crawling with all sorts of animals that would love nothing more than to feast upon some unsuspecting ponies; all under the cover of darkness, before establishing a base camp and fortifying her position on top of the hill. That's not just dedication, that is flaunting how superior you are for all too see. She wanted to humiliate you any way possible. And what better way than holding the tactical high ground? However, the only thing she managed to prove from that was that she is an egotistical bitch, much like you can be at times,” Derrick happily replied. The human noticed the small frown his friend was giving him though she couldn’t help but admit that he was right to some degree. “You do realize that if anyone else were to say that to me, I would kill them on the spot?” Nightmare Moon retorted. Derrick continued to beam his joyful smile towards the mare with a nod of his head. “Yeah, I do. But you love me and wouldn’t think about hurting me, would you... mom?” The word was enough to send the disgruntled mare into a pout, though she couldn’t deny that fact either. After she had found the human injured and afraid in the Everfree forest, it was her that nursed the frightened human back to health. A faint memory of watching over the human as he slept with a head on her lap was enough for the queen to forgo any anger towards the human. It was instead replaced with a bit of nostalgia. “You were a lot more respectful back then,” the queen jested with a playful smile. “Though I do rather miss our time when you would lay your head on my lap and I would stroke your mane comfortingly as you regaled me of stories your world.” Derrick couldn’t help but fluster at the memories the mare had brought up, though also had to admit that he did miss those nights too. Ever since Lumen had laid claim to him, the two shared a bed every night they could. “You’re right. How about in the next couple of nights, we do that again? I’m sure you must have a thousand questions still about my planet and people,” Derrick questioned. He received a bright smile from Nightmare Moon, as the mare pulled the human close to her side with a wing. “We would enjoy that very much. But for now, let us focus on the task ahead of us.” Without missing a beat, the alicorn queen reached for the handle of the interrogation room, only to have it turn by itself as Lumen stepped out with a set of large, blue wings under her arm. “Is that what I think it is?” Derrick was the first one to ask the mare. The thestral nodded her head with her usual smile as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “Of course it is. Just like I was telling the princess earlier. An eye for an eye, or in this case, a cheek for a wing.” Silence soon descended upon the trio of company as both Derrick and Nightmare Moon noticed that she had two wings under her arm. “Why do you have a second wing then?” Nightmare Moon inquired. Lumen gave a light shrug of her shoulders. “Interest,” was all she responded with. “Is she at least still alive?” “Of course she is. As much as I wanted too, I didn’t kill her. Though if she doesn’t get some medical help soon, she might bleed out. I did my best to cauterize the wounds, but a professional should really look at her." Nightmare Moon gave a heavy sigh before shaking her head. “Very well. I will have a doctor sent down here to check up on her and make sure you didn’t jeopardize our main bargaining chip. Now, if you will excuse us, there are a few issues I wish to discuss with my other half as well.” Without any warning, Nightmare Moon stepped through the door to the interrogation room before closing it shut with a resound lock from behind. “Huh, I wonder what they are going to talk about,” Derrick pondered. After a few moments of his question, another loud screech of pain filled the hallways of the castle. “You know what, I don’t really care actually. So Lumen, what are you going to do with those wings?” “I haven’t really thought of anything yet. Sort of just wanted them because fuck that bitch, she deserved it.” “Well, why not just mount them on the wall above our bed or something. I’m sure it would be an exceptional piece. Besides, I think our room could use a little more color.” A lustful smile soon found its way to Lumen, with a few thoughts coursing through her mind. “You’re right. Our room does need a little more color. So answer me this sweetie. What’s black, grey, and white all over?” Before the human could respond, Lumen was already answering the riddle for him. “Me and that adorable changeling after we wake her sexy ass up and go for another few rounds.” Without wasting a moment longer, Derrick quickly grabbed the mare’s free hand as he bolted up the staircase and towards their room. After all, he had never been to so excited to help ‘decorate’ his bedroom before.