//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: The first subjugation in sight // Story: Rise of the Crystal Emperor // by Navanastra //------------------------------// Chapter 14: The first subjugation in sight Edited by Mr Salespony “Your highness? Your highness? YOU HIGHNESS!?” a crystal guard frantically shouted through the halls as he came dashing through the throne room door, skidding to a halt when he saw that the throne room itself was void of the aforementioned ruler. He didn’t waste any time in going and talking to a nearby stationed palace guard. “Quick, I need to find the Emperor. I have some very urgent news for him in regards to the prospectors out in the mountains, something of great importance and haste!” he frantically requested. Sweat ran down his forehead as his face was literally just millimeters away from the stationed guard’s face. The panic filled eyes barring down to his. The room guard was understandably stunned, unable to make a thought right away, which just agitated the frantic looking stallion even more. He was about to repeat his question again, when someone else had provided the answer. “I think his majesty is still occupied within his royal chambers. I have heard that he, once again, did an all nighter to both work on new improvements and reformations to improve the empire as a whole… or something like that…” He trailed off a bit in thought before gazing back at the stallion. “Either way, he is most likely still up at his private chambers as we speak. As nobody down here had even seen or heard anything about the Emperor since this morning. You can easily make yourself up there, if you explain your reasoning in doing so to the guards stationed at the second floors. I am sure they will let you pass,” he finally finished while pointing out the direction as to where the young recruit should be headed in order to reach the stairs that lead to the Emperor’s chamber on the second floor. The aforementioned recruit nodded, before snapping off a quick salute, and galloping at the pointed direction, making the older guard shook his head at him as he disappeared around a corner. “Youths these days, always in a hurry with everything,” he criticized, before regaining his stance and composure. Another guard next to him gave him a raised eyebrow. “Really, you are going to criticize the young lad for trying to bring an urgent message to the Emperor himself? He is just doing his job, especially if it is as urgent as he made it out to be. It could be a natural disaster, an incoming enemy army, or worse,” he terrorized, trying to defend the young stud for his behavior. The older stud just sighed. “Well, maybe. But then again, he could have easily been a bit more professional about his approach rather than aimlessly running around the palace grounds while screaming like a lunatic. He is a member of the crystal guard, after all. Which means that he is obliged to have some form of self-control and discipline,” he countered, before returning to his stance for a second time. His counterpart just shrugged. “Well, whatever. We will most likely find out the truth about his frantic nature soon enough. That is IF it is so urgent, that it requires the crystal guard to handle them,” he added, before also returning to his pose and keeping an eye on… well, nothing at the moment really. “Guard duty can be really boring sometimes. But at least it pays well. Really, really well. ……………………………………………………………………………………… “Well, I am just suggesting that your highness should perhaps allow me to help you with all of the new legislations and paperwork. I mean, that is both my job and special talent. To be the personal assistant of the…” Ruby Quill tried to say, before getting herself interrupted by a guard skidding past the opened doors, crashing somewhere on the other side, causing some of the guards stationed outside the royal chambers to break their stoic expressions at this comedic and unexpected display. Even Ruby was forced to look over her shoulder to see what all of the commotion was about. Eventually coming face to face with a dazed looking crystal guard wobbling himself into the room while holding his head. To which in turn, forced her to raise a curious eyebrow at this strange stallion. Everybody was more or less intrigued by this, minus the Emperor, as he was in no particular mood to give a damn on what the Hell was actually going on, with the way he was half asleep. His usual tendency of doing all nighters wasn’t exactly doing any wonders for his sense of perception. Especially when he constantly got reminded of his past inside his dreams. So, he simply decided to fix up some new diagrams and further legislations to reform the outdated system of this 1000 year banished nation, making him sleeping in front of a large desk pretty much the norm at this point. With all the awkwardness and discomforts that came along with it also. “Your highness... I have some... very... urgent news…” the stallion gasped in between heavy breaths as he dragged himself into the room. This caused Mateus to finally look up from his stacks of papers and gave the young guard a tired, but still curious look. If it was urgent… well, he might as well try and pay some form of attention to him, unlike how he did with Ruby ever since she allowed herself into his room. He was still somewhat conflicted with idea of actually having an assistant around him doing… well, assisting. Considering on the fact that he had pretty much done everything himself at the years of his Palamician reign. Commanding an army of possessed soldiers does take a lot or micromanaging, especially when they are not the smartest of soldiers. Though, they did easily made that up with very high levels of brutality and unnatural resistances to almost everything. Something he made good use of, before a team of teens who had just gone past their adolescents suddenly decided to put a wrench into everything he had planned for and almost cost him his very soul. Quite literally. Well, thank the gods and his mother for his magical prowess and very advanced intellect. Otherwise, both overpowering and outsmarting the devil himself might have been a tad bit more difficult than he would have liked. Not to mention breaking whatever little ounce of sanity he had left in doing so. Say what you want, Hell is still Hell, getting your soul split into two and having the memory of both experiences separately flying around inside his mind isn’t exactly helping. Especially now that he was suffering from sleep deprivation. All thanks to his less adapted equine body to cope with the lack of basic mortal needs. “I wonder if I can turn myself back into my human form just so that I can…” His thought was swiftly halted, as the guard in front of him coughed awkwardly against his hoof. “Uhm… your highness, you… you seem to have been a bit spaced out there. I mean… I am saying that with the utmost respect of course. Don’t want to… uhm…” he awkwardly asked, which in turn, just made the two guards stationed in front the Emperor’s chambers shook their heads at his behavior. It showed that he was truly new in his job. Painfully so. Again, the Emperor himself couldn’t care less at the moment. He simply gave him the ‘go on’ gesture with his hoof, before using it once more to prep up his head above his desk. The guard just nodded, quickly collecting his thoughts in getting the message out. Not before giving off a bow first, which felt really late at this point. “Your highness, I have come to bring disturbing news about the expedition you ordered,” he started, which in turn got pretty much everyone’s full attention at this point. Even Mateus was feeling curious about this issue, which his eyes had perfectly portrayed by widening... slightly. But not by much though, he was still rather tired. “Yes, what about them?” he immediately asked, giving him an expecting look. The guard paused for a moment before replying. “Well, the issue is that nobody on those expedition teams had returned the messages we had sent via communication crystals to keep in touch. Not just one team, but all four teams had also ignored our messages as well. For a whole day no less. This obviously means that they had either gone missing or worse. The creepy part about all of this is that our communication crystals still seemed to be connected with the ones given to each of the team’s leaders. But still no return messages or sign to speak off. Everything had been pretty much dead silence for twenty four hours,” the guard explained, giving off a bit more detail than he needed to, most likely thanks to his nervousness judging by his voice. Not sure if it was because of the missing ponies or that he had presented himself like a fool in front of a pony who had managed to defeat one of the most powerful unicorns to ever live with one single attack. Or so his title says. Which of these, Mateus didn’t know. But again, he couldn’t care less about, as he had other things to focus on. Like the fifty plus guards and citizens who had disappeared out in the snowy wastes. Mateus HATED this. No matter what race, being, or realm he is in, such unpredictable setbacks were always nerve grinding for him. Especially when it was at the hands of some upstart teens undermining him at every given turn for some bloody reason. “I swear, if something like this happens again, I might actually blow a fuse the moment someone tells me,” Mateus thought to himself with a bit of a frown at those memories. But besides that, things seemed to be repeating themselves regardless, which just made his head ache even more just by thinking about his previous constant setbacks, thanks to the help of something, or rather someone, at his later years. They could never understand, they just couldn’t. He grumbled quietly to himself, before properly prepping himself upwards in front of his desk, and looking at the assembly of ponies in front of him more properly. Getting agitated is the best type of coffee, after all. Especially when it had seemed like a race against time, with very little patience pinned behind it. Say what you want, but Mateus actually had somewhat of a sixth sense when it comes to predicting problems with the near future. Too bad that his senses weren’t exactly teenage proof, otherwise he could have stopped these four teens before they could have even start to become a legitimate threat to his plans. His goal was far more than just world domination, but those memories alone were just agitating him further at this point. The past is in the past, so let them be, and focus more on the future. “You there…” Mateus pointed at the left most guard standing outside his door. “go alarm the captain about this and tell him to get a couple of regiments ready to comb through the snow. IF something is found that requires a little bit of ‘force’, then instruct him to directly call for me instead of allowing him and his guards deal with the problem alone. Whatever the culprit of these disappearances are, I will deal with them personally. Quick, easy, and very simple,” he commanded, his tone going a little bit darker at the last sentence, causing Ruby to shiver a bit and for the newbie to back paddle a bit. Unlike him, Ruby actually knew what the Emperor was capable of …or rather, what he was capable of while acting as calm as can be in the middle of a fight. She couldn’t even imagine how much more damage the Emperor could dish out once he decided to actually go serious about something. The thought alone was enough to frighten her. He fear could be even worse towards him if she didn’t knew that he was actually their new ruler. His victory over Sombra, his overall royal aura, and his obvious crystalline looking coat pretty much made it official. He might actually be a direct descendant of Empress Aurora herself for all she knew. The guard quickly saluted, before cantering off to forward the Emperor’s message post haste. Ruby on the other end, was still unsure on what to do after this horrid news had been dropped in front of her. Even more so when the Emperor had gotten up from his desk for the first time today, lit up his horn, and caused momentarily blindness to everyone that had been gazing towards him, before seeing a fully robed and armored Emperor with his staff alongside him. Though, his mane was still sporting the same style as it had been since the equestrian princess’ departure. Still depicting the same combed back mane style with most of his long main running along his back just like a mare’s ...only a lot longer. Also, his horned crown was missing too. “Uhm… your highness. What about all of your plans and drafts on the table?” Ruby curiously asked as Mateus moved passed her. “Just leave it. Or if you really want to be my personal assistant, you might as well sort out all of my papers and diagrams so that I don’t have to dig through them later,” he instructed, or rather suggested, as he strolled out of the room with the remaining guards following him. This pretty much left Ruby alone in the Emperor’s room with massive stacks of drafts and blueprints she will never understand. She gave the large stack a look, and sighed. “Well, I guess it’s a start. Better than to do nothing, I guess,” Ruby muttered to herself, before trotting over to his desk and getting to work. Yes, those blueprints were just beyond her mental capabilities to even remotely make sense to her. But then again, she was a royal assistant, not a designer, mathematician, engineer, physicist, and powerful warlock all at once. The Emperor’s flank must be littered with cutie marks. ……………………………………………………………………………………… “Would you like another drink?” an old bartender stallion asked while he cleaned a used shot glass. Thera just shook her head after looking over the three bottles of white crystal whisky she had managed to consume in less than an hour. For most it was almost suicide, but for her, it’s nothing but an attempt to get a kick out of herself, thanks to her extreme tolerance towards alcohol. Both a blessing and a curse. Why was she feeling frustrated? Well, it’s because of the empire’s accursed weather and how it seemed to be plagued by an ever continuing cycle of snowstorms and blizzards. Most likely thanks to the tall mountains that were surrounding the valley that the city was built on. Or at least, that was what she can guess from her school days. She didn’t really know, mainly because she was a war maiden, not a scholar. But anyway, no matter how mild or strong these blizzards may be. Flying through them alone without any comrades or guides nearby to well… guide her, had always been her most embarrassing weakness that she hated to openly admit to herself. Her sense of directions had always been rather… questionable, which made even worse when she could not even bloody see where she was going, and echolocation won’t work either when her ears were already filled with the cold stinging winds of… well, the storm. Not to mention painful frostbites and whatnot. She may be naturally adapted to the cold as a Thestral, but that didn’t mean that she was completely impervious towards it. Especially when she had exposed hypersensitive ears. In other words, she was still practically stuck here without a window of opportunity. Quite ironic given that there was one when the equestrian royalties had finally pissed off, only for her to fall asleep and miss her opportunity to finally fly home. A fact that had been nagging her ever since, and which is why she was now hanging around inside a pub, drinking herself to oblivion so that she could at least find some form entertainment with her own stupidity. She was both bored and agitated at the same time. Though, mostly agitated, as the alcohol had finally started to kick up her brain, which in turn told her that she may have overdone herself and that drinking more would do more harm than good. She didn’t feel like waking up inside an alley with her marehood feeling sore. She was not ready to carry someone else back home, and explain herself to mother. Either way, she groggily shook her head towards the pub owner’s question, before cross-eyeing the half empty glass in front of her. “Well, to be honest I think that you have had quite enough whisky already. I mean, you are the only customer I have ever had that managed to get through three bottles of whisky in under an hour, and still be conscious.” He paused for a second, before giving Thera a questionable look. “Though, that can change rather quickly, given on how wobbly you are starting to be on your stool,” he thoughtfully added, grabbing the three empty bottles, and stashing them somewhere under the counter. Same with half empty shot glass without even asking her. Though thankfully, she didn’t care much about it anyways, as she was really starting to get quite dizzy on pretty much every aspect on her body. She was really starting to feel funny, and not in a good way. “Here…” the cream colored bartender announced while placing a large paper bag in front of Thera. “In case you need to hurl on your way out. Which I would kindly prefer you use, as I don’t want a fight to break out inside my pub with some of the other drunkies in here.” He pointed a hoof at another table filled with slurring ponies before gesturing at Thera’s sword. “And judging by your overall physique and the sword on your barrel, I would guess that you are far from a pushover,” he finished, before retreating himself back in cleaning up the glasses. Thera just groaned, but mentally decided to humor this stud by grabbing the offered bag, and jumping off the stool she was occupying. Leaving a noticeable wet spot on the center, which in turn made the stallion frown in both predicted expectation and slight disgust. But decided to say nothing to it as he didn’t feel like getting paddled by a sword. All he had in comparison to defend himself was an old overused broom which smelled like barf whenever ponies got near it. “Uhm… the payment,” the bartender called out towards Thera, which made her stop in her tracks. “Oh yeah,” she mumbled, before reaching into her saddle bags and pulled out a sack full of gold. “Here, keep the rest. I can’t be bothered to properly count or even ask for change. I will just steal something whenever I run out of money anyways,” she more or less slurred, before throwing said bag on the counter in front of a very curious looking bartender. “Ok… thanks, I guess. Just… just don’t get caught by anyone if you do so,” he called after her before grabbing the bag and storing it somewhere behind the aforementioned counter. Thera, again, didn’t care, she was too occupied with her mindless self-complaints on how stupid everything was. Primarily on the situation she was in and how drunk she managed to get. “Bloody storm, bloody city, bloody Emperor, and bloody alcohol. Why must you be so enticing at first, but be a bane to my existence afterwards? Dear Gods above… I think I actually do need to…” She immediately stopped herself before reaching for the bag once she left the pub. It’s a good thing that the bag the bartender gave her was a big one. Otherwise it would have never been capable of collecting all of her ‘excess whisky’ before eventually overflowing. “How the mighty have fallen,” she grumbled to herself after one quarter of her last bottle was slouching inside the bag for someone else to worry about, because she decided to just dump it in front of the pub’s open doors, for somebody to trip over or something. Again, she wasn‘t exactly in the mood to give a damn. Though, that still left her with one very important dilemma that she CAN’T ignore even if she tried. “Great, what the heck am I supposed to do now?” Thera mumbled to herself as she just stood there in the middle of the street, pondering her dizzy mind on what exactly she should do next. Some ponies actually gave her some curious looks as they passed by, most likely thanks to her obvious foreign look and the somewhat messy state she was in. Thera on the other hand, didn’t really mind their stares one bit as she was more occupied with her thoughts on what the hell she should do while being stuck in this city. Hard to do when you are as tipsy as she is while some random stallion was screaming his lung out for her to get off the road alongside his colleges who were strapped onto a cart filled with random junk and other metal related material that Thera couldn’t care less about. She may be drunk, but not deaf in the slightest. Which was obviously bad for her ever-increasing headache that came from consuming too much liquor in so little time. “Oh shut up! For bloody shake, your screaming is painful for both my ears and my head. Go tell your coltfriends over there to tone it down, or I am going to shove my sword down their throats! We all have our bloody problems, not just you!” She screamed back, waving her sword clumsily at the offending ponies. The lead stallion just frowned as a response, before saying something to his colleges, and turned away with their cart to most likely pick another street to go through instead of this one. Thera smirked victoriously to herself while resheathing her sword before something else quickly garnered her ear’s attention. They immediately perked up, more on instinct rather than curiosity. “Make way, this is an emergency!” a guard suddenly screamed as he and a bunch more of his kin were galloping through the city streets and leaving confusion wherever they passed. Same with Thera as they galloped past her drunkass state, leaving her just as curious and perplexed as everyone else. “Hey, wait, wait for me!” a random guard called out, looking quite out of breath, and most likely belonging to the same column of guards that had just speeded passed her moments ago. This was her chance, the chance to find out what the hell this was all about, and to hopefully find an answer for her boredom problem. That, and an excuse to force someone to trip and fall right onto their snout. Nobody had ever claimed that she was a nice mare, even less so while she was drunk. Thera just casually presented her left hind leg to the exhausting looking stud as he was about to pass by her. The results were as expected, the poor fool immediately lost his balance once one of his legs made contact with Thera’s. He didn’t even have enough time to properly collect himself before quickly finding himself under Thera’s imposing shadow. “Hey you, what the heck is going on?” She went straight to the point, giving the now timid looking crystal guard a ‘no bullshit’ kind of look, which exactly did the trick she was aiming for. A predator staring down its prey does have its effects on races that used to be nothing but prey in ancients past. Some things just never change, especially to those with weak minds and weaker will. How this stud managed to get into the guard is beyond her. But again, not one of her concerns, and certainly not his at the moment either. He shrunk a bit at her gaze, before finally opening his mouth like the good prey that he was. “We… we have been tasked in swiftly combing through the snowy fields outside the city to find some missing ponies which have obviously gone… well… missing, out there. That really is all, nothing too serious or to really worry about… really,” he stuttered. Thera just nodded, before trotting away from the guard without saying or doing anything else, much to the stud’s confusion. “Missing ponies huh? I mean, why not? at least this gives me something to do while waiting for the weather to finally clear. Plus… I might actually get some money out of that for being the hero or whatever… which is… ironic really… why did I threw all of my remaining coins at the bartender without asking him how much I owe him? Just great,” she thought to herself, before frowning at the thought that she had just literally spent all of her remaining gold for liquor, which was now really biting her inside her head. Only one question remained, though. “Wait… where am I supposed to go?” ……………………………………………………………………………………… “Why did these crystal ponies had to disappear this far out into the ice fields anyway? Having to trudge through this snow on hoof alone really sucks. Now I wish that I had actually took up on the bartender’s offer and snatched another bottle from him. I really could use one right now, just to make myself stop complaining like a spoiled brat… darn, too much to drink can really bring out the worst in someone,” Thera mumbled to herself as her hooves were doing their task in dragging her unfocused self deeper into the white and snow obstructed abyss. The crunching of the snow under her constantly moving hooves being the only other sound alongside the hauling winds of the storm. It may not be as bad as the day when she had first met Mateus before he became the Emperor, but it was still bad enough for someone who was still suffering through the aftereffects of consuming three full whisky bottles in one go. Her double vision and unstable stances were almost perfectly mimicking the difficulties of moving through a horrid and hard to see blizzard pretty well. Coming out here at her current state might be the dumbest idea she had ever made. This idea alone was already dumb as it was, but she had never claimed to be the smartest egg inside her family’s basket when it came to making decisions. But then again, she also kinda did this to hopefully get some money out of it, as she obviously didn’t have any. Besides the wind blowing directly into her ears, she could still somewhat tell she wasn’t really alone out here in the storm as she originally thought. Which was actually why she had been moving through this snow on just three legs max. Again, not the best choice when it came to her current state. But so far, it had worked quite well for her. Minus the few instances where she had almost fell muzzle first into the snow. Those moments didn’t happen. Or at least, that was what she liked to believe. But besides selling herself false claims and expectations, all of her thoughts and current issues were swiftly halted when a nearby crunching sound suddenly entered her fluff tipped hears. The same one you hear when stepping onto snow, and she knew that it wasn’t hers, as she didn’t even move a muscle when it had happened. She immediately stood still, training her ear at every possible direction to deduce its location while strengthening her grip on the handle of her sword. Her ever sharp, but still hard to focus eyes scanned the outlines of the visible edges of the snow curtain for any moving shadows or shufflings. Her killer’s instincts were on high alert at this point. No matter if she was sober or not, her fighting instincts were always working. The alcohol even enhanced her aggressiveness, which might be a plus, but she wasn’t exactly sure. At first, everything was silent around her. Her eyes and ears darted from one place to another while trying to drown out the roaring winds and heavily falling snow for anything that could be defined as unusual. Seconds passed, and for a moment she thought that whatever it was had either flown off or sneaked away, when another nearby crunch quickly told her otherwise. Her warrior instincts immediately kicked in, as she turned herself around and made a direct dash towards its source. She pulled out her sword from its scabbard and pounced on whatever was hiding within the snow made curtain, only for her to quickly move her sword to block an incoming spear and successfully deflected it. She grunted as another jab quickly followed the first, which forced her to throw herself to the right in order to dodge the attack, hitting the ground hard as a result, knocking the wind out of her for just a moment. Most likely having landed on solid ice, judging by the pain she was experiencing on her right shoulder. Though, she didn’t have much time to linger on her terrible choice of a landing target before she was swiftly forced to roll away to the left to avoid another strike. “What the hell… I seriously didn’t expect an actual fight to present itself out here. The worst part is that I am still very much dizzy inside my head. Which is just perfect for my focus and overall reaction time. Really, not the most ideal situation to find myself in an actual fight if I had to be honest with myself,” she thought to herself as she kept on avoiding the spear’s razor sharp tip by continuously rolling around the ground. After a few more desperate rolls, she finally decided that enough was enough, and forced to roll herself against her side after the last attack had just barely missed her. Gripping the handle of her sword hard and mentally aimed for the shaft of the spear. With one mighty swing and a loud battle cry, she swung the blade of her sword directly at the spear’s strangely looking shaft, severing it almost immediately. Though, to her surprise the shaft actually shattered on impact instead of just cleanly cutting through it like she had expected it to be. A surprising yelp echoed through the storm, its owner eventually dropped the shattered remains of its spear, before swiftly retreating back into the cover of the thick falling snow in hopes of escape. Thera was having none of that. Tapping directly into her predatory instincts at the sight of a potential prey running away. Her irises shrunk and focused as a snarl formed around her muzzle, before she swiftly jumped back up on all fours and extended her wings. Ready to take flight and pounce on her prey, which she will perform with dangerous efficiency. With a solid pounce, a muffled thud, and without even thinking about it, she quickly bore her unsheathed blade directly into its right hind leg, and right through the appendage, pinning it down onto the ground, followed by an outcry of absolute pain and agony. The snow beneath its leg was quickly turning green, which Thera completely ignored, as she had other things to focus on. In fact, now that she had it pinned and exactly where she wanted it to be, she can now finally focus more on what exactly it is, and to her momentary confusion, she had no bloody clue what it actually was that she was currently sitting on. The fact that it was mostly black all through its body and its glass-like armor wasn’t exactly helping with her mental guesses either, nor did the insect like wings and hole ridden hooves which were just… Then it finally crashed into her. “Wait… a changeling this far north? What in the Gods’ names is a changeling doing alone up here, In the rigid cold of the northern lands? Unless... there might be…” she trailed off, before another realization hit her for a second time, which in turn just sounded even more impossible compared to the first one. “Wait… again. What the hell is a changeling hive doing so far up north? I thought that these underground dwelling bugs prefer much warmer climates compared to this? This is just so unnatural for them, or at least from what I personally know,” she continued to question herself, not minding the struggles and hisses coming from the changeling beneath her. Though, the buzzing of its wing did finally snap her out of her stubborn mind. Especially with just how high pitched they were, at least for someone with her kind of sensitive ears. “You there, changeling,” she addressed, or rather shouted towards the groaning changeling. “Tell me exactly what you kind is doing here, and most importantly, if there are any more of your kind here as well. Tell me or I might stick my sword somewhere else instead, somewhere you won’t get the chance to wail around anymore, if you catch my meaning,” Thera threatened, she then twisted her blade inside its flesh to get her point better across, with pretty much predictable effects. The changeling in return just gave her a glare, before finally opening its muzzle for actual words, and not just screams or hisses. “Why would you know?” he bravely retorted. Thera just smirked, before twisting her blade the other way, which immediately removed the defying tone and look from the changeling’s expression. Once his breathing had calmed down, Thera decided to try once more to get him to talk, as she lowered her head closer to his. Her muzzle dangerously close to one of his ears. “Now, I am going to ask again. Tell me everything I want to know, and I might consider letting you live, changeling,” she began, her tone low, quite, but still very threatening by its message alone. She swiftly continued before the changeling could even get the chance to respond, “Now, tell me everything. Why are you here, and how many of you are nearby? Speak, before I decide to ignore the generous offer I just gave you,” she finalized, keeping herself low and right next the changelings struggling expression. The changeling didn’t respond at first, breathing heavily against the snow and trying its best to ignore the agonizing pain he was feeling on one of its legs. But a strengthening choke hold around his neck swiftly told him otherwise, staying silent for too long might not be the best thing to do when your very life is on the line. So he mentally decided to speak, though with a sense of great displeasure and regret. “I… I am here… to watch the ice fields for anymore outsiders… especially after this… this crystal looking city suddenly appeared out of nowhere on top of our lands. A piece of land which was completely isolated and uninhabited… when my ancestors first came here… after their long exile… to build a new hive in these mountains,” the changeling replied, taking a couple of pauses in between his response, to both catch his breath and to groan or hiss at his injuries. Thera nodded. “Well yes, and more?” she stated, causing the changeling to look up at her with confusion. “What do you mean more… I already told you everything you want to know, pony,” he replied, which in turn just made Thera frown. “For starters, I am NOT a pony. My kind are actually called Thestral just to make it clear. Predators, hunters, and natural warriors made to survive in harsh conditions and untamed lands. The complete opposite towards these skittish and herbivorous ponies of whom you speak of. Calling us ponies is actually an insult to our pride and identity,” she corrected harshly, flashing him both her fangs and leathery wings to prove her point. The changeling didn’t respond, as he just laid there, beaten, injured, and completely out of strength to really be in any position to do or say anything stupid. Thera on the other end, just grumbled at his silence, before mentally getting back on track. “Now, as I just stated. There is more I want to know. Like if your so called hive had been responsible for the disappearance of some crystal ponies, and also, where this hive actually is. Because like all dumb tourists, I would LOVE to see this little hive for myself, and to also find out how you all are even capable of surviving in such a cold and unforgiving climate in the first place. From what I know, you changelings naturally prefer warmer and more temperate climates,” Thera again questioned, tightening her grip around the changeling’s neck while lowering herself again. The changeling’s first response was just a cough, struggling a bit against Thera’s grip, before giving up, both physical and mentally. The snow under his right hind leg was already heavily drenched with his own blood with no signs of stopping. Not as long as Thera’s sword was firmly embedded inside his flesh, that is. He only had two choices, either he could finally tell her everything she wanted to know, or risk dying out in the snow due to blood loss. Trying to use his horn at this point would be rather pointless, as he both lacked the strength and concentration necessary to start casting spells. Plus, doing so now would most likely only give him a one way ticket to his afterlife. A trip he wasn’t very keen on doing at any foreseeable future, simply out of fear of dying in general. So, he mentally decided to just give her everything, hoping that she would stay true to her offer. He heaved a couple of times under Thera’s strong grip, before finally opening his mouth again to literally give her everything he is able to give in terms of information “Alright, alright I… I will tell you everything you want to know …only …only on one condition,” he coughed out. All he can hope is that she does something stupid and eventually get herself killed by an overwhelming swarm of changeling guards back at the hive. No matter how good she was, she was never going to survive a fight within their home turf. Changelings everywhere, and not to mention sealed off tunnels that are only accessible via changeling magic. Well, one can only hope. Thera frowned. “Conditions?” She tightened her grip even more, which was now treating to instead choke the poor changeling to death, instead of him bleeding out on the snow. “I don’t think you are in any position to demand for conditions,” she added, sounding quite displeased. A clear sign that the adrenaline had truly, and finally left her mind and system for good. Bringing her back to the intoxicated state, alongside the dizziness, craziness, and of course, lack of patience. Not the mention the massive headache, which came along with it as well, and a certain level of nausea too. Now was certainly a bad time to hurl into the snow. The changeling gagged, but was luckily still able to form words, which may or may not save his life. “Well, its… it’s because without me… you will never be able to find the hive. even… even if you try.” He coughed a couple of times before continuing. “Not to mention being unable to find or rescue the missing crystal looking ponies you just mentioned. I… I have seen them… being captured and brought deeper into the hive for… for whatever purpose… they are certainly there, but not sure what the nobles will do to them afterwards… Again, you need me… to find the entrance and get through the entrance as well…. As the main entry points of the hive are all… magically sealed with only changeling magic working on… them… argh…” He coughed, really starting to find it hard to even get a swivel of air inside of him thanks to Thera’s choke hold on him. He was in the verge of blacking out, before he suddenly found himself released from Thera’s grasp and weight, before screaming in pain instead. The sword had finally been pulled out of his leg, though at a slow and rather painful manner. Once this was done, a big imposing shadow suddenly draped itself on top the downed and badly beaten changeling. He looked up, only to be met by the intimidating glare of Thera herself, with her sword still firmly gripped within her hoof and dripping green with changeling’s blood. “Alright, I will give you this one chance. Prove yourself right, and I won’t have to sink my own fangs into your flesh. Chitin or not, I will bite through,” she announced, before she turned around and walked off. “Come then, show me the way. I know for a fact that you can fly, so you don’t need me or anyone else to carry you with that damaged leg of yours. Now hurry up before I change my mind,” she added, before she tripped on a small crystal sticking out of the snow, quickly losing her balance. She suddenly found herself eating snow and looking quite stupid in doing so. “Blood cursing son of a…” was all that Thera’s muffled voice could say, before simply screaming into the snow out of rage. The Idea of going out here was really stupid.