//------------------------------// // 15| Grand Chariot // Story: The Evil Paradox // by Alcatraz //------------------------------// My plan was simple: If Belcusas would rip every brick from the castle in search for Boreas, I decided I’d give her to him, or at least someone who looked like her. I sent for Midnight, and once I informed him what was going on, had the stallion appear as Boreas complete with her gold, crescent moon ear piercing. Not only did it let everyone know that Boreas was back in town in a rather roundabout manner, it was Midnight’s morning shift in the throne room as my charge for the day anyway. Since my room was warded to the teeth with enchantments—most of which I was testing—I told Boreas she was more than welcome to bunker down and stay safe until I could deal with her father. Of course, she could always ask Veloce, who I posted outside to keep an eye on her, to send for food and drink. Boreas was curious about reading the journal I was keeping for Luna, so I let her have at it for something to do. By the time I went for breakfast after the events of that morning, most of the morning shift ponies had come and gone from the dining hall. Celestia, who had decided to wait for my appearance, was curious as to why I was late. It was just her and I for the most part, save for the maids cleaning up the dishes, so I could bring Celestia up to speed with everything without risking anyone listening in. Celestia’s first thought was to postpone court for the entire day and put the castle into lock-down with every available guard posted at every conceivable entrance, exit, and window in wait for Belcusas. After some back and forth, we both agreed not to, as to avoid looking hostile. Not only that, we had more windows and doors than we did guards. Given how much of an apparent obsession Belcusas had for Boreas, I wanted to deal with the situation as diplomatically as possible. That meant entertaining his company and acknowledging his request while being resolute in my decision that Boreas wasn’t going anywhere. Another reason why I had Midnight disguise as Boreas was to placate Belcusas to an extent, and to see if he’d try anything against someone he saw as his daughter, Celestia, and/or myself. Once we got our game plan sorted out, Celestia and I postponed court for a short while to explain to our guards what was going on and how to handle the situation if things got out of hand, though that much was a last resort. We were playing it safe by covering our bases as best as we could manage on such short notice. We had no idea what time on Wednesday Belcusas was going to show up since his letter didn’t give us any indication, so we were forced to play it by ear and accomodate his appearance as best as possible. The morning’s proceedings went off without a hitch. Petitioners were dealt with, and before I realised how much time had passed in anticipation of Belcusas, it was lunchtime already. Instead of eating with Celestia, I went up to my room and brought Boreas and Veloce something to eat, and to give them both a bit of company. Boreas was still understandably anxious about her father showing up, and my company helped alleviate the stress she was feeling at the time. Little did I know how eventful the whole afternoon would become. Around the three o’clock mark, Celestia and I were in the middle of dealing with two warring families about a plot of land each claimed ownership over while at the same time denouncing the other’s claim. After listening to each side’s story, and before I could rule about simply dividing the plot in half, there was a commotion in the hallway leading up to the throne room, arguing becoming increasingly louder with proximity. “You simply cannot stroll through the main gate without first requesting an audience with the Princesses!” a voice I recognised to be Sergeant Primer was shouting. The staccato of militaristic hoofsteps in sync with one another trotted around the corner, and five ponies garbed in somewhat familiar armour strode in, stopping just forward of the steps leading up to the thrones, and followed by a rather irate and flustered Primer. “Forgive me, Your Majesties,” Primer said with a deep, apologetic bow, “I was at my post when these pegasi wantonly walked by. I tried stopping them, but it was only said that they were expected.” While the courier from Monday had a rather simplistic looking breastplate, the rest of these soldier-looking characters were decked out in full sets of armour so polished I could effectively use them as mirrors. Two of the pegasi bringing up the rear were holding guidon staves fixed with burgee flags bearing the same symbol the courier had; a crossed sword and thunderbolt with an overlaid cloud. Their armour looked more ceremonial than practical and covered much of their figure, so I couldn’t really discern what they looked like underneath. The two other forward of them looked like proper soldiers; their armour sets looked like what mediaeval knights wore in combat: barbute helmets and mail coifs on their head, hauberk mail shirts which had holes for their wings, cuirass breastplates, and tassets on each of their legs. They held proper spears, and each had a sword sheathed at their side. “It is quite alright, Sergeant. Wait outside a moment if you please,” I said. Primer bowed again and walked out while I looked the large, stocky and well-built leader up and down. “Belcusas, I assume?” He didn’t wear nearly as much armour, just a burgonet helmet and an intricately designed and decorated brigandine, which was typically a garment made from either leather or canvas with riveted steel plates. His dark yellow coat reminded me of a stained toilet bowl at a seedy dive-bar, and his mane was a bleached snow-white. Made from twisted and knotted purpleheart wood inset with a large, light-blue crystal between gnarled fingers of wood at the end, Belcusas’ stave was something else entirely. I could sense an almighty amount of magic power emanating from it, and from Celestia's concerned and studious look, she could too. Belcusas lowered his stave at “Boreas”. “I have come to reclaim some property,” he announced. “So let me get this straight...” I deadpanned. “You and your soldiers come waltzing into this castle armed to the teeth, and expect an audience without abiding by our rules and laws?” “I do not conform to regulations imposed by mares,” Belcusas spat. “Surrender Boreas to me, or I will take her myself.” “First of all,” Celestia intoned angrily, “you and your soldiers must relinquish your weapons to the quartermaster for safekeeping if you want us to entertain your company, or you will be escorted from the premises. I will not tolerate such an act of blatant disrespect.” Belcusas took a step forward, sneering at us. “I say again: I do not conform to regulations imposed by mares, nor do they have any right to judge a stallion. Once I have gotten what I have come for, I will be on my way.” “Then Celestia and I have absolutely no desire to hear what you have to say.” I pointed a hoof at the door. “Please leave.” “I am not going leaving this room without my daughter.” Belcusas affirmed his position with a bang of his stave against the floor, then sat on his haunches. His soldiers followed suit too. I sighed and face-hoofed, rubbing my temple. What a complete tool... I thought. After a moment, I looked back up. “Look, you’re welcome to keep your armour, but your weapons are putting everyone in this room on edge, including the innocent civilians,” I said, pointing to the mare and stallion Celestia and I were talking to moments ago, both of whom looked torn between leaving, and grabbing a bucket of popcorn and sitting down to the show. “All it’s telling them is you’ve come expecting a fight.” Mimicking Belcusas, I added; “I say again: You and your soldiers must surrender your weapons, or you will be escorted out.” “If you so much as lay a hoof on my soldiers and I in an attempt to disarm or remove us, then you will be fought,” Belcusas vehemently declared. I snorted derisively. “And what’s fighting going to accomplish? Take a look around; there are no weapons in this room. All we’re asking you to do is disarm as a gesture of good faith to us and everypony else.” “Absolutely not. The Staff of Sacanas is my symbol of leadership as ruler of the Kingdom of Clouds. I refuse to relinquish it under any circumstance.” I looked over to Celestia questioningly, and heard her give a low, unhappy growl. “Very well, then,” she seethed through gritted teeth. “You may keep you little stick, but our guards will hold your weapons. Agreed?” Belcusas stared intently for several silent moments, internally debating whether or not he should take our highly advised suggestion on board and voluntarily act on it. “My time is precious; I do not wish to waste it any further. Soldiers, relinquish your weapons if it’ll keep these mares from blowing a gasket.” Brass, Celestia’s guard for the day, and the disguised Midnight walked forward as Belcusas’ soldiers began to unstrap their weapons. Careful not to let anyone touch him, Midnight took the weapons from one soldier with his magic, and Brass the other. “Give them to Primer outside, and instruct him to take them to the quartermaster for the moment,” I said. I wasn’t about to have them both go all the way to the quartermaster and leave Celestia and I with that pissant of a stallion. Midnight and Brass obliged, then returned to their places. “Now, what was it you were after?” I said, clearing my throat as if the last five minutes of conversation never happened. “I have come to take Boreas back home!” Belcusas boomed. I had Belcusas right where I wanted him. “Originally, Boreas came to Celestia and I seeking asylum from you, and we granted it. As a citizen of Equestria by my official decree, I will not allow you to take Boreas. Her testimony of the events leading to her leaving home were most disturbing.” “This is not up for debate in the slightest!” Belcusas got up and began walking towards Midnight, but I put up a barrier wall between them. “Ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that,” I said as if I was a mother scolding her child. “My guards are trained to react to any unwarranted physical contact.” The stave began to crackle with electricity. “If you continue to hinder me, I will blow your tiny little castle from the face of this planet!” I had to actively restrain myself from laughing at the sight of Belcusas’ anger-induced bulging neck veins despite the show of force. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I cautioned. “Come, Boreas, we’re going home.” Belcusas made a grab for “Boreas’” foreleg to drag her off, and Midnight’s illusion suddenly dissipated. It was Belcusas’ expression of abject shock that made me with I had a camera. “Boo!” Midnight exclaimed. “What the-?!” Midnight then ducked low and swept his hind legs wide under Belcusas to topple him, and before Belcusas could register what was going on, Midnight followed through with his motions and bucked the stallion halfway across the room, causing the stave to clatter to the floor in the process. Celestia and I were pretty unphased, but everyone else was beyond shocked and surprised that Midnight just kicked the King. Even Belcusas’ soldiers were at a loss of what to do! Grumbling with unbridled anger, Belcusas slowly picked himself up off the floor, reaching for the stave. Once he righted himself, pointed the stave directly at Midnight. Before he got the chance to unleash the stave’s magic, I managed to put a bubble shield around the tip of it in time, causing the spell being channeled to backfire, which sent Belcusas reeling back from the explosive feedback, making everyone in the room wince and cover their ears. By this point, all non essential personnel wisely decided to hastily vacate the area in the exact opposite direction from the boom. Once again, Belcusas picked his then-charred self up from the floor and dusted himself off in the progress, his mane and coat looking like it had been statically charged from the spell he tried to cast. “How… how dare you!” the piss-yellow stallion shouted. “I warned you,” I said with a far too smug grin. Belcusas pointed an accusing hoof. “You knew this would happen! You set me up!” I rolled my eyes. “Duh.” “Our business here is concluded,” Celestia announced. “You can leave of your own volition with any remaining dignity you might have, or I can kick you out myself.” “Soldiers, I order you to–” “If you so much as think about acting out against us when you were previously warned against your actions,” Celestia roared, her voice almost shaking the very foundation of the castle, “I will personally bring down the full might of the sun and evaporate every molecule of water in your entire kingdom!” That seriously went from zero to one-hundred pretty fucking quickly. I was honestly scared at how discomposed Celestia made me feel with her bout of sudden anger. Nobody dared speak out after Celestia’s outburst. I swore I heard a pin drop somewhere in the castle. Belcusas staggered a couple steps once he stood, looking like an extremely pissed off bull as if he was going to rampage through a china shop. He stared at us for several tense moments before he spoke. “This… this isn’t the last you’ll be hearing of me! I will be back!” Says every bad guy once he’s had his ass handed to him on a silver platter, I laughed internally. “Soldiers! We’re leaving.” Belcusas and his soldiers promptly turned tail and left, exiting the throne room where they were escorted by Primer to the Quartermaster to retrieve their gear. I looked down to the mare and stallion I was speaking to before Belcusas stormed in. “Now, where were we?” They looked between themselves. “Halvsies?” “Halvsies.” The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, most likely because nobody wanted to risk pissing off Celestia and I after that display. Most of the other petitioners decided to leave after Belcusas came through, which allowed Celestia and I to close court earlier than normal. I went straight up to my room afterwards to tell Boreas what went down, though she’d probably heard half of it. I opened my bedroom door and stepped in, closing it behind me as Boreas closed the journal. “How’d it go?” Boreas tentatively asked. “Well, he threatened to blow up the castle for one thing, but overall, I don’t think he’s coming back,” I replied confidently. Boreas winced, ears pinned to the sides of her head. “I don’t doubt that he could’ve…” “What’s the magic of one pegasi and his little stick against two alicorns, eh?” I said with a grin and friendly elbow. “My father’s latent pegasi magic is of a much higher calibre than the average pegasus,” Boreas began with a frown. “He can create tornadoes, maelstroms, and things of that nature. Not only is the Staff of Sacanas powerful in its own right, with it, he could hold his own against you or Celestia in a fight.” “That... probably explained why he seemed eager for a fight,” I mused. “I did say that my father gets what he wants one way or another. His conceited attitude is his biggest flaw as it is a strength. I wouldn’t be surprised if he brings his army with him when he comes back for me.” I put a hoof under Boreas’ chin so I could tilt her head up to look me in the eye. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t go back.” “It’s a little ridiculous to suggest that you’d go to war with another kingdom over me,” she said glumly. “I agree that a line should be drawn at what constitutes ridiculous, but it gets to the point where things become less about you and more about Belcusas. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to not only keep you safe, but to make sure he can’t trample over anyone to get what he wants.” Boreas dryly snickered and looked to the journal. “You said ‘anyone’ instead of ‘anypony’.” Returning her mirth with a dry giggle of my own, I pulled Boreas into a hug. “It’s hard to completely change your vernacular, but I’ve been managing to keep up for the most part.” Honestly, we needed that change in topic to lighten the mood. Even then, the point was still clear: I would do whatever it took to keep anyone out of harm’s way. I had no idea that that be would put to the test tomorrow. The following morning, I was startled awake at the asscrack of dawn by frantic pounding on my bedroom door. It took me a moment to realise what the hell was going on before I angrily threw my blankets off, and stomped my way over to the door. She-Devil Mode: Activated. “Somebody better have fucking died if you’re waking me up this early!” I shouted as I threw open the door, revealing a clearly emotionally upset Veloce, fresh tears running down her face. I suddenly regretted shouting. “I uhm… I-I-I…” Velo stammered, all choked up. I forced myself to take a deep breath so I could afford to deactivate She-Devil mode. “Sorry for shouting, Veloce. What’s going on if you’re waking me up this early?” “I-it’s Midnight,” she swallowed thickly. “One of the patrols found him outside, tied to a pole, and, uhm… He’s hurt pretty bad...” I blinked and shook my head, clearing any remaining sleep from my eyes to make sure I heard Veloce correctly. “What on earth for?” She reached back under a wing, and pulled out an all too familiar medallion. When I caught sight of it, I growled. “Belcusas…” “That was found stuck to him. My guess is Belcusas took revenge for what Midnight did to him yesterday. Radiant told me to come get you.” I then teleported us both to the infirmary, much to the surprise of a few of the staff. A nurse stopped in her tracks when she saw me, cocking her head. “Princess? What are you doing here?” “I was told Midnight was admitted,” I said. “Ah yes, of course. Follow me.” She lead Velo and I down the corridor and around a corner, where there were cots and beds set up. On one of them was Midnight. Through the dim light of the oil lamps as I approached, I saw that his left hind leg was in a splint and hanging from a harness while the rest of him had bandages wrapped around his torso and right foreleg. An ice pack covered the left side of his face, swollen to the point he couldn’t even open his eye if he tried. Soft hoofsteps approached from behind. “Princess…” I heard Radiant say sympathetically. I turned to see her sobering expression. “How bad is it?” Radiant stepped forward to tighten off and secure one of the bandages, then looked over a piece of parchment on a clipboard. “Broken hind leg, dislocated foreleg, two fractured ribs, and severe bruising and swelling to the face. Despite all that, I can assure you that he’ll live. Recovery will be several weeks at best.” “Who found him?” I asked. “About ten minutes ago, Anvil and Comet discovered him bound to a pole erected in front of the castle during their routine patrol around the castle’s perimetre. Veloce happened to cross paths as we were bringing him here, then offered to go tell you.” “Does Celestia know about this?” I said, turning to look Midnight up and down again. “Anvil should be bringing her up to speed as we speak, but everypony thought it more prudent for you to be here,” Radiant replied. A moment of silence later, Celestia walked into the door, and sat down next to me. “He’s stable for the moment, so I’ll leave you to it,” Radiant said, leaving the room with her clipboard in tow. “I took the liberty of lowering the moon for you, Luna,” Celestia said, draping a wing over me and pulling me close. “Thanks, I guess,” I said despondently. “What should we do now?” “If Belcusas returns, we’ll make sure he answers for what he’s done,” Celestia stated resolutely. “We can’t let him get away with this, but we also can’t risk inciting a war if we storm his kingdom and drag him off to the dungeons.” “The dungeons are too good for him,” I spat, anger creeping into my voice. “I ought to geld him with the most blunt knife I can find.” “I can understand that you’re angry, but petty revenge isn’t going to solve anything.” After a moment of silence, Celestia added; “I’ll take care of the proceedings today. You take the day to sort things out for yourself and everypony else.” I sighed a meager “thank you”. She gave me a peck on the cheek as reassurance everything would be alright. “Just don’t do anything you’d wind up regretting later, like vigilante justice.” “If Belcusas so much as shows his face around here, I’m gonna shove my hoof so far up his ass he’ll be flossing the shit from between his broken teeth with my fetlock,” I seethed. That earnt me a few sideways stares from a few ponies who were within earshot. “Luna…” Celestia cautioned. “I don’t think Midnight would want you doing that.” “I’m pretty sure he’d encourage it,” I growled. Celestia sighed with exasperation, rubbing her brow. “I’m... going for breakfast. Would you like me to bring you anything?” I shook my head. “I’ll be alright for now. I’ll eat soon.” With one more kiss, Celestia left the room as quietly as she entered. Sunlight had begun to peek through the half-drawn curtains, casting a sliver of light upon Midnight and revealing the extent of the stallion’s injuries that the lamps concealed in their relatively dim light. Even through the bandages that covered about a third of him, I could still make out heavy bruising that his dark blue coat wasn’t hiding too well. Veloce, who was silent up until that point, decided to speak, though she did so rather softly. “What would you have me do, Princess?” “Would you mind staying here to keep an eye on him for me, please?” “I don’t have any shifts today, so of course I can.” “I just need you to make sure nothing else happens to him,” I added after a moment. “Have you had breakfast yet?” Velo shook her head. “I’ll bring you something while I organise a roster change around Midnight’s situation.” “Thank you, Princess.” “Don’t worry about it,” I waved dismissively. “I’d feel more comfortable knowing you’re here to give him some company and keep him safe while Radiant does her thing. And  uh, let’s just keep this on the down low for now. We don’t want everyone freaking out.” Before I left the room, a thought had occurred to me. “Also, and when you get the time, can you find out how Belcusas broke into the castle?” I said over my shoulder. “It seems we still have holes in our security that need patching.” “I’ll look into it, Princess.” “Thank you, Velo. Really, thanks.” With how much of a turn for the worse things took, I couldn’t think straight at all during breakfast. I was idly poking at the food on my plate disinterestedly, only bothering to eat what I wanted to while I tried to sort out what I was going to do. Even though Radiant said Midnight was stable and would live, the darker part of me wondered what I’d do to Belcusas if the worst case scenario came to pass. I likely wouldn’t have stopped beating on Belcusas if I could help it. I only managed to eat about half my plate before I left to take Velo something to eat, and from there I went up to my room to figure out how I was going to change the roster around. I tried to be as fair with my guards as I could with how I created it in the first place. Since I was down to six guards with five shift slots to cover, I turned that into six by having everyone cover one of Midnight’s, and one of Velo’s so she could keep an eye on Midnight. A few hours after I posted the new roster in the common room, it was only a matter of time before I got a knock on my bedroom door. “Come in,” I said emptily, closing the spellbook I was reading as Boreas strolled in with an upset expression which mirrored Veloce’s from earlier. “Ok, just stop right there,” I interrupted by holding up a hoof right as Boreas opened her mouth. “This is not your fault, I need you to realise that.” “Yes it is!” she protested. “None of this would’ve happened had I just gone back!” “And you want to go back home?” I pressed. “If you let Belcusas take you back, you would’ve been miserable for the rest of your life. Midnight will recover, Boreas. How certain are you to say that you would’ve lasted with your father, forced to marry a stallion you don’t care for?” I got out of my seat and walked over to the mare so I wasn’t shouting across the room, where I also closed the bedroom door so Firefly and Ares couldn’t hear us. “As undesirable as the situation is, things are still in our favour. Both you and Middy are still with me, and it’s that I’m grateful for. Please, Boreas, don’t beat yourself up anymore. This isn’t about you any longer, it’s about how Belcusas treats others, and it’s that which I intend to fix.” “How do you plan on that?” Boreas sniffled, wiping a foreleg over her nose. “I doubted Belcusas would come back after yesterday, but considering what happened, it’s clear that he’s going to do whatever he can to get to you.” After a moment, I said; “Who told you what happened anyway?” “I saw the roster change, asked around as to why Midnight has been taken off, and Comet told me when he came in to unwind after his shift.” “I should remind everypony that it’s unprofessional to spread gossip about your co-workers,” I said distastefully. “Heh, you said ‘everypony’ this time.” I gave Boreas a playful nudge. “Hush, you.” Another knock at the door. “I’ll see myself out and let them in,” Boreas said, making for the door. Once she opened it, Ares poked his head in. “Celestia is requesting your presence in the throne room. She said that a certain pegasus has arrived.” I immediately used my magic to levitate Boreas back into the room. “Hey, what gives?!” she protested with flailing forelegs. “You-know-who is back,” I said. “Could you please stay here until he’s gone?” “Fine,” Boreas spat with an angry grumble, sitting on her haunches. As I left, I turned to Ares and said; “Find two other pegasi and have them watch the platform outside my room. Come get me if Belcusas or any of his goons show up.” Ares saluted. “As requested, Your Highness!” He promptly left to procure other guards, so it was just Firefly there for the moment. I didn’t have anything to say to her, so I made my say through the castle until I got to the throne room. Why didn’t I teleport, you might ask? I mainly wanted to keep Belcusas waiting, and so I could think about what I was going to say and do. The halls and corridors up to the throne room had been vacated, so I pushed open the door and walked in. Belcusas and his entourage from yesterday were there, minus their weapons, naturally. I kept giving him the stink eye as I went to walk up to my throne. “Did your friend learn his lesson?” Belcusas asked with a smug grin. I promptly turned around, looked him dead in the eye, and spat in his face. Belcusas’ soldiers went right to attention at that, and Belcusas himself was completely unmoving from the surprise of what just happened, but growled darkly. Celestia didn’t seem to care; as far as she was concerned, Belcusas had earned it. “What is it going to take for you to relinquish Boreas to me?” he slowly asked, wiping the saliva off his face with a kerchief he pulled from under his armour. “Boreas isn’t going anywhere, you mongrel,” I vehemently said. “Such a pity; I would’ve hoped the sight of your friend would’ve convinced you otherwise.” “Go sit on a cactus, Belcusas. In what part of your delusional mind do you think I’m going to hand over of my friends and guards after what you just did?” I stepped off the throne and walked down to him, where he promptly took a few steps back. She-Devil Mode: Reactivated. “Here’s what you’re going to do you waste of space. You and your little soldier boys are going to turn around and leave. If you ever, ever set foot in this land again, I’m going to have you thrown in a cold, dark cell in the bottom of the dungeon for ten. Whole. Yea—” The throne room doors suddenly burst open and crashed against the wall with a boom as an almighty wall of fire wafted in. “WHERE IS HE?!” Wreathed in fire and leaving behind hoofprints of molten rock with each step, Firefly stared down Belcusas with the most deadly expression I would’ve ever seen. She was literally snorting smoke like a dragon, and I couldn’t tell where her mane ended and her flames began. Celestia shot me a concerned look and said; “Aren’t you going to stop her, Luna?” I looked Firefly over, to Celestia, back to Firefly, then back to Celestia. “You first.” I wasn’t going anywhere near Firefly in that state. Belcusas’ guards quickly surrounded Firefly. “Hold her there until I’m finished my business,” he said confidently. “I don’t think so, bucko!” The fires in all the sconces and torches along the walls and pillars began to slowly go out, and wisps of red energy began snaking their way over to Firefly as she sucked in every source of available fire in the room, but it wasn’t her horn she was taking it into. Rearing her head back, she spewed forth a twisting column of fire at Belcusas’ guards, sending them crashing against opposite walls. Then, she turned her attention to Belcusas. “I’m gonna turn you into a roast chicken, bird boy,” she said as her horn charged. “You’d better watch what you do next, Firefly, or I’ll send your ass packing for insubordination!” I angrily scolded, giving her a cautionary stare. For some reason, that made Belcusas grin like he’d already won. He looked up to Celestia and said; “Why don’t you tell these two why I’m here?” Confused, Firefly and I looked to Celestia, who gave a crestfallen sign. “Belcusas invoked the pre-unification Challenge of Kingdoms.” “Uhm, what the hell is that?” I blinked. “You wouldn’t know, since you weren’t born when it was made, Luna. The both of you, actually.” Taking a breath, Celestia began to explain. “Before Unification, warring Kingdoms would often fight each other for resources and land, which partially lead to The Great Winter. After Princess Platinum, Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, Private Pansy, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Smart Cookie settled Equestria, a summit was held, whereby any kingdoms would join together under one flag when their princess would be of sufficient age to rule.” I was more focused on the fact that someone named their kid “Puddinghead”. “I was only a twelve year old filly who’d just gotten her cutie mark and wings at the time,” Celestia continued, “but, I digress. Belcusas’ ancestor was the ruler of the Kingdom of Clouds at the time, and any outlying Kingdoms that did not join the Coalition reserved the right to issue the Challenge of Kingdoms. Instead of using armies, the leaders of each kingdom would fight one another to minimise bloodshed. “The rules are simple. The challenger declares his intent and stipulations upon victory, and the challengee responds accordingly. Challenger and challengee fights to the maiming. Whoever emerges victorious earns the right to whatever the other possesses under rulership.” “Let me fight, Luna! I’ll roast him alive!” Firefly seethed at Belcusas. Ignoring Firefly, Belcusas spoke into my ear. “Since you and your sister rule by diarchy, I get half when I defeat you. I take Boreas away, then I challenge Celestia for the other half.” “You can’t be serious!” I exclaimed. “I told you I’d get my daughter one way or another. Your kingdom and its mares will be the icing on the cake.” Like the deviant he was, Belcusas licked his lips at me. “Not only will I make an example out of your rude friend there, you, on the other hand, will make a fine wif—” He didn’t get to finish that sentence before I uppercut the asshole straight up, where he slammed into the fifteen metre high ceiling and stayed there, gawking down at me. Amplifying earth pony strength with unicorn magic is like getting struck by a shooting star. “Awesome,” Firefly said after a moment, looking up as her flames began to die down. I glared daggers at her. “Go back to the post you abandoned right now. I’ll deal with you later.” I took off, flapping my wings as hard as I can and ignoring protests from Celestia. With a bubble around myself, I hit Belcusas head on and we crashed through the stone ceiling, where I blasted him with a beam of magic. He went spinning towards the ground still clutching his stave, but right at the last second, his wings flared open and he began peeling away from the ground, banking upwards and climbing higher and higher at an alarming rate. With the application of Accelero, I was off like a rocket. I caught up to him just before a cloud bank with a roundhouse kick to his abdomen, then I fed even more magic into my punch, sending him plummeting to the ground, and kicking up a poof of dirt when he landed. As angry as I could be, I kept my gaze on Belcusas as he picked his roughed-up self from the ground. The commotion had drawn a crowd, ponies leaning out of windows to look at the display, or walking outside to get a better look at the show. “I’m not gonna lie, that actually hurt a little bit…” Belcusas stammered, dusting dirt, grass, and the odd pebble off himself. He righted himself with as much dignity as he could, and pointed the stave right at me. “My turn.” It erupted with an enormous amount of electrical energy and surged towards me like a thousand bolts of lightning. I only had enough reaction speed to throw up bubble shield, using it as an earth to dissipate the lightning. The lightning kept up a constant pressure against my shield; It was all I could to feed energy into my spell. Belcusas was trying to wear me down, but I had other plans. Keeping the spell focused, I threw my wings down and leapt high, momentarily escaping the lightning to throw a bolt of magic at Belcusas. It went wide, kicking up dirt at his feet and forcing him to shield the dirt from his eyes with a forehoof. Then, I threw another, bigger cone of magic directly at Belcusas, but I knew what he was going to do in advance. I flew directly into the middle of the swirling tornado of magic, straight down as Belcusas dissipated my beam with his staff. Caught completely off guard when he saw me exactly six inches from his face, I punched square in the middle of his chest and he went flying, right into the middle of a tree trunk and shaking a lot of the leaves loose. He fell forward onto the ground, and picked himself up again. “This is beginning to get irritating,” the stallion seethed. Once more Belcusas pointed the stave at me, drawing in an even larger amount of energy. I was able to sense that just in the nick of time, and when he fired, I had managed to cast Mirror Water. The exceedingly cold blast slammed into my spell, freezing the grass around and behind me for several metres. I managed to reflect what hit my spell, but by the time I looked back up to fire another beam, Belcusas was gone. I was alerted to his presence with a hoof drive itself directly into the middle of my back, knocking the wind out of me and flattening me like a pancake. Momentarily stunned from the surprise attack, Belcusas took the chance to roll me over, a look of premature victory writ across his face. “I win,” he said. I wasn’t about to let him get one over on me that easily, so I cocked a hind leg and kicked Belcusas straight in the nuts. His eyes just about popped out of his head as he reeled backwards, falling on his haunches with a foreleg clutching between his legs while the other held the staff. “Cheap shot…” he said through clenched teeth Even though I got him off me, the sudden look of rage in his eyes actually made me take a couple steps back. The stave’s crystal began to glow brightly, enveloping Belcusas. Right before my eyes, all his cuts, scrapes, scuffs and bruises began to disappear. Regenerative magic. I was in trouble. Then, Belcusas launched himself at me. I barely reacted in time to duck under his lunge, where I took to the air as he gave chase. Despite my speed enchantment, he was gaining metres in seconds as the aura from the stave kept working it’s magic on Belcusas. Boreas was right, he was using the stave’s magic to increase his own power! He’d been holding back the entire time! I kept ducking low, teleporting behind, and trying to outmaneuver him, but to no avail. All the while, blasts of ice and snow from the stave streaked by me as I dodged left and right. I literally kept flying Belcusas in circles to buy some time to think up a plan, but by the time I finished what I was doing, a blast of ice struck me in the back and froze my wings, and I began falling the fifty meters onto the ground where I landed with a sickening crunch. I slowly turned to see Belcusas flitting down on top of me as pain radiated out from my right wing. “I will admit, you fought well,” Belcusas admitted, “though it pains me to say that to a mare.” “This…” I coughed, “still isn’t over…” “What are you talking about? I’ve won; your wing is broken. As per the rules, this means I am the victor!” “Look around you, dumbass,” I smiled. Belcusas looked around at the large and gathered crowd, noticing how they all were looking up at the sky. With that distinctive “uh oh” look across his face, Belcusas slowly began looking up too, right at the massive array I had drawn during our fight. “How did you do that?! You had no time!” he roared. The ground around him began to glow white, trapping him in a gravity spell. “What is this?! I can’t move!” “This is the sweet taste of victory, asshole!” I teleported out of the way of the array as it reached critical mass, and a bullet storm of magic particles rained down like machine gun fire, violently peppering the ground and kicking up a massive cloud of dirt and detritus as I heard Belcusas roar in agony. The shockwave made everyone around shield their eyes from the dirt and stone being thrown their way, and I’m fairly certain I heard cheers of encouragement from onlookers at my victorious display. It took longer than I would’ve liked for the dirt to clear, but by the time it did, Belcusas’ piss-yellow coat had turned a distinctive brown from the amount of dirt coating him, and the stave had been knocked away, the stick having split in two while the crystal itself shattered into pieces of varying size. He was battered and bruised beyond recognition, cuts from sharp rocks that peppered him leaking several rivulets of crimson through his coat. He groaned pitifully as I approached, my broken wing dangling down by my side. It definitely hurt, but was just as bearable. I honestly thought Belcusas would put up more of a fight than what he did in all honesty. From what Boreas told me, I think she was overstating his capabilities. Sure he had the staff, but it didn’t appear he knew how to fully utilise it. It seemed he got his reputation for being utterly ruthless in his leadership and using the staff for the intimidation factor. I stared down at the stallion as he weakly shuffled around, causing small piles of dirt to slip off. Behind me, the sounds of metal-clad hoofsteps ran up to surround me. Belcusas’ soldiers. They stared down at him, and looked between us several times with aghast expressions. “Your King has been defeated by a mare. Let this moment forever be a reminder that we females are not inferior as you think,” I said evenly to them. “Go back to your kingdom and spread the word.” They gulped, then promptly took off. I then picked up Belcusas with my magic, then without a word to anyone, teleported the two of us to the castle’s infirmary. I found a vacant cot, then magicked some rope from a storage room to tie Belcusas face-down onto the cot, his legs bound to the cot’s legs. For further reinforcement, I engraved miniature sigils on the metal legs where his hooves were secured, weaker versions of the gravity spell I used just before. Along with those and the rope, he wasn’t going anywhere. When I looked up next, I saw a stallion nurse, clipboard on the floor, staring at me with an agape jaw. “Treat this stallion’s wounds, and my broken wing if you please.” Then, I plopped my sore ass down on a nearby cot and waited for the inevitable shitstorm to ensue. A few hours later after the ice on my wings had been melted, the broken one had been bandaged, put in a splint and secured to my side. Belcusas had also been treated, then I followed through on my promise on his accommodations until he woke up from a combination of Radiant’s anesthesia so she could properly set his wings, and a sleep spell I cast so he couldn’t wake up until he was in his cell. I hadn’t yet heard back from Belcusas’ soldiers yet, though I somehow didn’t think I would. After the battle, there were ponies scrambling to talk to me while Radiant bandaged my wing, but Veloce, who was still looking after Midnight in the same room I teleported into, was quick to shoo them off, after which I told her all of what happened. When I was finally ready to leave the infirmary, Celestia accomodated me to my room, and I had instructed Ares to look after Boreas so I could rest for the remainder of the afternoon. “I… still don’t know how to react, Luna,” Celestia said when I flopped onto my bed on my stomach. “On one hoof you managed to hold your own against a tyrannical dictator, on the other, however, you goaded him into doing what he did. Had you just giv–” “Stop right there, Celestia,” I snorted. “I know what you’re going to say, and I’m in the mood to smack you upside the face if you so much as utter those words.” I paused to let my words sink in, then I continued. “Make yourself useful and send Firefly in. When Belcusas wakes up, come get me. Now get lost so I can rest.” I waved Celestia off with a hoof. “You could’ve killed him!” Celestia further protested. I rolled my eyes. “And yet he’s still alive and breathing. I knew exactly how much magic I needed to feed into my spell to incapacitate him. Don’t treat me like I don’t know what I’m doing.” Celestia just grumbled at that; she knew I was right, but wasn’t in the mood to press the issue. “What shall I do with the staff in the meantime?” I thought on that as best as I could for a moment. “Have every single piece brought to my room. As far as I’m concerned, that stave rightfully belongs to Boreas now, and I want to try and repair it first.” “You never said what you wanted from Belcusas if you won. Does your plan have something to do with what you have in mind right now?” Celestia queried. “It has everything to do with my plan, which things seem to be going according to. Now I need to rest, so send in Firefly on your way out.” Shaking her head and rolling her eyes with an exasperated sigh, Celestia reluctantly turned tail and left, sending in Firefly on her way out. I pointed a hoof at the red mare as she entered. “You left your post earlier. Explain.” “Belcusas almost killed Midnight!” Firefly defended. “And what good would’ve storming the throne room, breaking the doors in the process, and melting the floor which has now got to be replaced have done, hmm?” “I was going to–” “Going to what, huh? Pick a fight with someone stronger than you and risk getting killed yourself? Undermine my authority? Which is what you did nonetheless… Fact of the matter is that you were the only one left to keep an eye on Boreas while Ares went for extra security. What if Boreas had been taken thanks to your negligence?” “I…” Firefly stammered off, her ears going flat against her head as she looked down. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I was so hell bent on trying to avenge Midnight that I neglected to do my duty.” I picked out a small length of parchment from my desk, dipped a quill in ink, and penned a small note. When I was done, I rolled it up and levitated it over to Firefly. “Go find Veloce and give her this. When she’s done reading it, you can read it too. As for the door and floor, the cost of fixing it is coming out of your paycheque. Just be glad I’m not giving you the boot.” As much as Firefly wanted to protest, she wisely decided against doing so. She left without another word, note in tow. As for what it said, I told Velo that Firefly would be taking over her shifts while Firefly herself would be further punished by looking after Midnight until I saw fit otherwise. With all that business taken care off, I finally managed the time to raise the moon. As much as I wanted to talk to Belcusas before the next day, my sleeping spell was a bit of a strong one, so I didn’t bank on him waking up until the following day. It also gave me an opportunity to give him a few choice dreams. Dreams, I found out, are quite interesting to say the least, and not in the way you’d expect. Memories from your life’s experiences get stored inside your mind. The way I look at it, dreams are almost like a vivid hallucination which your brain pieces together seemingly nonsensical memories to form a “replay” of sorts, and it was me who could manipulate what and how you dream; In short, whatever dream you were having, I could follow it back to and manipulate the original memory to make you dream of what I saw fit. I wasn’t going to give Belcusas any vicious nightmares or anything of that nature, no. I took memories of him and the society he lived in, and flipped it in its head to give him a taste of his own medicine. When he woke up, he’d know exactly what it would have been like to be a destitute stallion ruled by a tyrannical Queen.