On the 19th day of spring, the thaw finally came, and the ice released its grip on the mountainside. Grass covered the quad, flowers filled the gardens, and the orchards at the edge of campus sprung into life. It took only days for the oppressive grey to replaced by a riot of color. Some of the students even started a club to add ivy to the walls, hoping to breathe a bit of life into the grounds.
The 19th day of spring was a Monday. On Friday, citing numerous diplomatic incidents, the Republic of Griffonstone formally dissolved its non-aggression pact with the Crystal Empire and signed a mutual defense treaty with the Northern Changeling Hive. On Saturday, war broke out.
The next Monday, the Ivy Club held its first meeting to discuss the best way to build trestles, and the Crystal Empire surrendered.
Cheval couldn’t cry. Her eyes didn’t have tear ducts. But Cross Product could cry.
She sobbed into Gideon’s shoulder.
“It’s…” He rested his talons on her back, wrapping his wings around her like a blanket. “It could be worse.”
“You have raked me over the coals at every opportunity for being a liar you unbelievable tool,” she snapped, barely able to form words around her tears, “don’t you dare tell me what I want to hear.”
“You’re right. You’re right.” He squeezed her against him. “I’m sorry.”
The newspaper in the student lounge had a map of the north. In the center was a little white dot, labeled “Crystal Empire proper.” Surrounding it on all sides was a large grey blob labeled, “Disputed Territory.”
Surrounding the grey blob on all sides was a black area labeled “Northern Changeling Hive.” It washed over every port, railway, and road. It flowed along rivers and coastlines and national boundaries. Cadence’s domain no longer had a border with Equestria.
Nopony died. When it became clear which way the battle was going to go, Amaryllis offered General Harmony Shield very generous surrender terms. Cadence’s army got to march home unharmed, and even kept their weapons.
Gideon held Cheval for as long as she needed, muttering soft nothings and keeping her close. A few other griffons in the student lounge stared, but when Gideon shot them a hostile glare, they decided to be elsewhere. Soon, the two of them had the lounge all to their own.
“I saw that,” Cheval croaked, when one student fled. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I hate gossipers. It’s pathetic.”
“Scaring them off will only make them gossip more.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, and leaned up to look him in the eye. “Is there any good news? You’re political, right? You have training?”
“It isn’t exactly my specialty.” He looked at the map, then down at her. “But…”
“I know.”
He gave a small nod. “Are you going to go home?”
“No. I’d only make it worse.” She sniffed, but her eyes darted down for a moment—jumping from his eyes to the cadent pins on his collar. “But the odds would be a lot better if the griffons were on our side.”
Gideon’s smile was soft—almost apologetic. “You know that’s a little above me, right?”
“I don’t understand how the Party can support a ruler who literally thinks of her people as her property. Queen Amaryllis is offensive to everything the perpetual revolution stands for.”
“I know that. But Princess Cadence is an unelected monarch too. We don’t really have an ideological horse in that race.” He brushed her shoulders with a talon. “We’re betting on the winner. That’s all.”
“You think Amaryllis is a winner, huh?” Resentment seeped into her tone. But Gideon refused to rise to the bait.
“Cross, do you want me to be honest, or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?”
She hesitated and bit her lip. “I want you to be honest. Always. It’s what I admire about you.”
“I don’t think Amaryllis is a political genius. I don’t know what the Griffbureau thinks, but I doubt they believe she’s brilliant either. But they know that Cadence is a loser. And no matter how much I or they might personally like her, no griffon bets their life savings on a losing horse.”
“It’s not her fault,” Cheval snapped. “She doesn’t personally command the army. She’s had a lot of bad generals in a row.”
Gideon didn’t shout, but his tone hardened, losing its layer of sympathetic fluff. “In Griffonstone, a general who surrendered their entire army without a fight would be publicly executed for cowardice. Is Harmony Shield going to be hanged off the palace walls?”
“She was surrounded and outmaneuvered. The writing was on the wall.” Cheval glared. “So, what, she should have sacrificed her entire army to make a glorious last stand? Gotten all her ponies killed for nothing?”
“Yes,” Gideon said. “Because tens of thousands of casualties would have forced Celestia, Luna, and Twilight to intervene. A bloodless surrender makes it easier for Amaryllis’s agents to keep Equestria’s princesses focused on Equestrian problems.”
That made her snap. Her voice rose. “She can’t butcher thousands of her own ponies just to make a political point!”
“Then she can’t be a ruler.” Gideon released Cheval’s shoulders and folded his wings back against his sides. Cold air rushed in around her and ruffled her coat. “Back in the first war. What would have happened if Amaryllis lost?”
“Her, um… her hive would have reformed. Become good guys. And—”
“Stop pretending to be stupid,” Gideon snapped, a note of anger entering his tone.
They glared at each other for a few long seconds. Cheval’s expression softened first, and she said, “Her hive would have been destroyed. Or at least, it would have become like Thorax’s. A non-political settlement that controls no empire.”
“And now she rules the yak and the diamond dogs and quite a few crystal ponies. And if she loses a major war with the Crystal Empire or Equestria, what will happen to those territories?”
“They’ll be liberated. Become their own countries. Probably with some treaty terms limiting the size of Amaryllis’s army so she can’t conquer them again.”
“So, in summary, her empire will be destroyed.”
“Yes.”
Gideon let the silence hang for a moment. He nodded. “And what happens to Cadence if she finally loses the Crystal Empire proper?”
Cheval didn’t answer, and so Gideon answered for her: “She goes back to her palace in Equestria, takes tea with her aunt, raises her children, and says very mean things about changelings in the papers.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I thought you said you were going to stop pretending to be stupid.” Gideon’s words emerged with a hot snap. “Cadence is playing the game of empires like it’s a round of croquet behind Canterlot Palace. Amaryllis is playing to win. She does what she needs to. She does what she can. She gambles. And when she loses a gamble, and things don’t go her way, her officers don’t surrender. They fight to the death.”
He let out a breath. With a talon, he gestured down at the map. “Amaryllis is a winner because she wants to win. And Cadence is a loser because she doesn’t. That’s how I feel. And that’s how the Party feels. And I support that decision, not just because I’m wearing a uniform, but because it is the right thing for Griffonstone.”
Then he said: “And if that means we can’t be friends, I understand.”
“Heh.” Cheval sniffed. “One argument and you think that means we’re not friends?” She lowered her head to the floor for a few seconds, and when she lifted it again, she was smiling. “Or are you afraid of getting hurt again?”
Gideon froze. His expression locked into a neutral mask. Cheval didn’t mind, and kept speaking like nothing had happened: “You’re a walking lie-detector. No griffon or pony can get anything past you. Except her. You believed her for years.”
He pulled his head back, grimacing down at her. “So the reason you’re so fake all the time is your actual personality is a malevolent bitch.”
“I can be whatever you want. I can cry into your shoulder, and listen while you tell me everything is going to be okay, and be a dim, fragile little mare who needs a big strong stallion to protect her. Or I can be the intelligent, independent, strong creature who can stand up to you.” She flicked him with her tail. “But I can’t be both of those things at the same time, so you gotta decide what you want.”
“What I…” He froze, shooting her an incredulous look. “Cross, I don’t know what you think is happening here, but we’re just friends. I’m not into ponies. At all. You are not physically attractive to me. And even if you were, I just broke up with my girlfriend.”
“The griffon doth protest too much.” She put her hooves up on his shoulders, rising up on her hind legs to look him in the eye.
“What is wrong with you?” he asked, attempting to pull away from her.
He never completed the motion. Her eyes flashed green, and he paused where he stood. A befuddled expression crossed his face, soon followed by a hot flush.
“You’re not into ponies,” Cheval said, “but you are into me. Aren’t you?”
“You’re, um…” His eyes traveled over her, from her horn to her hips. “I’m not rebounding with you, Cross. It’s not happening.”
“I was flirting, not inviting you into bed.” Cheval rolled her eyes. “I’m merely observing that I noticed you noticing me. Say something you like about me. Say why I’m attractive.”
“You’ve got…” He frowned as the gears in his head turned. “I like griffons with wide tail feathers. So I guess you’ve got… nice hips?”
“See? I’ve got nice hips.” She kissed his beak. “Is that so bad?”
“I guess not.” Though his voice was still confused, he nuzzled her back. “Do you think… griffons are attractive?”
“Not in general,” Cheval giggled. “But I like you. Your blood smells nice.”
She kept the bloody rag from when he injured his forehead. Although the smell had mostly gone out of it, she still sniffed it sometimes to remind herself of him.
One day, in the spring, Gia burst into their room. “I can’t believe you!”
Cheval was working at her desk in the form of Cross Product. She didn’t look up. “If this is about my letting Girard cheat off my exam, that’s not true. I don’t know who started that stupid rumor.”
Gia stormed across the room and knocked Cheval’s textbook off her desk. “It’s about you and my ex-boyfriend necking in the common spaces.”
Cheval jumped at the attack on her desk, but when she recovered her composure, she smiled. “Gia, that’s stupid. Changelings are sterile, remember? I don’t ‘neck’ with any creature.”
“Changelings drones are sterile.”
“And I’m a drone.” Cheval spread her hooves. “Don’t imagine things.”
“You are-!” Gia reached back to lock the door to their room, then lowered her voice. “You are not a drone. You are taller than a drone. You are thinner than a drone. Well, thinner in the waist. Noticeably wider in the hips. And you have hair. The only two changelings I’ve seen with hair are Queen Amaryllis and Queen Chrysalis.”
“Don’t be…” She let out a breath. “Silly. And it’s fine, okay?”
“It’s not fine.” Gia growled. “Don’t think I didn't notice you were around when we broke up. Did you do something? If you did something I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Admit that you sheltered a foreign national with false papers?” Cheval rose to her hooves. In a flash, she reverted from her disguise to her true form. With the added height, she looked down on Gia. “I’m the daughter of a head of state. If you sell me out, I get to go back to my palace, and you get to spend the rest of your life doing hard labor.”
Gia froze. “I trusted you. I stuck my neck out for you.”
“I know you did.” Cheval’s eyes glowed a soft green, and Gia’s eyes glowed in turn. “Because you’re my friend, right?”
“Yes.” Gia said. “I mean, yes. We’re friends.”
“And friends watch out for friends. Remember? I took care of you when you were sick, and you took care of me. Which means when I ask you for a favor, you need to do it. Right?”
“That…” She furrowed her brow, confusion written all over her features. “That doesn’t sound right.”
“But is it right?”
“I guess…” The green glow behind her eyes intensified. “Yes. Yes, that’s right. We’re friends so when you ask me for a favor I need to do it.”
“Mmmhmm,” Cheval said. “And it’s okay. You didn't love Gideon anyway. You were only dating him for the physical attraction. And if you miss that, I can help.”
In a flash, she turned into Gideon. Her talons rested over Gia’s throat.
They kissed once. That was enough to cement the spell's effect on Gia’s mind, and Cheval had no interest in going further.
Gia and Gideon weren’t in a relationship anymore, and so Cheval could harvest love from neither of them. To survive, she had to look elsewhere.
Griz had a girlfriend he cared about, so Cheval beguiled her into signing up for a season serving the Party on a collectivist farm. Once she was gone, Cheval took her form so she could ‘return early.’ The real one sent letters of course, but it was so easy to persuade him to throw them away.
One of her mathematics professors had a son who hated her, and she longed for nothing more than to repair their relationship. Cheval offered her the opportunity, blaming any imperfections in the disguise on injuries suffered in the army.
She had casual friendships too. They weren’t sustaining on their own, but they could be a delicious addition to more substantive fare. There wasn’t a griffon in the dorm who didn’t like Cross Product.
One day in the summer, when the trees were in bloom and the air was pleasantly warm, Gideon surprised her. He had a gift for her—a book of poetry. He kissed her under the trees.
It was the first time he’d kissed her spontaneously, instead of her having to beguile him. A flush rose in her cheeks. She wobbled on her hooves, unsteady. “I feel weird.”
“You feel hot.”
“Oh.” She looked at him. Then down at herself. “Am I sick?”
He laughed. “I doubt it.” Then he kissed her again.
They rushed back to the dorm. On their way through the common spaces, Cheval grabbed a handful of students she knew. “I need privacy,” her eyes flashed green. “Guard the door to my room.”
And they did it, because Cheval was their friend, and friends watch out for each other. They defended her from any intrusion. One, without even being asked, went outside to guard the window.
Inside the dorm room, Gia was working on homework. “Gia,” Cheval snapped, “stand in the corner and don’t say anything.”
So Gia stood in the corner and didn’t say anything. Gideon stripped off his uniform. Cheval stared into his eyes, and dropped her disguise.
He froze for a few, long seconds. Changeling magic shimmered behind his eyes. His face twitched as he first tried to snarl, then tried to smile, and found he couldn't complete either expression.
“Love me,” Cheval told him. “Please, love me.”
His will broke. He spun her around, grabbed her by the back, and lifted her tail.
Gia stood in the corner, said nothing, and watched.
Queen Amaryllis’s personal train pulled into the station at Griffonstone.