//------------------------------// // Fury // Story: Change our ordained fate // by Emperorxeno //------------------------------// Her calm and content expression that never turns away from the high, spherical ceiling is an expression I never thought I would ever see her make. Now that I have seen it, I wished I never saw it again. Her gnarled and jagged horn that once held me in its grasp- mostly for punishment or trying to stop me from bugging her- now remains silent. I had the servants clean up her mane back to its maculate condition, but yet it still clings to a sense of raggedness as if an act of defiance. She lays on the center of a large, exotic bed her mother claimed in a raid against the zebra king ram the second two-and-a-half centuries ago. Covering up most of her frame was a bright ichor-green bed sheet inlined with runes of ‘temperate weather’ to help maintain her temperature, and ‘pulse check’ to alarm us if she ever went critical. The mere sight of the crisscrossing rivers of cracks running up and down on her Long, slender neck, and down onto her chest that was covered by the bed, makes me- even now- tremble with barely contained rage and hate. Even though the royal physician assured me that the worst of it wouldn’t scar, doesn’t know when- or if- she’ll ever wake up. The line of succession if mother was to perish, however, leaves a pit of worry and stress within my heart. By technical right of succession, my sister- Pupa Chrysallwing- is the one to directly take over mother Incase of her death. But, combined with her hind legs being stunted, her learning difficulties, her weary health, and slew of minor physical deformities that doesn’t paint a pretty picture for a ruler of a hive as cannibalistic as the Vesalipolis. Just looking the casualties reports make that pit all the more pronounced and heavy. So many dead or dying in field hospitals just from impacting the ground at high velocity. So many mangled beyond recognition that we had to bury them in mass graves with nothing but an obsidian obelisk to mark which division their part of. Of the 24 guard divisions, only 6 made are still alive. The only real reason why their even alive right now, is because I suggested to mother that she holds a few divisions in reserve, and distribute them where needed. 5 divisions of the old guard, and one division of the new guard. My guard. Those that entrusted their lives to me. Saw me as a brother, a friend, and a comrade ready to fight and die alongside them. And I wasn’t there to be with them due to the fact that someone had to stay behind and take command of the garrison troops Incase one of the other major hives takes this opportunity to invade us. I argued with mother that I should be there to lead my guard divisions personally, but to also maintain the cohesiveness with so many of us swarming around, but she wouldn’t hear a word of it. And as the failure I am, I did not pursue the argument. Now, mother is in a coma that she is unlikely to ever wake up from, and most of the guard are dead. And it’s their and my fault. They refused all our diplomats, our messages, and our attempts to establish contact. They refused to listen to reason. Refused to all of our diplomatic attempts to trade for the love we needed to stave off the after effects of the famine that we recently went through. So we tried to the trade going by force. From what information that I could gather from the crippled survivors, mother seems to have gone a bit overboard with all the theatrics and gloating. And before she could actually even begin the talks, they sent them all flying, thinking nothing of the consequences of their actions. I wonder if they even bother to check to see where they landed. Brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, friends, and many more are now gone into the great beyond. Widows, orphans, and ruined lives aplenty to be found on the streets. Mass mourning is currently taking place on the streets at this very moment. The tears of despair that falls from the innocent eyes of all those children, instead of dampening my anger, fueled my rage into a burning inferno of malevolence that I struggled to reign in. I want them to burn. I want them to pay. I want them to suffer. I want them to... “M-My lord.”, a familiar, stuttering voice suddenly spoke up from behind me, breaking the ever darkening trail I was trekking ever downwards on. Turning around to see who it was, I saw a Changeling wearing a commanding officer blue helmet. Their chitin was a deep grey, their ears turned into pointed tips at the ends, their eyes a bright, emerald green, with his slitted pupils a much lighter shade of the same color. In height, the top of his head touched the bottom of my chin. “What is it, Adolf?”, I snapped at him, with aggravation heavily embedded in its tone. It wasn’t my intention to snap at him, but my has long since soured when I received the first casualty report on my desk. As if wilting Like a dead flower under my wrathful gaze, he continued to speak with a more nervous tone of voice. “The House of Lords, sir. They require you at the meeting.”, he nervously stated, all the while looking in every direction except mine in some vague attempt to not incur my wrath. “The House of Lords? What is it that they want from me now?”, I questioned, already feeling a migraine coming on. House of Lords. More like House of Nymphs. Too busy scheming and plotting to properly manage the hive correctly. Well, it’s more of the fault of the camber of barons, but the ‘lords’ don’t do anything to fix that. The mess that is hive bureaucracy, was always a constant aggravation for mother. Before Adolf could respond, we heard a soft thud of something hitting wood. Looking around for the source, I saw nothing in my peripheral vision. Then another thud was heard. Then another. And another. And another. Soon, a series of consistent thuds began to sound off in an offbeat sync. Craning my head to the right to look past Adolf, I saw the right, dark-oak door being nudged open more and more. After another moment of the nudging, the door was slightly ajar. Poking through the gap was a short, darkly colored, scaly muzzle. Curling its lips, it flicked out its forked tongue into the air, as if tasting it. Retracting its tongue back into its mouth, it let out an almost purring hiss that reverberated throughout the room like a deep note played on a cello. As if satisfied, the thing slithered into full view. An utterly massive snake with a large, muscular mass that appears to not inhibit it’s quick movements in any way. “I should‘ve known that it was you outside, Slythera. You know that doors aren’t a necessary entrance for you.”, i said in amusement, managing to garner my first chuckle I had in a while. “But that’s besides the point.”, I responded, turning my small smile into a deep frown. “I gave you specific orders to stay by my sister and guard her from any and all threats for the foreseeable future.”, I questioned, the unhappiness in my voice dropping ever so slightly. Instead of wilting like many have under my gaze, she meets it with an indifference many would kill to have. Her eyes then began to quickly glow a deep, blood-red that spoke of dark knowledge. After a moment of silence, Slythera finished passing her knowledge to me, and then proceeded to retreat into my shadow as she usually does. Turning to look at Adolf- who stood petrified in fear the entire time- for an answer to my burning question. “Adolf,”, I said, trying and succeeding at regaining his attention. “Why is my sister in the House of Lords?”, I demanded as I stalked closer and closer to Adolf. Realizing that I was getting closer, he hurriedly scrambled backwards, and tried to reason with. “T-That’s th-the reason I came here, my lord. The lords have decreed that a dictator shall be made for the duration of the Queen’s coma. Every prince, princess, dukes, counts, barons, and remaining generals are to participate in the voting of the dictator.”, Adolf fearfully responded, his eyes closed in preparation for a strike that would never come. Instead, he found me pacing back and forth in deep thought. ‘A dictator? We never had a dictator in the last 50 years. Never needed one with mother having such a solid foothold here, anyways. But with mother the way she is, and the guard at its current state, I’m afraid of who’ll use this moment grab for power. Then again, the others would probably tear them apart, just so they can claim it for themselves.’, I thought in extreme worry. ‘If necessary, I’ll have the support of the guard if I ever needed to overthrow whoever is voted into power. I may be able to convince whoever becomes dictator to go through the ‘future of steel’ plan. At the very least, they could modernize the guard, since it would be a waste of equipment.’, I pondered as the gears began turn and chug in my mind. “Adolf, is queen Helvia going to be in attendance?”, i asked, already next to him and partly out the doorway. Breaking out of his stupor, he seemed to think on my question for a moment before responding. “Yes she is, my lord. Should I send her a message?”, he asked while following behind me through the doorway. Firmly closing doors, and giving a nod of acknowledgement to the guard on both sides of the door, I began to leisurely walk towards our destination. “No need. I have a feeling that she understands what must not happen no matter the cost.”. ———————————————————— “These are all that we’ve managed to find, Princess. There’s still no sign of the Queen or a large portion of the swarm.”, one of the night guard reported to princess Luna with a standard salute. With sigh of disappointment, Luna waves off the guard to continue their search. “Of all the things that could’ve happened during my fruitless time away at the Hooviet Union, it had to be changelings.”, she muttered under her breath. When Luna left for her first official diplomatic meeting, her sister promised her that no massive scale of political mishap would happen. And what does she come back after a whole lot of nothing? Her sister tired beyond belief, Canterlot heavily damaged, goo-like substance everywhere, her niece being married, and changelings were sent flying at high velocities. Normally, it would be the changelings who are seen in a bad light. But, due to the fact that they are finding so many that are dead or soon to be dead. Those that they managed to save, are crippled for life without the possibility of returning to their guard carriers. What made it worse, was that it wasn’t just any of the queens. Oh no. It had to be queen Chrysalis the 23rd, who is widely popular amongst the still independent central hives. If Chrysalis is in the same state as most of these changeling drones appear to be, the kiss goodbye to their already strenuous diplomatic channels in the area. “Stupid love shield. Stupid politically inept niece and that consort of hers.”, she further grumbled as she trotted towards the large, black and blue tent ahead of her. Don’t get Luna wrong., she still loves her niece. It’s just Cadence’s inability to see just how large the political ramifications she caused are going to be, drives her mad. Cadence still has the notion that the global political community will side with them and condemn the actions of Chrysalis. Does she even know of the consequences of her actions? Luna knows that the one called ‘Shining Armor’ doesn’t. He even had the gall to call for anti-Changeling precautions to be implemented nationwide. She had to spend FIVE hours on just telling him why it was a bad, stupid idea. The sheer fact that Equestria has a few Changeling protectorates, makes the precautions seem ludicrous and and unwise in both theory and practice. She still balks at how her sister neglected teach cadence the finer point of politics. She knows Cadence would never really have need to know how to do it, since the plan her sister laid out leaves those kinds of things to Canterlot, but it still crazy how unready she is. Mayhap's she would benefit going through the training regime of old. As she pushed through the deceiving heavy flaps with her magic, she saw her sister pouring over a rudimentary map of the area. “Still no sign of her, sister. At this rate, the theory of Chrysalis landing somewhere else is becoming all the more plausible by the hour.”, Luna sourly commented, quickly coming to the other side of Celestia. With a sigh of exasperation, Celestia brought her left hoof to her brow in an attempt to stave off the oncoming migraine. With no such success. “Luna, we’ve already been through with this already. Wether or not we do find her at all, is not the goal here at this very moment. We’re here to find as many as we can, separate and bury those, comfort those on the veil of death, and save those that we can.”, Celestia tiredly stated to her sister for the tenth time. She was not in the mood to get into another verbal joust with Luna over this topic. “If we find, then we’ll do what is necessary. If not, we’ll just have to worry about that when we get there. This ain’t the days of old, where you could go in and out of a foreign with neither a peep or protest from the natives. Now, it would be a declaration of war. Even with our protectorates, we are bound by the 923 Canter pact to respect their sovereignty.”, Celestia cautiously stated, knowing all too well the look on Luna’s face and what it meant. “I know that, sister. It’s just that I’m worried the rumors that are coming out of the Changeling lands, and the long standing consequences of today’s actions will have on the Thestral minorities and city-states in the area.”, Luna replied with a voice heavily embedded with worry and concern. While Celestia understood her sister’s worries about the Thestrals, it was the comment about rumors that got her ears to perk up. “Rumors? What rumors?”, Celestia asked Luna, who now had her undivided attention. “I’m surprised that you haven’t heard of them yet. Their mostly focused around Chrysalis’s legitimate son. How he is very popular amongst the hives, even more so then his mother. How he is a very accomplished general, and Advocates for the formation of a modern army with the latest weaponry and tech available. Most concerning is his calls for a unified Changeling empire, and the downfall of the Hooviet Republic. From what information that I could gather was the is huge for Changelings, has a very strong magic aptitude, and is very charismatic.”, Luna explained, as if listening off things from a nonexistent list. While the news is concerning- she will have to in contact with her sources- Celestia couldn’t see anything that they or Equestria could do about it in the foreseeable future. “Luna, even if all that you said was true, there’s nothing that we could do besides send a diplomat sometime in the future. The Harmonic law prohibits us from doing anything military-wise, unless it’s a defensive war.”, She explained with a voice full of exhaustion brought by that memory. Luna simply scowled instead of verbally responding. It still enrages her when she found out that the nobility took advantage of her sister’s unconscious state after their battle. But by Faust, she was right. What could they do? Their either too busy cleaning up messes around Equestria, or prohibited from doing it by a bunch of unnecessary red tape. She herself is too busy trying to mend the rift between the three tribes and the Thestrals. By the gods, she hopes that this doesn’t blow up in their faces. For the good of Equestria and all future generations.