//------------------------------// // 33- Riders On The Storm // Story: Changing Expectations // by KKSlider //------------------------------// Arc 4: War For The Sun “In two months, we begin our march to Canterlot and begin The War for The Sun.” In the throne room, a massive table was put in front of the throne, with a blown-up map of the Kingdom of Equestria covering it. Sitting around the map was Commander Scorpion, Intelligencer Ocelli, General Aphid, General Labrum, and the various Captains of the minor Legions. Assembled outside of the seated area were the various Colonels and officers assigned to the Legions who would need to be privy to today’s meeting. Queen Chrysalis sat high up in her throne, with Chamberlain Eucharis and myself in front and to her sides. I continued my presentation of the war plans to the assembled hierarchy. “Phase one, The Promised Day. The Equestria’s Lament will be taking out Canterlot with the aid of The Praetorians, the majority of The First Infiltrator Legion, the Panar’s Hammer, the Will of The Nine, the Underhive Scarabs, and division attachments from the Eleventh and Twelfth, Chosen Conquerors and Hive’s Finest.” I TKed up stone pieces representing each Legions and placed them on the map. “The Doom of The East will be responsible for the East Coast. With them will be the Bombardier Beetles and attachments from the Eleventh and Twelfth.” I moved the mentioned Legions over to the East Coast. “The Blackened Skies are responsible for the West push. To aid them, the Imminent Swarm and attachments from the Eleventh and Twelfth, as usual.” Finally, I pushed those Legions to the West, by their targets. “For the initial push, The First Infiltrators will be taking out border emplacements. Then, it is up to the legion to capture the towns along the way. By the Promised Day, Equestria’s Lament and the attached Legions will be in position to begin the siege of Canterlot. Each division assigned has a purpose they have been training for. And so, each of your Colonels will be given targets within Canterlot itself that you are responsible for taking down. Barracks, guard emplacements, districts, and so on. The Princesses, Queen Chrysalis and I will take down.” The changelings present took notes and I continued with the next stage of the invasion. “Phase two, Capitulation. Once Canterlot has fallen, and the first cities on the East and West have as well, the central push will move on from Canterlot. Underhive Scarabs will stay garrisoned in Canterlot as the Chosen Conquerors work on subduing the city. “Half of Equestria’s Lament will move north, engaging any forces in the region after the capture of Cloudsdale. Aiding them will be Will of The Nine and Imminent Swarm, who will break off from the Western push after Los Pegasus has fallen. “Blackened Skies will continue to take objectives, ending their path in the northern city of Vanhoover. “With the fall of Baltimare, the Doom of The East will press north through Fillydelphia, all the way to Manehattan. This is expected to be the longest part of the invasion, and so half of Equestria’s Lament as well as the entirety of Panar’s Hammer will split off to aid the capitulation of these cities. “Finally, with the last pony city captured, our Legions will be in prime position to repel foreign invaders from the East, in case the Griffons decide they want to aid Equestria. Any questions so far?” Captain Obturator asked, “Projected friendly casualties?” “Projected casualties are lower than ten percent for the Canterlot push. The East and West push will depend on how much of the Equestrian Royal Guard command is captured in Canterlot. If more than seventy five percent, then it is expected that Equestria will capitulate within a month with negligible losses. “As we are using primarily stun spells against the ponies, casualties are expected to be concentrated within the Royal Guard. Capturing their high command as early as possible is of paramount importance. The quicker they are taken, the less effective the defense of Canterlot will be.” The Swarm commanders held quiet conversations amongst themselves. A few voiced questions loud enough for me to hear and respond to. “We’re going to get all the way to Canterlot before revealing ourselves?” I nodded, “Surprise will be our greatest weapon. That, and fear. The other two Line Legions will begin the trek along their routes, but Canterlot will fall before they reach their first major cities on their path.” “Is it not possible to capture VIPs using the Infiltrator Legion before the invasion?” “It was decided that replacing them before the invasion would create a risk of discovery. Instead, the highest targets of the Royal Guard will be taken down just as the invasion arrives, to minimize chances of discovery of the Infiltrators and their aiding Legions.” “How will the pony population be controlled once Equestria falls?” I glanced at Queen Chrysalis. “The Chosen Conquerors will be handling that issue,” was all she said in her usual ambiguous fashion. “Any plans for feeding the Swarm in the meantime?” “Supply caches will be created during and before the invasion,” I answered. “These love caches will be used to feed the Swarm, especially in the worst-case scenario of a protracted siege.” General Labrum scoffed, “So we’ll be putting our entire food supply in front of the Swarm, and have them run up to it?” Chrysalis smiled, “We’re already doing that. The ponies are the end all be all.” When no more questions came up, I moved on. “Phase three, Consolidation. The Chosen Conquerors will have detailed instructions for each Legion to carry out when it comes to corralling and capturing any ponies that have fled from population centers under changeling control. “Examples of such instructions would be the establishment of checkpoints, the destruction of key infrastructure, and the infiltration of rebel and refugee bands. Should the entirety of the Royal Guard high command be captured at this point, resistance is expected to be scarce and scattered. So ends the Kingdom of Equestria.” Queen Chrysalis rose from her throne and immediately all seated changelings rose as well. “My subjects. This is the beginning of a new era for our species. The War For The Sun shall change the face of Equus forever, and we shall finally be at the top. As it is woven, so it shall be!” “As it is woven, so it shall be!” The assembled changelings echo. As the changelings started to file out, I gave a discrete nod to Labrum and Aphid. “A lot is riding on Canterlot’s capitulation,” Aphid pointed out. We stood close to each other in the cold storage room. The rest of the Lodge organizers were present. The First Fang, too. “Yes. If it does not fall, the linchpin operation and assumptions of the invasion plan falls apart. As expected, if the Princesses are not captured, the invasion will not succeed.” “Are there not any backup plans to make sure the Princesses don’t escape?” “We will have an encirclement of the city but there are far too many possible exits to cover everything. No, I’m afraid not, Labrum. Our chiefest and greatest weapon is surprise. Should Equestria survive the initial blow at Canterlot, the invasion will most likely be scrapped. We will pod as many ponies as we can, and make off. However, there is expected to be reprisal counter-attacks by Equestria. We… will not survive those if they find the hive.” “Why even make off with podded ponies then? Surely we can just regroup and try again.” “Because…” I trailed off. “Because what, Phas?” Thorax motioned for me to continue. ‘Time for the bombshell Chrysalis finally told me about.’ “The hive will run out of food within four months.” ‘Yeah, let’s keep our species' imminent collapse a secret. Talk about a hidden Damocles Sword!’ Many Lodge members gasped at the revelation, but some nodded, already suspecting the ultimatum. “This is our species last huzzah, our last gambit for our species' survival in this world. If we fail here, we’re done.” Weevil, my most loyal contact within the Praetorians, just got angry. “Why tha’ hell did Chryssy not launch this invasion sooner? Why did she wait for the last second before shoving all of this onto your shoulders?!” The room erupted into a sudden argument. “How long has she said that she always had the best intentions–” “Panar damn it! She’ll kill us all!” “–our fates on a nymph less than a year–” “ENOUGH!” I commanded verbally and through the Weave as I stomped a hoof. “Queen Chrysalis, by all rights, should have not left the invasion until the last possible second. She should have. She did not.” The arguments started to rise again, but I cut them off. “It is clear that she cannot be trusted! By leaving all of us in the dark, especially myself, the mastermind of the invasion plans, she jeopardizes everything by risking missing important details paramount to the survival of our species. By leaving this to the last second, she puts the fate of our species up to chance. The chance that the plan succeeds and Canterlot falls as expected, with the Princesses in tow. She puts our species’ survival to chance!” Now the Lodge members were outright yelling their outrage. “–a fucking diceroll!” “–that son of a–” “What can we even do?” ‘And now, for the main event!’ “It is our duty to safeguard the future of our species! In her attempts to hoard power and control, Queen Chrysalis must be checked, lest her errant irresponsibility doom us all! As such, I have assembled a plan to peacefully check Queen Chrysalis’s radical misuse of powers entrusted by the hive to her. I will present her with a list of our demands once Canterlot has fallen, and she will have no choice but to accept them.” “What are our demands?” Aphid asked. ‘Control the conversation.’ “No more grand secrets that put the hive in danger. No more executing changelings for any reason. No more ultimate control over what each changeling must be. We demand free choice of occupation. We demand a restriction on her powers. We demand an end to her tyranny!” Coxa, as we planned, asked, “What if she refuses?” “With Equestria capitulated, she will have no way to refuse our demands. We will not jeopardize the invasion, nor will we approach her with open hostility if she is willing to accept our demands. However, we must plan for every outcome. Queen Chrysalis is loyal to herself first, the hive second. She will try to worm her way out by any means.” ‘Chrysalis, if it comes down to it, I am prepared to risk everything. Are you?’ “So, we must be prepared to remove the existential threat to the hive that sits upon the throne. With the Princesses taken down, she serves no purpose but continuously put the hive at risk with her arrogance. “For the hive eternal, nothing can come between us and survival! We shall hope that she sees reason, but must be ready to act against the traitor, Queen Chrysalis!” ‘But of course, we’re the loyal ones, not you!’ “For the greater good!” “The greater good!” The First Fang echo, with some Lodge members joining in. The Promised Day inched closer and closer with each passing day. Coming quick at a blitzing pace while also slowly dragging itself forward. ‘Things will finally change around here. The time will come to test our mettle, both the hive’s and mine. I must be ready.’ Some good news, Coxa signaled that the backup operation was in place. Some bad news, Chrysalis wanted to talk with me. Actually, the exact words were that she will talk to me immediately. ‘Ominous as high hell. If a Lodge member squealed, I’ll pass the treachery off as baseless rumor, like how changelings think I ordered the execution of someone. I’ve been nothing but loyal, why would I ever consider betraying Chrysalis?’ I entered the throne room from the main gates, having come from the training room I used in the Legion spires. Queen Chrysalis was sitting upon her throne, Eucharis by her side, whispering to her. ‘Wormtongue.’ “You called for me, Queen Chrysalis?” “Prince Phasmatodea.” ‘Oh fuck, my full name. That is never a good sign’ “Do not think that I am watching your actions, Prince Phasmatodea. I have received word that a disappearance of love has been connected to your office.” “You received word of a subordinate of mine stealing love?” “Do you deny this?” ‘Do I? No, I bet I can get away with it but everyone makes mistakes. Even better, if I was perfect all the time, that would just cause her to suspect me more. By accepting the blame now, I can maybe avoid her suspecting treachery later.’ “No, mother. I... I do not. I gave the okay.” Queen Chrysalis silently glared at me. I started to shuffle around on my hooves, feeling uncomfortable. ‘I bet you can drill a hole through steel with that stare.’ “M– err… I can explain?” She said nothing, but her gaze said enough. “Well, you see, I was… Uh…” ‘My, what an interesting floor. I think I’ll stare at it instead.’ “No explanation will be good enough?” “No.” I purposely flinched. “What… now?” ‘I know you can’t go through with the normal punishment of exile. You need me, ha!’ “We are so close to the promised day. Losing control just before the pounce will cost you your prey, Prince Phasmatodea.” “Have you ever even gone hunting?” “Irrelevant. All of our actions have consequences, Prince Phasmatodea. By stealing love from the hive, you put at risk the trust the drones have in us. To keep your hooves on the ground, I place burdens on your shoulders.” ‘That’s actually true. As long as the Lodges don’t find out, everything is fine. I could say that if a Lodge member gets banished, I created this backup plan to save them. They might see it as risking the hive for the life of one changeling, though. Hmmm.’ “Are you even listening?” “Yes, Mother.” ‘I’ll need to come up with something convincing to tell the Lodge, just in case. This really hurts Chrysalis too if it leaks, but if anything can go wrong…’ “I don't think you are. You are dismissed, Prince Phasmatodea. We will resume this talk later, when you are most definitely listening.” ‘I can say I am capable of making mistakes, and finding out that Chrysalis murders her children has made me a bit rash. Drop that bombshell on them and reveal that I’ve been inside the vault. Wait, did I just miss another ominous threat?’ “As you command, Mother.” I slowly paced my way to my room, not looking at her out of shame. ‘Not that I’m actually ashamed. Afraid, a little bit, but not ashamed. Whatever you are up to, I will survive.’ I chuckled quietly as I shut the door to my study behind me. ‘But can you survive what I’m up to?’ I quietly sang to myself, “Do Svidaniya, Chrysalis, Your Grace! Farewell!”