//------------------------------// // 120- Callias // Story: Changing Expectations // by KKSlider //------------------------------// We switched seats so that Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor were all on the far side of the table, while I sat next to Celestia, who still sat at the head of the table. This way, Luna was not in the middle of our discussion. The three ponies agreed that they would hold their silence for the most part, but would interject if they felt the need to. Celestia retrieved a stack of papers from a servant that brought them in at request, and laid them out before her. In addition, a small team of stenographers set up at the far end of the table, ready to record the meeting in writing. I had Celestia send a Royal Guard to inform the Fifth Hive that I would be needing the presence of its leaders– specifically Coxa’s– as soon as possible. While we waited for lunch, which apparently was delayed due to the efforts of reconstruction following a disastrous stampede of giant gingerbread ponies last night, we began the negotiations in earnest. Celestia had gone ahead and gotten us all beverages. Water for the four of us non-drunkards, and a light whisky cocktail 'to take the edge off' for the small alicorn whose blood alcohol content probably never dropped below five percent. 'I should definitely start making Archer references when talking to Celestia. Shes definitely a functioning alcoholic.' With everything ready, Celestia officially started the peace negotiations between Equestria and the Fifth Hive. “So, the Crystal Caves?” Celestia asked. I shook my head, “Perhaps we’d be better off starting at the big picture and working down from there.” Celestia nodded, “The most important thing above all others is the safety of my– of our ponies,” she corrected herself. “You have in captivity numerous equestrians, correct?” “Correct.” “Then as a sign of good faith, I want every last one of them freed.” I exhaled slowly, “You would have me give them up for nothing? That’s….” “A sign of good faith,” Celestia repeated. “We no longer have any captives to free, need I remind you? In fact, I do believe I sent out the order last night to free any still in our possession.” Begrudgingly, I nodded, “I will concede that point. Despite the fact that we were the ones who freed our imprisoned changelings, you have done your part in sending out the orders to free the enslaved changelings scattered throughout Equestria. However, most of our prisoners tried to either kill me or my changelings, you know. I cannot simply release them back into the wild, where they can roam freely, eat grass, frolic in meadows, and murder changelings to their heart’s content.” “Trials may be held, if that is what you wish. We will determine just how guilty these ponies are on an individual basis.” I snorted, “Trials in Equestrian courts? That’s hardly unbiased, especially given that there will be no small amount of animosity between our species in the years to come.” “I assure you, equal value will be placed upon the lives of both ponies and changelings.” “Oh, you assure me? I’m glad you know the personalities of all these potential judges and jurors and can absolutely confirm without a doubt their validity as judicators.” Celestia smiled, “A compromise, then? The ponies will be put before a panel that is half pony, half changeling. Ponies that are innocent will be let go– and reparations paid to them, and those who were taken captive in order to secure your own safety would be aided in adjusting back to their lives, with efforts made to make right the loss of time, pay, and property. Ponies that would be classified as prisoners of war would be returned to Equestria and handled by the Royal Guard.” “Then what? You haven’t addressed my concern about Division-P. I assume you have no intention of incarcerating the ponies who were just following orders, right? You expect me to allow Inquisitors to just walk away?” ‘I’ll watch Equestria burn before I let those Nazis get away with it.’ “No, I don’t. I will take full responsibility for their rehabilitation and internment. Division-P….” Celestia sighed, “I admit, I am unsure what to do. It is strange to find myself in the wrong here. Normally I am the one dictating terms to… let’s go with ‘the defeated party.’ We are both in the wrong here, Phasma. You will pay reparations to the ponies who were injured physically and financially by their capture, and we will in turn pay reparations for the loss of life, injury, t–torture…” Celestia trailed off. “The list is long and will require its own discussion. Both sides were hurt deeply by this war. But I recognize that it is our side, Equestria, that went the furthest, and we have no excuse for our actions. I will accept the majority of the blame, as I let myself get possessed and gave all those orders.” “Daybreaker gave those orders,” Luna interjected. “Effectively the same thing, as far as I am concerned. But thank you, Luna,” Celestia thanked her sister. “As I was saying, it hurts me to simplify this complicated conflict to the mere exchange of currency. But we have to start somewhere.” ‘Ha. Now there’s two alicorns refusing to accept that the actions the Nightmares made were not their own.’ “I’d prefer not to pay reparations to begin with,” I sighed. “The Fifth Hive has wealth, but nowhere even close to the amount that a government operates on.” “The Fifth Hive will be making a profit at the end of the day, unless you have concealed some horrible acts that we do not know about?” Celestia asked. “I killed a Count, but everything else you pretty much know about. I mean, there was some minor tax evasion at the end, but that was because Division-P took our attention away from staying as concealed as possible.” “We know about the death of Count Double Dealings. We will address that matter once this peace summit is settled. The majority of reparations will be in your favor. Rest assured, Phasma, I know exactly what happens when you saddle a country with more debt than it can handle. I have no intention of making that mistake, nor inflicting that level of harm.” I raised my eyebrows, “You do? That’s not a lesson I would have thought you ponies understood the importance of.” “Lessons that I cannot forget. I have crushed economies in the past, and have only hurt others doing so. I thought that I was stripping kingdoms of their ability to wage war, but in reality, I was only stripping them of their ability to feed their families. I myself am surprised you understand the importance of it yourself, Phasma. A lesson from your past?” Celestia asked. ‘Hard for history to repeat itself when your ruler has first-hoof experience of those horrors, I guess.’ “Yes. The greatest war ended poorly for one side. So poorly that the peace treaty became nothing more than a ceasefire in the bloodiest conflict ever seen. And yes, Luna, I will tell you about it if you want,” I said when I saw Luna’s curiosity was piqued. “Nice,” she whispered. “What’s he talking about?” Shining whispered to Cadence. “I’ll explain later,” I answered. “Let’s get back to the topic at hoof?” Celestia asked. I recounted the conversation so far, “So the Fifth Hive pays reparations to the podded ponies and the Division-P Inquisitors will be turned over to the Royal Guard to be rehabilitated…” I glared at Celestia, “What assurances do I have that these ponies will be rehabilitated, and the worst offenders punished for their enthusiastic butchery? I want prison sentences, Celestia. Death penalties for the worst of them.” Celestia shifted in her seat, “Death penalties? That has never happened in Equestrian history, Phasma. I cannot allow that kind of punishment to be hoofed out.” “That is non-negotiable. I killed Daybreaker– indirectly, if you want to be as truthful as possible. I intend to kill every last bastard responsible for the suffering my people went through. Torture. Murder. Enslavement. Division-P went beyond the necessary call of duty for the war effort. I want their heads.” “We must be better than them,” Celestia replied. “I… you may claim credit for Daybreaker’s death, just as I must claim credit for her actions. Would you have me executed for my crimes against your kind?” “I had Daybreaker executed for her crimes against my people. I suppose you can claim temporary insanity due to demonic possession. I don’t blame you, Celestia. This is entirely on the Nightmares and those insane followers they gathered. I do, however, blame you and your rule for developing the situation. Your teachings of Harmony let this faction fester. Those kinds of people don’t come from nowhere. I will want a proper investigation of just who joined Division-P, where their pure hatred came from, and how it went unnoticed in this land of unicorns and rainbows. And for dealing with them now, I want life sentences and death penalties to be decided by entirely changeling jurists. No half-equestrian representation.” “You can’t expect me to believe that an entire panel of changelings wouldn’t be biased.” “You can’t expect me to believe that an equestrian won’t choose an equestrian over a changeling,” I retorted. “These crimes against our race were committed by equestrians. The changelings will be fair if I order them to, which I will. This is non-negotiable. Changeling juries, Division-P Inquisitor defendants.” “If I were to agree to this, there would have to be limitations on the punishments. Death penalties would have to be agreed upon by the majority of Equestrian Princesses–” “No,” I growled. “I will not put the lives of my ponies in the hooves of revengeful changelings!” “I will not let those bastards get away with the wholesale slaughter and mutilation of my people because some fucking ponies were too afraid to swing the god damn axe,” I hissed. Celestia and I leaned over the table, glaring at each other. “This topic must be pushed back and dealt with later,” Luna said. “Clearly, this issue is the most complex to unravel, and the hardest to determine the clear boundaries of right and wrong. Celestia, ‘your’ ponies have done horrible things. You recognize and accept this. Phasma, under every circumstance it would be expected that your changelings would be far too heavy-hoofed with the cruel sentences of death to be considered fair judges. A pony– a person can ignore their biases only so much. I am certain that there is a solution, even if it is not clear to us at the moment. Let all of us present speak our pieces, then we will move on and leave Division-P to be discussed at a later point.” I huffed, but sat back and crossed my forelegs. “Fine. The Fifth Hive demands that the perpetrators of the heinous acts and crimes against changeling kind be brought to justice. We have little reason to believe that Equestria has the capacity of fulfilling that demand.” “Coming from the changeling who's getting away with invading Canterlot,” Shining muttered. Everyone turned to look at him. Suddenly in the spotlight, Shining Armor found himself searching for his voice. He cleared his throat, “In the name of Harmony, we would be less than nothing if we failed to uphold the very teachings we teach. These actions… I apologize for even letting them happen, even tangentially. Nopony deserves this pain. I do not think you will accept me at my word when I say that these Inquisitors are merely the dregs of society, brought to light by this Daybreaker’s apparent desire for inflicting pain.. Just as I cannot accept you at your word that you have conducted yourself fully to the ideals we proclaim, nor will you or your changeling juries operate without hatred or bias. I have already heard about this Count that you murdered, and how Cadence had kept it a secret…” Shining glared at me. Celestia put in her piece next, “We must operate on a basis of trust. This peace will be untenable if we cannot trust the other side both to make amends and to improve upon our character and actions. We can allow the Fifth Hive to have access to all documentation and even observe the process of rehabilitation of these Inquisitors, as well as give your changelings significant say in the judicial processes. Beyond that, you have to trust us, just as we have to trust you. Need I remind you that we have virtually no way of tracking your own actions while within Equestria, save for your own confessions?” ‘That’s not true.’ “Division-P was more than capable of finding changelings using the remains of my stolen peytral,” I pointed out. “Phasma, you have already said your piece,” Luna admonished me, before nodding to Cadence. “Personally, I would never sentence a pony to death. I would also never sentence a pony to a life where they would never have a chance at freedom. However, all of this is beyond any frame of reference I have. Instead, I wish to talk about what comes after. It is quite clear that the horrible crimes committed can never happen again. We cannot bury this incident like we have wars of our past,” Cadence sent an obvious glance Celestia’s way. “We must learn from it and we must be better than it. To forget the pain we have inflicted on each other is to let it all happen again.” “Thank you, Cadence. Celestia, if you would close with your statement?” Luna motioned for her to speak. Celestia cleared her throat, “We are agreed on a general course of action. The wrongs we have committed must be made right. The tenets of Harmony have been irreversibly broken, and we must agree on the right course of actions to make amends and learn from this. Personally, I believe that almost nopony is too far gone for redemption. However, I understand how you might feel otherwise. If somepony asked me to forgive one of those Nightmares, I don’t think I could. A personal failing, perhaps. Or wisdom wrought from centuries of seeing evil for what it is, and knowing when to stop fighting to save it. But we must be better than those we accuse of. We cannot condemn others to death. If we do, what separates us from them?” ‘The fact that they had a trial, and weren’t tortured to death.’ I imagined shaking my hooves angrily in Celestia’s direction, but instead remained still and quiet. “Very good,” Luna nodded to herself. “Let us move on and revisit this subject later. Celestia?” Celestia shuffled through her papers, “I believe we should address the Fifth Hive’s presence within the Principality of Equestria, and its future.” ‘My turn to dictate terms.’ “The Fifth Hive claims the Crystal Caverns as its own sovereign soil. All other holdings within Equestria will be simply property owned by the crown and by the Fifth Hive’s citizens, barring historical changeling…” I paused, “Hmmm…. Let’s call them former kingdoms.” “There are former kingdoms within Equestria?” Celestia asked. “There was at least one, before I blew it up. There’s potential to be more.” Celestia hummed to herself before asking, “In the southern jungles?” I nodded. “So that explains that. Very well, so long as these areas are uninhabited, I see little reason why we should deny that. The Crystal Caves, though. That poses a problem.” “Which is?” “The caves are protected as part of Equestria’s natural parks system. Inhabitance is not only prohibited, but it goes entirely against the point of protecting it in the first place. Marring their natural beauty is not a price I would like to pay. I would much prefer it if your Fifth Hive was simply located above ground, or at the very least, outside of the priceless and protected cave formation. Pick another cave. This one’s ours.” I rolled my eyes, “Oh please, protecting my ass! You blew its tunnels to seal it away. You had no intention of preserving it or anything else.” “National security takes precedence over all other desires. And need I remind you, that Daybreaker’s actions are not representative of Equestria’s normal ruling. Why do you even want to live in the cold caves, anyways?” “Because they are a secure location…” I started before sighing, “Right, right. Basis of trust. Fine, we will vacate the caves in exchange for… I suppose that if the Fifth Hive does not have any location in Equestria fully owned and inhabited, then we will have to shelve that potential demand for after this next part.” “The continued presence of changelings in Equestria,” Celestia accurately guessed. ‘Less of a guess and more of an intuitive understanding, I bet. She really has sat through dozens of these, hasn’t she?’ “I want changelings to reside within Equestria. We will not be leaving,” I stated. “Because of love?” “Because of love,” I nodded. “The physical wellbeing of your changelings are tied to the bonds they make with the ponies around them. I should hardly think that such a force for Harmony could be considered anything but a boon. I will agree to allow changelings to continue residing within Equestria, with no stipulations outside of an agreement to not steal love or anything similarly nefarious.” “Agreed,” I said without hesitation. “As well as forbidding disguising as ponies who already exist,” Celestia added. ‘Is there any way agreeing to that will bite me in the ass? I don’t think so. I think we should be clear to agree to that. Oh wait, I do know one edge case…’ “The Fifth Hive agrees, except for matters of security.” Celestia frowned, “The last thing I want to do is give you a blank check on disguising. I know exactly just how much can be labeled as security of the state.” “I have no intention of stripping our most valuable skill from my guards.” “Just how exactly is disguising as existing ponies necessary to protect yourselves?” “I don’t know. I’m not an expert in security, I just know that it is something I will not give up easily.” “You refuse to allow this concession simply because it is a boon for you? Need I remind you that in exchange, changelings will be effectively citizens of Equestria.” I shrugged, “I’m not letting the Fifth Hive be effectively neutered. Our most valuable skill is our ability to perform covert actions. Without that, we’re just a couple thousand members of a dying race that can fly and use magic.” “You will have the protection of the Royal Guard and the crown of Equestria. I have absolutely no intention of letting any species die out. Not while I can do anything about it.” “Oh great, I guess that means I can just hoof over the safety of my entire species to you and hope that there are no subversive elements within Equestria that would, if given the chance, rip us to shreds and slaughter any survivors. Division-P was just a fluke, a one-off group of radicals, right?” “I can assure you that–” “That you have no idea where they came from,” I cut her off. “I don’t know if it’s some secret organization or society of equestrian supremacists or if there is something else at work, but I intend to find out how this happened. I will not be dismantling the most powerful weapon in our arsenal just because you asked nicely.” Celestia tapped the table quietly as she thought. “... We must operate on a basis of trust. It may be tiresome to hear this repeated often, but it does need to be reiterated over and over again. This war between us created a rift that cannot be bridged easily. We must force ourselves to trust one another….” Celestia looked over at the ponies writing down the transcript of the meeting, “Cease recording.” Then, she turned back to me, “You trust Luna completely, correct?” “I do,” I said, unsure of where she was going with this. “If I gave Luna complete authority on this matter and kept it off the records, would you agree to this?” “As in, I would have to report to Luna on every use of a disguise?” “Something like that, yes. You two can work out the specifics, so long as Luna knows the scope of your actions. I trust her to tell you if you are out of line.” “This is acceptable to me,” Luna agreed. ‘Luna already saved my life. She worked hard to help my Hive, directly or indirectly. Not to mention the fact that she is biased towards me. Celestia knows this… and is throwing me a bone.’ “... Fine,” I agreed. “Excellent,” Celestia smiled. “Resume the recordings. We must make concessions for the sake of cooperation and Harmony. The ability to impersonate any pony is a major tool to use to break the law. Nopony can be given such impunity.” I went with the cover, “... On the basis of trust, the Fifth Hive will refrain from impersonating any existing pony intentionally, and will, uh… blah blah blah, fix it if we find out that we are accidentally impersonating someone. You know, put that in proper legalese.” Celestia smiled and wrote some notes down. “With that settled, I think the next matter is jurisdiction, citizenship, and legislation. If your changelings are to reside within Equestria, they will be expected to follow Equestrian laws.” There was a knock at the door. It opened and a cook stepped through. The white-uniformed blue pegasus bowed, “Your Highnesses and Majesty, lunch is prepared. If I may take your orders, it will be served post-haste. I apologize for the delay and the interruption, and thank you for your patience.” “It is us who thank you for your hard work, Saffron,” Celestia motioned for the pony to stand. “Let us take a break for now. The summit shall break for lunch,” Celestia announced, more to the stenographers than anyone else. The officials nodded, concluded their work, and rose and left the room with a few bows. Luna rose from her seat and sat down next to me. I scooted my chair over and we leaned into each other. She craned her head up and gave me a small kiss. The chef began explaining the meal choices, but Luna and I were in a conversation of our own. “You know,” she whispered, “you’re pretty good at this. Quite surprising, given your young age.” I whispered back, “Age has got nothing to do with it. I’m sure that if my mother were here, she’d be doing something stupid like hissing, throwing chairs, and making death threats. She’s not exactly the most calm and collected changeling, and she’s at least twenty times my age.” “All the more reason to praise your efforts.” “Thank you, Luna. Considering this feels like four against one at times, your support means a lot to me.” “Your Highnesses and Majesty,” a guard saluted by the door and interrupted the chef, “the changeling envoy has arrived.” “Good, send them in,” Celestia ordered. When the changelings entered, I immediately stood from my chair and strode towards them. There were about seven changelings entering the room, and amongst them was Thorax, Coxa, and Cricket. But one changeling stood out from the rest. She was scarred. Missing a fang and with sections of her chitin chipped off and wrapped in bandages elsewhere, Lacewing broke from the pack and galloped towards me. “Phasma!” She yelled as I caught the smaller drone in an embrace. “It’s good to see you, Lace.” “I knew you were alive. I knew you would come to save me. I knew that I wouldn’t die down there,” she whispered in my ear. “Imagine her surprise when her knight in shining armor was the most handsome changeling alive,” Coxa beamed, stepping close alongside Thorax. “You were on the front lines, Coxa?” “He refused to listen to me,” Thorax groaned. “Got too bored of paperwork.” Coxa grinned and puffed out his chest. “You sent him to save us. I knew you wouldn’t abandon anyling. Not even the Queen cares that much about us,” Lace mumbled. She sniffed heavily, and I broke the hug before she could blow her nose on my shoulder. Lace was not doing well. Her time in Locksdale Prison had been harsh, and it was likely only due to the strength of chitin that she bore no scars. Fractures, yes, but those could mostly heal in the pods. “You look like shit, Lace.” “Thanks,” she smiled. “You look tall.” “I can’t change that with a stay in the pods, but you definitely could use healing.” “I’m going to, I just wanted to see you all first. It was… indescribable. The things they did–” “I know, I know,” I said. "Don't try to describe them if it hurts you. I'm afraid there will be time for that later. For now, get yourself looked at and take some extra love rations. There'll be more than enough to go around." Lacewing tried to compose herself. Coxa put a hoof around her withers, and Lace leaned into him almost instinctively. ‘She must be so tired. Coxa and Lacewing, hmm? More than honorary brother and sister, and I definitely plan on teasing Coxa about that fact. I suppose Lace can suffer his presence everyday if she so chooses. Though to be honest, I kinda expected her to… she said she wanted to say something important to me in the Castle foyer, during the rebellion, right? I’d better ask her about that once this meeting is over.’ “Luna, Celestia, Cadence, Shining, these are my friends and leaders of the Fifth Hive,” I introduced the changelings. “That’s Thorax, you can consider him the leading expert in… ah, who knows, he’s the one who found out that we can work together. There’s Coxa, he runs the Hive while I take the credit for it. That’s Cricket, she’s like Coxa, but better looking.” Each changeling waved– or bowed, in Thorax’s case– when they were introduced. “So, I heard there was going to be free food?” Coxa asked. Celestia chuckled, “Yes, in fact you arrived just in time for lunch. We do not carry love or any emotion, unfortunately.” Coxa shrugged, “Didn’t expect’ya to, Your Highness. Pony food tastes good, and that’s enough for now. We ate on the way here, anyway.” Celestia gestured to the empty side of the table where Luna and I had sat, “In that case, please, take a seat. We had begun the negotiations already, and were simply taking a break to talk over a meal.”