//------------------------------// // Part Five // Story: The Princess and the Kaiser // by UnknownError //------------------------------// “Were you waiting for me?” Flurry asked. She had just returned to Weter, leaving the trucks outside the ghetto. “No, no,” the mailgriffon answered in accented Equestrian. He was Aquileian. He stood outside Flurry's tenement on the sidewalk, fiddling with the brass buttons on his gray uniform with two satchels under his wings. Flurry knew Jacques; he was one of the few griffons that brought mail to the ghetto, but he traveled frequently for his job. Her horn lit up and she cast her detection spell on him. He wasn’t a changeling. Jacques’ dark brown feathers ruffled and he gave Flurry a sour look. “You do not trust me, Little Flurry?” Flurry stared blankly at him until he clacked his beak in a laugh. “Good! A monarch should never trust a republican.” He flourished the bag on his left. “I bring your birthday wishes.” “I’ll need to check them,” Thorax interrupted. “Please,” Jacques scoffed. “Everyone in the mail office has read them, including me. There is no poison or bombs. If there was, Nova Griffonia would collapse without their poorly-paid mail service.” He set down the heavy satchel. “Your mail from ponies and proud Aquileians in Nova Griffonia.” He pulled out two opened envelopes from his other satchel. “And letters abroad: your old aunts write to you.” Flurry took the envelopes in her magic and tucked them under her wing. “Summary?” Jacques held a claw to his beak in shock. “You dare not read the words of the immortal Princesses?” He cackled. “Oh, we will make a republican out of you yet. They ask you come visit them, offer to pay for your trip, wish you happy birthday.” He ticked off the points on a claw. "Anything else?" His eyes soured as he sighed and retrieved another opened envelope. He tossed it to Flurry, who caught it in her magic. “From the great Kaiser,” he squawked. “Actually arrived on time this year. Long winded drivel about how great he is, invites you to his birthday next month. Spelled your name wrong again. Why do you even write back?” Flurry tucked it under her other wing with a neutral expression. “His letters make good kindling.” Jacques squawked another laugh and closed his bag. “Goodbye, Little Flurry,” he said in Aquileian. He gestured to the satchel on the ground. "I will return next week for your replies." Flurry nodded, responding back in Aquileian. "Thank you, Jacques." He smiled. “Of course, Little Flurry. I will see you tomorrow at the Veteran's Hall,” he promised and flared his wings, taking flight down the street and above the bustle of ponies. Flurry Heart took the satchel in her magic and let Thorax, Dusty and her guards escort her through her building. “If you’re tired, I can work through the letter,” Thorax offered in the stairwell. “Nah,” Flurry shrugged. “Make the rounds and check on everyone, or just make some coffee and relax. I’ll do it myself.” She hugged him with a large wing. "We did good this year, Uncle." Thorax nuzzled the top of her head and stopped to talk to Dusty. Flurry Heart stopped outside the door to her room and nodded at Falx, the disguised changeling guarding the hallway, who nodded back and tapped a front hoof on the floor. She passed the floating satchel of birthday mail to him to double-check. She stood in the hallway, took a deep breath, and reached out with her magic to scan her room, then reached into the walls, floor and ceiling. Her wards hadn’t been tampered with and nothing had been breached. She still wasn’t great at defensive spells other than her barriers, so she warned everypony that if they tried to force their way past her spells, her room could explode and take the building with it. Nopony was sure their Princess was serious, except Thorax and his changelings. They refused to comment. Flurry yawned again, entered, and locked the door behind her, taking in the musty smell and muffled radio from the floor above. She threw the two letters from Celestia and Luna in the wastebasket by her desk and set the Kaiser’s letter on the bed. She teleported her dress away with a crack of blue magic. It landed on top of her dresser, fluttering and slightly smoking. Flurry sighed. It'll need to be pressed and cleaned later anyway. Lastly, she removed the simple gold band from under her curly mane and placed it on the dresser, on top of the dress. It was the only piece of regalia she owned, a gift for her eleventh birthday. A crystal pony smith had made it from wedding rings donated by unicorns. Most of them had lost their spouses during the war. It was the only gift she kept. It reminded her of her duty. Flurry Heart raised up a foreleg and sniffed, recoiling with a soft whicker. She definitely needed to shower before she left, but she wanted to do the letter now. Flurry Heart sat down on her bed and peeled away the Wonderbolt poster on the ceiling with a burst of magic, revealing a hole in plaster. The walls were too thin to have a proper secret cubbyhole, but the large crack above her bed was perfect to slip two folders between her ceiling and the floor above. She pulled the folders down gently with her magic and dusted them off with a flash before replacing the poster. She opened the thinner folder and retrieved her notes, scratch paper, and a pencil. Flurry rolled onto her barrel and set the letter from the Kaiser and her notes side-by-side on the bed as she began to work. The letter from the desk of Kaiser Grover VI was written in archaic Equestrian, rife with spelling errors, syntax mistakes and enough misused words to confuse any reader. It reminded her of Luna’s letters to her mother. Aunt Twilight would have a fit, she giggled. She received a letter every two or three months since she arrived in Nova Griffonia. Flurry overheard Dusty joke to Jadis once that the Kaiser’s letters were the only reason the trade embargo was not worse. His first letter had been depressingly formal, lambasting her for refusing his sanctuary and hospitality and ending with a long string of absurd titles and honorifics for himself, full of errors. Thorax had scanned it thoroughly and triple-checked for poison before giving it to her with an apologetic grimace. She threw it in her wastebasket and went to bed with tears in her eyes. Two days later, Thorax tried to slam her door open just before dawn. Flurry dispelled her lock and opened it to a grinning Thorax who held up the crumpled letter in shaky hooves. “It’s a code!” His black hooves were stained with ink. “What?” Flurry yawned. It was four in the morning. She discreetly cast her detection spell as best she could. Thorax didn't notice. “It’s written in a code! Look at the spelling mistakes, take every third one, then reverse the sequence!" The fin on his head was slightly bent, and he swayed on his hooves like he hadn't slept. "It spells out an abbreviated message in Herzlander,” Thorax explained. “I thought something was off; I never would have caught it if I hadn’t learned Herzlander from the Changeling Heer.” Thorax passed Flurry a napkin covered in near illegible scribbles. Princess Flurry Dog Says Safe Happy Hear You Radio Bugs Leave Griffons Angry Kept Crown Will Give Back Bye Friend Flurry blinked, instantly awake, and shifted her eyes between the napkin and the letter. “You kept it? I threw it out.” Thorax’s wings rustled. “I thought something was off,” he said as he scraped a hoof on the floor. He left a trail of ink. “You go through my trash?” Her eyes narrowed. “No,” Thorax replied defensively. “Arex goes through your trash when she collects it.” Thorax twitched and shifted his gaze away from Flurry’s stare. "I know it was important to you," he muttered. "The letter didn't make sense if he wanted to help you." She pulled him into a hug. “Thanks, Uncle. Help me reply?” Flurry asked. Thorax leaned against her and she had to flare her oversized wings to hold him up. "After you get some sleep," she added as the changeling nearly collapsed. Thorax helped her write back in the same style, using Thorax’s old Herzlander to write a reply hidden in broken and misspelled Aquileian that begged the Kaiser for forgiveness and an end to the war against the Griffonian Republic to the north. The next letter confirmed he found it. She had read it on her bed. Princess Flurry See Reply Found Father It hadn’t been announced over the radio. Her father was still considered missing. Sorry Sorry Sorry Flurry sniffled. Father Rest Here Secret He kept his word. Rest Near My Father There was a stain on the original letter. Thorax checked and said it was a teardrop. When Pony Have Empire Father Go Home Flurry began to cry. Still Have Crown She laughed through the tears. Bye Friend Flurry held the letter between her forelegs that night. She kept all the past letters in her other folder, which was starting to get too large to fit in the ceiling. As far as Thorax knew, nopony or griffon had realized Grover was writing her secret messages. The Changelings might be able to figure it out, but they were too busy hunting down resistance groups in Equestria to deal with Flurry’s fanmail. Flurry huffed as she worked through her scratch paper with a pencil nub, switching between Grover’s letter and Thorax’s notes. When she was finished, she meticulously copied down the letters in reverse and fetched her Herzlander-Equestrian dictionary from under the bed. She couldn’t speak Grover's language and could barely write it; nopony or griffon was eager to teach her the language of the Reich. Thorax and his changelings knew it, but she imposed far too much of them already just to keep her safe. Changelings once had their own language, a beautiful, trilling lilt that chirped and sang, but the Changeling Heer and Chrysalis insisted on the harsh, guttural Herzlander as the national language. Thorax said they were trying to copy the most successful army on the planet, but Flurry believed it was just to sound crueler. She flipped through the dictionary and squinted as she translated. Happy Best Day Princess Flurry The official letter never used her title, but Grover always included it. Wish Us Happy Best Day Together Flurry smiled to herself. War North Over Near Now The Griffonian Reich had finally overtaken the Griffonian Republic to the north and the old Kingdom of Vedina after a brutal guerilla war. Vedina surrendered when they lost their capital, but ships evacuated the remnants of the Republicans across the ocean to Nova Griffonia, where they were welcomed by the government. The Reich was directly across from Nova Griffonia now, and Blackpeak declared a massive push to increase coastal bunkers and anti-air defenses. A lot of earth ponies and crystal ponies ended up employed in triple shifts along the coast, building bunkers for little pay. War South War East Flurry hummed. It makes sense to attack Wingbardy to the south and the borderlands against the River Republic before they expand their alliance, she thought. The River Republic led a coalition of foreign ponies and dogs, uneasily sharing the continent of Griffonia with the Reich. The alliance was born out of griffon aggression into the east of Griffonia centuries ago, and the coalition frequently sent aid and volunteers to the countries that had broken away from Grover. If a war broke out between the coalition and the Reich, the entire continent would be set aflame; their border stretched across most of the continent. With every reconquest by the Reich, the border grew larger. Flurry occasionally caught news on the radio. Celestia spoke of the need for unity against the cruelty of the Reich, still calling herself Princess as she and her sister sat in some townhouse at the grace of River Swirl, the Chancellor of the River Republic. Flurry’s ears twitched as she heard a pop of magic. Her eyes refocused. She had crumpled her scratch paper into a ball that was beginning to smolder in her horn’s field. She cursed and blew it out, before smoothing her paper back out and continuing to translate. No War River No War There President Blackpeak would be relieved, Flurry thought with a snort. Can Come Please Reply Bye Friend Flurry's breath hitched and she fluttered her wings. I thought the invitation was just a formality, part of the fake letter, but it’s real. It would be trivial to fly across the ocean, even under her own power. It wouldn’t be the first time she started over in a foreign land. Queen Chrysalis never formally ended her alliance with the Reich, but the embassy had been recalled shortly after she fled to Nova Griffonia. Rumors said not every changeling returned home, some choosing the Kaiser over the Queen, but Thorax put no stock in them. Flurry stood up on her bed and cracked her neck. She could almost touch the ceiling and poster with her horn. She hopped down, crossed over to her small desk and sat on her chair, bringing out her ink, quill, and fresh parchment from the drawer. She had to rattle the drawer to close it properly. She drifted over the dictionary with her horn as she began to work. Grover said he figured out the code on his own; Flurry believed him even if Thorax doubted it. It annoyed her a little that he was clearly smarter than her, but she had more magic than he ever would. She began to write in Herzlander, slowly translating herself. Kaiser Grover, Thank you for birthday wish. I happy. I wish Boreas and ancestors with you for future. North griffons come. Griffons mean here. Mean to Ponies. Wish Griffons remembered Twilight say Republic better than Reich. (Sorry!) The Republicans that had just arrived were very hostile to her ponies, seeing them as more monarchists despite their citizenship. The public knowledge that Flurry shared letters with the Kaiser didn’t help, despite the assurances from President Blackpeak. I want to come. I safe there. I want see you. Flurry looked over her shoulder at the door as it glowed faintly blue with her locking spell. Thorax and Dusty were probably looking over the satchel of letters, checking them for lingering poisons. I must stay. Ponies need Princess. Griffons need Kaiser. Take back your land. Bye Friend. Flurry's horn glowed as she closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few tense seconds, she pointed her horn at the paper and cast a spell. After a bright flash, Flurry shook out her mane and looked down at the blank sheet of paper. The words would only appear for Grover himself when he looked at them; the spell was tied to him. It was a difficult spell, and Dusty and her magic tutor Far Sight had given her a weird look when she picked it out of an old spellbook. It required a piece of the person it was meant to go to, like blood, hair, or saliva. Flurry used the stain on the second letter, a teardrop. Grover's first letter after she used it was amazed at her magic. Princess Flurry How How How Eros No See See Me Stare Blank Page Think I Mad Like Nobles She only wrote back after she stopped laughing. In her reply, she deflected it as ‘alicorn magic.’ Grover never pressed beyond that. Flurry flipped the paper over and began to write a more vague, diplomatic reply in a mix of Aquileian and Equestrian. From the desk of Flurry Heart, She is overjoyed to receive the well-wishes of the Kaiser, and urges him to seek a peaceful resolution to any conflicts… She continued for the rest of the page, filling it with foalish nonsense. Thorax would read her ‘official’ reply, sigh, knowing she was hiding her true thoughts, and pass it along. The Nova Griffonians would read it and dismiss her as a foal and useful puppet, shipping the letter back to the Reich and Grover. The Imperial Court of the Reich and the Regent would read her letter and laugh at her naivety. Grover would flip the letter over and smile. Princess Flurry Heart folded the letter and slipped it into the envelope from Grover, leaving it on her desk with the ink and quill. She placed his letter with the others in the folder, then stuffed the dictionary back under her bed. The poster came down again and the folders were safely tucked away between floors. Flurry laid back on her bed and stuck the poster to the ceiling. She levitated her clock over and set her alarm for two hours. She would wake up, shower, and get on the radio that evening, shilling for Blackpeak’s reelection and thanking everyone for a memorable birthday. When she returned home, she would begin replying to the letters from her Ponies and Aquileians. She would go the Aquiliean Veteran’s Hall tomorrow and thank the republicans and their families that welcomed her and her father to their home. She would write back to everypony and griffon herself, even if it left her with a week-long horn cramp. Next week, she would practice at the makeshift shooting range with Dusky Mark for the first time, then practice ice and fire spells with Far Sight at the junkyard. Her lasers could cut through reinforced plating now. Thorax didn't approve of her training, but her guards were eager to aid their Princess. Princess Flurry Heart turned on her pillow and stared at the little crown on her dresser until she fell asleep.