Flurry Heart sat on her bed with an ice pack to her muzzle and ignored the muffled screaming. She pointedly looked up at her Wonderbolt poster and away from Thorax and Far Sight as they continued to shout at her through her shield. She muffled the sound to the outside, but that didn’t stop Thorax from slamming a bugbear paw against the shield in pure rage. Far Sight paced behind the changeling, but the room was too small to get much momentum.
The vibration made her horn shudder, but the shield held strong. It would take combined artillery to break it. Flurry could outlast the pair, but the letter she wanted was somewhere outside the shield, hidden by Thorax. Flurry sighed around the ice pack and dispelled her magic. The two adults glared at her.
Far Sight spoke to her first. “How did he reply?” he asked. The yellow unicorn continued to pull on the threads of his tweed jacket with his magic. “It takes something physical from the recipient to create a connection.”
“What did you do?” Thorax hissed and approached the alicorn again. Flurry lit her horn up in warning.
“I gave Elias a lock of my mane,” Flurry allowed. The ice pack muffled her speech.
“Who?” Far Sight asked.
“Colonel Bronzetail, with the delegation.”
Thorax’s eyes twitched and his horn lit up involuntarily.
“It was years ago,” Flurry protested, “so hitting me again doesn’t serve anything.”
“When?” he ground out.
“I visited him at the High Hotel after nightfall,” Flurry rolled her eyes. “It was fine,” she summarized, omitting the part where he shot at her in a panic.
“I knew that bastard was hiding something,” Thorax growled. “He was too eager to work with Gold Muffin when he left.”
“There is magic in the letter,” Far Sight said, “and I would guess that it’s the Marvelous Magic Letters that I taught you, but there’s a plethora of dangerous spells that could be tied to the written word. I can’t counterspell it to read it.”
“Too dangerous; we’re destroying it,” Thorax hissed.
“No,” Flurry said as her tail lashed.
“I will hit you again,” Thorax promised.
“You can’t take me in a fight,” Flurry challenged. “I want the letter.”
“Falx and Arex are busy dealing with the griffon,” Thorax dismissed. “Gold Muffin, Trochus, and the rest are busy with the refugees you brought.”
“You can’t keep it from me.” Flurry narrowed her eyes.
“No,” Thorax admitted, “but I can destroy it if you try.”
The pair stared each other down as Far Sight backed against the wall.
“Fine,” Flurry grunted. “Let’s get some answers from Frederick, then you’ll give me the letter.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking, uncle. I’m ordering you,” Flurry snapped. She levitated the crown over from her dresser and stuck it on her head, crumpling her mane.
Thorax licked at his fangs again. “You’ll read it to Far Sight and me; he’ll check for magical triggers,” he compromised.
“Fine.” Flurry rolled her eyes and stood up, discarding the ice pack. “Let’s go. Where’s the griffon?”
Thorax stared at her for a long moment. “Basement,” he finally answered.
Flurry brushed past him and out the door into the hall. The alicorn recognized that she was being petty, but her muzzle smarted from the unexpected sucker punch Thorax had given her on the roof. She had been so surprised she lost concentration and dropped the shield holding the griffon, who fell to the roof, still sobbing. The bat pony siblings had moved quickly to detain him, but Frederick remained a motionless, blubbering mess.
Flurry descended down the stairs and into the lobby before stopping at a side door with a small foal sitting outside it with some wooden blocks. “Is the griffon down there?” she asked.
“Yeah,” the foal nodded and answered with a dual-toned baritone. “He’s a wreck. Emotions are all over the place, definitely not a changeling.” He looked under her legs to spy Thorax and Far Sight before opening the door.
Flurry Heart, Far Sight, and Thorax descended down into the basement. Thorax’s changelings that lived in the ghetto slept down there. He had explained to Flurry early on that changelings preferred communal, cramped living conditions despite their predatory nature. It took a community to provide enough love and emotions to sustain changeling grubs.
Except there were no changeling foals in Nova Griffonia. Thorax admitted that their numbers were too few and they were too busy. Flurry never heard of anypony in a relationship with one of the changelings either. The war was too recent and raw.
Flurry poured some extra magic into the light bulbs lining the walls, which lit up brighter as they traveled. The walls and floor had been reinforced with wooden beams, but the atmosphere was still gloomy. The basement also functioned as a storage place for smuggled supplies. Part of the basement had been carefully dug out to provide extra storage space and a tunnel to the adjacent tenement in case of emergencies.
Flurry heard a retching sound before turning a corner around some stacked boxes. Falx was sitting out in the open with Jadis rubbing a hoof on his back. The changeling held a bucket between his hooves which he heaved into.
Frosty Jadis crinkled her muzzle at Flurry. “Are you all right?” she asked worriedly.
“Thorax hits like a colt,” Flurry shrugged. “I’m fine.”
Jadis glared over Flurry’s wing at the changeling before a fresh bout of retching from Falx distracted her.
“What’s wrong?” Flurry asked.
“I had to drain the griffon to calm him down,” Falx coughed. “Too much. I haven’t fed like that in a long time.” He coughed again and vomited a pink slime into the bucket. Flurry wrinkled her muzzle and winced at the pain. The bile smelled like flowers, strangely.
“We’ll store the love to ration it for the others,” Thorax said.
“That’s love?” Flurry asked, mildly revolted.
“It’s processed emotions from a changeling,” Thorax answered, “not the abstract emotion. Changeling troops could down some and run hard on the battlefield for days.”
“Until they dropped dead from magical exhaustion,” Far Sight continued. “Saw it happen a few times, or they get so starved and addicted they go feral.”
“Yeah,” Thorax sighed. He trotted over to Falx and nuzzled him, ignoring the bile. “You’ll be alright in an hour or so. Get some rest.” He wiped a hoof across his muzzle and took the lead into the basement. Flurry followed, sparing a sympathetic grimace at Falx, who smiled weakly back.
Thorax stopped at some piled-up crates that formed a makeshift side room. Frederick the griffon was slumped in a wooden chair, eyes glazed. He wasn’t restrained. Arex sat across from him, writing in a journal at a small table lit by an electric light. The changeling was still taking notes with a pencil.
“Thorax,” she greeted calmly, then raised a ridged brow at Flurry and Far Sight.
“What’d you get from him?” Thorax asked and studied the griffon.
“Nothing until Falx drained him,” Arex shrugged. “Too unstable and emotional. I used some compulsion spells afterwards to make sure he was telling the truth.”
Far Sight’s tail swished uncomfortably. Arex spared him a glance.
“I can tell you don’t approve, doc, but it’s our way,” she said and her wings buzzed. She returned to Thorax. “He’s Frederick Sharp from Yale in Herzland. He’s a cross-country flier. His father was a professor and part of the protests.” She stopped and looked at Flurry, who was listening intensely with ears raised.
“His father was arrested, then his family,” the changeling kept going. “He was dragged from the prison in Griffenheim to meet the Kaiser. They met privately and the Kaiser gave him a letter to take to Flurry. He flew here by himself.”
“Is that possible?” Far Sight asked.
“Sure, if you’re a good flier and take breaks. We do it sometimes while smuggling stuff,” Arex shrugged. She looked back at Flurry and paused again.
“Why are you hesitating?” Flurry asked.
Arex looked away from the alicorn. “He had clear instructions from the Kaiser. If he opened the letter, his family would be killed. If he didn’t return with a sealed reply from you, his family would be killed.”
“No,” Flurry shook her head. “Grover wouldn’t do that, and he wouldn’t trust a letter to one griffon, let alone an enemy.”
“He has leverage over him, and one griffon can fly under the radar,” Arex suggested. “It’s not like the Reich can send a delegation to you.”
Flurry shook her head again. “I want to talk to him. Can he answer questions?” She crossed over to the griffon before the changeling could answer. She stood in front of the slumped griffon and flared her wings.
“Why are you here? Who sent you?” Flurry ordered.
"Princess, you aren't going to get clear answers. His mind's basically soup right now," Arex advised.
The griffon opened and closed his beak several times before slowly replying in a monotone. “My father. My mother. My brother. My sister.”
“I don’t care about them!” Flurry shouted. “Tell me about Grover. Did you meet him?”
“He said he’d let them go,” Frederick whispered.
“Who?” Flurry asked and tossed her head back. The crown nearly flew off.
“Kaiser,” he muttered. “Said I could fly far and fast. If I did this, I would show loyalty.”
Flurry twisted away to glare at Thorax. “Tell me he’s lying,” Flurry commanded.
“Flurry…” Thorax started.
“Tell me it’s a lie,” Flurry protested desperately.
Thorax stared at her pityingly. “He doesn’t have the capacity to lie."
“He could still-”
“Princess,” Frederick interrupted. Flurry whipped her head back. The griffon’s eyes refocused on her, but were still cloudy. “Please reply. Please. Can’t be blank.” Tears leaked from his eyes and dripped down his beak.
“No,” he whispered. “No, no, no, no, no…”
Flurry stumbled back. “Let me see the letter. I know his clawwriting. I bet it’s a fake.”
“That’s more reason to destroy it,” Thorax pointed out.
"Not blank," Frederick mumbled. "No, no, no."
Flurry took a breath and held a hoof to her chest. She exhaled and pushed away. “Where?” Flurry asked.
Thorax sighed and nodded to Arex, who lifted her journal and revealed a folded piece of paper. “We haven’t checked it yet,” she pointed out.
“Read it out loud for Far Sight,” Thorax reminded the alicorn.
Flurry seized the letter in her magic and teleported to her room with a crack, cutting off Thorax’s swear. The alicorn tore the poster from the ceiling and pulled down some floorboards with her magic in her haste. The plaster and dust fell onto the bed with the hidden folders. The letters spilled out onto the floor. Flurry crouched and looked through them with her hooves. The new letter fluttered to the floor.
Flurry Heart, Princess of the Crystal Empire and Equestria, Princess of Ponies:
I am sorry for contacting you this way. How is my Equestrian? I hope it is good!
It was written in Equestrian, but the vowels still had Grover’s loops and swirls. That could be faked, Flurry dismissed.
I am sure you figured out the spell. This is so much better than code. Do not worry, the Aquileian unicorn that helped will stay silent.
What does that mean?
I remember my promise. I will keep it. On the Summer Solstice, we will cross the ocean and attack. We will land in Manehattan, Baltimare, and Nova Griffonia.
Speed will be essential. I know the Nova Griffonians and the Republicans have not been kind to your Ponies, so I ask if you can help. Pin their armies on the coast. You are a pilot now? Turn their planes against them. I trust you to make your war plans.
There was a pounding of hooves up to Flurry’s room. She cast a locking spell on her door. The door still nearly buckled at the weight slamming against it. There was a flash of green light and the roar of a bugbear outside. Flurry cast another ward on the entirety of the room. The hallway splintered and cracked, but Flurry’s magic held. She kept reading.
We can kill Chrysalis. I know this. She is weak and lazy. Your ponies must want revenge for their years of suffering, and my forces will fight beside yours. We discuss more together.
I will come once the front is secured.
I look forward to finally speaking beak to beak. (Or is that beak to muzzle?)
He made a joke. Flurry looked from the new letter to the old ones. The writing style was the same, although the language was different.
You can trust your reply to Frederick Sharp, the griffon who brought you this letter. Use your spell and seal the envelope. He has reason to help us.
I still have your crown. I am happy to finally return it.
Grover von Greifenstein, Kaiser of the Griffonian Reich and Kaiser of Griffonkind.
It was Grover. Flurry couldn’t deny it. He mentioned her crown in every letter. Someone would need to have deciphered all the previous letters to know to include its mention. The wall against the hallway started to shatter as Thorax clawed through it with an enraged bellow. Flurry Heart dispelled all her magic.
Thorax abruptly tumbled into the room and landed heavily in front of her, destroying her door and wall. Her letters were buried by scraps of wood and plaster. She kept a hoof on the most recent letter to keep it from being knocked away. The bugbear growled at her and changed back into Thorax. Flurry coughed and squinted through the dust to see that he had additionally destroyed the entrance to his room as well through his movements. The floor also buckled under the weight of a small bugbear, and the ceiling was coming apart.
Flurry stared at the changeling as he struggled back to his hooves. Thorax snarled and lashed forward, striking Flurry across the muzzle with a hoof. Her head rocked back and the crown tumbled off.
Flurry was silent.
Thorax struck her again and the alicorn fell back onto her wings from the impact this time. He snatched up the letter and hissed, changing into a gray Kirin and burning it away with a low growl.
Flurry sat back up and snorted blood out of her nose. Thorax burst into green fire and returned to his normal form, panting for breath. He raised a hoof to strike her again, but Flurry held his hoof back with her magic. He slumped down into the rubble after a moment's struggle.
“If violence is all you’ll listen to,” he panted, “so be it.”
Flurry dug the ice pack out the debris around her bed and chilled it with a spell. She placed it on her muzzle quietly and lit her horn up, waving it at the ceiling. The beams were pushed back into place and repaired. It wasn’t that great of a repair job, but the building wouldn’t collapse.
“The landlord’s going to be pissed,” Flurry remarked around the ice pack.
“I killed her years ago,” Thorax scoffed. “She was a bitter, old griffon that overcharged for everything. She owned half the tenements in Ponyville.”
“I’ve seen her around.”
“Changeling,” Thorax answered and coughed at the dust. Flurry summoned a shield around them to muffle the noise. There was shouting in the street and on the floors above and below.
“You kill any griffon in the government?”
“No,” Thorax answered. “Too risky. Why?”
Flurry hummed. “Grover’s going to attack on the Summer Sun Celebration. He’s going for Chrysalis and Nova Griffonia.”
Thorax blinked. “What?”
“It was in the letter.” Flurry removed the ice pack and gingerly touched her muzzle.
“That’s only a few months away,” Thorax protested. “There’s no way they’ll be in place in time to…” he trailed off and stared at the dust floating in the bubble.
He closed his eyes and sighed with a hoof to his muzzle. “The Reich has been moving troops to quell protests all over the empire. It’s an excuse to prepare for war.”
“They’re already in place,” Flurry stated. “Chrysalis won’t see it coming.”
“No,” Thorax admitted, “but Nova Griffonia is prepared. The River Coalition is federalized. He'd be insane to move his whole army to another continent and leave the east open.”
“He wants our help.”
Thorax laughed hollowly. “You planned for this,” he said. “If he’s doing it this soon, we don’t have time to waste with the refugees. What did he say about them?”
“Nothing,” Flurry shook her head. “He doesn’t care.”
“You’re guessing,” Thorax said, “and it doesn’t matter anyway. We don’t have time to help them.”
“I thought you wanted to help,” Flurry mumbled.
“We can’t prepare for a civil war and deal with a refugee crisis,” Thorax shrugged.
“You would rather help them,” Flurry stated.
“Doesn’t matter. We can’t stay neutral with Nova Griffonia. We’re either with Grover, or against him.” Thorax pushed around a broken board with a hoof. “If we’re with him, that means we’re against Katherine and Frederick and all of the refugees you brought with you today.”
“Don’t rub it in my muzzle,” Flurry snorted. “What other choice do we have? This is our chance to go home.”
Thorax looked around at the debris. “I’m done trying to control you, Flurry,” he sighed. “It’s pointless. If you back Grover, we’ll follow you and fight for you.” He picked her crown up off the floor and levitated it over to the alicorn.
Flurry bit her lip and accepted it. “What would you do?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not a Princess,” Thorax retorted.
“Chrysalis is your enemy too. She killed your brother.”
“I’ve done a lot of things I never wanted to do, but I won’t kill innocent creatures to avenge his death.”
“He won’t kill them.”
“Of course, Frederick’s family is probably fine,” Thorax said. “I’m sure Katherine’s family is as well.” He stood up and pressed a hoof against the shield. “May I leave, Princess Flurry Heart?”
Flurry glared at him but dispelled the shield. Thorax nodded and cringed at the damage to the building. There was a crowd of ponies in the stairwell at the end of the hallway.
“Are we under attack?” Jadis called.
“No,” Thorax answered. “Magic Feedback from one of Flurry’s runes. We need to check the pipes.”
“The griffons outside are spooked,” another pony shouted.
“Tell them everything’s fine. The Princess dealt with it.”
Flurry pushed the debris away from her bed. “Thorax,” she called out as the changeling left. He glanced over his shoulder at her.
“This is the right choice,” Flurry said.
Thorax didn’t answer.