//------------------------------// // Part Fifty-Two // Story: The Princess and the Kaiser // by UnknownError //------------------------------// Flurry Heart scanned over the paper sitting next to the microphone. Her purple hat with the Imperial Snowflake rested on the table beside her. “I have thousands of ponies from New Mareland,” she stated flatly. Her headset for the broadcast made the bald spots itch on her muzzle. The fur was growing back far too slowly. “The Kaiser is surrendering all claim to his colony,” Bronzetail pointed out, adjusting his own earphones with a claw. “Furthermore, New Mareland’s capital and port, Sunset, is too vital to our southern supply lines.” They sat in an audio room on the eighteenth floor of 84 Crystal Avenue, the Crystaller Building. The Reich’s propaganda broadcasts had been done from this audio booth along with Governor Lilac's, but it was the best transmitter Manehattan could offer. “He can have the land,” Flurry dismissed. “I care about the ponies. They traded Beakolini for Grover.” “An improvement,” Bronzetail answered empathetically, slapping a claw on the table. “Ponies are protected under the Species Rights Act, one of the Kaiser’s early reforms. Archon Eros simply established a military government over the area when it was taken. Life is better there now than it has been in six years.” “Anypony who wishes to leave may do so,” Flurry replied. “They may return to Equestria or sail to the River Federation.” Bronzetail clacked his beak. “That is difficult to arrange in the middle of a war. Changeling submarines are already harrying our convoys.” He fluffed his wings, sitting opposite the Princess with his own microphone. “Once the frontline has advanced,” Flurry decided. "Any of my griffons that wish to return to the Reich may do so." Bronzetail considered it for a long moment. “Agreed.” He raised a claw to the window opposite the table. “Are you ready to begin?” Flurry waved her own wing in reply, then leaned over the desk and stared at several pages of the intended script. She cleared her throat just before the red light turned on and the broadcast started. “Good evening, my ponies,” Flurry began warmly, speaking clearly into the microphone on the desk. “This is Flurry Heart, the Princess of Ponies, broadcasting from Manehattan.” She paused. “Some of you may doubt that. There is nothing I can say over a radio that will convince you. I have negotiated a ceasefire with the Griffonian Reich. For many months, I have fought and killed the Kaiser’s soldiers in the north. I did so for my ponies, the refugees in the north who have lost far too much. I did so for my griffons, my ponies in all but name. It was a misplaced war over disputed territory, but that has been resolved. The north is mine, and will remain mine.” The last bit she added to the script. Bronzetail gave her a look, but was too nervous to stop. “I am Elias Bronzetail,” the black and gray Griffon read stiffly in Equestrian, looking at his sheet of paper. “I am a Field Marshal under Kaiser Grover VI of the Griffonian Reich. We have reached an agreement with the Princess of Ponies to continue the war against the Changeling Hegemony together.” Flurry waited. Bronzetail flipped the page over, beginning to sweat. “The Kaiser hereby forfeits his rightful claim to the territory once known as Nova Griffonia, and the griffons therein. The Kaiser acknowledges the boundaries of the Crystal Empire, as marked by the…Crystal Heart and the shield.” Bronzetail swallowed. “The Kaiser acknowledges that the griffons of the Crystal Empire are subjects of the Princess of Ponies, as long as they wish to be.” He looked to Flurry. “I, the Princess of Ponies, affirm my support for the Kaiser’s invasion of the Changeling Hegemony. I ask everypony to cease hostilities with the Reich’s soldiers. To continue to do so is henceforth treason against the crown, and your fellow ponies.” She let the statement linger. Flurry sighed into the microphone. “There are millions of ponies suffering in plantations, factories, and labor camps. They are suffering under Chrysalis, not the Kaiser. My ponies, we need the Reich’s support to win this war quickly. And we must win it quickly. The fields of the north are filled with the dead. The yaks have been nearly exterminated. I have heard nothing of the buffalo. We cannot lose again.” Her eyes narrowed and she put extra effort into her pleading. “Griffons and ponies have squinted at each other suspiciously across the ocean for thousands of years. We have fought each other in the skies and in the fields. We cannot fight now. We must present a unified front against the Hegemony.” “The Kaiser recognizes Flurry Heart, the Princess of Ponies, as the rightful Princess of the Crystal Empire and the Princess of the Principality of Equestria,” Bronzetail added. Flurry closed her eyes. “I recognize Grover von Greifenstein, sixth of his name and the Kaiser of Griffonkind, as the legitimate and rightful ruler of the Griffonian Reich, and all titles and lands under it.” Many years ago, her mother had added her signature to Celestia’s proclamation that the Griffonian Republic under the elder Kemerskai was the rightful government. I wonder how many remember that? Flurry asked herself. “I forfeit claim to the territory of New Mareland.” The words were unbearably bitter. Bronzetail picked up where Flurry left off. “The Kaiser reminds the ponies of the former colony that they are protected under the Species Equality Act. Any who wish to leave for Equestria or the Crystal Empire may do so once the war has progressed. However, the Hegemony continues to practice unrestricted submarine warfare. The ports have been closed for safety concerns.” Bronzetail shuffled his papers audibly. He was sweating badly under his wings. “My father died to the Reich,” Flurry suddenly said. Bronzetail gaped up at her from his notes. “He died fighting for the Aquileian Republic, in a city named Flowena," Flurry continued. "I never got to say goodbye. He died so his soldiers could escape. The Reich allowed Chrysalis to come for me when I was ten, and I only escaped because Grover helped me at the last moment.” Flurry shifted on the stool. “I have killed thousands of Reich soldiers and sailors. If Grover and I can look past what we’ve done to each other, then I expect my ponies to be able to do the same. As long as Chrysalis rules from her high tower in Vesalipolis, she is a threat to us all.” Flurry met Bronzetail’s vaguely horrified look. “I promised I would come for you, my ponies. I will not sit meekly under a shield and hope for a better tomorrow. This is our last chance to reclaim Equestria. No one else has come. No one else will come. We must face Chrysalis together, or die alone.” Flurry leaned away and waved a wing at Bronzetail. He flipped through several papers before skipping to the end. “The Kaiser thanks everypony for your cooperation,” he stuttered in Equestrian. “The further his army can advance, the more of your friends and families can be saved, and the shorter this war will be.” He drew a talon across his throat, signaling to the audio booth. The light switched off. The griffon sagged against the table and removed his headset. His fur glistened with sweat. “Did you have to mention your father?” he asked in Herzlander. “We had a script.” “I don’t do well speaking from a script. Are you going to claim that nopony has been killed by your soldiers?” Flurry retorted. “Civilian casualties are inevitable. Doubly so when dealing with stubborn resistance movements.” “The attacks won’t stop until word spreads,” Flurry replied. “Words are wind, yes? I have a meeting. We’ll see how it goes from there.” She shoved her hat down against her head. “I can have a division of knights shadow you.” “You think they aren’t looking for that?” Flurry nickered. “They’ve fought the Changelings for years. I go alone, and you accept whatever deal I arrange.” “You think your subjects will obey you that easily?” Bronzetail asked, balling up his scrawled notes. He tossed it over a wing. “What if they refuse you?” “I’ll deal with them.” Flurry stormed out of the room, nearly bowling over Murky and Echo. The two bat pony siblings were quietly sharing a chilled cider in the hallway, stamped with Applejack’s mark. “You think the slave labor improved the taste?” Flurry snarled. “Nope, but this one’s old,” Echo answered. “Just toasting New Mareland.” The alicorn deflated and her wings sagged. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I can’t demand New Mareland after he gave me Nova Griffonia.” “Fair trade, Princess,” Murky answered. “New Mareland fell apart during Beakolini’s invasion; we lost just about the whole army.” “Celestia said we could reclaim Equestria,” Echo muttered. “Worthless. A lot of New Marelanders still treated bat ponies like trash, lumped us in with the griffon minority.” “Is that what Nightshade would say?” Flurry asked. The older sister was waiting after receiving word from Rainbow Dash. “She’d have better swears,” Murky replied cheerfully. He passed the bottle to his sister, letting her finish it. Flurry’s head hung down. The bat pony risked an approach and nuzzled her. “Aw, cheer up, Princess. Nothin’ to be done. Worth the Nova Griffonians.” “Stop fondling your crush,” Echo hiccupped. Her brother blushed. "Not my type," Flurry laughed and slightly pushed the stallion back. “Where’s Nightshade? Is the meeting set?” Murky glanced at the Reich guards at the end of the hallway. “Yeah," he said vaguely. "Let’s go.” “A moment, Princess,” Bronzetail requested from behind Flurry. He exited the studio with more folders in his claws. Flurry turned around. “What?” Bronzetail clacked his beak, hesitating. His wings fluttered. “We tried many things at first to encourage cooperation,” he began. “After the first attacks, we began imprisoning suspected revolutionaries in Manehattan Penitentiary with targeted collaborators. We keep them in separate blocks, of course.” “I’m sure your army has quite a bit of experience rounding up suspected revolutionaries,” Flurry replied. “Why didn’t you execute the collaborators?” “Are you asking about the Element of Generosity?” Bronzetail asked in response. “Griffons executing ponies never ends well, regardless of reasoning. We tried propaganda first, but so did Lilac, and she did quite a poor job.” “Ponies have gotten very good at spotting liars,” Flurry stated. “Sometimes, it is not a lie,” Bronzetail answered and passed her a newspaper. It was from Lake City in the River Federation; the words were Riverlander. Flurry couldn’t read the text. But she didn’t need to. The front-page cover was a large photo of Celestia, wearing a little golden tiara with three gold medals around her neck. The tall white alicorn was standing on a podium, smiling and waving before an audience. There was a tiny ring around her horn, and her wings were bound with rope. Beside her was a pegasus and earth pony with sliver and bronze medals. Celestia’s mane and tail swirled around her in the photograph. She looked radiant, even in black and white. Flurry held the newspaper between her hooves and stared at it. Her stubby mane itched under her hat and she felt her tail twitch uselessly. “The Sun Princess participates in the River Games every year,” Bronzetail explained. “For a different state each year, in different categories. She binds her wings and wears an inhibitor ring to make it fair.” “You are a fool if you believe that makes it fair,” Flurry replied in a pained whisper. “It was controversial the first year when she participated for the River Republic, but Wittenland quieted down when she volunteered for them the next year.” Flurry kept staring at the picture. “This is real?” “We did not fake it. I swear it.” Bronzetail raised a claw. “We have hundreds of photos of them at galas with River Swirl, at games, operas, arts, events, everything.” He offered her another newspaper. Flurry accepted it by hoof and laid it over the first one. This front-page had Luna wearing a silver tiara, standing before an easel. The tall and lean blue alicorn wasn’t smiling, but a beautiful night sky was on the canvas. It nearly matched her starry mane and tail. “Nightmare Moon is quite the painter and patron of theatre,” Bronzetail commented. “Both of them also do work for various refugee organizations for griffons fleeing the Reich.” Flurry passed the papers to the siblings, then stared at Bronzetail’s folder. “Is any of it fake?” she asked mirthlessly. “No, but ponies do not believe it. They have been told too many lies from Chrysalis and Lilac. If you said something…” “There is a lot of things I want to say,” Flurry snapped. “I’m not saying them now. Words are wind. I’ll take copies when I leave.” She turned back around. Her tail tried to lash in agitation under her pants and skirt. “Let’s go.” Murky and Echo quickly stuffed the papers in their saddlebags and checked their rifles and blades. They trotted after the alicorn, trying to match her long strides. Flurry stomped to the elevator, then decided it wasn’t quick enough and moved to a balcony. The Reich soldier on the balcony squawked when Flurry shoved the doors open. The griffon dropped a cigarette and fumbled her rifle; it nearly fell off the railing. The alicorn grabbed the rifle in her magic and shoved it against the soldier’s claws, glaring at her. Wordlessly, she flung herself over the railing and extended her wings out into the weather. Her purple hat blew away in the wind. Echo and Murky bowled past the recovering guard and chased her. “Princess!” Echo yelled. The bat ponies’ heavy winter coats slowed down their wing flaps. Flurry halted mid-air and waited for them to catch up. “Which way?” she called out over the snowfall. Echo had caught the hat and offered it to the alicorn, but Flurry stared unblinkingly at her until she responded. “Bronclyn,” Echo yelled. “The old subway network. Nightshade’s waiting on 32nd Street. Please, follow us.” Flurry followed her two guards over Manehattan. Flying Reich soldiers gave her room. Flurry half-expected a gunshot and a searing pain in her side, but it seemed no griffon wanted to make the attempt and miss. Just before the radio announcement, Bronzetail sent an alert that no Reichsarmee forces were to engage Flurry’s army for any reason, nor attempt to breach the shield. More of Flurry’s scouts waited over Bridleway, waiting on separate rooftops from Reich garrisons. The signature square was pockmarked with craters from shells, but several posters were still visible on the closed theaters. An all-changeling cast once performed Gone with the Wind, complete with happy earth pony slaves in the background. Beside the ad, there was a large poster of an enormously obese Princess Celestia shoveling cake into her mouth. Is this your Princess? the poster asked. Celestia’s muzzle had a mustache drawn over it. The mustache was new, but the poster was old and weathered. Flurry slowed as she passed over the old poster. Her horn sparked as she gave it a long stare. She had a full escort of her pegasi by the time she landed in Bronclyn. The brick buildings were unlit with boarded-up windows. The streets were half-full with ponies, almost entirely earth ponies with a few scattered unicorns. They gathered around unlit lampposts, staring at the dangling corpses of black-uniformed pegasi. They had been shot before they were hanged, and the cold weather froze the blood to their uniforms. Flurry followed Nightshade down, casting a warming spell, then the detection spell. She licked her upper lip and tasted blood. Manehattanites gave the armed guards space, shivering in the snow despite the residual spell. Flurry looked to the north. The sky was faintly tinged pink through the clouds, despite the distance from the shield wall. “What’s the situation?” Flurry asked Nightshade. “In general? Or with the meeting?” Nightshade asked back. “Rainbow’s waiting at an old subway station down the block. It’s bitterly cold, Princess. The shield kicked a lot of wild storms back that are hampering the front lines. Griffons can’t manipulate the weather half as good as a talented pegasus.” “Neither can bat ponies,” Echo added. She stepped up on three hooves and offered Flurry her hat back. The alicorn shook the snow from it and slapped it on her head with a hoof. It was still itchy. “Wind Rider’s goons have mostly been rounded up,” Nightshade continued. “Some tried to hide; they ended up dead by stabbings and gunshots, probably the resistance. A few were flown down near Albion and Hayston. Griffons rounded up the youth clubs. They’re in a cell block at the jail.” “You hear the radio? What’s the response?” Flurry looked over the heads of her guards. She was already taller than all of them. The ponies of Manehattan stared back with blank expressions, looking more tired and cold than elated to see her. A few wore coats for the weather, but most were bare-furred and malnourished. Like Ponyville in Weter. Flurry shook her head. Nightshade sighed. “I don’t know, Princess.” “I’m sorry about New Mareland,” Flurry offered. “New Mareland can suck my tail,” Nightshade suddenly spat venomously and hissed. “I had to join the expeditionary force because my application was denied. Hornheads feared a bat pony with a degree.” “We followed her,” Murky added. “Your grades were shit,” Echo replied to her brother. “You were going to end up a beach bum, cooking shrimp for other bat ponies.” “Would’ve loved that,” Murky answered. “Stow it,” Nightshade snapped at her siblings. She rubbed a hoof at the fluffy tufts of fur around her ears and bit her lip with a fang. “Princess, a lot of younger ponies didn’t even know who you were last year, or that you were in Nova Griffonia. The Changelings never said anything.” “They tried to kill me,” Flurry replied evenly. “Several times.” I’m sure more times than Thorax will ever admit to knowing about. “If they succeeded, I’m sure Chrysalis would’ve crowed about it for years,” Nightshade admitted. “Ponies are happy that Wind Rider is dead, but a voice on the radio isn’t enough.” “I know,” Flurry sighed, looking again at the crowd. “Where’s the subway?” Her guards formed another cordon that kept the gawking ponies away. Flurry stared at them as she followed Nightshade. They didn’t look angry at her, or relieved. The ponies stared at her in disbelief, shivering in the cold. A few returned to their dilapidated apartments, or broke down more furniture to burn for warmth. Flurry wanted to say something, but she just felt tired and drained. Rainbow Dash stood beside the stairwell to an old subway, dancing on her hooves to stay warm. She saluted her metal wing. “Princess,” she chattered. “It’s cold as ice down there.” Flurry cast a warming spell. It made Rainbow’s wing glow slightly. “Thanks,” Rainbow managed and bowed. “Rise,” Flurry implored. “Who are we meeting?” Rainbow chewed on her cheek and looked aside. “Uh, you gotta go with me, alone.” “Unacceptable,” Nightshade snapped. “Look, they knew me and still shoved a bag over my head and took my wing for a bit,” Rainbow replied angrily. Flurry squinted at the shorter pegasus and cast the detection spell again. “Yeah, I’m me,” Rainbow muttered. “Not a trick. Price had a task force for deep operations during the uprising. He’s…really paranoid.” “What else?” “He doesn’t like Princesses. He spent some time in jail, I think, but nopony asks.” “Great,” Flurry whickered. “Lead the way. Go get warm, everypony. Murky, Echo, do you have those newspapers?” “Princess!” Nightshade exclaimed in disapproval. Her siblings offered the newspapers from Bronzetail, and Flurry tucked them under a wing to keep them safe from the falling snow. “Let’s go, Rainbow.” Flurry trotted down the stairs before the mare could reply, forcing the pegasus to walk with her. “What’s with the papers?” Rainbow asked. “Stuff your clothes for warmth?” “That’s a thing?” Flurry asked, then remembered several ponies in Weter doing exactly that. “Never mind. It’s not for that.” “Uh, okay,” Rainbow shrugged. “Lemme go first.” The pegasus stepped out onto a deserted and run-down platform. The tiles had chipped off the floor in several places, with stains from water damage. Flurry’s horn sparked and sent a ball of light floating across the platform. She could see several bullet holes in the columns before the tracks, and some of the benches had been overturned and used as barricades. “The ELF always had a presence in the tunnels,” Rainbow commented. “Lilac’s Jaeger teams went missing whenever they were sent down here.” The pegasus stepped off the platform and flapped her wings. “Down the tunnel to the left. Give me five minutes, then follow.” “Am I supposed to wear a bag over my head?” Flurry asked sarcastically. “No, but have a shield just in case,” Rainbow answered with unusual seriousness. “You got any advice?” Flurry asked. “How well do you know him?” “Uh, be yourself,” Rainbow offered. Flurry blinked. “That’s the worst possible option.” “Not in this case,” Rainbow answered. “Price is, uh, intense. And paranoid. He doesn’t like liars.” Flurry Heart dispelled her orb of light and waited on the platform while Rainbow vanished. It was cold, and she ended up unbuttoning her jacket slightly to stuff the newspapers against her fur. After counting in her head, she followed the tunnel. A small shield crackled into existence around her. Her shields were golden now, like the magic field from her horn. The shield still crackled with arcs of blue electricity. Flurry felt a pain in the base of her horn and a growing headache. Magical Exhaustion. She ground her teeth and pushed through it, also ignoring the nosebleed. The shield was the only light in the tunnel, and Flurry could barely see the tracks below her flapping wings. She passed by two more derelict stations before stopping in total darkness. She had flown slowly for a few minutes, but there was no hint of Rainbow. She swiveled her ears around, but only heard the hum of her shield. Did I go the wrong way? Flurry dropped the shield and cast a life detection spell. A spotlight turned on ahead and nearly blinded her. It was attached to an old subway car, dismantled into a gun platform. Several Changeling heavy machine guns were bolted in front of an anti-tank gun, and nearly a dozen ponies stood under the platform with a spotlight. Two more spotlights flared to life around it, fully illuminating the tunnel. Flurry reformed the shield around herself, ignoring that it felt like a knife that been jabbed right under her horn. A bullet would be worse. “You mind dropping the spell, Princess?” a thick Trottingham accent asked. Flurry waited for her eyes to adjust and glared through the spotlights. A tall blue earth pony stood below the lights in a gray patchy ELF uniform. His mustache grew into his brown mane, following his muzzle. It looked ridiculous to Flurry, but he seemed very proud of it. It was the only combed and maintained piece of fur. The earth pony puffed a cigar and stared the Princess down with dull brown eyes. He made a show of adjusting his flat booney hat with a hoof. “Price?” Flurry shouted. “Where’s Rainbow?” The earth pony maneuvered the cigar to the other side of his muzzle. “Hard of hearing? Or do I need to say please?” “Rainbow.” Flurry narrowed her eyes. Rainbow Dash emerged from between a brown earth pony with a black mohawk and a dark red pegasus. “I’m fine, Princess!” she called out. Flurry chewed on her lip. “Am I going to get shot if I drop this shield?” “I could’ve had my snipers shoot you a moment ago when you dropped it.” The earth pony pointed to two white-furred unicorns crouched with rifles under the spotlight stands. “You make a good target, Princess. You should’ve approached in the dark.” Flurry dropped the spell and stared Price down. He puffed on the cigar and waved a hoof. Flurry felt the detection spell wash over her as she flapped her wings in the tunnel, so she cast the spell back. The two unicorns burst into green flames. They remained sighted on her and let their disguises burn off. “Defectors,” Price chuckled at Flurry’s snarl. “The one on your left is Ghost. The other’s Roach.” “That’s not their real names. You trust them?” Flurry asked, drifting closer. “More than you,” Price replied. “They’re here to make sure you’re honest.” Two of the spotlights switched off and Price motioned for Flurry to land at the front, beside the machine gun turrets. Flurry landed and looked over the group. The train car was attached to several others, but she suspected it hadn’t moved for years. Rust accumulated around several of the welded metal armor plates. Four mares in ELF uniforms stood at the very back with submachine guns. Flurry noticed they were Reich models with the trigger guards broken off so they could be fired by hoof. Price stared back, looking the alicorn over in the remaining spotlight. He didn’t seem to be impressed. “Right. How’d a moppet like you become a Princess?” “I was born one,” Flurry replied. “With wings like that? Your mother had fun.” “She did not.” Price smirked, then quickly recovered his scowl. “Gazette, Soap Box, check the tunnel and make sure the Princess wasn’t followed.” The two ponies next to Rainbow saluted and climbed off the side, disappearing into the gloom. “Are you actually in charge of the resistance in Manehattan?” Flurry asked. “Why? You think I was going to meet you at our base?” Price snorted. “Fat chance of that. You’re lucky I’m meeting you at all. Rainbow sings your praises.” “If that was meant to be a compliment, you haven’t heard her sing.” “It wasn’t. She’s easily impressed.” “Price,” Rainbow said warningly. She didn't walk forward. “She’s not like the others.” “Really? I heard a pretty speech from a pretty princess earlier.” “Take a closer look,” Flurry replied and removed her hat with a wing. Between her spellwork and her bald patches, she looked awful. Her nose was crusted with blood. She stepped up to Price, eyeing the rifle barrels tracking her. Price puffed on the cigar. “You lose a fight with a blender?” “I won a fight with the Crystal Heart,” Flurry replied bluntly. “Heard the shield does nasty things to the bugs,” Price admitted. “Just heard that I need to cuddle up to the birds and sing campfire songs.” “Grover’s army is the one advancing and fighting the Changelings. You’re hiding in a glorified sewer.” “You think you can swoop in and wave your horn about and we’ll all follow you?” Price snarled. “We followed Celestia and Luna to the trenches and died. Then we followed Starlight and Trixie to Twilight and died.” “You didn’t follow Celestia and Luna,” Flurry countered. “They didn’t fight.” “Oh,” Price asked with false confusion, “and you do?” “Yes.” “We’ve just heard speeches on a radio,” Price dismissed. “Same as Celestia and your mother. Luna's fieldcraft left something to be desired.” “My mother died for her subjects.” “Will you?” “Yes, I would.” Flurry glared up at the snipers, daring them to call her a liar. Price waved a foreleg through the cigar smoke, using the opportunity to look behind him. Ghost gave a slight nod. “Well, that’s an improvement, but it’s easy to improve on garbage.” “I’m here,” Flurry huffed. She pulled the newspapers free from her jacket and flung them down at Price’s hooves. “This is what they’re doing.” Price gave them a cursory look and spat out the cigar butt. “I know what they’re doing. What they’ve always wanted to do: Fuck off and leave us the mess. I tried to tell Starlight, but she didn’t want to hear it. She put everything on getting Twilight back, and I went along with it.” Rainbow approached and looked down at the papers. After a moment, her muzzle scrunched and she turned away. Price bared his teeth at Flurry. “We fought for them. And we lost. Why should we follow you?” Flurry took a moment, ruffling her wings. Price chuckled bitterly. “You don’t have an answer beyond those wings and horn, do you?” “I am out there, fighting for my ponies, while you squat in a sewer,” Flurry snarled. “You think I wanted to make a deal with the Reich? You think I want to be down here? I don’t give a shit how you talk to me, but ponies are dying while I waste my time with you. What makes you better than Wind Rider? I don’t see anypony else stepping up.” “Rainbow says you’re a one-mare army,” Price replied. “She says you’ve killed thousands of griffons and changelings. We’ve heard a bit from the Reich sailors, and a little from the defectors. Maybe that’s all true, maybe not. You want to lead? What are you going to do when the bugs start getting nasty?” Flurry stared at him disbelievingly. “What?” “Oh, that show with Wind Rider is very nice, Princess of Rope,” Price complimented. “What are you going to do when they don’t deserve it? When the bugs start holding ponies hostage, leaving them dying on the ground?” “What the hay did you tell him?” Flurry asked Rainbow. “She told me a lot,” Price shrugged before Rainbow could answer. “Rainbow Falls was a nasty bit of business, ordering your ponies to do that. Hard work, Princess.” “I don’t give orders that I won’t carry out myself.” “Really?” Price huffed. “I killed a foal,” Flurry sighed. Price stopped fiddling with a new cigar and stared at her. “His name was Quartz,” Flurry said softly. “Trimmel was using him and several dozen others as hostages to prevent us from storming the Crystal Palace. I blew up the barricade. I watched him die with Trimmel.” The earth pony tucked the cigar back into a pocket. “You regret it?” Price asked in a softer tone. “I dream about him a lot,” Flurry admitted. “Luna abandoned that duty, too. Probably deserve the dreams anyway.” “Not talking about guilt,” Price replied. “Regret. Do you wish you didn’t do it?” “I wish I didn’t have to,” Flurry answered. “We needed to take the palace and end the battle. I could have ordered an assault; we would’ve lost too many and they would’ve died anyway. So I went in. If I had recovered enough, I would’ve gone to Rainbow Falls myself.” Price glanced up at his snipers. He didn’t reply for a long time, so Flurry continued. “I need you to stop raiding the Reich’s supply lines. We need their army to win this.” “We’re trading bugs for birds.” “The birds won’t suck out our emotions or work us to death in mines.” “You sure about that?” “I will kill Grover if he tries it.” Price hummed. “I don’t know you, Princess," he said in a softer voice. "A lot of ponies don’t know you. You were a foal when our home fell. We didn’t get much news from Nova Griffonia. Stories that you went around on a birthday tour every year, shaking Blackpeak’s claw.” “I grew up in a slum. The hot water didn’t work most days, and the electricity cut out every month.” Price looked around the subway tunnel. “You expect me to pity that?” “No, I had a fancy bedroom. It had its own shower and toilet, and the lights worked most nights. My mattress only had one lump.” “You have a nice uniform.” Price gestured to her purple uniform and boots. “I hate it. I left my sweatpants at home. Herzlanders get weird about clothes and my tail burned off.” Price looked up to make eye contact with Flurry. “You going to kill me if I refuse to stop fighting the birds?” Flurry exhaled. “I’ve been debating killing you for several minutes.” Price took that in stride. “Why are we still talking, then?” “I’d prefer not to kill you,” Flurry said honestly. “Please, I need your help. Ponies need your help. Unless you have a better idea, the Reich is it.” Price heaved a sigh, looking up at the snipers. “Celestia, this is what my life has become, making overgrown fillies beg for my help in subway tunnels.” The earth pony tiredly nodded at Flurry. “Duty Price, captain of a task force that no longer exists, for an army that no longer exists.” Rainbow pumped a hoof. She looked at Flurry and mouthed, “Nailed it!” Price reached into a cargo pocket with his muzzle and pulled out two sheets of paper. “The resistance is organized into cells,” he muttered around the papers. “I can’t just order everypony to stop. I need something to prove it.” “Prove what?” Flurry accepted the papers with her telekinesis. “Prove you’re not just a bird puppet,” Price replied bluntly. “We got plenty of good soldiers locked up in Manehattan Penitentiary. Get them out.” “I doubt they’ve killed more griffons than me combined.” “They aren’t Princesses,” Price pointed out. “The other list is known collaborators. Trash that used ponies for slave labor. Starlight and Trixie locked them up, but couldn’t decide what to do with them. When we lost, they went right back to what they were doing. They were locked up for their own protection after the Reich landed.” “Why?” “We started killing them,” Price shrugged. “It was making things difficult for the occupation.” Flurry looked over the lists. She didn’t recognize many names. “Rarity’s not on either of these lists,” she observed. Price looked back to the four mares at the back of the converted carriage. “Crusaders, come up front.” A lean orange pegasus, a white unicorn with a leg brace, and two stocky earth ponies slung their submachine guns around their sides and trotted forward. Rainbow smiled and nearly tackled the orange pegasus. “Squirt!” “Ack! Rainbow,” the mare whinnied. “It’s been like three hours!” “Three hours too long,” Rainbow replied quickly. “I even forgave you for throwing a bag over my head.” Rainbow turned to Flurry with a beaming smile. “Princess, this is Scootaloo, Babs Seed, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.” She pointed her wing at the mares while she wrestled with Scootaloo. “They ran the Cutie Mark Crusaders organization during the war.” Flurry didn’t recognize any of them. “Rarity and Applejack’s little sisters,” she replied neutrally and dipped her head. Sisters of collaborators. “And Rainbow’s honorary little sis!” Scootaloo added, shoving Rainbow back. Sweetie Belle stepped forward and bowed. “My sister worked under Suri Polomare for several years, making uniforms for the Hegemony.” Her lips quirked. “They were terrible uniforms, prone to falling apart in vigorous exercise, like combat.” “Rarity did a lot of good before the uprising,” Price added. “We lost track of her in Canterlot for a bit, but Sweetie Drops had complete faith in her.” Flurry processed the information and tapped her hoof. “Okay, why is she in jail?” “Starlight and Trixie had her temporarily detained,” Price continued. “The bugs found out about her after we lost, stamped her muzzle all over Manehattan as proof that even the Elements bowed before Chrysalis, same with Applejack and the cider.” “My sis has no choice,” Apple Bloom snarled. “You know how many Apples the bugs got in camps?” “You know how many slaves your sister’s got?” Rainbow snarled back. Scootaloo and Babs Seed stepped away while Rainbow puffed her wings out. “They shot Big Mac!” “Stow it,” Price rapped a hoof on the floor. “Applejack’s near Appleoosa; the bugs relocated her orchard when General Zecora pulled her trick with the Everfree Forest.” Flurry glanced at the earth ponies. Apple Bloom looked close to tears, but Babs Seed looked away. “When we get there, I’ll hear her out,” Flurry promised. “What about Rarity?” “Rarity was poster-mare for Suri after the last stand. Suri deserves the rope,” Price spat. “She embraced slavery with open hooves, ran her ‘employees’ into the ground. Rarity was part of it.” “Please, Princess,” Sweetie pleaded. “She did everything she could. I know it.” “Except pick up a gun and fight,” Rainbow replied bitterly. “She made dresses!” “I was a weatherpony! I watched her kick a manticore in the face!” “Enough,” Flurry rumbled. Her voice echoed in the tunnel. “I’ll talk to her and decide.” “I can get word to the other ELF cells once you get my ponies out,” Price nodded. He lit a new cigar. “Colonel Shimmer and General Berrytwist lead several thousand out of Ponyville in the Everfree. They’re part of the reason the advance stalled. Well, them and the forest.” “We,” Flurry corrected. Price frowned around the cigar. “I’m sorry?” “You’re coming with me,” Flurry nodded. “So are the Crusaders.” “Princess, I’m a wanted stallion,” Price mumbled around the cigar. “Before the war, even. I’ve seen enough prisons.” “Too bad,” Flurry replied sweetly. “I came to you, now you come with me to hash things out with Field Marshal Bronzetail.” “I’ve killed several of his soldiers.” “I broke into his bedroom once and pinned him to a wall, naked.” Flurry considered her wording. “I was naked, not him. He was naked later. We’re friends now.” The cigar fell from Price’s muzzle. He desperately looked to the changelings. They shrugged helplessly. “What the hay were you doing in Nova Griffonia?” Flurry ignored the question. “You’re coming with me. We’ll have a nice, long chat, and hopefully I won’t have to kill anyone. My magic is still recovering. If he tries to kill you, I will kill him. If you try to kill him, I will kill you.” Flurry lifted one of Price’s forelegs with her magic, also immobilizing the changelings and preventing them from firing. Without looking, she pulled the rifles from their hooves and set them down on the floor. Flurry Heart forced Duty Price to shake her hoof. For the first time, his ears pinned back at her wide smile. “Deal?” Flurry asked with high-pitched sweetness and a nosebleed, but it was not truly a question.