Flurry flipped through the stack of reports. “How many have we verified?” she asked over her withers as the papers shuffled by her muzzle in gold magic.
“Half,” Thorax shrugged.
“Accurate?” the alicorn asked again.
“Yes,” the changeling nodded. “Servants confirmed it.”
The papers suddenly pulled together into a neat, thick stack. Flurry stuffed them into a folder, then tucked the overstuffed folder into the hem of her sweatpants, using a wing to keep it in place. She used the opportunity to sniff her wingpit and grimaced.
Thorax rolled his eyes. Flurry could only tell from practice, considering the solid blue nature of his pupils and irises. She raised her muzzle haughtily and declared, “Do I not look the very image of a Princess?”
“You look like you’re about to wander the ghetto in Weter,” Thorax deadpanned.
“No, these are my good sweatpants,” Flurry retorted. “Only one stain.” Her grin faded. “Is this the right thing to do?”
“The smart thing,” Thorax answered neutrally.
Someone knocked on the door to Flurry’s appropriated office in the west wing of Canterlot Castle. It saw little use, nearly as little as the cot against the interior wall. “Grandmaster Jürgen is here, Princess!” Jadis called through the door.
“Enter!” Flurry shouted and dispelled the ward keeping the door locked. The Grandmaster of the Opinicus Order entered in full plate armor with a speckled cloaked draped over his back and wings. The pale blue griffon inclined his head, but did not bow.
“Grandmaster,” Flurry nodded back. “How are your knights?” she asked in Herzlander.
“Good,” the griffon gruffly answered.
“At the shield,” Flurry stated.
“The Kaiser says we are at your disposal,” the Grandmaster agreed with visible reluctance. “And so we are.”
“Do you have an issue with the plan?” Flurry asked. “Or taking orders from a pony?”
“The latter,” Thorax said for the Grandmaster. The griffon’s beak twitched and he glared at the changeling. Thorax buzzed a wing back.
“Hardly honorable,” Jürgen muttered.
“You came to the wrong continent for honor,” Flurry said dryly. “Thank you for coming, and your help.”
“As the Kaiser commands,” Jürgen said formally and exited. His eyes never left her horn for the entire discussion. Jadis stood in the doorway after he left, eyeing the hallway. Her tail swung in a pattern.
“How many arrived?” Flurry asked. “More than half?”
“Hard to tell,” Jadis said back. “A lot of fancy dresses and families.”
The Princess sighed. “Right. Well, let’s get this done.” Her horn glowed and Thorax stepped back. She vanished with a snap.
Flurry reappeared just before the obsidian throne at the top of the dais. Her magic popped softly, too soft to be heard over the din of voices that rang through the throne room. The alicorn flexed her wings and tucked the folder back into place.
Rainbow Dash leaned against the throne on one side. She brushed a sleeve back on her leather jacket to check her watch. “Little early,” the pegasus said quietly.
“I chose not to walk,” Flurry responded. The crowd was looking toward the closed double doors, not the dais. She only saw a room full of horns poking out of manes and hats.
“Sweet Celestia,” Rarity mumbled from the other side of the throne. She eyed Flurry with clear horror. “Sweatpants?”
“And my crown,” Flurry defended. She raised a hoof and bumped the crystal band.
“Your uniform is being pressed, but it’s perfectly presentable,” Rarity offered. The pearl unicorn had fastened her purple mane in a bun, and wore a matching purple vest over a flowing skirt. “Please, Princess,” she whickered. "First impressions-"
“I promise I’ll wear it,” Flurry said apologetically, “after I shower. It’s been a few days.”
Rarity blinked and stared back at the crowd. She mumbled something in disbelief under her breath. Rainbow snickered from the other side of the throne.
A few of the unicorns turned around in the crowd and noticed the Princess standing before the throne. They locked up, torn between bowing or pointing her out to the others. Flurry scanned over the well-dressed, well-fed, and well-bred herd of remaining Canterlot elites.
“Thank you all for coming!” Flurry Heart chirped in a high voice. It failed to overpower the general clamor in the throne room, but most of the crowd turned around when the others did. Horns pointed to her in a wave.
The herd of Equestria’s remaining nobility looked fairly nervous, though some immediately bowed to her. And a few even smiled indulgently, ignoring that the Princess was currently in stained sweatpants and only wearing a cheap crystal band under her horn. Flurry flapped her wings as the pony guards lining the throne room, only a few dozen, glared at the crowd.
“Hello, everypony!” Flurry continued. “I’m Flurry Heart, the Princess of Ponies, the Princess of the Crystal Empire, and Princess of Equestria!” She paused. “Well, I’m not Princess of Equestria yet,” Flurry admitted. “I need to be coronated. All of you swore oaths of loyalty to the Equestrian crowns, to Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.”
Her voice darkened. “And Chrysalis.”
The herd shifted. Flurry stared over a sea of upturned muzzles and a few sparking horns. You walked past a gallows to get here. Some of you approached before I invited you. The Republicans were right, weren’t they?
Flurry frowned. “I can’t say I’m happy about that, but Equestria is hurt. In times of like these, we need to pull together, and the nobles of the Principality of Equestria have always helped carry the burden of the throne.” Her horn pulsed and the changeling detection spell rolled through the crowd.
A few horns flared at the magic, but suddenly dimmed as the unicorns recognized the spell was harmless. Flurry did not expect any changelings in the crowd. A few families had even brought their foals, dressed in little suits or dresses to see the alicorn. “Before you swear fealty to me,” Flurry stated, “I should get to know you, and your duties. A Princess should know her ponies.”
Several horns nodded slowly in the front of the crowd. Flurry smiled. “I apologize for meeting you like this, but I’ve been very busy and my nice outfit is in the wash.” Several unicorns near the front chuckled.
“That wasn’t a joke,” Flurry explained. “My nice outfit is being cleaned. I apologize.” The laughter stopped. The Princess surveyed the crowd of her subjects. Her left wing flapped at Rarity, and her right at Rainbow Dash.
“I’m sure you recognize Rarity, the Element of Loyalty, and Rainbow Dash, the Element of Generosity,” Flurry declared, then her muzzle collapsed into a pout. “My aunt cannot be here; I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, and they are true.”
“Our condolences, Princess,” a unicorn mare near the front of the crowd called out. It was swiftly repeated by the herd behind her. Flurry studied the sea-green unicorn in a flowing indigo dress that spoke up. The mare wilted with pinned back ears and shuffled slightly into the crowd.
“Guards!” Flurry suddenly shouted. There was a long pause as the soldiers along the pillars turned to the Princess before the throne. Flurry tossed her head back. “Dismissed!” she shouted with a stomp.
The doors opened and the armed soldiers exited in lockstep. Flurry descended the stairs as they did, standing before a herd of nearly two hundred unicorns. There was not an earth pony or pegasus in sight. Canterlot had always been a unicorn city, and the upper crust of Equestria was often dominated by horns.
The Princess’ height let her see over most of the crowd. Her muzzle scrunched at a small band of unicorns wearing masks over their muzzles in the back, then she preformed a double-take at another Rarity. The pearl unicorn had stylized her mane to match a gaudy red and gold mask over her eyes. She clearly felt the Princess’ stare and smiled softly.
Flurry noticed she was standing at the very back, and close to the open doors. The alicorn looked back up at the throne, seeing the actual Rarity still there with Rainbow. The Element of Generosity had also spotted her doppelganger and frowned.
Flurry raised her wings after adjusting the folder again to make sure it didn’t fall out of her sweatpants. She advanced on the crowd and the unicorns parted and bowed along the pillars. Parents and older siblings helped the colts and fillies kneel and press their horns to the black tile while the Princess crossed the rug.
The masked unicorns in the back bowed with a flourish. The Rarity double bowed last, but twirled a hoof in a theatrical motion. Rainbow and Rarity descended the throne and followed Flurry Heart.
“Rares, you got a sister?” Rainbow asked. “Another one?”
“Not that I know of, darling,” Rarity responded dryly.
Flurry stopped before the masked unicorns just in front of the double doors to the foyer. Her guards remained beyond it, waiting with slung rifles. The Princess folded her wings and called out, “Rise,” to the throne room.
The herd did so in a wave; ‘Rarity’ stood last and tossed her expertly coiffed mane back. “Princess?” she said in a smooth Upper Canterlot accent. The mare wore a red dress that hugged her flank below a prim tail.
“I’m sorry, but who might you be?” Flurry asked.
“I am Gloriosa of the Cornucopia Society,” the mare answered readily. She waved a hoof to the other masked unicorns. “These are my companions. We were close to the former Generalmajor.”
“You admitted that quite readily,” Rarity pointed out.
“I assume you know that,” Gloriosa said to the Princess. She had a smile, but her eyes were cold behind the mask. “I was invited like the others.”
“I have no idea who you are,” Flurry said lightly. “Generalmajor Pagala and Lord Commander Lacin kept files, but most of them were destroyed in the battle for the castle. She lifted a wing to show Gloriosa the folder. “I have names and addresses for the estates in Canterlot, and nothing else.”
“I see,” Gloriosa allowed. Her muzzle scrunched as she leaned in. Rainbow preened her metal feathers in warning, but Gloriosa was apparently undeterred. The masked mare sniffed and recoiled before she got too close.
Flurry smiled apologetically and folded her wing. “I haven’t had the time to shower,” she nickered. “Large wings, you know?” She glanced up at the mare’s horn. “Or perhaps you don’t.”
Gloriosa cleared her throat uncomfortably and stepped aside. “Our society is dedicated to the preservation of Equestrian culture,” she said slowly. “I’m sure you can appreciate that goal.”
“I don’t know much about Equestrian culture myself,” Flurry shrugged. “I grew up in Aquileia and Nova Griffonia. And the Crystal Empire was…” she trailed off. “Behind.”
Gloriosa eyed the Princess behind her mask, then twirled her hoof. “The Cornucopia Society will be happy to assist you, Princess Heart.”
“Flurry is fine,” the alicorn stated. “My parents named me after a storm.” She suddenly reared her head back and looked around at the crowd. Flurry gasped, “Oh! Please, before I forget! Follow me!” She trotted hurriedly towards the corridor to the west wing of the palace. Unicorns scrambled to get out of her way.
The guards at the doors opened them ahead of Flurry and bowed. The Princess stopped in the doorway with Rarity and Rainbow Dash still following her. Rarity’s look of concern deepened. “Everypony!” Flurry belted out.
The crowd tensed.
“Sorry,” Flurry apologized with a wince. “Please, everypony, follow me to the dining hall. My advisors set up a dinner so we could get to know each other.” She trotted out without looking back at the herd.
After several moments, a few of the closest unicorns walked into the hallway with twisting tails and worried muzzles. Flurry waited halfway down the corridor. “Is this rude?” she asked aloud to Rarity. “I should escort them, right?”
The Element of Generosity rubbed her muzzle. “Princess…”
“Anyway,” Flurry interrupted. She faced the slowly growing crowd and smiled softly. “My name is Flurry Heart! I was born in the Crystal City in the Crystal Empire, and I’m seventeen.”
“I’m sure they know that,” Rainbow muttered.
“Then it doesn’t hurt to tell them,” Flurry retorted nasally. She turned around and continued down the hallway, speaking over her wing. “When we lost the war, I went to New Mareland with my father, then Aquileia, then Nova Griffonia. I’ve been a lot of places.”
Flurry Heart continued to recount her time in Aquileia as she guided the herd down the hallways. They moved slowly, eyes scanning the scattered guards along the boarded-up broken windows and interior walls. The alicorn trotted past two mahogany double doors, too engrossed in explaining the foal's game ‘Tyrants and Revolutionaries’ to the crowd.
One of the crystal ponies guarding the door cleared their throat and rapped a hoof on the floor. Flurry’s ears pinned back, and she cut herself off with a sudden clack of her jaw. “Whoops,” she chuckled uneasily. “I don’t know the castle,” Flurry admitted. “I’ve been trying to read up on things.”
“That’s…” one of the mares at the front of the crowd hesitated. “That is fine, Princess.” Her horn glowed as she moved the hem of her flowing dress about her hooves.
“Thank you,” Flurry bobbed her horn. “Uh, countess?”
“Duchess,” the mare corrected in a gentle voice. “Duchess Lavender of Vanhoover.”
Flurry grimaced. “I’m not gonna remember that.” Her ears perked. “My mother was born near Vanhoover. Did you know her?”
“Of course,” Lavender said quickly. “I was brought to her coronation here in Canterlot.” Flurry looked the mare over. She was probably as old as Rainbow and Rarity, but her fur was prim and well-groomed.
“I’d like to hear about that,” the alicorn remarked.
“I’m sure most of us could tell you about it,” Lavender offered. “Princess,” she added quickly.
Flurry turned to the doors. The crystal ponies pushed them open. Canterlot Castle had two dining rooms, one on each wing. They weren’t as spacious and grandiose as the throne room, but large stained-glass windows of the rising or setting sun filtered in the fading light from outside. The hall had been set with several long tables covered in fine linen and set with tableware along the cushioned benches.
The chandeliers hanging from the rafters were off, and the roof was obscured by gloomy shadows. A few crystals on the walls glowed by the tables to add to the light from the windows. Flurry trotted in and waved her large wings across the ends of the long tables.
“Please, everypony! Have a seat!” she called out. She trotted down the lines of silverware and benches. “Most of this was already set up,” she said blithely. “The Queen's Guard liked to eat well. And I’m sure all of you were invited to the Grand Galloping Galas before the war.”
There was a smaller table with five chairs arranged in a row that faced the long tables. Frosty Jadis and Amoxtli stood in purple dress uniforms. Jadis had several sheets of paper and saddlebags propped next to her chair. Amoxtli’s marked wings and sharp golden eyes tracked the crowd as they slowly wandered into the room, looking around with affected, detached interest but twisting tails.
There were no guards along the walls.
Flurry stopped before the small table with Rarity and Rainbow. She turned to face the crowd gathered at the doorway. Horns twisted as they looked around at the room and tables. Most seemed nervous, and Flurry saw a flew auras flicker around horn points.
“Please, have a seat!” Flurry called out.
Duchess Lavender stepped forward out of the herd and smiled uncomfortably. “Princess, how would you like us to sit?”
Flurry blinked. “You put your flank on the bench?” she replied. “Is posture important, or…” she trailed off and looked to Rarity beside her. The unicorn sighed.
“In order of rank and title,” she provided.
“In order of rank and title,” Flurry repeated in a louder voice. “I’m sorry, the Crystal Empire didn’t have any nobility, and, uh, neither did Nova Griffonia. Or Aquileia.” Sombra had them all executed.
The herd clearly knew who was more important than others, and began to jockey for positions along the tables. Flurry couldn’t really tell the difference; all of the unicorns were wearing the fanciest outfits she had seen in years, tuxedos, dresses, coattails and a few hats. They had clearly eaten well. Some horns bent at each other as ponies whispered.
The seats at her end of the long tables were filled last. Duchess Lavender took one of the places early, at the very end of the table so she could turn and see Flurry and her four advisors with a quick glance. Several more unicorns, emboldened, stood with her.
Flurry waited.
“You should be seated first,” Rarity said in a tight voice.
Flurry pursed her lips. “Oh.”
She trotted around to the other side of her smaller table and pulled the chair back with a flick of her horn. The Princess sat down on the cushion gracelessly and pulled herself back against the table with her forelegs. The chair’s legs squeaked on the tile floor.
Rainbow Dash, Amoxtli, Jadis and Rarity took their seats, in ascending order of etiquette and grace. The crystal pony set her papers down at the end of the table and passed a sheet down to Flurry. The Princess took it in her hooves and cleared her throat.
“Since the Concordat of the Three Tribes,” Flurry read aloud, “the lines of the old nobility have endured as the bedrock of Equestria. I welcome you, my ponies, to this hall and sincerely wish for this to be a new beginning for Equestria and the Empire. The war has not been won, and the time has come to renew our oaths and rebuild.
“I am sure you know I have entered an alliance with the Griffonian Reich; Kaiser Grover VI currently resides in the other wing of this castle. I hope that the bonds forged in this war endure and finally put aside our old rivalries between pony and griffon.
"May the-” Flurry paused. “Ef-fa-ves-cent light of Equestria rise again.” She floated the paper back to Jadis and clapped her front hooves. Rarity rubbed her muzzle.
The guards shut the doors to the hallway, and two side doors opened. Flurry saw a sea of horns turn to the doors with nervous eyes below. Several ponies wheeled out covered dishes and a large amount of wine bottles. Unicorns levitated the banquet plates above the tables and set them down. More ponies entered with more carts behind them.
Jacques entered last with a massive cart stacked with wine bottles. He wore an apron and hat that mostly covered the bandages along his left side. “Hello!” he called out to the tables. “I am Jacques, and I am your sommelier for the night!” His accent was incredibly thick, even worse than it usually was. “Aquileians know two things: love and wine, and I have a love of wine tonight!”
“Generalmajor Pagala, who you saw outside, had the castle well stocked,” Flurry explained from the table. Her voice carried across the room. “Let this be the first of many victories!”
A few hooves rapped on the tables in agreement.
“As everypony eats, I’ll call you up my table,” Flurry stated. “Please, tell me who you are. I need to put cutie marks to names. I apologize for interrupting your dinners, but I hope this will be quick.”
Flurry Heart finally pulled out her folder and leafed through the papers. “Duchess Lavender Lace,” she called out. “Thank you for your help earlier. Let’s start with you.”
Lavender, a light lavender unicorn in a matching dress, sidled up from her seat at the edge of the table. She bowed with a flourish before the seated alicorn. “Princess.”
“Rise,” Flurry nodded. “You are the Duchess of Vanhoover? Do you have any family?”
“My husband,” Lavender said, “and my daughter.”
“Are they here?” Flurry asked.
Lavender turned and waved her hoof. A stallion in a gray tuxedo stood and approached, bowing low with a gangly filly in a very poofy dress. Her horn stuck out above rosy curls.
“Does that make him Duke of Vanhoover?” Flurry asked again.
“By marriage, but not by right,” Rarity interrupted. “The line goes matrilineally.”
“What?”
“Through the mare,” Rarity sighed.
Flurry turned to Jadis, who had begun scratching notes out with a pen in her teeth. She nodded to the Princess. The alicorn looked back to the older couple.
“Thank you for your help,” Flurry said gratefully. “I think Vanhoover was turned into another Great Hive, right?”
“Yes,” Lavender said regretfully. “I was forced to give my permission as they mauled my domain.”
“We’ll reclaim it,” Flurry promised. She tapped a hoof on her chin. “Did the mayor of Vanhoover answer to you?”
“Not technically,” Lavender smiled. “She worked with the Princess' administration, but we’ve always kept close ties.”
Flurry looked down at her folder, then passed the paper down to Amoxtli. “Thank you. You may be seated. We’ll speak more later, I’m sure.”
Lavender brushed a hoof against her daughter’s dress. The filly squinted up at the alicorn with blunted feathers, a shaved mane, and a plain purple band. “I greet you, Princess,” she squeaked with confused eyes.
“And I greet you,” Flurry returned. “What’s her name?”
“Lavender,” Lavender Lace answered. “We call her Lily.”
Jacques and two helpers pushed the wine cart up and down the tables as more ponies set out platters. Salads, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit and vegetables of nearly every kind mixed together into a feast. Some of the unicorns picked at the food, eyeing each other and the Princess with low whispers.
“I would recommend the Amontillado,” Jacques drawled in a nearly unintelligible accent. He waved a wine bottle at a unicorn in a top hat. “It is quite the flavor, earthy with a hint of something more.” Before the stallion could refuse, Jacques was already pouring into a glass. “Drink!”
The stallion levitated the glass up to his lips as several nearby watched. His muzzle quivered.
“Drink!” Jacques repeated.
The unicorn closed his eyes and took a sip. He opened his eyes and hummed after a moment. The others seated with him watched the stallion critically.
“I am Aquileian,” Jacques squawked. “I know wine. Is good, no?”
The stallion nodded.
Flurry chose another paper. “Duke Golden Gate?” she called out. “Please, if you have family present, bring them. I’d like to meet everypony.”
A gold-furred unicorn in a black tuxedo arrived alone. He had a monocle and bowed before the table. “Princess Flurry Heart.”
“Rise,” Flurry nodded. “Thank you for coming. Please, you’re the Duke of Stableside?”
“Yes,” Golden Gate nodded. “Among surrounding territories.” He spared a quick glance at Amoxtli. The Thestral licked a fang and bit into a mango. She lifted a leathery wing to reveal a holstered pistol.
“She’s my bodyguard,” Flurry said to Golden Gate.
“The bat ponies are excellent workers,” Golden Gate replied. “My family has worked with them for generations. The southeast wouldn’t be what it is without them.”
Amoxtli chewed on the mango expressionlessly.
Flurry asked several more questions, then dismissed him once Jadis finished scratching down notes. The Princess passed another paper to Amoxtli through Rainbow Dash. More servers entered and exited the room, carrying banquet plates. Chatter had begun to pick up as everypony began to speak louder. Flurry could still hear Jacques shout about wine as he moved through the tables.
The process continued. Flurry moved through the duchesses and dukes. Duke Berry of Bales brought up his son, an eighteen-year-old white stallion. “We’ve always had close ties to Equestria," he declared imperiously, "ever since Platinum.”
“Really?” Flurry asked. She checked the paper.
“If I may ask,” the Duke said, “what did the Changelings have to say about us?”
“Oh,” Flurry nickered, “it’s just a list of estates and some names. That’s why Jadis is taking notes.” She jerked her horn to the crystal pony at the end of the table.
“I’m sure they inflated how much we cooperated,” the Duke continued.
Flurry’s ears fell. “Oh,” she said softly. “I was hoping you did own some of these marble quarries. We’ll need the revenue.”
Berry cleared his throat. “I do,” he admitted. “Apologies, Princess.”
“Well,” Flurry’s ears perked up. “That’s good!”
“This is my son and heir,” the stallion edged his son up to the table. “Beryllium.” The colt gave Flurry a dazzling smile. He was tall with broad legs that filled out his suit.
Flurry smiled back, then sneezed into her hoof. She wiped it on her chest. “Sorry.”
Beryllium and his father kept their smiles until she dismissed them. As they trotted back to their place at the table, Flurry heard the colt give a low whine.
“Father-”
“Lie back and think of Equestria.”
Flurry disguised her laugh as another sneeze. She scanned the room. The wine was flowing, and small talk had picked up. It had been nearly an hour and ponies kept bringing in more platters to the tables, or removing the cleared trays. She spotted the masked unicorns, including Gloriosa, sitting at the opposite end of the room, right next to one of the doors to the kitchens. The mare’s horn turned as she waited; she had barely touched any food or drink.
Duskcrest assisted Jacques with more wine bottles. The Nova Griffonian wore an apron over both wings, tied across his back. A slim crystal pony pushed a cart up to the table and set a stack of hayburgers down before the Princess. Flurry glanced at Crystal Hoof.
“Duskcrest and the Rarity look-a-like,” Flurry said under her breath. Crystal Hoof nodded and set down two unopened Fizzlepop Colas. The Princess popped one open and chugged it, much to Rarity’s horror. Afterwards, the alicorn levitated a hayburger into her muzzle and chewed.
“Princess, it’s rude to just use your magic,” Rarity implored.
“Who uses utensils on hayburgers?” Rainbow answered from Flurry’s other side. She ate her own salad with her good wing, holding the fork between several feathers.
“That’s the wrong fork,” Rarity commented.
“It’s the bigger one,” Rainbow answered. She leaned down and bit into a sheaf of lettuce with a messy crunch.
Rarity picked up the correct fork on by her plate and daintily took a bite of her own salad. She desperately tried to prevent her eyes from rolling, then failed after Flurry hiccupped and used another hayburger to wipe the ketchup off her muzzle. The Princess bit down with relish, swallowed, then carefully checked her folder.
“Countess Rare Find?” she called out after another hiccup.
The counts and countesses of Equestria took longer. There were more of them, apparently, which made sense to Flurry because they were lower-ranked. Jadis had left her sandwiches untouched as she scribbled on her notes next to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus looked over at the crystal pony’s stack and suppressed a snort.
“You think that’s going to help any?” Rainbow nickered.
“It’s for the Princess,” Jadis replied.
Sunset Shimmer, mane pulled into a bun, carried a plate of sushi above her horn over to Amoxtli. She was wearing a plain jumpsuit for the pockets. Her eyes swept the tables while she trotted across the room.
The nobility of Equestria now spoke freely with each other, now longer whispering or murmuring amongst themselves, though that still happened. Ponies that the Princess had asked more questions of sat down with larger smiles and gossiped with their families and little cliques.
“You think any recognized you?” Flurry asked through a mouthful of hayburger.
“No,” Sunset said shortly. “It’s been more than a decade, but I recognize some of them.” She set the plate down in front of the bat pony. "The more things change..." she mused.
The Thestral scrunched her lips and exposed her fangs. “You borrow this from the griffons?” she asked with a clipped accent. She poked at the sushi with the tip of her wing.
“I made it,” Sunset replied, “but yes.” The amber unicorn left and took up a position against the wall, as if she was waiting to be called upon. Several other servants, all unicorns, joined her slowly. Rarity frowned at Sunset for a moment, then returned to her salad.
Amoxtli leaned back in the chair and gulped down a sushi roll. Her slit eyes flickered over the dark rafters above the unlit chandeliers. As the sun lowered in the sky to the west, the natural light from the windows continued to recede. She caught Flurry’s eye and nodded.
Rainbow checked her watch. “We’ve been here awhile.”
Flurry eyed her diminished stack of papers. Several of the duchesses and countesses did not respond, apparently remaining at their estates or having fled ahead of the advance. She used her feathers to flick through the remaining names.
“Which one asked about the abandoned estates?” Flurry asked, leaning forward on the table to see Jadis. The crystal pony shrugged her bad hoof in reply.
“Then what’s the point of taking notes, darling?” Rarity snorted. Jadis gave her an even look, then took a bite of her sandwich and waited for Flurry to call another noble forward. The crystal pony tapped the end of her pen against the table using her muzzle.
“Baroness Silver Seal?” Flurry called out. A slim mare with a husband and two foals approached. Her earrings glittered above a sequined dress. She bowed before the table like all the rest.
Flurry bit into a hayburger. “Rise,” she said around the mouthful. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled afterwards.
“That’s quite alright, Princess,” the mare said graciously. “Goodness knows after that battle you must be quite famished.”
Flurry giggle-snorted. “Oh, I nearly died a dozen times.” She waved a hoof. “Lemme tell you, that really smarted somethin’ fierce.” The Princess brushed her crystal band with a hoof stained with ketchup and angled her horn down. “You can still see the felt growing back.”
The mare’s smile turned strained. “Yes,” she eventually said, “I can. I must say, that’s quite the accent, Princess,” she continued in a refined Canterlot pronunciation.
Flurry blinked. “What accent?” she trilled in the harder consonants of the Nova Griffonian Frontier. “Do I have an accent?” she asked Rainbow.
“Your accent is fine, Princess,” Jadis muttered around the pen.
“I don’t know if a crystal pony is the best judge of that,” Rainbow said to her. “You tend to sound like some old play actresses.”
Jadis spat the pen out and gave Rainbow a deadpan look. “I was born a thousand years ago,” she said in a slow northern lilt. “Your luck is truly fortuitous that we can be understood in any regard.”
Rainbow waved a hoof as if that reply proved her point.
Flurry Heart twisted back to Silver Seal. She wrung her hooves. “I don’t sound bad, do I?” she asked worriedly. “You’re the first to say something.”
“Forget I said anything,” Baroness Silver assured her. “You sound perfectly fine, Princess,” she very obviously lied.
“Your accent is exotic,” Rarity agreed. “It lends a sense of mystery. Nova Griffonian, Aquileian, Equestrian, and Imperial rolled together.”
“Is that how you came up with your accent?” Rainbow asked over Flurry’s horn. “I remember your parents. Whinnypeg, right? A changeling once pretended to be you to trick me, but couldn't get the accent right. What do you really sound like?”
Rarity puffed her lips and took a bite of her salad instead of replying.
Flurry asked several more questions, then moved on after sparing the two foals a smile. They looked disappointed at the gangly alicorn in sweatpants, but thanked her after prodding from their parents. Flurry continued to eat hayburgers in between the talks, slowly working through the stack of papers until the sun set.
She finally passed the last page down and looked at seventeen papers of ponies that hadn’t appeared. The hall was gloomy now, with only the crystals on the walls providing light. Flurry looked out the stained-glass windows of the sun. Twilight. Several of the panes were cracked from her explosion, but these windows had been sheltered by the barracks and Twilight’s old tower.
Amoxtli stood and left the table, excusing herself to go to the bathroom. She passed her papers back to Flurry, then took the seventeen pages from the alicorn with her other wing. As she exited through a servant’s side door, Duty Price reached out a hoof and tucked them under his apron. The blue earth pony leaned against the door, mane and mustache combed back with a plain white cap on his head. He followed the bat pony surreptitiously.
Several minutes later, Jadis finished her last sandwich and stood. She left the notes and pen on the table as she left through the same door as Amoxtli. She nodded to Sunset and twenty unicorns along the wall before one of the unicorns shut the door behind her.
Jacques passed out the rest of the wine bottles freely while chattering complete nonsense in Aquileian. A few of the nobles nodded along, pretending to understand his prattle, and a few even tried to speak to him in Prench. The Aquileian waved the wine bottles wildly whenever that occurred, drawing attention from the entire room.
Flurry stood in her chair and leaned her forelegs on the table. She wiped her hooves on the linen, then scrubbed her fetlock across her muzzle to check for crumbs. “Everyony!” she shouted. “Is there anypony that I haven’t met?”
The room quieted and looked around. The alicorn scanned over the tables from her position at the front. Gloriosa and her socialites hadn’t been called up to the front of the room, but she remained seated. Duskcrest leaned against the wooden side door behind her, picking at his apron with a talon.
Jacques wheeled out his empty cart. He glanced at Flurry with his tail slinking under his sommelier's outfit. He winked at her as he pushed the cart by Duskcrest and left.
“Very well,” Flurry declared. “I know I’m not Princess Celestia, but I enjoy cake as much as her.” She tapped a hoof on the table and reconsidered. “Maybe not as much as the Changelings say she did.”
The room laughed, shrill and fake. Flurry plastered an equally fake smile on her muzzle. “I never truly had a proper Canterlot cake in Weter, and my birthday was just before the battle. So, I decided to have some cakes made for everypony!” Flurry waved her wings at the side doors.
Three cakes were brought out on large carts, decorated in pink, white, and purple frosting. It was more than enough for the 172 ponies to have a slice. Crystal Hoof stood in between the cakes.
“Everypony,” he called out apologetically, “the next information may be a bit disturbing. It concerns Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Princess would like to ask that the foals go with us to a side room.”
Flurry’s ears pressed against her head. “In Nova Griffonia, I always made sure that everypony got a slice of cake, especially my littlest ponies. We have water, milk, and soda, and I promise they won’t get too wild.” She bit her lip. “They shouldn’t have to hear this.”
Crystal Hoof and a few crystal ponies soon gathered the foals, colts, and fillies together while the adults finished the last of their plates. Sunset and the other unicorns collected them, then set out new plates for the cakes. Crystal Hoof held a vote on which cake the foals wanted, and they voted overwhelmingly for the purple one. It was wheeled out ahead of the tiny herd, back into the hallway. The double doors were pulled shut behind the gaggle of happy kids.
Flurry bit her lip, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She leaned her hoof against her barrel and exhaled, pushing it out. When she opened her eyes, her glacial blue irises shimmered.
“My aunt-” Flurry’s voice cracked. She took a moment. “I’m sorry, I usually have something written down. My aunt was tortured. She’s in a coma, and has been for nearly two years. Before that, the Changelings had her drained of love and magic. The pictures will come out soon, and the news will spread.”
The crowd of horns dipped in sorrow.
“I believe,” Flurry continued in a wracked voice, “that my aunt will wake up, and she will wake up to a victorious Equestria. But I didn’t get here alone. I need help. I need your help, especially. We’re shattered.”
The room quieted, and Flurry saw their eyes turn to each other. She could see the kingdoms and crowns in their eyes, probably the same desire that drove them to accept the invitation to the castle in the first place and see the Princess. They nearly smiled as one and nodded along their seats to Flurry.
Rainbow stood up beside Flurry and gripped her wine glass with her blue wing. “A toast to Princess Flurry Heart!” the pegasus proclaimed. “The Princess of Ponies! May she lead us to victory!”
Rarity stood up on the other side and took her wine glass in her magic. “The Princess of Ponies!” she echoed.
The herd lit their horns and raised their glasses to the only alicorn in the room.
“The Princess of Ponies!” the crowd shouted.
Flurry sniffled. “Thank you, everypony. Please, be seated. We need to discuss territory and governance, but I need time to figure it out.”
Rainbow gulped down the wine and set the glass down. “Woah,” she huffed, “that went right through me. I gotta take a leak. Come on, Rares. That’s your fifth glass.”
“I am perfectly fine,” Rarity said shortly. “It’s my second, Rainbow. I have restraint.”
Rainbow wiggled her wing. “Come on.” She walked behind Flurry’s chair and wrapped her wing around the unicorn’s side. “I bet you need to go.”
“Darling!” Rarity nickered. “Rainbow, what-” She turned and met the pegasus’ eyes. Her muzzle stilled.
“Come on,” Rainbow said with hard eyes. She tugged the unicorn free from the chair and led her away. As Rarity was pulled back from the table, her horn flickered and she opened Jadis’ folder of notes left behind.
A rough scribble of a unicorn was drawn atop a page, followed by a sailboat and a half-finished tank. Flurry knocked the folder shut with her magic and gave Rarity a side-eye as she finished the other soda. The unicorn’s eyes were wide.
“Princess?” Lavender Lace called out. Part of the room quieted, but not everypony. Lavender smiled from her seat. “I know I speak for everypony when I say that we’re here for whatever you need.”
Flurry Heart looked at her, and then herself. She didn’t see the Daughter of Maar or the Princess of Hope. In grimy sweatpants and a cheap crystal crown, she saw an orphan with a subpar education. A pony that grew up in a ghetto and had no idea how to act in high society; a pony that had only gotten where she was because of her advisors and friends.
And all of that was true.
After all, she reflected, the best lies are true. Flurry smiled and flipped through her own folder with a wing. She stopped on Lavender's page. “How about Dust Feather?” the alicorn asked. “I need her. Can I have her?”
Lavender frowned. “I’m sorry, Princess?”
Yes, I’m sure you are. Flurry eyed the unicorns along the wall. She winked to Sunset Shimmer. “The mare you gave Generalmajor Pagala,” Flurry answered Lavender Lace, then sparked her horn.
A golden bubble shield snapped into existence around Flurry Heart. It sliced down through the wooden table and knocked it apart with a fizz of magic. The alicorn pushed the broken half away, then sat back in her chair under the shield.
There was a chorus of scrapes from the darkened rafters. Flurry recognized the sound of drawn steel, but none of the nobles did. Lavender blinked and looked up.
Two dozen fully armored Opinicus knights landed atop the tables with flared wings and swords. Horns sparked in shock as the unicorns fell off the benches and scooted away. The griffons kicked the empty plates and flexed their sharp gauntlets around the hilts of their swords as they assessed which ones were actually threats.
The doors and windows glowed as the room was warded by Sunset and her unicorns. They lined up against the far wall, guarded by a line of other servants that removed their aprons and shouldered stocky submachine guns. There was a sudden whinny of fear that rolled through the herd as the shock wore off.
Gloriosa twisted around with a glowing horn, only to see Duskcrest blocking her intended escape route by standing in front of the side door. The griffon stared her down, and whipped his apron aside to show off two holstered silver-plated pistols under his wings. He reared up onto his paws and narrowed his eyes at the unicorn. Gloriosa’s horn dimmed.
“All your titles are henceforth disbanded,” Flurry stated from under the shield. “Your estates, property, and assets will be returned to the crown.”
“W-what?” Golden Gate whinnied.
“All of you are guilty of treason against Equestria,” Flurry spat. “All of you bowed to Chrysalis, worked with the Hegemony for years. None of you have divots in your horns, not like the ponies outside your precious mansions!”
“We…” Lavender stuttered, “we had to work with them!”
Flurry levitated the page up. “During a garden soiree with Generalmajor Pagala, Lavender Lace noticed the changeling’s interest in one of the servers,” the alicorn quoted. “Lavender offered the server to Pagala. She was never seen again.”
The unicorn’s lips trembled. “Pagala demanded her.”
“That’s not what this says,” Flurry brandished the paper in her hooves. “Offered.” Flurry knocked the folder open with a wing and whirled the papers around the shield. “All of you! Embezzlement, betrayal, abuse! Any noble that was worth their title lost it a long time ago. There is only one title in Equestria that ever mattered: Princess.”
“You have n-no right to do this!” a unicorn in the herd shouted.
“I have the only right,” Flurry returned. “As the last of my family. Your titles are henceforth destroyed. Your foals will inherit nothing.”
Lavender’s muzzle screwed in rage. “You urchin! We’ve held those titles since Platinum’s day! Celestia herself gave them to us! You can’t just take them away!”
Flurry snorted. “I will be taking far more than that.”
In the back of the room, Duskcrest and Gloriosa glared at each other. The unicorn smiled disarmingly under her mask, then lunged. The griffon drew first, and put a bullet in her muzzle before she managed to unleash a spell from her burning horn. He fired again with the other pistol and shattered her face as she fell back.
The crack of the gunshots spurred the herd into frenzied action. Spells flew at the windows and walls. It was wild, without any accuracy and precision. Nobles that could fight had enlisted in the Royal Guard; they were stripped of their titles or followed the Princesses into exile many years ago. A few clearly tried to teleport from the flexing of the wards shimmering on the walls, and failed.
Spells bounced off the knight’s enchanted plate. The griffons hacked down at anypony with a glowing horn. Several unicorns rushed towards the side doors, only to find them guarded by the supposed serving staff along the walls. The ELF veterans knocked them back or fired a shot into their legs.
An errant spell bounced off Flurry’s shield. She watched in dismay as a unicorn ran straight into one of the cakes, splattering his nice tuxedo with frosting. The stallion slipped on the floor before a knight kicked him down.
It was over in less than two minutes. Not many died, most cowered on the floor below the armored knights. Several had crawled under the tables, only for the linen to be ripped away and the screaming ponies to be dragged out by gauntleted claws. The herd was roughly knocked against the right side of the room, gathered under the stained-glass windows of the sun.
“Any injuries, Grandmaster?” Flurry called out in Herzlander. She wiped a trickle of blood from her nose onto her foreleg, just over the white fur of her swirling figure-eight scar.
A knight in an ornate horned helmet raised a claw and looked around from the top of a table. He lifted his visor and rested a bloody sword atop the wood. “None, Princess,” he said with a squawk. “I’ve seen Wittenland peasants put up a better fight.”
“I’m sorry for making you wait so long,” Flurry shrugged a wing. “Feel free to have the remaining cake.” The Princess gathered the notes back up into her folder and tucked it under her wing again.
Jürgen gave a confused glance at the pink wedding cake. “I, uh, okay?”
Flurry dispelled the shield and stepped around the ruins of her table. The herd had been shoved to one side of the room by the knights, or the wounded dragged over. The armored griffons glowered over the ponies besides the ELF veterans that played servant.
“Sunset?” Flurry said. “Any injuries?”
“We’re good, Princess,” Sunset answered.
Duskcrest and two Nova Griffonians with short submachine guns stood next to the double doors. Duskcrest reloaded his pistols above the masked unicorn’s corpse. “She was quick,” he commented and let the casings fall on her bloody mask.
Flurry eyed the other members of the Cornucopia Society, wounded and at the edge of the prisoners. “Give the masked ones to Thorax,” she ordered. “I want that group burned out. All of them. Bunch of Wind Riders.” Flurry walked through a puddle of blood between the tables, then stepped over a corpse. “Hang the dead first,” she kept going, “then the others. I’m sure Limestone will be thrilled.” She stopped before crowd.
“My son!” Duke Berry wailed. He and his son cowered on the floor before a knight. “Please!”
“Beryllium’s old enough to sire a foal with a servant,” Flurry nickered. “He’s old enough to hang.” She raised a wing to show off her folder. “His daughter is in Lower Canterlot. You know that, of course, because you threw her out of your estate.”
The Duke mumbled some reply, and failed. Flurry sneered at Beryllium, and a stain developed on the teenager's tuxedo. He clung to his father like a foal.
“Sweet Celestia,” Golden Gate prayed with a bloody head. Part of an ear had been shorn off from a sword. “You…you can’t do this…you can’t do this…”
“Why not?” Flurry asked.
“We…we’re your ponies!” Golden tried.
Flurry hummed. “You think I should treat you differently because I’m the Princess of Ponies?”
“Yes!”
Flurry snorted. “You sold out your sister for supplying the ELF,” she growled. “You weren’t even in line to inherit, and her foals ended up in a labor camp. They're probably dead because of you.”
“No!” Lavender wept. She crawled forward from where the knights had dragged her out from the table. “Oh, please! Not Lily!” An Opinicus knight pinned her to the ground.
Flurry recoiled with bared teeth. “You think I’m going to kill your damn foals? They have no idea what’s going on here, and they’ll be better off without parents like you.”
“We had to!” Lavender pleaded. “Twilight would’ve wanted us to cooperate!”
“My aunt said to fight the Hegemony,” Flurry snapped. “Not help them. None of you did anything but line your own horns with gold, just like you did with Celestia.” The alicorn rolled her eyes. “I am not Celestia. I am not going to spend centuries centralizing a bureaucracy to remove your privileges when I can just do this.”
“You…” Lavender trailed off.
“Your estates are already being looted,” Flurry said down to her, “along with anypony that didn’t come. I’m sure some will try to disappear into Lower Canterlot or flee. It’s not as if they can run to the Reich, and Chrysalis has no use for you anymore. It's over. Only one title has ever mattered in Equestria, and now it will be official.”
“You’re the Princess of Ponies,” Lavender repeated hollowly.
“I am,” Flurry confirmed, “and I do hold my ponies to a higher standard. Half of you bribed your way out of service during the war, or bribed the War Office to put your foals in cushy jobs. We call the changelings parasites, but you were present in Equestria since the start.” She turned away. “We’re done here.”
“Mercy!” Lavender screamed. The knight kicked her with an armored boot and she whinnied. “M-mercy, Princess!”
Flurry looked to Rarity, standing horrified behind Rainbow Dash. She sighed. “You want mercy?” the Princess asked over a wing. “You didn’t show any mercy to Dust Feather. Did you know she had a sister?”
“Please,” Lavender begged.
Flurry walked over to the knight and Lavender. “Let her up,” she said in Herzlander to the griffon. The knight stepped off the unicorn. “Do you really want my mercy?” Flurry said in Equestrian. Lavender’s husband stared with pinprick eyes from the crowd.
“What did you think of your wife selling a pony to Pagala?” Flurry asked him. The stallion didn’t answer. He shook and scooted back into the herd of cowering unicorns.
Lavender swayed to her knees and lowered her horn to the tile. “Mercy,” she begged with a snotty nose. “Please, Princess…”
Flurry blinked heavily. “Mercy,” she agreed.
Her horn glowed and she snapped Lavender’s neck with a quick twist.
The body twitched.
Flurry raised her head and stared over the prisoners. “I cannot guarantee your neck will break from the rope. Would anypony else like my mercy?”
The herd did not move, and the room was as silent as Lavender Lace.
The Princess of Ponies clicked her tongue. “Very well. Rainbow, Rarity, meet me in the study down the hall when you’re finished here. Sunset, please have Sandbar and Yona come.” She switched to Herzlander. “Grandmaster, please have Gallus come, if he’s available.”
Grandmaster Jürgen observed Lavender’s corpse. After a moment, he chuckled lowly. “Half our nobility rebelled with the Kaiser’s aunt,” he said with a squawk. “Wish we could’ve done this.” He shouldered his bloody sword.
Flurry met Rainbow and Rarity at the double doors. The guards in the hallway opened them after Sunset dispelled the wards. Rarity gaped at the alicorn in horror, then at the other ponies and griffons in the room. Not a single one of them shared her look. They stared at the gathered unicorns in disgust and anger.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” Flurry promised to the Elements. She exited to see Thorax in the hallway with Arex and Ocellus.
“We have her waiting,” Thorax said.
“How are the kids?” Flurry asked.
“They’re full of cake and soda,” he summarized. “There’s already a lot of orphans in Canterlot. What’s several more?”
Flurry's ears pinned back. “Wrong choice?” she asked.
“You think you haven’t made thousands of orphans already?” Thorax questioned back. “I’ve certainly made a share. It’s war.”
Flurry looked over a wing to the corpse being dragged away from the herd of prisoners. Sunset and the ELF unicorns advanced beside the knights and began pulling the unicorns to their hooves. Lavender died with her eyes open, and her husband did not resist as he was tugged to his hooves.
“Duty Price is hitting the estates,” Thorax added. “A lot of their assets were tied up in the Hegemony’s bank system anyway, so Chrysalis probably liquidated their funds. We’ll take everything we can get.”
“So this isn’t necessary,” Flurry concluded.
“Ponies are already angry about the changelings down in the warehouses,” Thorax admitted. “Something has to give. You can’t protect everyone.”
“A Princess should protect her ponies,” Flurry answered. She looked to Duskcrest and the Nova Griffonians. They stood beside Sunset like they belonged there.
Because they did.
Flurry sighed. Jadis and Amoxtli trotted up the hallway with rifles, bat pony and crystal pony unbothered by each other. The alicorn nuzzled Thorax, then waited for Jadis and Amoxtli to escort her down the hall. The changelings entered the room and stood beside griffons and ponies together. And the muffled whinnies of protest faded as Flurry got farther away.