//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Decisions // Story: Upended // by Deergenerate //------------------------------// “You’re kidding… You’re kidding right?” Twilight asked, her jaw dropped. She was in the map room in her castle, joined by Princess Cadance, Celestia and Luna, who were each sitting in one of her friends thrones.  “I’m afraid not, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied, shaking her head. “The parliament has made their decision and we cannot fight back against it without splitting the nation.” “Surely you can do something if all four of us were to veto the decision at once…” Twilight asked, frowning deeply as she sat up in her throne.  Celestia looked down at the map with a sigh, shaking her head. “I taught you about Equestrian politics when you were my student, Twilight. You know that’s not the case.” She said. “Before Equestria was even Equestria, ponykind was split between dozens and dozens of independent nations, not just the three tribes. When we united, it was under the stipulation that the former rulers of the independent nations were given a say in the nation's ruling. If we went back on the parliament’s decision they might take it as a violation of the ancient treaty and legally seced.”  “Especially Ardennais or Manehattan,” Cadence said looking down at the map, her eyes locking on Manehatten. “Which would collapse the Equestrian Economy…” Twilight sighed, slumping in her throne. “Or worse, lead to a civil war,” Celestia pursed her lips. “And I will not allow a war that would kill thousands, maybe even millions of my subjects. Even if it means a personal sacrifice on my part.” Celestia perked up and inhaled deeply. She held the air in for a moment before slowly exhaling.  “So now, it is down to us to decide which of us will make the sacrifice for the nation,” she said, turning first to her sister, then her niece, then her student.  “Now hold on,” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “How do we know Thorax is even up for this?” “He has little choice,” Luna responded, leaning forward. “It took everything we could do to prevent parliament from voting on an outright invasion of the changelings. If Thorax were to decline Paard or Venture could use it as an insult to twist parliament into declaring war. And if the two of them manage to receive a two-thirds majority…” “War…” Cadence grimaced.  Celestia straightened her back, her face twisting into a frown, she opened her mouth to speak, before closing it and sighing. “We know what we must do now. It’s time for us to decide which among us has to make the sacrifice for the good of both our people… and Thorax’s.” Twilight, Luna and Celestia nodded in response.  “Cadance and Flurry Heart are both off the table,” Celestia said, turning to her niece with a nod.  “Cadance is already married, and due to her status as the ruler of the Crystal Empire, an Equestrian Protectorate, she would not be capable of making the Changelings into a personal union of Equestria with any heirs she creates,” Celestia said robotically, her countenance growing grim. “And due to her age, Flurry Heart cannot be even considered.” Cadence breathed a slight sigh of relief. Not just for herself. “That means it’s down to the three of us,” Twilight said, turning to Celestia and Luna.  “I would not be a good choice,” Luna said, putting a hoof on the map. “Due to my… history as Nightmare Moon, the Equestrian Parliament don’t trust me enough to let me out of their sight. I predict a decision to have me marry Thorax would be immediately veto’d. They would be too worried that I would become Nightmare Moon again and use the Changelings as an army to invade Equestria.”  The princess of the night suddenly smiled; “Besides, I think Thorax would be a bit too scared of me to accept.”  Twilight and Cadance giggled slightly, while Celestia flashed her sister a dry smile.  The good mood quickly soured when Twilight and Celestia locked eyes. They were both quick to realize what Luna’s inability meant. “So, it’s going to be one of the two of us then,” Twilight said. Celestia looked down at her hooves, a look of resignation on her face; “I… I was hoping to retire soon, a thousand years of rule definitely take their toll on a pony's psyche, but I don’t want to do that to you, Twilight. I can’t let you-” “No.” Twilight suddenly said, her eyes narrowing slightly. “No?” Celestia asked, her eyes shooting wide. “No,” Twilight stood up, placing her hooves on the map. “You’ve already done so much for me, sacrificed so much for Equestria. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me by doing this.”  The other princesses gasped. “T-twilight, you don’t mean…” Cadance stammered, looking at Twilight in horror. Twilight just responded with a dry smile of her own. “Marriage can’t be any worse than any of my other adventures can it?” she asked, giving a slight tilt of her head in Cadance’s direction. Celestia merely stared at her student, gears turning in her head. “You’re willing to marry on a whim… for me?” Celestia asked, her jaw dropping slightly. “Twilight I… I don’t know what to say…” “Don’t worry too much about it, it’s my responsibility as a Princess,” Twilight said, a couple of beads of sweat falling down her forehead. “Besides, it’s not like I’m marrying a total stranger. I know Thorax… kind of.”  Luna and Cadance locked eyes for a moment, as Celestia continued to stare at Twilight. Her eye twitched again. Thorax was sitting on his throne, staring down in horror as he read a scroll that had been handed to him by one of his changelings. Pharynx stood next to him, wearing a full suit of armor, with a couple of guards surrounding the two. They were growing increasingly antsy as Thorax’s face grew paler and paler.  “Thorax? What’s wrong?” Pharynx asked, frowning deeply. The prince took a step closer to Thorax as the king suddenly dropped the scroll, which slowly floated to the ground.  Thorax covered his face with his hooves as Pharynx turned to the scroll, reading it from the ground. It was a letter from Princess Celestia. That made Pharynx cock and eyebrow; wasn’t she an ally? He turned back to his brother. “What, did Equestria get invaded again? Do they need our help?” he asked as he bent down to pick up the scroll. Thorax merely kept his face buried in his hooves as Pharynx started to read. “The Equestrian Parliament has… has decided to force the Princesses to offer us a royal marriage,” Thorax stammered, which made Pharynx quickly lower the scroll with wide eyes. “She s-strongly recommends I accept, otherwise Parliament might order an invasion.” The changeling guards all immediately gasped, several dropping their weapons, to cover their mouths with their hooves. “Invasion?” One asked, turning to the others. “What!?” Pharynx roared, his eyes widening in rage. He quickly stomped towards his brother. “We made a deal with their princess! We are allies hive damn it!” Thorax remained silent, merely staring at his hooves in front of his face. They were shaking.  Pharynx seethed for a moment, turning to his brother. “Reject them,” he ordered, towering over his sitting brother. “If they want to break our alliance and attack us, we’ll put them in their place.” Thorax turned to his brother. “We both know I can’t do that. I can’t… I can’t sacrifice our subjects for my sake.” One of the guards suddenly spoke up; “N-not to mention sir, uh… you’re the only one who’s good at fighting…”  Pharynx turned to the soldier with a loud snarl. The soldier immediately squeaked and dropped to the floor, covering his head with his hooves. Pharynx then snapped his gaze back to Thorax. He went silent for a moment before straightening his back. “I’ll do it. I’ll marry whatever Princess comes for you,” he said. Thorax slowly looked up, turning to his brother. “They won’t accept you… it has to be me…” he mumbled. He returned his gaze to his hooves, shaking his head. Pharynx ground his teeth together for a moment. “But you’re…” “I know…” he sighed, swallowing down a gulp. “I know I am…” Pharynx inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and shaking his head.  “Then your mind is set?” he asked his brother in a rare soft voice. The changeling king merely nodded in response. “My mind was made up for me,” Thorax stammered, his eyes watering slightly. “I have to accept.”