//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Glitter Bombs and Revolts Part 1 
// Story: Serving A Queen 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	"Bubble, why do you need glitter?" Umbra questioned, feeling ridiculous that she even had to ask that question.

Bubble put his hands on his hips. "Duh! We need them for the party!"

"Why, though?" She paused for a moment to think. "Oh my, God, if you're thinking about making a glitter bomb like you did yesterday, then the answer is no. My servants are still cleaning it up."

"That was one time!" Bubble protested. He dimmed down a bit. "But, yeah, glitter is hard to get out sometimes..."

Umbra sighed. "Look, I appreciate that you want to make an impression at the ball, but do you really think that it's going to be worth how much time and damages might come of it?"

"How can glitter damage anything?" Bubble asked. He paused to think it over, a hand going to his chin in thought. "Well, there was that one time with Cheesy back in Canterlot, but that was a total fluke, I swear! I didn't know how much glitter was too much glitter, I guess."

Umbra frowned. "It's things like that, Bubble, that really make me worry about what might come of all this. I do not, and I repeat not, need to get hassled by my citizens because of something a crazy amount of glitter managed to cause."

"...So do I get to use it or not?" Bubble asked.

"In what way was what I just said to be taken as a yes?"

Bubble frowned. "I guess you're right. Besides, I'm sure Feather Quill would hate it if you let me do something so crazy, right?"

Umbra paused in thought and she felt a small smile come onto her face. "You know what, how about you bring samples of your glitter so that way I can pick out which one would be best for the party?"

Bubble's eyes widened and he let out an excited squeal. "Really? You'll let me do it?"

Umbra shrugged, and she didn't even mind how informal it seemed. "Go for it, Bubble. If it means that Feather will get upset, then it surely can't be that bad." 

That, and seeing him lose his mind over glitter would be the absolutely end of me, but Bubble doesn't need to know that, She added silently to herself.

Bubble, though not unsurprisingly, hugged Umbra. "Thanks! I'll be back in a jiffy!"

Umbra watched as he darted out of the dining room, her hand lightly tracing the area of her arm where Bubble's arm had wrapped around her. Umbra wasn't usually big on physical contact, mostly because she didn't like to be touched in general, but getting hugged by Bubble didn't seem to bother her as much as she thought it would.

'I suppose it's because he actually respects boundaries once you set them,' she thought to herself. 'Unlike some people I know.'

Umbra sighed. She wondered how Feather Quill could be so snippy and curt with her, all while being disrespectful in a way that wasn't able to be called out on. She very much wanted to make a display of him, but knew she couldn't due to how bad it would look. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time a royal decided to kill off one of their servants. That was a practically requirement to be remembered in the history books.

"Your Majesty!"

'Speak of the devil,' she thought, trying really hard not to sigh. 

Her tolerance level for Feather Quill and his babbling was extremely low from their earlier morning interaction and she prayed that whatever he had to say to her wouldn't cause it to fall anymore than it already had. She thanked whatever deities above that Bubble wasn't around to witness it, and suddenly, she was glad that he had been so insistent on getting his glitter for... whatever it was he had planned.

"Yes, Feather Quill?" Umbra inquired, annoyed, but careful not to show it.

Feather quickly straightened up and smoothed his already ironed out black jacket. "Ma'am, I am in no mood for your snippy tone."

'Right back at you, Feather,' she replied silently.

Feather frowned at her, almost as if he could read her mind. "Ma'am, do you know why I'm here?"

"To oversee the ball plannings and to make sure that Bubble doesn't do anything too damaging?" Umbra guessed, that being her immediate thought.

"No," Feather answered. "Though, that is a good point, but still no. I'm here to bring you news."

Umbra arched a brow. "News of what?"

Before Feather could answer, a guard came bounding in, out of breath and obviously exhausted from running so much. "Your Majesty, there's been a revolt in the mines!"

Umbra's eyes widened. "What?"

Feather frowned, unappreciative of the guard stealing his thunder. "Yes, Ma'am. There's been a revolt in the mines within the past 12 hours, and it hadn't come to our attention sooner due to the guards' inability to message out from being surrounded by the rebels. Some are still stuck and being held as hostages, but some have managed to escape and tell us what happened."

Umbra's head was swirling, and she could hardly believe what she was hearing. "Revolt... Hostages... Rebels..."

Feather didn't seem to notice her shock. "Ma'am, they're asking for you."

"What?" Everything sounded far away and she felt numb.

"The rebels, Ma'am," Feather clarified. "They're asking for you."


*	*	*


Umbra didn't want to leave the castle. In fact, Umbra didn't want to go anywhere. Had she been anyone else, she would have gone to bed and waited for everything to end, hiding beneath the covers like a frightened child. Of course, she couldn't do that because she wasn't anyone else. She was the Queen... and they weren't allowed to take any days off.

'I can't believe this went beneath my radar,' Umbra chided herself as she walked down the streets. 'I can't believe I forgot what's been happening. I've been acting like an oblivious schoolgirl for the past two days, and because of it, my Empire is suffering. I can't believe I let this--'

"Your Majesty," Feather Quill said, interrupting her thoughts. "You need to focus. You mustn't let any of your thoughts bother you."

Umbra shook her head, hoping her thoughts would disappear. They didn't. "What led to this revolt in the first place?"

Feather looked ahead, where several guards stood before them. "There was a miscommunication about the quota of hours that would be required in order to get a full week's pay, and, well... The workers didn't take it well."

"And, what, pray tell is the quota to get a full week's pay?" Umbra interrogated.

"...At least 90 hours a week."

Umbra almost stopped dead in her tracks. "90? What happened to the standard 80?"

"We've had some cutbacks, Ma'am," Feather told her. "We needed to increase hours in order to help increase production."

"My citizens are already working hard enough with this war going on!" Umbra exclaimed. She quieted down as she saw the guards glance at them. "Whose idea was it to increase hours?"

"Yours, Ma'am."

"What?"

Feather sighed. "We'll discuss this later, Your Majesty. Now, we have bigger things to worry about."

Umbra bit her tongue as she felt a retort rise in her throat. Feather was right, as much as she hated to admit it. They did have bigger things to worry about.

'I wish that this ridiculous war was over with,' she thought. 'I wish that I had never proposed those ridiculous contracts. I wish I had never even considered taking this crown, even if it is my...'

She shook her head. There was no time for doubts now. She had done what she had done and there was nothing that was going to stop her from continuing her job, even if she didn't want to. She had to keep going, for her people, even those who thought her to be wrong. And she knew that if she gave up, then it would consume her and her Empire.

"Ma'am, we've begun to approach the mines," Feather whispered. "It would be best to be at the ready and to be prepared for any... incidents."

Umbra knew what that meant. She didn't like it, but she knew. "Alright, Feather Quill."

As the cluster of guards grew closer to the mines, Umbra could hear the clamor of shouts and anger coming from within. She heard a series of spitting curses, along with the occasional cry of pain from who she assumed to be the hostages. She tried hard not to imagine how others thought of her for being the cause of this, but she failed miserably.

Through the gaps of the guards, Umbra could see the eyes of bystanders as they passed. Many glared at her, the children cowering behind their stone faced mothers and men standing in front of both in protective stances, eyes cutting and hard. She wondered how many were on her side and how many were on the side of the rebels. The odds were not in her favor.

"Look, it's the Queen!" shouted a miner from within. He stood behind the barricade of tools and crystals, probably dumped out of the carts when the revolt began.

"Hey, yeah, look!" shouted another, standing beside the first. "She actually showed her face!"

Umbra held back all her urges to flinch as the miners continued shouting, some vulgar, some angry, and some a combination of both. More and more came to show their faces, and all were holding mining tools as weapons, swinging them and brandishing them with ferocity to seem more intimidating.

"What are your demands?" Feather Quill called out, pushing the guards aside so he could be seen. "We've brought the Queen as you desired, and now we're here to talk negotiations."

The first miner, who Umbra realized to be the leader, spoke first. "What do we want?" He slung his pickax over his shoulder. "We want the Queen to take action against the Griffons and stop leaving us to defend! Men are dying on the battlefield everyday, Your Highness!"

"Majesty!" Feather corrected angrily. "You address the Queen as Her Majesty, not Highness! That's for princesses and princes, you buffoons!"

"Feather, step down," Umbra urged him, holding up a hand. She stepped in front of him and the guards, hoping that her simple gown made it clear of her intentions to avoid battle. Of course, she had her armor underneath it, but they didn't need to know that. "Listen, I am very aware of the situation within the war, but I am trying as hard as I can to help with the war effort. Please, stop this nonsense and release the hostages."

The leader scoffed. "Do you really think we're going to back off because you said so? We're doing this because we want you to see firsthand just what kind of chaos your reign has brought us! Hell, we were better off with our old monarchs and we all know what selfish pigs they were!"

Umbra's eyes widened and she felt her hands clench, heat rising to them. "Do not ever compare me to the likes of them! There's a reason I took the throne from them, and you know it!" She threw a hand to the side and looked at her surroundings. "They were the reason our crops were failing due to their lack of care for the environment, and our ewes suffered because of it, causing the cotton industry to plummet in sales and exports! They forced their citizens to eat scraps while they ate like the pigs they were, and they took what little rations we had to further gorge themselves!" She crossed her arms over her chest, her stare cold and resolute. "Our Empire was worse off with them in charge than it is with me."

Umbra pushed through her guards and stood in front of them. "Now, because of their behavior, none of the kingdoms will take our side, including those pompous little Princes in Canterlot that I'm sure the lot of you are wanting to ally with. If anyone here is to blame, it's them!"

The leader didn't say anything for a moment, and Umbra was hopeful that maybe her words had gotten through to him. 

Of course, like most things in her life, it didn't work out as she planned. 

"Do you really think any of that has changed since you came to power?" He shouted. "We still live off of scraps and our industries haven't improved, either! If anything, things have gotten worse since you came around! The Griffons aren't gonna take us seriously when we have a pompous, prissy, little girl in charge of our Empire! Maybe we'd have been better off with a king in charge!"

Umbra didn't know how it happened, but suddenly, the leader was down. The riot that went on went silent and she felt all eyes on her as the leader collapsed to the ground, his chest smoldering.

She blinked, and it took her a moment to realize that she had shot out a beam from her hand. She looked down and saw black smoke wafting from it, green and purple light glowing within her palm. She cursed silently at her careless anger, then looked back up to see that all the rebels were shocked, as were the guards and Feather Quill, the last of the group appearing to be wondering whether he should yell at her or get her away from the situation.

Then, like everything usually did for Umbra, everything slowly, but surely, went wrong.

"The witch used dark magic!" cried a rebel, holding up his pickax angrily.

"Let's get her!" another rallied.

"Get down!" a guard shouted, pulling Umbra down so she wouldn't be hit by the onslaught of sharpened crystals and God knew what else the rebels prepared during their siege. 

"Dammit, Your Majesty!" Feather snapped. "Why did you do that? Now we've got a riot on our hands!"

Umbra, pissed beyond all belief, held up her hand and allowed her anger to engulf it in flames. "Feather, now is not the time for a lecture of any sort. In fact, if you want to avoid the hell I can inflict upon that small mind of yours, then I will be beyond happy to toss you in front of the guards like the meat shield you are."

Feather frowned at her. "Sometimes I hate that I work for you."

"Well, then you should sign your resignation and save me the trouble, then!" Umbra growled, grunting in anger as a guard shifted beside her head. "I hate this, I hate this war, and I hate this revolt! Just what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"Ma'am, there's too many of them! They'll be on us in an instant!" a guard exclaimed, blocking a crystal with a shield. "What are we to do?"

"Where are the other guards?" Feather muttered under his breath. "They should be here!"

"They're at the castle, you twit! You said not to bring too many as not to seem intimidating, remember?" Umbra smacked a hand to her forehead. "For the love of all that is precious, I swear, if we don't get out of here alive, I will haunt this palace for the rest of it's days! Which, might not be that many seeing as how we're the targets of the Griffon Kingdoms, who have more advanced and tactile training than the lot we have here!"

"Hey!" a guard called out. He paused when he saw Umbra's glare. "Sorry, Your Majesty."

Feather pointed to the attacking rebels. "Perhaps now would be a good time to use your anger for that magic of yours? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to incapacitate and later incarcerate those mongrels, correct?"

But, as Umbra was about to tell Feather how using her magic got them into their current situation, a loud, sharp whistle broke through the loud noise and chaos. The guards, rebels, Feather Quill, and Umbra looked up simultaneously in shock and surprise to see who had made the noise, and suddenly, the chaos came to a pause.

"Hiya, everyone!" Bubble called out. He stood on top of the roof of a building, so that way everyone could see him. "Is everything alright out here?"

"What is that idiot doing here?" Feather hissed, causing Umbra to immediately feel annoyed.

"Bubble, what the hell are you doing here?" Umbra called out, standing up so she could see him and he could see her in turn.

Bubble frowned and cocked his head to the side in that annoyingly cute way he did. "Well, you disappeared when I went to get my glitter and I heard that this is where you were, so I decided to drop in to see you!"

"During a revolt," Umbra replied.

Bubble nodded. "Yeah! Besides, I figured that everyone could use some relaxation since everything is so tense and crazy!" He held up a finger. "And do you know what usually relaxes me?" Bubble jumped down from the roof and landed with the agility of a cat, then threw his arms in the air.  "A party!"

Umbra's eyes widened. "Oh, sweet Crystal Heart, this isn't going to end well."