//------------------------------// // A Few Words Over Cider // Story: Casus Foederis // by Walt2012 //------------------------------// Casus Foederis © 2015 by Walter Reimer Chapter 7. “These pudu give me the creeps,” Lieutenant Mandible hissed. Disguised as one of the diminutive deer, he hugged a mug of ale close to his chest as the other barflies glowered at him. Reintief had a simple mug of cider sitting on the table before him, while Fausti had come from behind the bar to join them. “It’s like they can see straight through me.” Reintief shrugged. “Maybe they’re just excellent judges of character.” Their pudu companion gave a dainty snort. “Mais non,” Fausti said, “we can see zat you are ze Changeling.” “What!” Mandible was so startled that he dropped the spell in a haze of green fire. “You mean – “ “Oui. Pudu have good eyes, and can see through ze shape-changing magics,” the pudu said, sipping at one of his special drinks. The foam that dripped from the side of the flagon sizzled against the stone floor. “Princess Cadence would probably love to talk to you about that,” the earth pony said. Mandible flinched, probably hearing Thorax screaming in the distance. “That probably explains why Hive Intelligence has never had any success here.” He frowned at Fausti. “Treacherous pudu,” he hissed. “So it was you lot that thwarted our first attempt.” The little cervine gave the insectoid a hoof gesture that had obscure, yet blatant, biological connotations. “Your mother was a can opener, and your father smelled of ze lubrifiants industriels.“ “Gentlebeings,” Reintief admonished quietly as the two stared daggers at each other. “’First attempt?’” he asked Mandible. Harrumphing that he’d let the proverbial cat out of the bag, the Changeling grumbled, “Her Maj decided to try her luck on Kuduvania before infiltrating Canterlot. It didn’t work, and now I know why – a lot of our agents started having ‘swimming accidents.’” “I didn’t think Changelings could swim.” “They can’t,” Mandible said, giving Fausti a glare that Reintief interpreted as the immortal I’m On To You, Buster (21-y). “And I can’t help thinking that Her Majesty Queen Chrysalis would like you calling her ‘Her Maj’ about as much as she’d like to have the Princesses drop by for tea,” Reintief countered. “Are you going to tell her?” “Hardly. But since Changelings are famously connected to the Queen via the Hive-Mind, I can’t help thinking that she might hear you.” At this the insectlike creature flinched, and the earth pony and the pudu both chuckled. “Fausti, you said in your message that you wanted to talk.” “Oui, Reintief. Fausti wishes to know why you asked for delay in ze Puduvanian Liberation Front’s plans to massacre ze Supreme Patriarch?” “I thought we’d discussed that. The Princesses would not look favorably at a massacre – “ “No!” The pudu slammed his little hoof on the table. “We have heard of your Ambassador’s plans, Reintief, to give ze Camels ze Valley.” He glowered at the earth pony. “Perhaps we also massacre ze Ambassador.” “That won’t be a good idea.” “Pfui! Maybe we kill ze Ambassador, ze Patriarch, and ze Sultan,” Fausti said contemptuously. “Why do the Pudu want the Yodelinda Valley so badly?” Reintief asked. “We have our reasons,” one of the pudu in the background muttered. His drinking companion had drawn a knife, and was slowly stropping it against the table. “Which are? I mean, apart from the Kudu shoving you out of your homeland?” Dead silence greeted this, punctuated by a clatter as a mug struck the floor. Mandible looked around quickly, his wings starting to twitch in agitation. “I say, Reintief old buddy old pal . . . I have a sudden yen to go out and, um – look at the Moon! Yes, that’s it! I’ll just fly right out of here – “ The earth pony put out a hoof as the changeling bolted for the door, causing the hapless insectoid to crash into the ground with a clatter of chitin. Reintief delicately rested the hoof on Mandible’s abdomen at the junction of his left hock and the shank below it. When the changeling tried to move, the earth pony exerted only a slight amount of pressure and Mandible got the hint. Ignoring the muttered imprecations of “Vile pony” and “Treacherous Equestrian,” Reintief turned back to Fausti. “I’m waiting.” “You cannot think to beat all of us, Reintief,” the little pudu hissed. “I don’t need to. Just follow you and disrupt your plans. Now, spill it.” The bartender looked grumpy. He waved a hoof at his compatriots, who settled back into their seats. A few put away knives as Fausti said, “Oh, tres bien. Oui, the Valley is ze ancestral home of ze Pudu nation. We are zat close to getting it back,” and he held his hooves about an inch apart to illustrate his point, “and ze Pudu Liberation Front will not wait any longer.” “So what are you planning?” When Fausti failed to reply Reintief added, “Their Highnesses would not look kindly on the demise of two heads of state and their envoy.” “You threaten Fausti?” “I never threaten.” Mandible tried to struggle free, but subsided, whining, as the earth pony almost broke the changeling’s leg. Fausti tapped his dainty hooves on the table as he made his mind up. He glanced around the room, and two or three of the others in the room nodded. “We shall kidnap ze Patriarch’s sister.” Reintief raised one eyebrow. Mandible stopped trying to wriggle out from under Reintief’s hoof. “Taking it as read that the Supreme Patriarch apparently hates his sister, what do you hope to accomplish?” “Zose of us who have infiltrated ze Palace have seen at lunch zat ze Sultan is taken with ze Itchykitchkoo,” one pudu said from across the room. “And maybe she is a little sweet upon him, too,” another opined. Reintief looked down at Mandible, who clicked his fangs and twitched his wings in a changeling version of the classic Don’t Look At Me (10-l). “Let me get this straight, then. You plan on kidnapping Itchykitchkoo, and just sit back and wait for the magic of friendship to work things out in your favor?” “Mais oui. What could possibly go wrong?”