What is this? No pony episode this week?! Then allow me to offer up some pony words instead.
Viper Squadron leader Rusty Spring throttled up the engine of his Hornet biplane and rumbled off the Longshot. He was the last one back in the air after refueling since Aegis’ scramble order came in over five hours ago.
He tapped the Octavia pressure readout as the engine coughed to push the aircraft in a near vertical take off. “Come on, baby, I know you don’t like waking up.” Wish the lab coats had figured out how to keep the engine going during refueling.
A few coughs and growls later, Rusty eased the hornet away from the flight deck and banked towards the Ebony Castle. Overall it was an uneventful mission so far. Once he was back at his patrol rotation, he looked at Fluffy hovering off in the distance which, as expected, remained passive.
His wingmate, Greasy Piston seemed to know what he was looking at even with her aircraft being on the opposite side of the castle. <That thing’s creepy as hell idn’it?>
<That it is, Greasy.>
<Ah mean, piloting an airship - er - fighter is fine and dandy, but being one isn’t on mah list of priorities.>
Rusty rolled his eyes, but ultimately just let Greasy ramble on about nonsense. When you live with a choir in the back of your mind for so long, one more voice in your ear doesn’t matter much. He was far more interested in the blackened and charred landscape below the mesa. Stretching for miles in all directions were large swaths of dead ground with oddly geometric sections of living jungle trapped within. Looks like the queens have been going at each other’s throats hardcore down there for some time now. Kinda odd how close it is to the Castle.
Passing over the ruined city surrounding the castle, Rusty spotted hundreds of sleeping drones of all colors. Such is the life of a mindless drone. Just sleeping their lives away waiting for something to do. Not like a fight would start up now of all times.
Rusty lazily watched the world spin as he entered into orbit around the castle when Darya called out to the squadron. <Be advised, Vipers, the shuttle will depart the castle’s docks soon with our newly christened proto-queens’ eggs.>
A round of acknowledgements rang out from the pilots with Greasy snickering at the hive mind wide shout Aegis had let off a few minutes earlier. <I swear, you won’t never find anybody more excited at having kids than Aegis.>
<You guys heard Aegis’ manic giggles over the Link right? I don’t think even momma and Aunty like laying eggs as much as she does,> another pilot named Breaker replied derisively.
A round of stilted laugher passed through the pilots when the last pilot, Aileron, spoke up with a troubled tone. <What the… is anypony else seeing this?>
Almost as one, hundreds of drones started killing the others in their sleep, but before any of the other pilots could comment on it, Greasy yelled over the squadron section of the Link. <Whoa, there was a big flash on top of the castle where the queens are!>
Fear spiked through the pilots as their gaze was caught between the all-out brawl starting up below them while some looked up at the Summit amphitheater where a lone queen jumped off the ledge and fled straight down towards the ruined mesa city.
Rusty started sweating in his cockpit despite the rushing air. <Captain, are you seeing this?>
<Yes, Viper Lead, I’m relaying this to mother. S – ah – stand by.>
Darya’s shaky tone matched Rusty’s nerves at the sight of battle around the Summit. This ain’t right. The Summit’s supposed to be a sanctuary! ... of sorts.
Polybia barely got a fourth of the way down when Darya barked over the squad’s local sub-link. <Polybia’s gone rogue! She’s got a princess with her, orders from the top to separate them. Secure the princess and eliminate Polybia!>
Rusty instantly banked his fighter to obey even as his mind reeled at the news. <Somepony actually went rogue? What are they, nuts!?>
<Aw heeeeell yeah!> Greasy whooped with far too much cheer. <Looks like we get to bag ourselves a queen! Ah bet you all a trip to Manehatten Ah get the kill!>
Rusty moved to sweep around the castle to get a bead on Polybia, who had spotted the fighters. <Damn it, Greasy, she has a hostage! Breaker, Cloud Strife, get in as close as you can and try to pull the princess free with your magic. The rest of us will back you up.>
Breaker formed up to Cloud’s left wing as the pair dove down to close in on Polybia.
The whirling high speed hum of the biplanes quickly reached Polybia’s ears and she immediately tried to incinerate Breaker’s aircraft, but the flames only slipped around the Octavia field instead of burning the pilot.
Breaker poured on the speed only to find several acidic green bolts flying up at him from below, with one shot tearing a hole into his fighter’s left wings. <I’m hit, we’re taking fire from the drones below!> His controls were shaky, but the aircraft wasn’t downed that easily.
<Stop your blubbering, Ah’m on it!> Greasy jeered as she pointed her nose down to locate the threat. A flock of twenty drones had broken off from the all-out battle in the ruins below and were firing up at her wingmates. “C’mon ya mindless cannon fodder, time to eat!” Greasy cackled as she unloaded ten bursts from her flak cannons.
The group of drones were torn apart, but more were breaking off from the fight below with several of Chrysalis’ black drones in hot pursuit.
Cloud was close enough that she could see the blue princess wrapped tightly in Polybia’s legs. The wind tore over her open canopy and at her goggled face. She angled her craft around to get alongside of Polybia.
However Polybia was having none of that, and fired off three quick bursts of magic at the aircraft, punching holes in the tail section, and completely tearing the rear half off. “Oi, I’ll kill you for that!” Cloud jumped from her doomed aircraft and tackled Polybia in midair. She shot off random bolts at Polybia’s face while trying to wrestle the weeping princess free. “Give her up, Poly!”
One blast nailed Polybia in the jaw, but she refused to relinquish the panicked princess. “I can’t!” Polybia managed to get her back hooves underneath Cloud and kicked her off. With enough distance between them the queen aimed her horn and launched a fireball, charring the drone’s fur and wings off.
The other pilots watched helplessly as Cloud plummeted in freefall. Raging at the loss of their wingmate, with only the captive princess staying their retaliation. Yet before Polybia could refocus on escape, five of Chrysalis and Jstrul’s drones managed to break through Polybia’s defenders from below and tackled the rogue queen. “You’re so predictable, Polybia,” Chrysalis mocked through her puppets before a wave of hatred rolled off of her when Yeelindrus’ broken body flashed across Chrysalis’ reddening vision. “It’s a shame the technophiles’ wrath is too quick for my liking, but we all make sacrifices.”
Between the five of them, the drones were more than able to physically overpower Polybia and wrenched the princess from her grasp. With their prize in hand, two of the drones cast a sleep spell on the panicking princess to keep her from struggling as they sped away. The remaining three drones kept Polybia’s wings pinned and pulled on her horn to make it too painful to cast spells. They capitalized on the queen’s lack of physical prowess and spat gooey green glue all over Polybia’s wings and joints to end any hope of her freeing herself.
The four of them tumbled out of control while dozens of Polybia’s drones broke off from the fight below to save their queen. Rusty was unsure what to do until Rainbow barked at him and everyone else in the squadron. <Sticky Spit’s as cold as ever, kill Polybia immediately, even with Chrissy’s drones in the way.> At least Cloud didn’t give her life for nothing.
That was all Greasy needed to hear as her aircraft finished reloading. <No love lost there. Rusty, Aileron, let’s give her some pepper!>
The three biplanes lined up the tumbling queen and unloaded thirty flak shells at Polybia. The shredded bodies continued to fall as an unrecognizable mass. However, Polybia’s drones didn’t go crazy with the death of their queen as Chrysalis and the pilots expected. As one, Polybia’s remaining drones froze stock still for a few seconds before wailing a soul crushing psionic scream. As they screamed, the signature purple laced ebony aura of black magic poured out of their eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouths in a horrid miasma. The dark cloud enveloped all the remaining drones from the other queens, rotting the flesh and chitin off their bones, with numerous lost souls twisting around the forming maelstrom.
<By the First Mother, what the hell is that!?> Greasy freaked over the local Link.
Similar shocked expletives escaped from the other pilots with Rusty pulling his fighter away from the growing dark storm. <Get clear of it!>
The remaining fighters sped away to safety, but none of the other drones were fast enough to escape, save for the two with the princess, having ascended high enough away to escape the storm’s fury.
The tempest grew to match the Ebony Castle in size before coalescing into an ethereal shadowy form with massive barbed horns that curled over and over to form a crown. Two impossibly black pits for eyes formed as its head stared down upon the queens in the Summit Amphitheater. Twilight and the other queens, who had been interrogating Polybia’s ally stared up at the demonic cloud that lorded over them, as a massive bell rung a single gut rattling deep note.
A feeling of dread overcame Twilight as her mind put a name to the looming form above them. Grogar?! Twilight’s stomach plummeted at the sight of the legendary demon.
Grogar waited until the bell’s echo faded before speaking in a booming, breathy voice. “The wheel tuuuuurnssss.”
Twilight’s terror rose sharply as the cloudy specter took a deep breath. Rapidly telling her sister what to do, the both of them cast a shield dome of golden magic over themselves. Sensing it was not a basic defense shield, Chrysalis trusted Twilight’s magical knowledge and kept her blinded sister from leaving the shield dome. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Queen Twilight.” As she spoke, Chrysalis added her own magical strength to the shield with her sister joining in shortly after. Seeing this, Kreesus mirrored Chrysalis’ actions after telekinetically pulling all of the princesses into the shield dome. A sinister grin escaped the shadowy figure as if he had been waiting for everyone to gather into a single target. Grogar breathed his miasma directly on the queens’ shield before any of them could have second thoughts.
Thoran fled the rapidly spreading mist by flying out and away from the castle itself while giving a warning to the rest of the Home Guard. With Grogar’s attention focused completely on the gathered royals, the great shadow ignored him completely. The demon’s cloudy body expelled itself upon the barrier as well as flooding the castle itself, sinking down through the old palace, killing and rotting everything it touched.
The corrosive magic burned away at the shield, but the queens poured every bit of magic they had into Twilight and Rainbow’s barrier to keep it strong. Even then, the two queens’ horns began to burn and ache under the strain.
Twilight started seeing spots from the strain as the toxic cloud continuously poured over the huddled changelings.
Grogar’s cold piercing gaze narrowed upon them and redoubled his breath attack upon the golden shield.
“I don’t suppose you could trouble yourself by teleporting us away from this infernal thing,” Chrysalis demanded with regal tact.
“In case you hadn't noticed,” Twilight growled back with pain in her voice. “I’m a little busy here! What’s stopping you?”
The howl of rushing winds beating down on the weakening shield caused Chrysalis to dump more mana into the barrier. “I had hoped our combined efforts would give you enough wiggle room to get us out of here.”
Twilight ignored any further conversation to focus. Having little of her sister’s arcane strength, Rainbow Dash started to buckle under the strain, causing her to drop to one knee. Her pain forced her head down, but she kept pushing back. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a blue princess looking up at her with fear and a desperate hope for safety in her watery eyes.
With renewed determination, Rainbow redoubled her efforts, but the spectral ram showed no signs of slowing as the world around the royals was cast into shadow.
The sound of shipboard artillery roared through the rushing fetid air followed shortly by the rolling thunder of exploding shells. Grogar roared in shock and disbelief before losing cohesion. His cloud body attempted to reform but another volley of golden light blasted the miasmic demon apart.
Twilight kept the shield up since there was still a heavy mist clinging to the floor, the task made much easier without the torrent of death pressing down on her. Captain Rourke called out to her. <My queens, light-magic bombardment successful. Is everypony alive up there?>
<For the most part,> Rainbow muttered back as she scanned the other changelings around her. Rainbow felt a pounding migraine coming on around the length and base of her horn. <Aegis, Blitz, you two alright?>
<We’re safe, momma,> Blitz answered promptly. <Aegis, and Intel’s squad made it to the shuttle before the castle’s lower levels could be flooded with that gas.>
<Good to hear. Might be best if you stay on the ship for now. I don’t think anypony’s going to care if you don’t return for the day.>
<Roger that, mother. I’m glad you and Aunty Twilight are okay.>
<Yeah, me too.> Rainbow broke communication to look around. Those who had princesses were in the middle of trying to calm them down with various methods and degrees of success. Rainbow arched a curious eyebrow at Chrysalis who stiffly hugged her purple daughter and gently stroked her mane. Maybe Twilight was on to something after all.
She turned to Twilight to find her sister was brooding with a worried scowl. Leaving her sister to her thoughts, Rainbow was about to summon a gust of wind to blow the lingering mist away when a massive shadow fell upon the Summit theater.
A gut-vibrating shrill cry drew everyone’s attention up towards Fluffy as the living airship closed in. The leviathan created a massive gust of wind with several wings, sweeping the misama away before moving off at Kreesus’ command.
Finally free of the toxic mist, the royals spread out again when Twilight and Rainbow dropped the shield. With her daughter calmed and now sleeping restlessly on her back, Chrysalis faced the former ponies. “You continue to surprise me, Queen Twilight Sparkle. You have light magic shells for your ship now too?”
Rainbow glowered at being ignored again. “For your information, Chrysalis, the light-blessed ammo was my idea.” Chrysalis decided to honor Rainbow by giving her a neutral look as the former pegasus continued. “After what happened with that old nag, Silandrus, I made sure we had some countermeasures against dark magic.”
“Well, it worked quite well,” Kreesus butted in, ignoring the hateful glare of both former Equestrians. The mention of Silandrus reminded them of the fall of Stripped Gear, and it was no secret that the living embodiment of loyalty could never forgive her. “I still can’t believe Polybia of all changelings would defile the sanctity of the Summit though.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Twilight replied coldly, trying to forego her resentment of traitorous queen in favor of the moment. “I think that shadow being was Grogar.”
None of the other queens even so much as batted an eye at the name. Twilight groaned and rubbed her temples. “Of course none of you would know him. Stupid genetic indifference to history,” she grumbled under her breath. “We can talk about it later, we have more pressing matters to tend to, such as seeing if there are any Home Guard left in the castle.”
Chrysalis hummed in mild disapproval while Jstrul held up a hoof for everyone to wait. “You Equestrians have been too far removed from the war if you think the danger is passed. Polybia’s been using necromancy for at least the past year. We can’t assume she’s dead until we destroy her body completely.”
Rainbow sneered at the blinded queen with it painfully evident in her tone. “Poly got shredded into a pile of meat. She’s deader than dead.”
“No,” Twilight warned with a waving hoof, “Queen Jstrul is right. Any time there’s a necromancer involved, you can never discount the dead without a proper inspection and disposal of the body. And if Polybia summoned even a fragment of Grogar, then we need to confirm she’s truly dead.”
“Just who is this Grogar individual?” Chrysalis asked flatly.
Twilight measured the crowd of queens, gauging just how she wanted to word her response without sounding overly frightened and weak. “I thought he was just some obscure fairy tale Celestia shared with me a few times during Nightmare Night. He is a demonic ram from Tambelon - a necromancer of untold power. I don’t remember what his goals were, only what the pictures of him looked like.”
“Perhaps Polybia simply used his image to strike fear,” Kreesus replied dismissively.
Rainbow could feel her sister’s conviction in her aura. “Right. Ol’ Poly used the image of a fairy tale demonic goat that meant nothing to any of us except Twilight.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That makes total sense.”
Polybia’s ally was curled up in the center of the gathered royalty, thus far staying quiet. She only spoke up when she saw Chrysalis’ drones deliver her abducted daughter to the Summit theater. “Given the dangers, perhaps we should return to our hives and continue these talks via proxies.” She suggested almost hopefully.
Kreesus tentatively stepped onto the pockmarked stone and was glad to see there was no lingering effect. “Don’t even try it, Sectovaria,” Kreesus growled threateningly. “You still need to tell us of any other contingency plans Polybia may have laid.”
With everyone’s attention back on her, Sectovaria shielded her prized royal daughter in her forelegs. “I don’t know anything. My pact with Polybia was that she would provide military protection in return for raising her newest love-producing daughter in a way that would keep that production possible.”
Twilight looked down at the now awake, curious but frightened princess with sympathy. She wanted more than anything to retreat to her airship and shake off the horror of seeing Grogar made manifest, but she checked her fear in front of the other queens. “If she has one, why was she absent from the Summit?”
“Because she hasn’t even hatched yet,” Sectovaria rebutted defensively. “Polybia knew she could never raise a love-maker, but saw that I could.” Sectovaria nodded towards her daughter as evidence.
“Probably all that ludicrous dogma of hers,” Jstrul said with a condescending sneer. A moment of silence came when no one joined in the mockery.
That moment gave Rainbow Dash a chance to investigate Jstrul’s comment, not so much for its message, but for what Jstrul was not saying. The blinded queen attempted to look steady as a rock as she fumbled to return to her original seat with Chrysalis guiding her back. Rainbow, however, noticed their wings were twitching nervously and their ears were in constant motion at every little sound.
Rainbow saw those same signs in Kreesus who was putting on a convincing stoic face. However the cracks in that façade appeared in her allied proto-queen, Valera. She had lost all composure and was clinging to Kreesus like a terrified filly. Kreesus was giving her a side long hug that was just as tight as Valera’s own. Rainbow noticed those same signs in every other queen present, including her sister. Everypony’s completely freaked out from the attack, and trying to hide it. Might be a good idea to end the Summit soon before anyone else goes insane. <Hey, Twilight, why don’t you agree or decline to this PM position already. Everypony’s probably too close to losing their marbles to bother objecting one way or the other.>
Twilight shored up her composure by spreading her stress and fear throughout the hivemind. <And you’re not? We just got attacked by a necromancer that makes Sombra look like a foal!>
Rainbow gave her sister her patented ‘Cold as Ice, Fang Filled Smirk of Awesomeness and Radicalness’. Sadly, a few seconds showed that that wasn’t enough to get her point across. <I’ve been fighting from one big baddy to the next for practically my whole life since that whole Nightmare Moon thing. Some giant cloud goat isn’t a step up in my book.>
<Grogar’s a ram, not a goat.>
<Same difference,> Rainbow replied dismissively as she focused on getting the squadron to investigate the approximate location of Polybia's remains.
Twilight told herself she should have expected such flippancy over seemingly minor details from her sister, but even to this day it rankled her to no end. Looking around, Twilight found Captain Thoran had returned, and was now fidgeting in place near the ebony throne. It doesn’t take a genius to know he’s desperate to assess the damage and casualties below.
“Captain Thoran,” Twilight called out loud enough to grab his attention and everyone else around her. “I’ll accept your nomination for Prime Matriarch, but on the stipulation that my sister and I share the throne.”
Twilight knew the other queens would immediately object so she turned to them to head it off. “We rule a single hive together, it is only fitting that we share this throne as well. Should either of us live long enough to be rebirthed, we’ll both abdicate the position.”
Even Rainbow Dash was stunned at first, but saw her sister’s logic and held her tongue. Well at least then they can’t just flat out ignore me.
Thoran thought it over briefly. “It is unprecedented, but as Prime Matriarch that is your prerogative. The wording of the First Mother’s formation of the Summit never said there could be only one.”
Jstrul was able to speak a single stilted word of protest before Chrysalis silenced her with a gentle hoof to her mouth. “I need to think on this, sister,” she whispered.
As Jstrul tried to argue with Chrysalis, Kreesus was also in deep thought. The other queens gave half-baked objections but Thoran’s knowledge of the actual rules and traditions shot them all down. None of them had the right of veto since it had taken so long for a new Prime Matriarch to be named.
Chrysalis eventually waved at Thoran to gain the floor. “While I think Queen Twilight Sparkle is doing this out of loyalty to her co-ruler, I believe this is a necessary decision in regards to ‘Last Bastion’.” Both former Equestrians looked at her curiously. “Due to their shared hive, any future aggression towards Queen Twilight could be indirectly aimed at Rainbow Dash since the right of ‘Last Bastion’ wouldn’t extend to her otherwise. In effect,” Chrysalis gave Twilight a respectful nod, “this simply takes care of a loophole, and little else. Besides that, the Prime Monarch has no power outside of this chamber.”
“Wasn’t it your dream to be Prime Matriarch?” Jstrul whispered to her sister.
“That will have to go to one of our daughters,” Chrysalis returned in hushed tones with veiled resignation. “I would not disgrace the position or the throne with an obsolete queen, even if I fit that category. Besides… This two queen system might be the key we’ve been overlooking.”
All eyes shifted to Kreesus as the last objector, but she ultimately sat down in a huff. “I can accept the condition Queen Twilight gave regarding rebirth. I withdraw my objection.”
Silenced into impotent resentment, the other queens followed their allies’ into reluctant acceptance. With that, Thoran finally felt free to step down from the raised dais of the throne and waved Twilight and Rainbow towards the seat. “Then all matters are settled. I will leave your majesties to any further deliberations.”
Rainbow finally took a long look at the Ebony Throne only to find a broken pockmarked nub of stone remaining. “That’s great and all that, but I think somepony’s going to need to make a new chair for both of us.”
Thoran wilted at the sight of the once proud throne. “I’ll add it to the list of repairs,” he added with a defeated tone. He made his way for the exit, but stopped halfway there. “Before I go, however, I would like to place a formal request for any aid your majesties can bequeath. Our hatchery survived, so even early egg donations would be much appreciated.”
Chrysalis’ eyes glinted with predatory mirth. “Since Queen Twilight Sparkle is now Prime Matriarch, and had been thus far removed from the jungle wars I suggest that she be the one to lend such aid.”
Rainbow Dash saw her moment to one-up Chrysalis and grinned wickedly. “We’d be happy to give aid, but that’s rather difficult with our non-aggression pact in place.”
For the first time all day, Chrysalis truly looked at Rainbow Dash with something other than condescension or disapproval. “I’m sure we can renegotiate terms.”
Mentally giving her sister accolades, Twilight Sparkle addressed Thoran. “We’ll have engineers down here as soon as the other royals depart.”
“Thank you, Prime Matriarchs.” With his job complete, Thoran left before any further bickering could start up.
Kreesus watched him go before addressing Rainbow Dash. “You have forces sweeping where Polybia’s body landed. Is she truly dead?”
Even though she wanted nothing to do with that traitor, Rainbow knew Polybia was a bigger threat. “There’s a lot of gore and meat down there, along with tons of broken chitin, but no one’s ID’d Poly yet. It’s possible her body got completely destroyed by that shadow cloud goat.”
“Don’t bet on it,” Jstrul warned. “We’ve lost enough battles thinking her dead can’t resurrect themselves. We’ve had to start burning the bodies because it’s not even safe to capture some for experimentation.” She waved at her eyes for emphasis
Chrysalis mulled over it all as the others spoke before voicing her own concerns. “Queen Twilight, you said earlier you know of that being. Grogar I believe you said. I get the feeling he didn’t want to make himself known,” Chrysalis stated darkly. “I propose everyone here suspend hostilities and marshal our strength to root out the truth about this potential threat to us all.”
Twilight saw the signs of battle fatigue make a resurgence in the five remaining queens. At any other time, I’m sure someone would call her out for weakness, but no one here is willing to push that particular issue.
Kreesus all but jumped at the chance. “I agree. Polybia has been able to pick off the lion’s share of the lesser queens since the wars began. At the very least, a cease-fire until her death can be verified is more than acceptable.”
Chrysalis carefully masked a knowing smirk at Kreesus before facing Twilight. “Since you have such a knack for research, and… legal access to Canterlot and it’s allies’ libraries, I suggest you be the one to search for any information you can get on this Grogar person. We must know our enemy to defeat him. Assuming that shadow being wasn’t just a case of psychological warfare.”
“I can agree to that,” Twilight replied with hesitant approval. Is she on the level, or is she playing one of her games? “We’ll renegotiate the terms of our non-aggression pact later today. For now though, if there is nothing else, I move to end today’s Summit.”
Twilight looked expectantly at Rainbow Dash who was more or less staring off into space. Yet her sister’s scrutiny was enough to bring the blue queen’s attention back to the present where she gave Twilight a confused look. <What?>
<You’re the PM too. We both have to close the meeting.>
<Oh fine.> Shoring up her rarely used regal bearing, Rainbow Dash spoke with that eloquent tone that Celestia had briefly tried to teach her before realizing the futility of her efforts. “I concur to close today’s proceedings.”
Not wasting any time, Kreesus, Valera and their ally fled immediately. Chrysalis, her sister, and Twilight stepped over to one of the side rooms to discuss the pact, while Sectovaria tried to leave quietly. Rainbow quickly moved to intercept her. “Hey, you with the face, you’re not going anywhere just yet. How do I know you’re not running off to bring back Polybia as a zombie or something?”
“Because she went rogue that’s why,” Sectovaria wanted nothing more than to leave, but the sound of a few passing biplanes made her wilt at the thought. “L-look, I’ve only been a queen for three years. I lost my mother barely five months after that, I just lost my military security, my primary love source, and now everyone’s going to go after me the instant this whole Grogar thing turns out to be just some hoax Polybia used to scare everyone. I need to leave to have any chance in saving my hive.”
Rainbow didn’t budge as she pinged Twilight to verify Sectovaria’s story. Unfortunately, the only knowledge Twilight had was that Sectovaria was a recognized late-stage princess at the last Summit five years ago. “...Fine, good luck to you then.”
Sectovaria began to move away but stopped after catching Rainbow giving her princess a forlorn frown. “W-wait, Queen Rainbow Dash. Can I ask something of you?”
Rainbow did a double take at finally being addressed by her title for once. “What is it?”
Sectovaria chewed on her cheek and tried to summon the courage to voice her request. “I - I know how much you former Equestrians care about your offspring, royal or not. I barely have five hundred drones to my name, including love collectors. Without Polybia’s support, I’ll never be able to gather enough love to feed Khirala,” she said while moving a foreleg away to reveal the cowering blue princess not even a year out of the shell. “Or defend ourselves for that matter.”
Khirala fumbled back over to hide behind her mother’s hoof, tugging heavily on Rainbow’s heartstrings. “If you can’t support Khirala, why did you create her then?” she demanded heatedly.
The dark grey queen tried not to cower at Rainbow’s ire, but her emotions were too raw to resist backing away. “I didn’t have a choice! When Polybia killed my mother, she came after me, easy pickings and all that,” Sectovaria admitted darkly. “The only way to save myself was to say I could raise a loving daughter, and that I could do the same for her.”
Casting aside any regal bearing, Sectovaria laid down on her belly to properly comfort Khirala. After she coaxed Khirala from her sniffling so she could look upon her grandmother without excessive fear, Sectovaria continued. “It’s worked so far, so Polybia gave me her royal egg in exchange for all the love and protection I would need. I don’t even know if the nymph will even be capable of producing love in the first place, but Khirala can.”
With her granddaughter’s well being on the line, Rainbow Dash didn't even bother trying to rationalize things. “So you’re in a bad way, I get it.” Rainbow looked down at the blue princess. “Khirala is my granddaughter, but you seem to care for her like any real mother should,” Rainbow stated definitively with a hint of overt approval. “I can offer you protection, love crystal shipments, and even a place to settle your new hive, but would require an oath of fealty to both me and my sister.”
“That… is a good offer,” Sectovaria said defeatedly at the ground. “I admit I only expected to survive a month at most without Polybia’s protection. Attempt to hide out in a pony city or something.” Shoring up what little regal bearing she had, Sectovaria looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “For both my daughter and my own survival, I pledge my undying fealty to you and Queen Twilight Sparkle until you release me, or death takes me.”
Despite Kreesus’ betrayal, Rainbow Dash was still willing to take any other queen at her word. This was mostly because Chrysalis had never gone back on hers, much to Rainbow’s continued surprise. “Good to hear it. For now, instead of a city, I want you to relocate your hive up north to the Chaos Lands, and take your daughter with you.”
Hope she had not dared to indulge in, shown forth in a grateful smile. This was better than being given some small slice of the northern jungles with outside protection, nor was it a relocation to Alliance territory where she would come under scrutiny of Equestria. The Chaos Lands?! That is so far away from the jungles, none of the other queens would ever bother me again! “T-thank you, my liege.”
“Hey, you’re the mother of my grandkid, and you seem like a cool cat down on your luck. But since you’re going to be our newest ally, we’ll send over regular love crystal shipments so you can focus more drones on building your new hive.”
“That would be most helpful, thank you. What form of tribute would you require in exchange for that and your protection?”
Rainbow Dash had to think of that for a moment before it came to her in stark realization. “I want you to start having intelligent drones like Twilight and I. Chances are good that Khirala will have intelligent drones by default, and they are critical to a love producing hive.”
“I… see,” Sectovaria shifted uncomfortably as she climbed back up to her hooves with Khirala asleep on her back. “I was always told intelligent drones were too great of a risk to the queen… But if you and Queen Twilight were willing to elevate two of them into princesses, maybe those fears are unfounded. With a basic alchemical template I could start alchemically altering myself to create them naturally.”
“Great. I’d also ask about you shedding the chitin… but I think that bit at least, should be your choice. We’ll go over more details later, but before you go...” Rainbow said conspiratorially. “What will you do with Polybia’s royal egg?”
“Simple. I’ll keep it in my current hatchery and safeguard it from scavenging animals and feral drones. If Polybia’s not truly dead, she’ll come for it. If she’s alive, I let her take it. I don’t think it wise to keep a possibly undead queen from what is hers, rogue or not.”
“Maybe…” Rainbow tapped her chin until an idea struck her. “Actually, that’s pretty smart thinking. Keep Poly’s egg where it is. If she takes it, then we’ll know for sure whether she’s alive or not. Any other queen would simply destroy it. Should anyone except Polybia enter the hatchery, tell them that egg’s off limits by my authority.”
Sectovaria’s gaze went vacant for a moment before focusing back on Rainbow. “As you wish.”
“Cool beans, now, since you’re having to move so far north, why don’t we give you a lift as far as Canterlot in our airship? Unless you got something you need to do personally.”
Sectovaria’s eyes dilated at the thought. She looked out at the two distant warships with the handful of fighters still patrolling the skies. “I admit I never expected to think of those ships as anything other than a threat… But yes, that would make things much easier, I appreciate it.”
Rainbow smirked and wrapped a far too friendly foreleg around Sectovaria’s neck. “Stick with us kid, and you’ll go far.”
Sectovaria forced a grateful smile in return. Technically, I’m a year older than you.
While Rainbow Dash spoke with Sectovaria, Twilight had the ignoble task of dealing with Chrysalis and Jstrul. “So it’s settled then,” Twilight said flatly. “Until the issue with Grogar and Polybia is resolved I have free access throughout the jungles without breaking the Non-aggression pact.”
“And in return you only have to give us any information you have on him and we’ll give you any news on Polybia.” Jstrul kept her tone level, but she was still having internal struggles. Why is sister wanting to deal with them at all? This whole Grogar thing is just some foalish fairy tale. Perhaps sister is just using this as an excuse to force a reprieve to give us time to regroup.
“Well, if that’s everything,” Twilight looked to Chrysalis and Jstrul who made no move to speak further, “then I’ll be going.” I hope Celestia has something more than children books on Grogar.
Chrysalis smirked as Twilight flew off to the waiting airships. “We should thank, Polybia, really. This pause in the war will help us far more than Kreesus.”
With them being the only remaining royals in the amphitheater, Chrysalis was able to wait for her sister to summon a seeing-eye drone. “You really think we’ll be able to challenge her? She’s made mistakes, but tactically, she’s almost on par with the technophiles in terms of current strength.”
“Maybe so,” Chrysalis replied with more than a little irritation. “But we should prepare in case Grogar actually exists. It is not like Twilight to jump upon flights of fancy, especially since pausing the war is of no benefit to her or her hive.”
Deep in the green heart of the vast jungles, Polybia’s hive chittered and writhed as a large lump of bulbous tissue was carried in by two drones through the smooth tunnels. The way was lit by glowing algae along the walls.
Deep underground, the two drones located a frothing hot pond of teal liquid. It radiated a faint light, casting the small chamber in murky shadows. The lumpy flesh was carefully deposited into the pool.
The flesh squirmed and thrashed violently as bones formed and muscles grew. The legs formed first with soft chitin growing along them, then came Polybia’s head breaking out of a weakening membrane before her body finished reconstituting itself.
She heaved herself out of the pool still covered in the slushy substance. “May you rot in Tartarus, Chrysalis. I should have known you were up to something when you visited Thoran last month.” Polybia’s rapid regrowth left her physically exhausted, and she laid there panting out of breath. Her veins felt like they were on fire while her nerves ached, and muscles spasmed from the rapid growth. Good thing I wormed that soul separation spell out of that wretch, but by the First Mother does it hurt.
Aside from the two drones that had brought in Polybia’s “contingency plan” there was only one other thing inside the chamber besides the pool. It was a pod with dozens of wards, both physical and magical, with only the occupant’s head clear of the wax. “Well, well, my reluctant student was able to master the art of using a phylactery after all,” a barely interested baritone grating voice range out. “A pity you used a lump of living flesh to do it. A crystal vase serves as a much cleaner soul vessel.”
Polybia glared daggers at the proto-queen sized ram. He stared right back at her with hollow pits for eyes that glowed red like embers of a dying fire. “I told you I’m only going to use necromancy to win this war. The moment I’ve conquered my rivals I’m casting this vile magic away, along with you.”
“You only make things harder for yourself that way,” the ram replied as if he were speaking to a child. “I don’t need a pond of muck to restore my body every time it’s destroyed.”
Polybia shakily climbed to her hooves. “I don’t even want to know what you do use.”
“Oh don’t be so rigid, Polybia,” he said with affected disappointment. “You would be capable of so much more if you put aside such misguided morals. It’s not the spells themselves that are sinful, only how you use them. Even the Equestrians are more… tolerant of necromancers than you, although they regulate it far too heavily for my tastes. Who’s to say the First Mother wouldn’t approve of more advanced necromancy?”
Polybia stopped as her mind grew fuzzy. Her vision lost focus the longer the necromancer stared at her. I must still be weak from the revival. Doing her best to shake it off, Polybia turned to face him. “I refuse to dishonor the First Mother! Even if none of the other queens seems to care for her anymore, at least I still will.”
“I said nothing about dishonor, Queen Polybia. I merely recommend that maybe you should reexamine your scriptures. Perhaps they are not as stringent as you originally believed. After all, the last remaining faithful queen mustn’t fall victim to misinterpretation.”
Polybia growled and strengthened the shielding in her mind. “Don’t toy with me, Grogar! I will not let you twist me into your puppet!”
“You can’t blame me for trying,” he chided while tugging at his restraints for emphasis. “I’m not going to sit here idly, and be your little Well of Power every time you need to syphon my essence for your little war.”
“I will take what I need, and whenever I need it. Remember that, Grogar,” Polybia rebuked with a bitter scowl.
“For now, perhaps. In any event, it seems you’ve dug quite a deep hole for yourself. I wonder how much longer it’ll be before you have to step down from your high morals to save yourself. After today’s little incident…” He narrowed his gaze with a hint of a smile coming to him. “Speaking of which, what is the last thing you remember before your body was ripped to pieces?”
“I don’t have time for this, Grogar, I need to retrieve my royal egg. Without a hostage, Sectovaria will destroy it soon.”
“I should certainly hope not,” Grogar said as Polybia departed. “Killing sinless youths is a dark stain to bear indeed.” Polybia looked at him with confusion clearly written all over her face before leaving the chamber. Grogar’s gaze followed her even after she faded from view. I wish you would have modified that dead-mare spell. It galls me to no end to have my image broadcast for the world to see.