A dozen questions raced through Twilight and Rainbow after Schadenfreude told them of Polybia’s method of payment. Most of them centered on disbelief and shock. I know those other queens probably see non-changelings as nothing more than food, but this is a new low, Rainbow mused darkly. Poly better hope I never get my hooves on her.
Schadenfreude ignored the queens’ obvious anger as he pulled the relevant tome from the shelves and reclaimed his seat and wine glass after topping it off. He was however, surprised neither of them were condemning him for accepting such payment. Are they ignoring it so I can give them the information first, or do they actually accept it as standard business practice for me?
In any event, he had no use for a client that was too furious to conduct business in a professional manner. “If it’ll put your minds at some level of ease,” he started flatly, snapping the queens from their brooding. “Most of the souls had already damned themselves. They were simply going to Tartarus a little early. Well… after I make use of them, anyway.”
“Most of them?” Twilight asked darkly. “And what about the… morally salvageable souls?” It didn’t sound quite right, but she didn’t know of any other way to say it to a demonologist.
“I give them over to Aged Page, of course.” He grinned behind his wineglass as both queens look at him in renewed silent scrutiny.
“Is that the other reason you’re not on government wanted lists?” Rainbow half accused.
“I suspected that would be the obvious conclusion.” His smug grin never left as he started searching the tome for the relevant information. “Ultimately it’s not a terrible arrangement for all parties involved. Such souls… are less useful for my purposes, so I don’t lose all that much, and the Archmage gets to soothe his conscience by giving those souls over to clerics or paladins, or whoever he gives them to, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Twilight shook off the creep factor of the demonologist’s laughter at the whole thing. “As grateful as I am to hear of your… charity work, I would prefer to move along to the Grogar issue.” Twilight cleared her throat and nodded towards the notes.
Schadenfreude cast a overly humored smirk at her. “Down to business, I like that. Now, Grogar. What would you like to know first?”
It was Rainbow who spoke up. “Did Polybia form an alliance with that goat?”
“Ram,” Twilight corrected automatically.
Ignoring the sisters’ quirks, Schadenfreude answered without even looking at his documents. “Based on what she wanted to know, I strongly doubt it. She came here looking for ways to bend him to her will. Cantraps, true names, the usual routine. Grogar isn’t someone you can simply control, he is only a half demon after all. He may not have all of the powers a full demon possesses, but he doesn’t have as many weaknesses either.” He saw in their eyes that he would need to elaborate. “To the best of my knowledge, Grogar was originally an earth pony mare, though I know not his original name.”
“A mare, you gotta be kidding me,” Rainbow scoffed. I know that sort of thing is commonplace among the hive, but outside of that?
Schadenfreude smirked at the irony. “I’ve actually dined with him a few times. Fun fact, Chardonniegh is his favorite wine.” He saw neither queen was interested in trivia. He shrugged at the lost humor. “In Grogar’s own words: “gender is a construct of life, and I am necromancer by trade”. He simply adopts the gender of whatever new body he possesses as his own because he doesn’t see the point in changing it. Personally I think he’d change his tune if he bothered to get laid every once in a while.”
“Fascinating… truly,” Twilight said with an obvious lie. If Polybia was looking for binding spells and tools, it’s possible that there is no alliance, and she took control over him by force. Doesn’t mean they didn’t strike a deal after she met with Schadenfreude though. “The sexual predilections of demonic necromancers aside, how do we defeat him?”
“That is a simple matter that is anything but,” Schadenfreude replied, taking a moment to enjoy the queens’ irritation. “Grogar is no more powerful than anyone else without his Band of Bells.”
“Bells? Seriously?” Rainbow snorted in amusement.
“I’m sure bells took on a more significant meaning in whatever mortal culture Grogar originally belonged to,” Schadenfreude shrugged. “He wasn’t exactly forthcoming in that regard. Either way, because he is not a full demon, Grogar can’t bring his full power with him every time he swaps bodies once the old one dies. So he locked most of it into his bells which, as you can imagine, is far easier to take with you from one body to the next.”
“That’s it?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Take off his necklace and his power is diminished?”
“Partly. The problem is that that power diffuses into his current body until the bells themselves are empty vessels,” Schadenfreude clarified with a serious tone. “You would have to kill his body, then ward his bells from being summoned to where ever he has a spare body lying around. Taking the neckband without killing him would be largely pointless.”
Despite such welcome news, Twilight couldn’t help but to feel dubious. “If this is such a big weakness… How well known is this vulnerability, in your circles?”
“I do so love it when my customers ask the right questions,” Schadenfreude said with slightly growing respect. “It is very well known indeed. Grogar was not always as powerful as he is now. The nature of his self-altered soul means he’s stuck with this particular problem, and many of his enemies have taken advantage of that over the centuries.” He took a sip of his wine before grabbing a tobacco pipe and lit it with a candle. “I think it is a general rule of his to believe all of his enemies know about it.”
“Can we reason with him, perchance?” Twilight knew her sister was going to rebuke that idea until she silently reminded Rainbow who they were talking to.
Schadenfreude puffed on his pipe, letting the throat burning smoke waft away. “But of course. He’s as civilized as they come, so long as you don’t anger him. I dare say he would be irked by our little discussion. Not that I gave away his secrets, mind you, but at how little you paid for them.” Schadenfreude’s eyes wandered up to the ceiling with that ever present unsettling grin plastered on his face. “He always assumed he would be worth at least half a billion bits. I must say I am writhing with anticipation on what his response will be once he discovers how much those secrets actually sold for.”
“Just so long as he directs any vengeance solely upon you,” Rainbow started with a smug grin of her own, trying to play his unsaid game. “I’d like to watch.”
“Care to see if I’m worth a prolonged contract, your highness?” Schadenfreude’s flat teeth were suddenly replaced by yellowed fangs. “I’m almost tempted to tell Grogar myself. At least once this whole Polybia issue he has is resolved. She wouldn’t be the first to forcefully enlist his aid.”
“This has happened before?” both queens asked with mixed levels of surprise and disbelief.
Schadenfreude let off a sensible chuckle. “His demonic half is a succubus… well,” he paused with a head tilt, “incubus now, at least. If you ask me, I believe he quells the remaining incubus urges he has left with the bondage part of being a prisoner. Not that he would let it show.”
“Are you saying he still possesses modesty?” Twilight asked with a sarcastic snort.
“Ha! You are not as blinded as most mortals, Queen Twilight Sparkle, I’ll give you that.” Schadenfreude entirely missed Twilight forcibly hiding her confusion at guessing correctly.
Rainbow Dash was admittedly not the sharpest bowling ball outside of combat, but even she could see something was off. “Wait a minute… how does a half sex-demon never get laid? I thought that was supposed to be their thing.”
Twilight looked to Schadenfreude for answers only to find the stallion was for once at a loss for words. “You know… I never actually gave that much thought. Demons are creatures of emotions, but I suspect his use of necromancy has twisted his body to the point that such urges are smothered.”
“Well that makes sense,” Twilight added with a contemplative shallow frown. “All magic use influences the wielder, be it holy, arcane, or demonic if one school is used excessively over the others. Necromancy is no exception.” She looked at Schadenfreude for confirmation of her next theory. “Even if demons are indeed creatures of emotion, they are still living organic beings. Since necromancy eventually renders the practitioner undead, most of those urges die with them.”
“Quite an interesting idea, your majesty. I know of nothing that could contradict you.”
“Okay, so we know he’s an emotionless smart zombie demon.” Rainbow drew upon Twilight’s knowledge of necromancy to think of a meaningful question. “What about his… phylactery?” I think that’s how you say it. “Can we find it and break it?”
“It’s possible,” Schadenfreude admitted easily. “If I read her right, Polybia was by far most interested in finding Grogar’s phylactery. Not as impossible as ignorant ponies think. Even the most powerful necromancers have a limited range on their phylactery. If they go beyond that range…” Schadenfreude clapped his hooves hard. “His consciousness would be torn away from his vessel and pulled back into the phylactery.
“So if we grab it, we can just fly away with it to disable him?” Rainbow leaned forward in her seat at the prospect of a quick win.
“Assuming you find it, of course,” Schadenfreude countered with a smirk. “He’d have to keep the soul vessel here on the mortal plane to keep the bond between his body and phylactery strong.”
“So he can’t cheat in hiding it?” Rainbow mirrored Schadenfreude’s devilish smirk. “Now that is something worth knowing.”
Polybia stumbled into her hatchery, still glowing with the chilly mana of Grogar’s power. The massive chamber was blanketed in her eggs, and those stolen from the most recent queen she had eliminated from before the Summit. Even if they were not of her blood, they were still viable soldiers.
Grogar’s mana fought against hers as Polybia struggled to bring it under her control. He’s doing something with his mana. It’s never been this difficult to subdue. Still, I need it’s power before attacking Kreesus.
She summoned a pair of caretakers to help carry her so she could put more focus on the riotous mana. By the time she was brought to her destination, most of Grogar’s power had been brought to heel. However it still lingered around her head, clouding her vision. She forcibly shook herself to clear it to little effect. I guess he wants even less food.
Resting before her in a large alcove of the main hatchery were dozens of green glowing pods filled with pony captives. Twilight may have gotten us to return all of the love farmed ponies, but loopholes are too easy to exploit.
The four dozen captives were not actually used for love harvesting, but for knowledge instead. With a hive of dimwitted, but surprisingly competent drones, there was always going to be something that would be impossible to accomplish with Polybia’s direction alone. The ponies here were used for their assortment of talents. Farming, medicine, logistics, combat tactics, and anything else Polybia perceived as useful skills.
With her mental strength returning, Polybia perused over the mass of pods.
“Now… Which of you are the least important?” Looking over the gathered specialists and mulling over the state of her war torn hive, her focus fell upon two of her older pods. “Thanks to Kreesus’ last raid, my farmlands are diminished to the point where I don’t need as many agriculture experts. I can make do without you for a while yet.”
She looked down at the pair of caretakers sitting beside her, awaiting to fulfill her wishes. “Cut those two from their pods and bring the royal egg to me.”
“At once,” they replied emotionlessly.
Carefully removing them from the ceiling, the caretakers moved the pods near their queen and went through the motions of awakening the occupants and carving them out of the pods. Polybia arched a disapproving eyebrow at the pair when enough pod fluid had been washed off of them to see them clearly.
As with all of her pony specialists, they had been partially converted by the pods themselves into changelings. Otherwise connecting them to the hive mind would have been impossible. However, it was impractical to completely stop the transformation, only immensely slow it down. As as result, these two captives had been in the pods for so long they had grown fully formed horns and glossimer wings. While their hooves were black chitin, the fur had only retreated a few inches above the fetlocks. Short fangs poked out from their mouths and their fluttering eyes were indistinguishable from any other drone. Outside of that however, they looked like normal ponies, save for their cutie marks being a garbled mess of color.
Polybia scowled at the hybrids. Damn. Perhaps they’ve been in there for too long. I don’t need mindless servants, I need someone who can act independently… for once. A small spark of hope remained as she noticed the rest of their fur remained thick and strongly colored. The cutie marks were not entirely missing, that at least gave her some confidence and stopped her from ordering them back to the pods.
“Quasi, speak!”
The pale greyish yellow furred stallion of the pair was big and nearly as tall as Luna without her horn. The pod had done nothing to diminish his toned build. “I hear and obey, my queen.”
The curly carrot haired mare looked up Polybia with ghostly hatred in her eyes, but it was dwarfed by her devotion. “I live to serve, my queen.” She had faint peach colored fur with turquoise eyes.
Polybia regarded the brilliantly red maned stallion with an inquisitive eye. “What do you remember of life before the hive?” She questioned hoping to find enough intelligence within them for her purposes.
“Ah worked a farm, but don’t rightly remember what exactly Ah was farm’n,” the stallion replied hesitantly. He wanted to rub his head, but the presence of his queen held him back.
“Do you remember where you used to live?”
The mare wracked her brain, and was able to mostly ignore her forbearance about rubbing her head. A frustrated scowl marred her features. “No, my queen. Only that I helped with the farm. Maybe we were farmhooves or we owned it.” She looked at the big pale yellow stallion. “But I remember him quite clearly.”
Perhaps you remember enough to be useful after all. Polybia saw the growing spark of intelligence in their eyes as some of their memories came back. “Do you think you could reintegrate into pony society?”
“If that is your will, my queen.” The stallion replied evenly.
“I - I would like that, my queen,” the mare said with extreme reservation. “B-but only if you wish it, of course.”
If they have this much emotion… well, the mare anyway, then this might work out acceptably. Stallions have always been able to get away with being less emotional in Equestria if I recall correctly.
Even so, their appearance could make it all useless. Injecting the knowledge of disguise magic into the two quasi, Polybia was ready for her final test. “Disguise yourselves.”
While the stallion accepted the knowledge without issue, the mare had to blink away tears of pain. Polybia saw the tears, but felt no will to resist from her. Grey-green flames washed over the stallion first with the mare recovering from the sudden migraine for a few seconds. The mare felt her queen’s heavy glower hanging over her before she too hid her changeling features.
Polybia inspected the pair with a critical eye for several minutes. “Your plot marks are still garbled, and both of you are still earth ponies. From here on, you are to disguise as unicorns or pegasi only.”
The pair replied with the stallion becoming a pegasus, and the mare a unicorn. Squaring her shoulders, Polybia had her royal egg brought before the former earth ponies. Excellent. They have enough natural loyalty with that necessary spark of intelligence for the task at hoof. “I have a mission of the utmost importance. From here on out, the defense of this egg and its occupant is your sole purpose in life.” Polybia weaved a weak geas of devotion and loyalty before sinking it into both quasi. Any stronger and it would impede their mission.
“What would you have us do?” the stallion asked while the mare carefully took the egg in her magic almost instinctively.
“Take the egg north into Equestria, and wait for it to hatch within the next ten days.” Polybia withdrew a hoof sized gemstone and a necklace with a diamond shaped into a heart. “I have a love collector in Middle Canterlot. Go there, you will receive more instructions as needed.”
It didn’t take the mare long to realize what she was holding. Some small part of her wanted to smash it then and there. Revenge for all the years she had been held captive would have been so very sweet. Another part fought against the first, wanting to protect the unborn life. The lion’s share of her mind cared nothing for the internal war and held it’s charge protectively as the queen had commanded. “But my queen, this is a royal egg! Shouldn’t it stay here with-“
“Enough!” Polybia barked harshly at being questioned by an underling. The mare cowed towards the stallion out of fear. It took Polybia a moment to realize the mare had not actually disobeyed her, but was only expressing concern. Good. This should work better than expected. Still expressing her ire, Polybia lowered her voice. “You show independent thought. A dangerous thing to have for a quasi, but for this task, it is necessary.”
Marred with confusion, the mare calmed down and gently placed the egg on the waxy ground at her hooves. Polybia made a few other commands over the hive mind before continuing. “I have tried raising a love producing daughter multiple times, but they have always ended as failures. As far as I can tell, they require a pony style upbringing to continue producing love. Something I realize is completely beyond me. So you two are my plan B. Go to exit forty seven. I have soldiers there that will escort both you and the egg into Equestria. Do not fail me, quasi. Now go!”
“Yes, my queen!” the stallion replied quickly before scooping up the egg. He made to leave when he noticed the mare was much more hesitant.
“M-my queen. I-I don’t think any part of Canterlot is a good place for us.”
More questions? This is why I prefer simple-minded drones. Taking a partial example from Cadista’s bloodline, Polybia opted to heatedly explain herself rather than slap the mare into submission. After all, she was queen. Blind obedience was a fact of life, and a cherished one at that. “Deal with it. I have no other love collectors beyond the jungles. There has been no need to replace those lost with all of the prisoners I’ve collected.”
The stallion glowered at the mare for angering their queen, but the rebellious spark within her flared with new life in defiance all the same. “I - I understand, my queen,” she stated placatingly. “But all we know is farming. We know nothing of city life.”
Did she simply guess I was going to have them stay there, or did she actually figure it out? Every fiber of Polybia’s being and upbringing demanded that the mare be killed on the spot. Unbound quasi are too dangerous.
A few motes of Grogar’s mana swam around Polybia’s head, clouding her vision and derailing her thoughts. It took her more time than she would have liked to clear the cotton from her brain. When she she finally regarded the mare shaking in terror, a different thought came to mind. “Perhaps you’re right… Your assignment will be long term, and my royal daughter will be depending on you.”
Polybia was struck with inspiration as her inquisitive wandering eyes fell upon the rest of the cocooned quasi. “Leave. I will find something among the rest of these experts with which to aid you. For now, time is short. Be gone!”
Surprised that the mare had not ended up as a red smear on the ground, the stallion pulled his companion up by her fore leg and led her to the exits with the egg in tow.
Polybia seethed at what she had to do. Damn you, Twilight Sparkle. Just by existing you have torn changeling traditions asunder. Coddling upbringing for love, and now I have to suffer two high level intelligences being awake and aware in my Link, even if they are little more than quasi. Polybia watched over her hatchery, trying to will her cocooned soldiers to hatch.
However, those same traditions dictate that I take this path. Better it is to have a love producing queen who’s too soft, than a proper but love dependent daughter.
Still… If I happen to come out on top of this little war, I can always reclaim my daughter when she is of age.
In the end, Polybia knew love was not the sole reason she was sending her daughter away. A queen had to think of everything, and plan for even the worst event possible. I know that look in Grogar’s dead eyes. He wants revenge. That much is beyond obvious. Even with all of my contingencies in place, I will not leave my daughter vulnerable to him by keeping her in the hive.
A little over an hour after first meeting with Schadenfreude, Twilight and Rainbow departed from their children's’ minds to return their awareness back to Twilight’s royal chambers. (Only after Intel and Thunderfury found some privacy first, for modesty’s sake.) The pair was resting against each other on the sofa. With the sun dipping below the horizon, the only light within the room was a single reading lamp on the far end and the lights of the hive below.
Rather than getting up immediately, Twilight leaned a little more heavily on her sister to enjoy her presence a while longer. Rainbow reciprocated without complaint and affectionately nuzzled her in return. Twilight became aware of Ratchet snoozing on her other side, and couldn’t help but to breathe in contentment.
The two queens, and one prime consort, basked in each other’s love. I was blind for years before Rainbow became my sister. Maybe it’s the Equestrian in me, or Celestia and Luna’s example, but I feel so much more… complete with her at my side.
While it was never said, all it took was for Twilight to feel Rainbow’s delicious unconditional love to know she felt the same way.
Yet with all things, the problems of the world conspired against them to end the moment of peace far too early. Gentle Touch spoke to the pair, dragging the sisters back to the present. <My queens, I’ve finished recording all of the information Schadenfreude gave us and placed it in a partitioned section of the Linkscape Archives, as well as sent copies to the alicorn sisters.>
<Very good, Gentle, thank you.> Twilight gently kissed Ratchet before gingerly extracting herself from the couch. The act forced a reluctant Rainbow Dash to do the same, but Ratchet slept through it all.
The heavy scent of lubricant and welding smoke still wafting from his workbench lent credence to his exhaustion.
Rainbow Dash stretched like a cat, buzzing her wings lightly to get the kinks out. <Captain Darya, how are the bi-plane upgrades coming?> With Captain Rourke and the Deception acting as honor guard for the proto-queens in Canterlot, it fell upon the moderately inexperienced carrier captain. As a result, Rainbow had to walk her through a lot of it.
<We just got the new Radial mark seven engines, and the updated wrench sets to the engineering crews.>
Rainbow remained neutral. <Did you make sure they use the same octavia grade?>
<...Ah, yes! The quartermaster has been informed of the request.>
Twilight sniffed out the fretfulness in the shipmaster and left her sister to her duties with one final nuzzle before departing into the central corridor.
I’m sure Rainbow can settle anything on that front. It may not be combat, but she’s gotten a lot better at directing the logistics side of things too.
It didn’t take long before Twilight reached the door leading to her mother’s quarters. Cadista’s quarters were just a bit smaller than Twilight’s personal workshop/bedroom. A short ping announced her a moment before entering.
Akin to her home back in Stripped Gear, Cadista had filled the walls with paintings over the last four years. Without a hive to rule, and the queenly pair more than able to run things on their own, Cadista dove more deeply into her artwork, at least when her work as the hive’s economic trade advisor allowed it.
Currently, Cadista stood before an easel with a paintbrush clasped in her orange magic. By in large, most of her works were either cityscapes or renditions of the various machinery found around the technocity. So it was a pleasant surprise for Twilight to find her mother working on a piece of what looked like abstract art vaguely reminiscent of the baking disaster Pinkie’s son had a hoof in some time ago.
Twilight remained respectfully quiet since her mother was completely engrossed in her artwork. For an empath, watching her mother express herself upon canvas was a breathtaking experience. It’s one thing to go to an exhibit and try to interpret the artist’s mood, but to feel those emotions as they’re given physical form?
Twilight gave off a wistful sigh, unwittingly snapping Cadesta out of her zen state. The sudden shift in Cadista’s emotions made Twilight squeak out of embarrassment, but her mother took it in stride while putting her brush down. “Your aura is mostly clear. I assume your meeting with the demonologist went well.”
“It did. Schadenfreude gave us enough information to deal with Grogar, one way or another.”
Nodding in satisfaction, Cadista started cleaning up her paints and brushes, knowing she was unlikely to return to her zen state for the rest of the night. “I hope you didn’t have to bargain away too much. Fel Shapers and summoners are always out for number one.”
“Just bits, thankfully. It’ll hold back the construction of the newest aluminum foundry by a few months, but that’ll give the miners time to have rotating vacations for a little while. Explore Equestria or whatever they decide to do with themselves.”
“Like hoofball?” Cadista verbally prodded with a smirk.
Twilight huffed in suppressed irritation. “Yes, even hoofball. Though I can’t imagine why so many of my kids find it fun.” She tried to distract herself by looking out of the grand open balcony and down to the bustling hive below. A sea of lights upon the inky backdrop of the Everfree. Canterlot’s spear of light in the distance really ties it all together.
Cadista snickered over her daughter’s harmless ire. “Reminds me of the old days.” She almost said ‘good old days’, but Twilight and Rainbow’s success was enough to trump the time when Yumia still lived. “Yumia and I used to joke how our eggs kept getting switched at birth. I never understood why so many of my children took after Yumia so strongly, and vice versa.”
Twilight’s ears perked up and she turned away from the view of the city lights. “Actually, that’s part of the reason why I’m here.”
“Oh?” Cadista asked while never turning away from her cleaning work. She moved on to sealing up her paint tubes.
“Yes… Schadenfreude said something odd. He mentioned that Rainbow Dash and my souls are intertwined. Rainbow is just passing it off as our old connection to the Elements of Harmony, but I…” She scuffed the ground nervously. “I wouldn’t be bringing this up if it was just Schadenfreude’s comment alone. I feel like Rainbow Dash is more than just a sister to me.”
Cadista slightly turned away from her work to give her daughter a sarcastic sidelong glance. “So she’s sending your heart aflutter?”
“No!” Twilight rebuked with puffed cheeks. Knowing her mother was teasing her, she buzzed her wings in short lived irritation. “Honestly, I think that would spoil it for the both of us.”
“Really? Well maybe next lifetime then,” Cadista added with an attempt to inject some humor.
“Back on topic,” Twilight said with a slacking scowl. “I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I feel so… complete around RD. More so than when I’m immersing myself within the hive mind. I was wondering if you and Yumia experienced such a thing.”
Cadista’s smile faded and was replaced by an old pained frown. She was at least glad that her back was turned to Twilight so she wouldn’t see it, even if she could sense it. “Yumia and I… Had something I’ve never seen in anyone else, though I admit I have seen some signs of it in you two. I wouldn’t be surprised if such signs soon popped up between Aegis and Blitz.”
It didn’t take long before Twilight put the pieces together. “You think it’s because we rule side by side?”
“That’s my theory.” Cadista finished with the paints and started putting everything away into cupboards. “The Equestrians have that phrase: soulmates. A romantic term to be sure, probably even true. But from what I’ve seen, it is only half of what two queens experience when they rule side by side. The bond they share is unbreakable, and that’s not always a good thing.”
Cadista turned fully to face her daughter and raised a hoof to cover her chest. “I’m not going to sugar-coat this, Twilight. I fully believe I carry a piece of Yumia’s soul with me, even today. Just as she did with a part of mine. When she died,” Cadista forced her tears back, but couldn’t stop her eyes from going bloodshot. “A part of me died with her, in more ways than any pony could ever understand.”
Twilight quickly embraced her mother with a crushing hug, partly to give her a daughter's love, and partly to keep her from getting any dark ideas. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Cadista was taken off guard by the sudden heartfelt embrace. Am I slipping, or is she reading me better? The topic and Twilight’s mournful aura chipped away at Cadista’s stoicism. I can’t let her see me like that.
Try as she might, Cadista couldn’t reign in her deepening despondency. “No, no, it’s better this way.” Cadista blinked away a few rebellious tears, and took a deep calming breath. Even after all this time, I still have tears to shed?
With long practiced ease, she restored her composure; even going so far as to use disguise magic to hide her puffiness. “I was going to tell you, I needed to tell you, but I wasn’t sure how or when. I didn’t even fully believe it was happening between you two until you brought it up.”
For a long while, Twilight held her mother close, giving Cadista time to rebuild her mask. The old former queen still had some of her pride, and bottled the old melancholy up as best she could. Eventually, she separated from Twilight to give her daughter a look that bore the weight of the world behind it. “You and Rainbow will be as close as two people can be, without being joined at that hip, but never lose her, Twilight. Don’t ever lose her!” She tapped Twilight in the chest to drive the point home. “You’ll lose all color in the world if that ever happens.”
“I won’t, momma.” Twilight snuck in a brief nuzzle. “I promise you and Rainbow that.”
“We made the same promises to each other, Yumia and I. You may not be the militant that Rainbow is, but…” Cadista trailed off, feeling any further words were unneeded. She wanted nothing more than to let her emotions drain out. “You might as well go tell her about it then.”
“Yes, of course.” Twilight made to leave, but hesitated at the door. She turned back to see Cadista stoically watching the city below. A small twinge of worry crossed Twilight’s thoughts. “For what’s it’s worth, mother. I’m glad it happened with Rainbow Dash. I get the feeling that this is how we queens are meant to rule, side by side with another. Why else would it happen so naturally? I know RD is the happiest she’s ever been.”
Cadista debated whether or not Twilight was trying to simply make sense of it, or trying to comfort her in imagined guilt and unhealable pain. “Perhaps.”
Twilight stood at the door waiting for Cadista to continue, but silence was her only answer. In the end, Twilight wordlessly departed to speak to her sister. This was not a conversation she felt would be sufficient over the Link alone.
Aegis all but threw herself onto the balcony lounge chair attached to her mother’s old castle home. Her bones ached, her muscles burned, her wings hung limp by her side, and her mane was matted with sweat. “Why was that last lap so hard?”
Blitz flopped onto a large cushion on the ground next to the sofa, and was in even worse shape than Aegis was. “We’re not drones anymore, remember? Our bodies are designed for fertility, hive command, and bipedalism, not physical prowess.”
Aegis merely groaned loudly in reply. It was a coarse sentiment, but one that Blitz shared. “Now I know what Aunty felt like after finding out she was a royal.” Aegis brightened considerably after seeing Gear Ratio canter over with a pitcher of royal jelly tea, the first she’d seen all week.
“Now I want you two to drink every last drop. This is fresh off the train barely an hour ago.”
Both proto-queens needed no further prompting and used their magic to pour the cups and down their first round. Aegis wanted to use her hands, but she struggled to close a fist after the latest round of experimental exercises. It’s not exactly easy coming up with new workouts for muscles that never existed a few years ago.
Several minutes later, Aegis downed the last drop from her glass before sighing in culinary delight. “Ahh! Now that hit the spot. Another round, we got eggs baking here!”
Blitz drank the last of her share with far more social grace than her counterpart, which wasn’t saying much. She stifled a yawn, and blinked blearily. Like Aegis, her body was still acclimating to oviposition, so between that, the exercise, medical examinations, and her body’s rapid growth, Blitz was utterly exhausted. Unlike Aegis however, she didn’t start off with an athletic body so she dragged herself to her hooves. She was actually amazed she was able to stand on two legs at all. The thought of walking off on four legs didn’t even occur to her fatigue addled mind. “You go ahead, I need some sleep.”
“Before you do,” Gear Ratio stated while taking a clipboard one of her caretakers brought her, “I suspect you might want to hear our latest findings regarding your wing marks.”
Summoning a little mental strength, Blitz flared her wings to look at her mother’s cutie mark outlined on her wings. “Fineee,” she half groaned at being denied her rest.
“It’s good news, so I thought giving it to you now would help you sleep, Blitz.” The proto queens perked up a bit as Gear Ratio finished scanning the important details on the report. “So far, I have seen no negative symptoms regarding the marks. Your wings are as strong to be expected. While everything else looks green, your mana seems to pool around the symbols, much like how mother and Aunty’s magic is strongly tied to their cutie marks. I would still like to study them,” the proto-queens groaned and sagged at the news, not that Gear Ratio seemed to mind. “At least until one month has passed after you’ve fully developed into queens. After that we can postpone them to simply monthly visits and maybe even phase them out entirely if no complications arise.”
“A silver lining at last!” Aegis ranted before her attention suddenly snapped towards the star filled sky.
Blitz felt an alert go out over the four royals, but the message was focused on Aegis. “What’s wrong?”
Shrugging off her fatigue as a wave of adrenaline coursed through her, Aegis moved over to the balcony railing and pointed towards the north. “Something’s not right. There’s an Equestrian naval ship approaching the Deception unannounced.”
Blitz and Gear Ratio followed Aegis’ hoof towards the frigate. It was on station above the recently built naval airship dock that was adjacent to the Palace District. From this distance, it looked as if there was a tender vessel moving over towards the frigate.
Blitz tilted her head questioningly. “I didn’t think the Equestrians had adopted tender vessels yet. It’s still new to us.”
“They haven’t as far as I know,” Aegis replied worriedly. She had to control herself to keep from flying off to figure out what was going on in person. She didn’t exactly trust her wings right now, adrenaline or not. “But that ship’s getting way too close. Since Aunty’s not here, I have overall command of our visiting forces. I’ve already given word to have the local authorities drive them off, but ponies communicate so slowly it might take an hour. As for us, it’s not like we can give warning shots over Canterlot itself, so I told a few crewmembers to go over to the other ship to tell them to back off.”
“Why is it not slowing down?!” Gear Ratio yelled as the tender vessel was closing too quickly.
“It’s an attack?!” Aegis freaked as her messengers to the other ship were getting fired upon by unicorn spells. The Deception tried to bank away from it, but the armored warship was too sluggish. The tender vessel slammed into the port side, splintering against the reinforced steel hull of the frigate.
For a moment, Aegis gave a smug grin and pumped a fist in victory when the Deception showed no sign of damage after it rocked from the impact. “Changeling engineering, baby!” Yet that smirk vanished when a huge explosion consumed both ships in a blinding arcane fireball.
Everyone watching the skies that night were dumbstruck as splintered wood careened throughout parts of the city.
The Deception emerged from the fireball trailing the telltale blue flames of burning octavia along the port side as it slammed into the naval docks beneath it, destroying the airbags of two Equestrian warships. The weight of all three ships snapped the dock apart before they sank to the forests below Canterlot Mountain.
Blitz and Gear Ratio were utterly stunned while Aegis ground her teeth. Rage erupted within her as her mind cycled through possible suspects ranging from Polybia, the PCE, and even Chrysalis. She started barking orders over the hive mind for damage control and to set up rescue parties from the soldiers who were on leave in the city. The proto-queens’ wings buzzed with righteous fury, their earlier fatigue forgotten completely. Aegis tightened her grip on Burny. “Blitz, when we finish rescuing the survivors, we’ve got some heads to collect.”