//------------------------------//
// Surveying the Kingdom 
// Story: The Substitute Demon 
// by Reykan 
//------------------------------//

	The morning could have been better. The sun shined for the first part of the day, but the fall chill was in full effect, and storm clouds could be seen far in the distance. As the alicorn rose from his covers that morning, he stared out the window, watching the approaching storms.
"If I'm lucky it's just a storm." Cimmerian muttered to himself, watching the rolling storm front slowly approach. "Unfortunately I watch too much television. I'm leaving for a trip, and there's a storm coming in. With how fairytale-like this world's been acting so far, I doubt it's just a storm and not an omen." 

Following that line of thought it was probably a good thing that Pandinus had selected a group of guards for him. He'd need them for whatever horrible things were going to go wrong on the trip. The dark alicorn looked around his room one last time, his eyes settling upon the still sleeping form the queen sprawled out amidst the covers. A malicious grin split his face as he approached, her position much too exposed for him to pass up the opportunity.



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"I swear, if you ever wake me up like that again, I'm going to beat you to death with your own wings! I don't care how much love you're worth, understand?" Pandinus scolded as they approached the dining hall. It did nothing to diminish his smile though, in fact he chuckled at the threat which left her even more irritated. It wasn't like he could hide the fact that he found her rage funny; she could likely taste his amusement as easily as he could read her agitation.

Taking their seats as usual, his mood fell considerably when he noticed Din looking at her meal with caution. She was likely still feeling cautious of eating after the latest visit to the infirmary. That wouldn't do at all, she was supposed to be eating for two, no four, wait, she wasn't... three? The alicorn nodded to himself. Three little lives were depending on her getting over her squeamishness about eating. He had a mission now.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked her casually. It was still enough to get her to snap her eyes from the plate to him.

Queen Pandinus looked at him, then back to her plate. She slumped slightly before taking a simple nibble of toast. Her body obviously disagreed with her reluctance, issuing a gurgle that caused her to jump. The mare growled in frustration, turning to the alicorn.

"What the hell was that?" She asked him. "I don't think my body's ever made any sounds like that."

"It's your body telling you to eat something. You may not be hungry, but they are. Your body knows this, and it wants you to correct the problem," he said with an easy smile. "You'll be fine, Din. As I told you I don't think there's going to be any issues that you won't be able to get past with this. If you can adapt this much, there's not much I can think of that you won't be able to adapt to."
Cimmerian floated a large helping of eggs on toast in front of her, waving it in front of her nose teasingly. "Your body commands you to eat!"

"I hate you sometimes," she growled before taking the food in her own aura and taking a bite. She chewed the toast and eggs, her scowl slowly being replaced by a thoughtful look.
"You said you wanted to leave this evening, any plans until then?"

"I'm going to be wandering the town, double checking the progress. Also going to hit the port. It's been a while since I saw the griffons. I'll say hi to Thrisha, see how they're doing. After that? I'm sure Gleam will need some paperwork done before I leave."
His eyes widened as he remembered something important. "Do me a favor and make sure the armor is taken off the armor rack after I leave. I'll use it tonight and tomorrow to keep you guys updated."

The changeling nodded. "Good, I can still detect changelings in my link that are a good distance away, but communication becomes unreliable at that kind of distance. I also can't send them emotion from that range, so we'll be giving them some supplies." The queens eyes went out of focus for a moment as her attention was elsewhere. "Your supplies and the escort will meet you at the northern tower. Everything you need will be waiting for you. Gleam's already set it up."

"I'd be lost without you guys, you know that right?" the alicorn told her. "If I don't get a chance before I leave, tell Gleam I said thanks."

"By the way Cimmerian. While you're out and about, I have something for you to do." Din said, nodding her head to the door before she popped the last of her meal into her mouth.

Cimmerian looked to the entrance, and was surprised to see Lestidae and Zelus both standing nervously in the doorway. Both seemed to be fighting the urge to don disguises at the public location but were attempting to seem at ease. He smiled at the sight, not expecting to see them up and about for a while yet.
"They're already up and about?"

"Yup," she answered. "And you can show them around while you do your check. Two birds with one stone I believe is the term you use?"

The alicorn looked at the nervous queens, then back at the mare beside him. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."

The changeling merely sniffed haughtily at him, raising her nose into the air. "Next time you want to wake me up like that, you'll think twice."



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"...and finally, the extra crop plots were just starting to become harvestable when the weather became cooler. Some of the earth ponies have suggested cooler weather plants, but they're not certain how some of them will do in a more tropical soil and climate." Machination told him as they came upon the last stop of the tour. Much had been added to the town in the last month. The first building that could be considered an actual house was built, followed by about five more. Two more general barracks were built, bringing the total number to four and adding a good amount of living space that wasn't changeling shelters. The forge was expanded, doubling its capacity; they were now able to make their own nails and armor, though they still had no source for metals besides the mine. That was still being explored and mapped out. It wouldn't do for the miners to be minding their own business and discover a giant monster of some sort had decided to call the deepest part home.
'You know what they awoke in their greed,' the alicorn mentally recited, smiling at the quote. Oh, having a giant fire monster in the mine was no laughing matter, but it was still funny that he actually had to worry about these things. Maybe he could get it to work at the forge?
"Was there anything actually in the mine?"

"Aside from some subterranean terrapins, no sir. Nothing."

Cimmerian blinked owlishly for a moment. "Do they explode if you touch them?"

Machination stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the alicorn in confusion. "N-not that I've heard. Why, uh, would you think that?"

"With all of the other strange things that have occurred it wouldn't surprise me," the larger stallion said in exasperation. "Thanks, Mack. If all goes well, you may be getting Lestidae's help with the planning. She has a bit more experience in that field, though I want you to keep her in line. She may forget that not everyone can fly, having spent most of her time working with changelings." 

The pony nodded, wandering off to continue overseeing the few construction projects that were still active. It had taken time and effort, but the Temple of the Shadows could now be considered a village or town. Actually, the alicorn could probably put in the paperwork to be the ruler of a country now, having authority over two different towns.
That thought stopped him short. At what point was one considered the ruler of a country?

"An odd place. Not what we were expecting at all, really." Zelus said, followed by a few chitters from Lestidae.

The observations drew his attention, the alicorn turning to them with a smile. "What you were expecting isn't my objective. The two of you are looking a bit better. What do you think so far?"

"Part of me is still wanting to don a disguise, another tells me this is some fevered dream and it's not possible even though I can sense the hive's love supply from here. I feel like I'm standing over an active volcano, I can feel the warmth of the love radiating through the ground." The younger queen said while pawing the ground. "I remember some shielding techniques; at the very least it will do a better job of protecting the stored emotion."

"I'll take any and all ideas you can throw out, just don't be offended if I do end up throwing one or two away. It's not just changelings living here," he told her, heading for the western edge of the town. "Do you think the place has lived up to Queen Pandinus' predictions, or are you going to be taking off as soon as your debt is repaid?"

The two queens began speaking to each other in their native tongue. It took a few back and forth arguements, but the alicorn realized the queens were discussing the question. Eventually he stopped waiting for a response, taking flight with the two queens following behind. The amount of time they spent talking was in that case completely reasonable, as it meant they were discussing their future. Leaving them to their discussion meant the alicorn was flying in relative silence to the port, the discussion sounding more like background noise to his ears than an actual language.

Coming upon the refurbished port, the alicorn stopped dead upon seeing the repairs that had been enacted. To say the griffons made progress would have been an insult. The guard tower was patched, the last bits of changeling paste being scraped off of the tower as the new cement had finished hardening, allowing the building a cement and stone finish that left it twice as sturdy as before. The warehouse had been torn down and rebuilt, as had many of the buildings, though a few were still as rough looking as he remembered them. The biggest change that drew his eye though, was the repaired docks. The docks were now in proper working order from the mess he'd last seen. Actually, last time he was here the docks had been vaporized by the explosion of the control crystal. There was also a large boat in the dock, though it looked like it had seen better days. All along the beach were smaller boats, some looking new, others looking pretty old.

'Probably donations from the Talons or other griffons,' he thought, landing lightly. The mercenaries were more than happy to help out the griffon refugees, showing a loyalty to their people that was surprising based on their profession. Not only that, they'd apparently funneled even more refugees to the port, as he was certain there were even more griffons here than last time he'd gotten a count. He'd need to ask Thrisha for an update; while the griffons were allowed to do their own thing, they still answered to him for the moment.

A squawk of fear drew the attention of the alicorn and his tagalongs to a small griffon that had just spotted them. The young griffon, by his guess a female, was ready to bolt when she was stopped by a second griffon, this one missing his wings.

"Berne, right? What are you doing here?" Cimmerian asked the griffon.

"Lord Cimmerian." The merc greeted with a light bow. "Checking in on family. There aren't many places accepting griffon refugees, what with the Equestrian Navy tracking some of the ships down. No one wants to deal with either of them. Because of this, your little unnamed port here has become quite important to the flow of refugees," he explained, gesturing for the alicorn to follow.
"I'd just like to ask, what's with the changelings? Many here are a bit jumpy around their kind."

"Showing two queens around." Cimmerian explained, causing the griffon to direct a raised eyebrow his way. "While the griffons were driven out by changelings, many fail to acknowledge that the changelings have been subjected to this same treatment for years, and their numbers have taken quite the hit. There's a good chance that what we have at the temple is it. Three queens and just over a hundred drones, Berne. That's the entirety of the free changelings. Those under the Mad Queen's control are often not sapient, just monsters born and raised to die. I'm sure you've heard reports of them going insane when the crystal is damaged or destroyed. It's sad that many don't realize how similar your situations are."

The griffon nodded. "I'll give you that. They don't act like changelings I'm familiar with. Too predictable. Alright, here we are."

The griffon stopped before a newly cleared part of the beach. Sprawled out before the small group was a large group of tents and temporary shelters, all housing a large amount of griffons. Some went along their business, others stopped and stared, whispering to one another in poorly disguised fear of the creatures behind him.
'Two of them. I've got what amounts to two refugee camps as a kingdom. Changelings and griffons mostly, because they've been booted from their normal homes. Hell, I may end up with three if things really take a bad turn for the thestrals. Knowing how bad the Nightmare may get once things fall apart, that's a good possibility, not to mention what could happen if active war breaks out between the Minotaur Tribes and Equestria.' Cimmerian realized.

"Well, this is a surprise," a female voice called out to him. The alicorn turned to the right, spotting a large group of griffons surrounding Lady Thrisha. Many were looking at his own group with worry or, again, fear but many were also curious about Thrisha's easy familiarity with the alicorn.
"To what do we owe the honor of your visit, Lord Cimmerian?"

"Just checking in on things," Cimmerian responded casually. "I've been drowning in paperwork, but it's no reason not to see how things are flowing out here, and reports only tell me so much. I didn't realize just how many griffons had showed up. Last report had them at just under two hundred griffons, this looks to be quite a few more."

"Yes, the Talons have been funneling those they can to the nearest available settlements. There are several others like this, but several ships besides ours took this route," the old hen shook her head sadly. "The number of griffons that are still missing is horrible."

"All war is horrible, Thrisha, no matter what fools feed others." he told her. "I've also heard stories of the glories of war, of the wonderful honors awaiting those who persevere. That's not what you should be fighting for. Fight for something that matters, like family, and your freedom. Honor doesn't feed the family, after all."

One of the griffons snorted, "I could hardly consider what happened a war, alicorn. The changelings overran us before we had a chance to blink. There were no declarations, no formal announcements."

The stallion turned his gaze to the tom, leering dangerously at the griffon. "It's called a blitzkrieg, a lightning war. Strike fast, strike true, and the enemy is defeated before they know they are under attack; by the time the formal declaration reaches them through the mail, it's already over. It's not the first time I've heard of such tactics, and even then, do you think you could have held out against innumerable unfeeling beasts for years? Even if you fortified your cities against them, all the Equestrians would need to do is cause a few breaches from a safe distance, not too difficult with the magic available to them, and watch your defenses crumble. This isn't an opponent you fight head on. We don't have thousands of monsters to throw into a sausage grinder, hoping a few get through and weaken our enemies. If we try to fight a war of attrition against the Mad Queen? We. Will. Lose."
He stalked closer to the griffon with his wings flaring, the tom obviously not expecting the hostility. "I took this area and made it what it is. I had others help me it's true, but I am the one leading this country. You can't claim ignorance of my name as it's been said right in front of you. I accept familiarity, in fact I encourage it; but you damn well be willing to respect who I am, griffon."

Thrisha's only response to the threat was a light chuckle at the male's discomfort. "If you'll follow me, Lord Cimmerian, I'll give you the official tour, as well as some of the plans we've come up with. A few haven't even been set to paper yet, but perhaps you can help us with the planning. I've actually had a few suggestions for a name for the port as well. I think my favorite is ShadowTalon Port. Considering our proximity to the Temple of the Shadows."

"Ha, you'll be ahead of the rest of the Temple," he told her bitterly. "I still can't get a name out of the residents. I may just go with Sanctuary or something like that, but I'd rather the people name it."

"As you've seen, we have a large number of temporary shelters set up on the beach. Most of them are merely so we have somewhere to put those just showing up until we can get them settled elsewhere. Others sign up with the Talons first chance they get, hoping to get some sort of payback. Still others move on to other cities. While the fishing boat's the only one here at the moment, we've had up to two other ships docked here at once, one dropping off supplies, the other taking a few griffons off to other settlements that they'd be better suited to. Many of those that leave do so because of the proximity to the Temple's hive, but for the most part those here leave Pandinus' drones alone. Oh, we've had a few fools start trying to rile up the locals, but most of the guard are griffons Amald and I can trust, and they break that up fast."

"The storage shed was in horrible condition, so we ended up tearing it down and constructing a new one. The wood for most of these buildings was rotted, so it's all fresh construction. Even the old inn was scrapped, and the building that's taken its place is acting as our town hall. We've managed to get about twelve actual houses up, but with the numbers and aid we've been getting, that's still a pitiable number."

"Well, depending on how things go in the next few weeks, the Equestrians may lose hold of High Talon and the surrounding lands. The swarms are doing the ponies no good against the Talons or the Minotaurs now, not against those who are properly equipped," the alicorn said. His gaze once more fell upon the guard tower.
"Thrisha, who's the one who thought to use the changeling paste to hold the building up while the cement hardened? It's a brilliant idea, and I'm glad to see someone using some cross-species thinking."

"It was a young tom, Curtis of the Bluetalon clan, that came up with that idea," The griffon matron explained. "I was quite surprised when he asked me if it would be possible to get a few changelings to work for him, but Queen Pandinus was happy to send a few to help out when I asked her. It certainly opens up a few possibilities, doesn't it? The gel actually still allows the cement to harden, so it holds the cement in shape while it hardens, then we can pull the black stuff off. Some of the craftsgriffons, they said normally for such work you'd need to line the tower with wooden braces to do that. The drones did it in an hour or so, and left holes for the cement. Once it was poured in, they sealed those as well."

"I'm going to be headed to Zarris tonight, but afterwards, I'd love to speak with him. If I can't get something set up then at the very least, pass along my personal thanks and commendations." The alicorn looked around, seeing many griffons staring at the group still. With a quick smile to the queens, he turned back to Thrisha and gestured to the crowd.
"So Lady Thrisha, are you going to explain to me who's who, and what other griffon names I should be keeping an ear open for?"

Thrisha giggled at the alicorn's blundering attempt to direct her tour to a specific goal, but proceeded with introductions regardless.



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The progress made by the griffons on the abandoned port was nothing short of amazing. Even more amazing though, was the number of donations that had flowed in from various griffon organizations. Food, money, lumber, metals, even several craftspeople of various skills had shown up to help build up the griffon town. It was honestly more than the alicorn had expected when he'd set Thrisha up with enough supplies to start the town.
It also left him with the awkward question of asking for at least the repayment of the materials that he'd initially invested, but that issue was sidestepped when he found out Thrisha was trying to talk a few of the extra craftspeople into heading to the Temple to at least check the construction.
'Nothing more awkward than wondering how to ask for things they were given as charity,' he thought with a scowl as he flew back to the Temple. The griffon had given him several reports directly rather than waiting for a messenger to deliver them to the Temple. It was just after lunch now, and he had to leave by dinner. The trip would be made mostly at night, but with the sky likely being clear that night, and the bright light of the moon, a night flight wasn't out of the question.

Arriving at the Temple of the Shadows, the alicorn landed lightly in front of the Temple, turning to the queens. He'd felt he'd given the two enough time to discuss the situation, and now wanted an answer.
"You've had several hours to discuss the question, so now I'll ask it again; will you stay after you've worked off the debt, or will you leave?"

The two once more looked nervously at each other, but it was Lestidae who responded, though the clicks and buzzing meant little to him. Zelus was kind enough to translate for them, though.
"She says while it is nice, things are still changing around us. This, way of living, is very strange to us. It goes against everything we know. We were quite certain the griffons would attack us, in fact many tasted of anger and hatred when their eyes fell upon us. The fact that they didn't act on that hatred speaks much louder, though. I will wish to have my own hive in the future, as I never managed to start a hive before The Hunt began, but for now..."
The younger queen pawed nervously at the ground for a moment, weighing her words, "Lestidae wishes to reserve her judgment. I believe she is still waiting for the other hoof to drop. Myself, I wish to help. I will stay, at least until it becomes safe to start my own hive again. We both know Pandinus truly worries for the species, and after reviewing the information she has gathered I find myself in agreement with her. It's, I do not like working with other queens, but it has kept me alive this long, and even preserved me past what was a death warrant for our species. I wish to see my species survive this, and this is the best option I've found."

Cimmerian smiled warmly at the statement. It wasn't surprising that the older queen was still nervous, as she likely had many more years of indoctrination in the normal changeling lifestyle. He was currently being immersed in completely different cultures with only a few decades of life behind him and it was difficult to adapt, how much worse would it be if you were told your ideals were wrong after five decades?
'That's why some of the elderly can't accept the changes of modern society, it's too radically different. Too many changes too fast, too many years of being told the world's a certain way, the changes scare some of them.'
Still, Zelus was with them, it seemed, and willing to work towards what she perceived as a mutual goal. It brought a warm feeling to the alicorn, and his smile grew even wider when saw the changelings eyes widen in surprise.
"Come on, Zel, where do you think most of the love Pandinus has access to comes from?"

This caught the attention of Lestidae, who chittered a question to Zelus.

"He, he's directing the emotions to me. It tastes strange," the younger queen responded. "I suppose that's what she meant when she said it's stronger this way, that the emotions have more energy." 

Cimmerian nodded "I've got things to take care of. You two enjoy your day, and I hope you two enjoy your time here."







The two queens watched the alicorn depart, one bearing a smile, the other a scowl. Lestidae was far from happy with how her situation had changed over the last century. She'd lost her hive, been driven from her home, forced to work with a younger queen who under normal circumstances she'd have nothing to do with, and now was living in another queen's hive. The icing on the cake was she'd found a few of her children in said hive; the other queen was able to save them when she had failed to do so.
"Tradition would dictate that I find a way to usurp the weaker queen, who dared to show weakness by aiding other queens in peril."

"True, but not only am I certain Pandinus is aware of that, I think she truly does worry for our species. After observing her hive, I believe her concern is genuine. Not only that, but the other species here follow either their own leaders or the alicorn, and most of the leaders stand behind him."
Queen Zelus tittered in amusement, turning to face the Temple, "Even if you managed to best Pandinus, who is currently powered by more love than our hives have ever possessed and with a direct source for more if she requests it, you would also need to best the alicorn as well as his followers."

"Don't think I haven't realized that, hatchling. I've been at this game for far longer than you've existed." Lestidae rebuked the younger queen.

"Oh, but the game has changed, old nag; your experience betrays you. Don't you see? Emotion has been shown to be freely given to those who request it here, and hives beyond the blessing of the black alicorn are quickly found by the Mad Queen. We must adapt to this new life, Lestidae. We must adapt or like so many of our kind, we will die. You saw those the Equestrians hold captive. I for one will not fall to that fate."

The older queen huffed at the statement, eyes being drawn to the fountain trickling in the courtyard not twenty paces from her. She had little doubt the alicorn did that by accident, leaving her in sight of fountain that flowed with condensed love . Such a thing actually angered her. It was a frivolous waste of love, and was just begging another queen to send drones to steal from her. That was the problem though. Pandinus would likely give that love to them freely if she was asked, just as her mate had taught her. 'Love shared is love doubled' or some similar nonsense. Sadly, there were no other queens nearby to make such an attempt. The fountain instead served three purposes.
It was a monument to their race as the stallion had hoped. It was a source of nourishment for the drones who found their way to the temple many of whom she'd been told were on their last legs when they'd arrived. Finally, it acted as a beacon to their kind. This much love, exposed to the air and set out for all to see, was a signal to any and all changelings from hundreds of miles around that this place was safe. It was a sign that there was food here, that there was shelter and safety.

Lestidae didn't like this place but she would see her debt repaid. She would also see her curiosity sated; what would become of the young queen who'd dared to bed an alicorn? What would become of her brood? Would she ever lay eggs again, or had the stallion's touch done something irreversible to her? Then there was Zelus. The young one wasn't just staying for the future of her species now if she interpreted the younger queen's curious gaze correctly. Honestly, what would the stallion expect would happen when he waved the possibility of such a large quantity of love in front of her? Zelus wasn't stupid, and could make the connection. If nothing else, it would be funny watching where it all went. She'd passed many days watching Zelus doing strange, silly, or just plain stupid things; some things just never changed.

At least she wouldn't be bored.



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The paperwork was grueling, but eventually, dinner rolled around, freeing the stallion from the never ending flow of bureaucracy. He enjoyed a warm meal, a special meaty dish prepared specially by Slop as a farewell and good luck meal, and made his way to the northern gates. As he approached, he managed to catch his first glimpse of the security detail the queen had thrown together in about a day.

It wasn't entirely composed of changelings, surprisingly enough. In fact, there were only four changelings; the others were two griffons and two thestrals. All were bearing full armor and all moved comfortably enough in their armor to leave him with the impression that such garments were nothing new to them.
'The thestrals are actually a great idea, considering who I'm meeting.'

As he neared, a few shouts echoed around the tower and the guards began making their final checks and preparations. By the time he reached them, they were standing in formation before him, Amald passing through their ranks and checking their armor and weapons. He gave a respectful salute to Cimmerian upon the stallion's arrival.

"Lord Cimmerian, they're ready when you are," the griffon told him. "Your things are in that pack over there. Are you certain you won't be taking your armor? I think it would be wise to keep some extra protection."

Cimmerian shook his head. "That armor is the worst thing to be wearing if I get attacked. It amplifies everything, Amald, not just my power. That includes pain felt from blows. I've felt a gnoll scratch me with and without the armor. Without it, I barely felt it, though he did break my skin. With it, he didn't actually cut me, but I felt like someone had cut me open, poured salt in the wounds, then added a little lye to the cuts just to be certain I felt it. I'm better off without it. Besides I'll get more use out of it by leaving it here, trust me."

Several of the guards shuddered at the implication, but they were otherwise silent. Amald nodded, accepting the alicorn's explanation. He turned to the guards one final time.
"Alright, you know your orders. Watch the lord's back, and make sure he returns in one piece. Queen Pandinus has told me to pass on that she'll be taking every feather out of place out of your hides when you all get back."

Without further fanfare, the alicorn donned his gear and took off, the guards taking formation around him. Cimmerian settled into an easy pace. It would get them to Zarris before it became too late or the storm hit, but it wouldn't leave his guards exhausted should they run into trouble. About ten minutes into the flight, with no conversations with the guards, boredom struck and his mind started wandering.

A grin on his face, Cimmerian began humming a song he'd not heard in years. After a few moments of mere humming, he decided to serenade his guards.

"The music washed away all their hate, and society started advancing. Every demographic was represented, it was a rainbow coalition of dancing!"

The guards were staring at him, one even chuckling at the odd song.

"Whoa-oh-oh, everyone was wearing fingerless gloves. Whoa, oh--oo-whoa, I saw a Spanish guy doing the Bartman!"

No reason he couldn't have a little fun during his flight. Besides, Equis didn't have in flight movies yet.