//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Dark Tidings on a Warm Day // Story: Raptania: Of Raptors and Ponies // by PrimevalBrony //------------------------------// Morning came to the castle with the sun’s rays burning Velox and Reed’s closed eyelids. They woke up and immediately rubbed their sore eye before getting up and putting on their armour. Reed wore the brass set today; it gave him a sense of individuality when Velox wore the silver armour. The two wandered out of their room as Kin and Sedens got out of their room and the four guards wandered downstairs to wake up the ponies. As they walked, Reed teased Velox for his crush on the blue pegasus, to which Velox simply rolled his eyes and blushed. But before they got to the rooms, a very tired and very petrified Ceratonykus ran in front of them and stopped the four in their tracks. He was speaking very quickly and almost incomprehensible. Kin was the only one who could understand the gibberish, and his eyes widened until his sclerotic ring nearly bulged. He dipped his head then placed a hand on his brother Reed’s shoulder. “Brother,” he began, “This chap is saying that Unen has been…” Kin choked on his words and then finished, “Killed.” Reed didn’t know what to say or do, as if all his thoughts had flown out of his head. He told Velox and Sedens the news, and they too did not know how to react for a good three minutes. It was Sedens who broke the complete silence. “I’ll...go wake the ponies. You three can go find the royals and lords to tell them.” he said solemnly. The three guards nodded slightly as they went with the Ceratonykus to see their deceased king. Ostrom woke groggily from the bench and immediately gasped, as if the sleep had paused his mind. “THERE ARE SICKLES IN MANIRAPTORA!” he yelled as he got up. Kin and Reed poked their heads into the library to look at the wreck of a Utahraptor known as Ostrom and raise an eyebrow. Kin entered the library and inspected the damaged book. He ran a blunt finger over the torn page then swore under his breath. He stormed out of the library as Reed helped Ostrom to his feet. “Are you okay, Ostrom?” he asked worriedly, “You look like you’ve been up all night. D-did you hear the bad news?” Ostrom looked at his friend with a face that only showed a palette of emotions; never one took centre stage. Anger, depression, tiredness, fear and cowardice all fought for control over Ostrom’s expression. Eventually, he replied almost casually, “There are Sickles in Maniraptora. Of course there’s going to be bad news. Who died?” Reed’s answer was delayed as his vocal chords strangled the words. He didn’t want to say it to anyone, especially not Ostrom or the royals. He was glad Sedens had to tell the royals. Through a gulp that could have swallowed the entire Luna Ocean, he answered, “The king.” Reed scrunched up his body in depression as Ostrom nearly fainted onto a table. “S-s-so he…” Ostrom stammered. “I’m afraid so. I’m so sorry.” Reed said glumly as he rested his hand on the Utahraptor’s shoulder. Ostrom batted Reed’s hand away as he wearily wandered back upstairs, passing the traumatised ponies, Carnithimus and Quinn and Buitre and heading to his room. He unlocked his door and entered his room and headed to an end table that contained a white envelope that read, “Should I pass away, give this to Cabazi.”. Ostrom picked up the envelope and left his room to go see Cabazi. …………………………………………………………………........... Cabazi stayed at the side of his bed for a long time until he heard a knock on his door, followed by the entrance of Ostrom. He couldn’t smile at the sight of his friend; he couldn’t smile at anything at the moment. To his surprise, Ostrom handed him a white envelope. Cabazi looked at the cover, “Should I pass away, give this to Cabazi.”. Obviously confused , Cabazi carefully opened the envelope to reveal the letter. Ostrom left Cabazi to read the letter to himself. “Dear Cabazi; Should you be reading this, I have passed away. Your mother never wanted you to know what I am about to tell you, so keep it between you and Ostrom. For years you have thought that you are the oldest; after all, you are the largest of them. But this assumption is wrong. Quinn is the older one. He hatched fives minutes before you, but since you are an Austroraptor, your mother and I decided to say you were the older one. So we raised you as the oldest, we told everyone you were the oldest, and everyone believes you’re the oldest, and the one that will become king. But the only reason we did that is because you would make a better king than Quinn will ever be. Goodbye, my son.” Cabazi didn’t know what to think of this new knowledge; placing the letter on his end table under the lamp. He sat down on the bed and growled in a mixture of frustration and depression. For years he was the oldest member of his siblings; the one to be king. But instead it was his “younger” brother Quinn. It’s not Cabazi the First; it never was Cabazi the First. It has always been Quinn the Fifth. His father, who was always a symbol of honesty, had lied to him for years. And because he was an Austroraptor? Cabazi was ashamed of his father, and didn’t want to talk to anyone about him, so he went to his door and locked it. Nobody was speaking to him for guidance, as he would have none. …………………………………………………………………………… If Kin had a bit for every pony or dinosaur that weeped in front of him, he would be richer than every royal combined. The ponies were in tears at the news, as was Buitre and Quinn. But Kin didn’t care about the event. He wanted answers to everything. He wandered away from the scene as Unen’s body was lifted and covered in a black cloth. Kin started in the library, where he saw that book. He checked the tear again and again, trying to match the type of claw it belonged to. Ornithomimoid, roughly a meter long, short arms, longish claws. He was about to go and tell Reed, but then he noticed another book, on the floor. It was in much better condition; and titled “Dark Magic For Aspiring Alvarezsaurs.”. It was open at a very specific page; and when Kin picked it up he saw what spell it was. The spell to create a sword. Kin’s eyes widened as soon Vic walked in and coughed noticeably. “What are you reading, Kin?” he asked innocently, secretly worried. “A dark magic book. For alvarezsaurs.” Kin replied blankly, “I’m guessing you know the news.” Vic nodded and said solemnly, “Yes. It is a tragic loss. Don’t worry Kin, I’ll clean up all the mess here.”. He finished his last sentence with a plastered on smile. Kin smiled back, putting the book down and leaving. After the door was closed, Vic growled furiously. He could have sworn he put the book back exactly where he found it. How in all of Tartarus did it end up back there? He was a little creeped out that somehow it ended up there. But that didn’t matter. Qweba had ruined it all; he had made the entire city aware of their presence and that Forsuthion had planned the murder. “That idiot.” Vic muttered as he put both books back in their places. ………………………………………………………………………………… Cabazi was lying on his bed when he heard a knock on the door. It was Ostrom, and as such Cabazi got up and slowly ambled to the door to unlock it. He noticed Ostrom had the crown in his hands, and Cabazi pushed the crown to Ostrom’s chest. “I’m not the king, Ostrom,” he murmured glumly, “Go away.” “I know that by age you’re not the king,” Ostrom explained, “But Unen still wanted you to be the king. He knew you would be a better king than even King Ceiba the Great. You show a personal connection to Raptania, you have compassion, you can get this treaty still signed tomorrow. I believe in you, and so do the ponies of Equestria, the lords and ladies, and the citizens of Raptania.” Cabazi smiled at his friend and hugged him “Thank you, Ostrom. You truly are the greatest Hand of the King Raptania has ever had.” he said through tears of joy. “The coronation will be tomorrow, as will be the treaty signing.” Ostrom noted to his soon-to-be king. Cabazi nodded as he stopped hugging his friend and stood up to go comfort his “subjects”. ………………………………………………………………………….. Soon enough, all of the raptors and ponies were out of the depressed mood and were able to have a lunch. Everyone sat in a different banquet room, to forget about the incident. Ostrom sat beside his mother and noticed that she and Veloci had their magical auras surrounding their head feathers. He started looking around to see what was occupying their magic. But he found that they seemed to be doing no magic. He wondered what they were doing. Was it telepathy magic? Were they creating doppelgangers at their castles? Were they aroused? He blushed at that thought, but since he looked at Twilight when he did so, she thought that he was admiring her, so she blushed back; causing Ostrom to blush deeply. Reed laughed at his friend’s embarrassment as he tried to give Kin his plate of fern sandwiches. but Kin swatted it away. He wasn’t hungry, and he was tired of Reed trying to provoke his stomach. His mind was preoccupied with a particular sly grey Parvicursor. “Why did he offer to clean up? He was usually salty and snappy and grumbly; but he was so nice there. Why?” Kin thought as Velox sat down next to him. Velox was tired, but somehow helping Rainbow seemed to wake him up immediately. Rainbow was happy for his help, and how soft his feathers are when she hugged him for comfort. Applejack was obviously teasing Rainbow for it, and the two were about to head into argument three hundred and fifty-one when Spike sat between them to prevent what hadn’t started. “I heard from Kin that Sickles did it.” Spike said as he bit down on a Raptanian pearl. “Sickles?!” Fluttershy asked timidly. Spike nodded and Fluttershy asked another question, “Who are they?” “The most specialised and elite assassins in all of Raptania,” Ostrom explained as he sat beside Fluttershy and Twilight, “They’re the deadliest creatures in the world. You think Discord or Tirek are bad? Just wait until you see Sickles. They have no mercy. Death is either swift and painful or slow and painful. And before you can catch them, they’re gone.” “So they’re bad news all around?” Applejack asked, to which Ostrom’s reply was swift and sharp. “Aye. Luckily they haven’t spread to other countries, but they still strike terror in all Raptania. Once, they had the entire country in their claws, but King Ceiba the Great dealt with them. Nowadays they are restricted to Mottisfort.” he explained. He spoke about them in a much angrier tone than any other raptor; and no raptor or pony wanted to ask him why in fear that they will have that anger projected onto them. “Well that’s what we're here for! Don’t you worry Ostrom. We’ll kick their feathered flanks out of here and you guys can live in harmony!” Rainbow declared. Ostrom smiled at the blue pegasus’ bravery, but chuckled. “I thought you lot were only here for a treaty?” he jokingly asked. “Speaking of the treaty, I thought that we would be signing it today?” Rarity noted as she sat down again. “Well due to the unfortunate event, we will be signing it tomorrow, after Cabazi’s coronation.” Carnithimus explained to the unicorn. “Cabazi’s gonna be a king?” Applejack asked, “But ah thought he was not the oldest anymore.” “He may not be the oldest, but Cabazi is to be king. He has the skills and compassion to rule Raptania without any raptor wanting him dead.” Ostrom explained as he drank his orange juice. “That’s amazing for him. I’m proud.” Fluttershy said as casually as possible as a light blush plastered her buttercream cheeks and she sipped her tea. Rainbow chuckled slightly at Fluttershy’s blushing and the buttercream pegasus looked at her childhood friend with a curiously stern look. “What is it, Dashie?” she asked. “You totally have a crush on him Flutters. Don’t even deny it.” Rainbow answered, as Fluttershy’s blush grew to cover her entire face. She put her teacup down and her eyes widened. “N-N-N-No I d-don’t.” she said as she hid her face under her large wings, blushing deeply and shaking nervously. “Now now darling. It is perfectly okay to crush on a royal like Cabazi. After all, he is a handsome male.” Rarity noted as she put a hoof over Fluttershy’s shoulder. The way she said it sounded like she was rubbing in Spike’s younger mind that she wasn’t interested in him. Normally he’d be annoyed. But ever since he met Fall, he didn’t seem to care about Rarity’s crushing on other stallions. For all he could care, she could actually be in a relationship with a stallion and he couldn’t care less. But before Fluttershy could reveal her feelings for Cabazi, Auro flapped in between the two and smirked. “Hello here, Equestrian dignitaries.” he announced with a smile, “I’m Auro.” Ostrom sat up and turned to face Auro; looking at him with confusion. He was confused about his mother and so-called aunt’s actions, so he went up to the Aurornis. “Hey Auro. Can I ask you something?” he said almost urgently. Auro nodded and the two separated from the table, where Ostrom asked, “Why are my mum and Veloci using magic?” Auro shrugged and answered, “I have no clue. Your mother and Veloci are powerful magic users; at least three times more powerful than Starswirl the Bearded. They could be doing all kinds of magic, and nobody would even know. They could be creating infrasound to destroy Forsuthion, they could be having a telepathical chat; for all I know they could be controlling the weather themselves. I don’t know.” Ostrom growled disappointingly and sighed, “So, they’re just doing some kind of magic? That’s it?” “Yeah. You know that Lady Ada’s very cryptic; she never reveals what she wants to do until she does it. Not even your father would have the foggiest idea as to what she’s up to.” Auro noted. Ostrom made another sigh of exasperation and sat back down in his chair, leaving Auro to mingle with the ponies. …………………………………………………………………………... As the day shifted silently into the afternoon, Cabazi was back in the botanical gardens, although double the number of guards surrounded the exterior, creating a large multi-coloured line across the bottom of the glass dome. Reed grumbled at how Captain Gryph had practically forced him, Velox and Sedens to guard the place, without his twin brother. He and Kin did everything together; even when they were given to King Unen when they were teenagers; Reed was the only one meant to be given, but he demanded Kin go with him. But Reed was no longer under Lord Livan’s command. He had a grumpy silver Hagryphus as his command, and he hated the brothers with a passion. But before Reed could have a rant to himself, Fluttershy walked up to the gardens carrying a basket that had already been checked twice for danger; and that was apparent. Wicker stuck out in every side of the basket; the handle was barely on, and the cloth covering the food was torn; and some bits of food were half gone. Clearly Gryph had gotten to the basket. Reed smiled at Fluttershy as he opened the door for her. Fluttershy slowly wandered through the gardens; in a state of wonder and compassion. Cabazi sat in between plants that she had never seen before, yet she knew were prehistoric. His face resembled the stone statue of King Zorum II, only blinking once or twice. Fluttershy’s face plastered an expression of sincere worry as she edged closer to the soon-to-be king. She set the basket beside him and he looked at her. He grew a weak smile, and she mirrored the expression. “You okay?” she asked quietly. “I guess so. With the coronation, the treaty signing, the fact that soon I won’t be able to go out into the town without every guard in Raptania shielding me; of course I’ll be okay.” he replied softly as Fluttershy sat beside him. “I brought you some food for you, but it’s been ruined, so I guess you won’t want any. But that’s fine,” she said as Cabazi looked at the basket and his eyes grew worried at the state of the basket and cloth, “I didn’t like that basket that much anyway…” Cabazi sighed as he tried his best to fix the basket for her. Craftsmanship wasn’t exactly his strong suit. “I know a brilliant craftsman in town that can fix this for you.” he explained to her. Fluttershy didn’t know how to respond to him, so she hugged him softly, resting her head on his soft feathers. “That would be lovely, Cabazi. Thank you so much.” she sighed happily as she felt his feathers against her cheek. It reminded her of her first day in Raptania, when they were here before. But now the hug felt less friendly, and more loving; and she enjoyed it. Cabazi meanwhile was worried. A king and a commoner? What would everyone say? He didn’t want to know, nor did he expect Fluttershy to move her head closer to his and give him a light kiss on his cheek. Immediately his cheeks flushed with a warm pink that made Fluttershy giggle, but he stood up and stopped the hug. “We...we can’t be in a relationship, Fluttershy. The lords will never accept it, no matter how deeply we love each other. I’m sorry.” he said solemnly. Fluttershy looked down and almost weeped. “I...I see…” she responded softly, “So there’s no chance?” “Unless you get a horn then yes. There’s no chance. Sorry.” he replied, again with a tear falling from his feathered face. Fluttershy managed only a weak smile as she got up and walked away. Her ears gradually drooped down as she made another step. She pushed the door slowly and she left the botanical gardens. ……………………………………………………………………………… As Celestia’s star lowered its head into dusk, Vic snuck out and by the time the moon was high; reached Martha with a gleam of moonlight reflecting against his sharp thumb claw. He passed the steel gates, through the armoured “citizens” and up to the Sickles’ hideout. Forsuthion was drinking the finest wine that was available, which was as fine as a rusted bit found in a drainpipe; and in the corner of the room there was Qweba, a shaky blue Nqwebasaurus that was acting like nothing had happened last night; no murder; no massive cock-up done by him; nothing. Forsuthion saw the grey Parvicursor enter the hut and he announced his welcome, “Good evening there Vic! Seg told me about the assassination, but I wanna hear how you found it.” Vic glared at Qweba as he said through small gritted teeth, “It went rather well. I got to try out a brand new spell, but unfortunately Qweba left evidence for that Utahraptor and those Kinnareemimus to find.”. As Vic said this, he edged closer to Qweba, who gulped hard and scooted further into the corner. Now every Sickle; excluding Lin Ven who was still in The Capital; was staring at Qweba with a cold, dark stare. “Well then Qweba. Explain yourself.” Forsuthion commanded as he rose from his chair, “Speak.” “W-w-w-well… I… um…” Qweba began, before being surrounded by the Sickles, each giving him a severely cold stare that could freeze the fires of Tartarus. “You left evidence. You left out the book, ripped the page and left a very visible mark. Now every raptor in Maniraptora knows what we did!” Vic ranted as his aura created a scimitar that was mere millimeters from Qweba’s throat. “It was only one wee mistake. It won’t happen again.” Qweba shuddered as Vic prepared to pour his blood into the jug of life. “You’re right. You’re allowed to make one mistake,” Forsuthion explained in a fake sweet tone. Qweba smiled in fear, until Forsuthion finished, “Because it’s the only one you make.”. Vic laughed and slashed a large gash in Qweba’s windpipe, and in a span of thirty seconds, Qweba fell into the pool of his own blood. Forsuthion turned to Vic and asked, “What of the Austroraptor?” “He’s being coronated tomorrow, as will the treaty signing be tomorrow.” Vic responded, and Forsuthion growled and slammed the table with ferocity. “We cannot let that treaty be signed, and since it’s too late to plan an assassination of this Cabazi at night, we’ll do it during day.” he snapped as both his hands held the corners of the table, claws embedding into the simple oak. “A daytime assassination? The Sickles have never pulled off such a feat.” Vic noted as his small eyes widened and he looked at Forsuthion with worry. “I don’t give a shit. That treaty must never be signed. I don’t care if his assassination means the deaths of a thousand civilians, that quill will not touch paper as long as I am the lord of Mottisfort!” Forsuthion raged, “I’m going with you all to oversee the operation. Nothing is going to stop us, and I’m going to be the one to sit atop that throne.”