//------------------------------// // Waiting // Story: The Prince // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// "And the guards have been making rounds around town, right?" I gently set my teacup down and forced a strained smile onto my face. My friend, Quick Time, took a sip of her own tea before continuing. "I'm afraid so, Pearl," she responded. "They're delivering the news to the ponies who lost family members during the big battle on the border." She flattened her ears and let out a sad sigh. "They came to Flurry Chill's house yesterday." I gasped and put my hooves near my mouth, my wings fluttering uneasily. "She has five children in the army, doesn't she?" Quick Time nodded sadly. "That's terrible! Do you know which one she lost?" Quick was silent for a moment, choosing to poke at my cloud table for a few seconds instead of responding. "She... she lost all five of them." I gasped again and my eyes began brimming with tears. "Are they all d-dead, or merely wounded?" I asked, hoping that I had somehow misinterpreted what she was saying. A pony could be wounded in battle but still be counted as a casualty. "Dead," Quick muttered. "Three were killed in the battle itself, and the other two died of their wounds not long after. I was there with her when they came to her house." "She must have been utterly devastated!" "Most likely," Quick said quietly. "But she didn't even cry when they told her. She just nodded at both of them, thanked them, then went back inside and finished the food she was in the middle of. She didn't really say anything the rest of the time I was there, but she didn't break down or anything like that. I didn't even see any tears." "Most likely she's in shock," I said. "That's what I was thinking," Quick replied. "She's staying with Storm Cloud right now. She didn't really say anything when I told her about that either. She just nodded a little bit then packed a suitcase." Quick flattened her ears. "The only time I saw her with any emotion is when she passed by a picture of her children on one of her shelves. She picked it up and hugged it for a few seconds before putting it in her suitcase." "Terrible," I replied. Despite myself, my eyes trailed to the banner hanging on my window. It was in the colors of the Equestrian flag with three golden stars, representing the three children I had sent off to war. I inwardly shuddered when I thought about it. "Well, I think I must be off," Quick replied, glancing over at the clock. "I was going to check in on Flurry at three." "Let me know how she's doing," I said, standing up with Quick. "I will." Quick grimaced and looked over to the window. "I've heard that the guards are still doing their rounds in Cloudsdale. I pray they don't come to your house." "Me too," I whispered. "There are times when I'm kind of jealous of you. You didn't have to send anypony off to fight those evil minotaurs." The older mare smiled warmly at me and put her hoof on my shoulder. "Don't you worry about the guards. I'm certain that your children are doing just fine. Maybe they'll write to you soon to tell you that?" I gave Quick a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. The war is gonna end and then I'm gonna cook them the biggest and best meal they've ever seen in their lives. We can make a party of it, or something." "I look forward to hearing that they're all well," Quick said. I escorted Quick to the door and gave her a hug goodbye. She opened my door and turned to leave, but before she did, she turned back to me. "Oh, I almost forgot. Sky Chaser told me to tell you that she'll be coming at some point today. I think she said she was going to return some things she borrowed from you." "That sounds good," I said, a more genuine smile crossing my face. "She has told me that she keeps meaning to return the pan she borrowed from me." "Well then I'm sure the two of you will enjoy catching up then. See you later." Quick gave me one last hug, then left. I took a deep breath and leaned my head against the door, my gaze flickering over to the banner hanging in the window beside the door. I hadn't actually gotten a letter from any of my children since before the big battle on the border. I did hope they were keeping warm and getting enough to eat. From what I'd heard, they made sure to not put ponies who were related in the same unit, just so that if that unit was wiped out, a mother wouldn't lose all of her children in one fight. It didn't seem to do anything for Flurry Chill, though. Luna above, I couldn't imagine losing every single child in one day. The guards were still making the rounds across Cloudsdale. So many ponies had died during the battle. Over ten thousand, last I heard. I didn't even think I'd seen a picture with ten thousand ponies in it, so the idea that after a few hours of fighting that many of them were dead didn't make any sense to me. None of them were my children, of course. We had a quarter of a million ponies in the army. Ten thousand was a small fraction of that, so the odds that I had lost any of my babies was low. But Flurry Chill probably thought that too, and now she'd be getting five folded Equestrian flags... I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and walked away from the door. My husband would be home in a few hours. I needed to think about getting something together for dinner. Maybe some roasted vegetables. Before I could think further on that, I heard a trio of loud knocks on my door. I froze in place, and my mind began racing. It wasn't the guard. Didn't Quick Time say that Sky Chaser was coming over? Yes, that's right. She'd have gotten here faster than I expected, but oh well, I didn't care. It wasn't the guard. My children were fine. Nothing wrong with them. I let out a little whimper and slowly walked back over to the door. My children were fine. They'd come home and we'd be a family. I'd ask them what they wanted for dinner and I'd make it, whatever it was. That army food must be terrible. Oh Luna I can't do this. No, no, they're all fine. I reached the door and took a deep breath. Nothing to worry about. I'd been meaning to get that pan from Sky Chaser anyway. Now was a good time. I grasped the door handle and slowly opened the door. * * * * "You know he's sending Marller," I grumbled, pacing back and forth in Celestia's throne room. "Shouldn't we have a Blade Wing put a blade wing through his face one of these days?" "As therapeutic as that may seem, I don't think that's the best use of military resources, especially since Purgle would expect something like that," Celestia said with a faint smile. "Marller probably hasn't touched any sort of weapon since the war started to protect his non-combatant status. Besides, if we can get to Marller we could probably get to Purgle as well, and we both know Purgle isn't going to let that happen." "I know it doesn't make any sense, but it'd be nice." "Perhaps." Celestia ignited her horn and cast a relaxation spell over me. It helped for all of five seconds before the stress I'd been feeling over the past year or so blocked it out. I hate it when that happens. Celestia must have figured out her spell didn't work so well, because she rang a little bell next to her throne. Instantly a yellow earth pony mare with a light brown mane done up in a tight bun appeared beside Celestia. She bowed low to Celestia and I. "Duckworth, if you could fetch Prince Antares and I a pot of tea, I'd appreciate that." The mare bowed low and disappeared as quickly as she arrived. I grimaced and sat down between Celestia and Luna's thrones. "It must be nice having a consigliere who doesn't worship you with an uncomfortable amount of fanaticism," I groused. "I appreciate Tulip's devotion most of the time, but Duckworth seems to be a bit more... professional." "True, but she can be a little overly stoic," Celestia said, sticking her tongue out a little bit. "Even I have difficulty reading her sometimes." I opened my mouth to respond, only to be cut off by the reappearance of Duckworth, who had a tea set and a small plate of teacakes resting on a cart she had beside her. Duckworth poured two cups of tea and set a single teacake on the saucer beside the cups. Blegh. I hate teacake, which is probably why I serve muffins with my tea instead. "Princess Celestia, Prince Antares, your tea," Duckworth said in a voice that wasn't quite monotone, but it threatened to get there if it got any more bland. "I must also inform you that the minotaur ambassador Marller has arrived. He is currently being searched and will be escorted to the throne room shorty." "Thank you, Duckworth," Celestia said, giving her consigliere a grateful smile. "In the meantime, I must inform you that Dr. Stethoscope had a meeting cancelled. He can see you for your monthly checkup at your leisure." I allowed myself a tiny smile at that one. The monthly checkups were our way of figuring out how our foal was doing. So far things seemed to be progressing well enough, but Celestia's innate alicornness meant that the usual spells for checking out the foal didn't work as well. Dr. Stethoscope and Dr. Scalpel couldn't even agree on the gender of the foal. I personally was still hoping for a colt. I was taken out of my reverie when Duckworth's ear flicked ever so slightly. "Princess Celestia, Prince Antares, I believe that the minotaur ambassador has just been cleared to meet with you. He is outside the throne room doors now." I got to my hooves and brushed my coat to make sure no fur was sticking out. Celesta gave Duckworth the go-ahead to let him in. She nodded and set the tea cart behind Celestia's throne before nodding to the guards flanking the doors. They nodded back and ignited their horns, opening the door and allowing my second least favorite minotaur to strut into Celestia's throne room. "Good afternoon to you two," Marller said, his smile surprisingly smug for somebody who was on the side that had just lost a fifth of its entire army in one battle. "May I just say how lovely it is to see you again." He nodded to me. "I hope you are doing well, Antares? I've heard those Nightmare Weapons can be nasty." "That? Barely a scratch," I said with a wave of my hoof. "I hope that your king is doing well also. He strikes me as the kind to feel physical pain when his side endures a thrashing." "On the contrary, he wishes for me to congratulate you on your minor success." Marller crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I hope it's not going to your head, Antares." "Perish the thought. We're just getting warmed up." I grinned. "No pun intended. I'm sure the scant few survivors gave you plenty of stories about the new weapon we tested on your forces." I straightened up a little more. "You come to say you've had enough? I think you'll find that the griffins aren't going to back you up anymore, not to mention the fact that the diamond dogs aren't a real military force. Merely mercenaries. What happens when you run out of things to pay them?" "End the war now?" Marller tilted his head as though the thought was odd to him. "And you think that you would win if you saw the war to its conclusion? The griffins aren't going to help us out anymore, as you said, but they were never the focal point of our plans. I think you'll find that despite your victory, you have over four hundred thousand minotaurs on your western border who now know what you're capable of. I've heard the reports from the survivors, Antares: you ran out of your new weapon very quickly. You didn't have enough to do much more than some shock and awe. Besides, what point is there in sending more of your subjects to die? Over ten thousand ponies, beings that you love like they were your own children, horribly slaughtered in battle. Are you willing to see that number go even higher? King Purgle would listen to negotiations. We just need some money and land and the war could be over in the next couple of days." "I hardly see why we should give in to your demands when we have the clear advantage here. We have not yet begun to show you what we are capable of," Celestia said, her face bearing the slightest glare. "Are you talking about those, what did you call them, tanks that you're making?" Marller asked. "It gets worse than that," I responded, keeping my face neutral so that he didn't see how much I was freaking out that he knew about them. Granted, at the speed Flim and Flam were working, we might have them ready for field use in a few weeks anyway. "If you say so," Marller said. "Though I wonder why a nation that preaches love and tolerance and friendship will so readily accept unthinkable brutality, even during war." "You are not here to actually talk peace, are you?" Celestia said. "State your true purpose." Marller shrugged. "Well, I guess I'm here to figure out where you stand, just as you called me here to figure out where King Purgle stands. It appears that neither of us are willing to give quarter to the other. I'll tell King Purgle that. It's a pity, I did hope that we would be able to put an end to all of this pointless bloodshed." "I think it will end soon anyway," I said. "One way or another," Marller agreed. With that, he inclined his head in a bow and began walking out of the throne room. Before he made it more than a few steps, he stopped and turned around. "By the way, congratulations on your wedding. King Purgle was a little offended that, despite our differences, he wasn't invited to the ceremony." Both Celestia and I frowned at that. "Wedding? What are you talking about?" Celestia asked. "You and Antares were married several months ago, were you not?" Marller asked. "I mean..." His eyes widened before a questioning look crossed his face. "But you are pregnant, Celestia. If you're not married, doesn't that mean that little Titus is a bastard? Perhaps I misunderstood some of your cultural complexities, or I may be referring to things in the past, but isn't it true that bastard foals cannot inherit land and titles? If something were to happen to you two, Titus couldn't take the throne by virtue of his being a bastard, correct?" Celestia's eyes narrowed, while I tried to keep myself from obliterating Marller where he stood, to Tartarus with the consequences. "We are done here," Celestia growled. "I have other matters to attend to." "Of course, my apologies," Marller said, tilting his head in another bow. "I hope that the war doesn't drag on too long." With that last barb, Marller left. The guards shut the door behind him, leaving Celestia and I staring at the spot he had been standing. "I didn't think he'd go that low," I growled, anger coursing through my veins. "He'll hit as low as he must to achieve his goals, and one of his goals is to hit our weak spots," Celestia said, clear distaste in her voice. "Having said that, I must admit that I needed to refrain from evaporating him where he stood. A minotaur ambassador? Why, I'm afraid that he never arrived." "Yeah, but it'd get out somehow," I grumbled. Still, I entertained myself with the idea for a few seconds. "He's dangerous, Antares," Celestia said, standing up from her throne. "Possibly more dangerous than Purgle himself. I have no doubt that he is in contact with the traitors in our midst, yet every report I've read about his time in our country shows nothing that would indicate how or when he's talking to them." "Must not be when he's actually here, then," I replied. "It would be stupid of him to do that. It's not like there are really many minotaurs in our country to begin with." "I suppose you're right, but something must be done about him soon. Anything." I couldn't argue with that. "That aside, when you can, come over to Baltimare." For the first time in a while, a genuine smile crossed my face. "I think we've finished a gun." * * * * I grunted in disgust as I finished filling out my report of my meeting with Celestia and Antares. There were some days when I wish I didn't have to be King Purgle's "best asset." It made me a little sick to my stomach every time he called me that. I put the report back inside my bag and stepped out of the carriage King Purgle sent for me to take me back to camp. I grimaced at the sight of the four pony prisoners who were forced to pull it. This had to be a war crime of some sort. If I were in charge I wouldn't demand things like that. Of course, if I were in charge, I wouldn't have gotten involved in the war to begin with. Too many minotaurs had died already and we were set to lose tens, if not hundreds, of thousands more. Despite the fact that our insider gave us the information that the alicorns were making tanks, we still weren't completely sure what they were capable of and, if I had Antares pegged right, he'd keep making more and more destructive weapons until we were in real trouble. I walked into camp and ignored the greetings of the various minotaurs who saw me. I paid more attention to the ones who weren't actually doing anything. All over the camp I saw minotaurs sitting around, just staring at the ground. I knew many of them had been involved in the first battle on our border. I can't imagine what it was like to see so many fellow soldiers burned alive like that. King Purgle would say that it was proof that the Equestrians were dangerous, but we were the ones who had provoked them to do that in the first place! I reached the middle of the camp where King Purgle's headquarters had been set up. He was there, as he usually was, but instead of planning another battle he was sitting on a tree stump with a minotaur calf on his knee. The calf had King Purgle's helmet on, which was comically oversized for him. I tried to force a smile on my face as I approached, catching the attention of both King Purgle and the calf. "Daddy!" The calf hopped off of King Purlge's leg and ran up to me, his arms outstretched. I bent down and wrapped my son up in a crushing hug. "Didja make those nasty pony alicorns scared of us? They're gonna run away when they see our grand army next, aren't they?" "I hope so, Daret," I said, taking the helmet off of his head. "Everything is going well here?" "Uh-huh!" Daret said with youthful enthusiasm. "Uncle Purgle was showing me some fighting moves!" "Well, that's sounds interesting. You learn anything useful?" "Your son is a natural, Marller," King Purgle said, coming up to us and taking his helmet back. "He'll be a valuable soldier to me once he grows up. He even has the potential to be one of my personal guards." Daret's face lit up and he pulled away from me with a big grin on his face. "You really mean it?" "Of course I do!" King Purgle said, slapping Daret on the back. "You have the gift." "Didja hear that, Dad?" Daret said, grabbing my hand and pointing at King Purgle. "Uncle Purgle says I have the gift!" "That's wonderful," I replied, doing my best to hide my utter displeasure at the very idea. King Purgle sent out a hundred thousand minotaurs to die a few weeks ago. He could have my son as fodder for the Equestrians when Tartarus froze over. I tried to make my smile a little more genuine. "You run along now and attend to your chores. Uncle Purgle and I have some things to discuss." "Okay," Daret said, snapping a salute to King Purgle before hugging me and running off. King Purgle watched him go with a fond smile. "You have a talented son there, Marller. You should be very proud." "I am, my king." "It's for calves like Daret that we got involved in this war to begin with," King Purgle said with a wistful sigh. "It truly is unfortunate that he has to grow up during a time of war, but when we beat the Equestrians he'll have a much better life than he could have before I united the clans." "Yes." I couldn't think of a better response. "You should really have him assigned to a warrior as soon as you can. In a few years he'll be old enough to actually go out on the field and fight any nasty pony invaders." King Purgle shot me a confident smile. "Not that the war is going to last that long, of course." "I'll think about it," I said, my voice carefully neutral. "Good. Calves like him are the future of my new country. We're building the foundations of it now, but we'll need minotaurs like him to make our country truly great." "Thank you for saying so, King Purgle." "It's only the truth. Now..." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and began steering me in the direction of his tent. "How did the meeting with the Equestrians go?" "Well enough, but..." I grimaced. "I can't help but feel I went a little too far this time. I pointed out to them that their foal is a bastard. I don't have to explain to you why that might make me uncomfortable." "I suppose so, but it's not the same for us." King Purgle released his hold on me and waved his hand. "Even if Daret is technically a bastard, I don't see him like that, and neither do you. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. In my new country, it won't matter one bit." "Thank you." "Of course. Now..." King Purgle went behind his desk and sat down, motioning for me to take a seat as well. "Did your contact reveal anything we can use?" "No, I wasn't able to get in touch. They watch me a little too closely whenever I get within ten miles of their country. I do expect to hear some news through the usual channels soon. The best that I have right now is that these tanks of theirs, whatever they do, aren't the last trick they have up their sleeve." King Purgle grunted and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "They've hit us with the best they have and we're still standing. I'm not terribly worried about it. Antares is still too injured to take to the front, and he's the best way for them to actually use whatever weapons he comes up with. I think the next battle is going to go our way.” Before I could respond, an aide entered the tent, already bent over in a bow. "King Purgle, they've arrived." "Ah, excellent!" King Purgle said, straightening up in his chair. "Send them in at once!" The aide backed out of the tent, leaving King Purgle and I alone once more. "I don't like this, King Purgle," I muttered. "They're not the kind of beings that give anything for free. There are going to be strings attached." "Of course there are, but it's the ponies who are going to pay for that," King Purgle said. "Whatever price we have to pay personally is going to be minimal compared to what they can bring us." The tent flap opened once more, and I got to my hooves as a twisted reflection of an alicorn stepped inside, flanked by two of her soldiers. She turned her sweetly venomous grin to to me before waking up to King Purgle. "Queen Chrysalis, it is an honor to have you in my camp," King Purgle said, inclining his head in a bow. "Likewise," Chrysalis responded, her voice coming out like a hiss. "I must admit that I was surprised by your offer. I wasn't quite sure what to make of half a dozen minotaurs wandering through my territory." Her poisonous smile widened. "I do hope that you aren't terribly offended by the fact that I only let one return, but he was the only one who managed to explain what they were doing after I took them into my hive." "An innocent cultural misunderstanding," King Purgle said with a wave of his hand. "He was, unfortunately, not able to recover from the experience, though." "A tragedy, but, as you said, an innocent misunderstanding." The two changelings beside Chrysalis made an insect-like noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. "But we're here now, so we can put that whole mess behind us." Chrysalis took a few more steps toward King Purgle. "So, you wish for me to join your side in the war against Celestia? I'm quite flattered that you asked." "I figured that we had a common enemy and could both benefit from seeing Equestria knocked down a few pegs," King Purgle said with a nod. "I'm certain that there are things you wish to do once we've won the war." "But of course," Chrysalis hissed. "As you know I already tried to take it once. It was a failure, but my motivation for taking that land remains, with the additional motive of good old-fashioned revenge." "Naturally. If I may ask: what are your goals for after we've won the war?" "Oh, this and that," Chrysalis said, spinning her hoof idly. "I think I'm going to start by taking that irritating ex-captain of Celestia's and dissecting his perfect pretty pink wife in front of him. Of course, he'll be brainwashed again so he'll probably enjoy it. Then I'll suck him dry and leave him as a withered husk of a pony. Then I'll probably finish what you started with the Elements. Kudos on taking one of them out, by the way. She's still in that coma, isn't she?" "As far as we're aware." "As such, the Elements are useless." Chrysalis grinned again. "Although, I think even if the mud pony wasn't in a coma, the rainbow one is probably still whimpering in a hospital bed about her lost leg. I doubt even she'd get up to use the Elements. Discord could be outside of her hospital and she'd be too busy bemoaning her misfortune." "I don't doubt it," King Purgle responded. "I'll have to let you know if we ever find out where Celestia is keeping them." "Please do. If you had come to me in the beginning then none of them would be alive today. You can never trust freeminds to get the job done." "I have figured that out, yes." "A lesson well learned." Chrysalis's smile faded and her expression turned into a glare, one so extreme that even King Purgle looked a little nervous. I almost wanted to run out of the tent right there. "There is one final thing, outside of the usual cocooning and feeding that I'll be doing to every single pony in that country that you don't kill. Those sick experiments that Antares calls foals. The scorpions. You are to let me deal with them personally. If the war ends and they are not delivered to me personally, I shall turn my army against you next." "I... see," King Purgle said, shifting uneasily in his seat. "Why might that be?" "They're too dangerous to be left alive. It's enough that the likes of dragons and hydras and manticores sometimes view changelings as prey without having to deal with a tribe of ponies that can not only see through our disguises, but have no problem killing and eating us. I wish to extinguish that little problem myself. I will not accept hearing that one of your brutes has done it for me." "You have my word that I will deliver the foals to you," King Purgle replied. "Excellent." Chrysalis's smile returned. "It's settled, then. I shall commit a hundred thousand changeling soldiers to you war effort. I foresee much success with this alliance." "A hundred thousand?" King Purgle's eyes lit up at the number. I could see why. It essentially replenished all of our losses during the first battle. "My, my, you have been busy." "I'd been considering another invasion long before you marched on Equestria," Chrysalis responded coolly. "You've merely provided me with the perfect opportunity to do so." "It seems I have." King Purgle stood up and bowed to Chrysalis. "Very well. We plan to march again in the next few days. How soon can your army be ready?" "If you postpone your plans by a week, I can have my full strength there with you." "It's a deal." As the two shook on it, I couldn't help but get a sinking feeling in my stomach. None of this would end well. I'd as soon make a deal with Discord. Chrysalis shot me one last grin as she exited King Purgle's tent, which did nothing to change my mind in regards to whether or not we'd made the right move. "I don't like this, King Purgle," I muttered once we were alone again. "You know they can't be trusted." "You worry too much, Marller," King Purgle said with a wave of his hand. "I personally think I've just shifted the balance of this war."