Chapter Twenty Four: A Move Too Soon
“We demand to see the princess at once!”
The changeling guard looked at the massive gathering in front of her, gulping a bit as she turned to face an angry looking mare who had addressed her. “Madam, I am afraid the princess is busy at the moment getting some citizens settled into their new home.”
“I don’t care,” said the mare, “my name is Ides of March, and I have come here on behalf of the sons, daughters, wives, and husbands of the guards who were lead under false pretenses by Shining Armor, and have been imprisoned for aiding him despite many of them saying they had no idea that he was committing genocide.”
Immediately the changelings attitude changed, a glare forming on her face as she growled at the mare. “Those ponies committed atrocities against my people, and it was only thanks to Queen Mother Twilight that we will survive, so I think it would be best if our Queen Mother doesn’t have to deal with those who would spread their legs for such monsters!”
The mare looked livid, but before she could lash out, the door’s to the castle of friendship opened, and Twilight walked out looking concerned. “Neptune, what seems to be the problem here?”
Before the changeling could speak, Ides moved up and spoke. “Your highness, I and the mares and stallions behind me are here to beg you for the release of our husbands and wives who were under your brother’s command, for they do not deserve to be imprisoned for what they have done.”
“They committed crimes against the crown,” said Twilight, “they followed my brother’s orders even though they were wrong, and they need to be punished.”
“But your brother’s sentence was lightened because his mind was under the effects of a deadly poison,” said the mare, “shouldn’t that also apply to those under his command?”
“It would if they had also been affected by the poison,” said Twilight, “but unlike my brother they had full control of their faculties, and they chose to kill them anyway, even the little ones.”
“But they were following orders given by a commander of the Equestrian military, against an enemy which, until the events three months prior, were considered parasitic lifeforms who preyed on those with love with no regard for diplomacy. Surely princess, with these facts present, you can show them the same mercy you showed your brother.”
Twilight hesitated for a long moment, weighing her options carefully before speaking up. “I cannot promise anything, for as you know, while I still hold my title, my powers as princess are limited due my past mistakes. However, I promise I will take this before Princess Luna, and maybe if she is willing she may spare you family members from their fate.”
The mare didn’t seem to like the answer, but instead of grumbling, she bowed her head and then turned to leave. Twilight waited till the group was gone, then sighed, walking back inside before looking to one of the changeling guards.
“Um, could you be so kind as to…” she started, only for a sharp pain to shoot through her head, her vision beginning to blur before she passed out, her guards screaming in alarm as the world went black.
Deep within the bowls her tower, the dark figures eyes shot wide open, her horn tingling as she felt a thrumming coming from below.
“No…No no no he mustn’t, it isn’t time!”
She leaped from her bed in alarm, racing out of her tower into the bowls of her grand estate, ignoring the various shocked nobles and changelings she ran past. When she reached her destination, she called up a bit of magic, using it on the door to unlock it before racing down into the dark room to the bed which held the room’s sole occupant.
In the middle of the bed, his mane and tail in shambles, and his shaggy coat mussed from bad sleep, was a large male alicorn, his horn glowing bright yellow as he tried to get out of bed.
“KIIR!?” he roared, his voice shaking the room as he slowly tried to get out of bed. “KIIR KOLOS LOS HI!?”
“Dii Sil, Dii Sil stop,” said the dark figure, running up and attempting to calm him as he struggled against her.
“KOLOS LOS REK!?” roared the stallion, turning to her as he stayed his struggles, his horn still glowing bright.
“She is not here, you know that, we sent her away so she could recover what was lost to us, don’t you remember Dii Sil?”
The stallion looked confused for a moment, and then his eyes cleared, causing him to nuzzle her apologetically as he spoke. “Kosis dii peyt, zu’u…zu’u sizaan dii…dii…”
“Shh Dii Sil,” said the dark figure, “I know, I know. Now please, end your spell, she is not ready to know of you yet.”
The stallion nodded, ending his spell before grimacing as he looked to her. “Rek aal kos ko tahrovin, dii zul aal lost drun ek hahdrim wah…ved?”
The dark figure had to think for a moment, for with the language her first love was forced to speak in, he sometimes had to search for terms to get his point across. But once she finally got it, her face blanched, “you mean you caused her fall unconscious!?”
He nodded, causing her to spring from the bed and sprint for the door, before running back and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “I will be back soon, just…just promise me you will get some rest, have been working too hard lately.”
“Zu’u fen dii peyt,” said the stallion, before shooing her out of the room.
Once out the door, she called upon her magic, using it to sense where her star was before teleporting away, hoping her plans were not ruined.
When she arrived in a hidden nook within Twilight’s bedroom, she immediately tensed, for she could sense Celestia and Luna there, as well as another presence, one she knew would not tolerate her presence.
“What could have done this to her?”
“Something strong, and well versed in mind magic,” said Luna, “and it is beyond my skill to meddle with safely.”
“Do you think you could do anything my love,” she heard Celestia say.
“I don’t know,” said a voice, one the dark figure recognizing it as Anthra, “but I may be able to trace the source, for something about it feels…familiar.”
No, that would not do, for she could not have the princesses knowing that…he was alive, for they would demand to see him. So, realizing that she would have to salvage her plans on the fly, she teleported to the door leading into the room before pushing the door open and speaking. “That won’t be necessary Anthra.”
The two princesses, Chrysalis, and Anthra turned around, Anthra hissing and moving to protect Chrysalis, while Luna and Celestia looked on with shock as she walked in.
“Hello Celestia, Luna, it…it’s been some time, hasn’t it?”
Celestia stared for a moment longer, and then she spoke, her voice shaking a great deal as the words slipped from her lips. “Au…aunty Clover…”
And with that, the big bomb shell hath been dropped. As always, if you guys have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop them on by, I love hearing from you guys.
P.S.
Oh, and if you guys want to know what the one stallion is saying, here is a link to help you translate the words, though for you Skyrim fans, you should recognize the language if you've hung out with a certain wise lizard long enough.
For those having problems with the Translator, here is the translated words.
"KIIR!"
"CHILD!"
“KIIR KOLOS LOS HI!?”
"CHILD WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"Dii Sil"
"My Soul"
“KOLOS LOS REK!?”
"WHERE IS SHE!?" In this case, Los translates to is instead of are.
“Kosis dii peyt, zu’u…zu’u sizaan dii…dii…”
"Apologies My Flower, I...I lost my...my..."
"Rek aal kos ko tahrovin, dii zul aal lost drun ek hahdrim wah…ved?”
"She may be in danger, my voice may have caused her mind to...blacken?"
Hope this helps.
Stats
Page generated in 0.099 seconds
Total duration
601 users online
1,034,829 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
no link present
7022993
*Face palm*, let me fix that.
7022993
Fixed
7023035
Thanks
for the soldiers that were under Shining Armor orders and their loved ones, I their place I would still think that it was the Changelings fault for tampering their commanders mind and lead them do treasonous act against the Crown.
You might just want to provide the translations. That site has become a major pain to use, and it doesn't provide translations for all of the words. "Zu'u," for example, doesn't get translated. Same with "kosis".
7023035 OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!!! CLOVER THE CLEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANT BELIEVE THAT SHES TWILIGHTS MOM!!!!!!!!
Wait...!? Does that mean thst the male alicorn....is........
*GASP* IS IT STARSWIRL THE BEARDED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
7023127 I shall do that then.
i feel bad for twilight, i mean she is in way in love/date her own family........and why do i feel like something bad about to happen like super bad end of the wrold or atleast end of twilight
Would be hilariously sad if the spell cast by the male killed twilight instead of merely incapacitating her.
7022136 That's what I don't understand, why would you completely ignore context? Not saying that you are, I'm just saying.
7023108 wrong. Soliders are taught not to follow illegal orders. What Shining gave was illegal and they follow them anyway. So they are more guilty then Shining because he had a legit defense and was not in control of his mind. They were.
Ides of March? .................... ! OOOOHH! You clever boy.
7023459 Shining was a top brass of the Equestrian army, married to the Princess of Cadance close nice to Princess Celesetia herself how has her ear, his loyalty was nearly unquestionable and his orders would seem to be nearly the word of the Sun Goddess herself, they have have just barely came back from an expedition deal with the Changelings, cut off from most the news of the rest of the country for a while, they were set out to an expedition just after their country leadership had been compromised, by infiltration and mind control and decapitated them in one fell swoop and the capital was overwhelmed before the Guard even knew it. If Shining's way to his lieutenants that the very princesses had just been compromise once again by infiltrators, they they couldn't risk to take the time to question his unquestioning his motives and crush the enemy before they either en-tranche themselves deeper or get the princesses killed for their inaction. And any public news they have received from outside their forces are seen as propaganda or disinformation from the enemy how now control the royals decree.
Plus, the illegal orders or immoral rule is a catch all 22 for for all low rank soldiers that gives them the false reassurance belief that they have actually a choice in following orders that conflict with their personal values, and that they believe that the top brass have protect them if they believe they have a strong valid reason to refuse a bad orders and trust still have a trust in the hierarchy system, which is an absolute lie. other wise the army would be overwhelm by mutinies from group disgruntle soldiers, because they don't see an easy out of their situation.
Soldiers how refused an order from a superior officer on those grounds will get court-marshaled and will always be fond guilty for insubordination , sentence to military prison because in the army, in their system followings orders is more important then following morals or ethic.
In the end, it all fall into the ever fluctuating
7023517
Finally, someone notices, you sir get a cookie.
cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0302/2969/products/great-cookie-m_and_m-cookie-03_1024x1024.jpg?v=1390499314
7023605 So you are saying the nazi soldiers have a defense? I'm not talking the ones out in the field of combat but the ones at the camps. Remember these soliders murders non combatants.
7023633 I would love to reply to your comment, but I am not sure of what you mean exactly either by the lack context, to that you mean by Nazi soldiers, do you mean the Regular German Army or the SS (their is a difference and they both hated each other). All too often, much my annoyance, Nazi's/ German are always used as an example the personification of Evil and almost any rational discussion get warped by all the emotions that the event evoke to every one. I don't think you really though things thoroughly if you don't explain your position anymore that you have.
I believe what you are referring to the Muranburg trials where where most of the officers(not regular soldiers) used the defense of following orders, which essentially mean that they are not responsible for their actions they did and conveniently made their acts of atrocities marginalized. That trial showed the amorality ethics of the military system.
For your reference to the extermination camps, they where controlled by the the SS army and almost all the guards there were there were convicted murderers and rapists, because they where chosen because for the job because of their morals, and that if they didn't follow orders they would go back to prison, how where nothing more then thugs in uniforms.
On the other Spectrum, after the WW2 the French sodiars that were in the SS and well as workers that when to work in Germany to the factories were repatriated to France and completely absolved of any crimes or act of treason, welcomed back home in open arms. This is in contrast to the hunt for collaborates that happened in France, which turn into a large scale witch hunt, what was in actuality used as an excuse to get even with other people that wronged them in the past that had often nothing to do with collaboration. even 'til this day their are still scares in any European countries about these acts.
, then is what do you mean by 'defense' and to how they are defending their position to. If you are refereeing to war crime trials from invaders making show trial of the former leaders to justly their 'liberation'/occupation of the country they are in.
One notable of the ridiculousness example was things was Sadam's trial after the invasion o Iraq, the American's constantly changing judges because they said they where too lenient to him or start asking unconformable questions that were going into directions that they didn't like and when Sadam started to talk too much they hurried themselves to convict him and hang him before he said too much about his collaboration with the CIA agenda .
In this case, this is a little different the Guards are imprison for their acts are in fact treasonous, but in this case there changes in the political climate was changing too fast, communication where confusing (they where trying to drastically Change the image of the Changelings from soul eating invaders to refugees and an endangered species) and there were bond to have confusions of what was happening on the top and someone had to make a mistake somewhere. The family of the traitor guards don't understand the special treatment of SA get and the their love one how served their country so proudly are seen as criminals by their own country that they have sworn to protect. Their is not clear cut good or evil to this story and create a lot of civil unrests in Equestrian society for many years to come.
In this case it when down to public image and interpretation , the Guards tried to retrieve Princess Twilight Sparcal from the Changelings making a lot of collateral damage to ponyville because their magical attacks deviated by the magical shield and that the Changelings had the convenient powers to eminently grow new dwellings for the residents of Ponyville mediately after the battle. The Guard are seen as the aggressors instead of heroes and are now a disgraced and the changelings are seen as saviors to the public, with gives them a great PR for them. If I didn't know better, seeing that SA was not in his right mind, I would have almost though this was all a set up by the Changelings. I realty the whole situation could have been avoided his Cadance and the other Princesses had had a better rein or proper over-watch of the punitive operations against the Changelings and not give free-rein for Shining Armor to do what he wanted to do which he obviously on a vengeance fueled rampage against the Changelings didn't give him any strict rules to follow on what to do with the Changeling they encountered, because they and didn't considered that the Changelings would come to plead for help. I could say that the Changelings shouldn't have been staying in Ponyville, but it was an attempt to encourage exchanges and understanding between the two cultures, I would never discourage such initiatives, but no one could have really seen what was going to happen later.
Every thing was a confusing mess.
Ha! So it was Dragontongue! I knew it looked familer! I actually have that site bookmarked for my own enjoyment of annoying my friends.
7023904
7023633
Wow, I never thought one of my stories would create such a discussion.
7024852 thanks, well I try to go as in-depth as I can in analyzing the story and find that the incident is a good point of contention to keep the tension between the Equestrians and the Changeling without making one side more riches then the other and that the princesses will have to play middle ground to find concessions with both parties with out favoring one for the other too much. For several chapters, I thought that the rogue Guards were completely neglected, and I thought that they where a great plot devise to explore and I was starting to find the drama between Twilight and Chrysalises getting boring without any obvious tension in their surrounding and no one seem to openly oppose what was happening about it. In the end their isn't anyone in the right of the situation but the decision that will be done in the near future will consequences for everyone.
HOLY- Dang... Great chapter...
7023605
As former military, this is dead wrong. We are told, from the moment we enlist to the day we are discharged, laws supersede orders and the UCMJ recognizes that. The reason no one has been able to make a solid case for disobeying orders is because they didn't have a solid case to prove that the orders were illegal. There's never been a time where a US officer ordered soldiers to follow blatantly illegal orders and was challenged. Those officers that have, have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the UCMJ, as well as any soldier that followed those orders. This fantasy you've concocted about how "if what I said wasn't true, then the army would grind to a standstill" is just that. A fantasy, made up by someone who doesn't understand the reality of how the military operates.
In fact, your entire post is mostly made up BS. What you call a "lie" is factually true. What you proclaim as "fact" is provably false. There are so many illogical assumptions made that I can't even understand how someone can compare this fantasy to reality
As a soldier, someone who served with honor for as long as I was able, what those guards did was outright criminal, and it would have taken every ounce of discipline in me to not have turned my weapon on them and not stopped firing until they all stopped twitching. By taking a stand that they are "innocent" of their crimes is ignoring the plainly stated fact that they murdered confirmed noncombatants and children. CHILDREN! That action is what damns them, not this fantasy that "following orders" is a legitimate excuse for criminal conduct. I honestly don't give a damn about any paranoid delusion and false flag BS that you can come up with. It doesn't change the fact that what they did was heinous and is factually criminal.
7025637
You have brought up a good point good sir, and while I don't know how I am going to let this tension effect the story as of yet, the fact that they murdered children is one fact I don't intend to ignore. I thank you that you have taken an interest in my story, and also want to apologize if what the guards in this story did distressed you too much, even though it was meant to cause distress among the readers as well as myself. I for one also view the act of murdering innocent children as nothing short of pure barbaric and vile, and intend to treat it as just that, even if the guards themselves may not view it that way.
7025794
Don't worry to much about it. As long as you continue to show a difference between criminals who happen to be soldiers and all other soldiers, and that they don't get away with it, then all is good.
As for how to resolve it, I'm just going to point out that the UCMJ (the US's military law) declares that murder is a capital crime and carries a maximum punishment of death (I believe that this would be the maximum sentence for the military equivalent of civilian first and second degree murder) and given that these are also considered war crimes and not just regular crimes, the minimum punishment would be stiffer than just a dishonorable discharge and a little time on prison.
I'm passing this info along as a benchmark. If this happened in the US military in real life, then I'd expect some people to either be hanging from nooses or being shot for these crimes, with a minimum of them being put in a military prison for a very long time. Such conduct is beyond unacceptable, and a major punishment should be expected.
EDIT: Made a small clarification of a point.
Oh dear. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
7026079
Hello Ghost-09, it is good to see someone how know something about American military laws, who can clarify some things about the whole mess of the situation.
Okay, it good to know that laws or rules supersede orders, I am all for that. But still, the fact that you affirmed that there has never been a case where a soldier has disobeyed on the grounds that it was wrong to have been fond right in the end makes it sound like acting on your morals that contradict an order is doomed from the start, and there will never be enough evidence to be proven right, that the soldier have no choice but to differ to the order given at that moment in time. This it still makes it sound like it is a catch 22 to me.
My problem in understanding is that: what does a soldier must do if he is given an order that is contradicting the rules or that sound suspicious, but don’t have proof of it? Do they have to follow through with the order immediately and report it afterwards? Even after blood is spilled? What happens to soldiers how has followed an order that he was unaware that it was not sanctioned, but had no clear reasons to refuse it back then? Is he still held responsible fowling of killing an innocent or invalid target because of that?
In the situation of Ponyville, the soldiers were feed mislead to by their superior, that they were told that the Crown was in jeopardy, were precipitated into combat without notice, case given the nature of the Changeling (they can be anyone event foals) and all the propaganda that the Guards were probably before feed to them the changes in Equestria’s policies.
I don’t believe that they can go scote free at all and must be held accountable for their actions, killing can never be taken lightly, but I can understand to some extent that there are extenuating circumstances for their situation because of all the confusion. I don’t like idea that a person being branded a traitor because he didn’t know what was going on around them.
7026881
Lack of evidence is not in and of itself proof of falsehood. It could be that there actually haven't been any orders that needed to be disobeyed that actually were. The fact the UCMJ provides for that defense is proof that it can actually happen, it's a real possibility. So this point is extremely flawed and should not be used.
Again, utter nonsense. The orders that can be refused are self-evident when they are illegal. "Kill these people" (like what the guards followed) without context is a normal order. When you recognize that they are unarmed, and are recognized as noncombatants, and are complying with your orders, that order becomes illegal. A situation where someone is tricked into following an illegal order is far different then following a blatantly illegal order. You need to acknowledge that there is a difference, as your arguments are attempting to refute such a difference.
A gut feeling is not evidence. It should make you more aware (like when you are in a dark area and you hear a suspicious sound), but it cannot and will not be allowed to affect actual judgement. There are times where I had to follow orders that didn't make sense. The reason why (and I found out later because a friend was the one who was indirectly assisted by this order)? I was assisting with a covert operation that I didn't know about, didn't need to know about, and still know extremely little about (which is more than enough for me). Even orders that sound suicidal can actually be legitimate orders that need to be followed for the sake of the larger mission. There was a recently declassified mission where American WWII bombers flew into extremely dangerous airspace. This resulted in most of the bombers being shot down and their crews captured for the rest of the European war. The crews were never informed why they did the mission, and why several of their friends had to die. When the mission was declassified, the surviving members were brought together and told that their mission was actually a cover for a commando team's insertion, who were responsible for bringing Germany's Enigma encoder back to Allied hands. Their sacrifice resulted in a tool that saved countless Allied lives and brought the war much closer to ending. The mission was suicidal, but they followed orders, even when they made no sense, and the result was a key to winning the war.
You report it up the chain before the mission head's out (and the chances of needing to head out immediately are near zero, as the military prefers deliberate movements to hasty movements). You ask for clarification on details that make you uncomfortable. If that doesn't up it to rest, you go to his boss, and request clarification on operational objectives and commander's intent. Orders very rarely come from a single person. There is an entire machine in the background organizing the movements of platoons, companies, battalion, all the way up field armies. The simple fact that a group of personnel reported solely to a single individual is cause of concern, but not evidence of any wrong doing (a red flag, but much like hearing a noise in the darkness, awareness is key).
He would go through the investigation and tell the truth. If he had no knowledge of the illegal activity, and was tricked into it, then he is cleared of all charges. And this is not what happened to the guards, to forestall that argument. They knew what they were doing, and who they were doing it to.
Attacking Ponyville is not what they are being held for (it's an additional charge, but minor compared to the major issue, and this is where you are way off basis). They are being held, primarily, for murdering noncombatants and infanticide. The actions they took at Ponyville were legal actions (in so far as the UCMJ would see it), the actions before that were not. They may have violated procedure and regulations regarding collateral damage (and there is an argument for attempted regicide, but it's extremely weak as the intent does matter in this case), but they didn't go out of their way to murder civilians and noncombatants. They were stopped before that could have come to pass.
I don't give a damn if the enemy is another species and has done horrendous things. Civilians are civilians, noncombatants are noncombatants, and combatants are combatants. Each of them receive a specific form of treatment. Treating everyone of a single member of a (then) hostile species as a combatant makes them no better than traitors and murders.
At this rate all those guards WILL be released, because it seems noone actualy dies here. Clovers not, I assume the station is Starswirl, I mean, I hope this logic pulls through and Dash gets her one back.
7032127
What do you mean by Clovers not?
Should be bowels not bowls. Unless she has a very weird tower. That mistake is repeated again shortly afterwards.
aaaaaaaaaaaand this family tree just got messed up
What does Clover the Cunt want now?
Wait, was that dragonuzl?
7465174
Dovahzul, yes. I thought I recognized the words. So we have a pony who speaks the Dragon tongue. are they a dragon pony? Drogy? Dragony?