Spectre of the Past

by Juntao112

Chapter 4

Good afternoon, this is Voice of Equestria with your host Rainy Meadow. Today, our esteemed Princess Twilight Sparkle will be joining us via radio from Ponyville to give us her thoughts on the issue of changelings in Equestria.

Thank you, Miss Meadow, and let me say what an honor it is to be on your program. I've been listening for years, and I've always admired the coverage you've given to Equestria's most important issues. I would have interned with you while I was still in Canterlot, but Nightmare Moon happened, and, well, you know the rest.

Now, I know there's been a great deal of apprehension over the inclusion of our new changeling friends. I want to assure everyone, again, that the changelings who have chosen to settle in Equestria mean us no harm. In fact, many willingly left the hive to peacefully live amongst us for years. I have every confidence that if we welcome them with open hearts, they'll be productive members of our society.

A noble sentiment, Princess, but some ponies are concerned that Queen Chrysalis has long–term sleeper agents who will try their best to subvert Equestria from the inside. In fact, you have Chrysalis's former Adjutant leading the changelings. What measures have you taken to address this potential issue?

I won't deny that the thought has crossed my mind, but we've not had reason to doubt their loyalty, and, indeed, several have already fought against Chrysalis. I think the best thing to do from now on is to extend an olive branch in the name of trust, generosity, and friendship, in the hopes of inspiring a better future.

A moving speech, Your Highness. Now, if you wouldn't mind, would you be willing to clarify some points about changeling feeding habits for the sake of our audience? Some are quite concerned about being 'drained into dry husks', but your latest monogram on the subject has stated that this is not the case.

Well, Miss Meadow, that's certainly an interesting subject...

---

Thunderball turned off his radio after the conclusion of the hour–long interview with Twilight. Her public speaking skills left something to be desired, but she had stuck to her points with admirable tenacity. The most important thing was that the changelings were receiving constant positive endorsement from the highest level in Equestria.

Changing the public's opinion depended very much on repeated exposure to the desired point of view, preferably from the mouth very important ponies. Prince Shining Armor and Cadance had yet to come around, but Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight would hopefully be enough. It was a pity that Princess Luna had only expressed tepid support, but he supposed it was the best that could be expected given her mindset. She would probably only change her opinion once Chrysalis had been adequately punished (Of course, in her opinion, that would have entailed a gruesome public execution, which Celestia rejected out of hoof).

Now was time to move onto phase 2 of their plan: acclimating the public to the idea of changelings by increasing their exposure. Parliament would be in session next week, and House Argent was entitled to a seat in the House of Lords. This, of course, meant that they would need representation.

---

Dappled sunlight shone through the canopy of the Everfree Forest as Ace Gambit strolled along the ancient path that lead to the Castle of the Two Sisters. He hummed lightly to himself and rubbed his wings against his abdomen to create musical accompaniment. Most sentient beings would have been far less relaxed in the Everfree Forest, but the place had become much safer after the return of the Elements of Harmony. Now, all one had to worry about was straying from the established paths.

Ace did not worry even when he ventured off of those paths; how else was one supposed to collect rare herbs and magical reagents. He strolled through the tangled woods until he came to a patch of blue flowers growing by the side of a creek. Their blossoms of Poison Joke were soon telekinetically plucked from the stem and dropped into a tightly sealed glass jar, with a sigh of relief and satisfaction.

"What are you doing out here by yourself, Ace?" Bonling soared out of the sky and hovered above the Poison Joke. "It's dangerous. You could get petrified by a cockatrice if you're not careful."

Ace shot her a winning smile. "Don't worry, I've read up on this place. Even learned a counterspell case that comes up!"

"Can you cast it on yourself after being turned to stone?"

"...I see your point." He tossed the jar into his saddlebags and made a beeline for the man path. "So what's up?"

If there was one thing Ace appreciated about Bonling — not that there was just one thing — it was that her soldier–caste upbringing made her incredibly direct. "Adjutant is going to fill in for House Argent at Parliament this week, and we need you to bodyguard again."

If there was one thing that made Bonling hard to deal with – not that there was just one thing – it was that she had no sense of tact. "Can't you get anyling else? I'm not too keen on politics at the moment, and have more than a few things going on in Ponyville. My reading group's going to have its first meeting on Wednesday!"

"Well, seeing as the majority of the colony came from the worker caste, they have neither the numbers or the expertise to guard her properly. Of the few soldiers we do have, most are busy training recruits or guarding the castle. I'm pretty much the only one we could spare."

It was hard to argue with her logic, but cancelling on the book club — and Stiletto — was almost unthinkable. "So why don't you ask the Royal Guard?"

Bonling shook her head. "That sends the wrong message, that we're Celestia's puppets. Not good if we want to convince more changelings join us, whether it be from Chrysalis's hive or others." She gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Look, Ace, I don't like asking you to do this — I know you didn't ask for it, and you just want to settle down peacefully — but we need you. You're brave, one of the few changelings with a talent for magic, and already familiar with Canterlot. You'd be doing the colony a huge favor."

Ace looked down at his hooves and closed his eyes. He would be disappointing Stiletto if he went, but he would be disappointing his friends — and possibly their future in Equestria — if he did not. At the end of the day, their needs outweighed her's — or his own, for that matter.

"Alright. I'll cancel my book club and get someling to cover for me. But this had better be worth it..."

---

Going to Parliament sounded interesting, at first. How thrilling it would be to see pony politics in action, in contrast to the harsh, authoritarian rule of Queen Chrysalis. Perhaps the changelings could even learn a thing or two from the arguably more successful country. The idea of a government where the common pony got a say in things was intriguing.

"The honorable MP from Manechester would be well advised to cease his discourse on account of being a cretin!"

Then again, perhaps not. Adjutant wondered how anything got done with all the infighting, but perhaps that was the point. Parliament, or at least the House of Lords, seemed like an excuse to give the nobility something trivial to occupy their time and sense of self–worth.

The harsh noise of a gavel banging against its sounding block rang out above the shouting on the floor. Once the shouting had settled down — Adjutant had no idea that a 3% tariff increase on aluminum could be such a contentious issue — the Speaker called for a recess. Adjutant was most happy to oblige, and they soon found themselves in reclining on a sofa in one of the more secluded corners of Parliament.

"I think I see why Thunderball prefers to stay as far as possible from Canterlot," Adjutant grumbled. "The way Prince Blueblood was talking about his ridiculous Cake Registration Act, you'd think they were the most pressing menace to Equestria this decade."

Bonling chuckled. "Heh, can't believe he still hasn't gotten over that."

Ace waved over an attendant wheeling a serving cart piled high with tea and cakes, a perfect midnight snack. "Well, I'll say this much, Canterlot certainly makes me appreciate Ponyville a lot more."

The doors in the hallway suddenly locked shut, much to the surprise of their inhabitants. Bonling and Ace jumped in front of Adjutant, but the servant took off her hat and unleashed a wave of glowing energy that upon the changelings.

Ace had fed off of many emotions in his time, and this was the least palatable of anything he had ever encountered. It was as if he was tasting the distilled essence of fear and hatred. He could not process it; his body rejected it; his mind tried its best to shut it out, but it kept flowing from the unicorn in front of them.

His lungs seized shut, even as his heart pounded in his chest, screaming for more oxygen. His knees shook and gave way. Behind him, he could hear Bonling and Adjutant falling to the floor. Ace found himself praying to gods that he never believed in for the torment to end as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Comments

[Juntao112]

5370030

Politics is always fun to watch. Like a train wreck.