Yet It Can Still Get Worse
A ROYAL FOAL: PRINCESS CELESTIA IS PREGNANT! PRINCE ANTARES CONFIRMED AS SIRE!
In a stunning turn of events, an anonymous source leaked medical documents confirming that Princess Celestia is pregnant with what appears to be a colt. Prince Antares is the sire. How and why the two of them chose to keep their relationship a secret is overshadowed by the fact that this will be the first foal born of an alpha alicorn since recorded history began. Prince Antares gave an official statement regarding the pregnancy.
"Yes, I am here to confirm the rumors circulating our nation over the past few days. Princess Celestia is pregnant, and I am the sire. Yes, Princess Celestia and I have been in a relationship for over a year now. Now I know that all of this is shocking to you, but think about this: our foal was conceived in wartime, but it is our greatest hope that he will be born in peace. We cannot allow the warmongering minotaurs and griffins to endanger him. I do not say this because of who he is or who his parents are, but I say this just as I would say it for any of your sons and daughters. I think that above all this is a reminder that we fight this war not for glory, but to protect our families from those who would seek to hurt them."
When asked about a potential name, Prince Antares merely responded "Titus. We've decided to name him Titus."
To further matters even more, we were able to secure an interview with Marller of clan Banag, the minotaur ambassador to Equestria. He declined any comments about the war but said of the pregnancy: "I think it just shows that your rulers don't trust you. I mean, Celestia and Antares have been in a relationship for a year and don't think that their subjects can handle that knowledge? Then they find out they're having a foal and decide to keep that a secret, too? Who knows what other secrets they're hiding from you? I'll grant that I'm not a head of state like they are, I'm just a simple ambassador who still wishes for some peaceful resolution to the unfortunate conflict between our nations. For me, there's a difference between important state secrets, such as military plans and whatnot, and lying to your subjects because you're embarrassed about something you may view as a mistake. I see their relationship and pregnancy as the latter. I'm not even talking about not trusting you in wartime. Their relationship has been going on for over a year and that was long before this unfortunate war. I'm just not sure why they felt they needed to hide it from you."
With a burst of my horn I incinerated the paper. This Marller fellow was really starting to become a thorn in my side. Oh we had Blade Wings following him at all times. If he committed any act of war whatsoever, we'd have his head on a pike so fast he might as well have woken up that way.
I think he knew that. He's been perfectly behaved while in our country.
But yes, Celestia and I have decided to name our foal Titus. It just seems to fit. That and it's an Earth name that I'm really rather fond of, given the various historical aspects of it.
However, we wouldn't really need to get into that for another eight months or so, unless alicorns had an accelerated birthing process. It was possible. Either way, we'd learn more about alicorn biology through this pregnancy than ponies had in millennium.
"It's okay, Prince Antares, I think he's a jerk, too."
I grimaced and turned my head to see Lieutenant Rapids behind me. I bobbed my head in a slight display of affirmation.
"Well if I can help it, he's not going to survive the war. Or he's going to return to his home with his tail between his legs and spend the rest of his life cowering in fear."
"Minotaur tails don't exactly work like that, Prince Antares."
I glared at Rapids. "You know what I mean. He's put us in a quandary. Either we remove certain parts of freedom of the press and make it so that Marller can't give an interview like that, which we’ll be poorly looked on for, or we let him demoralize our nation with his twisted words. I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils right now."
"Probably the first one, Prince Antares." Lieutenant Rapids shrugged. "I mean, you tell the newspapers not to print a few things. Big deal in the long run. Marller can do some serious damage to our morale if we let him."
"True."
I pushed aside the remains of my breakfast and stand up, letting a servant take my dishes away. I have a full schedule today and I can't waste a moment of my time.
"Lieutenant Rapids, let Princess Celestia know that I'll make it to the Crystal Empire this afternoon to sit in on the talks with Yakyakistan."
Oy, there was another thorn in my side. See, our intelligence indicated that the yaks had started talks with the minotaurs to join on their side. I'm assuming because they want the Crystal Empire out of the deal if they win the war. I had no doubt we could win a war with the yaks, but it would divert precious resources away from the western front. I didn't worry about the griffins. The riots starting in Iselin had severely crippled the morale of their troops, particularly after Cromwell used violence to shut down a rally. Fifteen dead, so I heard.
"Also," I continued, "I'd like reports on how the training camps are coming along. I want as many troops as possible armed and ready to march in two weeks."
Lieutenant Rapids snapped to attention and saluted me. "Yes, Prince Antares. If I may ask, is there any particular reason for that date?"
"I'm not sure if the buffalo and the Saddle Arabians can hold out too much longer without reinforcements from us. It's just been skirmishes now, but that can end at any moment. They're testing us. Seeing what our defenses are like. I want to be at full strength when they march towards our country. Besides, they're trying to invade Equestria. It wouldn't be fair to have Mesud do all of the work."
"Yes, Prince Antares. Understood, Prince Antares. I'll have a report on your desk by this afternoon."
"Very good."
With everything that had been going on, I hadn't been as up-to-date with how the training of the draftees was going. I kept meaning to, especially to keep up with the Ponyville draftees. However between the pregnancy, Marller, the griffins, and just a hundred other little things, I'd never given it the attention I'd have liked. I wasn't told if on the first day of training, the commanding officers did a training montage to "I'll Make a Man out of You", so I'm forced to assume that was the case.
The early half of my day consisted of checking up on various weapons and armor dealers that we had contracts with to make sure that the newly trained troops would be well supplied for when they did eventually make the move to the front. I couldn't have my ponies marching to war with inferior weapons. Plus I had to let Las Pegasus know that I was keeping an eye on them. I don't think they'd stoop so low as to send an army to war with shoddy weapons, but given the mild displays of distaste they'd thrown our way after the execution of Soaring Skies, it didn't hurt to be careful. No open rebellion yet, but they really thought that I'd infringed on their rights.
Yeesh, Las Pegasus seceding in the middle of the war would be just the worst. I didn't think it'd go that direction as the vast majority of the ponies there were completely loyal to the crown, but the one percent of ponies with power who didn't like us could make things difficult.
Still, after checking over everything, things seemed to be going okay. I think that beyond just obeying the crown that was paying for their weapons they realized that if Equestria fell, or was severely crippled during the war, then their bit purses get hit pretty hard. I'll take pragmatist allies. They're better than nothing.
I arrived at the Crystal Empire around lunchtime to meet up with Celestia and Cadance. I noted with some sadness that several groups of crystal ponies were doing military drills around the city, as well as putting up fortifications everywhere. It's as if they expected our negotiations to fail and that this city would start looking like Stalingrad if that ended up being the case.
Not that I could blame them too much. The crystal ponies had always been a twitchy bunch after Sombra.
I entered the throne room of the Crystal Palace where Celestia and Cadance were waiting for me, the latter sitting on her throne with Shining Armor beside her. However, what interested me was the obscenely hairy creature in front of the throne, flanked by two equally shaggy beings.
Mares and gentlecolts, the yaks.
"Good afternoon Prince Antares, it's nice of you to join us," Cadance said, inclining her head in my direction.
"It's nice to be here," I replied, taking a place beside Celestia. "I hope that our two nations can find a peaceful solution to this potential problem."
The lead yak sported one of the most impressive scowls I've ever seen in my entire life, which didn't do much for my hopes that we wouldn't be fighting a three front war. Four if the Diamond Dogs got together and attacked us from the south. He didn't say anything, so Princess Cadance took the lead.
"Uh... Prince Antares, this is Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan. He's been sent here by his father, King Albert the Second, to talk about our counter-offer to the ones the minotaurs have given them.”
"Yaks want things ponies have," Rutherford growled in a depressingly monosyllabic tone. "Yaks want things perfect. Otherwise yaks go to war with Equestria."
"Okaaayyyy," I said uneasily. "So what exactly does that mean?"
"Yaks want more crops. Secrets of Equestrian farming. Wheat and sugar imports doubled. Embassy in Crystal Empire and Canterlot."
Not too bad so far.
"And yaks want the Crystal Mountains. Want to mine it instead of ponies."
Ah, now the other shoe dropped.
Cadance, Celestia and I exchanged a tired glance before Cadance took a deep breath to counter.
"Prince Rutherford, we can do everything you want up to giving you the Crystal Mountains. I'm sorry, but it isn't happening."
"Ponies don't want war! Yaks want things perfect, so ponies will do everything that yaks want!" Rutherford snarled. "Otherwise yaks will go to war and take everything anyway, including all of Crystal Empire!"
"Prince Rutherford, I was under the impression that you came here to negotiate, not make demands," Cadance said with a frown. "I will not allow you to hold my country hostage." Cadance glared at him and got to her hooves. "The Crystal Mountains have been a part of the Crystal Empire since before Celestia and Luna. We protect and cherish them as we would our foals. I will not allow you to turn them into strip mines, is that clear?"
"Crystal ponies can't protect them once yaks invade!" Rutherford replied snootily. "Yaks promise to take good care of them, but we want them to help our economy!" Rutherford nodded as though he'd made a rather solid argument. "Yaks not unreasonable. Will trade resources from mountains with Crystal Empire."
Cadance narrowed her eyes and flared out her wings. Good going, Rutherford. Piss off the alicorn with the best special ops force in the world.
"Rutherford, I know that you think the Crystal Army is a joke. I know that everybody in the world does, but I think you'll be quite surprised at what happens when you try to fight us."
"Yak army twice the size of Crystal Army!" Rutherford retorted. "What could crystal ponies do to our army?"
A smug smile crossed Cadance's face as she quietly chuckled at Rutherford. "We have weapons hidden all over the city. My ponies have gotten very good at fighting with crossbows as of late. Should you invade with a force twice the size of my army, my ponies will shoot twice, then go home."
I knew she'd use that line after I told her about the Swiss. To be fair, I totally would too.
Rutherford didn't seem as pleased as Cadance by her statement. I could practically see steam pouring out of his ears.
"Ponies can't talk to yaks like that!" he roared. "There will be no peace between our nations! I leave and come back with more yaks! We declare war!"
Cadance tilted her head in thought for a moment before looking back at the two guards flanking the door to the throne room and nodding. The guards saluted her and stepped in front of the door. Oh dear. I exchanged a glance with Celestia as she leans in closer to me..
"I wouldn't interfere if I were you."
"I wouldn't either," I mumble back.
"So..." Cadance began, her voice deadly calm. "Let me try to understand what you just said. Are you saying that our two nations are currently at war as of this moment?" Rutherford grunted angrily and nodded. Cadance returned it.
It suddenly dawned on me that this Rutherford fellow might just be so stupid it bordered on tap-dancing lunacy. Even I felt uneasy at Cadance's demeanor. Heck, Shining Armor had started shifting nervously where he stood.
"Very well, I accept your declaration of war. The Crystal Empire declares war on Yakyakistan. We are now fighting and as such..." Cadance took a few steps forward and ignited her horn. "It would be foolish of me to allow an armed aggressor such as yourself to remain in my capital. As you are the prince of Yakyakistan, you are a valuable prisoner of war should I decide to go that route, which I will."
Before the yaks could respond, crystals shot out of the floor, wrapping themselves around the legs of Rutherford and his guards. They began shouting at Cadance, but a quick burst from her horn silenced them.
"So, Prince Rutherford, you will spend the entire war in my dungeons. Maybe then you'll learn that I can handle a lot of things, but promises of slaughtering my subjects is not something that I'll take lightly. I love and care for my ponies as though they were my own family. You may think that my army is a joke, but I assure you that my special forces are not. All it will take is one word from me and I'll have your entire family's heads surrounding your cell."
"Ponies can't do that!" Rutherford screeched. "Otherwise you would have done it to Purgle!"
"Your army is one fifth the size of his," Cadance responded coolly, "Purgle didn't walk straight into my throne room, armed to the teeth, and declare war right in front of me. Had you come unarmed you would be peaceful ambassadors and I would allow you to leave, but armed as you are, I can tell you that you won't see Yakyakistan for quite a while."
"Ponies are making a mistake!" Rutherford yelled. "Ponies will be destroyed!"
Even though I wished he would just shut up so that he would stop digging himself deeper, I couldn't help but notice the desperation creeping up in his voice.
"That's nice." Cadance ignited her horn again, and the crystals around the legs of Rutherford's guards receded. "So, you two I'm going to let you go. I need you to send a message to King Albert. Tell him that he has three days to get all of his females and children out of the capital of Yakyakistan. On the fourth day at dawn, Prince Antares here will personally lead a detachment of some of our finest troops to your borders. Once they're finished, Yakyakistan will be nothing more than a perfect crater in the ground.
Wait... hold on a moment, I'll what?
"Prince Antares has some new weapons he wants to try out," Cadance continued, using her magic to strip the yaks of their weapons. "He has to make sure they'll be effective against Purgle after all."
I think I missed some important meeting because this is all news to me.
"If he so wishes to end the war before it begins, I'll listen to his pleas for mercy." Cadance nodded to her guards again as they stepped out of the way of the door. "I'm keeping Rutherford, though." She waved her hoof in the direction of the door. "You are free to leave, gentleyaks. My soldiers will escort you to our borders."
Now if I was one of the yaks in this instance, I'd probably do what Cadance said, because she was freaking me out right now and I would have no way to fight her in her own throne room surrounded by a few guards and two alpha alicorns. It would just be the smart move.
No one ever called the yaks smart. I mean, maybe it was just these three that were complete idiots. I don't know.
Anyway, I think that one of the yak guards saw his chance because he pulled a hidden knife out of his coat and charged directly at Cadance. The other yak guard wasn't quite that dumb and began backing away, something I think Rutherford would be doing if he wasn't glued to the floor.
Well, obviously seeing a princess being attacked got everypony in the room in "go" mode. Celestia, Shining Armor and myself all ignited our horns, while the two door guards charged forward, spears at the ready.
Cadance turned out to be a hair faster.
Tapping into the strength that comes with being able to surround an entire city with a forcefield, Cadance caught the yak in her magic before he even got two steps in her direction, lifted him into the air, then hurled him straight through the nearest window like he was the freaking Comedian at the beginning of Watchmen. The remaining yak guard screamed in terror and ran straight for the throne room door. The door guards followed after him. I imagined that he wouldn't stop running until he made it to the border.
So... holy cow, I knew Cadance had a touch of a ruthless streak when the situation called for it, but not like that.
Nopony said a word as another pair of guards came in and took Rutherford out of the throne room. Rutherford tried to get out a few paltry words in his defense, but Cadance merely turned her back on him, completely ignoring his efforts. After a few moments the guards had taken Rutherford out, leaving just the four of us in the room.
All eyes were on Cadance but she didn't say anything for a few moments. We didn't even know what she was thinking until she started sniffling.
Shining Armor rushed up to her and pulled her in for a hug. They both sat down, allowing Cadance to nuzzle into Shining Armor's chest.
"I don't like me when I have to be like that, Shiny," Cadance whimpered, wiping her eyes with her hoof.
"I know, Cadance," Shining Armor said, rubbing his wife's back. "It's gonna be okay. They're not going to beat us."
"Yeah, about that..." I took a few tentative steps forward and lowered my head to Cadance's level. "So you said that I'm going to be leading a charge into Yakyakistan to pretty much kill everything that I see. And that I'd use some of my weapons as a 'testing ground' or something. So... was that decided just now, or...?"
"I was just trying to scare him," Cadance muttered. "After everything I said, I don't think King Albert will want to come anywhere near us. We have his son, too. That should help, I guess."
"I guess," I echoed. "But do you have plans if he still wants to go to war?"
"King Albert is a little more level-headed than his son," Celestia chimed in. "He's much more of a pragmatist when faced with difficult situations."
A wry smile crossed my face as I allowed myself a little chuckle. "I was more level-headed and pragmatic when I ripped a house in half to stop a foal abuser. I'm rather surprised that King Albert allowed his son to have this mission at all."
"Well, Rutherford will be king in the event of Albert's passing," Celestia mused. "I suppose that he wanted his son to have some diplomatic experience so that when he was king, he'd know not to do..." Celestia grimaced and flattened her ears. "Exactly what he just did."
"Can we talk about all of this later, Auntie?" Cadance asked. "I kinda want to stop talking about the war for the day."
"Yes, of course. Antares and I can handle things from here. I would suggest taking the rest of the day off Cadance. Recenter. Come back tomorrow fresh and ready."
"Okay."
Celestia and I walked out of the throne room, leaving Cadance alone with her husband. She didn't look any better. I guess the war was getting to all of us in some ways.
Once the two of us were alone, I cleared my throat to get Celestia's attention.
"So, with that now finished, we need to talk about some things."
"I suppose we do," Celestia agreed.
"The big one is that I think that we have an informant in one of our palaces. The minotaurs didn't just guess that you're pregnant, someone on the inside told them."
"I have been having similar thoughts," Celestia admitted. "It might be more than one. I doubt it's freemind changelings. We have enough wards to expose them if they tried to get within a mile of either of our palaces. No, I believe we have at least one traitor in our midst."
"Which will further complicate moving the Elements anywhere. We can't have them in either palace as an unknown informant can easily turn into an assassin. Moving them somewhere else wouldn't work either because if this informant or informants can leak info about your pregnancy, then they'll tell the minotaurs and griffins where we hid them."
"I fear you are correct," Celestia muttered. "But at the same time, I don't like the idea of just leaving them in Ponyville. It's too exposed and they only need to get one for the Elements to cease working."
"Ponyville is in the heart of Equestria, so it would be difficult to get minotaurs or griffins in there," I reasoned. "We have Blade Wings watching every single move they make. We can ask one of them what Twilight had for dinner and they'd be able to give us that information going back a month. I think they're as safe as anypony right now."
"Perhaps."
I have to admit, I didn't fully believe it either. But until we found the informants, we couldn't move them to Canterlot or Baltimare either.
“I can’t wait until all of this is over,” I groaned. “Once we win we’ll not have to deal with these kinds of beings for a while, right?”
“Win?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Oh Antares, if there’s one thing I learned in the many wars that I’ve fought, is that nobody ‘wins’ a war. Do you think that just because one side ends up in a better position than the other, that there aren’t mothers who lie on the ground sobbing for the loss of their dead sons and daughters? That there aren’t widows who will feel forever alone now that a key part of them has been taken away? No, we will have many of those ponies in the coming days. The only side who ‘wins’ is the one that has those grieving families believe that their loved ones died for something. Whichever side ‘loses’ will lose because they see the never ending sea of gravestones and believe that it was all for nothing.”
“Then what can we do, Celestia?” I muttered. “What now?”
Celestia sighed and nuzzled against my side. “We make them believe that there’s a point to all of this bloodshed.”
“But in the end there’s not. Not really.”
“Of course not. In the end this is all because of one madman’s pride. Someday another will arise and we shall go through this again. It is the way of things. But we’ll have to make them believe otherwise.”
You may think that Rutherford was an idiot this whole chapter, but... if anything I made him smarter from what he was in the show.
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Dayum.
I think you just made Cadence my favorite princess.
Missing quotation.
I liked this chapter much more than the last. Rutherford was an abrasive idiot, but he wasn't a smug fuckface about things.
Cadence has never been more scary.
Declaring war while armed inside the palace of your "enemies" is not the smartest move one can make. It's not like they have guns with which to suddenly shoot the "enemy" leader in such a case.
It's really sad that you're right... he might have made stupid moves, but the intentions behind them were sorta clever, attempting to force Cadance's hooves. Unfortunately, he didn't think them true...
Anyway, I really dislike that ambassador. Dude's more than a thorn...
The problem is, you have been giving idiot balls to every villain in this story.
Considering ponies are the only side with spellcasting plus the sheer power of the alicorns, no ruler with an inch of common sense should have ever considered declaring war against Equestria before passing the Industrial Revolution and developing modern weaponary.
6695648 Just trust me. We haven't even gotten to the fighting yet.
– that yak guard, in the seconds before his splattery death
If a future chapter features an assassination attempt on his kid, I vote titling it Attack on Titus.
6695648
I seem to recall that Nightmare Weapons are a thing in this story, though. If Purgle really has them, or has at least convinced his allies that he does, then it's not unreasonable for the baddies to think they have a chance of winning.
Damn, Cadence was quite the badass in this chapter and Rutherford really was dumb to declare war against her in her own throne room. I hope that Antares makes that Minotaur ambassador pay in the next chapters. Anyway, this chapter was great and I hope to see the next one soon.
6695675 And he does. Word of God right now. Him and Cromwell totally have them. And armies much larger than the one Equestria has.
That was intense.
Really, you're naming the foal after a Final Fa-
... Quick, forget I said anything before I look stupid on the Internet!!
{Too late, he was a famous miltary commander/Roman Emperor}
DANG IT!
Ah, I thought I was forgetting something; talking abut yaks. I think the whole beef they had was because the Mane 6 tried passing off certain things underr a Yakyakistinian title, or that which wasn't auhentic. It's like if you gave Kratos greek salad, but the person who cooked it only took basic culinary; someone's going to get their spine removed one way or another. Therefore, the only way that they would rise against the ponies would be if they mocked them unwittingly, or if they were "tipped off" that they were mocked in some way.Hopefully, everything can be peacefuly resolved without worrying abo-
Darn you Element of Alternate Interpretations; you're my favorite and least favorite element all at once! Now the yaks just triggered the denial flag, preceding a "We Declare War!" flag, followed up with a "We got Butts Kicked!" flag... then again, Chrysalis didn't seem too bothered by foals that prey on her own kind, so maybe things will be different.
Oho, is this a point of interest I see?... Heheheh, now what shall you do, Prince Antares? You've been doing pretty well orchestrating a war front against an enemy you don't particularly care for, but what will you do when a friend expects you to do the same against an enemy you feel slight pity for? Will you simply be shocked by the claim, but do it because of what it means to be in a war, or will you come to a sense of introspection on what it means to make the best decision? MWAHAHAHAHA!!
Heheh, heheh... heh. I've got to say, you had me going there for a bit. Nice touch, you "Chose the Third Option", so to speak.
Whoa... that was DEEP! Usually people say that war has no winners, but here, you're doing that, but explaining how a nation feels like it's "won" a war.
Hmm... comparing a guy who declared war on a country that insulted his own with a mockery of his culture... with a guy who came into a country, armed, made unreasonable demands, belittled the people he negotiated with, and didn't recognize when he was already licked... are you really sure about that? Not an insult against your craft, of course, just an observation on your judgement. I mean, Twilight never retaliated in the show, so we wouldn't be able to surmise an approximation of Canon!Rutherford's take on the situation... oh well, it's all a bunch of semantics anyhow; see ya.
Well, nice timing.
I just finished rereading the lot a few hours earlier.
In other questions...
Are either Alicorn of the Sun or the Moon capable of, say, halting the progression of either major celestial body as a tactical resource?
And we all know they are all capable of drawing power from their respectable sources...
But have they themselves realized that yet? Or are they too afraid?
6695712 Well they could, I suppose. You know, if they wanted to also mess things up for their ponies. It's not like they're all on different planets here. If they make it day in Minotauria for a week, then it's also night in Equestria for a week.
so....she just threw him out of the window then.....
no "telekinetic squish"? or anything to prove to the other Yaks that she actually killed him?
for all they know that yak could have been a spy, and was thrown out the window, just to fall onto a pile of cushions or something..
I'm hoping you made a typo of that clan name and just forgot a letter. Clan Banang would be so hilarious.
6695718
Which is also a thing that is true.
sigh.
War is a depressing subject, isn't it?
6695718 CURSE YOU ROUND PLANETS!
Dam Cadence... you scary.
Man I know there is only one human in this story but the more I read the more I had this image of TD receiving a army of the navy from Earth or something Lord of the Rings style, saying that TD is a human that rise like no other and 'conquer' all odds to achieve what he achieved, so now and to show that he still has a home on Earth humans will be by his side on this war.
So Iron Will isn't a minotaur after all...
images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130311194338/my-little-pony-chaos-to-magia/pl/images/thumb/5/51/IW.png/250px-IW.png
He's actually just a bipedal bull masquerading as a minotaur! He was a regular bull who FELT like a minotaur, so he had a tauroplasty!
6695704
Unless you launch a preemptive nuclear strike after disabling the other nation's nukes with your superior genetically engineered spy rats.
Then it's FLAWLESS VICTORY for you!
(Alondro has many plans...)
6695689 Then there is one thing the ponies need to win. Only one thing. With one punch...
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/d/dd/Saitama_OK.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140324041430&path-prefix=protagonist
(I am sooooo going to get endless use out of this manga...)
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6695664 I am already racist against minotaurs because of this story! If they start slaughtering ponies, the first minotaur aliens who show up on Earth are going to be exterminated by my genetically engineered anti-minotaur superviruses!
DO YOU WANT TO MAKE ME DO THAT?!
Hey, if you need changeling OCs you can use my hive. Description,
The shadow hive is the most mysterious of the changeling hives in that they don't need to change into ponies to get love. They get love by absorbing ambient love in their surroundings when they hitchhike in the shadows of other races. They have the ability to dissolve into living shadows to hide and spy on the governments of the many races of the world, including other changeling hives.
Their shell and eye color is a deep emerald color with bioluminescence on the tip their horns. They live in emerald mines that they mine emeralds so that they can make three weapons that are unique to only them. The solders have a gauntlet on their right foreleg that has an emerald inside that when the changeling's magic is used on it, it ignites into a green blade. This emerald points away from the solder's body. The honor guards of the changeling hive have a staff that has an emerald pointing upwards on the inside top of it, when its ignited the blade forms a trident shape. The king's staff has two emeralds, one on top pointing to the front and one on the bottom pointing to the back of the staff. When the two emeralds are ignited they form two curved blades with the top one curved downwards and the bottom one curved upwards.
They are ruled by a king named Zulu, The Watcher. He is a patient minded ruler who is very friendly with some of the mayors of Equestria, including the mayors of Manehattan, Filydelphia, and Ponyville by keeping track of what happens in the two cities and one town and recording them and giving a written report for the mayors with out anypony else knowing about him and his hive. He controls a huge spy network around the world so that he will always know the happenings of the world.
They also have recordings of all of the histories of the other races ever since they were formed. This includes history of the events that happened during Discord's rule over the ponies of Equestria when all other history of it was lost.
Let me know if this works for you, ok?
I'm sorry but, well,
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/c/cd/Iron_Will_ID.png/revision/latest?cb=20140816233533
that's a load of bull.
I guess that's one way to ignore the socioeconomic circumstances that led to this war. Keep telling yourself that, sitting in your ivory tower while Minotaurs and Yaks wallow in misery and poverty and you can't even guarantee the loyalty of your own weapon manufacturers because they have no other motivation than profits.
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6695840 I kept trying to visualize Iron Will to see if I could remember if he had a tail or not. And was too lazy to actually look it up. My bad. I'll fix that.
6696048
When? When did I ever say that this was the case? In fact, I seem to recall mentioning that cities like Iselin and Schunie actually do pretty well for themselves. If the scale is "it's as good as Equestria or everyone is wallowing in poverty" then your scale might be a bit off.
That's some of them, not all of them. It's such a tiny minority. Antares says several times that there are weapons dealers in Equestria beyond the ones in Las Pegasus. And it's not that the weapons dealers are going to start selling to Purgle if Antares doesn't start doing everything he can to please them, they're more annoyed at that there was a way things were, and Antares came along and changed things.
Gee, I can't think of anyone who went through that and didn't like it.
And guess what? If Purgle was on the same economic level as Equestria, then he'd still be doing this. He's not out for money or anything like that. At least, not foremost. He's out to prove that he's the dominant player in the world. The griffins want some of that power, so they hitched a ride with him. Under the orders of an emperor who just took power and wants legitimacy.
If Purgle came to Equestria and said "we're all starving, but you do nothing, this is why we hate you" then yes, your points would stand. But Purgle said "we're afraid that that you're going to try to take over the whole world" despite knowing that wasn't the case. He just wanted a war to, in his mind, knock Equestria down a few pegs. Equestria is the hegemonic power in the world in this fic, yes, but that doesn't mean that everyone is wallowing in poverty. The US and China are economic powerhouses. So does that mean that literally every other country in the world is completely destitute? Of course not.
...So, is Equestria going to make demands out of Yakyakistan now? They've got the heir to the throne. I suppose they've got the hostage they need to get the Yaks on their side. Unless they're unwilling to execute him and follow on their threats. No, really, they've got the most important hostage possible, short of the king himself. This is bad for Equestria how?
Maybe I'm not being fair. This is only chapter six of something that seems obviously built for the long run. We're in the set-up. Unfortunately, fanfics mean it's all your audience's got until more is revealed. The longer this part goes on, the more incredulous I feel. Is there actually an antagonist I should be afraid of? You've built Equestria so damn high I'm just shrugging at most lines about the terribleness of war. We have concerns of spies. Potential internal strife and lower morales. That strikes fear like a rotten potato. It can be damn unpleasant, but it kind of lacks the impact to actually make your readers concerned
(or maybe just me).Still, well, huh, let's try to actually be fair. Antares, you have the worst poker face. Or maybe not, you sounded damned shock that someone would threaten others with exactly what you've been saying to the minotaurs from the start. Sheesh, I'm surprised you didn't see that coming. It'll be the go-to threat, the hot potato thrown around between enemies/allies. How will you actually react when you have to go through with it? That'll be interesting.
Also, hmmm, I have to ask who actually decided to interview the ambassador of the enemy nation on the kind of matter that is obviously national security. To be on the safe side, I would have asked to look at the owner's bank account or background. Maybe.
By the way, what was that part at the beginning about minotaurs lacking a tail? Was that some sort of incredibly layered bout of sarcasm? Because it didn't look like it in the slightest. They do have tails, and the follow-up on the line imply otherwise. What?
Overall... I really could have done without another dumbass antagonist added to the roster. It was kind of a predictable thing to sit through, without anything particularly interesting about it.
At this point, I'll be voting for dragons to get involved. Against Equestria.6696133 Antares was shocked at what Cadance was saying because Cadance didn't discuss it with Antares first. She just said "so yeah, Antares is going to completely destroy your nation. Including your women and children if you don't get them out fast enough." That was the problem.
And it's not like Cadance thinks that they're in a bad position with the yaks, it's that she just doesn't like playing threatening warlord. Of course they have all of the leverage against Yakyakistan now. Cadance doesn't like playing the "bad guy" so to speak.
The next chapter should put all of this to rest.
Yeah, that was a simple mistake on my part. I fixed that.
Yak go BOOM!
Cadance go WHAM!
I think Cadence is going through PMS right now.
"It's always the same! When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning: SIT DOWN AND TALK!!!"---The Doctor, from The Zygon Inversion. A powerful and relevant quote for this chapter, and I felt that this sentiment was reflected in Celestia's speech about "Winning" a war. Props to you, sir.
6696048 Feh, the minotaurs are poor cuz they keep fighting each other.
The yaks are poor because they're clearly all brain-damaged.
Inferior races who must be... cleansed... Heil Celestia! *and suddenly, Pony Nazis*
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131101093828/spinpasta/images/3/37/Hitler.jpg
And that's when Antares realizes that, yes, he is actually inside a cartoon.
you do realise the minotaur ambassador peaceful or not has revealed he is actively seeing an informant and is discrediting the government, in any giverment in a time of war this is gorunds enough to force him to stay entirely in his embassy and have enough weapons pointed at him that if he so much as sneezes on equestrian soil he becomes a pin cusion right?
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Marlier's not just a thorn - he's starting to become a whole thicket of stinging nettles. Pleasantly green from afar, but prickly, then painful indeed. I suppose, however, that this makes him the perfect diplomat in a wartime engagement, however foolish it might be to antagonize several godlike creatures on the surface.
In contrast, I liked how you portrayed Prince Rutherford here. I doubt that his father will be offering too much for his release - I suspect that being the (well-treated) prisoner of a foreign nation for some time will be edifying to the young prince. Pity that it practically eliminates much chance of the Yaks joining the Equestrian Alliance.
Lastly, the Crystal Empire being the equivalent of Switzerland - I have to admit it, I splorfed.
Oh this gun be real good.
Remind me to never make Cadence mad. It's always the nice ones. We've seen Celestia mad, we've seen Luna mad, but I don't think we've seen Cadence actually angry in the show... except maybe for an instant at the wedding, before it was replaced with fear.
And I doubt I'm the only one who wants to shoot Marller.
In fact, I think people who don't are the vast minority.
Didn't you mean Stalliongrad? Or have you decided not to ponify it?
about the "Ambassador": Politics are a bitch, ain't they Antares?
6695675 In the care of the Nightmare weapons, if you kill Antares, you could force a surrender. If you kill Celestia or Luna you could doom the planet XD
6697067 Antares used to be a human. He'd know what Stalingrad looked like after the Nazis got there.
I don't think you should quit your job just because of us. The way I see it is if Patron can't come through you will still need a stable source of income. I feel strongly opinionated towards this and am willing to stand the long beaks between chapters. In my eyes the quality of your writing is worth the wait. If you feel otherwise then go ahead but I'd at least recommend a part time job if things go to shit. Other than that I can't wait to see the next chapter.
this chapter is really good, but it hade one part that really stood out to me.
there is no winner in war
Harts Fire
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I got that impression from TD's stay in Minotaur land in Wanderings of a non-brony. And are you sure it's the cities that do pretty well for themselves, and not just a tiny ruling clique siphoning the wealth of the working masses and directing their hatred at a foreign scapegoat? Obviously there must be something wrong or Purgle wouldn't be able to raise an army for a war of aggression.
Then this is caused by the hierachic structure of the Griffin and Minotaur states which allow some bloodthirsty warmonger to get in power in the first place.
In the end it all stems from the very existence of different, independent and competing states. There would be and could be no war in a world where every pony, neigh being, was equal and united under one banner. (I really got to change my avatar to a picture of Starlight Glimmer again.)
6696430 That is literally the opposite of what I am advocating. They are but victims of their material circumstances, and they need to be liberated and
brainwashedenlightened so that they may enjoy the perks of living in a free, orderly and equal society.