Blueblood's War

by OTCPony

Prologue

Winter had come early to Trottingham. The sky was dark, the air was chill, and puddles left by a shower of cold rain that morning dotted the streets.

Second Lieutenant Golden Match grimaced as her boot splashed into one of those pools. Winter had not been due for another month yet, but those plans had been set in the summer, in another city by another government, and since then everything had changed.

And yet despite, or perhaps because of that, the evening streets of Trottingham were as alive as Golden Match had ever seen them. Newly-minted soldiers in their new uniforms trotted around looking for inns or girls, while ponies old and young alike gossiped on the pavements or at the corners. Golden heard snatches of rumour as she passed. General Neigh was marching on Princess Twilight at Asshaye! No, he had been defeated and was retreating to Canterlot with Princess Celestia in pursuit! Nonsense, he had wrong-hoofed Celestia and was marching deep into Horsetria!

Golden smiled and shook her head as she walked on. She moved quickly: an officer’s uniform was sure to draw a barrage of questions from ponies desperate for news, but in truth there was little to give. Though the Equestrian Civil War was nearly a month old, little had happened. Both sides recruited, trained, mobilised and watched, but did little else.

She found the old, small pub on the corner of the street. The Good Shepherd was a favourite of hers. She was starving, and the officers’ mess at Trottingham Barracks had become far too serious for her of late. If her fellow officers were not debating the Revolution or arguing politics, they were poring over maps trying to work out where the first blow would fall. Golden could not be bothered with that: that was her job, not her hobby.

She pushed her way through the battered wooden door of The Good Shepherd pub, and into a common room heaving with ponies. Many of them were in uniform, and barmaids clutching foaming tankards pushed their way through the crowds. The welcoming smell of beer and cider hung over it all. The room was lit by golden light, and the noise was incredible. Everypony was huddled over their tables locked in feverish discussion about the only thing that mattered: the war.

"Goldie!" cried somepony from across the pub. Golden spotted the Pegasus waving from a booth. Clinkscales was a merchant working out of Baltimare, but was Trottingham by birth and the two of them had been friends since school.

Golden pushed her way through the crowds and over to the booth. Clinkscales, she saw, was sharing it with three other smartly-dressed ponies. She hugged Clinkscales. "How are you, Clink?"

"In body, blooming. In mind, uncertain. And in purse..." She shrugged. "In Mareope they say war is good for business, but in Baltimare now all we see is high prices and declining trade."

Golden chuckled. "And that's why you invited me to supper? To be reassured by a loyal soldier of the Republic?"

"Oh no, I am here to show you that neither war nor revolution will separate old friends. But as for my other friends, when they heard I was to have dinner with an officer... well. May I introduce Lovely Lucre, Silver Leaf, and Bull Market."

Lovely Lucre was a pretty Unicorn mare and Bull Market was a solid- and prosperous-looking Pegasus stallion, though both of them looked like they had seen harder times of late. But there was something different about Silver Leaf. She had a shining white mane, and there was an intensity and determination in the Earth Pony's eyes that her fellow merchants seemed to have lost, almost a hunger that not even war could stifle.

"What's everypony having then?" asked Golden. Given that trade was suffering, it seemed only right that she paid.

"Oh nonsense, Goldie!" cried Clinkscales. “Here, a souvenir from my last trip to Prance.”

She dug around under the table and pulled several bottles of Prench champagne from a saddlebag. “Might be the last time we see anything like this for a while.”

Clinkscales broke open the first bottle, and they drank for several minutes, swapping pleasantries and looking over the bar menu. The prices had risen something fearsome since her last visit, Golden noticed.

“I wonder, Lieutenant,” said Silver Leaf coolly after a couple of glasses of champagne and after Clinkscales had returned from placing their orders. “Whether you can tell us anything of your Army’s plans for Baltimare?”

Golden Match took a drink. “I’ll tell you only facts: Baltimare is a strategic port that provides access to the Promethic Ocean and has excellent communications with the interior. If one side does not claim it the other certainly will.”

“Baltimare has declared for neither the Royalists nor the Parliamentarians. We desire only peace.”

“These are not peaceful times. This war is entirely of Celestia’s making.”

“Yet you are closer. This city is the heart of your movement, and now it’s said that you’ve dispatched troops to support Parliamentarian rioters in Fillydelphia?”

“Those soldiers were sent to protect Parliamentarian supporters from Royalist rioters.”

Silver Leaf gave a wry smile. “Regardless, the net around Baltimare is clearly tightening. Trade is suffering for it. Nearly all commerce is diverting north to Manehattan instead.”

“Who can blame ‘em?” grunted Bull Market, who’d had more champagne than any of them. “No war, and there’s actually a proper government there.”

Golden raised an eyebrow. “Proper government?” she asked, and Lovely Lucre looked worried.

“A Princess,” slurred Bull Market. “Luna’s there, building an army. Then there’s Shining Armor in the north, and Celestia and that Twilight Sparkle out east. They’ve got you surrounded, and I don’t fancy holding a spear against them.”

“So you think the Princesses are our legitimate government then, Bull?” asked Golden.

“Well they’ve always been, haven’t they? Maybe Radical Road had some good ideas at first, but that doesn’t mean we should just kick them out.”

“But if they proved incompetent at ruling, what then? What about the war? The economy?”

“Still doesn’t justify another war.”

Clinkscales, who had been listening intently, laughed. “You remind me of a riddle I heard on my last trip to the Dragon Kingdoms, Goldie.”

“Oh yes?”

“Yes. The Dragons talk a great deal about power, you know. I suppose it’s because they’re such powerful creatures. Anyway, suppose three ponies sit in a room: a Princess, such as Celestia; a rich merchant, such as these fine ponies; and a priest of the Spirits. Between them stands a simple soldier such as yourself. The Princess says to the soldier; ‘Kill the other two, for I am your rightful ruler.’ The merchant says; ‘Kill them, for I will make you rich.’ The priest says; ‘Kill them, for the Spirits command it.’ Who do you suppose the soldier listens to?”

“The merchant, surely?” said Lovely Lucre. “For the money?”

“Yet why should the soldier not kill the merchant in the name of the Princess or the priest, and take his money?”

“The priest,” said Bull Market, in a tone of voice which showed exactly what he thought of this game. “That way you can take the money, and if the Spirits are real, you get their favour.”

“But if our only loyalty is to money or to the Spirits, why should we listen to governments, be they Princesses or Parliamentarians?”

“Because governments have other soldiers who can defend them and force you to do what they want,” said Silver Leaf.

“Then it is soldiers who have the true power, but why should these soldiers obey anyone, be it for faith, wealth or crowns, when they can just take what they please?”

“Which is why we must be bound by laws and honour,” said Golden Match. “So the innocent are protected and there can be merchants and priests.”

“So the Princess, then?”

“So the government.”

“And yet soldiers just overthrew the government, the one we have had in Equestria for a thousand years,” said Silver Leaf.

“That government had ceased to have Equestria’s best interests at heart,” said Golden Match. “It had disregarded Parliament and had allowed businesses to destroy the economy and thousands of ponies’ livelihoods without consequence.”

“So it is its concern for the public that legitimises power?”

“In a word, yes.”

“Yet are those other ponies in Prancenburg, Braytain, Horsetria and the Crystal Empire not also legitimising the Princesses by arming for them? By supporting their armies?”

“Good ponies will fight for the Princesses out of loyalty and belief that they are still their rightful rulers,” said Golden Match firmly. “But the monarchy has proven itself incapable over the past year. The Princesses fight only for their own power and wealth and have given us this civil war. We fight for a better tomorrow and to restore the peace they took from us.”

Bull Market snorted into his champagne. “There’s a quote for you. ‘Fighting for peace’!”

“And what do you say we civilians can do to ensure peace, Lieutenant?” asked Silver Leaf.

“Reject the counter-revolution,” said Golden Match loyally. “Support the Convention and adopt the new constitution, so the army can end the civil war and restore Equestria.”

Clinkscales laughed and clapped a hoof on her shoulder. “You make a convincing Parliamentarian, Goldie! Perhaps one of these days you’ll be a Deputy yourself!” She cracked open a second bottle of champagne. “Ah, and here comes our food!”

They stayed there finishing Clinkscales’ champagne until well into the small hours. They talked no more of politics, but instead swapped traders’ tales and listened as Bull Market laughed uproariously at his own stories of strange, distant shores. But throughout it all, Golden Match had a sense that Silver Leaf was staring intently at her, though whenever she looked over she was looking aware. Golden finally bade farewell to them at two in the morning, and as she staggered home through the cold, dark, deserted streets, she was secretly glad to get away.

She signed herself back in at the gate of Trottingham Barracks, slurring an apology to an unsympathetic-looking sentry. She was looking forward to a few hours in bed and probably a late breakfast when she entered the officers’ mess, only to be met by another Lieutenant hurrying down the staircase. “Golden!”

“Yeah, Starburst? What is it?”

“Being trying to find you for hours! All the artillery officers are wanted in the main lecture theatre at ten!”

“Ten?” croaked Golden Match, already feeling a thumping headache coming on.

“Yeah,” said Starburst. His eyes were alive. “Word in the mess is that they’re planning the big one. We’re going to get the new recruits trained, the new guns proofed, and the second winter breaks, we move: offensives on three fronts, north, west and east!”

“Baltimare, then?”

Starburst grinned. “Baltimare.”

Golden Match’s eyes were heavy. “Right, I’ll see you there. Going to need a snooze and a couple of coffees first though.”

Climbing the stairs to the officers’ rooms felt like climbing a mountain. The warmth of the mess had been welcome when she’d come in, but now it felt stifling, oppressive. Suddenly everything she’d told Clinkscales and her friends seemed to ring hollow. In a few months she’d be with an army marching on their city, and she doubted that what she’d told them would be enough to make them open the gates.

She opened the door to her room on the third floor of the mess. The officers’ rooms were small things, sparsely and cheaply furnished, but right now she felt that the sight of her bed was the most welcoming thing she’d ever seen. She stepped forward into her room, and then there was an explosion of green light as something caught her in the back of the head, and she collapsed into darkness.

When she came to, light was streaming through her room’s window, capturing the pony standing over her in silhouette. She could not make out its face. Golden felt blood trickling from the back of her head. She could barely move without it erupting in a spike of agony.

“Help…” Golden croaked. “Help…”

“Your friends can’t hear you, I’m afraid,” said her captor. The pony standing over her leaned forwards slightly, into the light. Golden’s jaw dropped.

“Silver?!”

“I know the pain you must be feeling now,” Silver Leaf said softly. “But know that it is nothing like the pain you and your fellow soldiers have caused me.”

Golden coughed weakly. “What… what are you talking about? We never did anything to you!”

Silver’s face contorted with rage. “No?! Has it been so long that you have forgotten?! Are a few months all it takes for you worthless creatures to forget your crimes?!”

Golden felt another spike of pain shoot through her. What was going on?!

“That I need you is almost revolting,” continued Silver. “But I have been searching for useful ponies for weeks, and you are the most appropriate. An officer, ambitious, loyal, and most importantly, political. I must thank Clinkscales for supper for you.”

And then, Silver changed. Green fire spread up her limbs and body, and Golden Match watched in horror as the flames swirled and vanished to reveal a different pony. The limbs were shorter and the body was thicker and more muscular. Her coat had changed to grey and her mane to dark brown, and the eyes were a piercing grey.

Golden Match was staring at herself.

“What are you?!” she whispered.

Her doppelgänger sighed. “Perhaps you’re not as intelligent as I thought. Maybe this will remind you.”

The flames swirled again, and when they cleared, they revealed the horror beneath, and Golden screamed.

“NO!” she shrieked, thrashing on the floor, desperate to get away. “We stopped you! We killed you!”

“No,” growled her captor, through fanged jaws. The creature’s gnarled horn glowed and hellish green flames began to build around Golden Match. “I will have justice for what you did though. From every last one of you. I am not dead, but soon…” And Golden shrieked in agony as the flames around her closed in. “…you will be.”

Comments

[Cobrawolf_Meiji2012]

Changelings are everywhere! Good story.

[Etimmu]

I almost missed this! Looking forward to part 2 of this series!

[BlueColton]

Finally!!!

[paladinwolf]

Late to the party here... heck I only found the story while looking for something to read... Hey, OTC, you should edit your epilogue from Armors Game to include a linky to the new story. I bet there are a lot of folks like me that never knew you continued the tale! In any event, stoked to find this continuation!
quotehd.com/imagequotes/authors9/tmb/admiral-david-g-farragut-quote-damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead.jpg Onward to the next chapter!