The Stone Queen

by albedoequals1

Chapter 5: Politics

Three Weeks Later

O was worried. None of the Fresian bigwigs had come when they were invited, but now half a dozen of them had arrived at the camp waving an olive branch. O checked that his new fancy clothes were presentable, then glanced quickly around the camp. He had no idea where Inferno was at the moment, but it was probably best not to keep these ponies waiting. He swallowed and approached them. “Welcome to our humble camp. I assume you are here to speak with our queen?”

Several of the ambassadors raised their eyebrows at O, but one of them answered, “Yes, we have come to meet Inferno.”

“I am her advisor, Sir O, Starlight Shining on the Clear Sky. Please follow me.” He led them to the command tent and ushered them inside. “Please, have a seat. I’ll go notify her Highness of your arrival.” O calmly backed out of the tent. Then he took off at a gallop, checking down every row of tents for Inferno.

Inferno, meanwhile, was sparring with Liquor and three other ponies at once. She jabbed with her blunted spear and swung her shield around, keeping three of them busy, but Liquor ran around behind her and rolled under her legs, sending her sprawling in the mud. The other three moved in to “finish her off” but she held them at bay with her shield while she scrambled to her hooves.

As she recovered her footing and position, she caught a glimpse of O running away from the command tent. “Hold.” Her opponents stopped and Inferno set down her shield, panting heavily. “That was good, you almost had me, but I think something is going on over there.” She nodded towards the tent and grabbed her shield again, walking in that direction.

She had recently received two slaves as a gift, twin sisters, nearly identical except for their red and blue manes. They both came running from the direction of the tent to meet her. “Mistress, there are a bunch of important ponies in the tent! What should we do?”

Inferno frowned. “I need to go meet them.” She glanced down at her sweaty, mud-smeared body. “Fotia, get a platter of food. Nera, help me wash the worst of this off.”

By the time Fotia returned with a plate of sliced vegetables, Inferno was much cleaner, though now she was soaking wet. She shook herself, then trotted up to Fotia. “Thank you, fillies. That will just have to do.” She grabbed the edge of the platter with her mouth and went into the tent.

The six Fresian dignitaries gave her an indifferent glance, then turned back to face each other. “Well, at least they sent food. About time.”

Inferno’s ears pinned back in shame. She was a terrible hostess. She meekly carried the tray to each of the ponies in the tent, not speaking for fear of dropping it.

“When you’re done with that, polish my hooves.”

Inferno’s face burned with anger. How dare this fat slob order her about like a common...slave. She realized they didn’t know who she was. She was naked and serving them food, so of course they thought she was a slave. Had she treated her own slaves any differently a moment ago? Deciding to play along, she set down the platter and grabbed a cloth, kneeling on the ground in front of the pony and polishing his hooves.

“I tell you what, that mare leading this bunch of misfits doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing. She released the prisoners from the last few battles. Anypony with a brain would have made them slaves.”

“I heard she was just a hoplite who got promoted by attrition, so she must at least know how to fight.”

“That doesn’t mean anything; the soldiers Sorraia puts on the field might as well be untrained slaves. The best fighter in a rabble is still a novice.”

“And she has the nerve to ask for our recognition! If not for that silly rumor of her being immortal we could have destroyed her long ago, but it’s hard to find soldiers these days that aren’t superstitious. When we make an example of her, the other rebels should scatter.” He kicked Inferno in the muzzle. “Faster!”

Inferno’s blood boiled, but she maintained the illusion of the spineless slave, cowering from the kick and polishing faster.

“Hey, don’t damage that one. I think I want her in my share of the spoils. She’s got nice musculature.”

“Dividing the spoil already? Don’t we have to kill the mare leading this rabble first?”

“It’s practically done already. She just has to drink the wine and it’s all over.”

“What if this one tells on us?” He pointed at Inferno.

“She won’t tell, she knows we’re her only chance to come out of this alive.”

Inferno felt all eyes on her, and turned her head away, looking at the floor. The others laughed.

“See? She knows her place. Here, slave, lick the dirt out of my hoof.”

Inferno caught herself just short of lunging at the stallion. She had already heard too much, and there was no way she could win a fight against all six of them when they were armed and she was not. Her only chance was to keep playing the part. She crawled on her knees to the stallion’s outstretched hoof and did as he ordered. Motion in her peripheral vision drew her eyes to the tent flap as O entered. He froze in horror, but her eyes warned him to keep her identity secret a little longer. She licked up the hoof a ways, then thrust her head forward, grabbed her oppressor’s sword out of his scabbard and held it against his throat. “O, block the door,” she growled.

O drew his sword and stood in the exit.

“Liquor!”

The Sorraian came rushing into the tent.

“Collect my guards and bring them here, quickly.”

“Right away!” Liquor ran back outside and started calling for the queen’s guard.

“It was you all along,” one of Inferno’s guests belatedly exclaimed. “The scar on your chest, I should have realized.”

“We thought you were a slave,” said another.

“I know. And your honesty was the only way you treated that poor slave any differently than you would treat me. In fact, if you had treated one of my slaves like that, I would kill you anyway.”

One of the six drew his sword and leapt at Inferno with a shout, spurring the others to do the same.

Inferno dodged the first thrust and plunged her stolen sword into the attacker’s throat, using his body as a shield against the next two, who circled on either side of their fallen ally and came at Inferno together. She repeated her maneuver on one of them, dropping him next to his ill-fated leader, but the second slashed Inferno’s neck with his sword, missing her throat by mere inches. O had defeated another of the enemy, but was stalled fighting a second. Inferno and her foe stood still for a moment, watching for their chance. He lunged first, aiming a stab at Inferno’s chest. She dodged to the side, but his blade still found her shoulder. Then he dropped to the floor with the others, Inferno’s stolen sword sticking out of his spine.

Inferno heard a crash and a groan behind her and spun around in time to see the pony she had disarmed pitch forward onto the floor. Behind him were Fotia and Nera, one holding a broken pot and the other a dented platter. Inferno glanced over at O in time to see him kill the last of the enemy, then looked back at her unexpected allies.

“He picked up a sword,” Nera explained, hiding behind her blue mane.

“And he was sneaking up behind you,” Fotia added.

“Inferno, you’re hurt!” O came the rest of the way into the tent to stand near the others.

“Yes, O, I know that.” Inferno rolled her eyes.

“What were they doing to you?”

“The same as they would have done to any slave.” She looked at the sisters, who were already binding her wounds unbidden. “But I want to be better than that. Why did you two save me?”

“We love you, Mistress!”

“You are much kinder than our last master.”

Inferno frowned. “Am I? These villains turned my stomach, but they also reminded me of how I treat my own slaves.” She cleared her throat. “You are free. I know it is late to do what I should have done immediately, but I will ask no more service from you.”

The sisters looked at each other in disbelief, then turned back to Inferno and bowed low on the ground in front of her. “May the gods always smile on you, for you are kind and wise,” Fotia said.

“Stop that!” Inferno snapped. “I’m no better than you, except for good luck. Go do whatever you want.”

“We want to follow you, our queen,” Nera said without hesitation.

“Let us continue to serve you in freedom,” Fotia agreed.

“If you’re sure…” Inferno eyed them doubtfully.

They both nodded.

“Well, ‘Sir O’, when free mares act with courage and loyalty, it is traditional to reward them, is it not?”

“Indeed it is, my queen,” O replied with a smug grin.

“Since it is so easy to become an honorable pony in this army”—she paused to give O a significant glance—“I hereby name you Lady Fotia and Lady Nera, trusted companions of the queen.”

The twins squealed and hugged each other. Then they ran outside and started telling everypony what the queen had done.

Liquor came running up to the tent door with the rest of the queen’s guard behind him. “Your highness!”

“I’m okay, Liquor. These snakes tried to bite, but their poison was too weak. Nopony drink that wine, though.” Inferno sighed and looked at the bodies on the floor. “There goes any chance of a peaceful campaign. It’s going to be war from here on, until we grow too strong for them to attack.”

O watched the new noblemares running excitedly from one tent to another. “I don’t think it will be long now.”

Author's Note:

The two slaves that Inferno freed are not named in the original legend, so I just made up names for them that sounded cool.