11 - Divergence
The alicorn glowered at Twilight, giving her flashbacks of any time in her childhood when she had done something to earn a chiding from Celestia. Trying to change the official guard rotation for her own organised schedule, doing unauthorised spell testing…
Any time the filly her of the distant past had done something wrong, however, it usually ended in a few shed tears followed by make-up hugs and lessons learned.
Whoever this alicorn, though, she doubted there was going to be any hugging involved.
His glare deepened. “I asked you a question. It would be a kindness to answer, your silence does you little credit.”
Twilight shook her head, chastising herself inwardly for being caught off guard like that. He was right, alicorn or not, she had to stay focused and answer his address.
“I apologise,” Twilight said sincerely. “I was simply expecting a unicorn on the throne, I was unaware of another alicorn’s existence.”
“Another alicorn? I would assume you speak of the fabled Celestia, ruler of Equestria.”
“Not just Celestia. Her sister, Luna. My sister-in-law, Cadance. My niece, Flurry Heart.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Four alicorns? And related to you? It appears our information on Equestria is woefully out of date.”
“I do understand you have something of a… isolationist policy.”
“We haven’t had an outsider come to these lands in many years. Those that did come before you provided information on the outside world, but events have naturally transpired in their absence.”
“Your Captain mentioned those who ‘came before’. I understand they were not to be allowed back home for the sake of your security. Pardon my directness, but might I know what exactly you did to them?”
Ignis glanced at Stout Guardian. “Captain, your words do us little credit. You make it sound like we committed murder.”
“Apologies, your Majesty. I didn’t wish to say more than I had to.”
“They live, then?”
“Time takes us all,” he responded. “It was a long time ago. But they lived their lives, albeit imprisoned. Our laws forbade trespass, they were sentenced accordingly.”
At least they weren’t murdered as Twilight had feared. Still, they were citizens of other lands, they had no right to take their freedom simply because they hadn’t known about The New Kingdom before arriving there. But that was an issue for another time. For now, she had to keep smiling.
“I see my answer bothers you.”
He apparently shared Celestia’s aptitude for observation as well.
“It is not a concern for the time at present,” Queen Twilight answered diplomatically. “But I do wonder what you intend to do with the changelings and ponies with me.”
“Changeling? Your species, I presume?”
Twilight nodded affirmatively.
“I see. Well then, er…”
“Queen Twilight Sparkle.”
“Queen Twilight, that wholly depends on this meeting. And answering my question.”
What they were doing in his country, back to his original query. All Twilight could really do was answer as honestly as possible, try to make him see their peaceful intent. If he truly was as benevolent as his assistant made him out to be, surely he would understand.
“We were unaware as to The New Kingdom’s existence. Your isolationism has worked well up until this point,” the Changeling Queen began. “I’ve expressed my relation to some of Equestria’s royalty.”
“Of which I have questions. But do continue.”
“As you say. But the ponies there wished to know what had become of their homeland, it’s been over a thousand years since they left. And this continent remains the only one the scholars of Equus have yet to map, or at least map to any kind of modern accuracy. Your imprisonment of prior expeditions made it a seldom entertained concept.”
“Showing we were right to implement it,” the Captain commented.
“Quiet, Captain,” King Ignis said. “But I suppose you had other ideas, Queen Twilight?”
“My people were willing to help, and I have always had an interest in history. With the help of the Princesses of Equestria, we prepared the largest expedition yet. I’m sure you’ve been told of our ship.”
“Indeed. A curious vessel. Your pet dragon, as well.”
“Spike. He’s my friend, not a pet.”
“Friends with a dragon? A risky endeavour, given their greed.”
“Not at all! Spike isn’t like that, nor are most dragons. Their greed is something of a shortcut, one that comes with a great cost.”
“I’m sure…” he said, clearly not convinced. “But the armaments at your disposal are most interesting for a mere scholarly expedition.”
“I’m Queen of the Equestrian Hive, my changelings like to take my safety seriously. As does Princess Celestia,” she explained. “Beyond that, we didn’t know why the other expeditions never returned. One theory was the wendigos never departed.”
“According to our own history, those beasts followed Queen Platinum and her… accomplices. For a time, we believed them all dead for their foolishness,” he recalled. “Later we learned they somehow vanquished all of their pursuers. I can only assume the fabled Starswirl the Bearded was responsible, or perhaps some other unicorn.”
“Actually, it was the coming together of all three races.”
“I find that unlikely. Only the magic of a horned pony could hope to achieve feats as great as the defeat of the wendigos.”
“There is a lot of history you’ve missed,” Twilight insisted despite his dismissal. “But the point is that we came prepared. But not to do war, only to prepare for the unknown. A lesson I’ve learnt the hard way.”
Ignis glanced her way, his eyes drawn to the scar she wore on her chest. “So I see. I must admit to holding something of a curiosity to you, you are definitely an unknown. So perhaps you can understand my hesitation at facing your expedition.”
“We are also an unknown.”
“Indeed. Might I make it clear in no uncertain terms that I do not trust you, and I will not have you threatening my little ponies.”
“I hold no intention. You care for your people, I sympathise, I care deeply for mine.”
“Is that so? Well, I still have questions. As do you. Let us speak in a more private setting, this might take some time.”
“Your Majesty?” Stout Guardian questioned with some alarm.
“Calm yourself, Stout Guardian. I can manage one outsider should she prove a bother. I am an alicorn, nothing matches the strength of our kind.”
She chose not to correct him for the moment.
“Do you mind a teleport? It is more direct than a stroll.”
“Not at all.”
He nodded, lighting his horn a deep crimson as a teleportation spell took hold. And then, in a flash and a pop, the throne room and all its guards were replaced with a simple and entirely empty study. It was decorated largely with royal reds and purples, a chamber fit for a king.
“Ah, much better,” Ignis commented. “Now… I am intrigued by your mention of a relation to other alicorns. Explain.”
And so, Twilight did. She told him about her life as condensed as she could, leaving out small details like the location of the Tree of Harmony and other such things in the interest of security for Equestria and her hive. But she told him of her life as a ‘unicorn’, her tutelage under Princess Celestia and all that followed. She told him of Equestria’s alliance with the hives and how it came to be, the Magic of Friendship that bound them all together in harmony.
All the while, King Ignis’ features remained completely neutral. He just listened, not saying a word.
And then, when she finally caught up to modern-day, he just hummed.
“This ‘Magic of Friendship’ you mentioned…” he finally said. “It seems unwise. Look at the wars you have faced. The death of your mother. Of your original ‘hive’. We have faced no such troubles.”
“It hasn’t always been easy,” Twilight admitted. “But excuse me for saying that you’re missing the point. We faced those troubles together and came out better for it. The world has known overall peace for decades now, all kinds of creatures working together for a better tomorrow. That’s what I believe.”
“Excuse me for remaining sceptical. And not entirely trusting the word of a changeling,” he retorted. “It would be better heard from Celestia and the other alicorns. But from you? I remain guarded.”
Because she wasn’t a pony.
“Then maybe you could,” Twilight suggested, not challenging his views while alone in his domain. “If you let us go, I can inform your fellow alicorns all about your existence. They can verify everything I’ve told you. That what we have works.”
“That would break our isolation.”
“All due respect, that’s happened anyway.”
“Excuse me?”
“Even if you try to keep us here, others will come searching. Even if they too vanish, there is at least one individual I know for a fact is aware of you. And that individual will almost certainly make it known if he has to.”
“Alright. Who is this person?”
“Someone far beyond any of our reaches. He hinted that something existed out here, and here you are,” she informed him. “The world is a large place. Keeping us here will only make the situation worse.”
“And Princess Celestia would not take kindly,” Ignis noted. “You make a good case. I would not wish to place my ponies in her sights due to unnecessary detention. Truth be told, I had no intention of doing so.”
“Oh?”
“You are a Queen, holding you here would be unwise to a creature of your stature. We merely wish to remain alone; our historical purity needs to be maintained.”
“Purity?”
“Our bloodline, our isolation, protected us while the wendigos chased after all who abandoned the way of Unicornia,” the King declared. “Our way of life has kept us safe. I would be curious to hear from these alicorns, but I do not desire much beyond that. You will leave The New Kingdom, you will tell others like yourself we are not to be trifled with, and then you will never return.”
“Not without an invitation.”
“I wouldn’t be expecting one,” he shot back. “Do I have your word on that?”
“You would trust it?” Twilight questioned.
“No. But for the safety of my ponies, I have little choice but to gamble.”
“Then you have my word,” Twilight promised. “So long as you can answer a few questions of my own.”
“You have earned that right, if nothing else,” he agreed. “Very well. Ask.”
“You were born here?”
“I was.”
“When? I mean, if it’s not too much prying, how old are you? Celestia and Luna are over a thousand now. Cadance is only slightly older than me, Flurry Heart is twenty years younger. And I must surmise you are younger than at least the former two, there is no record of an alicorn in the three tribes except for the princesses when they were foals. And their mother, from their own accounts, but she vanished during that time.”
Ignis gave her a curious look, leaning forward to study her.
“You take a great interest in even the most trivial of details, don’t you?”
“I have always been something of a scholar myself.”
“I see. Well, to answer your questions, I’m a little over two hundred years of age. I won’t go more specific than that, it makes me feel my age.”
“Two centuries?”
“Yes, I still remember when the moon had a mare etched on its surface,” he recounted. “Born to a ‘common’ family, actually. My alicorn status pinned me as something of a celebrity from the moment I took a breath.”
“I can imagine, it’s so rare,” Twilight mused. “But… how did you come to rule? If you were of common birth?”
Ignis sighed, standing up and trotting towards the window. He looked almost… haunted. Like he had seen some terrible things, things he would rather forget. At that moment, Twilight was able to see something about this person. Not the King who loved his people. Not the alicorn who saw horned ponies as superior beings needing separation from anything different. Neither of those two sides of his coin.
No, here she was seeing a normal pony who had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“The King before me, my predecessor. He was a stain on what we should be,” he said in a low voice. “He raised taxes to extreme heights. Gutted institutions meant to help the sick and needy. The royal treasury was overflowing while The New Kingdom floundered and threatened to topple beneath his wealth. The ponies here saw me as a sign. A symbol of change.”
“So, you rebelled?”
“Yes. Though it wasn’t my choice. Not really,” the King muttered sadly. “Others started first, many perished to the guard. I was twenty when I finally got dragged in, listened to the pleas of the dying. They quickly propped me up as the symbol they wanted. That they needed. And I became more than that, I led the charge on this very castle to topple King Righteous. And then they gave me the crown, sat me in that throne and expected me to make things better.”
Twilight tilted her head. “Well, it looks like you did. They appear to love you. From what admittedly little I’ve seen, at least.”
“I do my best to serve them.” He then turned, glaring daggers at the Changeling Queen as if she was that very unicorn king who he had toppled all those years prior. “And that is why I must protect them against any and all threats. And that particularly includes outsiders, others not of our bloodlines. I will not tolerate nefarious influences threatening to revert the good I have done here, to plunge us back into another eternal winter!”
He took in a breath, letting it out slowly as he turned back to the window.
“And that, Twilight Sparkle, is why you have to leave this place.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?” Twilight noted sympathetically. “And you really do love them.”
“With each breath since that first.”
Twilight hummed, studying the stallion for a few moments longer. He had some very dark views on the world, an ideology subverted by a thousand years of isolation and values long out of date. These ponies never had a Hearth’s Warming event. Never had any Elements of Harmony. They never learned to accept friendship, at least not from anything other than themselves.
And yet they had Ignis. They had their own Celestia to protect and love them like they were his own foals.
She couldn’t agree with his viewpoints on ‘outsiders’. It was tragic, really. His mistrust and fear of the outside world. She might even consider his lifelong imprisonment of outsiders to be monstrous… if it wasn’t for the fact that he could have just as easily had them killed yet didn’t. She believed his word on that.
In a way, he was like so many of the Changeling Queens Twilight now considered allies and friends. The ones who were repulsed by the likes of Crudelis and yet were too fearful of the outside world to reach out for help. Queen Cocoon, for example.
The New Kingdom was what Equestria would have been with a changeling ideology.
“I think I understand you,” Twilight announced, standing up from her seated position and nodding her head respectfully. “More than you know. Your ponies are safe, we will leave immediately. This expedition is over.”
“Good.”
“There is still so much I would like to know. Historical gaps to fill in, information lost to us about the tribes you might have. But… I won’t impose on you. I will let Princess Celestia give you that olive branch.”
“I will await her word. But I wouldn’t get your hopes up for a prolonged dialogue,” he warned. “Have one of the guards outside take you back to your people. Then leave. We will ensure you do.”
There he goes with that mistrust again. Still, Twilight saw this as a good first step. She felt that she had left an impression about herself that Ignis wasn’t expecting. He had probably been imaging something like Crudelis or Immortalis. But maybe, just maybe, her approachable nature had pleasantly surprised him.
And he was willing to hear from Celestia, clearly curious about other alicorns even existing.
Twilight decided she had done enough to lay the initial groundwork, the Princesses of Equestria would be the ones to continue to build upon at. If anypony could help Ignis open up further, it was Celestia.
“Thank you for your time, King Ignis,” Twilight concluded. “Have a pleasant day.”
Twilight turned, her magic wrapping on the door handle when the King called out to her.
“One moment.”
She turned. “Yes?”
“These alicorns of Equestria… Are there any more beyond that land? More of us?”
“No. I’m sorry. All other alicorns we’ve seen are on ancient pieces of artwork. Nowhere else that we know.”
“I see. Thank you, you may go.”
Twilight nodded, turning and leaving the alicorn to his thoughts. He undoubtedly had many.
True to his word, the guards were happy to see the Queen back to the courtyard. Likely eager to see them gone, but their promptness was appreciated, nonetheless. As the courtyard came into sight, she saw her changelings and ponies still in something of a standoff against the Royal Guard, each side eying the other with suspicion.
“Queen Twilight!” Valiant addressed when she appeared. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Captain. I’d say the meeting went well.”
“Well? That’s good news. So… what does that mean for us?”
“I’m afraid the expedition is to be cut short. I’ll explain more on our way back to the Clover.”
Valiant frowned, yet the pegasus nodded nevertheless. “Okay. We shall follow your lead on the matter. What of the King? What was your read on him?”
“He is… complicated. But not a bad pony, I think. Quite the opposite.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” he decided. “Alright, ponies. You all heard Queen Twilight! Get up, we’re going.”
Twilight pinged her changelings to do the same, taking another look at the guards around them as they moved to escort the group back to their transport.
And then she looked up, her eyes scanning the sky above them. And there, knowingly lounging on the edge of the roof above them, was a familiar Spirit of Chaos. He gave Twilight a wink, giving her an approving thumbs-up before vanishing in a flash to prevent the Royal Guard from spotting him.
A good sign indeed.
If The New Kingdom was a hybrid of Equestria and the Queens’ Council before their joining, then Twilight knew what to do. She understood Ignis and his fears all too well. So too would he, hopefully, come to understand them.
And it all started here.
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well this is going to be very, very interesting indeed (evil cackle)
That went better than I expected. King Ignis seems a lot nicer than I was originally expecting. But let’s see if that will last.
That went pretty well, actually. About as well as can be expected. Everyone is allowed to go home freely, and Celestia will make further contact.
A thought just occurred to me.
The unicorns of Unicornia are a bit blind to the truth that sits in front of them. That it took an alicorn, a living embodiment of the harmony that exists between the three tribes to liberate them and lead them into a time of prosperity.
And yet they mock and belittle the other tribes for not being unicorns, ignoring the fact that their living god-king isn't one either.
9935214
They see an alicorn as a superior unicorn. The fact that they have earth pony and pegasi magic and qualities too is 'conveniently' brushed under the rug.
9935274
Hahaha, I expect nothing less
Oh dear... this just reeks of betrayal...
I think based on the end of this chapter, that Discord is going to "teach" the king that he needs to join up with the other tribes.
Discord, for the love of God don't do anything to piss off the king
Oh dear... the king seems to mean well, but therebare issues. While unicornias ideology seems (mostly) good intentioned, I can’t help but note it’s resemblance to Nazism. I fear it’s only a matter of time before a fanatic sparks some conflict.
9936485
There are shades in the xenophobia and superior attitude, but they're overall quite different. Less of a genocidal lust for power and more live and let live so long as there is an ocean between us. Also, they aren't really fascist, as that would materialise in their own borders as well. Ignis isn't really an 'iron hoof' sort of leader.
In Stellaris style, I would probably give them the ethos 'Xenophobic, Egalitarian (among their own citizens) Pacifists', whereas a fascist regime would more look like 'Fanatic Xenophobe, Authoritarian'.
King Ignis said that he was born an alicorn, so that makes Cadance the only ascended alicorn in this setting.
9936555
Stellaris Yoooooo!!!!