A Bitter Defeat
"A storm is coming."
That was the first thing coming to the mind of a changeling queen as she saw the battlefield before her, covered in dark clouds that hid the red sun, common to see on the twilight hours of the day. The red lights coming from the celestial figure shied away, no longer bringing back the massacre in front of her. Blood and carnage was no longer shown and she would finally stop looking at the corpses of the brave soldiers who died that day.
This changeling queen, wielder of a dark blue carapace, had a silk like mane that, under the bright yellow sun, would splendor with bluish tones that one would normally find on the waters commonly seen at the beach, her head was adorned by a crown that held four little sapphires in each point with her horn being at the top.
Her fangs were short and sharp, since she always preferred them to be cutting whatever they bit instead of just using them for intimidation.
Her dark blue carapace showed the signs of seeing better days as scars of battles, both new and old, went across her body and denounced the bloody life she went through as far as she was a queen; although the most notable wound, however, was the very recent, and still bleeding, one on her left hind leg, as a clear object went through it and penetrated the leg from one side to the other, forcing her to limp for the rest of her life.
Her eyes though, an aquamarine blue with a cat-like irises, were ignoring the dark brought by the oncoming clouds and kept looking at the battlefield before her.
Having the images of the dead burnt in her mind for the rest of her life, she would always remember this moment of her life as the event that changed the life she knew. The life on the battlefield now was going to be a different one, it was one she was eager to enter in but, sadly, wasn't so skillful to maneuver, for she knew more about war than anything else and that was an experience that was shared among the other queens, and princess, surrounding her.
As the other queens were looking at the battlefield with her, all of their looks went to the other side of the land, fed with blood, and saw what they viewed as their objective: A great mountain filled with multiple caves, common from changeling hives, that were lit and showed shadows of the victorious soldiers celebrating their moment with one exception.
Right on the top of the mountain, in the largest cave that could be seen by the common eye, another changeling queen stood tall. Her regal posture showed how aware she was of her victory. Her position so up above the mountain showed how high she thought herself to be in comparison to her defeated opponents, but her head remained lowering itself down, watching at her still living adversaries, proving how much she was willing to level herself down to her enemies, for she knew better than anyone to never underestimate your adversary, even if it has been defeated in battle.
The darkness brought by the clouds made it hard to see details of her figure any longer, but the light, brought by the caves, created a shadow that allowed to see outlines of clothes and two swords hanging from her hips.
Our dark blue changeling queen remained looking at her for the longest time she could, for both of them were aware of how much was learnt from this battle and now all they had to do left, was waiting for the battle's final report. The blue queen still needed to know how hard was her side's defeat; how many resources were left for her and her companions to remain in battle.
"Valeris."
The dark blue queen, known as Valeris, moved her head and saw one of the other four queens, and princess, surrounding her. The queen talking to her was of a rose color, as her carapace and silky mane were just of slightly different tones, and her crown was surrounded by four rose quartz while her wine-red eyes were flashing at the same tone as her horn. Her mouth moved, revealing her long fangs as she decided to speak to our blue queen Valeris.
"My drones have finally made the numbers, they're sending me the report right now but they'll give each of us a physical copy as soon as they can."
Her dried and cold tone said everything Valeris needed to know, but she went on as she understood that some truths were better to be known at their fullest.
"Go ahead, Cerebelis, tell us how bad it was."
The rose Cerebelis shone her eyes completely and started to say the report, numbers filling her with dread and telling her fellow queens, and princess, of how bad the situation was.
"On our side, with the combined forces of five hives, summing up a total amount of 2.900 changeling soldiers and with the companionship of five queens and three princesses, we lost a total amount of 1.948 soldiers, one changeling queen and one princess, two if we take into account that one of said princesses has now become the new queen of her respective hive.
Before the battle started, we gathered a total amount of 1.800 swords distributed in 900 sabers, 700 broadswords and 200 rapiers, 700 shields, 1.100 pieces of light armor and 700 pieces of heavy armor; 10 catapults and 5 battering rams, 300 war gems, 50 kilograms of medical supplies and enough love supply for three months of siege. After the battle is over, we have lost 300 sabers, 50 rapiers and 400 broadswords -, and that's counting the recovered weapons from the battlefield, - 10 catapults, 5 battering rams, 250 war gems, our medical supplies have been reduced to 10 kilograms and our love supplies have been reduced to just 3 days of siege after the enemy managed to take our resources while we were retreating.
We also lost Queen Castis and her first daughter, Princess Manticoris, making Princess Fortis the new Changeling Queen of her Hive, Castleen. Their heads have been found along most parts of their respective bodies, but some parts belonging to Manticoris's body are left to be found.
With that established, the death toll for each hive can be established through the following numbers:
Hive Hidroxia, lead by Queen Valeris, lost 1.037 changelings out of 1.200 changelings, divided in 900 saber wielders and 137 rapier wielders.
Hive Castleen, lead by Queen Fortis, lost 811 changelings out of 1.000 changelings, divided in 600 broadsword wielders and 211 changeling workers using the siege weaponry.
Hive Minerum, lead by Queen Luxis, lost 50 long range changelings out of 250 changelings, due to said soldiers abilities to fight on a distance, instead of close quarters, they were among the hives that lost the least.
Hive Panacitum, lead by Queen Lixis, lost 47 medical changelings out of 400 changelings. The whole division fell into chaos once the enemy fire managed to cross our defensive lines, around the middle of the day, and hit the medicinal points, making it impossible for them to gather themselves up until a few hours before the battle was over. The attack against the medical points also hurt many of our changeling soldiers, who were recovering after being salvaged from the battle and were receiving the required treatment for their wounds.
Hive Logos, lead by Queen Cerebelis, lost 3 recon changelings out of 50 who were analyzing the battlefield before being spotted by the enemy and then decided to promptly kill them, forcing the other reconnaissance changelings to retreat.
On the other side, out of 1.200 changeling soldiers, the enemy lost a total amount of 159 soldiers while managing to keep their lines of defense, stopping our forces from breaking through thanks to their weaponry, which doesn't fit in any type of magic or technology ever registered in this world.
The enemy only had one queen on their side, Anidis, who managed to remain unscathed while taking the lives out of Queen Castis and Princess Manticoris during the heat of the battle.
We also managed to recover a few weapons belonging to the enemy and we'll soon start their respective analysis to understand how they managed to attack beyond our defensive positions and break through the magic shields even though they never used any type of long range magic."
Cerebelis's eyes stopped shining as she ended her report, with a dreaded face plaguing her features as the other queens reflected her exact feelings caused by the numbers of their defeat. Valeris took it as bad as one would expect, for the loss of soldiers meant the loss of workforce, the loss of families and the loss of power. As a changeling wearing rose robes got close to the queens and gave them the physical report, delivered by her drones as she was reporting, Valeris went back and saw the Hive taken over by her enemy.
The lights on the mountain were still there and, even though Valeris could only see Anidis' shadow, the lightning, coming from the dark clouds, gave her enough moments of light to see a changeling drone getting close to his queen and gave her a scroll, probably containing the same reports she held on her grasp right now.
"My apologies for being the first one in saying this, my fellow comrades, but, now what?"
Valeris turned around and saw the source of the sound, always staying regal and calm, with her voice betraying no emotion, even though her eyes told everybody how somber she felt.
This Queen was of a pearly white carapace covered with small gems of multiple colors on many parts of her body to show the riches she held, she had a silky translucent mane, which reminded anyone who saw it to diamonds. Her crown had four white beads and her fangs had the looks of being shortened on purpose but, somehow, keeping the same sharpness as any other queen's fangs should be. Her eyes were red like a bloody ruby and she held no harm on her body, showing were she stood in the battlefield.
As Valeris saw her, she tried to come up with a simple answer but all she could come up with was her name to fill time.
"Luxis... What..."
Thankfully, for her, Cerebelis's eyes shone again and quickly interrupted the conversation.
"Hold on" -. Said the rose queen. - "I'm getting a report from a changeling scout in a minor hive close to Canterlot."
"Canterlot?" - Responded a queen with a bronze carapace. Her eyes, which looked like melted copper, only reflected concern on the news. - "That's my mother's jurisdiction. What's going on there?"
Cerebelis kept on trance, trying to gather the information as best as she could before passing it to the bronze queen, wielder of many cuts and bruises around her body, with one of her wings being cut horizontally, making her unable to fly properly and her crown had four orange beads.
"Oh!" - Said Cerebelis. - "This isn't good at all" -. She said as she moved her head sideways. - "Apparently, one minor queen has decided to get involved with the Equestrian royalty."
All the queens, and princess, widen their eyes, fearful of what kind of consequences could be brought to their species should it become discovered. The bronze queen got close to Cerebelis and demanded her to bring more information.
"This is awful Fortis" -. Said the Rose Queen Cerebelis. - "Apparently, this queen decided to kidnap the Princess of Love and replaced her on her marriage with the Captain of the Royal Guard."
Luxis eyes started to turn into flames as she started to understand the ploy behind this queen.
"Of course" -. Said the regal queen. - "Since this queen, as all the others, cannot defeat us in battle, she's now going to attempt to steal love by force and see if that will give her enough power to defeat us."
The bronze queen Fortis quickly started to gather the information she held and tried to analyze the situation.
"Let's see, there's no way for this queen to act without me or my mother knowing, should she have been from outside of Canterlot. That means that the only queen capable of doing this, is that dreaded Chrysalis."
Luxis rolled her eyes as she remembered the last time she met her.
"Ugh, please don't remind me that figure, it was clear that she would do anything in her power to take over the council once I saw how she referred to all of the queens on the last Great Council of the Queens. I told both to you" -, She said as she aimed her hooves at both Valeris, - "and your mother" -, and Fortis, - "that we should've gotten rid of her before she became too dangerous, now she may compromise our entire species just for the sake or power."
Valeris was about to to counter Luxis when a very young voice decided to come in her defense.
"That isn't right" -. The queens turned around and saw the young princess looking at Luxis with a fiery determination in her eyes. - "Queen Valeris has nothing to do with this, since Canterlot isn't in her jurisdiction. This is also counting that it was decided, years ago, that we would never attack a queen based on fear and speculation to avoid any kind of tragedy."
With those words said, all the queens looked back at the mountain housing the victorious queen, still high on her cave and reading her scroll as she looked back and forth between the scroll and the queens, while the wind started to rage, announcing how soon the storm was about to start. The princess's words were now hanging in their minds as an absolute truth.
Valeris then decided to look at the princess, her still young body already forming a light bluish tone on her carapace, her wings strong as any normal changeling, her crown was starting to form and her eyes were beginning to form the common cat like slits, usual among changeling royalty. Her only concern being the great cut that went through the upper side of the right eye and went to the lower side of her left eyes, miraculously not touching any of the princesses' eyes.
Who knew how close she was to become her heir.
In that moment, our last queen decided to break her silence. She was of a bright and electric yellow carapace with very large but fragile wings. Her fangs were nonexistent although she held a mighty crown with four yellow beads. Her eyes were of the same color as the sun and invigorated anyone who looked at them combined with her pristine silky golden mane while the rest of her body showed the figure of a queen that had just recently passed her puberty even though everybody in that reunion knew she was older than she looked.
"The young princess is right Luxis" -. Said the yellow queen with a solid but soft tone of voice. - "You should not blame those who have nothing to do with Chrysalis' current move and, even so, what do you know of keeping tabs on minor queens when you have none of them to worry about in your frozen territory?"
Her words stung Luxis and made her flinch, realizing how rude she was acting. Act that she decided to fix immediately.
"You're right, Lixis, I shouldn't have overstepped my boundaries. My apologies Queen Valeris and Queen Fortis" -, she then looked at the princess that shut her mouth and, with a small hint of anger, added, - "and, Valeris, I recommend you to teach your heir some manners. For princesses aren't supposed to respond to their elders in such disrespectful way."
Valeris flinched, with very painful memories being brought to her as her princess was being called out but, before the discussion could derail, Cerebelis continued the conversation with her concerns.
"Queens, regardless of it, what should we do? Should we stay, Chrysalis will have free reign to take over Canterlot and, should we leave, we'll let Anidis to move on with her ambitions of conquer."
Valeris's heart froze as the weight of her options pressed her and the wind became colder. The blue queen understood the problems behind this and she was aware, better than anyone, what would happen should they leave as, not too far away from the battlefield, a hive belonging to a minor queen held.
It was a small hive, among the smallest between all the hives known in the land but it was the one hive stopping Anidis from invading the rest of Equestria and all the other changeling hives residing in it. Should it try to fight the monstrous queen, it would be captured in a matter of days and, if a single battle was enough for Anidis to defeat five great queens, then this small hive wouldn't stand a chance.
The problem was that, the queens had no resources to keep fighting.
They didn't have enough soldiers to fight for another day and Anidis wasn't going to wait until reinforcement could reach them. At the same time, calling all their armies and queens could create a huge vacuum of power among the queens, mainly Chrysalis, who would gladly take advantage of this to fight the queens, weakened after fighting Anidis.
No, keeping the fight wasn't an option. Now, Chrysalis' case though...
Should the queens abandon the fight and mobilize their forces to regroup and prepare themselves to fight Chrysalis, should she try to invade all the other queens, there was a high chance to stop her before she could even prepare herself to fight, and there was the chance of Anidis helping them, after all, an ambitious queen like her would do anything in her path to achieve power, including helping her former enemies to stop someone stronger.
Not only that, but the idea of Chrysalis revealing the species would manage to unite all the queens against a common enemy, after all, secrecy was valued among the especies and the queens were very aware of how hard it would be to gather food should the ponies become aware of their existence.
That's why the changeling queen, with her aquamarine eyes, decided to say the words that would steer changeling history in directions never expected, or wanted, even though her peers didn't agree with her.
"We'll go back to our hives and gather ourselves up, prepare to seize Chrysalis and worry about Anidis later."
Her fellow queens didn't agree with her, mainly a bronze queen who wasn't so eager to abandon her position yet, very well shown in her angry but calm tone of voice.
"Are you crazy Valeris? You told all of us how dangerous was Anidis, you met her when you were young, you said that she would stop at nothing to conquer everything on her path. Not only that, but she may take over the hive close here, which, I'll remind you, is part of my territory and I cannot allow a Hive under my protection to be attacked. Why do you think that Chrysalis is a worse option than an invader that has killed a great queen, took her mountainous hive and had no hesitation in going to war against us?"
Valeris got close to Fortis, with the same strength, and power, emanating from her whenever she made her presence to be known. Not even Valeris's limping leg stopped her from showing who was the strongest queen among them, and gave Fortis her answer with a very calm, yet imposing, tone of voice.
"Because, for that same ambition, Anidis would rather join us instead of letting Chrysalis take over two whole species. Meanwhile, we have no resources, or changelings, to keep on fighting."
As the queens heard those words, along her reasoning behind said words and decision, more and more they remembered why Valeris was still the leader among them. Thankfully, the other three queens were more open to the idea of leaving the battlefield, after all, Valeris' words held true. They didn't have the resources to keep on fighting and the more they stayed there, the more time the other queens would have to properly take over their respective territories.
And, with the dark clouds covering the whole sky and preparing to flood the battlefield, washing it over with it's purifying waters, the queens started to move back to their tents. Preparing themselves to travel back to their respective hives while giving their farewells, with Valeris looking back at the mountain and seeing how her enemy started to do the same and went back to her new mountain.
As Lixis and Luxis said their goodbyes, and congratulated Fortis for her new title, and went to rest, Cerebelis and Fortis decided to wait a little longer to talk with the blue queen, starting with the rose changeling.
"Valeris, before you leave, I'll give you one of the weapons used by Anidis' forces. I know you love weapons, so you may be able to figure out as fast as my drones, how it works."
With those words said, Cerebelis transported a large stick that had metal mixed with it. The metal barrel was most peculiar for it showed a hole from where, Valeris could guess, the weapon would shoot its ammunition and it looked like it had a small, metal trigger on the wooden part of said stick. Valeris wasn't sure what this weapon was, but her engineers would discover it soon enough.
"With that said" -, continued Cerebelis, - "I give you my goodbyes. I'll see you in the next High Council meeting next week" -. She then turned to Fortis and said her goodbyes. - "Goodbye, Queen Fortis, congratulations for your new title."
And with that said, she burned herself up and transported her body to another place, unknown for all the other queens. After that, Fortis, not showing any kind of sadness over the death of her mother and sister, decided to follow Valeris and her heir to their tent and discuss some details that weren't discussed with the other queens.
"Valeris" -. She said with great caution. - "I apologize for my rudeness but, please tell me, are you sure that's the same Anidis you met back when you were princess?"
Valeris understood the weight of her words and, with the same calm she always had, responded to Fortis.
"Yes, Queen Fortis, yes. This is the same Anidis I met when I was young, she was always a genius in the military, or any subject she cared about. If this question is about our defeat, All I'll say is that she always had an ace hidden somewhere in her body. She never went to any type of confrontation without a back up plan."
As she said those words, she remembered Anidis' swords and how close they were to cut her leg, the same way they cut Castis and Manticoris.
"It's not just for the battle" -. Continued Fortis. - "It's just that, I thought she could've been an impostor, after all, she was taken for death after her mother's hive was invaded all those years ago. How can you tell she's not an impostor?"
Valeris thought back in the meeting they had before the battle and remembered Anidis' words, the way she spoke, how she modulated her words in a way that made her feel as if she was right and, years ago, would have convinced Valeris of switching sides right then.
"Her mannerism" -. Responded Valeris. - "I've met all the changeling queens there are to be, Fortis, and I fought them all. None of them has ever been close to copy Anidis' way of speaking or thinking" -. She then looked back to her fellow queen and assured her. - "That's also why I know she'll join us once Chrysalis becomes a danger for the species, she prefers the idea of joining us against a common enemy, with her taking the lead, instead of having to destroy the land she wants to conquer."
Fortis looked at the ground and made one last question.
"Valeris, I remember when the queens gathered and invaded her mother's hive, I wasn't there due to my... living conditions... back then, but I know you were in that meeting along your mother, the other queens, my mother and my sister. Tell me, should you've known that this battle was going to happen, would you have agreed on that invasion?"
Valeris stopped moving, questioning both Fortis and her princess but, before any of them could ask what was the problem, Valeris responded with a cold and deadly tone that wasn't common of her.
"I never agreed with that invasion" -. Her eyes now reflecting her calm fury as she said those words. - "I never wanted my hive to invade my friend's and, should I have known the consequences of it, which we're facing now, I would have couped my mother and aided my friend to survive."
Her words staying true, Fortis felt she had ask enough and decided to drop it.
"Thank you, Valeris, I'll let you be. See ya on the next meeting of the High Chamber."
And, before her teleportation was finished, Valeris responded to her.
"You welcome, Queen Fortis. Goodbye, see you on the next meeting and congratulations on your new position, please remember to send me the invitation for your coronation."
And, with those words being said, and giving her fellow queen a nod, Fortis disappeared, leaving both queen Valeris and her princess alone as they moved to their personal tent.
With the weather ready to unleash its fury at any moment, the young princess decided to break the silence first while avoiding direct eye contact with her progenitor.
"I apologize for my interruption back there, my queen, I was not aware of my position and, wrongly, thought that you needed my aid."
Valeris saw the face of the princess and remained fixed on the large cut crossing the middle of her eyes. After long reflection, she responded to her.
"Apologies accepted, princess Prisis, you must always be careful whenever you interrupt in a conversation where you haven't been talked to. Many would take advantage of that to turn you, or those close to you, over. With that said, I will congratulate you for your well thought answer, not many princesses can understand what they talk about, even less know how to use that understanding to respond to others."
The young princess' eyes opened wide at the words made by her mother, understanding that she was being recognized for her intervention. The queen then continued her words.
"I also have to apologize for the results of today's battle, I did not wish your first taste of battle to be from this one" -. She looked back to the cut in the princess's face and felt a grip around her heart. - "Especially one that had your life in such danger."
The princess quickly responded before any confusion could be made.
"Think none of it, my queen, I have to apologize first, for I thought I was capable of facing the enemy even though I saw how she defeated a queen and a fellow princess" -. Prisis then looked at the queen's leg and the large cut that was making her limp and felt a grip crossing her heart as well. - "After all, if I hadn't act so pretentiously, your leg would've been fine."
Valeris looked at her leg, knowing very well she would have to fully abandon her life of battles very soon, and decided to ease the youngling's worries.
"Think none of it. It was the price I had to pay to keep you safe and I would've given up my whole leg if that meant keeping you alive, my princess."
With those words said, Valeris got close to the princess that would, eventually, become the new queen of Hidroxia and motioned her to follow her queen to their tent and, as they got closer and closer, they started to feel the first drops of water touching them, the storm already beginning.
"My queen" -. Said a very young and tired voice.
"Yes, my princess?"
"What does this battle means on the long time?"
The changeling queen froze in place and wondered about that, as the heavy rain fell upon her, she responded to her heir.
"It means more than you think. A lone queen, with a small army, defeated five great queens whose unity remained undefeated for over a decade."
And, as she was about to close her tent and prepare to move her stuff back home. She looked once more to the mountain that held who once was her best friend and wondered how long will it be before they fight again.
"It means, quite simply, that The Great Coalition has been defeated."
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
1,134 users online
1,948,849 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Pretty good so far on chapter 1.
9147416
Thank you :D
I couldn't even finish the chapter. Sorry. :(
It just feels very... I dunno. Amateurish in a bad way? I'd consider an editor.