Chapter 70: Red Eagle; Part 1
Elias hopped a log and broke into a dead sprint as he reached the final stretch, the castra’s torches coming into view, and more numerous than normal. Some of the torches were moving toward him at a snail’s pace, and as he approached, he saw why.
Granite was helping Scalpel dress in an ill-fitting set of auxiliary armor. A dozen legionaries were gathered around them, edging forward as the earth pony pulled the strings of the greaves tight on the unicorn’s legs. One of the legionaries let out a cry as he came into their torchlight, and though momentarily their pila lowered, the javelins quickly raised as the ponies bolted forward. Elias met Granite’s eyes with a snarl.
“You were taking too long.”
The earth pony wilted, but Scalpel ignored it, moving forward with his head held high.
“He was just getting me dressed to your standards, General.”
Elias spotted a stretcher being borne by a pair of legionaries and he shoved past the unicorn, crouching down and gently laying Luna on top of it. The mare moaned, and her hooves swam feebly at him, but Elias was too hot, too angry to think about the motion. He whirled on Scalpel, his voice snapping through the air.
“Do you really mean to tell me that you risked Luna bleeding to death for armor AFTER THE FIGHTING WAS FUCKING DONE?”
He bared his teeth, and Granite and the legionaries shied away, but Scalpel stepped forward, his muzzle curling into a scowl to match Elias’.
“Yelling helps nobody, now get out of my way Elias. You are preventing me from helping Princess Luna now.”
Elias’ fists clenched tight, and he leaned forward, making sure his shadow fell over the unicorn.
“Get her better, now.”
His implied threat did nothing to the unicorn, if anything it seemed to mildly please the pony. Scalpel’s expression immediately became neutral, and he nodded.
“Of course. I’ll send somepony to inform you as soon as she’s stabilized.”
He turned and began to look over Luna, clicking his tongue lightly.
“The cuts are well bound, we’ll start with the arrow.” Elias saw the unicorn’s eyes flick back. “Centurion Granite, fetch Kind Heart for General Bright. He’s wounded.”
Just as Elias’ lips curled to yell at the unicorn to focus, Scalpel turned back to the task at hand and a glow surrounded, then dove into, the arrow wound. Scalpel’s expression fell into a frown.
“Everyone move back, the arrow head is null stone, I can’t dissolve the barbs.”
“But you can remove it?” Elias quickly asked.
Scalpel glanced back and nodded.
“I’m a surgeon as a trade, and they made us train like earth ponies so we wouldn’t become reliant on our horns. I just need space and protective gear. If I leave a shard in Princess Luna, or if the stone somehow gets in her blood stream, this whole journey will be a waste of time and she’ll be this weak permanently.”
The glow of his horn left the alicorns wound and surrounded the ponies and Elias, shoving them all back. Scalpel snarled at Elias as he again tried to step forward.
“Worse will happen to anypony that gets this stuff in them, not to mention blood contamination! I said give me space!”
Elias tried to look past the yellow unicorn to look at Luna’s wound, then he immediately turned on his heel, his voice filling the camp.
“Kind Heart! Bring everything Doctor Scalpel needs to remove null stone!”
He spotted the pink mare in the dark, already sprinting toward them, but at his words, she immediately turned around and sprinted back toward where they had setup a makeshift medical tent until the full one arrived. Elias’ eye twitched at the ramshackle shelter, and he couldn’t help but think it wasn’t fit for Luna. He jabbed his hand at two legionaries.
“Take Princess Luna to the command tent, allow nobody else in that Scalpel doesn’t ask for. As far as you’re concerned, he’s me.”
The pair nodded and moved to the stretcher, gently lifting it. Scalpel gave Elias a short nod, then the trio were off, with another legionnaire taking the initiative to run and tell Kind Heart where they were.
The air was suddenly quiet around him, and Elias found himself slightly lost. Pain from a dozen wounds began to trickle in as his anger shifted to worry, and his feet shifted as he began to wander toward the command tent. He had seen wounds before, had seen the results of battles. He was sure he could tolerate watching Scalpel remove the arrowhead, then he would be at Luna’s side as soon as she woke up.
Just as he put foot in that direction, he froze, his blood turning to ice as a voice echoed through the forest behind him.
“Elias Bright! Come and fight me coward! Come and fight me, or this time I will kill your precious princess!”
Fresh energy filled his body to the point that he began to twitch, and like a switch had been flipped, his rage flared with renewed heat. Elias turned on his heel to stalk into the forest, murder in mind, when Granite spun into place before him, a hoof pushing on his belly to halt his momentum.
“General, stop, it’s bait. He’s just trying to draw you out in the open where-”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Elias spat in the earth pony’s face. “I don’t care if he has a hundred more dogs with him, I will kill him for what he’s done.”
Another taunt rose from the forest, and Elias tried to push forward, but Granite again pushed him back.
“General, you don’t even have a weapon. You can’t fight any-lck!”
The pony choked as Elias’ hand wrapped around his throat. Elias yanked him up until they were nose to nose, and Elias stared some of his hate into the pony’s eyes, causing him to flinch and attempt to recoil in fear.
“I will rip that bastard’s throat out with my teeth if I have to,” he snarled, his bad eye flashing with blue light.
Granite’s eyes widened, and he tried to push his way free as Elias’ teeth seemed to sharpen for a moment. The human let him fall to the ground though, found that it hurt a little when the pony scrambled backward in the dirt. Elias glared at him for a moment more, then glanced around, catching the eyes of the legionaries that were still around the. None of them held his gaze.
With a snort, Elias rolled his shoulders and stalked into the woods. He should have been blind in the low light, but his bad eye had its uses, and he was able to navigate by the moonlight that trickled through the trees. Eventually, torchlight drew his eye, and he moved toward it, making no attempt to hide his approach, if anything, he stomped louder, making sure that the cow calling him out knew he was coming.
Elias stepped back into the blood stained clearing to find the bodies largely cleared. His bad eye twitched when he found his ponies dumped in a pile with the dogs, and his gaze slowly made its way to the cow likely responsible for such desecration. Stone Horn grinned back, his fat fingers tapping on the hilt of his warhammer. Flanking him sat a quartet of minotaurs
“Hello Bright,” Stone Horn said. “I guess you’re not as cowardly as you-”
“I’m going to put your head on a pike,” Elias spat, cutting the minotaur off. He snarled at the other minotaurs. “All of you. I’ll see your guts hung from the trees and your heads mounted on spears as a message to your wretched, cattle of a species. Not one of you leaves here tonight.” His eyes flicked to one of the larger bulls, who flinched. “Not one.”
Stone Horn let out a snort filled with contempt.
“Unarmed? I was wrong about you Bright, you’re not a coward, you’re an idiot.” He reached behind him and drew out Feather, as well as one of the legionaries shields. He tossed them into the clearing, the pair clattering into the dirt at Elias’ feet. “Pick them up. I don’t want the legend of this kill tarnished with a note that I killed you unarmed.”
Elias’ eyes narrowed and his teeth bared in a snarl at the thought of accepting a gift from the cow, but what little remained of his rational mind whispered to him that he needed the weapons to kill them all. They weren’t going to fight fair, not that he cared much. Just that they died in pain. That was what was important.
Elias crouched, never taking his gaze from Stone Horn. The hilt of his gladius felt crusty in his hands, and as he tightened his grip, he felt flakes of blood chip away. The shield was over-light, but as he rolled his shoulders, he knew it would suffice. He cracked his neck, then rolled his shoulders once more, ignoring the pain he felt in his left shoulder.
Stone Horn tapped the butt of his warhammer to the ground.
“Let’s see if you’re even worthy of legend Bright.”
He looked toward one of the bulls at his left, who withered back. Stone Horn snorted and waved to the two on his right.
“Of course you’d still be too much of a coward to fight,” he growled at the cowering bull as the other two stepped forward. “So called legend with a bow, but twice you tried to kill this rat of a creature, and twice you failed, this time almost killing the princess!”
Elias’ nostrils flared, and his vision focused on the bull, even as the other two readied their weapons.
“That was you?” he growled at the minotaur.
The look on the bull’s face was all the answer he needed, and Elias let out a bellow of rage. He stormed forward, his cry only getting louder and more filled with anger as the pair of bulls blocked his path, their weapons at the ready. Elias sheathed his gladius in a smooth motion, then grabbed his shield in both hands. The bull swung at him with an axe, which Elias simply ignored, stepping inside the swing to slam the shield across the bull’s face. As he cried out in pain and fell back, Elias let the shield drop as the second bull stabbed a spear at his right side. Elias lurched back, and the spear grazed the armor just beneath his arm pit. Elias’ arm closed on the shaft of the spear, and with a twist, the spear broke. With speed even he felt was unnatural, Elias snatched the broken shaft head from the air before it could fall, and he twisted back, plunging it deep into the bull’s neck. He let out a surprised gurgle, but Elias didn’t care to watch him as he fell; he had one target.
His enraged eyes fixed on the minotaur who had hurt Luna, and he let out another bellow, this one with clear words.
“I’ll kill you!”
He ripped the gladius from its sheathe and leaped at the bull, who fell backward to the ground, fumbling for his axe and crying out in panic. Elias found that he hated the squealing, wanted it silent, so his first target was the bull’s throat. He slashed with care, doing his best to avoid the arteries. A gurgle of alarm was his reply as he set to work. His gladius plunged into the minotaur’s belly first, then his chest. He stabbed the bull over and over again, growling and snarling, practically bathing in blood as it spattered onto his face and down his body.
The only reason he stopped was because a pair of strong arms wrapped around his just and yanked him backward. Elias snarled and tried to wriggle free as the uninjured bull carried him away.
“That’s enough!” he barked in Elias’ ear. “This behavior does not befit a wa-”
Elias felt the bull’s teeth clack as he reared back and slammed his head into the bull’s chin. The grasping arms loosened and Elias dropped to the ground. Just as he turned to face the bull, the arms returned, again tightening around him, pinning his arms to his chest, and lifting him into the air. Elias bared his teeth in the fact of the bull, who’s muzzle dripped with blood as he snarled back.
“I said enough,” he growled. “Stone Horn is right, you’re nothing more than a rabid dog, and I will put you down like one.”
Elias felt the grip around him begin to tighten, and though he tried hard to break free, his arms didn’t budge, and his feet couldn’t do anything more than flail uselessly at the bull’s leather armor. Elias snarled again in the bull’s face, his spit splashing at the bull’s eyes. The bull winced, but his grip failed to loosen. Through the haze of red, Elias saw black begin to tint the corner of his vision, knew instinctively that if he didn’t escape, the bull was going to crush him, if not until he died, then at least until he was unconscious. What would happen after that was almost a guarantee, and he still wasn’t finished. Stone Horn was still sitting there, watching, laughing, breathing.
Elias’ eyes fixated on the bull’s neck for a reason he couldn’t quite understand, yet that felt comfortably familiar. Quickly he saw opportunity, and he didn’t hesitate to seize it. Rearing back, Elias’ jaw opened wide. Then in a rush of heat, his teeth were buried in the bull’s throat. He felt more than heard the bull gasp, but the crushing grasp around him tightened instead of loosening, so he did the only thing he could; he doubled down. Elias yanked with all the strength his neck could muster, trying to rip the minotaur’s neck open, growling all the while. The bull again gasped, but this time his grip loosened, the instinct of prey trying to escape its predator. Elias twisted away with his whole body, and with the his jaw still locked, he took a massive chunk of flesh and blood with him.
He landed on his feet as the minotaur staggered back, clutching at his throat with wide eyes, before finally collapsing with a wheeze and a whimper. Elias spat the chunk of meat at his feet, then glared at the remaining bull and Stone Horn, his face slick with fresh blood. Meeting Stone Horn’s eyes, Elias chuckled. He could practically smell fear spilling off the bull, and he licked his strangely sharp teeth as he made an arrogant show of turning his back to the bull, reaching down to take his gladius from the corpse he had left it in. Ripping the blade free, Elias turned around and tilted his head, smiling at the pair. They stared back, holding their weapons at the ready, but making no moves. He chuckled and stepped forward, causing both to flinch. His eyes flicked between the two before he chose who he wanted dead first.
He began a lunge at the bull next to Stone Horn. The bull flinched at the feint, and his axe slipped through his fingers. The bull stumbled forward, trying to catch the weapon, his eyes wide with panic. Elias laughed and with a slash of his gladius the bull was on the ground, clutching at a wound that cut a deep score from shoulder to shoulder. Even as the bull gasped in pain, Elias laughed, harder and harder as he pictured the bull dropping his weapon. He’d been underestimating their fighting skill if they could be scared that easily.
His laughter was cut short when a hammer slammed into his left arm above the elbow, sending him staggering away. Elias blindly swung with his gladius, giving him breathing space from his sudden attacker. As he steadied his feet beneath him, Elias fixed a glare at Stone Horn, found the bull waiting patiently with a smug grin on his face, his warhammer bouncing in his massive hands. Elias growled and looked to his shoulder. Though it hurt, it wasn’t going to slow him down. The bull had stupidly managed to hit what little armor extended beyond his shoulder. As a result, the armor was dented only slightly, the magical enchantments fortifying it absorbing a strike that might have broken his arm, if not more.
Elias’ mismatched eyes fixed on Stone Horn’s ugly muzzle and he bared his teeth.
“You’re going to wish you aimed for my head, because I’m going to rip yours off.”
Stone Horn snorted and pawed the ground with his hooved legs.
“You’re going to die tonight, Elias Bright. I’m going to turn your skull into a drinking cup.”
Elias let out a roar and rushed forward. He was tired of talking, was tired of letting the stupid cow waste air with his stupid voice. His mood was set on one thing and one thing only. Inflict pain.
Stone Horn waited until he got close before launching his warhammer forward in an underhanded swing. Elias pressed forward into the swing, catching the weaponshaft against his chest with a grunt. Stone Horn snarled at him, and with his superior strength, managed to shove Elias back. The human lashed out with his gladius as he stumbled away, the blade leaving a scar in the leather armor protecting Stone Horn’s arm. Elias growled at his failed attack and again approached the bull, his face twitching with the barest traces of sense, of trying to actually pick out a way to attack the bull without getting himself killed.
Stone Horn, seemingly not content to just remain on the defense let out a bellow and gripped his warhammer in both hands, sweeping it across his chest and barreling toward Elias’ head. Elias grinned at the attack, recognized it through his haze of rage. He stepped forward again and raised his gladius as if to cut Stone Horn’s throat. This time, however, as Stone Horn reversed his grip and began to swing the warhammer back, Elias full committed to attacking his fat, meaty arm. He drove the point of his gladius through Stone Horn’s wrist, savoring the howl that escaped the bull’s muzzle as he tried to pull back. Elias ripped his gladius free and let Stone Horn stumble away. The bull clutched at the wound and stared at him with hateful eyes. Elias sneered in reply.
“What’s wrong cow? I thought you said I’d die tonight.” He nodded at the blood dripping from the bull’s wrist. “Better keep pressure on that. I wouldn’t want you to die before I’m finished with you.”
“I’ll rip out your spine!” Stone Horn bellowed.
Elias grinned as the bull snatched up his warhammer in both hands and began another blunt force attack. He could feel it deep in his bones, even as he dipped aside another attack and let his gladius taste flesh. He was going to enjoy this.
*****
Lionheart listened to the sounds of the camp with his eyes closed. Something had gone wrong, and though he hated the human, he was grateful that the beast had managed to return Luna to safety. How the princess had gotten caught in the cross fire, he didn’t know, but somebody was paying for that, if the screams sounding from the forest were any indication. Perhaps the human would get himself killed. He would have to suffer through singing his praises of course, he was responsible for returning Luna to camp quickly enough to heal whatever injuries the fools in the forest inflicted after all. That would require an honorable eulogy to placate all of his soldiers, but after that, his heroics would fade from memory, leaving plenty of room for Lionheart to build himself back up. From there it was a simple matter of wooing Luna with classic Canterlot charm, and then he would be a prince; his position and legacy secured, not to mention the power he could wield to make sure Equestria’s borders remained secure. The princesses were a touch sloppy in that regard, the march more than proved that, but it was a minor thing that he could take initiative to deal with, and he would start with burning out those wretched, hard-shelled little-
“It is time Duke Lionheart,” a voice hissed in his ear.
Lionheart rolled to his feet, his eyes wide and his teeth bared, ready to fight whoever dared ambush him while he slept. The changeling that had been leaning over him chuckled, her fangs flashing in the low light.
“What’s wrong?” she taunted. “Having trouble sleeping? I wouldn’t worry, this bug doesn’t bite.” She tilted her head to an unnatural angle. “Much.”
While she chittered with laughter, Lionheart looked around the rest of the “tent”. It was little more than canvas propped up by sticks, but it did provide shade and a warmer place to sleep, even if it was tight with his two fellow prisoners. Now it felt cramped, as four changelings wrapped collars around Shattered Shield and Dragon Eye’s necks. The pair of unicorns looked dazed, their eyes filled with green energy that glowed with sickly light. Lengths of rope tied to rings on the collars, and with gentle yanks to confirm the ropes were tied, the changelings looked to their leader. Lionheart looked to the changeling as well, doing his best not to look nervous.
“Time for what? Do you think it’ll go unnoticed when these two show up missing and I’m still here? That brute human will kill me!”
“That’s why we’re going to do a little acting,” the changeling said. “So listen close.”
The hoof came from nowhere, hitting Lionheart square in the temple. He fell with a grunt, then the changeling was on top of him, dragging her teeth down his neck. She then straightened and kicked him again, this time in the belly. The blow winded him, and while Lionheart gasped for air, the changeling snorted and looked him up and down.
“You’re going to claim you fought us off while using the bathroom. You will say your “friends” were taken, that you think we ran east. With luck, Stone Horn and the diamond dog mercenaries we hired will do their job and will end Elias Bright as a threat.”
“He’s already survived,” Lionheart gasped. “I heard the panic. Princess Luna took an arrow, but Elias Bright survived.”
The changeling’s eyes lit up, and she chuckled.
“Is that right? And where is that mighty human now? Standing guard at the princess’ side?”
“I heard somebody call him out,” Lionheart said, flinching back as her hoof rose. The changeling smiled, then again stomped on his flank. Lionheart pressed on despite the pain. “I think he went back into the woods. Don’t you hear that screaming?”
The changeling stood up straight, her ears flicking about. Lionheart held his breath, trying to hear anything… but found that it was silent. Eerily so. Even the sounds of the awakened camp seemed slightly muted, as if in anticipation. The changeling glanced down at him.
“We’re leaving. Act on the plan, reveal that you were attacked, and that these two-” she nodded toward the dazed Shattered Shield and Dragon Eye “-were snatched. If they ask, we didn’t say anything. Don’t say more than that, or you will get caught and they will kill you as a traitor.”
Lionheart tried to find some thought that could refute that, but he came up empty. It would be very difficult to justify working with changelings with anyone, especially the human, if he survived. No, saying he was attacked, that was a good lie. He could even play as though he had a concussion. Given the blood streaming down his eyebrow, it would not be a difficult lie to sell.
A flicker of amusement entered the changeling’s eyes, and she added; “And tell them Elias Bright is dead, killed in another ambush. I will make sure it is so and setup the field should it be necessary to make it look like it was the minotaurs. Just say you got turned around running away from us and came across it. That should be believable.”
Lionheart nodded. He would modify the bug’s plan a little bit, if for no other reason than to make it clear that it was his plan they were acting on, not hers or her wretched queen’s.
“Then our agreement is concluded,” he said, trying to keep any stutters or signs of pain from his voice. “You may go, and feel free to never contact me again.”
The changeling snorted and she turned away. Unseen to Lionheart, a smile still decorated her muzzle as she nodded to the other changelings, who pulled their captives from the tent. Her horn charged, and she heard a hiss of pain behind her, but Lionheart, likely trying to save his pride, didn’t mention it, merely rubbed at his foreleg.
Lionheart waited several minutes after they had left before slipping out of the rear of the tent himself. He immediately spotted the hole where they slipped through the castra walls, and crawled through it once, then twice. He shivered as cold mud clung to his fur, but it was necessary to sell the lie. He stomped around in the mud, making sure his hooves were suitably soaked, then again slipped through the hole, running through the leaves to make sure they looked disturbed. Satisfied that his efforts would make him look sufficiently believable, and already somewhat tired from his running, Lionheart cleared his throat, getting into a panicked mindset, ready to sell everything to make sure his princess would believe him.
The cool night air put tears in his eyes, and an intentional crack in his voice did the rest as he let out a panicked cry and sprinted toward the hole into the castra.
*****
Gray Granite walked quietly through the trees, his head shifting side to side at every creak and snap. It had been nearly an hour since Elias had stormed off into the woods, and while there had been sounds coming from the trees, now it was quiet. Too quiet to be comfortable. There was a strange energy to the air, a certain feeling of wrongness that he couldn’t quite describe. It was a feeling that would unnerve even the best of ponies, but Granite didn’t let it sway him from his path.
He needed to find Elias.
Granite winced as he swallowed, his throat still sore from where the human had grabbed him. Though the motion had been surprising in its intensity, Granite wasn’t altogether that shocked about being hurt. The human used physical punishment liberally in pursuit of making his ponies the best, and despite the pain the method inflicted, they were the best. He’d even heard rumor Elias struck Night Flash once, and if his oldest, closest friend could meet such a punishment, nobody was safe. In his anger, Elias had always been more prone to physical attacks as well, so in truth, a mild touch of strangling, while not his favorite punishment, certainly wasn’t that scary.
That look in Elias’ eyes though, that had shaken Granite. He’d seen hate in Elias’ eyes before, but he’d never been the target of it, and now, he hoped to never be the target of it again. Perhaps it was the changeling eye that seemed to glow whenever Elias was angry, perhaps it was the fact that despite being a pony in many aspects, the human still had sharp, canine teeth that only seemed to sharpen when bared. Perhaps it was some lingering fear of the unknown. Elias had shared quite a bit with his friends and family, but there were some secrets that were still hiding behind the human’s eyes that were terrifying, and horrible, of that Granite had no doubt.
But on edge as he was, Granite also knew that his friend needed him. Elias was in pain, and as much as he tried to pretend otherwise, he had surrounded himself with his friends and now that was hurting him too. He was teetering on the brink of something dangerous, but Granite was sure that with just a little support, he could get Elias back to the castra, and then they could wait for Princess Luna to wake up. Steel Scalpel and Kind Heart had successfully removed the arrow and had started the slow process of healing the diminished alicorn, all while she had somehow kept her massive well of magic in check while unconscious. The march still retained it’s purpose, and all the pain was worth if if they could just get through until the end.
Light caught his eyes, and like a moth to the flame, he drifted toward the flickering orange among the trees. He came upon a clearing covered in blood. Piles of bodies lay around the clearing, while fresh on the ground lay three dead minotaurs, one with a wound that looked like his throat had been torn out by wolves. His dead eyes stared up at nothing, but for some reason it sent a shiver up Granite’s spine, like at any moment the bull would come alive, and those eyes would flick over and stare into his very soul. Looking away to the two living minotaurs was little comfort. One sat tied to a tree, his chin resting in a bloody score that cut across his chest. Though it was barely visible, Granite was fairly certain he could see the bull’s chest rising and falling. The other, a large bull with short horns, was also tied to a tree, but he was very much awake, and desperately straining against the careful binding keeping him pinned. Long coils of rope bound one of his arms to his chest, as well as bound his legs together. The other arm…
Granite had seen many things, had seen the horrific injuries that could result when rock wagons lost a wheel, sending their several ton cargo rolling onto some stallion’s leg, turning it into mush and powder, but the minotaur’s arm… It was carved open in a surgical manner, but in all the wrong ways. The fingers on the bull’s hand twitched in obvious pain, unable to curl due to the gladius driven through his palm and into the tree. Blood poured from the wound on his hand, but the arm, Granite hesitated to approach to check, but he was fairly certain Elias had cauterized the wound. Even though there was no blood, the bull had to be in agony. He couldn’t express it much though, the binds were done well, and the last one was around his muzzle. The bull’s eyes practically glowed with rage and pain as he glared at Elias, who crouched before him, a smile decorating his blood soaked face, a knife dancing between his fingers.
“This ends as soon as you agree to tell me who sent you,” the human said, his voice frighteningly chipper. “You’re a stupid, easily baited, piece of shit that couldn’t plan a dinner, let alone an ambush, so you’re going to tell me how you knew I was out here, or I’m taking off another layer of muscle.”
The bull growled at him, and somehow through his muzzle, he managed to spit at the human. Elias clicked his teeth together, staring at the minotaur for a moment. The knife twirled to a stop in his palm, and he pointed the tip at the minotaur.
“The only reason I don’t stomp on your little chicken legs right now is because you won’t tell me shit while in shock.”
He immediately plunged the blade into the minotaur’s shoulder, drawing a muffled howl out of him. Elias never blinked, still watched the bull’s face as he twisted the knife.
“Lots of nerves in the shoulder, not a serious enough wound for people like you and I to go into shock though,” he said. “Who sent you here? I want a name.”
Granite gulped, and he stepped closer to the human.
“G-General.”
Elias glanced back, his smile falling away slightly as he spotted the pony. He got to his feet.
“Do you have good news?”
Granite let out a sigh of relief when he saw a look of worry on Elias’ face. Worry was good, this was probably just his way of coping with worry. The method was a bit disturbing, but still, trying to get information was still good and productive, and any worry the human felt was easily relieved.
“Princess Luna is still unconscious, but her magic is intact and Doctor Scalpel and Healer Kind Heart removed all the null stone. She’ll make a full recovery, she just needs plenty of rest.”
Granite withheld a smile as Elias nodded, his shoulders sinking with relief.
“Good, good,” the human said. “How’s the camp? Hopefully no panic?”
“The camp is on alert,” Granite answered, his internal smile growing bigger as his general came out of whatever dark torture was before him. “No panic, and now no worry. Doctor Scalpel made the announcement of Princess Luna’s recovery publicly. Centurion Ice Blossom was trying to get ponies back to bed when I came looking for you.”
Elias again nodded, his eyes focused on the ground in thought.
“Good, they need to be ready for the ambush tomorrow. Especially now that I caught this piece of shit.” He turned and spat on the minotaur, who growled and again strained against his restraints. Elias sneered at him in reply, then crossed his arms and looked to Granite. He nodded at the other minotaur.
“Get him back to camp and treated. He’s going to tell Steel Horn I have his brother, again.” Elias side-eyed Stone Horn. “Idiot gave me better bait than any prodding spells could do.” Glancing back to Granite. “But let him go, preferably still wounded. There’s no better evidence than fresh blood.”
“And what will you do?” Granite asked. “You’re hurt General, and you need to be rested for tomorrow too.”
Elias shrugged, looking down at Stone Horn.
“I have to keep working on this one. Somebody told him I would be out here, and it nearly got Luna killed. It did get two legionaries killed. I need to know if we have a spy. Every move we make is at risk if we do.”
Elias’ fist clenched and unclenched, and his eyes flicked to Granite, narrowing slightly when he noticed the look of concern on Granite’s face.
“Don’t worry about it Centurion, he’ll talk. If he doesn’t, I’ll stop when the carts get here.”
“Carts?” Granite echoed, seizing on the opportunity to get the human away from his bloodbath.
“When you take him back to camp, have a few carts brought out here,” Elias said. “Both to take care of our dead, as well as wheel these corpses out to the treeline. His lip curled with disgust as he looked at the piled diamond dog bodies. “I’m tried of people not taking this seriously, so I’m going to send a message about how serious I am. Maybe heads on pikes will finally put some fear into the minotaurs if growling bellies won’t.”
Granite swallowed.
“General, it’s only been a couple days. I doubt their stores emptied that quickly. We probably just need to keep taking out their scavenging patrols and-”
“I’m not risking a drawn out siege,” Elias spat. “I want the minotaurs to come out begging for mercy when the rest of the army shows up. I want them so scared that the mere thought of facing the full legion and the guard forces makes them surrender so that I don’t need to piss away more lives on another stupid fight for idiotic things like wealth, and pride.”
Granite flinched as the human’s foot reared back, then slammed into Stone Horn’s crotch. The bull’s eyes bulged, and whatever rage he would have drawn up was consumed by pain as he tried to curl into a ball. Elias spat on him, then looked to Granite.
“Take the prisoner back to camp and get the wagons moving here. I think she came in with Centurion Ice Blossom’s group, so have Legionnaire Wood Chop fashion some stakes, and make them tall. They need to be visible as the sun rises.”
“And this is absolutely necessary?” Granite again challenged. He had to. Some small part of him could see the human’s logic, but if there was a way to avoid such obscene violence…
Any hope of that faded as Elias shook his head.
“This is war Centurion, not training, not a duel, war. War is dirty, and the man who is willing to drench his hands in blood is far more likely to come out on top than the one who sits back, pretty and clean, and rests on his victories. I…” He looked at the ground and chuckled. “Well, I can’t say I don’t like it, because it’s a nice taste of revenge for the ponies this scum killed, but… I recognize it is distasteful to most. It is necessary though. Have the stakes made and the bodies delivered to the treeline. I can handle the rest by myself.”
Granite’s muzzle twitched and he briefly considered second guessing the human again, but after a moment of consideration, he simply nodded. Elias seemed rational enough, and given what had happened, he could be forgiven for being tortuously angry. The only thing he could do to help now would be to follow the human’s orders and to quickly get the carts back to him. He had managed to keep him largely distracted from torturing Stone Horn with talk. In front of the normal legionaries? Elias would definitely hold back, and there were plenty of bodies, so it would take them awhile to leave, hopefully enough time for him to cool off and come back to his full senses.
“Is there anything else you need General?” he asked, turning to leave. “Perhaps a healer?”
Elias wiped at his blood covered face, chuckling lightly when is hand came away completely sticky with blood.
“It’s not mine,” he assured the pony. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean up later. Now go. I want to finish up here so we can rest for tomorrow. That ambush has to go through now.” He clenched a fist and looked at Stone Horn, who was panting with eyes glazed over in pain. “We can end this with less bloodshed. It just takes a little more suffering now to save everything later.”
Granite gave him a slight bow, then trotted away.
Elias sneered and crouched down in front of Stone Horn, drawing the bull’s eyes back from his suffering.
“Want me to keep going cow, or are you done? This ends when I get answers.”
The bull looked like he would again deny the human, but his eyes flicked down to the knife in Elias’ hands, and he squirmed slightly, whining behind his gag. Elias reached behind the bull and cut it lose. He gain crouched before the bull, tapping the flat of the blade against his palm.
“Who sent you?”
Stone Horn swallowed.
“I don’t know,” he rasped, the pain evident in his voice. “He came to me. Told me where you were, told me there were allies waiting.” He nodded toward the pile of bodies. “My warriors and I came across the dogs, and I used them as a distraction to shoot you and be done with it.”
Elias nodded.
“That’s right, I owe you for that. This is the second time you’ve tried to have me killed.” He punched the open wound on the bull’s arm, prompting him to moan in pain. “Keep talking. Who came to you? Describe him.”
Stone Horn glared at him.
“It was some changeling,” he spat. “Disguised as a unicorn with a red mane. He didn’t say who sent him, and he didn’t give me a name. He just said where you’d be.”
He winced and looked to his arm.
“Now cut me down and kill me. I’d rather suffer a disappointing death than bear this humiliation any longer.”
“I’m not finished,” Elias growled. “The changeling, what did he say? He must have given you something.”
“Doubtful,” a female voice said.
Elias whirled around and flipped the knife over, ready to throw it. The changeling smiled, her eyes purple as she moved into the torchlight.
“No need for that General Bright,” she said with a smile. “I am here to help you, not harm.”
“You’re a changeling,” Elias snarled. “If those eyes were blue, I wouldn’t have given you a chance to speak at all.”
“Exactly the reason I increased their glow,” the changeling said. “I am not a drone from Queen Chrysalis’ hive, but from Queen Mentis.” She bowed low to the ground. “My Queen sends her regards, and offers you information in return for your gift of prisoners on the last battlefield, as well as the upcoming one.”
“There isn’t going to be another battlefield,” Elias said. “The idiot here was going to give me information to kill the informant giving his people any kind of hope about winning, and then his kin will shit themselves when the rest of the army shows up.”
“Buck you!” Stone Horn spat. “I’ll rip your puny little arms off and shove them up your-”
The minotaur choked as Elias again stomped on his crotch. The human ripped the gladius from his palm, and the bull collapsed with a wheeze, doing his best to cup the area.
“Another word out of you and I cut them off,” Elias snarled. “Now shut it.” His eyes flicked up to the changeling. “As for your queen, she can keep her information, I don’t need it, and I’m not giving any gifts. What you do with wounded bulls is up to you. I couldn’t care less how they end up.”
The changeling rose with a smile plain on her muzzle.
“Regardless, it is a gift most appreciated to leave the wounded for our purposes. Queen Mentis would like to repay the gift, as a show of good faith.”
“And what makes her think I need her good faith?” Elias growled. “I’ve spoken with a changeling queen. She healed me just to have me killed. Any “information” you might provide is going to stab the same knife in my back.”
The changeling chuckled.
“Not all changelings are as stupid and vain as that cow Chrysalis, General Bright. Queen Mentis actually sees the value in remaining hidden alongside a prospering Equestria. Happy ponies make more foals after all, and more foals means more ponies, which means easier food.” She licked her lips. “Even stealing love from prisoners is delicious, and Equestria expands all the time, building new towns, sending out new expeditions.” She shrugged. “Queen Mentis likes her position as it stands. She certainly isn’t going to do anything stupid like go to war with the princesses.” She chortled. “Or invade a royal wedding.”
“You’re wasting my time,” Elias said, his thumb rubbing along the hilt of his gladius. “If you’re going to ambush me, you’d better do a sight better than dogs and cows.”
“There is no ambush,” the changeling said, taking a step toward the human. “Please, what do I need to do to provide this information to you? My queen may not be a brute like you think, but she does not tolerate failure. I will not return until my task is complete.”
Elias’ narrowed, and he scanned the air around the purple-eyed changeling. To his surprise, he saw no waves, no attempts at manipulation at all. His head, while far from clear, wasn’t being tampered with by the chitinous creature. That either meant the bug was one of the best liars he’d ever met and didn’t need magic to manipulate him, or she was telling him the truth, and her queen wanted to help him so that she could use wounded minotaurs for food in exchange.
That fact rubbed him slightly the wrong way. He’d… known that scavengers had taken to the previous battlefield, but… His focus had been on his ponies. He hadn’t cared about the minotaurs, still didn’t care. He snarled in thought. He did not care what happened to the fat-headed cows. They had gone out of their way to threaten and harm his ponies, and if they paid for that with their deaths or long lives as food for changelings, that was their fault. They would’ve lived longer if they had just listened to him.
Even as his thoughts tried to twist around to make him feel guilty, his eyes flicked up to the changeling.
“Talk. If you have something useful, you’ll get your “gifts.” He immediately felt the center of his mind rear it’s stupid, compassionate head, and he couldn’t help but add; “but if the cow tells me more, you get nothing once I’ve sent them running for the trees.”
The changeling snorted.
“That won’t be difficult General.” She stepped over Stone Horn’s curled form and sneered. “This one is good for little. In fact, I might be able to offer you some help in hurting the minotaurs, if you let me take him off your hooves.”
“Hands, and no,” Elias said. “He has uses as bait, if nothing else.”
The changeling’s smile widened and she looked at him.
“Using the younger brother as bait to draw out the old? My my General Bright, you think like a changeling.”
“Wrong again,” he countered. “I plan the way I do to spare ponies. You do it because it’s all you have. Now stop stalling and tell me what information you have.”
The changeling inclined her head.
“Of course, General.” She straightened, her eyes flicking back down to the minotaur. “The changeling this one speaks of was a well-known agent of a lesser hive, a Queen Venenum. He is dead now, but he is the one who revealed your whereabouts,” she nodded toward the piles of bodies, “as well as hired diamond dog mercenaries to cover his tracks.” She chuckled. “But Queen Venenum will not be an issue for you again General. She overextended in her little ploy to take an army’s worth of love, and she is being handled in the traditional way.”
“Traditional way?” Elias echoed.
The changeling met his eyes and her smile took on a vicious glint.
“She was executed while she slept and her hive has been taken by an alliance between my queen and a friend. They are no more.”
“Then I fail to see how this helps me,” Elias said. “If the spy was still alive, I might have been able to turn him to draw Steel Horn out. Now I have nothing but the idiot.”
“I was able to torture some information out of the spy as well,” the changeling said. “He knew details about the inside of Saraj-”
“I have spies in the city as well, and I just gave the city enough food to last at least another week,” Elias cut in. “You’re wasting my time.”
“Then let me finish speaking!” the changeling snarled.
Elias’ eyebrow raised, and the blade of his gladius flickered in the torchlight. The changeling glanced at the blade, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“As I was saying,” she continued. “He knew details about the inside of Saraj, as well as some details about the minotaur camp on the far side of the river. Would you like to hear those details, or do you have a spy there as well, oh all-seeing General?”
The sarcasm dripped from her voice, and he couldn’t fault her that. He’d largely forgotten about the minotaurs on the far side of the river. None of his raids had restricted them at all, and while that likely didn’t impact his strategy to starve the bulls, it certainly meant they had more reinforcements than his current plans accounted for.
Elias sighed and nodded.
“I would like the details. Please,” he added.
The changeling grinned.
“That’s better. I was beginning to think you the ape I keep hearing about from the spies inside Canterlot.”
Elias’ eyes narrowed, but the changeling waved a hoof, shooing away any would-be threats.
“Don’t fret, my queen is smart enough not to try and put spies in the castle.” She shuddered. “We learned that lesson during the invasion. We strictly remain as observers in the city, as well as do some surface love theft, but nothing harmful, you have my word.”
“As much as that’s worth,” Elias grumbled. “So what do you know about the camp across the river?”
“The minotaurs number perhaps three thousand,” the changeling said. “And they are well supplied. There isn’t much but desert on that side of the river I’m afraid, so the Saddle Arabians haven’t been trying to escape that way, and the bulls are fresh, and anxious to fight.”
She again looked down at Stone Horn, her eyes flickering with delight as he stared back with a visibly nervous expression on his face.
“The only reason they haven’t been drawn back across the river to fight is two-fold. One, they do still need to bottle in Saraj, but in truth, it would only take a third of their number to do that now.”
“Two-thousand bulls is still enough to make a difference,” Elias said. “The other reason?”
“Minotaurs may be good with armor, but they do not build boats well,” the changeling chuckled. “They used makeshift rafts to get across the first time, and now they use the wooden bridge across the river to make crossings. With supplies slim, they aren’t stopped from slipping around the walls, just so long as they don’t start trouble. While the ways are narrow, they can easily rush from their camp to the aid of their fellows, should you attack the walls head-on.”
The changeling paused, glancing at him as if to check if he was paying attention. Elias stared back and crossed his arms.
“I’m sensing a ‘but’.”
The changeling chuckled and looked back to Stone Horn, not answering his implied question.
“Are you sure we can’t have this one? I would happily act as bait for you if we just got to keep him. Minotaurs are easy to imitate.” She licked her lips and leaned in close to Stone Horn, causing the bull to wrench himself backward, his muzzle curling in disgust.
“Stay away from me insect,” he spat. “I’ll rip that disgust smile off your face and-”
“Mount it on my wall?” the changeling said in his voice. Licking her lips again and chuckling, the bug put a hoof on his chest. “Oh tell me more Warchief. Disgust might not be nutritious, but it can be quite tasty, if prepared correctly.”
“If you give me something more useful than a headcount, you can have him,” Elias said, more than wanting to be done with the bug-pony. She was beginning to unnerve him. The changeling seemed to sense his growing discomfort and turned her head around, still smiling at him.
“Excellent,” she hissed. “We also know the minotaurs on that side of the river are under the strictest orders to stay in camp until Warchief Steel Horn summons them.”
Stone Horn looked to Elias with a somewhat pleading look on his face.
“You cannot honestly be thinking of turning me over to a bug. Even a coward such as you-”
“Call me a coward again and I’ll personally seek out Chrysalis and give you to her,” Elias said. “I’ve killed dozens of your kind and I did with my own two hands. I’m no more a coward than you are a leader. As for turning you over, you’d better offer me something better than the bug, or I’ll take her offer. She won’t fight me when I use her as bait.”
The bull looked aghast for a moment, then let out a roar.
“I’ll kill you! You have no honor, no sense of a warrior’s spirit! Now cut me free so that I can die like a warrior!”
Elias rolled his eyes as the minotaur began to rant. He looked to the changeling, who simply chuckled.
“He has nothing General, nothing but a modicum of love that I will happily take time to draw out. If I may continue…?” When he nodded in reply, she looked back to Stone Horn. “Steel Horn has a special musical horn that he has saved specifically for summoning the minotaurs across the river. He used it once when Saraj’s defenders very nearly broke out in the early days of the siege, and as since not used it. We have confirmed its purpose from spying among the warchief’s guards. Bribes and drinks, the usual fare to loosen tongues.”
“And can you steal this horn?” Elias asked.
“Not without risk, which will require a touch more than gifts,” the changeling said, glancing his way, a careful frown spreading on her muzzle. “Information is one thing. If a drone is caught, that makes us allies, and the hive might be punished if you fail. That requires a significant reward. The… equine kind.”
“Pass then,” Elias said, needing hear no more. “I’ll deal with the minotaurs and their bridge.” He looked down at Stone Horn. “So, you can imitate him?”
“I can act the part too.” She let out a giggle, and her voice again changed to sound exactly like the bull’s. “Cowardly little ape. I’ll break your spine and enslave your princess. For my honor, and more importantly, my ego!”
Her voice shifted back, and she laughed to the stars, her horn charging with magic. Stone Horn grunted with alarm as the magic surrounded him and he began to lift into the air. His eyes widened and began to flick about, clearly trying to think of some way to escape. Elias snorted and shook his head, even as the changeling continued.
“I will slip into your camp momentarily and reveal myself to you, General,” she said. “I do not need to know my part in your plan, I just need the guarantee that you will at least try not to get me killed. I’d quite like to break the bull myself.”
Elias waved a hand, motioning for the changeling to leave. His eyes drifted to the blood drying all around him, and to the bloody state of his gear. It definitely needed a cleaning, and so did he. That wasn't to mention the wounds that still sat open across his body.
“It should be no problem. Once they’ve seen him once, you can just do his voice and hide with my ponies.”
The changeling bowed.
“As you wish. You shall see me again shortly.”
She turned to leave with Stone Horn floating beside her and Elias turned away, looking for a rag to begin cleaning his sword with. The minotaur’s eyes kept flicking back in forth wildly, until he suddenly straightened in her magic grip.
“I know who betrayed you!” Stone Horn bleated.
Both Elias and the changeling froze. The human glanced over his shoulder, his bad eye twitching.
“What?”
“The changeling, the one who told me where you would be, he provided the arrow that shot your princess, and he said the name of the pony that betrayed you at the battle!” Stone Horn spat out. “Keep me your prisoner, or kill me if you wish, but I won’t tell you a thing if you let me go with this bug to be a slave.”
Elias turned on his heel and stomped up to the bull. He held the point of the blade to Stone Horn’s eye and growled.
“You are in no position to make demands cow. Now give me the name, or you’ll go blind to the changelings.”
A touch of arrogance returned to Stone Horn’s eyes, and the bull had the nerve to smile.
“Go ahead. You’ll get nothing, and it will burn you that the pony behind your precious princess being wounded will walk free. If you want the information, you’re going to let me go. In fact, you’re going to escort me back to the stockade walls, and then you’re going to make a deal with my brother to stop attacking our-”
Elias snorted and his free hand reared back, then slammed into the bull’s stomach hard enough to knock him from the changelings magic. Stone Horn hit the ground with a wheeze. Elias immediately began kicking and stomping him, his aim skewed by his fury. Blows landed on every part of the bull, forcing him to once again curl into a ball to weather the human’s rage.
The changeling moved to stand beside him, wincing when a crack filled the air as Elias stomped on Stone Horn’s ribs.
“He’s lying to save his hide,” she said. “Just leave him to me, and I’ll-”
“Shut the fuck up,” Elias spat at her. “If I were you, I’d come up with a very convincing reason why the spy you killed didn’t reveal that name to you, because right now I’m wondering how I almost made a deal with a filthy, lying, bug.”
He knelt down beside Stone Horn and grabbed him by the hair, yanking him from his ball. Elias pressed his gladius against the bull’s cheek, drawing blood as he slowly increased the pressure.
“I’m tired of threatening you. I’m just going to start cutting until I get the answers I want, and if you want me to stop, you’ll talk.”
Stone Horn swallowed.
“Don’t turn me over to her, and I will,” he wheezed. “I’ll allow myself to be bait, but not a changeling’s love bag. I’d rather die in agony.”
The changeling huffed and turned away behind him.
“As if it’s that painful of a fate. We even make you dream of happy times so you generate more love, and-”
Elias ignored her and instead drew his blade down, opening a longer score on Stone Horn’s cheek.
“Speak,” he hissed.
“The changeling mentioned a ‘Duke Lionheart’, said he sounded the retreat during the battle. He also told me that his information came from an informant in your camp,” Stone Horn said. “And he said it had just happened before he introduced us to the dogs. If that pony is in your camp, then he must be the source. Traitors always betray again.”
Elias’ face twitched. Lionheart. Of course it was Lionheart. He should have executed the coward, should have said damn the evidence and just cut his slimy little throat. He’d let him live however, and now the snake was spreading his venom wherever he could land his wretched little fangs. He was going to kill him, felt his fingernails splitting the skin of his palms his fists were clenched so tight with anger.
He straightened and looked toward camp just as his legionaries came crashing through the brush. Elias could barely see them through the haze of red in his eyes. He faintly heard them asking him questions, looking for orders as he began to storm past them.
“Gather the bodies, treat our dead, and make sure the minotaur doesn’t die. He’s our bait.”
The words were spoken through gritted teeth at a low growl, but nobody stopped him for clarification as he stomped through the forest, gradually speeding up until he was sprinting back to the castra. Lionheart was going to die.
*****
Persona sighed as she moved quietly through the trees, shedding her purple facade as she went. Stupid cow and stupid human for listening with his stupid desire for revenge, and damn that she had mentioned something so stupid as Lionheart’s name. She’d already been using his likeness as a disguise, but now Elias Bright knew the traitorous buffoon’s name!
“My name’s Duke Lionheart,” she said, mimicking the stallion’s voice. “I’m a big idiot who likes stabbing everyone and anyone in the back, and I don’t have a single subtle bone in my pathetic pony body!”
Her voice immediately fell away and she growled at herself.
“I’m no better. I drop his stupid name where that idiot cow can here, and now my Queen is going to beat me to death with a stick, because I’ve managed to get her insider killed.”
She sighed again as she trotted through the trees and toward the cave where the rest of the hive was waiting. She flinched as she came in range of what all the normal changelings called their “cousins”. The sound of hundreds of changelings gnashing their teeth and all-but attacking each other was disturbing, and she found that she wished for the familiar buzzing and orderly tapping of chitin on stone of the old hive. The pre-invasion hive.
Her stomach rumbled, and she scowled. That was a familiar sensation, though less so recently. It had been a busy night, and disguising herself not only for the human, but for the idiot cow had taken it’s toll. The good news was that she didn’t need to maintain any disguises now that her mission was complete. The human had bait to draw the minotaurs out, and the minotaurs would do their part without intervention. Sheer numbers alone would be able to shatter Elias’ Bright’s current forces, and while he could still find a way to withdraw to the rest of the army a mere day or two behind, she doubted he would. He was stubborn like the minotaurs, although, unlike the bull-headed cows, he did have some means to back it up. She shivered as she remembered the day of the invasion, the path of despair the human had cut through the hivemind. She’d been on the opposite end of the city, ensuring ponies trying to escape by the train would be caught, yet somehow she’d still felt her hivemates meet gruesome ends. The fact that he’d then managed to survive spoke to his tenacity, and with how her queen acted when he was mentioned…
Elias Bright was a threat, that was to be sure. Any retreat he might conduct would come after a mountain of blood was spilled, and that was all to plan. Another risky, incredibly dangerous, plan.
A chuckle brought her out her musings, and Persona couldn’t help but shrink as her queen stalked from the shadows near the cave. Flanking her were two hives guards, both of whom fixed Persona with glares as if she was some miserable little drone good for nothing more than scrubbing floors and watching eggs. She returned the glares, baring her teeth and growling at the more bold of the two guards. He met her glare for a moment, but eventually turned away. Chrysalis spoke with a playfulness in her tone, and Persona couldn’t but wince. She was happy, and the bad news was only going to make her unhappy. Persona did her best not to shake and ignored the sounds emanating from the cave. Just because the normal ‘lings hadn’t been fed to their aggressive cousins yet, didn’t mean there wasn’t a time to start.
“I have news, my Queen,” she said.
Chrysalis snorted.
“You wouldn’t dare be before me without news, so speak it.”
“Elias Bright has survived both ambushes and will draw the minotaurs out using Stone Horn as bait.” Persona’s eyes flicked to the cave. It was always best to lead with good news. “I still wasn’t able to get close enough to the camp to determine exact numbers, but given his response to the ambush, it isn’t the full army. If Steel Horn is smart, he should be able to crush them.”
“Excellent,” Chrysalis hissed. “Even if he isn’t and Elias Bright comes out on top once more, it will not matter. We benefit from the slaughter of the minotaurs just as we benefit from that of the ponies. What else?”
“Princess Luna survived-”
“Obvious,” Chrysalis cut in with a scoff, her eyes shifting to the sky. “The moon isn’t red and Celestia isn’t here scorching the earth. And it is better that Luna survives. She is far too valuable to die to some cow.”
The changeling queen’s eyes returned to rest on Persona.
“And the bad news?”
A flinch prefaced the changeling’s next words. There was no hiding from her queen.
“Stone Horn revealed Lionheart as your agent.” She bowed her head low to the ground, waiting for the fatal blow to strike. It didn’t happen frequently, but in matters as important as these, an execution for failure was inevitable. Still, she continued to speak. If she was going to die, she would die with nothing held back. “It is my mistake my Queen. I mentioned his name when baiting the minotaur to the trees, I was certain I could convince Elias Bright to use myself in disguise to draw out Steel Horn and return the younger to you, then slay him once his back was turned and take his place once I had done so.”
She closed her eyes and continued to wait. There would be shouting. Rage always started the process, and then, near it’s height, a blow would strike, then there would be immense calm for the rest of the hive. Grieving would follow, then a return to norm after she was burned.
She was surprised from her musings when laughter filled the air. Persona glanced up to find her queen with her head thrown back to the sky, her muzzle open and a long, loud string of laughter flowing steadily out. Emerald magic surrounded her barrel, and she squeaked as she was pulled into a squeezing grasp. Any panic of being crushed turned into pure bliss as extra love flooded her body, and she let out a hiss of delight. Chrysalis chuckled and patted her head.
“That is wonderful news, my perfect little spy. You should be proud to deliver such a gift.”
Persona hummed, her eyes opening hazy and happy.
“But my Queen, I thought you would be angry to lose an agent, and Elias Bright still lives.”
“Elias Bright is strong and deserves life. He has shown the will and cunning to fight for it, and had he not been corrupted by ponies, he would have made a fine addition to my hive. As for Lionheart, perhaps if he didn’t betray me as well, then he could be afforded some protection.” Chrysalis’ gaze hardened with anger, but she was careful to keep it from tainting the love. “But he killed another of my favorite spies, and for that he deserves whatever punishment Elias Bright delivers.”
She patted Persona’s head again before releasing her and nudging her to stand back at attention. The changeling did so with obvious hesitation, and as she turned to face her queen once more, she found the two guards swaying in place, visibly drunk on just the scraps of love in the air. She hiccupped, filled to the brim and warm.
“T-thank you my Queen,” she said, swaying slightly herself. “I t-trust you received the new love slaves?”
“Indeed, and that is just a taste of what they have to offer,” Chrysalis smiled. “Between the ‘generals’ and our minotaur stock, we should be sufficiently fed for months. Plenty of time to let the ponies and minotaurs weaken each other, delivering the remains of both armies, as well as Saraj, one after the other.”
She gave a nod and glanced back to the cave.
“This is excellent news Persona, you have done well this night. Was there anything else I should know, or shall I try to slip an agent into Elias Bright’s camp to watch Lionheart be ripped apart?”
“I’d very much like to watch that, my Queen,” Persona said, sharing a chuckle with her fellow changelings. “But a question; why did I need to disguise myself as one of Queen Mentis’ changelings? She is a hated rival, no?”
“She is,” Chrysalis replied with a nod. “But if things were to go poorly, Elias Bright might remember her name rather than mine, and if things go well, he will merely forget. It is unlikely that any action taken here till be to her benefit, and if things were to go truly wrong, we might rely on Elias Bright’s goodwill to escape in the guise of her drones.” Chrysalis scoffed and turned, directing them to follow with a nod of her head. “She is soft, she won’t do anything to retaliate.”
She led them to a hill that faced the Equestrian camp and sat down, smiling into the dark.
“Now, let us play a game. The changeling best able to predict how precisely Elias Bright will end that miserable little unicorn will receive personal time with the new love slaves.” She laughed, her fangs glistening in the moonlight. “Personally, I hope that wretched creature bleeds.”
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I wonder what torture method will be used today:D
Furnace? Blood eagle? Pike? Bamboo shoot? Breaking wheel? Iron Maiden?
so many choices so little time
Joke of the day what do you call a cow in an earthquake? A milkshake
I wasn't expecting things to quite turn out that way.
Lionheart is fucked.
11481562
Have a like.
Screw Game of Thrones, this is intrigue within the battlefield.
New chapter time!
Well gotta say I thought that was gonna turn out way worse, but honestly it is turned around and now lion heart is fucked
11481562
Perhaps a devils fork? So simple yet so gloriously cruel ( it’s a two pronged fork two on top two on the bottom, you tie it around some poor fools neck and the prongs dig into their flesh should they try to put their head down)
11481668
Eh that seems like they’ll die of sleep deprivation I think I would prefer more immediate effects and something that includes lots of blood tho that does sound very effective
May god have mercy on Lionhearts soul… because The Red Eagle will show none!
100 bits on Bright turning Lionheart into a red winged alicorn!
Another great chapter, and unless you have more use for him I will be glad to see the Traitor get his due
Whoop! I was getting concerned the Lionheart plot was overstaying it's welcome, but I think you cut it off at just the right moment!
I'm hyped to see what comes next :)
The next chapter is coming up, the fall of Lionheart…. I have been Salivating, and the time for revenge is Nigh
What an amazing Chapter. You really saved my day.
Now, Lionheart is trully fucked. I wonder just how public the execusion of that Traitor will be.
I'm still thinking all of this would have been adverted with a flying carriage
He’s fulfilling his own curse. As maligned as Lionheart is, I dread what the legionnaires think if Elias doesn’t dial things back. Granite is already shaken.
Eeyup... bugs're about to get a crash course on why Elias is called the "Red Eagle"
Oh Lionheart, you fool. For you fell upon your own sword.
Whelp.
I am excited to see what happens!
All I can say for sure is that should lionheart not scream during the blood Eagle he may enter the verdant fields but should he scream 100 layers of hell awaits. Viking style
11481860
I dunno, I think when they find out that Lionheart was the reason for many of their fellow legionaires getting killed through multiple counts of treachery, and for almost getting Luna killed, I think most will start coming over to Elias' side of thinking on many things. Non legionaires too.
I feel where barely scratching the surface of the blood eagle and seeing it's claws dig more deeper into red and I am loving it
11481562
While I imagine any of these would be fitting for one reason or another, I do not think anything extreme would be wise.
The ponies, a people known for their innocent passive nature, so far have witnessed the horror of a bloody battlefield. They have watched their friends and loved ones dying violent deaths right in front of them, and soon they will have the *pleasure* to watch their leader put heads on pikes. They all know that this little war is not over; not for a while yet.
Hardened soldiers they may be now, but what they have witnessed on this battlefield has already condemned them to a life of waking nightmares, ones that will make them envy their dead brethren.
Do not mistake my words however, Lionheart deserves what comes to him; of that I do not protest. But now Elias has to think and consider which tortuous end Lionheart receives will strengthen his army, rather than coming off as just being another grotesque thing they witnessed in war.
He has to remember who he is doing all this for, all the bloodshed. Is it for himself, or for those innocent passive ponies who care about him flaws and all?
Blood for the blood god!
You're blue balling here me chief.
I'll take Elias beating Stone Horn and lackeys out of view. I'll take Stone Horn being bait and not torture material.
I'll check for the next chapter regularly. For the love of God, if I come back to a new chapter that isn't minotaur heads on a row of pikes with Lionheart blood eagled as the centerpiece, with the process not being detailed to bump up the rating to M and an inquiry by staff to make sure you are doing ok, my man. I'll find you.
I just finished Royal Wedding Part 2 and I thought of Baked Loaf in the background. I hope she's okay and that she comes back. I loved her character introduction.
11535607
Flying ponies can make, walk on, and build solid structures on clouds. Not only do they not need to land, they don't even need to be visually exposed. Even with the princesses storing up their pegasus magic to stand on them themselves, cloudwalking spells that can be cast on others are a known quantity. They could just make a cloud bank and bypass all the hostile territory by sea without a fuss. Could even take an army with them without much trouble to fend off changelings, who would now be the only opponent to worry about and would have trouble projecting force at random clouds at sea. Air currents are already far faster than ground speed even before factoring in camping. It would be a hell of a lot safer than marching a big noticeable army through hostile foreign countries full of people who can't fly.
Speaking of fuss, a few chapters later they sure do stage a lot of big farewell marches through every populated area on their way out, which is an utterly stupid thing to do when the goal is to slip past armies and you know your civilian population has been recently compromised with unknown scope.
The whole operation was going out of its way to paint the most needlessly bright target on their backs as possible.
(Stupid site automatically posting replies on the most recent chapter instead of the one with the original comment...)
11535935
Just a fore-note, I'm just addressing in detail cause I like talking about it, not cause I'm trying to hyper-defend or nothing. Anywho
1. The parades are proper send-offs for ponies who are about to die. One cannot hide that many leaving ponies regardless, and other foreign nations may be afraid of a secret army. An army with declared intent, however, will be watched, but not feared.
2. Nobody knew the minotaurs had formed armies. As far as they were informed, they were creating an army designed to be intimidating to warring tribes and raiders. An army is best suited to scaring away such raids with ease. Elias just over-prepared cause he's paranoid.
3. Logistically speaking, pegasi carriages aren't enough to carry the princesses, cause pegasi, much like horses or birds, are using their own power to pull them things. Marching, Saraj is three weeks away from the Equestrian border. Another week from Canterlot proper. Let's pretend, for easy math, flying reduces travel time down two-thirds. That's still a week of 12 hour a day flights. Anyone would be exhausted by that, carrying armor, princesses, food, all the like. So now you have more bodies to store on cloud structures. It has been noted in the story that the minotaur lands have chaotic weather, so such structures would be difficult to form, and hard to maintain.
4. Minotaurs have magic! Not nearly as powerful and flashy as ponies, but destroying clouds? They could figure that out, or simply keep pace with the carriages as they fly, waiting for them to get water or such.
And I'm sure you're thinking "well Eight, that sound great, why isn't it explained in story?" And the answer is simple! The story is already long, and I'm trying to convey most of this through context clues. I'll allow you to be the judge if I've succeeded or not.