The Saviour of Saddle Arabia

by The Marshmallow

2 - Defining an age

[...] Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead are portrayed in prefect agreement, with their eyes replaced by gemstones and what can only be described as greedy smiles. In the background Clover the clever, Private Pansy and Smart Cookie seem to strongly disapprove, and close to them there is a bag full of gems, some of which fell on the ground.

This piece of satire, one of the very few surviving the censorships wanted by Princess Emerald fifty years later, mainly proves three things. First, all of the founders of Equestria had immediate recognition. This includes Private Pansy, whose lack of promotions has often brought scholars to doubt of her role as a primary advisor both to Commander Hurricane and his successor. The fact she was granted significant freedom in her life and was not ostracized even after refusing to be deployed to war, on the contrary, suggests she was held in a special position in the pegasus' tribe.

Second, there was knowledge of the abundance of gems in Equestria. Exactly how well the scale of this abundance was estimated is unknown. Still, while Clover the Clever and Private Pansy's pacifist natures are well known, Smart Cookie is known for usually considered only the facts while making his decisions. His strong opposition to the war suggests he understood its pointlessness, as he was probably well informed, due to his involvement in the development of the Equestrian countryside.

Third, although later records present the first few decades of Equestrian history as a time of complete harmony, in part due to the strong propaganda wanted by Princess Emerald, it was clearly not the case. Not only there was sparse conflict among the three tribes leadership, which wasn't fully unified until the time of the Diarchy; even when the three leaders agreed, their very counsellors could hold an opposite opinion, which was likely to be very influential among the common ponies. The authority of the three leaders was essentially unchecked, though, so they soon declared the first war since the unification of the tribes, which resulted in saddle Arabia becoming the first Equestria's subject.

-D. Quill, Historian

After weeks of knowing Discord and often sharing 'tea time' with him, not one of the Queen's doubts had been answered. On the contrary, it was as if more and more questions were piling up. He was unexpectedly amicable for the god-like creature he was, always ready to crack a joke or to have some fun at a third-party expense. And only a few times he had invaded her personal space to the point of making her uncomfortable. On her part, Chrysalis was still in a state of constant wariness of her unlikely 'friend'. That's not to say she disliked the arrangement she had found herself in, though.

"By the way, dear Duchess, just the other day your diplomats rejected our amendments to the trade deal..." The duchess of Monacolt almost choked on her tea. She wasn't at all prepared to have that conversation. And despite her well-honed magical skills, the cup she was levitating started shaking, forcing her to hold it with both her forehooves before taking the following sip. "Shocking, I know. I just wondered if you could talk some sense into them", the Queen went on, ignoring the distress of her guest. "I wonder what my dear friend, our lord Discord, would think of this..."

The look on her face was just so precious, the Queen thought. Cornered, she was trying to find an escape of any kind, just to realize there was nothing she could do. Disappointing her people about a trade deal was a small price, compared to the notorious destruction Discord could bring with ease, and that many nations in the world had experimented in the previous nine centuries. "I-I believe he would be in perfect agreement", the duchess replied, forcing a smile and consuming what was left of her own beverage. "I will make sure to, uhm, give my collaborators better guidance...?"

In her question, in the prolonged and slightly higher pitch ending, it was implied she was seeking the Queen's approval. The latter wouldn't relent that easily, though, and only after a few unnerving moments of silence (in which she kept her most neutral expression), she finally replied: "I'm glad to hear this, my dear!" She paired it with a little, calculated smile to ease the tension a bit, then took the last sip of her tea in perfect silence, with the other mare observed her expectantly. Finally, she slowly rose from her chair moving closer to the Duchess. "I had a lovely time, but now I'd better bid you goodbye." Without a word, and very quickly at that, the other mare got up as well. She knew better than ignoring such hint. "I'll have to ask the kitchen for some more food. Our lord is probably going to be here soon." But Chrysalis knew very well how easily the winner of the game could become the long-term loser. It is enough to win so harshly that the other player never wants to play again. No, she needed to conclude on an uplifting note, to make sure she would come back. "I'll make sure to tell him what a good, reasonable lady you are."

As predicted, there was some gratitude in her eyes. The Duchess knew very well how important it was to be liked by the fickle ruler. Some commercial concession was no big deal, if she could just manage to have a slightly better, safer position while dealing with the Draconeequs next time. She ended up actually thanking the Queen as she left, accompanied by her own guards to the entrance of the palace.

Chrysalis liked the arrangement she had found herself in, she liked it very much. Neither Discord nor herself had been shy about it, and although they did little more than chatting, the gossip was much more creative regarding the exact nature of their relationship. The rumour that Discord would do anything for her, as he was said to be 'head over hooves' for her, was a very dumb one in her opinion, but certainly not unwelcomed. The amount of reverence, favours, and overall new privileges she had been accorded by many other monarchs made her job much easier. Even the council was giving her much more leeway than before. And Discord, well, he certainly didn't need to know how exactly she used his name...

"You don't need to worry about the food, I can provide it." The familiar voice resounded in the empty room, moments after the Duchess had left. Or at least, it should have been empty. But as she closed the door and turned around, she could as expected see nopony's presence. The table had still been refilled, though. There were two fuming cups of tea, cookies and pastries of every size and kind, and an impossibly tall pile of fruit emerging from an enormous golden fruit bowl that, previously, wasn't even there. Then she heard laughter coming from it "You thought it was just a fruit bowl..." And then the metamorphosis started. The fruit bowl grew even bigger at first, and then it uncoiled in golden spires similar to that of a snake. Or that of a draconeequs. Soon four limbs emerged, then two wings and finally the equine head became more and more defined. "But it was me, Discord!" The colour of his fur soon shifted from golden to its more natural one, completing its appearance. He was still somehow coiled in what seemed a fairly relaxed position, floating above the table, with the fruits still held by his forelegs.

Chrysalis wasn't relaxed. At all. She dreaded the possibility Discord overheard the whole conversation. She could not guess what he was thinking or feeling, unlike most ponies, but she assumed he would not be happy. She swiftly closed the door and turned around, revealing her true form with a spark of her changeling magic, before answering: "Do you realize I don't need to actually eat that, right...?" In the off chance he had not actually heard her or could forget the fact, she decided to choose a different topic. "And believe that neither do you." His very bizarre diet, characterized by unedible things at bizarre times of the day or nothing at all for the longest time, suggested he did not need 'regular' food either.

"Correct", he acknowledged, before letting go of all the fruit (which instead of falling to the ground just kept floating in place). He moved swiftly around the pile, picking just one apple with his tail as he got closer to her, and then he brought the ripe red fruit closer to his mouth, devouring it in a single bite: "But if ponies only did what they need to do, everything would just be so boring..." A movement of his talon, and quickly a juicy pink peach levitated right in front of the Changeling's mouth. "Why don't you try it? If some fruit can taste like love, it must be the peach!"

There was so much wrong in the pile of assumptions Discord had just laid in front of her. There was hardly any relation to the appearance of a piece of food, to its smell or even to its flavour to what a changeling would feel while tasting it. And although the feeling some food gave her, just like coffee or dark chocolate, was in fact pleasant, love was just something different. But she knew better than trying to contradict him. So cautiously, slowly, she approached the peach with her fangs, stealing a little bite and then ruminating on it carefully for long moments. It moved the little piece on her tongue, then on her gums, and then chewed on it thoroughly and repeated the process. And then, after swallowing it, she finally gave her judgement "Ugh... Mild embarrassment with a pinch of loneliness. No love at all."

"Really?" Chrysalis realized too late what she had just done, as she looked at the excited eyes of the draconeequs. Once again, she had picked his interest, meaning he was going to ask more and more of the same thing until he was satisfied. "Why didn't I make you do that earlier?" And that something was tasting food, and relating it to emotions. It sounded fund and simple, but...

"I'm not doing that again." Despite her better judgement, the Queen still had her pride. Being a taste-tester was demeaning, not fit for the royalty she was. And that was not negotiable. Even Discord was a bit surprised by the decision of her answer, but certainly not displeased.

"Oh, don't be like that...", he pleaded with his sweetest voice. But he was not only going to plead. No, he wanted to construct the most compelling argument: "It could be a fun game! You tell me what you think of some food, and I'll tell you what I think of... I don't know..." He tapped on his chin a few times, looking pensive. But he knew exactly what the bargaining chip had to be "The duchess' trade agreement?"

There was just no way he wouldn't know. The changeling froze for a few moments, before being finally able to open her mouth again. There was no reason to drag that on, at this point her best bet was to face the whole thing head-on "Are you angry?" And then she just waited to know her fate.

the lord of Chaos looked in her direction with an unreadable expression for just a few moments. Then he just laughed, dismissing her question as if extremely silly "I think absolutely nothing of that trade deal, or how you made her agree." Discord sounded amused, overall, to which the mare was simply incredulous. "You can say anything you want, as long as you don't expect me to act upon it..." That was quite an incredible privilege, as it would allow her to receive every kind of favour. She almost started to wonder how much her lord would allow her to do, as her 'favourite'. But she tried to suffocate the greed right there, as for a while it would not have been wise to take further risks. "And if you expect me to do something, at least tell me beforehand", he quickly added, interrupting her flow of thoughts.

Chrysalis blinked, incredulous "Wait, do you mean..." But she had barely time to open her mouth and mutter these few words, that the Draconeequs had started talking again. And there was seemingly no stopping him.

"More importantly... You will not believe what happened yesterday!" It usual for him to not linger on a previous conversation. But that day it felt as if all the other topics were of little importance, compared to what was to come. The one thing he really wanted to talk about, as his starry eyes and overenthusiastic voice suggested. "Oh, I'm so excited! Just months after I met changelings, which I hadn't seen in centuries, I found..."

And despite the many legitimate questions the Queen would have wanted to ask about so many other things, she had to admit she was getting a little bit curious about his 'friend' demeanour. Assuming those were his real feelings, that was way more excitement than he had ever shown in front of her. "...You found?"

"Well I..."He was tempted to just go on and on, but he just had to show restraint. He grabbed his own mouth with his talon, physically preventing himself from speaking, and then he tore it away from his own face. The lips were still convulsing and trying to open, but he quickly put on a new mouth in place of the previous one, and then he went on with his speech "No, I won't tell you" The Queen was a bit disappointed, and was wondering if he wanted her to just press further. But no, it was not necessary "But I can show you!"

He snapped his claws, and in a moment the entire room vanished, replaced by a blinding light at first and a very different palace moments later. That was not a simple transmutation spell, she realized with a little surprise, that was teleportation. The kind no unicorn could ever perform, due to its impossible range. "Why are we here?"

"Don't you worry, I notified your servants already", Discord said in his most reassuring (although a bit dismissive) tone. To his credit, a slip of paper written in elegant cursive had appeared on the table near which they were moments earlier. It said 'Off to Equestria, brb'. Not the most dignified way to communicate, nor the most effective... But still better than nothing

Chrysalis simply sighed. It wasn't even the first time she had teleported her in some random place in the world, and the elegant halls of the Canterlot palace were certainly not the worst place she could have found herself. She had been there before and was somehow familiar with the overall style of the place. A mix of Discord's creativity and the traditional style much liked by Canterlot nobility. Only, this room was a little bit different still, substituting bright pink to the usual red, and pairing it not with gold but with silver. Also, large cushions were scattered everywhere, and she could see a few toys and dolls on the floor.

And there was a little filly sitting among all of that.

The Queen's head turned quickly towards Discord, as she experienced a fit of rage. Nopony was supposed to see her like that, they had agreed on it! But all she saw was a large, satisfied, mischievous smile. Not the kind that would increase her ire tenfold, but one that did immediately confuse her. It looked like she was holding his laughter. Why? Had she missed some important detail about the little unicorn in front of her? Unicorn? Or was it a pegasus? A small horn emerged from the purple, magenta and golden curly mane of the filling. But at the same time, pink wings matching her coat rested on her sides, the tips presenting an unusual purplish hue "Wait... Is she..?"

But she didn't have the time to complete her sentence. The filly, who was previously just as surprised as her, had simply recovered slightly faster: "That's so cool!" She jumped on her hooves, eyes sparkling, getting extremely close to the Changeling to observe her every inch. The latter would have probably been annoyed by the fact, had she not started noticing the sheer amount of 'love' the little filly was emanating. Much more than any other pony she had ever felt, and while most of it was destined towards Discord some of it was for her. And despite having just met her, there was more than enough to keep her well fed. "Is the scary bug lady an alicorn like me?" She couldn't even answer, overwhelmed equally by the race of the filly, her love, and her demeanour. "What are all these holes for?" All while the filly kept asking questions about her appearance "And how do you fly with these holes in your wings? And..."

"Manners, Mia!" Finally, the one responsible for this whole situation intervened, gently scolding his niece. Chrysalis found the fact ironic. "I think bug is a bit offensive." So everything else could stand, even calling her 'scary'? His idea of manners was about as weird as... Well, as one would have expected. "About the holes, though, I'm a bit curious myself..." Case and point.

"So she is... An Alicorn?" Chrysalis herself was nine centuries too young to have personally met them, but having seen the documents she knew as a fact that two alicorns once ruled Equestria, and as a consequence saddle Arabia. And despite official history rarely mentioning them, it was said to be such a Golden Age that the legend had survived. the emergence of a new Alicorn Princess could really be the moment defining that entire age. "Where does she come from?"

"Excellent, it is time for some introductions!" He made no mystery of how much he was looking forward to their meeting. But to Chrysalis the reason was still a mystery. He expected something interesting to happen, she guessed. That was usually his main motivation for doing anything. "Mia, This is Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings" "There is plenty of other changelings in Saddle Arabia, right now, although they hide themselves disguising as ponies."

"H-Hi!" Said the little filly, a little bit more careful after the gentle scold she just received. The gears in her mind were visibly grinding, as she was trying to figure out how a creature twice as tall as the average pony could manage to disguise herself as one. In time she would discover that the vast majority of changelings are in fact much smaller, and that anyways they can change form.

"And this is Mi Amore Cadenza, the Princess of Love. She ascended yesterday by sharing her love with another pony, so the title seemed to fit" Chrysalis had no idea what 'ascension' meant, but had no doubt about the perfect fit. Probably Discord himself had realized that the amount and intensity of her love was unnatural, although it wasn't a good time to press the matter. "She can't use her unicorn magic yet, but I'll teach her personally."

Did he know about unicorn magic? That surprised her. But maybe it shouldn't have, considering how in their first meeting he simulated changeling magic to have her revert to her natural form. Nothing seemed beyond the Draconeequs "To be precise, I'm the monarch of the southern hive." She finally pointed out, claiming no power over the entirety of the changeling race, which probably still prospered in faraway lands. Sure, their hive used to be known and feared as a very powerful one, but that was centuries ago. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess"

"I'm so happy meeting you, too!", the little princess exclaimed excitedly, and with undeniable sincerity, before starting to frown in doubt: "Uhm, how should I call you?" She didn't want to seem rude by calling a queen too informally. The fact of being royalty herself had by no mean sunk in yet.

"What about Aunt Chrissy?" Both mares' heads turned to the Draconeequs immediately. The Queen was at the very least surprised at the suggestion. She was thinking of something very different, but once again she did see no reason to dissent "I would love for the two of you to get along!" That did not sound bad, not at all. Who wouldn't want to get well acquainted with such an extraordinary source of love, maybe enough to feed all her people?

The Queen finally smiled, "Ah! I'll try!" She looked at Discord knowingly, confirming with a small nod her willingness to try to befriend the filly, before finally focusing on the little pony. "I hope I'm not too scary, though!" She bantered, offering the small filly a wink and hoping the joke would be well received. Even if it wasn't, she could live with that. There were many more chances to get close to her, after all

"I mean, a bit?" Cadence replied, with a pinch of shame. In her mind, it wasn't even an opinion. No, it was a matter of fact. The sharp teeth, the crooked horn, the copious holes... "But you are also..." It was difficult for her to properly express the seemingly contradictory concept. She was elegant, queenly maybe, something that she would have liked to be, too. "Really pretty?", She tried.

Chrysalis smirked; she could definitely live with that, too.

Author's Note:

Good news, next chapter there will finally be some actual plot!

With love,
The Marshmallow

Comments

[Aku]

Like the story. Was the ‘her nephew’ bit intentional because that was weird. Always good to see bug queen with Chaos king

[The Marshmallow]

9872499
It was not intentional, my bad. I have no idea how I missed that one. Thank you for pointing it out!