“You’re leaving?” Daring asked, setting her notebook down.
“I am. I have business to attend. There is much work to be done between now and the end of the war between our kinds, if you can call it that.”
Daring looked me over, opening up her book and writing a few lines down as she did. That was quite the skill, writing so much without looking at her notebook once. I was able to do that with a keyboard, but writing with a pencil? That’s a horse– pony of a different color.
“This won’t be the last time we talk,” I told her.
“No? Are you planning on delving into more ancient ruins?”
“Potentially. Mostly it’s the fact that I might need you as a character witness should I be put on trial by Equestria.”
“Ha! Is that all I am to you, a character witness?”
“No. You’re also an annoyance. A future source of income, as well.”
“I can’t imagine you would willingly be put on trial by the Equestrian Crown, King Phasma.”
“We don’t get everything we want. We all need to be prepared to compromise in life; I may need to trade immunity for something like residing within Equestria’s borders. I doubt the Princesses would be happy with me and my changelings running around, breaking laws with impunity.”
Elder Sanguine nodded, but continued to silently watch our goodbye.
“Oof, I’m glad I’m no politician. That level of forward thinking is beyond me. I’ll stand up for you in front of everypony else on one condition, though.”
“I saved your life, Daring.”
“And I saved yours, we’re even on that. I have some colleagues who will be captivated, completely captivated, by the chance to learn about another sapient species, especially one as enigmatic and reclusive as the changelings. You’re like a foalhood tale come to life, you know? They would really appreciate it if you gave them a chance to do their work, or whatever. What? Don’t look at me for specifics, I study how old bricks are in the dirt. Point is, I have wracked up a few owed favors to a number of friends over the years as a spelunker, and directing you to them is a great way of wiping away the debt, not to mention the advancement of sciences that would come from it.”
I nodded slowly, “I can do that. I imagine that kind of cooperation would basically be a requirement between our species eventually. Give me a way of contacting you, and I’ll see what I can do once the war is over.”
Daring wrote something down on a new piece of paper and tore it out of her journal, hoofing it to me. I took it and looked it over. It was a PO box for an address in Hooferville, Equestria.
“This will do,” I said. I turned to Elder Sanguine and spoke to her, “Thank you for hosting us, Elder Sanguine. I will not forget the effort and loss your people have gone through to help us.”
“I would say think nothing of it, King Phasma, but I require a promise as payment. Two, actually. One, I want you to promise to bring us with you when you root out the Nightmares from this world. We have been training for this all our lives, I think. Two, keep the Night Mistress content. She is not as strong as the mask she puts on, and as her consort, we will be keeping an eye on you. Her Highness deserves more than anypony can give her, but the best we can do is try our best. I am certain your company has already aided her greatly, if her haste to inform us of your arrival says anything about her feelings for you.”
‘I can’t imagine what a thousand years of isolation would do to someone. I would most certainly go insane. Luna… Throw in the fact that her sister is suffering a similar fate, and the sooner I get with her in person, the better. For the both of us. I already can’t wait until tonight to speak with her again, but now that I think about it, didn’t the Nightmare say…?’
“That was the Nightmare speaking to you. Princess Luna was not aware of my predicament.”
Sanguine was taken aback, “That’s not good. Our seers were deceived?”
“Yes, they were. I’ll tell Luna you have been dying for some secret dream messages, though. Just be careful in the future to not take orders from Nightmares.”
“We shall confer with the Mistress on that matter, and seek out her wisdom. Thank you for the warning and awareness, distant King. Our paths will cross again in the future; until then, may the moon guide you.”
“Changelings don’t have any special sayings like that, so I’ll just say don’t die.”
“An admirable goal for all to follow,” Sanguine smirked.
“Are you ready to depart, My King?” Captain Katydid asked.
“I am. ‘Till we meet again, Elder Sanguine. You too, Daring Do.”
“Seeya, chump,” Daring waved.
I rolled my eyes and opened a bottle of love energy that one of Katydid’s privates had fetched for me. I tilted the bottle up and downed the semi-liquid concoction. The diluted ration was improved greatly now that we had more than just water to add to it.
‘Thank Panar for this shit. So damned good… Mmm…. What was I doing?’
“Your Majesty, we’re leaving,” Katydid reminded me after a few moments of awkward silence.
“Ah! That’s what was going on. Thank you, Katydid. We’ll talk more once we’re on the ship.”
Quickly before I forgot, I borrowed Daring Do’s journal and pencil, jotted down the written form of the spell I had used to fight Nightmares, and circled the portion I used in the dragon fire.
With that done, I channeled energy into the Thread of Change, changed my disguise to Al-Capony the pegasus, and took off from the ground. The ponies covered their faces from the upturn of dust and wind as the rest of the changelings and I took off and headed up towards the Clear Skies. Captain Katydid slowly maneuvered around to fly in front of me, in order to guide me to the planned landing spot on the ship’s upper and exposed deck.
We set down and immediately several changelings nearly swarmed me.
“Sir! Are you okay?!” One yelled in my face.
“What happened, sir?!”
“Who were those ponies?”
“What’s a Nightmare?”
“Alright, alright!” I yelled. “Give me some space. I’m fine. I need to speak with Aorta. Where is he?”
A changeling pushed to the front of the gathering, “Right here, sir.”
“Come with me. Captain Katydid, lead the way to a private room where we can talk.”
Katydid countered, “Actually sir, it’s customary to meet with the Captain of the ship once you come aboard…”
“Customs can wait. Someone’s dead and I need to know who. You may tell the Captain that I will dine with him or her tonight, but right now I have business to attend to.”
“As you order, sir,” Katydid bowed his head.
Katydid led the way past the gathered changelings and to a pair of doors at the back of the ship, beneath the raised part where the helm was. He opened the doors and we walked down a dimly lit corridor, taking a staircase down to the lower level. We walked around the center of the ship, which was open on both decks and taken up by crates of cargo below. At the far end of the ship, Katydid opened a door at the end of the hallway. Beyond, a small room with a desk and cot took up the curved front of the ship.
“This is your room for the trip,” Katydid announced and shut the door behind us three, “My King.”
“It will do,” I said as I walked around and took a seat behind the small desk. The other two changelings sat down in chairs across from me after I motioned for them to do so.
“Aorta. Brief me on exactly what happened. The thestrals said they didn’t even have a body to give to us, so I need to know who died, why they were in the ritual chamber, and why you left without trying to evacuate the others.”
Aorta to his credit looked ashamed at the mention of his flight.
“You have to understand Your Majesty, it was important to get out as soon as possible!”
“Why?”
Aorta swallowed, “My King, the Nightmare was spreading its infection through your Weave. Any changeling within it was at risk! That was how I knew the ritual would fail. I warned the ponies when I figured that out, and I told them to evacuate the other changelings. But I didn’t stay to oversee the evacuation myself, it was too dangerous. The longer anyone stayed, the more danger they were in. If we all got corrupted, there would have been no survivors…”
I sighed and rubbed my face with a hoof.
‘He’s got a point. If everyone died, there’s no telling just what information could have been lost. The reinforcements could have come in guns blazing for all we know.’
“Who was it that died, and how did they get infected?”
“That was Web, sir. I… I ordered him to stay with you, sir. I told him he would be relieved, but everything went wrong before I could arrange a replacement. He was in the chamber when it was sealed, but his presence made the seal imperfect. I was too focused with your safety to consider anyling’s presence near you to be a danger, Your Majesty.”
‘That lines up with Elder Sanguine’s story. So Aorta ordered someone to stay with me, and when things started to go bad, Aorta jumped ship without even trying to warn the others. That’s not acceptable. Damn it Aorta, you were doing well up till now!’
“Web,” I murmured.
‘Not the sharpest tool in the shed, but one of the most dependable. No doubt he followed Aorta’s orders to the letter. Even when things started getting dicey, I’m sure he just stuck his head in the sand and stood by my side. And now he’s dead. No one even tried to save him. No one fucking tried.’
I sighed once more, collected my thoughts, and prepared my words.
“I don’t expect anyone to dive head-first into a dying city, in defiance of all logic. I don’t expect anyone to be a miracle worker, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. But I do expect the changelings under my rule to follow orders when appropriate, and to watch the backs of your comrades. Your dereliction of duty put the rest of the team in danger. It got Web killed. However, I understand that circumstances demanded risk and priority of focus. Web’s death was a horrible outcome, and one that might only be predicted in hindsight. On that charge, your actions are excusable.
“However, you left the rest of your team. There is no conceivable notion that they were in any more danger than you at that moment, and your carelessness could have delayed their evacuation long enough to doom them. Aorta, I find you innocent on the account of Web’s death. On the account of dereliction of duty, I have no choice but to find you guilty. In the Fourth Hive, the punishment for dereliction would be severe, as you no doubt know.”
Aorta stiffened. Katydid was almost equally stiffened, and was no doubt wondering if he should even be here.
“This is not the Fourth Hive. I am not Queen Chrysalis. You will not be receiving forty lashes. Instead, I burden you with the Mark of Repentance. You will never hold a leadership position, nor a position of comfort. When you leave this room, you will immediately seek out the other seven from the expedition who still live. You will tell each one what you did. You will apologize, and seek their forgiveness. Until all seven forgive you, you will be marked. Should one die, be it in the line of duty or through natural causes, before they forgive you, then you will live the rest of your days marked. When we arrive at Manehattan, you will arrange to have the Mark crafted yourself. You will display it on your person at all times. It will not be a branding as tradition of the Hives dictates, but it is a Mark nonetheless. You are dismissed.”
Aorta rose from his chair slowly, bowed to me, and backed up out of the small room, never rising from his bow. When he bumped into the closed door, he reached out with his telekinesis, opened it, and closed it behind him after he left.
I did not tell him the consequences of failing to follow my orders. There simply was no need. He wouldn’t break them, not before exhausting all options beforehand. And if he did, he would come to me willingly and explain his second failure.
‘I hope he appreciates my leniency. The Fifth Hive has little room for such painful physical punishments. We have no jail, so we must do something else. A melding of the old with something new, just like the Fifth in its entirety.’
“That was kind of you, My King,” Katydid broke the silence.
“I imagine so.”
“Your mother would have issued a harsher punishment, to make no mention of the verdict.”
“She would have blamed him for Web’s death and given him forty, you mean. I know. The punishment of drones was one lesson she made sure I knew damn well.”
“Yes, My King…. Was it necessary for me to be here for that?”
“No, Captain Katydid– that’s wonderful alliteration. Your presence here didn’t matter for that. All of the Fifth will know what happened eventually. I wanted to talk to you. Last we spoke, you were to be an officer on a distant front of the war. You had no knowledge of what was to happen in Canterlot.”
“So it was planned.”
I drummed a hoof on the desk, “Of sorts.”
Katydid was silent for a moment, “.... Why?”
“She was planning to have me mutilated and imprisoned forever. I was a threat to her, and that was that. So I moved against her. I didn’t include you in the plans because you were too loyal to her.”
“I do my duty, My King. It’s not my place to decide who’s in the right or in the wrong. If she was going to hurt you, then… what am I to say about that? Do about that? If I stay out of the way, I will have committed treason against the victor. If I interfere, I will have committed treason against whomever was in the right, as well as the reigning Queen.”
“A Catch-22,” I agreed.
“My King?”
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
“Ah, yes, My King.” He looked around the cramped cabin room, “Um… I am not sure if I should thank you for leaving me out of this. Frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about this at all. When Praetorian Thorax told me about what happened, I… I was simply glad that you were alive, Your Majesty.”
“I had guessed that this was beyond your station, Katydid. You’re here now, though. You’re under my command. That means that in the future, there will be conflict between me and Chrysalis, and you need to know where you stand.”
“Sir?”
“I need you behind me, Captain. If you are going to be the Captain of the Red Right Hoof, then you need to be loyal to me, not Queen Chrysalis.”
“What are you going to do, My King?”
“I’m going to kill her.”
Katydid was stunned, “S–Sir? She’s your mother! You would kill her despite that?”
“You should have seen what she did to her sons and daughters, Katydid. The sight sticks with you like a worm. The image never leaves your head...” I took a deep breath. Slowly, I let it out. “She’s a monster, Katydid. There’s no trusting her. Not after all the things she’s done. Talk with Coxa, he knows what she did. He can tell it to you best. Just make a decision soon. I approve of your appointment to the position of Captain. We could really use someone like you. If you’re not up to the job, then let Coxa or me know.”
“Okay, King Phasma. I’ll do that.”
I smiled, “Thank you for your time, Katydid. Again, it’s nice to see you.”
“You too, My King. Oh, one last thing before I go. The Praetorian that was your shadow, Oestridae I believe. I haven’t seen him. Is he around somewhere?”
I gently scraped the desk with a booted hoof.
“... No.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, My King. I didn’t know.”
I waved at him with a hoof, “Have a good day, Katydid.”
“Good day, My King,” he said as he rose from his stiff, simple wooden chair, bowed to me, then made his exit, shutting the door on the way out.
When he closed the door behind him, I took off Unbroken Radiance’s helmet and held it before me. My reflection in the ancient helm was distorted and hazy. I tried not to think about how relevant that was. Especially not the fact that it wasn’t even my new changeling face, it was Al-Capony’s.
‘I spared Aorta. That’s a good thing, right? I’m not letting someone off the hook for a horrible crime, right? It was just a few mistakes. Web’s death was tragic, but… it wasn’t anyone’s fault, was it?’
I quietly tapped the helmet against the desk as I stared at myself through it.
“... I wish Luna was here. She’d have something stupid to say. Something stupid that was correct for some reason. She’d understand… blah blah blah, something about opening up and not hurting people. Keeping everything to yourself is bad for you; it’ll go straight to your thighs. And then you’ll blow up. Talk to your friends before I have to scrape you off the walls, Phasma.”
I glanced wistfully at the cot at the back of the room. It looked much softer than the chair I was sitting in. As much as I wanted to try to see if Luna was available to talk with right now, there was at least one more thing I had to do before going to bed. Two, if I counted trying to snag another bottle of love rations to eat. One bottle barely took away the hunger pains I had felt from being so thoroughly drained.
I still needed to talk with Clear Sky’s captain.
So, I slowly took off the rest of Unbroken Radiance, piled it neatly beneath the cot, and then set off to find the mysterious pony that was brokered to come across the continent to Vallachia.
‘I just hope this private trip wasn’t too expensive– oh who am I kidding, we’re rich now. With Dealing’s assets and the income from the burgeoning alcohol empire, I could buy a ship or three if needed. So much easier to make money when your workers require little pay, though that will change eventually. Maybe that’s a hobby I can pick up, though. I can fly an airship, right after I actually go skiing for once…’
Nice
Well, I don't really have jokes this time. So I'm just gonna say, good chapter. Sensible punishment for Aorta, given the circumstances, nice to see Phasma keeps distancing himself from the more cruel of Chrysalis' methods. Hopefully Katydid ends up being more reliable than Tarsus when it comes time to decide. And the story goes back on track after the little detour, so that's great.
The punishment was perfect to not mess up again.
AYYYYYYYYYYY relatable
nice chapter and I see we're moving along.
Shame is a pretty reasonable punishment for the selfish. Repentance indeed.
"try not to die. I'd like to make your acquaintance again.". 😇
Wait, did he intentionally circle the wrong part of the spell in emphasis?
Coordinating the formation anti-nightmare task forces is a great idea! You know, in many AUs bats eat bugs.... Just saying.... 😇
Great Aftermath conclusion. Phasmatodea considering redeeming messures make him a good leader. Everyone makes mistakes and Chrysalis reign left its marks...
Phasma is going to have to give a briefing to his subjects about the Nightmares... And how they are the real enemy.
Makes me curious if Chrysalis knows about the Nightmares. Or was all knowledge lost when the third hive fell?
I love this myth, so this is a bit longer.
Would you like to know more?
Being between Scylla and Charybdis is an idiom deriving from Greek mythology, which has been associated with the proverbial advice "to choose the lesser of two evils".[1] Several other idioms, such as "on the horns of a dilemma", "between the devil and the deep blue sea", and "between a rock and a hard place" express similar meanings.[2] The mythical situation also developed a proverbial use in which seeking to choose between equally dangerous extremes is seen as leading inevitably to disaster. Scylla and Charybdis were mythical sea monsters noted by Homer; Greek mythology sited them on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, on the Italian mainland. Scylla was rationalized as a rock shoal (described as a six-headed sea monster) on the Calabrian side of the strait and Charybdis was a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily. They were regarded as maritime hazards located close enough to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing sailors; avoiding Charybdis meant passing too close to Scylla and vice versa. According to Homer's account, Odysseus was advised to pass by Scylla and lose only a few sailors, rather than risk the loss of his entire ship in the whirlpool.[3]
Because of such stories, the bad result of having to navigate between the two hazards eventually entered proverbial use.
Yes, I also enjoy not dying, Phasma.
10920466
As always
10920476
Phasmatodea is already a better leader. Being in his circustances...
10920477
A second chance. I have no doubt it will be used wisely.
10920478
(^.~)/)'(\(^-^) Nice
10920483
Standing still when the world is running wild would be problematic
10920491
Knowing what Chrysalis would have done... That Ling better be grateful...
10920524
Always loving to know more ♡
10920534
All day every day
10920510
Anyone can make an error, Ensign. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."
- Grand Admiral Thrawn
Does this mean we will actually get a trial? Because if so that's fantastic.
It'll be a great opportunity to finally confront Phasma (and us) with the severity of what he did while commander in chief of the Changeling legions. Not only did he literally kidnap entire cities, but those innocent civilians are also still missing and he's continually withholding information that could led to their release (granted he withholds it from Daybreaker, but tell that to the families). It would be interesting to hear from those who feel Phasma deserves to be punished.
That makes two of us. I'm probably mistaken, but I think this is the first time Phasma has demonstrated willingness to concede anything of importance to Equestria.
Marrying Luna is an alternative solution to that problem. At least, I'd hope so.
Funnily enough, that's exactly what they're doing at present. Even if one waves away the prohibition as the crazed edict of a tyrant, that would still leave murder and impersonation.
Considering the second, I strongly dislike how any fics where changelings are integrated into pony society seem to outright ban shapeshifting, forcing changelings to always be undisguised. Which while somewhat logical for a society that sees honesty as one of its fundamental values I've always thought of as deeply immoral, akin to banning pegasus from flying. I'm curious as to how you'll deal with the issue.
10920545
Daaamnnnn! Fine line of a awesome character 👏
10920555
You forget that a requirement not a choice he has.
Fact: They are starving back than and population is in critical numbers.
They do what they did not because they had a choice but because there wasnt one. Luna and Cadance made peace a option.
Extinction is no choice ever. Its a consequence not a choice.
10920578
I generally agree*. That's why I like it so much that Phasma is unrepenting. My point has less to do with whether what Phasma did was wrong or not, but that we have only gotten to hear from those that believe he didn't or don't care**. And I think that seeing the other perspective, of those that condemn him, would be immensely interesting. It isn't as if there is no reasonable case to be made against Phasma, what he did amounts to a crime against humanity were he on Earth after all.
*(Although he kind of did have a choice. Phasma could have listened to Thorax and put more resources into trying to figure out a peaceful solution. Which would have probably worked, since as he presently knows, changeling and ponies can indeed coexist.)
**(With the exception of Cadence, who doesn't count because she's incredibly naive and immediately forgave Phasma for the sole reason that he has friends.)
10920491
Phas used the "holy" part when he turned into a dragon
10920604
Interessting ? Yes, but also very predictable.
Yes, war crimes on one side, heroic on the other side.
Incorrect, he didn't had free ressources or time. Mother and father had him under watch 24/7 and sacrefice of Thorax was needed to get enough wiggle room to make his very survivel a option...
Its like you asking me to find a solution to a lethal illness. In a unrealistic timeframe.
He is still less than a year old yet he managed:
- Restructure the Hive and Military
- Learnd magic, combat 1 vs 1 , flight, etc. etc.
- planned than lead a war
In less than one year of being born!
10920631
As the 'ling in charge of reforming the military, he had all of the Hive's resources at his disposal with a lot of discretion on how to use them. He also wasn't under constant surveillance, he repeatedly acted against Chrysalis and the Hive either directly or through his friends and even managed to organize a secret coup plotter society. Nor was he a one-year-old, a normal one at least, which was why he was put on a position of leadership in the first place.
All throughout he never even tried meeting or talking with a pony, or seriously pursued an alternative solution. At most entering the archive and seeing if someling had tried doing so before.
Instead, he unquestioningly conceived, planned, and led an army into Equestria with the sole purpose of conquering it and podding millions of innocents. All the while plotting to kill Chrysalis for the crime of, supposedly, planning to do essentially the same thing to him.
And remember: the Thalmor shall be watching you.
I'm sorry; I felt that it needed to be said.
This sounds sooo~ much like something a rich Mob boss would say.
When I read this, my mind immediately went to the line from Final Fantasy XII: "Your cage may not have bars but it is a cage." It's not the same thing since the game quote is talking about the one being spoken to being under constant surveillance, but just the wording of that bit from the chapter was similar enough.
I mean......by his own logic, I feel like Phasma should have branded, marked himself too.
Especially now that some of his friends are dead.
He did a lot of stuff where he valued his own life more than other changelings.
I mean the whole rebellion was the reason for that.
And it had a butterfly effect too for example on the results of the Canterlot battle/pony counter-attack because of changelings infighting/split, so even more damage...
Wait a moment, please tell me I understood it wrong
Chrysalis would give forty whippings for that?
And Phasma gave him a lifetime position as the lowest trash(no position of comfort), and potential life sentence/marking?
Also, everyone is aiming for comfort. By taking away his option to have a position of comfort , Phasma takes away his motivation and reason to try harder and to rank up.
10920845
Oh, that's just Phasma being Phasma. What can ya do?
For that one charge, yes. Phasma's ruling is that he never holds a leadership position, nor one of any high level of comfort/pay. Further, the ruling can be lifted with the forgiveness of those he wronged.
Chrysalis would have given him 40 lashings as a start, and could have easily executed him for Web's death in combination with the dereliction of duty. Throw in the branding mark and you get a much more painful sentence. And something to point out is that a whip wouldn't really break chitin, meaning the whip would have be extra... special.
the crown or in this case the helmet is heavy upon the head that wears it.
10920882
I mean you could either add in next chapter,for someone from the crowd (to be anonymous for safety) calling out Phasma on that in front of room full of changelings who would understand the point and start to murmur,question the verdict,etc, so Phasma himself would need to mark himself to make it fair.
Maybe the mark should be appropriate to how much damage and death he caused to changelings by his own selfish actions.
Or he could pardon Aorta or change the sentence to be lighter, more fitting.
Or some karmic retribution will mark his ass by chance
Well looking back at the comment it seems that I was not happy with Phasma before going to sleep]
10920674
I'd say anybody else would be hard pressed to come up with a better solution, he's done pretty good in my book
my first thought was Halo's Arbiter, but that's a mark of shame.
To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, 'I do not think that word means what you think it means."
I have a wiggling feeling that the captain is one of his buddies from that first town. (Hooferville I believe.)
Fantastic work! Rest in peace Web. May your soul find peace with panar.
10920971
That would be an excellent reunion
10920530
I've managed to achieve that every day of my life so far. That's the bare minimum anyone has to do to live.
Oh man did he blow a golden opportunity! He coulda come up with anything and passed it off as his own! Even something as cliched as, "Live long and prosper" would be nifty platitude.
The chapter title feels familiar to me
Such a simple, yet needed chapter: putting the pieces back in order and setting the players up for future chapters.
On another note, Phas really needs to vent, it's good to see him doubt himself and then shaking it off, but he needs more than that... Both him and Luna
10920894
Cant think about anyine who done better.
10921153
Every Changeling dying updates the fallen one before him if they dont watch it anyway.
10921327
Its still a empty slot, waiting to be filled.
- May Panar be with you, always.
- Let Panar guide my hooves.
- ufff would you kiss Panar with that potty mouth?
10921410
Hes totaly going to end like:
That kid was basicly in every traumatic dituation ever...
When he finaly snaps out of stress...
10921327
Oh man. He could've said "Don't go hollow". I feel like that could probably fit in with Changelings.
I see what you did there.
This seems stupid to me. Phasma is giving him the perfect punishment for him to learn why it was a mistake and to learn from that. And as Phasma said himself Aorta was doing so well until then. So the fifth hive has a good officer that will have learned a harsh lesson in responsibility for his 'lings and Phasma decides to not use him forever because he once made a mistake. It feels like a tactical mistake to me.
I'd have liked to see Aorta suspended until he got the forgiveness of his subordinates and afterwards having a chance to regain Phasmas trust. But that might just be me. The former is probably going to take long enough to not be relevant in the pony-changeling war anyway.
Just to clarify I'm criticizing the character not the author. I can see why the author made Phasma make the decision he did. I just don't agree with the decision itself.
10921919
While I somewhat agree with that, above-average talent is common enough that it cannot have priority over law. Especially considering this is the first case of its kind in the Fifth Hive, and thereby sets precedent and expectation for future would-be derelicts. Phasma can't waste manpower at this critical juncture, but he has to ensure that his future officer corps isnt full of cowards or people out for themselves
10921919
That's exactly what happened. Phas said the mark can be removed when those he put in danger forgive him.
And that is why it's a punishment, not a learning opportunity. Aorta's actions put others' lives in danger. That's not something that can be shrugged off. Actions have consequences.
10921992
That is not what "never hold a leadership role" means. I know I may be nitpicking but this "never" is not a "not ... until". That difference is what caught my eye in the first place. If you intended for it to mean "not until forgiven" than it is either me misunderstanding / misinterpreting what is being said or Phasma being unclear ... or you as author being unclear.
I am not saying the action shouldn't have consequences. I see Aorta's action as a result of ignorance not malicious intent (as Phasma said, it is what they learned in the fourth hive) therefore the consequences should reflect that. To be fair I see that Phasma clearly understands that as he does make it a learning opportunity. A very effective one I might add. After this Aorta will likely become a responsible leader (that lesson is probably gonna stick) and I believe that was Phasma's goal. Which is why I think it unwise to squander something he helped create before seeing the results. It would be like sending someone to school while telling them you won't hire them afterwards anyway.
10921946
As I said above I believe Aorta's action to be out of ignorance rather than malicious intent. Punishing ignorance is not a good precedent if you ask me. (I say that while well aware that on earth many "justice"- systems do it that way ... doesn't mean that is a good thing, heck not even an effective thing. As I said I understand why Phasma did it that way since he is a human and all.) I'm not saying Aorta shouldn't face disciplinary actions I just question the effectiveness and wisdom behind one small part of it.
Setting the precedent that "if you do something wrong when you didn't know better, you will have to learn it the hard way" sounds way better to me than "if you do something wrong when you didn't know better, you will be banned for life". I don't see the former inviting cowards or those who are only in it for themselves. I do however see the latter being exploited to get rid of unwanted rivals by exactly such people who are just in it for themselves. (I am imagining someone not delivering or tempering with orders, rulebooks or the like ment for someone else they percieve as rival for the same position or threat to their own position. I am sure such a thing has been done by antagonists in various media.)
When your food is also a drug.
10920845
Well, the difference is that he's the king. He is literally politically, physically and spiritually more important to the survival of the Fifth Hive than any of them, regardless of the morality.
10922645
He is now but after the damage he caused.
Kind of selfish too, he manipulated them to make himself essential for their survival and from the danger that he himself created or fueled up
10922784
Yes, but take in account he is the only one with the balls to say: "l will kill the queen" he is reasonable and harder to anger, he listens to his lings more than the queen and they follow him out of their own will. He has messed up, but thats because he is an alien to this univeres he finds himself in and is teying to make it work without giving up
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10922784
While it's very easy and convenient to take a moral highground on the grounds of fairness, the fundamentals of changeling society make equal rulings such as that an implausibility.
Phasma has indeed acted selfishly in the past, and sacrificed others and even his friends to save his own skin; but never once did he do so with complete disregard for the lives of his lings. It is in the nature of leaders that the right decision will still get their men killed. Phasma is a Royal - through him, or any other Royal, is the ability for the Changeling race to continue on. Self-preserving behavior is a natural result, and ought to be the proper de facto behavior. The fact that Phasma is still abundantly more selfless, considerate, and more willing to risk his own life alongside his lings than your average Royal is commendable and why the drones love him so.
Aorta, a drone, when told of the potential danger to his subordinates and himself, deferred his responsibilities onto his hosts and ran to save his own skin with disregard for the lives of his lings despite the fact that they were all in equal danger.
The fact is that Phasma should be held to a different standard. The difference between Phasma and Aorta is that of an officer and a NCO - the safety and well-being of subordinates is the responsibility of a NCO; the officer's responsibility is to ensure that they win. Aorta derelicted one of his primary duties, whereas Phasma has never not tried to ensure his side wins.
10920845
40 lashes on a person would leave a permanent mark and a 50/50 chance of survival, a lashed ling is a permanently shunned ling