128- Mhysa
“Is this all we have, Coxa?”
“You mean in the hour you told me to get this shit together? Yes, it is. I’m a Panar-damned miracle worker, worship the ground I walk on.”
I chuckled as I flipped through the packet.
“Thank you for your dedication Coxa.”
“Yeah, well, thank my team, too. You think I could do a quarter of this without them in such a short time frame?”
I shrugged, “Sorta. I just kinda give you work to do and you magically get it done. I don’t ask questions.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” Coxa said.
“You made the extra copies, right?”
“What did I say about questions?”
“That I’m the King and can do what I want?”
“In that case, Your Majesty, the extra packets are all over there. Pick them up on your way out,” Coxa pointed the papers out to me.
“Thanks, Coxa. I’ll be sure not to fuck up our first public-relations gesture to the ponies.”
Coxa shook his head, “Right. I kinda forgot how important this was. But I mean, you work me like a slave, so it’s no wonder it slipped my mind. No pressure, though. It’s only the future of our species and everything we’ve worked towards.”
“No pressure,” I smiled. “Now, I believe I have some time to see the Hive. You want to accompany me?”
Coxa hummed to himself and looked back at his desk. The unused office, which was taken up before Celestia had granted its use to us, was filled with different folders and loose papers to be filled out and filed away.
“.... Sure.”
The Palace didn’t have a direct entrance to the Crystal Caves– not after the Royal Guards resealed the tunnels we dug into their dungeons, so we had to take a more indirect route. The main entrance that the Fifth Hive was using to go between the Caves and Canterlot was over in the Northeast side of the Middle District. Located just north of the main freight railway entrance to Canterlot, it was in a prime position for the Fifth Hive to bring in and out materials. Daybreaker had it sealed, but it had been cleared out in the days since her death.
At least, it would have been, had Celestia ceded the caves to us.
‘No use crying over spilled milk and lost fortresses located in perfectly strategic locations, as the saying goes.’
Ponies stopped in the streets below us as we flew over their heads. A notable few had cameras, and snapped pictures of Coxa and I as we made our way to the Crystal Caves’ entrance. When we set down, the changeling guards stationed there, four Red Right Hoof legionnaires, saluted us as we entered the formerly-collapsed entrance to the Caves.
We walked over a large metal grated section, which I guessed was to keep rainwater from entering the cave complex, and began to descend into Canterhorn Mountain. Several offshoot tunnels were filled in with rock rubble, as we didn’t bother unblocking the majority of the sealed tunnels. Most of those would end in dead-ends, anyways.
The black and grey rock of Canterhorn gradually became sparklier and sparklier as we descended into its depth, eventually giving way to solid crystal formations. Then, the tunnel opened up into a series of large caverns, each filled with changelings.
The changelings had set up camp wherever they could. We were already used to sleeping without beds in the Fourth Hive, so sleeping on the cold hard stone wasn’t a new discomfort. Still, seeing changelings with quite literally nothing to their name sat unwell with me. We had passed over the Upper District of Canterlot to go from the Palace to get here, and that district was full of mansions and gardens and every single luxury under the sun. It was quite literally the greatest concentration of wealth on Equus.
And our journey ended here, in the Crystal Caves, where changelings had almost nothing. Sure, there were crates filled with goods such as blankets and pillows that we had purchased in bulk, and those crates had been cracked open and were in the process of being distributed, but even then, it was a completely different picture than outside the Crystal Caves. Outside, the ponies were all happy– or more accurately, far from a sour mood. Things were looking like they would be improving for Equestria, so the nobles were all content with the return of Princess Celestia.
Even if they never really understood that she was gone in the first place. Simpler was better.
The changelings were covered in bandages, rags, blankets, and even a few had changeling resin plastered onto them to hold their broken carapaces together. The worst off were put into what healing pods we could make right away, with the rest having to wait their turns.
When we stepped into the main cave, the reaction was immediate. The changelings, about a hundred in this spacious cavern alone, stopped what they were doing and what conversations they had and all of them looked at us.
“King Phasma!”
That broke the floodgates.
Changelings called out my name, reaching out from where they were. Many buzzed over, stopping and landing around us.
“My King!”
“King Phasma!”
“Prince Phasma!”
‘Looks like a few are still getting used to being in the Fifth Hive.’
“Hello– yes, hello– how are you– uh huh, it’s nice to see you too– no thank you– yes, hello,” I tried keeping up with the sudden barrage of greetings and questions.
“Yes, I am Coxa the Great,” Coxa smiled and waved, next to me. “Any praise he refuses, I’ll gladly take. I run the Hive for him, anyways.”
Despite his jokes, Coxa actually did receive some attention. Now that the First Fang was basically the Royal Court for the Fifth Hive, all of them had found themselves considerably more important and recognizable. In a society without celebrities, the closest thing you could get to being famous was being important to the Hive.
As I talked to them, the room gradually filled with more and more changelings as word traveled through the Hive. The large room became more and more cramped as changelings gathered around me, and many had to cling to the walls to make room. I moved to stand on a large flattened crystal stalagmite so that every ling could see me and I could better address the quickly growing crowd.
Soon enough, the entirety of the Fifth Hive had gathered in the cave.
The changelings began asking me questions about what had happened during the invasion, and where I went. When I answered those, they asked about what happened after. I talked about the founding of the Fifth Hive, the expansion into Manehattan, where they would be going, the alliance with the ponies, and of course, Luna.
That got them going. When I mentioned the fact that I was dating Luna, they all exploded into questions.
“My King, will she be our Queen?” One drone called from the back.
“Potentially,” I answered.
“Are you brainwashing her?”
I chuckled, “Ha! No.”
“Is she brainwashing you?”
“I sure hope not.”
“What does this mean for the Hive?”
I paused. “I… suppose it means good things. It’s certainly good for me, at least. I really hope our relationship lasts.”
“Do you love her?”
I started in surprise at the question.
‘What kind of question is that? Do they… think that I would start the relationship purely out of political reasons? Given that Nightmare Moon basically started it for those reasons, I guess that assumption makes sense.’
“More than anything in the world. Except maybe you guys. If I had to choose between you or her… well, thankfully I don’t.”
“Should we bow to her, My King?”
“I guess so. Don’t call her Queen, though. She’s a Princess.”
On and on the questions came. Many changelings just wanted to say hello, or say thank you for saving them.
“I didn’t save you, I merely provided the distraction so that the Red Right Hoof could. Direct your thanks to Captain Katydid and his team,” I answered.
“My King! Is it true that you faced down Discord all by yourself?!”
I shook my head, “No. Though I did free him in order to kill Daybreaker and bring Celestia back. Together with Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard, and Princess Cadence, Alicorn of Food, we distracted Discord long enough for the Elements of Harmony to get their sparkly stones back and put him back in stone.”
One changeling pushed his way to the front and prostrated before me.
“My King! I don’t know if you remember me, but I served alongside you in Canterlot! I am glad beyond words to hear of your survival, and would be honored to fight by your side again!”
‘Huh. Kinda expected him to be dead, to be honest. I suppose he wasn’t in the Palace, unlike Captain Cicada.’
“Arise, Captain Tetragnath.”
The Weave order took him by surprise, and snapped up, staring at me in surprise.
“Of course I would remember a Captain of the Legions. You and your lings of Panar’s Hammer did excellent work during the invasion. Even if we have no medals to give out, know that your efforts went a long way to saving our kind. Even if it was a good thing in the end that the invasion failed, serving the Hive and fighting to save our race isn’t something you should ever be ashamed of.”
The former-Captain saluted, “What remains of the Sixth Legion stands at your command, My King!”
“Good. Report to Captain Katydid, Captain Tetra. He will integrate you and your lings into the Red Right Hoof. And that goes to all of you!” I yelled as I turned back to address the crowd. “The war is not over! It has massively shifted in our favor, with an end in sight, but it is not over! We must be prepared for anything! Further, there is yet another war that must be won! I must call upon you all to serve the Hive Eternal once again, for a foe lurks in the dark, hunting us. They have been at war with us so long that we have forgotten that we are at war at all.
“The previous Hives have fallen to their hordes and influence, so we must stand vigilant and be prepared for their arrival. They are the Nightmares, demons from beyond, and they seek our extermination. But the Hive Eternal has stood against them since time immemorial, and it always will. Now that we have Equestria by our side, we can go on the offensive and find these Nightmares, and kill them all. For the Hive Eternal, we will win!”
The changelings cheered.
‘Our strength grows, as I’m sure this Nightmare Lord’s does. Do you hear us, Epitaph? We’re coming for you!’
Celestia sighed and shook her head as she closed the packet.
“This is only a fraction of what you’ve gathered?”
I nodded, “Yep. This is a trimmed-down, family-friendly version. Lots of complicated terms to make it hard for foals to understand the war crimes their uncles and aunts committed.”
“It certainly obfuscates the brutality,” Luna muttered.
“I figured it would be better to be somewhat less quick about releasing information about this, and just start with the big topics first before moving to specifics later on.”
“That might be for the best,” Celestia agreed. “Taking things slow enough for our ponies to become accustomed to the idea that ponies indeed did do horrible things during the war is the right idea. Now, there will be other topics covered during this press conference, Phasma.”
“Such as?”
“Your involvement in the Invasion of Equestria, for starters.”
“.... I think it’s pretty clear what my involvement was. I was ordered to make the plans by Chrysalis, and though I tried looking for alternatives given what time I had, I went ahead and made the plans and executed them. And in the end, I did support the invasion, as no alternative was found.”
“You’re admitting to supporting the invasion?” Celestia asked. “That’s… not a very tactful thing to do.”
“I’m sorry that it happened, but I can’t be sorry for fighting for my species’ survival. To say otherwise would just make me a liar.”
Celestia grimaced, and Luna said, “Be it on your head, then. I am sure ponies will appreciate honesty, but they would appreciate repentance more.”
“Hey, when I was in charge of the war, few ponies got hurt, and no one died. It was only when I got taken out that changelings and ponies began dying.”
“Just make sure you aren’t trying to excuse the invasion,” Celestia advised. “You might see it as necessary, but saying that out loud will just make things worse for you. Skirt around the topic, if you can, and emphasize the consequences of ignoring or refusing orders.”
“I can do that. I can also mention my supposed reward for if the Invasion of Equestria was successful, too.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, “Which would be…?”
“Lobotomization by Queen Chrysalis.”
“That’s one Tartarus of a way to introduce your rebellion,” Cadence said.
“There’s another important topic that needs to be addressed,” Celestia said. “The death of Count Double Dealings.”
“Why does that need to be addressed?” I asked.
“The ponies that were freed have gone on record about that day. There are witnesses, and by Equestrian law, the Crown has had to field some questions concerning the citizen’s status. The press now knows that the ponies you captured are now being held for questioning, and will want to know what happened. It’s only a matter of time before they start guessing the worst, so I believe it’s best that you introduce the topic of Count Double Dealings.”
“But we haven’t even discussed this during the negotiations,” I pointed out.
“Which complicates things,” Celestia said. “Do not say you murdered him. Simply say that you were involved in his death, and that the Equestrian Crown has begun the proceedings of investigating the matter, is it unrelated to the war. You are forbidden from saying anything more by the Crown out of fear of complicating the matter and creating grounds for a mistrial.”
“You’re ordering my silence?”
Celestia shrugged, “I have no power to, but take the excuse offered. You’ll find it more of an airtight alibi than any other way of answering their questions.”
“Fair enough. But will there be a trial?”
“.... Yes. There simply has to be. Whether that trial is a tribunal of us Princesses, or a matter placed before a court, is yet to be decided.”
“I’ll take you three, then. You know the consequences of the bigger picture.”
“That’s a nice way of saying you’ll coerce and influence our judgement,” Cadence frowned.
“It is a nice way of saying it,” I admitted. “What’s your point? You think I’m going to let you deprive my changelings of their leader, in the middle of a war? And right before we get started on preparing for another?”
“Sacrifices must be made,” Luna said.
‘Is she agreeing with me, or siding with Cadence?’
“As Luna said, we must make accommodations for the situation,” Celestia said politically. “This obviously cannot be handled like any other civil matter, and that means both our judgement of the situation and our decided punishment, should there be one, should reflect the needs of our Kingdoms. We can’t put Phasma in prison, nor can we do many other things.”
“So why bother having a trial?” I asked.
“So we can claim we had one,” Celestia said.
“That’s it?”
“Ooooh mare, Shiny’s gonna be mad,” Cadence facehooved.
Celestia nodded, “As you said, Phasma, we’re in the middle of a war, with another looming just beyond the horizon. Now’s not the time to condemn our allies. This is all assuming you are guilty of the crimes, with no mitigating circumstances...”
“Sooo….?” I trailed off.
“So stick to the script, young changeling, and try to balance honesty with not stabbing yourself in the hoof.”
“If it makes any difference, Phasma,” Luna began, “I am sure you are innocent of anything you are accused of. Unless you are guilty, then you are guilty of those things.”
I chuckled, “Thanks Luna. Glad to have your faith in me.”
“Just try not to kill any more nobles. They might make strong cases for their own executions, but I have found that killing them only makes the situation worse.”
Celestia groaned, “I’m going to have to deal with two Lunas now, aren’t I? The things we do for love…”
“I mean, I invaded your kingdom for love, so you’re just preaching to the choir,” I smiled.
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Why didn’t she
Wait what the fuck I’m the first comment. How did this happen? I’m slower than this!
Phasma is a changeling of the common ling it seems. I hope he enjoys his popularity until he has his own little rebellions with lings wanting to assassinate him.
You just keep on trying while there’s science to make
11039106
Because letting the changelings who a few weeks ago invaded your kingdom set up a fortified position right underneath your seat of power is something to very much reconsider. Celestia is forgiving, but she's not stupid. Even if Phasma can be trusted without a shadow of a doubt, there's no reason to assume that a powerhungry underling can't take him out of the equation and use the new fortress as a base of operations for a renewed invasion. Phasma's rebellion already showed that changelings are not unbendingly beholden to their rulers, after all.
Nice
Show trial is a go! Lucky Phasma is lucky.
Reminds me of post-WWII, where both America and Russia, went "yes, technically these are Nazi scientists, and yes many are technically responsible for aiding the regime, but they can also really help us with out space program..."
This one took a while to dig up... I hope im correct as I have not watched Got.
Would you like to know more?
Mhysa is a term in the Old Ghiscari language that means "mother
Based on third season finale of the series.
Daenerys, is hailed by the freed Yunkish as their "mhysa", or mother, as the season closes.
*Reads Authors Note*
I coulda sworn that the picture was a lot less blurry. But at least Phas got his sandwich!
11039126
How is the layout of the caves? Probably already said and I missed it. But if there is only a few entrances and they aren’t to big and the changelings can’t just easily dig out you could collapse tunnels, siege the location until the surrender or sortie and if their are few entrances and they are narrow if you set up defenses correctly you can hold the choke point indefinitely and slaughter the attackers. Obviously that is a simplification and you have to plan for many other things that could happen in battle but it could be done and it would be a great sign of good faith from equestria to the changelings, something I already feel is lacking. It’s understandable with war that they wouldn’t give full faith but the reasonings from cadence and such while totally in character for how her character was designed have some pretty big issues and ignorance and a seeming inability to understand. She seems to struggle to understand phasma’s different morality, which again is both understandable and in character but can also make one fairly off put towards the equestrians in-story. such a show of good faith could to wonders in easing of that.
11039132
And I'm reminded of America and Russia in the early years of the war, where nobody was attacking them yet so they were content to prepare and maybe slide some aid across to the side they liked more.
11039109
You are the chosen one... Behold! The true power of fimfiction comment surfing! Momentary popularity!
Nice
Well. If they still have most of their power base yeah it’s worse. If you slowly lessened their power and influence over time while giving generous short term concessions to pacify concerns it would work. it’s like the boiling frog alive thing, turn up the temp very slightly till it’s gets used to new temp and keep doing it till it dies. That’s how Europe began centralizing its power away from nobles to the king, particularly in France in like 1600-1800’s. It was the start of the age of absolutism and done correctly avoided revolt from nobles cause nobles are swindled and wake up boiled like the frog going wtf happened how did I get here where did all my power go oh shit I’m powerless now
Lol xd
Also is the image supposed to be blurry and dark and hard to see?
Use to us.
Maybe swap those first two sentences around? It took me a while to get that "it would have been" refers to the entrance being in a prime position for smuggling, not it having been cleared out.
Coxa jests, but I wouldn't be surprised if Phasma gave him that title. Not right now, but perhaps in a few years. Maybe even posthumously.
Is the image supposed to be blurry as hell, or is there some techo fuckery afoot?
11039176
11039173
You've all been bamboozeled.
Here's the real image, though.
11039156
Damn. Feels good. Might commit some war crime later, slaughter some younglings and separatists leaders.
11039196
I shan't fall for that again. Maybe try this link instead.
camo.fimfiction.net/WdUaYPK5BScnFappljfEfxpxJR5Ez6TWJzGB55phk-Q?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.discordapp.com%2Fattachments%2F859631537289297961%2F905569907540910141%2F012.png
11039196
Damn. Bamboozled again.
Poor celestia she has to now live with 2 beings whose sense of tact is basically nonexistent.
yay for more politics!
Elder Sanguine should be able to provide special armor against the next Nightmare to come...
I wonder if Phasmatodea will see his Pony friends from Hoofville? At least they more likely to give good light to Phasmatodea defending the city and being a one pone/Ling army, slayer of Rat & Ratkings.
11039203
Thanks for the real link. It's a great image.
11039150
The Fifth Hive already dug its way into one of Canterlot's at the time most secured prisons, so yeah, really risky.
As for signs of good faith... I'd say forgiving the Fifth Hive for their -quite major- role in trying to invade the country and turn every pony living in it into food instead of outright kicking them out of the country over it is a pretty major sign of good faith. As is this chapter, where they've just decided to give Phasma a sham trial just for the sake of making it appear that changelings are going to face justice for their crimes while they're really just sweeping it under the carpet for the sake of peace.
When Cadance says Shining is going to be angry? The unmentioned bit is that Shining has good reason to be angry. He's making all the effort to make sure Division-P is going to face the full brunt of Equestrian justice, while on the other side Phasma is going to just walk away with barely a slap on the wrist for the sake of diplomacy. It makes sense, politically and militarily, but that's not going to make it any less of a bitter pill to swallow.
11039106
way too valuable a resource to get nothing in return for. Plus there's plenty of land she can just give him as opposed to the super valuable caves full of precious rocks that they just don't need rn
Well, if they do a trial by court and the courts are run similar to ours, it could be argued that Phasma is a very young minor, and should be granted leniency at the very least. not saying it would work in the end, but I think it would make things difficult for the prosecution
Honest is a bitch... Even if you want to stick with it everyone ask you not to
Count Double maimed ponys regular as casual as he acted. Phasmatodea did will in terminating him.
Damn... The Changelings will have it very hard in the near future:
- Hive needs to be established
- Crystal Empire return and Tirek jail break will seed chaos of the bad kind...
Even wenn die Nightmare war start after season 9 i doubt the Changelings will be in gighting shape...
Why?
Population decline, lack of armor ( Batpony armor 10 sets cost 1 million Gold bits...) , Chrysalis in general aaannnddd... Cozy Glows magic drain of the world will guck things up for sure...
O hell... Dont even wamt to think about Starlight Glimmer
O hush Celestia you know you love it.
Cadence you own his ball just twist them up a notch and he will fall back in line.
this is a grate chapter and the new art work is amazing.
11039203
Completely unrelated question. How do you upload images to comments? I already tried pasting an imgur image link but I can't upload it. What do you usually use?
We should all celebrate, Pinkie can plan the:
'Phasmatodea is our friend now party'
Here is Pinkie Pies approval!
https://camo.fimfiction.net/aUnt-9rDPuUhPRBkg8n0AtOZ4YW8or9A6o-fSuXPssc?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmlpforums.com%2Fuploads%2Fpost_images%2Fsig-3875643.2dcb126038.png
11039137
Don't worry you got it right. This would be the part the title references, for those that have neither read ASOIAF (it's from book 3 A Storm of Swords btw) nor watched the show.
On the morning of the third day, the city gates [of Yunkai] swung open and a line of slaves began to emerge. Dany mounted her silver to greet them. As they passed, little Missandei told them that they owed their freedom to Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and Mother of Dragons.
“Mhysa!” a brown-skinned man shouted out at her. He had a child on his shoulder, a little girl, and she screamed the same word in her thin voice. “Mhysa! Mhysa!”
Dany looked at Missandei. “What are they shouting?”
“It is Ghiscari, the old pure tongue. It means ‘Mother.’”
Dany felt a lightness in her chest. [minor spoiler]. Her hand trembled as she raised it. Perhaps she smiled. She must have, because the man grinned and shouted again, and others took up the cry. “Mhysa!” they called. "Mhysa! MHYSA!” They were all smiling at her, reaching for her, kneeling before her. “Maela,” some called her, while others cried “Aelalla” or “Qathei” or “Tato,” but whatever the tongue it all meant the same thing. Mother. They are calling me Mother.
That name is going to stick now in Changeling society, may even be put in history books.
That is going to be funny in 10 years.
I mean, if the nobles are going to play the blame game on Phasma, who was left with little choice for his actions between his Mother and the starving state of the Fourth Hive (the people he is responsible for as a royal), then they will also have to condemn Celestia, whom was as well left little choice in her actions having been taken over by a Nightmare.
Considering they wouldn't dare consider her execution, Celestia would definitely outlive any sentence they would give. So...do the nobles really want to be known by the whole world and in history books as the generation to put Celestia in jail?
Do they have enough clout to survive it?
Never really struck me just how differently a changeling could take that saying tbh
You tease with that author's note! XD
11039110
Thing is it'll take some serious fuck-ups for that to happen, as the only experience changelings have had with leadership is Chrysalis who was not the best, in part due to her 'absolute authority/kill the messenger' management style and part due to the failing state of affairs the Fourth was in.
Even with Phasma's little rebellion he's venerated as a Saint by the Fourth and you can expect the Fifth to try to vote him into becoming one as soon as the dust settles.
11039250
The whole 'I'm a minor' defence could be scuppered if Phasma reveals his reincarnation origins but there are plenty of other options.
Everything from being under duress to Phasma simply following Changeling Law Codes where I'm sure there is a passage where it states that "any person attempting to attack or incite an attack on Royalty has forfeited their life" as at that point the Fifth was a Sovereign Nation.
Of course it sounds like the Princesses are going to spitball the trial ala Operation Paperclip recruits in order to focus on integration and preparation for the Nightmare War with Chrysalis getting the full Nuremberg treatment.
Now that's some advice Phasma needs to take to heart, he's lived his life as Changeling so far as a masterful revolutionary leader, and mob boss.
Now it's time for Phasma to be a politician, truly his most challenging task yet!
There is 35 people reading this chapter at the time of this comment
11039315
Nobody would have enough clout to imprison celestia maybe Luna but that's iffy same goes for Luna aswell
11039272
I steal a meme from another site or rip it off somewhere it's already posted. I dislike how fimfic handles images, but it's not like they'll do anything to change it.
Drama queen.
Are you sure that's how it goes?
Let's hear it for Obvious Mare.
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steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/848216534456435661/C3250565DFEE77576CFA674D332B26CAC84345FB/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
me gusto el capitulo
"so we can say we had one." noice.
as much as I do side with phasma, I'd hate for magic due process skipping to happen, but, there is this very nice thing called 'extenuating circumstances' that would heavily apply to phas in his case, might not erase a punishment entirely, but it would go far to keep him from having to much more than house arrest or community service or something like that.
and considering double dealings, it has a good chance at being ruled as self defense, not like he's around to testify otherwise.
but while 20 years in prison would suck for him, it ultimately is a minor setback, in the grand scheme of their lifespans. not that I think ponies would be so cruel, especially if he can play the 'no other options' and 'down on his luck' cards
11039272
There is an option to do so in the comments box, for me its the rightmost option, when clicking it a drop-down appears and then you select the image icon.
Alternately you can use "[ img ] insert url here [/ img ]" and remove the spaces from inside the brackets.