The Side Character is a Deer

by Deergenerate

Chapter 35: Free Custody

Ka'rel sighed deeply as he stared at his prison cell. His eyes narrowed beneath his visor as he stared at the pathetic defenses he had been contained in. An asymmetrical opening with a series of bars hammered into the stone at odd intervals and angles kept him confined in an irregularly shaped room.

He had a 'bed' of sorts as his only piece of furniture in the form of a waxy cocoon filled with green goop that was too small to fit him. Aside from that he had a window, similarly blocked by nonsensically placed bars, which allowed him to peer outside the cell into the wastelands beyond. The crisp night air filled the room, blown inside by the wind. Were he not wearing his armor, he suspected he would be feeling rather chilly right now. He lowered his head and went back to pacing back and forth in the small room, though due to his size, it meant he could clear the cell in but a few steps.

He stopped dead in his tracks after a couple of steps and stared up into the sky, following the contours of the ceiling for but a moment, before he turned to stare at his prison cell once again. He had been doing this same repeating movement for days now, all while the guards in their beatle-shaped armor were cycled out again and again, each one staring at him as if he was about to rip his way through the cell and go on a rampage. His current guard had a bad habit of shivering every time he stepped towards her during his bouts of pacing, but he supposed it was better than the last one who almost passed out whenever his gaze passed over her.

"I have to say," he spoke, causing his guard to squeal and fall back, clutching her spear to her chest. "I am rather disappointed by this cell. I may not remember much, but in my day our kind constructed prisons of much sterner quality."

The guard whimpered, taking a moment to gulp before straightening her back. "Our old methods were deemed too inhumane by our current King and his brother, and as such we had these constructed only recently." She spoke, her voice tense.

"Inhumane?" Ka'rel asked, taking a step towards the cell bars which made the guard's heart jump into her throat.

"A-all but the w-worst offenders were merely executed," the guard started. "Those guilty of more... substantial crimes were drained dry of love by the queen herself."

This gave Ka'rel a pause. "Queen? I have not heard of a... queen before. Was she of the Kes?"

"Kes?" the guard whimpered slightly.

He rolled his eyes under his helmet. Of course, she didn't know. Not even the actual Kes in the hive knew what a Kes was.

"Did she have antlers?" Ka'rel asked, rubbing his chin. "While most Kes and Vurions are male, it is not unheard of for one of our female kin to join our ranks, such as my sister at arms. What a shame I cannot remember her name... or her face."

"The queen?" the guard raised an eyebrow. "No, only Thorax and Pharynx have antlers, the rest of us are basically the same as we were before they took over, just without holes in our legs, and more colors. And better tails."

She smiled slightly as she looked back at her butterfly wing-shaped tail, giving it a quick swish.

"I admit the tails are rather aesthetic," Ka'rel chuckled. "Though I do find this news about your 'queen' rather intriguing. Is there anything else you can tell me about her?"

"Well, she was pretty strong, at one point she fought with Princess Celestia and beat her in a fight. She also had hair, which I always thought was rather weird. Oh, and her eyes were different from the rest of us's. They were more cat-like." The guard stated, taking a closer step to the cell bars, pointing at her eyes with her free hoof to accentuate her point.

Ka'rel sat down, raising an eyebrow under his helmet as he lowered his hoof. "That is... odd to say the least. Nothing that existed before I was sealed away resembled that though. Was she the only queen?"

"Yes and no..." the guard sighed. "She was the only queen I knew, the only several generations of changelings knew for that matter, but there were apparently others who came before her. We don't actually know what they did though, only that their names are in the history books she made us all read... the ones she also happened to write."

"And these queens were?"

"Well, there was Chrysalis's Mother, Queen Viscera, who she, according to the history books, struck down in single combat for control of the hive. We recently found out that before her death she hid an army in magical stasis in a mountain inside of Equestria, but that's really all we know for sure. Then there was Queen Spiracle, who was apparently poisoned which started a massive civil war between her children, and finally, there was Queen Tar'sus, who was the daughter of Ka'vad and unlike the rest of the Queens was apparently mortal."

"Fascinating," Ka'rel hummed. "And do you have any idea what could have made the queens immortal?"

The guard merely shook her head.

"Hoarding love," a new voice suddenly spoke out, one that Ka'rel recognized. The guard let out another squeal. This time she couldn't stop her spear from hitting the ground as Pharynx walked into the room.

"Sir, I-," she stammered but Pharynx merely raised a hoof and shook his head.

"It's fine. Ka'rel isn't exactly a prisoner right now—more of a guest who can't leave. You're fine to talk to him," he sighed, repeating what his brother had told him just this morning. "And to answer your question Ka'rel, the queens became immortal because they started hoarding all of the love in the hive for themselves, giving the rest of us scraps. They used the magical powers gained from doing this to keep themselves going for centuries."

Ka'rel nodded slightly. "I see... With all due respect, these queens of yours seem rather short-sighted. The Kes always made sure the kine were well fed as they ruled them. Did she never realize that well-fed subjects are far more likely to be loyal than starving ones?"

"Trust me, pal, these days 'Chrysalis' is basically synonymous with short-sighted," Pharynx sighed. He approached the cell, tapping the bars with a slight hint of disgust. "She had us all convinced that the only real way for a changeling to live was blind obedience and thievery. I give my little brother a lot of crap, but he's a better ruler than she could ever be. And if either of you tell him I said that, you're both dead."

The guard flinched slightly, but Ka'rel was quick to sit back, putting a hoof over his chest. "My lips are sealed, brother."

The two kept eyes on one another for a moment before Pharynx cleared his throat. "I came here for a reason just so you know. I have... questions."

"Questions?" Ka'rel cocked his head to the side. "What about?"

"I know you probably don't remember much about the old days, but what little you can help with would likely be of great assistance to us," Pharynx sighed. "Maybe if you tell us enough we could help convince Equestria that you aren't a threat."

"Logically sound," Ka'rel responded simply.

"What can you tell me about U'val? I know it's unlikely, but do you think he might have given you any kind of hint of future plans when you knew him?" Pharynx asked, brows furrowing. "I know it was super long ago, but I know immortals tend to have long-reaching plans like that... right?"

Ka'rel grimaced under his helmet. "No, unfortunately."

"I thought as much..." Pharynx grunted, staring off to the side. "Don't know why I thought you would anyway."

"I'm sure whatever plans my former Kes have, you will be able to deal with them. Anyway, I strongly doubt any of his plans really are that sinister. What little I can remember points to him being rather benevolent."

---

Ezin'dle let out a grunt as she slammed her arm into the rockface to her side. There was a grinding sound as gravity kept pulling her downwards. Rocks were ripped from the wall, sent screaming into the darkness below, which was rapidly becoming illuminated by lava. Heat steamed up past her as a hot wind, desperately trying to throw her out of the crevase to keep the treasure it kept hidden within it's own.

Ezin'dle grunted she came to a complete stop just inches above the lava. Her armor kept her safe from the heat, but it was still rather uncomfortable. She looked down at the boiling magma, then back up. She sighed. It was going to be a very harsh climb to return to the surface.

Shaking her head she turned her task to the job at hand. She had a mission to continue. Slowly lowering herself closer to the edge of the magma, she braced. Then, with a hiss, she slammed one of her forehooves directly into the molten stone. She flinched slightly as she reached around in the lava, like someone reaching around for their keys between two sofa cushions.

Then she felt it. With one last grunt of pain, she wrapped her hoof around it before ripping it out of the stone. Both it and her hoof were molten hot, burning white. She kept her breathing even as the metal calmed down, allowing her perfect sight of her prize. The Idol of Boreas. She nodded at it, a slight smile spreading across her lips. Her antlers and horn glowed as the idol was picked up in a cyan glow, before she turned back to the rock face. With a grunt she hammered her free hoof into the wall, forming a hole to act as a hoof hold. Then she did the same with her other hoof.

In a rhythmatic but slow she made her way up the cliff, the idol lazily levitating in the air next to her. This was going to take a long, long time.

Comments

[AstralFlare42]

I know it's probably too late, but would you like to borrow an oc? I just found this story and think that it's awesome.

[yonalkaru]

awesome story dude!!!

[Deergenerate]

11534881
Borrow an OC? Can't say I've heard of that kind of thing much, would you like to shoot me a DM and tell me what you mean by that?