The Fall of the Anoian

by bookhorse125

Chapter Nine - Lupines

Granite Lupines sat calmly on his throne as he heard the reports from his commanders.

“We managed to capture one of those unicorn-things that live in the mountains,” recited Lieutenant Gooseberry down on the floor in front of the emperor, “one of the ones with the mane around their neck.”

“Very good,” Lupines said smoothly. “I’ll have my scientists get on this one immediately.”

“Er, we may have had to clamp its muzzle shut,” the lieutenant said uncomfortably. “It wouldn’t shut up. Something about a cure to the stream of silence or something.”

“Ah, well.” Lupines waved his hoof at the door. “You are dismissed.” The lieutenant nodded politely and exited the room.

“Marylyn,” Lupines continued, “where’s Commander Lightning?”

“Yes, about that,” Marylyn shifted from hoof to hoof, a strand of her turquoise hair falling out of its tight bun. “He hasn’t been reporting for several days. We can’t locate him anywhere. He went off on a mission and never came back.”

“Who else was on that mission?”

“Second-in-Command Lemon Lime and the commander’s daughter, Red Berry, who was on probation by his Majesty.” Marylyn bowed respectfully to the emperor.

“Did any of them come back?” he demanded.

“The daughter did. She has a message for you.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Marylyn nodded to one of the guards standing by the door, and he opened the door to let Red in. Red trotted up to the emperor, her wings spread. She bowed gracefully in front of the throne.

“Your Majesty.”

Lupines studied the pegacorn with his dark eyes. “You went on a mission with your father and his second-in-command?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Red replied respectfully.

“What happened to them?”

“Captured by the Equestrian forces. I only just managed to escape.”

“How so?”

“I pretended like I would be their ally. If they actually believed that, they should be easy to defeat.” Red spoke with a convincing voice that definitely swayed Marylyn. Lupines looked like he had his doubts, although he kept them to himself.

“Very well. I will request that you continue to go on your missions to this Equestria. Once we find out more information about these ponies, we will attack.”

“Attack?” Red asked tentatively, lifting her head a little bit.

“We must not delay any longer. Once we have weakened their defenses, we will have a rescue mission for our ponies. We will destroy these… Equestrians.”

“What if they attempt to do the same to us?” Red met the emperor’s gaze boldly.

“We have stronger forces. We will prevail. Now, did you tell these ponies any information that could help them in an assault?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Very good.”

The door opened and Kiwi Swirl trotted in. She bowed her head to the emperor.

“Your Highness.”

“How is our newest test subject?”

“The technology has worked. The test subject has successfully responded to it.”

“Wonderful. May we see an example.” It was not a question, but a statement. Kiwi nodded and gestured to a unicorn with a blank expression. He whispered something to somepony else behind the door and stood back. Into the room trotted a young pony, just older than a filly. Her coat was pink so light it was almost white. Her mane was purple and pink, streaked with blue, curling around her horn and bouncing with every step. The young mare’s eyes were a beautiful turquoise, but they were glazed over and empty. The pony’s mane and coat had dimmed and lost their luster. She moved without purpose; more like she was being controlled. Red gasped quietly. She knew without a doubt that this was Flurry Heart.

The abducted princess stopped in front of the emperor, parallel with Red. She bent her legs in a respectful bow. Red sucked in a sharp breath.

“Yes, this specimen is remarkable, isn’t it?” Lupines said in response to Red. He thought she was shocked by the sight of the alicorn princess. However, it was quite the opposite. Red was nauseated at the fact that Flurry Heart was following the emperor. She felt sick, and she almost threw up in her mouth.

“What treatment did you give her?”

“The newest technology,” Kiwi responded. “She reacted surprisingly well.”

“Ah. I see. This one will be useful for my plans.”

“Plans?” Red inquired suddenly. “What plans?”

“That is classified information for only the emperor to know,” Kiwi snapped. “You have no right to even ask that. The nerve!”

“Now, now, Kiwi, the young filly’s only curious,” Lupines said smoothly. Red clenched her jaw. This pleased Lupines. The more infuriated the pegacorn got, the more likely she was to slip up and let loose the fact that she might be working for Lupines’ enemy. “There is no need to snap at her in such a manner. You are dismissed.” Kiwi looked like she had been slapped, but she turned and slowly walked towards the door. She paused before she exited the room, shooting a look of full hatred and loathing at Red. Lupines smiled in satisfaction. Red needed everypony as her enemy, so she had nowhere to turn for help or trust.

“Now, about those plans. I suppose that the daughter of my most trusted general can also be trusted, am I correct?” Lupines stared Red down as he descended from his throne.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Red said stiffly. Lupines nodded.

“Well, I’ll give it to you straight. We need more land. This whole side of the planet is conquered and under control of me, and still we need more land. We have discovered another continent that has lots of lands. It should sustain us for the next several thousand years. And so we plan to conquer that land. This young filly,” Lupines gestured to Flurry Heart, “will serve useful as a bargaining chip to speed their surrender along.”

“Well, that has been quite enough excitement for now,” Lupines said abruptly. “Marylyn, find Red a suite in the palace. I want her… close.” Marylyn nodded and trotted towards the door. Red glanced at Lupines suspiciously before following. Once the door closed, Lupines sat on his throne and leaned back. He used his magic to pull a table with a map on it from behind his throne and began arranging little models of horseshoes around on it.

Red Berry was a threat. Lupines couldn’t let her go run wild, trying to convince the ponies of Anoia to not go to war. He would get rid of her when the time was right. Lupines glanced up at Flurry Heart, who was still kneeling before him.

“Stand up,” Lupines ordered. Flurry did so. Lupines grinned. This was useful.

“Now,” he continued, “show me how much power you really have.”

Flurry Heart nodded and lit up her horn. Her eyes glowed white, and she spread her wings as she lifted off the ground a few feet. Flurry began to glow a blinding white light, and Lupines shielded his eyes but kept looking. The guards at the door looked away out of fear. Flurry yelled and the light blinded everything. When it died down, there was nothing left of the ceiling of the throne room except for a pile of rubble on the floor. The map table was reduced to splinters. Lupines’ throne was tilted sideways. Flurry Heart landed on the floor and stared at Lupines with her blank eyes.

“Impressive,” Lupines admitted. Flurry didn’t move. “And now,” Lupines continued, “we can begin. I must rally the troops. In one month, we will attack. After all...” Lupines stood up and strode over to Flurry Heart, smoothing her curls with his hoof, “this is war. Who’s going to notice a few more dead ponies here and there?”

Author's Note:

Constructive criticism is appreciated.