Royalties
The lobby of the Royale Hotel was abuzz with activity. Not only had Princess Luna returned, but she had brought two unexpected guests along with her. Nopony had been expecting Cadenza nor King Thorax to come back to Equestria with her and that small fact had sent the makeshift palace into a tizzy. A cadre of changeling guards were discussing arrangements for the monarch with a few senior Royal Guards while the trio of royals waited for the arrival of Celestia and others.
“It is usually not this chaotic.” Luna whispered to Thorax. “Perhaps We should’ve sent a letter ahead to inform them of your arrival. This is a mistake on Our part and you have Our deepest apologies.” She was embarrassed for her staff as they weren’t really equipped to respond to an ‘emergency’ such as this one in their current state.
“Probably a good idea.” Thorax responded with a slight smile. “I won’t hold it against you, though. You had a lot on your plate and you were tired. If anything, I should’ve reminded you.” Luna could appreciate somepony else shouldering the burden of failure around her for once. She let out a sigh and nodded. She would not push back, even if it should’ve all been on her.
“Auntie Luna, I think the elevator is coming down.” Cadenza tugged at Luna’s side as she spoke. “I believe you should darken the windows, yes?”
With a nod, Luna summoned her magic and commanded the shadows to adhere to the windows. While Celestia was now content with speaking to the public over the airwaves, Luna doubted she was ready to be seen. Cadenza went about and hurried non-essential ponies out of the lobby to limit Celestia’s exposure to others as well. It took less than a minute for the spacious and bright lobby that had once been bustling with activity to become dark and quiet, with only a smattering of guards left in their places.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened and a gentle light flooded the darkened lobby. Celestia was not the first one to exit the elevator, no that was Shining Armor. The senior guard bolted from the metal box and made a beeline for his wife. Right before he could scoop her up in a tight embrace, he stopped. His eyes were focused on hers with such raw intensity that even Luna could feel it.
“Cadance…” Shining Armor’s hoof raised slowly and started to make its way towards the younger alicorn’s face. “What…how…?” Cadenza intercepted his hoof and prevented it from touching her cheek. She gave a sad smile and let out a small sigh.
“It’s an illusion, Shining.” Cadenza explained as she lowered her husband’s hoof. “A very good one, but an illusion nonetheless. King Thorax helped enchant my masks so they will project my face as it’s supposed to be.” Luna could see the disappointment in Shining’s eyes and she was sure that Cadenza could as well. “It’s a lot better than the plain white mask.”
“I know…” Shining Armor nodded and he swallowed some more critical words. “I…I just missed your kiss. I was hoping…” He shrugged and shook his head. “I’m sorry, that’s selfish. I don’t mean it, I just-I missed you Cadance.” What he meant, and everypony knew it, was that he missed her face. Her old face. Not the one hidden behind the mask.
“I missed you too, Shiny.” The couple embraced and Shining buried his muzzle in his wife’s mane. Cadance squeezed the stallion and her hooves went to his barrel. “You’re skinny. Have you been eating?”
“King Thorax.” Celestia finally entered the conversation as the spouses continued their own little aside. She dipped her head in a slight bow to the changeling monarch. “A pleasure to see you again. Please forgive my appearance, there’s not much I can do about it.” The subdued oranges and purples of Celestia’s glowing mane illuminated the faces of the three royals now huddled in a circle. Heavy shadows were cast about their faces, lending the monstrous appearances of the two alicorns more weight.
“Only if you’ll forgive me for mine, Princess Celestia.” Thorax responded with a slight smile and a deeper bow in return. “I know my arrival is unscheduled, but we thought it best to discuss the deal we reached face to face.”
A hint of the old Celestia shone through after she absorbed the words. She arched an eyebrow and looked at Luna, who gave her sister a shrug in return. The story that Luna would tell Celestia would be the official story, just not the real one. That would stay between her and Pharynx for now.
“We can do that later, for now I want to welcome you to our home.” Celestia tried to smile, but as soon as her fangs poked out from behind her lips she killed the smile as quick as it appeared. Instead she opted for a small nod. “It’s not as nice as our old one, but it’s serviceable.”
“Yes, We would like Twilight Sparkle to be present for this discussion anyway.” Luna tapped a hoof anxiously against the tiled floor and scanned the darkened room for any sign of the youngest princess. “Where is your pupil, sister?”
“Busy with a personal project.” A hint of frustration entered Celestia’s words as they dribbled out. “I don’t know what it is, but she seems rather impassioned about it.”
“It’s better than the alternative.” Luna mumbled to herself. She had not divulged Twilight Sparkles dreams to her sister as she was sure that would do nothing for Celestia’s mood. If Twilight was working on something, it meant she wouldn’t be as focused on her own misery. Luna could live with that and she was sure that Celestia could as well. “Well we can fill her in later, We suppose.”
“Well I know you wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t good news.”Celestia looked between Luna and Thorax, who both nodded affirmatively. “Good. What did we get worked out?” There was a hesitation as both sides of the negotiations froze up, unsure of who should speak first.
“The Changelings will assist us.” Luna spat out the words hurriedly. She just wanted to get this over with and let the berating commence. She would take her lumps, as she always had, and get on with her day. “In fact, the entire population will be mobilized to shore up deficiencies in our supply lines. King Thorax will oversee everything relating to their deployments and arrangements.”
“Oh.” Celestia blinked. Genuine surprise crossed her features and Luna saw her sister’s jaw hang open for just a second too long before her usual composure reasserted itself. “What do we owe you for this gracious offer, King Thorax?”
“Our hoof in marriage.” Luna answered quietly, just loud enough so Celestia and Thorax could hear it and nopony else.
“I’m sorry?” Celestia blurted out without thought. She looked between the changeling and her sister, her magenta eyes wide in disbelief. “Luna? You?” Nopony knew of Luna’s distaste for physical intimacy quite like her sister and that showed in the way she gawked. “I-...perhaps we should have discussed this first?”
“Perhaps, but We thought it prudent.” Luna lied through her teeth, something she was sure that Celestia would pick up on. “We could not take all of Thorax’s subjects into Equestrian society without accepting his place in it as well. This will help integration and it will provide Equestria with the help it needs.”
“This is purely political!” Thorax chimed in. “I’m not…well…your sister is, of course, very beautiful for a pony-” both alicorns rolled their eyes. They knew their current physical state and how unattractive they were, flattery would quite literally get him nowhere. “-but this isn’t about romance or becoming the main ruler of Equestria. This is about my changelings having a real home and a purpose. Equestria can provide both.” He stepped forward and put a hoof to his chest, right over where his heart should be. “I know how many ponies you lost and there’s no way we can replace all of them, but we can bolster your numbers. There’s one hundred thousand Changelings in the hive all itching to help, to be needed and appreciated.”
“We apologize, but how many?” Luna had assumed they had a couple of thousand Changelings, maybe twenty thousand at most. The Hive was big, but it didn’t look like it held that many bugs. “Is that number right?”
“Well yeah.” Thorax blinked and looked between the two surprised alicorns. “The Hive isn’t just above ground. A lot of it is below ground, didn’t you know that?” Luna shook her head. “Oh yeah, our tunnels go for miles underground. There’s nurseries and living chambers that go everywhere under the wastes. Anybug who lives up in the actual spire usually is either a guard or has an important job in the Hive.”
“That is…good to know.” Luna thought she was getting the short end of the stick with this deal. How she had not asked how many Changelings would be at Equestria’s disposal was beyond her. It was an oversight that she was now grossly ashamed of. If all she had to do was pretend to be married for Thorax for the rest of his life for the aid of one hundred thousand Changelings, then that was something she could easily live with. As far as she was now concerned, she had gotten a deal.
“That will be wonderful!” For the first time in what felt like forever, Celestia beamed. The subdued and dim light from her mane seemed to intensify and for a brief glorious moment Luna thought she saw some of the blue and green return to her sister’s ethereal appearance. “Oh the ponies of Equestria will not forget your generosity, nor that of your people.”
“What about the ponies?” Shining Armor interjected as he and Cadenza joined the circle of royals. He had a hoof around his wife and held her tight to his side. “I appreciate the help, but right now the ponies of Equestria aren’t exactly…friendly. We can’t even get them to cooperate with other ponies, how are we supposed to tell them to let Changelings into their towns? Who says they’ll listen?”
“He is right…” Luna would admit that. The ponies of Equestria were indeed not as friendly as they used to be, and even in those halcyon days from before The Event they weren’t particularly fond of outsiders. Equestria was not a land of immigrants, nor was it particularly welcoming to them. “We can only hope that when they have more food in their bellies and less work they will see how good this is for Equestria.”
“We can always try to use the guard to keep the peace.” Shining Armor offered. “We’re spread thin, but with an infusion from the Changelings we might be able to nip some problems in the bud before they get out of hoof.”
“That’s a good idea!” Thorax nodded approvingly and smiled. “My Changelings can even disguise themselves to look like normal Royal Guards. It’ll help them integrate a little more and they’ll be able to keep an eye on things for me.”
“Hmm.” Luna was not fond of a security force whose identities were occluded. If the secret got out, well that seemed like a fast track to disaster. “We believe we will start small with that. Maybe one Changeling per unit and then expand it.” A lightbulb sprung to life above Luna’s head and she had to hold back a cheer as the revelations struck her. “We can embed your brother with one so he can see how they operate and get used to Equestrian society. Then he can teach your guards everything he learned.” Two birds, one stone. Luna liked that idea.
“If he stays in line.” Shining chewed on his lip as he spoke. “We’ve had enough problems with overzealous guards. Last thing we need is for one that’s not even a pony to mess up and get exposed. That would start riots.” There was no two ways about it, Shining was right. Everypony who knew anything about Equestria at the moment was aware of it too. “Can he behave?”
“He’s not a loose cannon.” Thorax said with a light laugh. “He’s got a loud bark, but he’s not much of a biter anymore.”
If Luna was able to voice her disagreement with that statement, she would. She would do it loudly too. Sadly she was constrained by the promise she had made to herself. She could not expose her sister to the harsh truth of how this deal came about. She would know the truth, and she knew what Pharynx was capable of.
“Put him under your best and most level headed lieutenant.” Luna stated flatly to Shining Armor and offered no room for argument. “It is not that We do not trust you, Thorax. We just want to be absolutely certain that nothing will go wrong.”
“No no, I understand.” Thorax continued with a smile. “After all, he seems rather serious and intense from an outsider’s perspective. I get it.”
The elevator, to the surprise of everyone, let out another sharp ‘ding’ and the doors slid open. All heads in the darkened lobby turned in that direction, expecting to see Twilight Sparkle emerge from whatever project was occupying her time. Instead it was Twilight’s own protege, Starlight Glimmer.
The pale pink mare had saddlebags slung across her back that were packed to the brim. She stepped out of the elevator and realized that everyone was staring right at her. The mare froze in place and a sheepish smile slowly crept across her features. A nervous chuckle escaped her lips and she raised a hoof to wave at the assembled royalty.
“Sorry!” She said with a little wave. “Ignore me! Go about with whatever you were doing, I was just leaving.” She shuffled across the lobby as fast as she could and without causing too much of a ruckus. “Oh and hi Thorax!”
“Starlight!” Thorax beamed as he dragged the unicorn over to him with his magic. He pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tight to his shell. “Where are you going? I hoped we could spend some time together and catch up!”
“My dad.” Starlight returned the hug for a moment but quickly pulled away. “I…haven’t heard anything from him and I haven’t seen his name in any of the…” Starlight paused and tried to find the right word, but failed. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and shook her head. “I need to find out if he’s okay.”
“I hope he’s okay, Starlight.” Thorax gave the mare’s shoulder a squeeze and gave her a shorter and much more gentle hug. “And I’ll probably still be here when you get back so we can talk then, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” Starlight nodded and put a smile back on her face. She then turned to the other assembled royals and gave a little bow of her head. “Your Majesties. Once again, I apologize for the interruption. Forgive me.”
“You are forgiven, Starlight Glimmer.” Luna nodded back at the unicorn and shooed her away with a hoof. “Go see your father. We pray that he is well and that your trip will be uneventful.”
“That makes both of us.” Starlight muttered as she finished her trek across the lobby and left through the darkened double doors. Thorax frowned as he watched her leave and his wings audibly buzzed beneath his shell. It was not the hyperactive buzz Luna had heard before, but instead a low hum. It was a worried noise.
“What are the odds her father is alive?” Thorax finally asked after a few moments of silence. The alicorns all looked between each other and silently communicated what answer they deemed appropriate.
“If he’s a unicorn, then the chances are good.” Celestia was the one to deliver the good news. That was the truth. Thorax had heard the numbers and he knew approximately how many unicorns had died in comparison to the other races. “I hope he’s alive and the news is nothing but good…”
There was a lingering word in her throat. It stayed there and everyone could feel it ready to burst forth. That horrible, no good word. ‘But’. Yes the chances were good and everyone hoped that this story would have a happy ending but this was modern Equestria. It felt like happy endings were in short supply. There would always be a treacherous ‘but’ lingering midway through the story, ready to plunge the dagger of tragedy into your back when you were sure everything was okay.
Luna was about to speak, to steer the conversation back towards the diplomatic direction it had started. The universe would not let her, though. As soon as she opened her mouth, the air was sucked out of her lungs. This was not an isolated occurrence either, it was the same with everyone in the room. Their mouths were open and their all of the air was being pulled out.
A vicious wind whipped around the lobby and Luna lost her focus. The shadows fell away from the windows and sunlight streamed in. Papers that had been on tables and counters flew around the room and the few guards that had been allowed to stay hurried to their princesses.
Lightning crackled in the center of the room for a few seconds, arcing out and connecting with the metal being worn by the guards and the royals alike. Then a ball of light appeared in the middle of the space. At first it was as small as the tip of a horn, but it soon grew to be approximately the size of a pony. Finally it exploded and launched everyone in the room away from it with enough force to take even Celestia and Luna off of their hooves.
The light died, the lightning stopped and the wind abated. The chaos left in its wake a pony, Starswirl the Bearded, in a heap on the floor. The elder alicorns were the first to recognize the shape and they rushed to his side and pulled him to his hooves. Besides being a little disheveled, he looked to be intact. He was not injured, at least not visibly.
“Starswirl!” Celestia cried out as the two picked him up. “What’s happened? H-how did you get here?” Black pupils dominated his usually blue eyes and a distant confusion overtook his countenance. “Starswirl?”
“S-Somnambula.” He eventually muttered out. The old stallion shook his head and put a hoof to his face. “It’s Somnambula!” With some sort of sense restored, the seasoned mage soldiered on through his words. “She’s gone. She’s been taken.”
“What?! By whom?!” Both Luna and Shining asked the question simultaneously.
“I am not certain.” Starswirl shook his old pupils off and he stood on his own. “They were…creatures I have not seen before. Apes of some description with some griffons too.” Luna closed her eyes and focused on the words of her mentor, then sent her brain to work trying to match the words to what she knew. “They were led by a pony, though.”
“What did this pony look like?” Luna needed to know.
“It was a mare judging by the voice. Tall. Skinny.” Starswirl sighed. “I did not see what tribe she belonged to. It was too dark. However, she did not fly nor did she teleport. So I must assume that she is not a pegasus and if she is a unicorn, she is not an extremely skilled one.” He began to pace, the bells on his hat and cloak jingling softly as he trotted back and forth. “They were in some kind of…airship of some sort. Held aloft by a balloon. It, and the creatures, all wore the same insignia. Two blue lightning bolts that looked like eyes.”
“No…” Luna opened her eyes, the image of a mare fresh in her mind. It was not one she had thought about in what seemed like a lifetime. She turned to Celestia. “The night we turned in Canterlot-” Luna began and endured the sharp flinch that came from her sister once the words hit her ears. “-our guards caught a spy, yes?”
“Well yes.” Celestia was about to say something else, but the same revelation that struck Luna impacted her thought process as well. “No…she was in Canterlot. Surely she could not have survived. We…” They leveled the city and anypony that was not a unicorn, they most certainly slaughtered.
“The spy we caught-” Luna turned to the others in the room to explain what she knew. “-she was a mare. Tall. A unicorn with a broken horn. She was wearing a black skin tight suit of armor that had the same insignia Starswirl described.” Luna turned back to Starswirl. “You said it was dark, but did you see what color this mare’s coat and mane were?”
“Red, maybe.” Starswirl shrugged and shook his head. “I might have caught a glimpse of her around a fire for a brief moment. It was a shade of red, I think.”
“She was maroon, I think?” Celestia offered.
“With a pink mane?” Cadenza stepped forward and forced her way into the conversation. “A reddish-purple unicorn with a pink mane and a broken horn?” Celestia and Luna stared at the younger princess, astounded that she apparently knew the mare they were all talking about.
“Yes…” Luna responded.
“Wait…” Shining rubbed his chin. “She was on the mountain!” His eyes went wide and his wife nodded enthusiastically. “We…I mean, you-” He pointed at Cadenza. “-I thought you killed her and the pony she was with.”
“I thought so too.” Cadenza said with a bitter chuckle. “I should’ve. I buried them beneath a ton of rocks. But if she survived…”
“She has Somnambula.” Starswirl reiterated. “Whoever this pony is, they have my friend.The last I saw, they were headed east in that airship. We must find them.”
“I’ll put out an alert.” Shining narrowed his eyes and shifted into a more serious mode. “I’ll use Spike to get the description of this mare out to every outpost we have. I’ll also have them on the lookout for this airship. If they move into Equestria, we’ll know.”
“Starswirl-” Luna looked her mentor in the eyes. Her own eyes burned with ferocious intent and fiery intensity. “-we will find this mare and we will find Somnambula. You have Our word.”
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First and hopefully her dad okay
Looking for the wrong mare, but the right group. The plot thickens!
Also Luna dislikes physical intimacy in your story? Didn't know that, but it does highlight how devoted Luna is to her decision.
Ooh, it's featured. Well deserved. Check out the prequel before reading this.
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Every time it gets updated it hits the featured box. That’s how the site works.
When will the cutie mark Crusaders reunite?
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Dunno. They might not ever truly reunite
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But they are are a trio
Poor Tempest is going to be a scapegoat for everything Rose does and no-one is going to figure out that it's not her until it's too late.
Kind of crazy seeing all these divergent storyline begin to converge. Excited for what's to come!
So right now, very few creatures know what actually caused The Event. As far as they know, all unicorns in Equestria inexplicably became monsters one day before reverting back a few weeks later (don’t know how far word of the mana pool purge has spread). Should there not be a more widespread suspicion of the horned beyond what we’ve seen? How can Ember comfortably interact with the princesses, who could presumably turn at any time, when she knows she would be unable to defend herself against them? Shouldn’t there be a widespread convincing false explanation for The Event propagated by Equestria to the rest of the world? Honestly, far beyond Earth Ponies and pegasi, every species on the planet should be absolutely terrified of a recurrence of The Event and plan accordingly.
Edit: Btw, this reticence should be felt by every changeling who isn’t named Thorax, Pharynx, or Elytra. I hope you address at some point that the general changeling population will resist integration because, to them, the hornheads could turn on them at any time. Same goes for the non-unicorns attending the new Estates-General. Pharynx and Thorax are now bound to support whatever narrative the princesses wish to tell about the cause of The Event. IMO there should be conspiracy theories of all sorts floating around, especially if the official explanation for the cause isn’t airtight. I really hope this issue is addressed at some point.