The Princess and the Kaiser

by UnknownError

Part Twenty-Eight

In the radio room, Flurry adjusted her awkward headpiece and looked at the crown on the desk in front of her, just in front of the microphone. She turned to Cerie and a few other griffons in the sound room. Cerie nodded through the window and motioned for Flurry Heart to start. The red light flickered on above the window to the sound studio.

Flurry took a breath and settled her wings. “Good evening,” she began. “Many of you have heard my voice, but my name is Flurry Heart. I am the daughter of Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire. I am broadcasting from Weter Radio.

“For many years, I have lived in Nova Griffonia under the talon of Triton Blackpeak. I witnessed how he grew rich on the suffering of poor griffons and ponies alike. I told my ponies to vote for him because the alternative was Alexander Kemerskai, who spoke hate for us instead of simple apathy. I told myself that it was for the best.

“Several weeks ago, I discovered that Triton Blackpeak planned to offer Queen Chrysalis hegemony over Nova Griffonia after he cancelled the elections. He was desperate to stay in power. I allied with Alexander Kemerskai to stop his plans, only to realize that Kemerskai planned to cede the frontier to Chrysalis after seizing power.

“It is clear that the Republic of Nova Griffonia is irredeemably corrupt. It was founded on the promises of liberty and equality, but I have seen little of those virtues while living in a small, cramped ghetto. Votes are bought and sold on vague promises and outright lies.

“The government has failed. It has failed to provide for the griffons of the frontier. It has failed to provide for the refugees it accepted from Griffonia and Equestria. It has offered only low pay, long shifts, and early deaths from easily preventable diseases and overwork.”

Flurry took another deep breath and glanced at her crown.

“Before any griffon ever settled here, this land was territory of the Crystal Empire. The Empire once stretched across the entire north, but fell to time and the wicked magic of King Sombra. When it returned after a thousand years, the Crystal Empire was a hollow shell, just one city in a frozen wasteland. But the crystal ponies within it were determined to reclaim their home. They were my mother's subjects, and she believed in their dream.

“With the Crystal Empire’s return came the discovery of oil in the frozen plains and rare minerals in the Crystal Mountains. It was my parent’s hope to rebuild the north as a haven of acceptance and progress. They encouraged immigration from every country. My mother believed love could blossom between anyone. The Changelings crushed that hope, and replaced it with frozen labor camps.

“My mother was heir to the Empresses of the old Crystal Empire and the fallen Princess Amore. As the daughter of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and the last of the line of the Amore dynasty, I lay claim to the lands of Nova Griffonia, by blood and birthright. The government of Nova Griffonia is henceforth dissolved. As of now, this territory is once again the Crystal Empire, and I am your Princess.”

Flurry risked a glance at Cerie and the griffons in the sound booth. Cerie offered a small nod.

“I swear, here and now, that I will defend this land and my subjects with my life. I already have, for many months, fought as a pilot against the Reich and won great victories. For many years before that, I have traveled the frontier and offered help with my magic for your injuries and illnesses. But it was never enough.

“Nova Griffonia needed to change, and that change unfortunately required bloodshed. I have done my best to minimize casualties today, even if it required horrific methods. For many of you, especially my griffons, it is my hope that your lives will now only improve. I am already taking steps to correct the unequal distribution of wealth and power set in place by Triton Blackpeak and his corrupt regime. Many of you do not recognize my claim and will not call me Princess. That's fine. I don’t care if you bow to me.

"But we are at war, and war demands unity. All hostile militias are ordered to stand down by dawn tomorrow and surrender to my forces. If you do so, you will pick your weapons back up and defend your homes under my leadership. I am offering blanket amnesty to any griffon that wishes to take it. We will face the Reich and Queen Chrysalis together.”

Flurry paused.

“If you do not, I will consider your cities in rebellion. I cannot allow the Reich free landing zones, nor can we afford to be divided. I will deal with any rebellions personally. I have ordered the griffons we’ve taken prisoner in Weter to be released. They are to return home. I urge any reluctant or angry griffon to listen to their stories about what happened here.”

Flurry’s tone hardened and she switched to Herzlander.

“This is a message to the Republican militias fortifying the north. Triton Blackpeak is dead. Alexander Kemerskai, Schnabel Sunglider, and the rest of the Republican leadership is dead, by my hooves and horn. You have no one to turn to and nowhere to fly. If you value the lives of your friends and families, you will peacefully surrender tonight. If you have not surrendered by tomorrow morning, I will fly to your cities in the dawn’s early light and raze them to the ground. There is nothing you can do to stop me.”

Flurry switched back to Equestrian and relaxed her tone.

“The anti-air defenses of Weter will not be functional tonight. You may disregard the curfew on lighting, but I request that my subjects stay safe and indoors until the city is completely under our control. I will be personally shielding the city."

Flurry jerked her hoof across her throat. The red light switched off and Cerie motioned for the alicorn to remove the headset. Flurry exhaled on the stool and blinked slowly. She picked the crown up in her hooves and turned it over, watching the reflection of her pale eyes in the gold. Cerie stuck her head through the door.

“You didn’t want to sign off, Princess?” she asked in Aquileian.

“Too long,” Flurry muttered in reply. “What should I say? 'This was Flurry Heart, Princess of the Crystal Empire, Princess of Equestria, and Princess of Ponies?'” She stuck her tongue out. “Sends the wrong message.”

“Are you Princess of Griffons now?” Cerie asked. “Am I your subject?”

“You live here, so yes,” Flurry replied lightly. “I don’t know if I can claim that title. Isn’t Grover the Kaiser of Griffonkind or something?”

“What if I don’t want to be your subject?” Cerie needled.

“You’re still my subject.”

“What if I take up my rifle and call you a whore?” Cerie said flippantly. She leaned against the doorway and scuffed her claws on the carpeting.

Flurry chuckled and stood up. “You can call me what you want,” the alicorn allowed, “but I can’t let you fly about shooting at my ponies. I’ll have to stop you.”

Cerie clacked her beak. “An improvement over Vivienne Discret,” she admitted. “I think you’ll do fine. Most Aquileians will just swear at you if they’re angry about it.”

“I don't know about that. I lived in Aquileia,” Flurry reminded her. “The favorite game with the Aquileian foals was ‘The Evil King and the Republicans;’ they changed the title to ‘Evil Queen’ for me. It usually ended with a pillow case on my head, kneeling against a soapbox while somepony smacked me with a wooden sword. Sometimes I got to do it instead, but everypony complained I didn’t sound mean enough.”

“Sounds like Aquileia,” Cerie said wistfully. “Didn’t getting whacked with a wooden sword hurt?”

“Alicorn,” Flurry shrugged. “I had a headache for a few days the time a sword broke over my head, but the filly was very sorry about it and I didn’t tell my dad.”

Cerie laughed and stepped aside.

“Thank you for your help,” Flurry said as she brushed past her.

“Thank you for caring about me,” Cerie said sincerely. “The docks were hard work, but better than being under Gavin.”

Flurry Heart smiled and trotted through the building to the roof. Like most griffon architecture, the roof and top floor was the nicest part of the building. The top floor was another lounge, decorated with ugly pink curtains and a mini-bar. A bed was in one of the side rooms with dirty sheets. Flurry wrinkled her nose and ignored it to go to the roof. She waved a hoof at the patrolling guards along the edge and stopped under the large radio antenna. It was almost dusk. The lights were going out throughout the city, despite her radio address.

“Have the prisoners been let go?” she called over to one of the guards.

“I saw a couple flocks of griffons flying north an hour ago, Princess,” the griffon guard called back. “That was the last of them.”

Flurry set her crown down on the roof and braced her hooves. “Don’t look at my horn!” she shouted in warning as her horn burned bright blue. Flurry wrenched her head to the sky with a shout and released the spell.

A transparent, bright blue plate appeared over Weter; it shimmered and crackled with energy. Arcs of lightning flashed across the surface. Flurry’s horn flared as she adjusted the size. The plate slowly bent inwards and formed an umbrella over the city. Once the shield stabilized, Flurry flew up to her shield and looked down at Weter.

I can never understand how my father did this from the ground.

The shield extended downwards to form a proper bubble around Weter. It was lopsided due to the harbor and coastline. She stopped the shield before the edges touched the ground and left about a hundred hooves worth of open space.

Flurry briefly flew in a circle around the top and checked to make sure the edges wouldn’t pass through any buildings on the outskirts; she made minor adjustments as her horn flared and dimmed. Satisfied, she sent one last, great pulse of energy across the shield and extended it to the ground. In the harbor, the shield stopped just below the water line. It was a little uneven, but perfectly functional for the night.

Flurry landed and picked her crown off the roof. She observed her work with a weary smile.

One of the griffons broke his patrol to approach her. “Are we, uh, are we stuck in here?” he asked and fluttered his wings nervously.

Flurry considered her answer. “Yes.” She placed the crown back on her head.

“Oh,” he clacked his beak. “That’s fine,” he offered hurriedly with a raised claw.

“The shield needs to be tough to withstand bombs,” Flurry explained and shook her mane. “I can’t make it weak enough for anyone to fly through. A shield like that will only keep out wind or rain.”

“Right,” the griffon answered slowly. He has no clue what I'm talking about, Flurry realized.

“If you really need to leave,” Flurry sighed. “You can swim under the edge by the harbor. Hold your breath.”

“I’m good,” the griffon waved his claws. “Thanks, Princess!”

A few of the other guards snickered when he flew back to the patrol.

I should definitely talk about the shield spell tomorrow night, Flurry noted to herself.

The Reich bombers arrived an hour after sunset. Flurry noticed their shadows passing under the high clouds.

They absolutely pounded the shield. If Grover or the Reichsarmee heard her radio address, they seemingly took it as a challenge to test her shield spell. Orange flashes and fireballs sprayed across the surface of the bubble roughly every minute. The explosions lit up the city below the shield, and the blasts reverberated downwards with dull roars mixed with the chimes and crackles of her magic.

The bombers would turn back to the east when depleted, then new bombers would appear and continue the process. Flurry’s shield made a compelling, bright blue target in the dark. The shield visibly shuddered when waves of bombs crashed down on it at once, and a great reverb sounded through the city like a gong.

The guards stared up transfixed at the sight, like a firework show from Tartarus. The night shift of bat ponies arrived to replace them, but the griffons and ponies ended up standing together on the roof, staring upwards in awe. One griffon put on a pair of sunglasses to avoid squinting. A few times, both bat pony and griffon would look over nervously at Flurry Heart.

Flurry dragged a cushioned chair out from the top floor and slouched in it on the roof, waiting to see if the shield needed to be reinforced. Her horn vibrated when the bombers coordinated and dropped their deadly cargo all at once, but the alicorn didn’t get a nosebleed. She fell asleep to the vibrations from her horn and snored louder than the dull roars of the bombs above her.

That reassured the guards more than anything the Princess could ever tell them.

Comments

[Pogmin]

No conversation with Thorax? Thought you were setting that up last chapter. I'm sure you'll get to it, but feels weird man.

[Kingfisher]

Beginning of the end

[PearlyDoesStuff]

Flurry out here doing all the work protecting Weter.

Also, she finally decided that Nova Griffonia is joever. TIME TO TROLL SOME BUGS!

[SirCarrot]

Wonder what twilight would think of all of this

[UnknownError]

11346863
I split up the chapter.
11347188
*Incoherent Weeping*

[UnknownError]

11346650
From Part Thirteen:

Flurry sighed. “Who’s left?”

Nopony answered her.

Us.

[MightyAlpaca]

11347188
Panic followed by speeches on friendship. Cue Flurry Heart learning how to sleep with her eyes open

[niBBoi]

I'm hoping Flurry will eventually grow out of her initial explosive debut as the Alicorn of Death and tone things down a bit for her sake as well as others'. But who knows? Maybe she'll end up breaking that dial and turning it up to eleven to double down instead. We've still got about half a million words, after all, and I may or may not have already spoiled myself a little about Flurry's supposed future war crime-related endeavors a while back before this.

To be honest, Flurry got a bit on my nerves in this and the last chapter. She's fully leaning into her nature as an alicorn, standing over anyone who questions it. She smirks here and snorts there at those who vainly fight against her in the field. She knows what kinds of things she can do, and she leverages that and utilizes it for her own purposes of fulfilling her plans way too eagerly for my taste.

The worst part is that Flurry is right about war, why she did what she did, and why she's doing what she's currently doing. It also doesn't help that my emotions on Flurry are mixed with even more pity for her. Flurry is increasingly becoming a person who does necessary evils without batting an eye because of her terrible situation, and it can get too ugly at times.

Celestia take me now. What will happen when Flurry finally takes back her throne and rules over Equestria and the Crystal Empire in peace?