• Published 9th Jun 2022
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The Princess and the Kaiser - UnknownError



Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire and Kaiser Grover VI of the Griffonian Reich meet. They will reclaim their empires, no matter the cost.

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Part Twenty-Nine

“Flurry…” a dual-toned voice whispered softly next to her ear.

Flurry Heart snorted in her sleep.

“Flurry,” the voice said louder and the alicorn felt a nudge.

Flurry batted the hoof away and rolled over, snuggling into the chair.

“Flurry!” the voice hissed in her ear.

Flurry Heart jolted awake. With pinned-back ears and wide eyes, she lurched backwards in the chair and tipped it over. The alicorn sprawled across the rooftop with flailing wings, hacking up spit.

Thorax leaned over the side of the overturned chair. “Are you all right?” he asked calmly.

“What,” Flurry coughed and wiped a hoof across her muzzle, “what are you doing here?” Her hoof came back crusty with dried drool and she grimaced.

“You wanted to see me,” Thorax said. “We have some time before another wave hits, at least judging by the radar."

“I wanted to see you hours ago,” Flurry protested and gathered her legs under herself to stand up.

“I’ve been here for hours,” Thorax replied. “I wanted to let you sleep.”

Flurry blinked crust from her eyes and looked up to check her shield. It was still in place, shimmering blue in the city lights.

Lights? Flurry paused. She turned to gaze across the rooftop at downtown Weter. The High Hotel was fully lit up, along with most of downtown. There were a few conspicuous absences, the crater was dark, but the city seemed more alive than it had been in weeks.

Flurry's ears twitched and she gasped at the sounds of partying in the streets below. She trotted to the edge and Murky motioned for her to look, setting down his rifle.

“Evenin’ Princess,” the bat pony stallion drawled. “Mostly our lot, but some Nova Griffs have joined in. Need an excuse to party.”

Flurry stared down at the mass of creatures in the street. Ponies and griffons mingled together, daring the Reich to bomb them. It looked like a music store had been ransacked; a few of the griffons had started an impromptu band that missed every other note.

“Some of the militias liberated a couple of hidden stores of alcohol from the mansions,” Thorax explained. “We’re sharing it with the citizens for the night. The shield seems to be keeping everyone awake.”

“We shouldn’t be drinking,” Flurry yawned. “Bad things happen. The city’s occupied.”

“Not everyone,” Thorax replied. “The armories and night guards are staying out of it. There’ll be some violence, but this will build more goodwill than it hurts. The shield helps.”

“I’ve sworn not to drink a drop,” Murky volunteered with tortured eyes. “My sisters are down there somewhere, partyin’ it up.”

Flurry leaned over and nuzzled the bat pony. “Thank you for your sacrifice,” she said sarcastically.

Murky blushed and waved a leathery wing. “Worth it, now they'll be jealous.”

Flurry walked back with Thorax and righted the chair in her magic. She motioned for Thorax to sit in it with a foreleg, and she sat on the hard roof across from him. Thorax sat down with a chittering sigh. His brown uniform was unbuttoned and hung loosely around his body. He looked thin.

He always looks thin.

Adoptive uncle and alicorn stared at each other for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Flurry said. “I shouldn’t have said that at the meeting. It was cruel.”

“It’s fine,” the changeling offered.

“No, it’s not,” Flurry said harshly. “You’re not a coward. You’re the bravest person I know. It was cruel and selfish and I didn’t mean it.”

“You did,” Thorax said softly.

Flurry recoiled. “No,” she repeated, “I was just angry and tired. I didn’t mean it.”

“You did,” Thorax repeated himself. “You were speaking from the heart. You meant it.”

“No!” Flurry nickered and stamped a front hoof. “I didn’t!”

Thorax smiled sadly. “I’m a changeling. I know when someone is telling the truth.”

Flurry shook her head in denial and opened her mouth.

“Can I speak?” Thorax interrupted.

Flurry snapped her mouth shut and glared at Thorax, then looked away, ashamed.

“It’s alright,” Thorax said mildly. “Some of the other changelings talked about killing her in the early days." He settled into the chair and looked across the skyline. "This was just after I met you, after Chrysalis failed at your parent’s wedding. I came back and saw how she had brought guns and tanks from Griffonia. She was determined to use force since subtlety failed.

“I never considered killing her,” Thorax admitted. “I thought if I convinced enough changelings to share and work together, we could unite and overthrow her. Sometimes I even thought she would change her mind.”

Flurry held her tongue. Thorax could tell.

“I know,” Thorax said with a sad laugh. “It was stupid, but I didn’t want to kill her. If we killed her to seize power, what made us any different from her? She brought down any queen that rose up to challenge her. I wanted to be different.”

“I understand,” Flurry said.

“No,” Thorax answered sharply. “You were wrong about one thing. My brother wouldn’t have survived. I would’ve had to kill him with Chrysalis.”

Flurry blinked. “Your brother loved you. You said he died for you!” she exclaimed.

“Pharynx was her biggest supporter,” Thorax continued. “He loved terrorizing ponies; he loved draining them. He loved the new tanks. I know he would’ve tried to stop me. Even if I somehow avoided killing him, he would have fought me afterwards in her memory. If I killed her, I needed to kill him too, and all the other changelings that supported her.”

Thorax sighed. “So, I waited. I spread leaflets and infiltrated the army and worked to subvert Chrysalis’ commands and modernization. I waited until her spies and infiltrators burst in and executed most of us. I’ve always wondered what Pharynx would’ve done if I had been caught with the others.”

“Your brother loved you,” Flurry repeated.

“And I loved him," Thorax said, ashamed. "Because I did, thousands of changelings died.”

“What?”

“I made up an excuse, Flurry," the changeling lectured. "I said to myself that I would be no better than her, but every time I thought about trying to kill Chrysalis, I was really thinking about my brother. I was afraid to fight him. I was afraid he would die. I could have started a war. I could have tried to kill her before all of this.”

“The war isn’t your fault,” Flurry insisted.

“It’s Chrysalis’ fault,” Thorax hissed, then closed his eyes, “but my brother died anyway. And he ended up dying for me.”

Flurry opened her mouth to reply and reassure him, but her mother’s voice echoed in her ears. Love is the death of duty, Flurry. She scooched across the roof and leaned against Thorax, wrapping her wings around the chair.

“You’ll have to kill her,” Thorax muttered as Flurry’s muzzle bent his head fin aside.

“Chrysalis?” Flurry guessed.

“It won’t end until you do,” Thorax whispered. “She’ll come after you now. You'll have to kill her and all the changelings that enabled her war machine.”

“If Grover accepts the ceasefire, we’ll move south. We’ll take back the Empire.”

Thorax nuzzled her back. “I know you offered Grover something else,” he whispered. “You were holding something back.”

“I did,” Flurry admitted.

“What was it?” Thorax pressed.

“Nothing."

The young alicorn closed her eyes.

“Everything,” she amended.

“Will you tell me?”

“Only if he accepts. It won’t matter if he doesn’t.”

Thorax hummed with a low chitter and hugged her back. “Can I ask about Falx?”

Flurry kept her eyes closed and swallowed. “I was wondering when you would,” she managed.

“The others reported back this morning; they setup some good ambushes in the north. I know he was at the Capitol.”

“I didn’t kill him,” Flurry said urgently. She opened her eyes and stared at Thorax.

Thorax answered neutrally, "Okay."

“I didn’t,” Flurry insisted. She twisted her head to look him in the eye and kept speaking in a jumbled rush of words. “I gave him time to get out, but Kemerskai started yelling and Falx yelled back and revealed himself and Kemerskai shot him." Thorax stared at her, unblinking.

"I gave him time," Flurry said again. "I gave him time to get out. I was going to wait.” She wrapped a wing around the top of the chair as the words tumbled out.

“Okay, Flurry,” Thorax said after a moment.

“You believe me?” Flurry asked desperately.

“Yes, I’m a changeling. I believe you.”

The bombing resumed above them, but the alicorn and the changeling stayed together on the roof. Flurry relaxed and leaned on the chair again. The roof lit up in a dull glow from the explosions above them.

“Do you know why everyone is afraid of you?” Thorax asked suddenly. “Dusty and Duskcrest and even Spike?”

“Because I’m violent and powerful,” Flurry muttered. “I know why."

“They’re afraid of the world you’re going to create,” Thorax mumbled into her ear.

Flurry didn’t know what to say to that.

“I don’t want to live in a world where murdering a griffon in his home saved lives,” Thorax admitted, “or where blowing up a building ended a war before it ever started."

“We don’t get to choose what world we live in,” Flurry answered.

“No, but we all remember a kinder world,” Thorax yawned.

“I don't. I barely remember what Equestria was like. I remember the war."

“I know,” Thorax whispered. “You’re proof that things won’t go back to the way they were. They can’t go back. No matter how much we want them to.”

Flurry horn vibrated as another carpet bombing occurred above them. She heard distant cheering from the street and the roof lit up again in a dull orange glow.

“Uncle?” Flurry asked softly. “Are you afraid of me?”

Thorax didn’t reply.

Flurry stepped back. The changeling’s eyes were closed; he was breathing deeply, asleep in the chair. Flurry carefully walked away. She offered her crown to Murky as he checked the skyline for incoming fliers.

“You’re on crown duty,” Flurry stated bluntly. “I need to check the shield. I’ll be back shortly.”

Murky blinked and accepted the crown with careful hooves. “Let me scrape an escort together for ya, Princess,” he urged and waved to the other patrols.

“I’ll be quick. They won’t be able to keep up.” Flurry flared her wings and leapt off the side of the roof, catching an updraft and flying up to the shield. She flew under the explosions and inspected where the magic crackled and chimed due to the impacts. The shield held fine; Flurry just wanted to fly.

What world would I create? Flurry wondered with a snort. A world where we weren't enslaved.

As she drifted over the Leisure District, her nose picked up the smell of smoke. A fire would be trouble under the shield. The smoke would gather at the top and Flurry’s shield wasn’t that permeable. She dove down towards the smoke and recognized the mansion.

Blackpeak, she thought with a smirk, then her stomach dropped.

His daughter.

Flurry accelerated the dive and pulled up short before the mansion. The gate at the end of the driveway had been knocked aside and the fountain’s stone base was shattered. There were puddles all over the front lawn.

The mansion was aflame. Smoke poured from the second story windows and balconies as the first floor burned. The fire was spreading quickly. Flurry galloped up the driveway, charging a spell. She stopped at the open front doors and reared back from the intensity of the flames. Flurry grit her teeth and fired a wave of frost from her horn that overwhelmed the tongues of fire in the lobby.

Smoke poured out from the doorway; Flurry crouched low and coughed, flapping her wings to clear the air. Her powerful wing beats made an air pocket. Guess I should be more thankful for them. She entered the charred house and cast another wave of frost at the remaining fires in the entryway, then went room to room, horn chilled with ice.

The first floor was a total loss. The building had been looted and charred. Some of the rooms looked like they were about to collapse. Flurry didn’t want to risk the burnt staircase and flew to the second floor. She continued to cast low intensity frost spells on each room.

Flurry entered the study. The floor was charred, but the bodies had been removed. She carefully moved down the hallway and stopped at the door across from Blackpeak’s bedroom.

"Hello?" she called out and struggled to think. What was her name? She placed a hoof on the closed door, didn’t feel any heat, then kicked it open.

The bedroom had been ransacked, but it definitely belonged to a preteen cub. The wallpaper was too flowery, even when blackened from smoke. The small bed in the corner was overturned, but the room was empty and looted. Flurry crossed the hallway and kicked open Blackpeak’s bedroom to find it in a similar state. Flurry turned to leave to check the other rooms, but heard distant shouting from the open balcony. She lit her horn and pulled back the smoke-stained curtains.

Blackpeak’s balcony had a view of his garden, lovingly cultivated by a professional team of poorly-paid earth ponies with a few exotic trees. About a dozen ponies stood beside one tree, laughing and drinking. A few scattered crates of alcohol and valuables were around them.

One small body dangled from a low branch.

Flurry dropped down from the balcony and slowly trotted over. The more sober ponies noticed her and shouted a warning, bracing their rifles against their hooves. Flurry summoned a small shield and approached with wings outstretched.

“Heh, it’s the Princess!” one pegasus stallion slurred and lowered his rifle.

A ragged cheer went up.

“Princess!”

“Princess Flurry!”

“Princesh!”

Flurry ignored them and stopped before the tree. The body swinging on a low branch was the griffon she saw in the hallway. The one she left behind without a mother and father, alone in a ransacked house. Her eyes bulged from the rope; her nightdress was soiled and stained. It was the same one Flurry remembered her wearing.

“Nasty bit o’ work,” a rough accent offered from behind her. Flurry shifted her head slowly and regarded a red earth pony in a gray uniform. The mare, tall and with an easy grin, jerked her head towards the tree and her green mowhawk swayed in the wind.

“You did this?” Flurry asked and dropped the shield.

“Yep,” the mare admitted, totally unashamed. “Little git slashed Reedy real good over some jewelry. We didn’t even notice her in the rafters.” The mare turned towards the group and barked, “Reedy, show the Princess your war wound!”

Reedy, the drunken pegasus stallion, waved a lightly bandaged foreleg. The mare laughed and turned back to Flurry.

“Name’s Red Dawn,” she offered. “We’re out of New Stalliongrad.” She coughed with a raised hoof and looked to the side. “Awful sorry about the effigies and whatnot over the years. We heard your speech. Nova Griffonia needs some wealth redistribution, and you’re not exactly the old Princesses.”

“You hanged a cub,” Flurry stated flatly.

“Blackpeak’s cub,” Red Dawn corrected with a small frown. “Little git got more than any of us ever did. My little fillies live in a hovel and I worked in the mines in the frontier ever since the Sisters left us.”

“I said no murder,” the alicorn muttered and looked back at the tree.

“We didn’t come here to murder her,” Red Dawn protested, offended, “but she’s got to be punished for cutting up Reedy. Fair’s fair, and she owes all of us something anyway.”

“So you killed her and burnt down her house?”

Red Dawn approached the alicorn. She was tall enough to meet her eyes evenly. “Come on,” Red Dawn snorted and waved a foreleg, “all those rich gits have it coming, just like the ones you killed downtown.”

Flurry smelled her breath. It didn’t smell of alcohol. She did this completely sober.

“The fire was a bit much, and I get that you put it out,” Red Dawn continued, oblivious. “Most of the mares are drunk, even the stallions joined in.”

A jeer came from the assorted militia behind them.

Flurry's lip twitched. “You have a filly, right?”

“Yep,” the mare boasted. “I got two of them with a lazy stallion back in New Stalliongrad."

“And you were fine with hanging a filly from a tree over a piece of jewelry.” Flurry's tail jittered.

“A cub,” Red Dawn frowned.

“I thought you believed in class divides, not race divides,” Flurry admonished.

Red Dawn raised a brow and laughed. “Fair, but little cub there had a great life, far better than anypony here. I’m sure she thought she was better than you, Princess.”

“Until her parents died last night,” Flurry replied.

Red Dawn shrugged. “With parents like Blackpeak and his crow, I'm certain she would’ve turned out rotten like them.”

Flurry looked back up at the corpse. She was wearing a plain cotton shirt. I don't remember her name. She turned her pale blue eyes back to Red Dawn.

“You’re right,” Flurry shrugged with small grin. “You don’t mind sharing the loot with everyone, right?”

“Nah,” Red Dawn said easily and waved a hoof, “we’re about to meet up with the others. Got a collection going, but I can’t guarantee someponies won’t walk off with a few pieces for themselves or their families.”

“That’s fine,” Flurry took a step forward. “I expected that.”

“Heh, I’m glad,” Red Dawn smiled sincerely. "You're not so bad, Princess."

Flurry offered her hoof. “I’m glad I met you.”

“I’m glad I met a Princess that didn’t have a stick up her ass,” Red Dawn chuckled and lifted her foreleg to hoofbump the Princess.

Flurry Heart hooked her outstretched hoof around Red Dawn’s foreleg and pulled the earth pony forward. The large pony stumbled against the Princess.

Flurry slammed her forehead down against the bridge of Red Dawn’s muzzle.

There was a muted crunch. The earth pony neighed and tried to pull back, but Flurry held Red Dawn in place with both front hooves hooked around the mare's forelegs. The alicorn reared her head back with a feral snarl and slammed her head down again, angling the strike so her horn didn’t get in the way.

There was a more severe crunch and Red Dawn’s muzzle caved in with a spray of blood that covered the alicorn's eyes. Flurry blinked through the blood and headbutted her again. Red Dawn gurgled something as her legs gave out, but Flurry held the pony up.

Flurry headbutted her again.

And again.

And again.

She lost count.

By the time she stopped and dropped the earth pony, Flurry Heart needed to rub bloody fetlocks against her eyes to see. Red Dawn’s muzzle was gone; the front half of her skull had collapsed inwards and soaked her front with blood. Ironically, she wasn’t red enough; the blood clashed with her coat color.

Flurry swiveled to the rest of the militia. They had stopped drinking. Unwisely, they were also too stunned to run and stayed, staring in horror as their commander was beaten to death by their Princess.

Flurry snorted the blood out of her nose. Her horn sparked while flecks of blood dripped from its grooves.

Don’t run.” Flurry bared her bloody teeth.

Reedy dropped his rifle and tried to fly away, flapping unsteadily. Flurry seized him in her magic, and the pegasus screamed as he was folded backwards. His spine broke with a dry snap. Flurry dropped the stallion to the ground, where he lay twitching. His mouth foamed over as he died.

The others froze. Some were half-reaching for their weapons with uncertain eyes, so Flurry ripped the guns away and tossed them further into the gardens. One pegasus stood still as her entire uniform was torn away with the holstered pistol at her side. She shivered as her legs knocked together.

Flurry panted and cast her changeling detection spell. It swept over the crowd as several whimpered. None of them were changelings, which Flurry expected.

“I am tracking all of you,” Flurry lied. “You will go to every militia out looting and tell them my orders. No rape or murder. I thought it was simple instructions. Was I wrong?”

“No,” the naked pegasus insisted desperately. “It was all Red Dawn’s idea!”

Flurry glared at the pegasus. She could feel blood dripping from her horn. The mare suppressed a sob and a small, yellow puddle appeared under her tail.

“If somepony commits a rape or murder,” Flurry continued in a low growl, “it is the duty of the militia to shoot them dead on the spot. I don’t care if it’s their commander, they shoot them dead. Nod if you understand.”

The remaining ponies nodded wildly.

“Remember, I'm tracking you." Flurry looked to each pony. "If you try to run away, I will find you and you will wish you died like her.” Flurry jabbed a hoof towards Red Dawn. “Two of you will stay behind and bury the cub.” Flurry sliced through the hanging rope with a small laser and caught the body in her magic. She gently set the griffon cub on the ground.

Flurry picked the two burliest looking earth ponies, even though they were shaking like leaves. “You two, bury her in the garden. Dig with your hooves.”

Everypony stood still.

Flurry flared her wings and hovered above them. Blood smeared down from her muzzle into her chest fluff. “Go!” Her normally high-pitched, soft voice broke into a vicious bark.

They scattered. The two earth ponies rushed toward the body and the crates of jewelry and valuables were forgotten. Flurry watched from above as the militia spread out, running as fast as they could through the streets. The two remaining began to dig in the garden, sobbing in terror as their hooves turned bloody.

Flurry flapped her wings and stopped high above the sprawl of wealthy houses. She opened her muzzle to scream one last insult and warning to them all, but her voice choked.

I don't even remember her name. Flurry exhaled, blinked away tears, and flapped her wings slowly back to Weter Radio. She ignored the partying in the streets underneath her, and her subjects didn't notice their Princess above them.

Murky looked absolutely horrified at the blood-drenched Princess floating down to him. Her muzzle, mane, chest, and forelegs were matted. The blood hadn’t dried yet; bits of gore stuck under her eyes and around her nose.

Murky opened his mouth to screech an alert and whirled around to the other patrolling guards. Flurry clamped his mouth shut in her magic and looked over at Thorax, still sleeping in the chair despite the muffled bombs.

“Don’t wake Thorax,” she mumbled and landed next to the mortified bat pony. “It’s not my blood anyway.” Flurry swished her tail as she walked inside. “Keep the crown for a bit. I’m going to find some sheets or a towel."

Flurry Heart ended up using several discarded curtains and a few canteens of water donated by horrified militia guards. She refused to explain what happened and dragged another cushioned chair into a supply closet to sleep for a few more hours. She locked the door behind her.

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