6- Of Mice and Mares
Twilight waited patiently as Coxa turned about in his chair. The changeling scribe had been trying unsuccessfully to get comfortable for the past twenty-two minutes.
A stray hole-covered hoof knocked one of the beer bottles off the table next to him.
"Whoops," the changeling muttered. "Good thing I got twelve more, heheh," he chuckled, leaning over the armrest to examine his forest of empty beer bottles.
Twilight fidgeted with her own half-empty bottle of soda.
"It just doesn't make sense," she sighed. "You're telling me there's an entire world beneath our hooves? And it's been there the entire time?! It's not possible!"
"'S not impossible, 's improbable," the changeling slurred.
Twilight's ears perked up, ".... That's just a technicality. No, it has to be impossible. There's been what? A million scrying spells, scans, and other spells cast in the past three centuries alone that would have picked up on this ‘Underhive's’ existence, or at least hinted at its existence? If it exists, how come nopony has ever found it?"
"Filled big ol' beasties. 'N small ones, too," Coxa chuckled.
"No, that would explain why the Underhive has been unexplored, not undiscovered."
"Suppose so," he shrugged.
"So how is it that nopony found these caverns?"
"They're down low," Coxa explained, pointing to the floor as if that would help. "Lower than most mines ever reach. And the ones that do reach that low… heh, there's no garaunteeeee," Coxa stretched out the word, "that…. What were we- Oh. It's easy to miss. Upper two layers are, uh, sporadic. Sparidic. Sp… yeah. Easy to miss. You'll never dig down far enough to hit the Sunken Rot, let alone the Sunless Sea."
"But the spells!" Twilight insisted.
Coxa scrunched up his face in thought, ".... Oh! The Labar… Panar's Labyrinth. That would'a messed up any spells. It's why you can't teleport to there. Or scry it. Makes it seem like the whoooooole Underhive doesn't exist."
"Panar? That's your deity, right?"
"Yuh."
Twilight steeples her hooves as she thought aloud, "What… is this Labyrinth?"
Coxa waved a hoof slowly across the sky, as if conjuring images of the place, "Beauutiful caverns! Crystal, gems, 'n…. some other third thing. 'S beautiful, the stories say. Beautiful. Noling alive has seen it. Last ling who did was… probably Princess Procho. She died, though. Died to death."
"How do these crystal caverns block magic?" Twilight asked. "The Crystal Caves are right beneath Canterlot, and they don't mess with magic… that much."
Coxa shrugged, "Magic. They're magic. Maybe the most magic that's ever magicked! If changelings come from the Underhive– which maybe we do– then maybe… we were born there? Or something? We eat magic, right?"
"Wow," Twilight gasped. "That would be phenomenal! A biome so filled with ambient magic that sapient life evolved to feed off of it! Where did you hear about all of…"
Twilight trailed off when she saw that Coxa wasn't paying attention.
"Rums gone," the insect philosopher cried out in despair, shaking an empty bottle. "I gotta get more. You want some?"
"Uh, no, I'm good. You should also probably stop drinking…"
Coxa frowned, ".... Probably. If I die of liver failure, Lace will be upset. Phasmuh too. 'N Thorax, but he'd cry over a butterfly dying, I think."
The changeling shifted in his seat, causing a bottle on the floor to get knocked over. Hearing the noise, Coxa leaned over to see.
"Hey hey, more rum!" He cheered, levitating up the unopened bottle. "You wan' some?" He asked, shaking the bottle in Twilight's direction.
"No, thank you," Twilight shook her head.
Coxa shook the bottle again.
"... One glass," Twilight relented.
Coxa grinned, "One glass comin' right up, Twiligh'. "
Twilight plucked a clean drinking glass from a table not too far away and filled it up with the slightly green brew. The two tapped their respective drinks together, Twilight's drinking glass and Coxa's… whole bottle of rum. Twilight then took a sip of the drink and cringed immediately, almost spitting it out.
"This stuff is revolting!"
"Heh, yeah…" Coxa giggled. "But welcome to the Hive!"
"What?"
"Drinking shroom juice! You're initiated! Welcome to the Four…. to the Fifth Hive! Yer practically a citizen now!"
Twilight examined the bottle in Coxa's grip and found it to be one of the changelings' own variety of alcohol.
"I haven't signed any paperwork, Coxa. I can't be a citizen of your kingdom."
"We ain't got no paperwork for that!"
Twilight blinked, "... I've never had dual citizenship before."
"Well, now you don't gotta pay Equesssstrian taxes," Coxa slurred. "Oh, but you might be called on to die for the Fifth. Sorry if that happens."
"I can't serve in the military," Twilight scowled. "That's not who I am. Sorry, Coxa, but uh… I'll pass on the whole citizenship thing."
Coxa fake-sobbed, "Alas, we had such meh-memories together! Oh, Twilight, what a future you could'a had… If I listen close enough, I swear I could hear her voice…."
"I'm not dead," Twilight said, keeping a straight face.
"I can hear her now!" He cried out. "She says… I'm a head!"
"Okay, you've had enough," Twilight pulled away Coxa's bottle.
He relinquished it without a fight, "Now she says… you've had a…. Hey Twilight, what rhymes with enough?"
Twilight sipped from her glass, grimacing at the taste.
"... I see why Dash prefers hard cider. Remind me to get you a glass of Zapp-Apple Cider, Applejack swears it's the best in the land."
"I knew you would be a good friend," Coxa grinned.
Elder Sanguine glanced over Katydid and out the window behind the desk. She could see that within the enchanted barrier in the gardens, the changelings and ponies were enjoying themselves.
“We should not be here,” she whispered to the changeling Captain.
“Nope,” he replied.
“So let us depart,” Sanguine gestured to the door behind her. “There are several barrels full of wine that need to be emptied and I intend to volunteer myself for the duty. That is, I plan to get ‘shit-faced drunk,’ as you put it.”
“I just need one more minute, keep watching the door,” Katydid replied, pulling open another drawer from his side of the desk.
Sanguine rolled her eyes and ignored his command.
“I can taste your annoyance,” Katydid announced, “and it is definitely not any closer to the door than five seconds ago.”
“You do not command me,” Sanguine told him.
Katydid spat into a hoof and rubbed the gel he spat along the side of the drawer.
“The point of a prank is to get away with it,” Katydid replied. “Hard to get away with it if we’re both caught inside Shining’s office.”
“This was your idea,” Sanguine said.
Katydid shrugged as he worked on the next drawer, “You’re welcome to pitch in your own ideas.”
“... I do not know the Captain as well as you do. I have no animosity nor ill will against him.”
“Yet…” Katydid whispered in a voice quiet enough that would escape the hearing of most ponies.
“Look, they are serving cake,” Sanguine pointed to the party outside the window. “Let us leave for now. There is wine and cake that I must have.”
“You ponies sure do love your drinks and food,” Katydid shook his head and tutted his tongue. “You should try love. It really knocks the… huh?”
Katydid lifted a piece of paper out from one of the Captain’s drawers. After staring at it, he flipped the small thing around to show Sanguine. The small square paper was a miniature painting of orange armor.
“What is it?” Sanguine asked.
“Orange Praetorian armor,” Katydid answered.
“Praetorians, the elite royal guard of the changelings,” Sanguine recited from memory.
“Except there are only two sets of orange armor in existence– and one of them is back in the Fourth Hive.”
“Is this important?” Sanguine asked.
Katydid shrugged, “It could be. King Phasma will want this armor if the ponies have it. In fact, he’ll be pissed if they are concealing it from him.”
“Is it worth that much?”
“It is to him. It belonged to a hero.”
Katydid shut the drawer, keeping the picture with him. Then, he pulled on one of the first drawers that he gelled up. It didn’t budge an inch.
“Alright, we’re done here,” he announced.
As Sanguine and Katydid conspicuously sauntered out of the Royal Guard Captain’s office, Sanguine realized that she had no idea why they had to do all of this in the first place.
“What did the Captain do to irk you enough to demand a response?” She asked the changeling as they tried to find their way back out towards the party.
Katydid looked over his shoulder, “Hmm? Oh, I can’t remember. I think it had something to do with filing out some paperwork for his Swarm? Or a disagreement over the usage of unicorns? Personally, I think he should just fire everyone else. Unicorns really carried the fight against… everything.”
Sanguine paused, “Are you implying every other tribe is inferior?”
“In the battlefield,” Katydid chuckled. “Magic is magic. What do pegasi even do? Flap aggressively?” Katydid paused at the doorway leading outside, “You coming? If they notice our absence…”
Sanguine worked her jaw, “... On second thought, I think it is best that we take a detour, Captain of the Swarm.”
Katydid raised an eyebrow.
The Elder pointed towards one end of the hall, “The sparring pit is that way. If you believe that only unicorns can fight, I would like to see you prove that.”
Katydid let the door close as he stepped back inside, “Elder Sanguine, I mean no disrespect, but aren’t you kinda… old?”
“Ha! And I will still kick your flank from here to Timbucktu!”
Katydid sighed, “If I get in trouble when you have a heart attack… Fine. I’ll prove to you just how much better magic is than those wings of yours.”
Luna adjusted my party hat, nudging it over into an appropriately jaunty angle. I gave her a smile and pulled her closer to me, hugging her tightly.
“Do you have any tales from when you lived within the Fourth Hive?” Celestia asked me.
“Nah,” I shook my head. “That was mostly just work.”
“How about when you were a guard in that town…. Hooferville?” Cadance offered.
I tapped my chin, “Hmmm…”
“There was the whole ‘Public Indecency' thing you came up with,” Bray offered. At my confusion, she continued, “When the Prohibition kicked in, the Hooferville guard found ourselves with a problem; like the rest of Equestria, we weren’t Canterlot. Daybreaker’s ban on alcohol was… not supported. Enforced, yes, but not supported. So, heh, we’ve got to arrest ponies that are clearly showing signs of intoxication– or had alcohol on them. But nopony wanted to give these family and friends criminal records over some stupid Canterlot law.”
“I don’t remember this,” I said. “The problem of enforcing the Prohibition, yes, but where does the Public Indecency bit come in?”
“You came up with it,” Bray giggled. “One afternoon, we found a mare that was as drunk as a skunk. Something about a lover breaking up with her. Rather than take her in for intoxication, which kinda ruined any chance of joining the guard, getting certain tax breaks, and so on, Phasma– or rather Lone Star here started rambling on about public indecency. Never mind the fact that clothes are rare enough, he was acting like being naked was against the law! Drunk in public? You’re naked, sleep it off in a cell. Selling alcohol? Stop being naked, it’s against the law. Distributing one of those publications that Daybreaker banned? Put some clothes on, and don’t let us catch you again!”
The ponies and changelings were chuckling at the ludicrous idea of public nudity being illegal.
“Not my fault no one’s heard of pants,” I grumbled.
Bray continued, “So many infractions disappeared into this abyss. Even the Captain of the Guard endorsed it! Said he’d rather we didn’t waste time enforcing some penny-pinchers’ laws. Oh mare, last summer so many ponies received warnings or were thrown in jail for a night for being naked!”
I shook my head, “Still don’t…. Oh. Oh. Is this when I arrested the mayor?”
“You what?!” Celestia gasped.
“Hahaha, yeah! Now you’re getting it!” Bray laughed.
“Now this I have to hear,” Cadance grinned, snuggling up with her fiance.
“But if I don’t share the story, then you’ll have to invite me to another party to tell it,” I grinned.
“Or we could just invite Bray Call here,” Luna pointed out.
I gasped, “No–!”
“Anytime, Your Highness,” Bray giggled.
I squeezed Luna, “What about me? What about my needs? What about PhasmaI?!”
“Suffer,” Luna chuckled as she laid her head on my shoulder.
“We seem to be out of beer,” Bray lamented, looking around for any more drinks.
“Perhaps we should take that as a sign,” Luna suggested. “None of us have my sister’s constitution when it comes to drinking.”
“Nonsense!” Celestia stood up. “I know just where to get some more!”
Celestia skipped off– skipped off in search of her number one vice. Quick Search turned to Lacewing, who had joined our conversation group a bit ago.
“Hey, Lacewing?” He asked. “I’ve always wondered… The lings I’ve talked to mention Phasma like he’s a… well, a saint. How do you and his other close friends see him?”
As Lacewing launched into a lengthy explanation that boiled down to ‘it depends on the changeling, he’s just Phas to us,’ Luna pointed to various constellations in the sky and listed off their stories and names. Turns out, there’s a whole wheelhouse of constellations that Luna loved placing around in the sky. Sometimes she would invent stories of interactions between various characters that had been placed next to each other. Other times, she’d create new shapes in the hope that someone would notice.
Our attention was brought back to the ground when the singing that I dreaded most in life started up behind me. The ponies quickly took up the song, with the changelings looking on with confusion. Luna stood up straight, joining the singing and putting me even more in the spotlight.
“Happy birthday to you!” Celestia sang, carrying a large cake with chocolate frosting with her magic.
“Happy birthday, dear Phasma!” The ponies cheered.
“This some kinda cult thing?” Lacewing whispered to Coxa as he and Twilight joined the group.
Celestia set the cake down on the table as they sang. The large cake had a number of candles burning and sparkling across it. In orange frosting– very topical– were the words ‘Happy Birthday Hatchday Phasma!’
“He did what?!”
Celestia’s singing and smile faltered as a certain someone with a very southern accent yelled from across the party. Then, the ponies’ singing entirely dropped off as Applejack, Fluttershy, and a very nervous Thorax stomped over to the table, yelling all the while.
“Just what do you think you’re doin’?!” Applejack yelled.
“... Who?” Celestia asked, looking around in clear confusion.
“No– not you, Princess. Him!” She jabbed a hoof at me.
“... Celebrating my birthday?” I offered. “... Hatchday? Whatever?”
“Huh, you must think you're so clever,” Applejack growled as she closed the distance between us. “Didn’t think anypony’d find out, did’jya?!”
I glared at her, “What are you talking about?”
She banged a hoof against the table, sending silverware and dishes clanging.
“Tarsus!” She yelled. “What’chya did to Tarsus!”
My expression hardened.
“What is she talking about, Phasma?” Celestia asked.
I didn’t answer. I was too busy staring down the angry farmmare. If she wanted an apology out of me, she wasn’t going to get one.
“Luna?” Celestia turned to her sister.
Luna sighed, “The turncoat. Phasma passed judgment against him shortly after the victory against the Fourth Hive.”
“Judgment?!” Applejack repeated. “Is that what you’re callin’ it, Princess? Judgment?! The King here butchered somepony and called it justice!”
“What?!”
“No way…”
“Again?”
Various cries of dismay and outrage came from the ponies gathered, whereas the changelings remained silent. From the Elements of Harmony to the former Hooferville Guard, every pony was upset. Upset with me.
‘Save for Luna.’
“I told you so,” she whispered.
‘Okay, maybe Luna too.’
“King Phasma,” Celestia said, her voice quickly becoming as cold as the fall weather outside of the magical bubble. “Explain.”
I broke off my staring contest with Applejack. Celestia was staring at me from across the table, the candles on the cake below her slowly burning away and dripping wax.
“What is there to explain?”
Celestia snorted in anger, “You know the terms of living within Equestria. Tarsus… this is the changeling who betrayed you? The one who was a friend?”
“Yes.”
“I was under the impression that he was under lock and key– just like the Captain of the Praetorians and the rest of Chrysalis’s important loyalists. What. Happened?”
“I stripped him of his rank, his honors, and his name. Then, I blinded him and banished him.”
“What was that last one?” Rainbow Dash asked quietly.
“I. Cut. Out. His. Eyes,” I said slowly. “One quick slash, reducing them to nothing. Then I banished him.” As Fluttershy began to vomit, I continued, “I wanted to execute him, but cooler heads prevailed.”
“Oh my Celestia–” Twilight whispered, rapidly looking between Celestia and I.
“You bucking remorseless–” Twilight’s brother snarled at me, only to be stopped by Cadance.
“Cooler heads?!” Cadance hissed. “How on Equus is that anything resembling a cool reaction?! You mutilated somepony!”
“You knew about this?” Celestia asked Luna.
Luna nodded, “He could not be dissuaded–”
“You could have stopped this?!” Celestia yelled.
Luna stayed her sister’s anger with a hoof, “No. I… suppose I could have, in hindsight. However, I figured that this could be reversible, all things considered. Changelings do have the ability to regenerate body parts when given their own medical treatment.”
Celestia shook her head, “Luna. You knew this was wrong. You should have stopped it. You should have come to me if you couldn’t.”
Luna scoffed, “When you were stunned and struck with War Fright?” She grunted, “With PTSD? I was on my own.”
“You could have come to me!” Cadance stepped forward.
Luna gave Cadance a withering glare, “I mean no disrespect, niece, but you have not seen the things we have seen. The things we have done.”
Cadance shook her head, “No, there’s nothing you could have–”
“Worse,” Luna cut her off. “No, this was a lesson Phasma needed to learn on his own. I could have stopped it, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I was not about to raise a hoof against him.”
“Maybe you should’a,” Shining Armor mumbled, leaning against Cadance. “Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of fixing ‘em? You’re supposed to stop him!”
“Shining!” Cadance hissed.
“No, the Captain’s right,” Celestia silenced the pink alicorn. “Luna. This is your failure, too. Which makes it mine as well…. Faust above, this is a mess. But you may be right; we might be able to reverse this.”
“No,” I growled.
“Ponies guilty of crimes are given a trial and serve prison time to reform them. They are not punished, let alone brutalized,” Celestia stomped a hoof. “You should know! You should realize that we have done so much for you– excused so much due to what you have been through! Letting Luna handle your reformation was a mistake. I’m sorry, sister, but you’ve been through too much too recently… We both have, now that I think about it.”
“I can handle–” Luna began.
“No, you cannot,” Celestia cut her off. “You are too close. Phasma has to be watched over by somepony who isn’t madly in love with him.”
“Nothing mad about it,” Luna said under her breath.
“I’ll do it,” Cadance volunteered.
“No, I’ll do it,” Shining volunteered, swaying away from his fiancé's side.
“Never going to happen,” I snarled.
“Maybe we could help him in Ponyville!” Twilight interjected.
All heads turned towards her.
“... Right, bad idea,” she admitted.
“We could give ‘em the ol’ one-two with the Elements!” Rainbow said, punching the air.
“And I could give you the ol’ one-two with a blade,” I spat. “No magical artifacts will be used. I dunno what your Harmony will do to me, but I’d rather not find out!”
Celestia sighed, “Then Cadance will take over your progress. I’m sorry, Luna, but it has to be this way.”
Luna crossed her hooves, looked away, and shrugged, “... Perhaps.”
“Then it’s decided,” Cadance said, looking at me.
‘Me? Answer to the Princess of Food? Hmph. If that half-wit soon-to-be husband of hers stays out of my affairs…. Maybe. Or maybe I need to get more pieces on my side of the board before these ponies’ ineptitude gets me killed again.’
“The first thing we need to do is fix this,” Celestia announced.
“It’s that bastard’s fault that so many died!” I yelled.
“No, it isn’t!” She yelled back. “Unless you’ve lied to us, then you murdered the changeling Eucharis at the same time that Tarsus betrayed you! Both of you started killing at the same time, unknown to each other!”
I felt my blood chill at the mention of my biological father.
“No!” I insisted. “I… Eucharis chose to side against me! He refused to listen! I spared Commander Scorpion afterwards!”
“You would have executed or banished him in the same manner you banished Tarsus,” Celestia declared. “It’s time to break this cycle of violence! Only by extending an– where are you going?!” Celestia called out after me.
Thorax, Lacewing, and Coxa stumbled after me, leaving behind the ponies. The few other changelings in attendance stared awkwardly at each other as we departed.
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"Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions."
About time Celestia finds out about Tarsus and rightfully tears Phasma (and hopefully the rest of the first Fang) a new one because the blinding was too far. It being during his birthday (hatchday?) is a bit harsh, though. Thanks for that, Thorax. This is going to cause quite a few trust issues within the immortal bunch.
Edit: Since apparently people disagree, let me elaborate. Tarsus was in a situation where he had no knowledge about what was going on at the hive. He was never properly told about Ascension, he wasn't told about the rebellion, and he was never told that they were going to kill Chrysalis. From his perspective, some (admittedly mature) kid he was friends with for a few months just asked him to help kill the president (who is also his boss) without any real explanation. And while yes, he chose wrong, that's on Phasma and the rest of the Fang for not actually telling him anything. People seem to forget that he was effectively a soldier for Chrysalis that didn't interact with any of the First Fang for months, probably just as long or longer than he knew Phasma. Why would he just go along?
And banishment? Sure, that's fair (if not risky). He messed up and that led to the deaths of a lot of people, and even if it isn't his fault, he played a part and he'd take the blame as a scapegoat. But cut out his eyes? No. He messed up, but that failure was something Phas and the rest of the Fang inadvertently set up for him. He at the very least deserves to be able to live a (relatively) normal life. On top of that, the whole trial for Tarsus was a farce. Of the three listed crimes (betrayal of the Lodges and the First Fang and causing Oest's death), only Oest's death actually makes any sense. The trial was a complete farce.
And while I do agree that Phasma should have control of the nation that is rightfully his, he should still get some form of reprimand for the frankly absurd punishment Tarsus got. Not from leader to leader like Celestia is trying to do, but from person to person, leave the politics out.
I do absolutely take issue with the confrontation itself (At his birthday? Really?), but the only real way to avoid it would've been to deal with everything sooner which Phasma deliberately avoided. How else was this supposed to go? A good chunk of the people there (Celestia and Phasma included) are too drunk to think straight, so an emotional reaction to shocking information is the only believable one.
If you disagree with any of this, feel free to explain why because I genuinely don't understand what part of this you could disagree with.
Deader n' dead I say!
I hoped that someone would tell Phasma just how horrible what he did was. Still want someone to tell him how stupid it was though. He blinded Tarsus, leaving him at the mercy of others, then sent him to the Griffons, a nation that he has no intelligence network in, and thus can't keep an eye on him, nor find out what intelligence they have on him and Equestria. He just gave a possible treasure trove of information to the Griffons. Not just information on what is going on in Equestria, but also personal information on him and the Hive. He may not have known Phasma for long, but he would still know at least a little stuff about him that others not in his inner circle wouldn't. And Tarsus has no reason to not give them everything he knows, and even if he didn't want to, remember, he is now blind and at their mercy, they can force it out of him. Worse yet, there is no conformation on whether or not the Griffons will pose a threat, so if they do decide they want to attack, they now have all kinds of information they had previously lacked.
No you didn't Phasma, it was the First Fang, by unanimous agreement, that decided both the verdict and the punishment. As such they were, in as truest a sense as it's possible in the circumstances, the expression of the unanimous will of the changeling Fifth Hive.
And for that reason alone, irrespective of whether Tarsus received a fair trial or deserved the punishment he got, the changelings should really put their foot down on this instance and refuse to bulge on the slightest. To do otherwise would be to concede that the Fifth Hive has no judicial power independent of that of Equestria; that Canterlot can effectively annul any judgements they disagree with; that the changelings are de facto nothing but vassals of the ponies.
While to protest, to resist equine encroachment upon those areas which they ought to have no say over, would be an opportunity to finally establish some clear boundaries between Equestria and the Fifth Hive. It would be taking a step towards establishing the Changelings as a sovereign and independent nation, free to decide their own private affairs without undue interference. Ideally, a close partner, friend, and ally of Equestria, yes, but a free, distinct, and separate entity nonetheless.
I dont like how they did not notice that phas if he had not been at least decently put together would have executed him on the spot insted of a trial or anything. Insted he blinded and banished him which as far a punishments go can be seen as a mirror to what happend to phas with his leg and all so now tarsus has to rely on the kindness of stangers like phas did if he wants to heal.
Also pretty sure celestia is not taking into account that phas is emotionaly, physicly and magicly a mess and luna is helping while shining who is hostile to him and cadence who doesnt like him either will likely not respond well to anything he does
Not as dead as you might think, although I'm not sure whether Coxa was informed of this.
11405776
Yeah, what might get through to him would be that it wasn't even a sound strategic decision. It was pure spite. Spite for Tarsus, and spite for Cadance (I've already addressed that it felt like malicious compliance with her demand that nobody be executed).
tarsus deserves worse he got off easy
11405810
I disagree. While it is true that Tarsus must rely on others to survive like Phasma did, there is one major difference. Phasma could still look out for himself to an extent and protect himself. Tarus on the other hand would be completely crippled by the loss of his eyes, to the point of almost complete helplessness, Phasma could still transform, Tarsus can't without being able to see, nor can he use regular magic or flight. He is 100% at the mercy of others, so no, his punishment is not at all comparable to what happened to Phasma. plus, Phasma still had friends to come back to once he reestablished contact, Tarsus now has no one because of his banishment.
Plasma should of done judgement outside of equestria.
11405834
Agreed. I understand that he is emotionally unstable, but this doesn't excuse what he did. This shows that he needs to be restricted from making any decisions that have a strong emotional connection to him, or at least be monitored when he makes the decisions. He should have been kept away from the trial. In fact, they should have tried to get an impartial jury for it, rather than those closest to Tarsus, the ones he betrayed. I get that finding such a jury wouldn't have been easy due to every Changelings holding Phasma at such a high regard and would all be biased, but they could have at least tried. Everyone there aside from Luna was too close to the case.
I present the Elements of Harmony; the anathema to subtlety.
it wasn't just Phasma's decision to blind and banish the traitor. The First Fang talked Phasma out of execution. The ponies should realize two things; 1. changelings are far more cutthroat than ponies are. 2. phasma is still in a weakened/fragile emotional state due to all of the trauma over the last year, not limited to: a legitimitized fear of lobotomization, the spur-of-the-moment decision to eliminate the obstruction Eucharis had become(plus not knowing Eucharis was his father until immediately after), and the loss of First Fang member, Oestridae(who was only trying to buy him time to defeat Chrysalis).
another comment brought up a valid point of keeping the changeling nation separate from the nation of Equestria, which if we all recall, was something Phasma was adamantly attempting to keep as the status quo; changeling independence is high on phasma's list of needs.
Phasma had every right to walk away from that out-of-control conversation, seeing as he's the leader of his own sovereign nation, and not a citizen of Equestria. I would have done the same as him.
I've seen what happens to societies that think like you do, my little ponies... it's not pretty. Without fear of final consequences, those who would be scared straight by lesser punishments rarely are, and those who wouldn't be just get worse and cause more suffering.
The vast majority of crimes shouldn't have such stakes of course, but treason against your country is one of them, barring a combination of exceptional circumstances and clear repentance. Only the first of those can be argued here. If anything, death was the ONLY moral sentencing for him, all else being criminal against the victims.
Every time you write a scene like you did here at the end of this chapter I lose a lot of respect for the ponies, due to their sanctimonious holier-than-thou bullshit and a fair bit of respect for phas and the changelings for tacitly going along with it by ceding the ground. To the ponies: not your laws, not your culture, not your fucking place to judge. At this point I'm running out of people to root for, maybe Pharynx who's fled the scene and hence can deny all responsibility for the Hive's actions, or Thorax who actually had a place criticizing Phas' actions and did as it happens. I'm literally one more of those scenes from just giving up and rooting for Sombra.
Celestia seems to believe that Phasma is beholden to her laws and version of morality. Their societies are different, and screaming about every difference isn't going to make their cooperation easier.
Really, Applejack? This couldn't have waited like 2/3 hours until after Phas' birthday party?
The punishment Tarsus received was quite lenient and to those who do not agree know this even in this modern age treason is punishable by death or life sentence. In older times traitors were executed by horrendous means flogging, hanging, the wheel, brazen bull, beheading, blood letting, burning, drowning, starvation, firing squad, cannon, drawn and quartered and the list goes on and on. The problem is most of you who don't agree with the punishment is that you are looking at it through the eyes(hehe) of modern morality. Blinding a traitor would not be out of place from the 1800s back and the changelings are certainly not nearly as developed as a society as modern man and even though the mc is a modern man he has gone pretty native, I mean he is even banging one, and picked up the local morality. No matter what he did Celestia is over stepping the boundary trying to enforce Equestrian law on an independent nation and that only ends in two ways, a war or the “aggressor" backing off.
11405993
treason was not what happened, Chrysalis Ruled so it would be treason if he turned in favor of Phasma, hence why he was found not guilty of such during his trial (if i'm recalling correctly)
You're calling it lenient because of modern morality? Pretty sure Guantanamo proves nothing really changed other than traitors and terrorists (alleged or otherwise) don't really get nicer treatment to this very day, we just don't talk about it.
He also set up the entire system of law, decided how punishments would be ruled, and worked to modernize the system they had before of just throwing dissidents into vats.
I'd call the blinding matter careless rather than lenient, he's a weak link in key information about changelings and how they operate (or operated) He should've been killed or punished with life in prison from a colder perspective.
Tarsus is lucky his king didn't take a page out of the impaler's book. Nor did he need a new rug like the Ottomans and flay him alive. Fuck in the UK in 1946 the hung a man for treason people need to understand our modern morality is quite recent.
11405846
eh, wouldn't have mattered, it's thorax that spilled the beans to applejack, not the fact that the trial happened in equestria
During the American revolution quite a few people were killed for treason by Americans for helping/fighting for Britain same during the French revolution again after the Soviet revolution. Who is the traitor and who isn't really falls to the winning side. Yes he fought for the ruling monarch but again who is traitor and who is not depends on who wins lucky for them their revolution did not end like many have on earth with mass executions
Compared to modern morality no, compared to an older/ancient morality yes. If this happened in a modern nation with a culture that has advanced as we have I would say it is cruel and unusual punishment and that such a thing should not have happened, but this is not it is more comparable with say any culture from at least 400 years and back. Guantanamo is highly contested as being morally wrong in the way people are treated there but if it existed say 800 years ago people would go there just to watch the tortures and bring there children to show them what happens when you don't behave.
11406028
Doesn't Phasma technically own the Crystal Caverns kinda like an independent city state.
11405997
Woops meant to send my last comment as a response
Drama. I think there's going to be a very brief cold war of sorts between the changelings and ponies where they essentially become briefly uncooperative with each other until the ponies give up their holier-than-thou position and things go back to normal.
Possible insane escalations could include the ponies trying to force punishments on Phasma, them trying to apprehend him like a common criminal, or them trying to delegitimize him. Phasma could resist arrest by force as is his right as a sovereign, he could order his changelings to pack their bags and prepare to leave Canterlot, etc. etc.
All of these would be incredibly stupid things to do, especially with Sombra looming on the horizon.
What the ponies can do to get back at Phasma for this violation of their moral code without antagonizing him further is to go hunt Tarsus down themselves and bring him back. This essentially commutes Tarsus's sentence in a way that Phasma and the changelings can't really do anything about it. They won't have the power or will to demand Tarsus's release into their custody or his rebanishment.
That is the only reasonable option I see for the ponies besides just dropping the issue.
11406050
in the chapter he was found not guilty of treason, Didn't mean to imply that it wouldn't count as treason.
And the morality argument really will just be a back and forth, Equestria just kinda represents more modern sensibilities and Phasma added the punishment of the eyes on over the head of the sham of a trial Tarsus got. Whether justified or not he listened to the moral center of the group to a point and it was more merciful than he wanted/could've been.
Now he'll probably come back working with Division P or the Gryphons and be the bad guy, or get a side story about living in the middle of nowhere telling his story to those who wish to hear
Let me get this straight:
Phasma who is not only the highest authority in the fifth hive, a war hero, a charismatic leader who led armies from the front, a king of the people, a leader of a revolution A DEMIGOD AND THE CHANGELING POPE attends his own birthday party in the capital city of his closest ally.
The party is attended by several national heroes and members of the changeling and equestrian governments including the highest rurels of Equestria.
During the party the rulers of Equestria discuss reversing a decision made by Phasma and the members of the first fang concerning the trial of a traitor who let's face it should have been executed on the spot. And they assign him a new reformer (handler) after the first one (Luna) respected his authority. They do so WITHOUT his input or acceptance.
One equestrian national hero also suggests using a superweapon on him.
The behaviour of equestrians is outright imperialistic, they ignore cultural and religious differences between their civilizations and attempt to assert their moral and judicial system onto the changelings.
How this situation is resolved will decide whether the fifth hive is an independent state or a vassal under Equestria.
I'm really getting tired of Applejack and the equestrians shit. The fact Rainbow suggested using what's practically a superweapon on Phasma is fucking ludicrous. PLUS it wasn't just Phasma who made the decision. They put it to a vote and it was an affair of the hive... not the fucking ponies.
And I swear to God, this situation better not be resolved by it somehow being Phasma that's 100% in the wrong and the ponies trampling all over changeling culture and sovereignty and hailed as the good guys for doing it.
Are the changelings a fucking nation or are they a vassal of Equestria? A puppet state? Or perhaps their damn bitch? Because they seem to have forgotten that Phasma isn't their vassal to do with as they please. Hell. If they do anything other than backing the hell off, even rescuing Tarsus and "reversing" Phasma's decision as they plan to... that's basically saying "Your decisions and authority means jack shit" and isn't a message you would ever want to send to another nation and expect them to be ok with it. Unless you want to be the damn world police.
If the Equestrians spoke the way they do to Phasma to any world leader in OUR world it wouldn't go well for them nor would it be considered remotely acceptable.
And guess what? Morality or not, a separate nation that has it's own system of rules and beliefs are still respected by other nations. Hell, look at the UN and the shit they put up with from some countries. Even if certain practices are against their "morality" here in the "modern world" we reside in. Even if those practices are barbaric as hell they still have to deal with it because politics are a damn thing. Which the Equestrians clearly lack any knowledge of. Or they simply don't care about respecting any nation, leader, or system of beliefs and justice that isn't Equestria.
I hope Phasma and the changelings put their foot down soon because it feels like the Equestrians have been trampling them for fucking long time at this point. Phasma made mistakes. I get it. But this just, grrrr.
Either way I hope it gets resolved... because I don't know how many more chapters I can take of Phasma and the changelings as a people being passively and more directly, shit on. Phasma must really be the saint the other changelings claim him to be, because if I were in his position I would want to beat the absolute shit out of Applejack, Rainbow, Celestia, and fucking Shining Armor for this entire shitstorm of a debacle. That, or LEAVE and cut contact with them. Because it honestly feels like an abusive and toxic relationship.
The kind of relationship where you have a loving fiancé. She's great. But her family sucks and verbally abuses you whenever you see them. The mother has a "holier than thou" attitude and constantly puts you down and makes you feel like shit. The rest of the family treats you like a damn doormat and constantly makes you feel small. But you can't cut contact with them, because your fiancé loves her family and couldn't bear it. Sub fiancé with Luna and it's pretty fucking close. Without Luna, what reason does Phasma have to be under Equestrian's thumb? Survival is all well and good, but that could be accomplished from the shadows and without Phasma being Equestria's bitch.
Might be fucking healthier mentally for Phasma. Because despite suggesting therapy, this entire situation is fucking unhealthy on ALL sides. Applejack's mentality is unhealthy. Rainbow, Shining Armor, Celestia, Cadance - None of them have any ground to stand on from a mental health point of view. But of course they think they are right... so they will never see their behavior as a problem. This entire thing is unhealthy for Phasma and I wouldn't be surprised if he fucking snaps at one point. Hell, this relationship dynamic is bad enough that it's making me uncomfortably remember my relationships and how terrible and unhealthy they were. Morality and "Phasma Bad! Phasma killed people!" only goes so fucking far. I wouldn't be surprised if the ponies end up making Phasma worse at the end of all of this.
Because guess what? There are mental health PROFESSIONALS for a reason. The way the ponies are going about this is 100% the wrong way to do so. With what Phasma has been through and the lack of time he's had to unwind, and come to terms with his past, it's a damn ticking time bomb in the making. If the ponies are seemingly incapable of being friends and offering support to Phasma, then they need to shut the fuck up, get Phasma to a therapist that isn't shit, and let them do their job. Applejack needs to shut up. Celestia needs to shut up. They all need to shut their traps and keep quiet. Because they aren't being empathetic of Phasma - whether they agree or not is irrelevant. They aren't trying to gently sway him to their way of thinking. They are yelling at him, openly judging him, and saying he's a fucking monster. Whether they are "morally" right or not does not matter when it comes to mental well being, abuse, and handling an emotionally unstable individual. You need to be mindful of everything you say... unless you want to potentially fuck things up potentially irreparably (suicide, as an example), or push the person your trying to help away from you.
At this point I think Phasma would legitimately be healthier mentally if the ponies weren't in his life. Well. Most of them. His guard friends seemed OK support system-wise.
Holy shit that was long. I just kept adding onto it. Sorry yall, this shit just reminds me way too much of toxic relationships IRL that I guess it kept me typing. Anyway, you can disagree with what Phasma has done, but the way he is being treated isn't OK. To anyone. Whether they are "right" or not. It's dehumanizing... and IRL it's not fun to be on the receiving end of this sort of shit. In fact, people who are in the "right" and choose to wield that fact as a weapon... can end up pretty abusive and toxic. Because it's all the "justification" they need to do what they do. It isn't right. At all.
11406060
Yes i agree morality is always finicky constantly changing with perspective and feelings. I bet he will return working for that gryphon immortal/hero that popped up.
Really ponies? Still withholding forgiveness? Really?!? Stupid heads need to grow up and move on. Phasma. Is. Not. A. Pony. Stop trying to pretend he is one! Gah! Extremely frustrating...
Twilight
Great chapter, Celestia is a hypocrite and Shining Armor sure is one to.
Than Katydid get her ass handed to it, than they get laid and Katydid learn a Thestral true Stamina advantage and the Elder be like:
"If i was 20 years younger i made you a puddle of pleasure ~♡"
This plot point keeps coming up and it feels ridiculous. Especially the part with no reproach.
You try this in the real world, and you get a major diplomatic incident. Dash threatening essentially a foreign diplomat/head of state at a diplomatic function with a weapon with unknown effects is a legitimate excuse for war. Hell even threatening to assault him is an act of war, let alone the holy friendship nuke. Also, "we're friendly and peaceful, you should have a birthday party to socialise and make friends, excuse me while we threaten to kill you and start wars".
All the main points people have made? That basically needs to be immediately pointed out. This is also a nation that exiles people for 1000 years, turns enemies to stone, or flat out kills them, etc. Hypocrisy thy name art Equestria.
The story needs to start addressing this stuff, because it's tiresome to read how the changelings become essentially a punching bag for sanctimonious ponies, with zero consequences for them.
It feels like characters are picking up the Idiot Ball on this one, especially since Phasma is intelligent enough to not accept this stuff, and has the motives to deal with the situation. It's gone from feeling part of the story to contrived conflict that isn't addressed in a realistic manner.
And even if other characters are all hot-headed fools for the sake of argument, Celestia at least should be experienced and intelligent enough not to tolerate this stuff. She's instead guilty of some of the worst behaviour. If Applejack acts like an ass, she should be immediately apologising on Equestria's behalf and deal with the situation.
I'll repeat my earlier statements, you have characters like Dash threatening an act of war, or characters like Applejack causing at a minimum major diplomatic incidents. And characters like Celestia who should know better tolerate this or even engage in other diplomatic fuck ups themselves, with zero consequences.
Characters do not feel like they are acting within a consistent set of characterisations and motives, or that they're experiencing realistic consequences (in a story series that despite magic pony land has generally featured an intelligent protagonist experiencing sometimes catastrophic consequences of their decisions and mistakes).
This is beyond characters being flawed and into characters being absolute idiots, and then experiencing zero consequences because pone good bug bad.
Oh boy a very spicy chapter if just from how people are reacting to it, I wish you luck author you got a minefield to deal with. I mean in the end it is your story and I'm certain you already got stuff planned out many chapters ahead to maybe even the end. But boy gonna be an interesting ride to see how the next chapter is reacted to at least. But I am with most...the ponies need to BACK the heck off, this is not an individual of their own nation they can get on. This is a fellow ruler of an entire race and an governing body that went with the decision as well, you can't just...bulldoze like that.
I understand the desire to get them to dial back on the cutthroat nature but you cannot and should not expect this to be a quick thing, lean on them a smidge and try to direct them away from it respectfully. And if they are trying...hey be happy with the attempt and enjoy each little victory, if from time to time an exceptional situation comes up and they DO go `Capital Punishment` just keep an eye on the situation and if they slip back THEN start getting rowdy. What Phas did was NOT as bad as they making it out to be....like seriously we humans have done far worse to national traitors even without them being the cause of a body count.
Definitely drunk, but also... presumably already home? Might be a good idea to get some rest, though.
Man. I know from experience that these melodramatic arcs are just as much of a slog to write as they are to read. Hoping there's a swift resolution to this part of the story, or at least that all the setup for it's been laid for the future.
I'm with Cadence on this one; this should be good.
And then... Those ponies will do something I hate most of all...
And that much I agree with Celestia on.
11406147
Just feel a point needs to made. Unless the ponies have had direct control on what the Elements or Crystal Heart can do then those "punishments" are a lot less then their faults.
11406147
Who exactly was out of character? The EoH have always been obnoxiously unsubtle and moralistic in this story, Shining Armour has disliked Phasma ever since they met, and has been quite outspoken about that fact, Cadence has always been a preachy alicorn princess hellbent on reforming Phasma, and Celestia was quite clearly incredibly drunk and taken by surprise.
(Luna... hm. I guess she could have defended Phasma more I suppose, but this was essentially a public confrontation between her sister and her boyfriend, both of which are rulers so staying out of it isn't exactly unwise on the face of it. And remaining in good standing with both sides is useful as well, it's important to keep channels of communication open after disputes like this one.)
If anything what would be out of character would be for the ponies, who we know to be incredibly moralistic and even in canon are mildly xenophobic, to make no fuss whatsoever about any of this. Was this the most appropriate or diplomatic way to breach the subject? No, but again we're talking about the EoH here, Applejack to be specific and when has she ever showed even a hint of tact in this story?
Like, in general, what's even the problem here? That there is a conflict between ponies and changelings? Because honestly that has been my favourite part of this story for awhile.
Twilight.
Also THANK YOU Applejack. This was his first birthday and you couldn’t at least wait for him to blow out the candles.
11406079
11406085
11406147
You know how I think this ends? The Equestrians actually put their money where their mouths are and pull out the Elements. Then the Rainbow of Fix Everything blasts the ponies, because Panar has proven their existence in a way that Faust hasn't and that makes the actual favored species abundantly clear.
I would just like to remind people that CELESTIA BUILD CONCENTRATION CAMPS FOR CHANGELINGS AND NOONE CARES!!! But phasma exiles a traitor that should have been executed and gets flak from ponies who do that all the time to everyone for 1000 years
Theyre demanding so many Equestrian things of him, and yet he can't even do anything changeling related.
Cruel or not it's their way of life.
11406387
It wasn't Celestia it was daybreaker-
Can I please, please, PLEASE STRANGLE FUCKING CELESTIA UNTIL HER OVERSIZED EYES POP OUT OUT HER GODDAMN SKULL!?!?! WHY MUST SHE BE SO INFURIATING!?!?
11405744
Killing someone dead is rather hard In DBZ Vegeta tried and failed it for years
11405801
Hear - hear! A well think trough and very well argued point!
11405810
They can't seem to go over their own bias and put Pony justice over anything else. They like to sit in a high ground while everything around them burns...
11405834
Since Phasmatodea and the Nightstalking threat, death is nothing permanent by default anymore...
11405835
Indeed, he is the worst kind of traitor. While he had a few good point he show not that he was wring even when his side of the conflict losts and all ended better for it.
11405858
For a Element of Harmony Applesmack is creating a lot of Discord...
11405911
Overall Phasmatodea is really patiently taking things even if the ponys have a very biast and partially very flawed logic. Yet in one thing are the right: The cycle of violence has to end... What a coincidence that a Army of Nightrealm parasitic beings come to make them all equally dead...
11405935
We all know that not executed he will be a pain in the butt...
11405940
Indeed, Ponys are great high ground guys,until they get smacked around for their bullshit.
Seriously i see that dead don't help anyone, but it's a Batman vs Joker situation. Put down the bloody unrelenting unredeeming assholes and give the one at least showing regret a way to better themself...
11405950
It's like Celestias logic that forced friendship or loyalty works out in the end...
Tarsus is innocent of all crimes and deserves pardon
Nice