VIII. Diet
VIII.
Diet
Penitentiary Institution Haaglanden, The Hague
ICC Detention Centre
18. November, 2015
12:53 pm MET
Another plastic dish flew against the wall, spraying the interior of the cell with greyish brown oatmeal.
"You idiotic imbeciles!" the Queen of all Changelings roared at the door. "How often do I have to repeat myself? I will not touch this dung of yours! You can go and swallow it yourself!"
The turnkey sat at the sentry table outside, massaging his scalp and staring on the screen of the splattered cell camera.
The changeling was throwing another tantrum, God knows how many in a row it had already been that day. First she tried to bite off the microphone of the intercom when the morning alarm woke her a few seconds too early, then she almost broke the leg of a physician who was employed by the court to make sure on a daily basis that she didn't make herself die in one way or another.
And now this.
The veterinarians had suggested that they fed her what one would generally feed any equine with. Oatmeal, hay, grain, herbs, raisins and beet pulp... the problem was that Chrysalis was not 'any' equine.
"You want to feed me, you swines?! Then send in the captain of the watch, I'll start with him!"
The turnkey peered over to the other side of the table. There sat a visibly distressed Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard, and his Surinamese brother-in-arms, both studying a couple of pieces of paper in a binder and desperately trying to ignore the ruckus going on on the other side of the door.
Sarcastically, the turnkey pouted his lips and asked his superior,
“So, chef… what did the psychological results turn up with again?”
Almost simultaneously, Captain Shining and Mjoberg shook their heads in disbelief.
“This is ridiculous.” The white unicorn commented. “Who wrote this?”
“That was Dr Van Biene. The ICC's psychologist who came in yesterday morning.” The warden explained. He quoted an extract of the report. “‘After a thorough analysis of the detainee’s personality by examining her speech patterns and physical actions, it is the professional opinion of Antje van Biene, Psy.D. … that H.R.H. Chrysalis is in a stable, safe and pragmatic psychological condition, void of any indications that she may be suffering of mental illness or disorders, or that she be generally a danger to her environment...’”
This statement was quickly followed up by the cell door receiving a savage kick from the inside.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Shining Armour exclaimed. “Who is this ‘Dr Van Biene’ that she claims that Queen Chrsalis isn't a danger?! Didn't she see how Chrysalis was behaving?”
"You're right." the warden agreed. "You'd have to be deaf and blind to come to such a conclusion. She makes Captain Queeg's doctors look downright professional..."
"Um, who?" the unicorn inquired.
"Just joking. Never mind." Mjoberg quipped.
The equine pressed his eyes shut and felt his horn. He had spent the entire night in the guard room at the other end of the corridor, so that he could stay close, in case Chrysalis tried to escape again.
"Speaking of deafness, I could not get a single moment of shuteye last night. With her constantly banging the wall next door."
"I feel your pain." Mjoberg uttered. "I have a wife and two kids. Why do you think I always stay after work for so long?"
Then he laughed.
"Lucky you." Shining commented, oblivious to the man's sarcastic humour."I have a wife waiting at home as well."
He threw a glance at the cell door. "Don't get me wrong - Princess Celestia's wishes are my command... but what wouldn't I give to be with my own Princess right now?"
"Your Princess?"
"My wife."
"Oh yes. I remember, I read about it somewhere." Mjoberg said in surprise. "Wasn't she the one who... well..."
He pointed at the cell door.
Shining lowered his head and nodded.
"Sorry to hear that, Captain."
"No need. But I think that now you see why I don't believe that she isn't a danger! If anypony should know, then it's Cadence and me."
Further down the corridor, the sectional security door buzzed open, and in came the attorney Estermann in a wet trenchcoat and his suitcase, lead down the hallway by two wardens.
"Ugh..." Shining sighed. "Is Discord on the loose? First the doctor goes crazy, and now this lawyer comes back..."
"Don't worry." the warden whispered. "The faster we get him to leave again, the better."
"The more creatures we can steer clear of Chrysalis period, the better!" Shining whispered back.
Awkwardly, the attorney halted in front of the warden's table and laid his dripping suitcase on it.
"Captain, Captain... good morning."
"Good afternoon, Mr Estermann." Mjoberg greeted him. "I suppose you're still waiting for my report on the airfield incident..."
The defence counsel just waved it off with a hand, almost seeming ashamed of the request.
"No. Forget that. Not important. I've come for a different reason."
"I know you want to speak with her again,..." the warden guessed.
"But we cannot let you in there today." Shining immediately interjected. "Any other day, but not today."
"This again, Captain Shining?" Estermann said with a frown. "I need to talk to her now. There's no way around it, it's too important."
The turnkey twisted around the monitor, showing the lawyer the splodged lens and the maddened regent stumbling around her cell behind the stains.
"I'd like to see you try. It's a battlefield in there."
Shining saw Estermann frowning mentally at that sight, but he swallowed his horror within a second.
"Even so, I have to show her something. Not tomorrow and not in a week, but right now!"
"Oh, but you'll spoil your suit." the turnkey argued musingly, grinning dumbly from ear to ear. "Everything is full of beet mush in there. You know how difficult it is to get beet juice out of cotton?"
"Großer Gott, just open that fucking door!" Estermann groaned. "Do you really think it's such a pleasure for me to have to talk to her in the first place?"
"Well, at least we know it's been a pleasure for her." the turnkey snarked with leering eyebrows.
"Shut it, Dries." his boss shushed him before addressing the lawyer once more. "Mr Estermann, I could go on and tell you about how she scared away our vet by almost mutilating him only this morning... but I want to warn you, that unless you have a detailed plan on how to calm her down again, I suggest that you stay as far away from that door as possible."
"I don't think I can serve with that." Estermann said hesitantly, glancing at the cell door. "How about one of you goes in with me, just to make sure I don't get mutilated?"
At first, the three guards looked at each other nonplussed. Then the stares of two of them gradually settled on Shining Armour.
The equine Captain stared back forlornly. Of course he did not want to go in there. But what he wanted even less was someone else to go in there alone.
"Is... is there really no way you will heed my warnings?" he asked nervously.
"No." Estermann answered swiftly.
"Then I'll go in with you."
"You know the drill, your Highness. Door is opening!"
Again the electronic lock buzzed, again the door slowly tilted outwards. And again, Estermann stepped into the Queen's chamber.
It was indeed a mess. Before him, on the ground, there lay an entire three-course lunch. Everything smelled overwhelmingly of cooked vegetables.
Kicking a leaking juice carton away with his carefully tended leather shoes, he took another step into the room.
Shining entered right after him,his golden armour clanking as he tried to make his way in front of the expectant jurist, as if too keep him from straying too close to the detainee.
Between the door and the mattress, there was still the solitary boot stuck to the ground, now unceremoniusly splattered with lite-milk.
The Changeling Queen was in the same where he had found her the day before, staring into the corner.
"Door closed! You can turn around now."
But this time, she renounced all subtlety, and as soon the door fell back into the lock, she spun around swiftly, her chained limbs rustling angrily, to face the two visitors with burning eyes.
"And what are you supposed to be?! The main course and the dessert?" she sneered derisively, her throat buzzing louder than ever.
Shining stepped forward bravely.
"Get into back in your corner, Chrysalis. I'm not going to repeat myself!"
"Make me, you little foal!"
Estermann, ignoring the equine Captain's efforts, headed straight for the working chair, sitting down and exasperately began to rummage around in his suitcase.
"Don't push it, Chrysalis!" Shining growled. "One step in the wrong direction, and you will regret it."
"Do you know just how little I care about your threats when they're coming out of your mouth?" Chrysalis spat.
"Maybe you will when I make your cold heart feel some true magical force!"
Wordlessly, the jurist took out the evidence binder, and laid it on his lap.
"That's enough." he said grimly, turning to the Queen and the Captain.
"You will listen to Mr Estermann now." Shining ordered. "And if I hear as much as a word out of you-"
"Captain?" Estermann barked. "Shut up. Or leave."
As the white stallion fell quiet in embarassment, Estermann took the journal with the incriminating photography, and dropped unceremoniusly it on the ground before Chrysalis' chadded legs.
The Queen dropped her head and inspected the journal, even going as far as to turn over a couple of pages with her chained hooves. As if she was merely glancing over the pictures of gore, she looked back up quizzically.
"So? What is that, worm?"
Estermann could swear, she was actively trying to sound as desinterested and casual as possible.
"What this is, you ask? Why don't you tell me?"
She took another look at the graphic imagery,
"I know what that is."
"So?" the jurist inquired impatiently.
The Changeling squinted her eyes.
"I don't think I like your tone, worm." she slurred menacingly.
Shining stomped his hoof angrily.
"Answer the question, Chrysalis!"
"Shut up, Captain!"
That came from Estermann again, who then turned back to the Queen. "Take your time. I know it's often not easy to recall such atrocities." he added sarcastically.
"I said I know what this is!" Chrysalis said. "This... ehm... is a smaller-sized hive. Shortly abandoned. In the Frozen North-East, if I remember correctly."
"It says it's in the 'Everfree Forest', actually." Estermann corrected her. "How many of those are there?"
"Hives?" she clarified before gloating, "The Changeling empire is one of the greatest that Equestria has ever set eyes on. However should I ever be able to recollect every single one of my hives?"
Her lawyer looked at her accusingly.
"So, has every one of your hives been doing... this?"
"Just as I said, this is just one of the smaller ones."
Estermann breathed out heavily. He slowly let his hand slide over his chin and mouth.
"The Equestrian army pulled 350 ponies out of this hive yesterday. Most of them are barely clinging onto life."
Shining threw a surprised glance at him, brightening up tremensdously at the good news.
Chrysalis, however, pouted in slight disappointment, like a housewife whose kid had just made a mess of her cake recipe.
"Well, lucky them." she commented in smug annoyance.
"How many more of those hives are there? A hundred? Two hundred?"
He face contorted in disgust, "And how many more victims? A few thousand, maybe?"
"It's called cocooning, you foal." she slurred.
"How many?!"
"I am not a pea counter!"
She shoved the binder away. It slid all the way back between Estermann's shoes. "As if I didn't have anything more important to be concerned about!"
Estermann had enough. With erratic, aggressive hand movements, he scrambled for the binder on the floor and picked it up.
"Then be concerned! Care! For fuck's sake! These peas, as you call them, will be bringing you on the gallows! This is exactly the kind of atrocity that this court is meant to punish! So care! If anyone should care, it’s you! Not me, not Captain Shining here, but you! It is you who has just mortaged her own freedom!”
The Queen recoiled ever so slightly at the human’s outburst. Still, with almost fanatical determination, she tried to keep up her air of indifference.
“Whatever business you’re trying to purport, you worm, I will only discuss it when I had my lunch!”
Shining Armour pointed at the puddle of porridge on the ground between them..
“There is your lunch!”
“Wrong; these are donkey droppings! What I want right now is a fresh, young, tender pony to sate my needs. But at the moment, you look like you’d make a tasty meal yourself!”
The Unicorn Captain’s horn flared up in a bubbling rose light and made a threatening advance towards Chrysalis.
“Do not push your luck with me, you monster!”
Estermann stood up from his chair.
“Really?” he asked her, spreading his arms out before dropping them back against his sides. “Really?! The one thing you, Your Highness, wants to do now is to waste yet another living being? Even after all this?”
He pointed at the binder.
“I am hungry!” the Changeling yelled, her spittle savagely spraying around as she did.
A few drops managed to find their way on the lawyer’s cheek. Closing his eyes momentarily, he motioned to wipe his face, only to decide against it at the last second.
His eyes gleaming with silent fury.
“You will not get a single grain of corn to eat, before you have not dealt with your charges.”
“Who are are that you could decide such a thing, you cowering maggot?”
Estermann turned around walked back to his suitcase and fetched his laptop while Shining Armour held his position, his glare and revealed teeth projecting vicious abhorrence.
The lawyer called up the criminal charges, written in typically neutral wording on white paper that gave almost no indication to laymen just how crucial these words actually were.
“'Charges of genocide; killing members of the group... causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group... deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part...'”
“Answer me, when I’m talking to you!” Chrysalis demanded, irritated by his unwavering diction.
"'Charges of crimes against sapiency; murder... extermination... enslavement... deportation or forcible transfer of population... imprisonment... apartheid... other insapient acts of a similar character-'"
“What’s the matter, worm?" she asked deviously. "You were singing quite a different tune yesterday...”
He tried hard not to let her coax a reaction from him.
“'Intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health...'”
She took a step forward.
"...When you came in here, all alone and by yourself....”
“'Charges of war crimes; Willful killing... torture or inhuman treatment... extensive appropriation of property... compelling a prisoner of war other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power...'”
“...and kneeled before me, and pledged to serve me with your life…"
Her mouth came as close to him as her neck could allow it.
“'Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial... unlawful deportation... taking of hostages.'”
She drew in a deep, sating breath through her nose.
“I could feel then as I feel now that you are gravely overestimating your spunk right now-”
Irritated, Estermann looked up, eyeing her with contempt.
“Are you even listening to a thing I’m saying?”
“That’s what I am asking you! I am talking now.”
“No, you’re not. This is important.” The jurist replied as his eyes settled back on the document file.
“Oh really?” the Changeling asked mockingly, stepping towards her legal consultant, her four chackles ringing out menacingly. “Because all I keep hearing is free range, domestication, battery rearing, fattening, selection... and over-fishing!”
“Is it now?” Estermann asked, not looking up. "That's not what the rest of the world hears."
The Changeling looked mildly surprised.
“Really? And here was I, thinking it would be one of the very few concepts that you humans would be equally able to comprehend.”
Shining cocked his eyebrows in uncertainty for an instant. He glanced over to Estermann.
But the lawyer tried not to let himself get distracted.
“Tell me how you plead to these charges.”
He asked this, even though he knew the answer was already plain.
“Plead?” the Queen asked. Her scornful smile flattened visibly. “Plead what? Of defending my destiny to rule over these lands? Of feeding my children through many a Frozen North winters? Of having my Changelings take what was theirs to take?”
She looked at them resolutely. “If that is so, then I plead guilty, guilty, guilty!”
Slowly, Estermann closed his laptop.
“So this is it? No... bending of the facts, no persistence of innocence? No begging, no bargaining? Just straight up confessing to everything?”
The Queen stood tall.
“I told you this once already, human. We Changelings do not deny our victories. We stand to our deeds. In this respect we are honest.”
“Honest?” Captain Shining growled. “You liar!”
“So this is what you call victories?” Estermann asked doubtfully, tapping his laptop. “This?!”
“Every well-fed Changeling is a victory of its own. Every day the Changeling Kingdom grows…”
“In that case, you’re having quite an unlucky streak as of late.” Estermann said.
“No expansion. No feedings.” Shining added, a certain string of sadism chiming in his voice. “No changelings to be found. Anywhere. Well, where are they, your offspring?”
“As if the likes of you knew where to look for my Children!” Chrysalis objected. "They are masters of cunning and hiding."
"No way how you might twist it..." Estermann clarified. "What you have done will forever be seen as an atrocity by the rest of the world."
Chrysalis sat on her haunches and sighed herself.
“If there is no helping it… why are you here?”
She pointed a hoof at him accusingly. “You swore that you would fight for me. That those who did me wrong would pay dearly. You promised me the stars down from heaven not a day ago!”
“WhatI said was that I’d try. I said that, theoretically, we can successfully wrestle for an acquittal. I said 'theoretically', because you are not exactly making it easier for me either."
She glared at him knowingly.
“If you piece of scum is expecting me to betray my own children just to save myself from your so-called justice, then you are very much mistaken.”
“What I need you to do, Your Highness…”
As Estermann began to formulate the sentence, his eyes absent-mindedly settled on Shining Armour, still standing between him and his client.
This passionately spiteful unicorn may not want to hear what he was about was to say now. “Captain Shining…” he began. “I think you can go now. This is the part where professional discretion kicks in.”
The stallion was disgruntled.
“I told you I'll not leave you with her alone. You know what she’s capable of doing.”
“I can hear you, you know.” Chrysalis interjected.
“If she wanted to kill me, I think she would have tried by now. Let me be with my client for a moment. In the last couple of minutes, I was honestly more worried about you killing her."
Shining looked unsure.
“I can control my power. She can’t.”
“If she tries to attack me, I’ll be sure to make myself audible.” He argued.
Shining Armour gave in, though very hesitantly. With slow, sideways steps, he departed towards the cell door.
“I’ll be watching you, Chrysalis! If you lay as much as a breath on him, may Celestia have mercy on your soul!”
“I wouldn’t rely on that.” she quipped resolutely.
Shining knocked on the door, it buzzed open slowly, and he slipped through the crack.
“I’m sure to make him squeal! It will be overly audible!” she shouted scornfully just before the door feel back into the lock.
Once again, Estermann found himself alone with the beast.
“Now, worm…” she said, making him once again the focus of her eyes. “You need me to do… what?”
Estermann sat upright uncomfortably. Almost unconsciously, his expression became milder.
“Distance yourself from this. It’s the only way. It may not help, but it is a crucial first step.”
“I don’t think I have made myself clear.” The Changeling said through gritted fangs. “I will not take a step back from anything.”
“Even from these atrocities?”
“You call them atrocities!” she suddenly yelled, her temper severy shortened. “You keep using that word! You have no idea what true atrocities are!”
Estermann was quite lost for words.
“What else am I supposed to call it, then? 'Over-fishing'? What you did fits the bill of what an atrocity. It’s a breach of the most basic of human rights-”
He cursed for mixing up the word again.
“Human rights?” the Changeling spat. “A bill of human design, perhaps? Or maybe of Equine as well?”
He shook his head.
“No. Not entirely Equestrian.”
“So I thought.” She said self-righteously. “Atrocities, pah! You wouldn’t know what an atrocity in Equestria was if it step-danced on your snout! As if we Changelings were the only ones who did this…”
Estermann loooked up. There was a spark of hope in his eyes.
“You Changelings… were not the only ones? Who else did it?”
“Everypony! Or should I say, everybody? As a matter of fact, I’d be hard-pressed to think of any great Equestrian power that didn’t have its share of… controversy.”
She looked Estermann in the eyes. “I ask you. What right do you puny humans have to judge right from wrong for me?”
“Well..." he harrumphed, "because those are the morals our society is founded on." he answered doubtfully. "And, as the old saying goes; 'We do what we must, because we can'.”
"So do I. But... I'm certain you humans are so much more peaceful and diplomatic than a mere changeling, right? You never oppressed the powerless or dropped decency and friendship for power and wealth? Did you? You must have a tremendous moral superiority to hold judgement over the rest of us."
Estermann looked crestfallen for an instant.
"What if I'd say 'yes'?"
"I would call you a despicable liar of a worm. I can see eons of injustice and oppression of your savage species reflecting in your dull little eyes. I can feel years of violence and hate vibrating through every gland of my body. Taste every second's worth of every drop of sweat and blood and tears on my gums. Including what horrible crimes have been committed in this very buidling! Your dapper clothes and your supposedly eloquent tongue have not fooled me for an instant. You and your likes are a simple-minded, impulsive people, who like to indulge in their most basic of instinctual urges."
Stressed, the solicitor wiped his nose.
"Maybe you are right."
"Of course I am."
"But you seem to forget that it is still you who is standing trial here. Not us. This is the reality of things. To you, it may not seem fair, but neither you nor I can change anything about the situation right now. There are three ways, and three ways only, how you will be leaving this prison. Either as a free creature, acquitted of all the charges; or in chains, to a prison in any third-party country that is willing to take you, and sit out the sentencing of this court over there; or... back to Equestria, in chains, because the court had enough of you."
"Then the third option shall be the one I will gladly take." she declared.
Estermann expectantly cocked an eyebrow. He whispered,
"Then you know what the Equestrians will do to you? From everything I heard, they will not be as loving and tender as the Dutch."
"This is a joke, isn't it?" the Queen mouthed spitefully.
"I was being sarcastic."
"Equestria fears me. They wouldn't dare to do anything to me! Me, the Queen of the Changeling Empire! I am the creature that sits under their beds when they go to sleep. I bet they will push me off the the remotest, least populated part of the Princedom. They'll try to forget about me. Like a bad fever dream."
But her attorney only pointed at the cell door, indicating the white unicorn who, without doubt, was listening on their talk over the intercom.
"In any case, he won't. He may not be the brightest bulb in the house, but I wouldn't let you board an aircraft together with him another time."
She replied with a snort.
"Shining Armour... what do you think that weakling is going to do?"
"Push you off the plane."
Estermann thought he had heard the Queen chuckle for a moment. "Your Highness. Everything indicates that the Equines are only interested in making short work of you. Even if you manage to make the trip unharmed, you will probably end up in a noose somewhere..."
He recalled the aqua unicorn's warning. "Or on Mars."
"Really?" she snorted back. "Typical human. You believe everything others tell you? The Equestrians may be no bark, but they're no bite either, and only half a wit. They wouldn't have the guts."
"What if you are wrong?"
This earned him an animous glare from the regent. "What if they do have the guts and they will kill you? Look, I am trying to save your skin here, in the best sense of the word. You said you wanted to go down fighting. If you get sent back to Equestria, you won't have the chance to fight back before you die."
Bemused, the Changeling's glance softened. After an unsure pause, she asked,
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you trying to save my skin?"
That was a good question, Estermann thought,
"Would you... prefer that I didn't?"
"Would you?"
The lawyer glanced around awkwardly.
"What is that question supposed to mean? I am here because of you. And I care about what happens to you. I'm trying to lend you a hand here. I am striving to get the best possible outcome for you. To answer your question "Why?"; it's because this is, first and foremost, my job. Even though, honestly, I don't think anyone else in my position would be as willing to do all of this."
"Wouldn't they? Well, thank the heavens for you." she smiled caustically.
Estermann knew, he had to switch the frequency to gain her approval of him.
As the smell of cooked veggies once again flared up in his nostrils and his left sole accidentally sank into a puddle of beet mush, he quickly concocted a proposition.
"You do want to get out of this cell, don't you?"
The Changeling's ears perked up at the sudden change of subject.
"At least temporarily, I mean. I could arrange that, for you. I know the warden, and I'm certain I can make a bargain with him. How do two or three walks every week sound to you? This prison has a gym and a kitchen. You could do sports. You can cook your own food. Wouldn't that be better than wasting away in this cage?"
She pondered for a moment.
"They would let me out?"
She seemed very unbelieving.
"Yes." he shrugged.
"They would allow me to move?"
She held that thought. Trying, she filed a demand. "I want to fly. Outside."
Fly? Oh, sure. They would totally let her do that!
"Okay, I don't think they will let you do that."
"Oh, but they are absolutely fine with having me cook my own meals?!" the Queen spat.
"Wouldn't you prefer that?" Estermann asked, glancing at the culinary mess on the floor. "Though, of course, we are talking about normal, 'legal' food. Not... devouring... souls... or anything like that."
"Love. Consuming love. You worm."
"My point is the same. This trial is not going to be a fun affair for anybody. But we can still can make things easier for you, if you promise that you won't make them harder for us."
Skeptically, the Changeling placed her stare determinedly on the floor.
Carefully, she felt her upset stomach with a hoof.
After a little, she felled the decision to give in.
"What do you want? Out with it."
"Be peaceful. Do not attack the wardens. Stop throwing tantrums about every little thing."
"Tantrums?!"
He waved his hand pacifyingly.
"And please, listen to what I have to say, at least once in a while. I know you won't hear of it, but you cannot struggle through this on your own. It will end badly. There is no one, not a single person, out there who'll be willing to vouch for you. Not if you continue this rampage. And... take distance from these charges. It's the sane thing to do."
"Sane..." she repeated derisively. But her countenance deflated the longer she thought about that.
"Maybe then, I can serve you. Your Highness."
The Queen eyed him yet another time.
Estermann himself suddenly noticed that he had unconsciously moved closer to the Changeling with his chair. Quickly, he backed away again. His ears perked up, and his hand sunk into his right pocket. He took out a small, black USB stick.
"The court files are on this thing. Let me load them on your desktop PC, so you can read through them. It is written in the Latin alphabet, in English and in French. If you cannot read it, I advise you to ask someone to read it out loud. It is vital that we are on the same level in this case."
As he plugged the stick into the computer in the corner behind him, the Changeling Queen asked, in a voice filled with anticipation, yet bereft of defiance,
"And you? Will you not dissappoint, worm? Do you swear it this time?"
"I promise. I can make something happen. If you can make something happen as well."
"Bullshit." the brawny Head Detention Officer barked. "What the hell is this, Mr Estermann?"
The defence council wiped his widow's peak with his hand as it leaned on the table of the guardroom mini-kitchen.
"It's just a way to get her to behave." he explained. "She needs some time out of the cell. No wonder she is going mad all the time. I think I would as well."
"But she is not going to leave that cell, Mr Estermann. There is no way I will allow that. She almost killed four people, scared the living shit out of another three. You have seen how she acted earlier today. She is a murderer. A homocidal psychopath."
"She is a bull trapped inside a china shop. And she must be let out."
Estermann snorted and moved his figers down to his nose bridge. "Homocidal maniac... Oh come on. Is that what it says on her psychological examination?"
Mjoberg didn't falter for a second.
"No... But I assure you, I'm going to have a word with the psychiatrist responsible for that report."
"You are completely crazy, human!" Captain Shining Armour suddenly burst, unable to contain his frustration on Estermann any longer. "What's next, you want us to get her a ticket to the fair?!"
Sarcastically, Warden Mjoberg agreed.
"Why not? I have two season tickets to Madurodam in my wallet. It would make about as much sense."
Estermann was was almost wheezing with frustration.
"She wants to cook her own fucking food. I think I have figured out her grief. She is a Queen, she doesn't like being patronised like this. Even more so than having to do things herself."
"Listen to yourself!" Captain Shining spat. "What kind of a spell did she cast on you that you are demand those things?
"I am her lawyer!" Estermann spat, short of temper. "It's my job! How about you do your damn jobs for once so I can do mine?"
"Your job? My job?" the warden inquired. "You're her defence counsel. I am the warden of the facility that is tasked to keep her! And neither of us, Mr Estermann, is her valet."
"Yeah." the unicorn Captain agreed. "You're almost beginning to sound like a servant of hers. You seem to become nothing more than another tool for her ultimate escape. 'And maybe then, I'll serve you.' indeed!"
Estermann let his gaze fall several degrees downwards to meet that of the equine Captain.
"Well, you seem to become nothing more than an muttering idiot, but at least I don't make a fuss out of it!"
He caught the unicorn's eye twitching.
"What... did you just say?"
The bulky warden intervened.
"That's enough! Both of you. We're supposed to be professionals here. So let's behave like them."
He turned to his fellow human. "Godverdorie, man. You have to understand that I am needlessly bringing every other person in this building in danger when I release someone like her from safekeeping. She is like a rabid mustang. And she isn't about to start listening."
"That is because she doesn't listen to defence counsels and wardens, 'man'." Estermann tried to reason. "She only listens to valets and pages. She expects certain favours from us. That's the reality of things. So we might just as well have to play the part. To take the first step. To show her we understand."
"We don't have to do a single thing!"
Shining Armour would have none of that. "I know I don't 'understand'. I didn't come all the way here to play her servant! I know too well what it feels like. I am here to bring her to justice, for all the world to see."
"I thought you are here to shed light on the truth or something like that!"
"That is the truth! This was her true self this morning! A wild, hungry, animal. A changeling! A dirty, no-good changeling! If you are looking for something good in her heart, well, you're looking in vain! There is nothing but the dark slime of evil and hate!"
"Well, I am not looking for 'the good part of her heart'." Estermann answered in an almost mocking tone. "I am here to appeal to the pragmatic part of her brain. As soon as she realises that there is no other way but forward, she will have to calm down. If she really were such a rabid monster, as you think she is, I wouldn't be sitting here in one piece."
The equine Captain replied with a shake of his head.
"I pity you. Not even an Equestrian pony is so happy-go-lucky as you. Wake up. You are dealing with a force of nature here. Not something that can be talked to. It's like trying to have a civil discussion with a raging stream - it will just get you wet. If I were in charge, I would have her brought back to Equestria immediately, where the ponies are actually aware what they're dealing with."
Estermann looked up.
"Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you? But I couldn't really care less about your personal opinion, Captain -After all, you weren't in there with her! In any case, I'm going to prove my point."
He turned to the warden . "I would like to start with baby steps. What about her diet? Is it possible to change the menu a little bit in her favour?"
Mjoberg was still suspicious.
"What exactly are you thinking of?"
Smugly, Estermann turned back to Captain Shining.
"Captain. Can animals love?"
The unicorn was not entirely sure what he was getting at.
"What?"
"Animals. Can they feel love?"
The warden wrinkled his forehead at the question, but much to his surprise, the Equestrian Captain gave quite a serious answer.
"What kind of a question is that? Yes, obviously. Every living thing on this planet can love."
"Chickens too?"
"Of course!"
"What about dead chickens?" the attorney quickly followed up.
"What are you..."
Shining Armour squinted. "Well... It depends. The love a chicken feels or has received in its life fades away at some point, but not very quickly. Now what are you getting at?"
Nonchalantly, the lawyer went back to minding the confused Warden Mjoberg.
"Can you serve her a chicken then?"
"What, a dead one?"
"Well, yeah. A free range one. Preferably still in one piece, head and all..."
Captain Shining winced at the thought.
"For Celestia's sake, Estermann! Leave the chickens alone!"
"The Queen's an equine." the warden tried to correct the lawyer in deadpan annoyance. "She is a herbivore."
"No she isn't. She may be a lot of things, but she isn't explicitly a herbivore."
"Well, I have an explicit list of meals that the vets allow her to eat." he cited the will of his superiors, as he had done so many times in the last few days. "They say we should stick to barley and oats and beet-"
"And we saw how well that went. Unless you want the same mess in her cell around dinnertime, I suggest you listen to me."
Estermann sighed. "Trust me. What's the worst that can happen? If she doesn't like the chicken, she won't eat it. Then you can go back to your inoffensive granola crap and I won't say another word."
"How... Just how many more innocent beings are you planning to sacrifice to that Changeling?" Shining Armour asked bitterly.
"Oh cool your jets, Captain. It's a fucking chicken."
Later the same day, the food hatch of Chrysalis' cell opened precisely for dinner time at six.
The Queen, who had decided to lay down on her king-sized mattress for yet another round of tumultuous, unsated rest, in the midst of her mess from earlier that day, perked up expectantly.
Blowing the battery on the string away from her eyes, she spotted a pale, plucked, pump-breasted bird being sent through on a little tray.
Curiously, she eyed the lesser animal, eyeing it up and down, from its scrawny legs to its limp head, and from one naked wing to the other. She quickly noticed it was no longer alive.
She nodded. Then, with a swift, cat-like motion, she was at its side, and immediately sunk her fangs into the plump chicken.
She picked it up, like a baby its comforter, and went back to her bed, collapsing on it once again. She rolled up into a ball, suckling the chicken for all it was worth, and contentedly drifted off into an early, deep sleep.
Spellbound, the turnkey, the stallion officer and the warden followed the scene over the intercom, until Captain Shining turned away with an ill, troubled expression.
"Heb je enig idee hoeveel boeren ik ben langs geweest om die klote kip te kopen?" the turnkey complained to his boss. "Ik ben geen kantoordoos, godverdomme."
The warden kept staring at the screen though. Slowly, a pleased, relieved smirk crept up.
For hypothesis' sake, if Estermann would manage to keep her this pleasant all the time... maybe he could indeed organise a ten-minute smoking break or something.
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Ponies, the biggest batch of racists (or whatever the hell they are) since the Nazis minus the camps......I hope.
No offence was intended to anyone.
5547740
But it's justified, since Chrysalis kinda is literally a Hitler.
5547740 I dont think this is a realistic approach of them. Overexaggerated for sure.
Btw
Queen. Double check the grammar.
5548034 Well... that's what you get when you have your prisons built by the lowest bidder...
5548115 True true. But that's a bit... well I don't think this over-reaction is warranted by the ponies.
5548121 Really?
5548224 Nah, not really.
She actually just knocked off the plaster, but to Estermann it looked like cement.
5548570 Ahhhh, ok.
5548463 Hitler? Nah Hitler did shit because of moronic supremacist ideology. Also... Comparing fictional villains with Hitler... Just dont dude... Dont really.
Chicken has been served.
5548570 I see... any average human being can break plaster with a well-placed kick.
Forgot to mention... every time Love is mentioned, I find myself thinking Chrysalis would get a case of the wet mouth if she ever saw a Life Essence.
blood-wiki.org/images/e/e0/B1_life_essence.gif
5551784 I am not supporting her. But I've been against comparing her to hitler for a long time. She REALLY doesn't sound or do stuff like he does.
Sombra on the other hand...
Yes, he's finally realizing the kind of game he needs to play with her. Almost like pretending to be a double agent, but not quite.
When he said baby steps, we thought," first dead chicken, then dead dogs, then live dogs, then people!"
Keep going! ;)
5564267
Well, there's another flaw I didn't even point out earlier. The United States is not a party to the International Criminal Court. (We were in the Clinton era, but Bush pulled out of it, and Obama never went back onto it). So the United States definitely would not be playing any role in this at all, even with all the other issues aside.
But again, the main issue here is that there is simply no reason at all for the ICC to get involved, and no rhyme or reason as to why Celestia would even want them involved.
5564280 The US forces in this story function as part of the UNEVEG peacekeeping operation in Equestria. When the US soldiers delivered Chrysalis to The Hague, they did so in the name of the UNEVEG and Equestria, not the US government.
5564267 So you're planning an EoE fic? Sweet, I'll look forward to reading it.
If there's anything I can do to help, do not falter to ask.
Okay, what chicken joke should I be making?
"Scootaloo is served"? Nah, too unsafe for foals.
"Goddamnit Leeroy"? No, he'd have to agro Chrysalis before the rest are prepared, and her door is locked.
"Not a chicken, you're a turkey"? Well, she's been going cold turkey without her love for a while.
Oh, now I have it! "How do I get out of this chickensh*t outfit?"
5571407
You think they'd wait for the laws to be solidified.
You make this statement and argument assuming that this is the ratio of changelings to ponies and that I know of how American politics work. I am from Greece. I DON'T KNOW. ((sorry))
Who better to defend you than someone who knows you?
Perhaps... but you mean to tell me that a species that infltrates every aspect of life and knows every aspect of life in order to integrate doesn't have the LEAST bit of knowledge on the subject? If you think about it having a changeling lawyer in this case is as bad as having a human lawyer with experience. Why? Because one knows the species but doesn't know the law, and the other knows the law but doesn't know the species. Perhaps if both cooperated ((as seen here with the human and Chrysalis)) the results would be better.
Please... don't make this argument reason for confrontation. Ok?
5571423
Are you suggesting that they synchronise their laws before signing treaties? While that would be ideal this rarely happens in a timely fashion (if ever). But sign a treaty? With that incentive countries’ legislative bodies will do so tout de suite.¹
The part in red: utterly irrelevant. Consider the same scenario but set in Greece.
The part in green: supremely relevant. While not enough to win this point for you but it is more than enough to put my argument into limbo pending actual population figures… which don’t exist, forcing me into a permanent stalemate on this point. Not. Bad. Not bad at all. (Where’s that “clever girl” image macro when I need it?)
Someone with the first clue about the legal system they’re going to be working in. It’s far easier to get to know somebody than gain years of experience as a lawyer.
You’re assuming they infiltrate every aspect of a pony’s life and know every aspect of a pony’s life. The only canonical example of infiltration so far is Chrysalis herself and she didn’t exactly make more than a token effort to learn how to act like Cadance, let alone something as “major” as, say, who the groom’s sister is or who the Elements of Harmony are. Admittedly, this is a sample size of precisely one but there isn’t anything canonical indicating that changelings would go to the effort necessary to successfully impersonate professionals in highly specialised fields in a situation where that proficiency actually comes into play.²
I really don’t think a changeling lawyer would help. First and foremost she’d simply order it to free her and act even more irrationally than with her current defence counsel when it refuses. On the off‐chance it did obey her I strongly doubt she’ll get a replacement.
All that is just chaff, really, my main point still stands: how exactly do you propose the ICC locate one? Until she met Eastermen she wasn’t co‐operating enough that attempting to contact a changeling lawyer was feasible. Remember: her entire species has gone to ground. You would need Chrysalis to divulge how and where to contact them, and if their going to ground entailed not just hiding but scattering too then it might be impossible.
¹ Believe me, I’m fully aware of just how oxymoronic calling the glacial pace of legislative bodies tout de suite is.
² If they cannot successfully demonstrate the same skill set needed of a lawyer during a high stakes, high profile trial then what makes you think they’re qualified to represent Chrysalis in this one?³
³ Why would a changeling impersonate a lawyer of this calibre? They rarely have any time to spare with loved ones and even lawyers of this calibre aren’t celebrities. Impersonating them for love would be asinine.
5595508
Well not really but one is not exclusive of the other.
I am more like trying to understand. Also I know you were referencing Jurassic Park but for the sake of clarification I am a guy.
Oh sure but I am saying that I guess it's as much trouble knowing the legal system and not knowing the defendant as it is knowing the defendant and not knowing the legal system. Also we're not talking about common changelings who know Chrysalis we are talking about possible lawyer candidates.
I just felt it would be sensible. And you're right I did assume. Again you think it'd be sensible.
Yes but... assuming she doesn't do that? Assuming that said changeling has an ounce of brain then what?
Well I doubt Chrysalis herself would be clueless to finding one.
I do call BS on the "species gone entirely" thing. I doubt it... no matter how "awesome" infltrators they are. I doubt any explanation here will suffice. I know this might be a copout but this is how i "feel".
I also don't think she'd have to divulge infltration secrets to do that. We don't know if they have "hive mind" or "secret messaging methods". Anything is possible after that ridiculous dissappearance of an entire species.
Assuming lawyers don't love their jobs. Also assuming that changelings only feed on love ((see how Chrysalis "fed")).
5598029
In theory, no. It’s rarer to see that in practice, especially when there are signifcant differences. If there aren’t significant differences then moving quickly wouldn’t be an issue. If there are significant differences then expecting them to synchronise their laws without any incentive is illogical.
A changeling lawyer could bring three things to the table a human lawyer could not: knowledge of Chrysalis as a person, knowledge of changelings in general, and knowledge of the Equestrian legal system.¹
Knowledge of Chrysalis as a person pales in significance compared to first‐hand knowledge relevant to the legal system she’s being tried under.
Knowledge of changelings in general can be provided Chrysalis herself.
Finally, knowledge of the Equestrian legal system would be invaluable but it would be far easier and far better to get a pony lawyer added to the defence team than expending lives in an attempt to find some hypothetical changeling lawyer. Sure, a pony lawyer is unlikely put real effort into finding technicalities to get Chrysalis off but all it would take to motivate them to do their job is to tell them that she’ll walk Scot‐free if the court believes her representation wasn’t trying. Admittedly, said hypothetical changeling lawyer would be far more likely to put effort above and beyond the norm into exonerating their Queen than a pony, but that still significantly weakens the strongest argument for getting a changeling lawyer.
I believe that I’ve made a strong case for the uselessness of any hypothetical changeling lawyer. Combine that with my arguments about the difficulty in even obtaining said hypothetical changeling lawyer and I think you’ll agree that while, ideally, she would have both a changeling representative and a human one the absence of the former isn’t anywhere near as big a deal as you initially thought.
Is this a completely unsupported argument for your position or are you stating the rationale for your position and conceding? I think it’s the latter but would like confirmation.
Then it would have the unenviable task of simultaneously adjusting to our legal ecosystem whilst justifying documented war crimes. What’s it going to say that a human lawyer couldn’t, and that a human lawyer couldn’t say better?
The only thing it could possibly do is serve as evidence for the non‐existence of a hive mind. Congratulations, Chrysalis now has access to the same plausible deniability as Adolf Hitler would’ve. Considering the evidence the ICC already has if this were the Nuremburg trials she’d be facing the gallows. Compare the plausible deniability argument to every other argument that could be used in her favour. An insignificant improvement toward plausible deniability versus actual knowledge of precedents regarding every other conceivable defence? I think this is a no‐brainer.
Who cares? If she isn’t willing to tell the ICC how to contact one then the ICC can’t find one.
It’s not that they’re impossible to find, it’s that they’re taking extra precautions and because of this are impossible to peacefully contact.
What do you want the ICC to do? Send a diplomat into the middle of changeling lands and hope he stumbles across a changeling with the authority to bring them back to the hive? Send a diplomat and hope he stumbles across the changeling hive first, with no changeling to vouch for him? Neither of those would work. Any diplomat without a strong enough escort is simply going to disappear. Any diplomat with a strong enough escort isn’t going to get approached by the changelings or, if they stumble across a hive, the hive will be evacuated while a rearguard fights a delaying action.
The next most feasible plan that doesn’t involve Chrysalis’ co‐operation is the brute force approach.²
1. Send enough troops that you are guaranteed to find changelings and their hives.
2. Capture as many as possible.
3. Rinse and repeat until you finally get a qualified lawyer.
She can’t use her magic, remember? Unless said hypothetical hive mind works on some principle other than magic she can’t contact her people on her own. …and if she can, where is her changeling lawyer? Did he get stuck at customs?
Enjoying your job and loving it in a romantic way are two different things. If all they needed to survive was somebody enjoying their job there are far easier ways to feed than impersonating a top tier lawyer, if only for no other reason than simple supply and demand: lawyers are not a significant percentage of the population compared to anything that is easier to impersonate than a lawyer.
If it’s unimportant to their diet then changelings don’t have any justification for their actions beyond “for the lulz”. I’d say something about “not making the changelings cartoonish 2D villains” but…
¹ There is also the possibility of the existence of a changeling legal system but there is nothing to suggest the existence of one, much less knowledge of it having greater relevance than knowledge of the Equestrian legal system.
² Please tell me I don’t need to spell out why the ICC doesn’t have the capability, authority, or political capital necessary to accomplish this.
5598285 I am not answering a single line because apparently you have the idea that I launched an argumentative war against you. If I have ticked you in any way this was not my intention. This is not a race to who is more right nor your chance to become an intellectual showoff. Unless you decide to calm down I am not responding to this comment.
Over and out.
5598344
I’m fully aware that I launched one against you.
I believe you’re being disingenuous here. You may not have intended to enter a debate per se but you certainly wouldn’t have criticised the story if you thought your criticism has no basis in reality. At least I had hoped not, knowingly making baseless criticism is literally trolling.
Is this about the fact I actually bold, italicise, or underline words that I think need a certain emphasis to correctly convey my point? Or the “Congratulations” or the “Who cares?”
“Congratulations” was pure rhetoric. “Who cares?” was downright polite considering the non sequitur it was in reply to.
I think it’s a combination thereof making me seem more hostile to you than intended. A large part of it is simple incredulity; I was literally having difficulty understanding how you came to certain conclusions about the story but I won’t deny there is a tinge of irritation there as well.
My first comment was when I was under the impression that you criticised the story because you had simply failed to think things through.
Your first reply gave me the impression that this wasn’t a case of simply not thinking things through, but that your head‐canon conflicted with the setting and the disconnect meant you couldn’t understand why the story progressed as it did.
My second comment was my attempt to show you why your head‐canon didn’t apply to the story.
Your second reply made some clarifications but it largely consisted of you repeating near verbatim the same arguments from your first reply.
My third comment was under the assumption you thought you had made a convincing argument since you still contended your arguments had validity and/or didn’t even realise your head‐canon conflicted with the setting.
I hedged my bets and replied as if both were true. I now see I shouldn’t have bothered. If you wanted to suggest that the story would’ve been better if X, Y, and Z were so, then fine — everybody has their own preferred head‐canon after all — but your first comment was never about honestly criticising the story or you would either have retracted the portions of it where it was demonstrated you were outright wrong or have acknowledged that you stood by those portions on faith alone since your arguments for them had no substance.
P.S.:
5601162
And this is exactly why I seek to avoid one. I have no mood to cause unnecessary fuss over what I say.
No of course not but there's a difference between entertaining some ideas ((like the changeling lawyer per say)) and actually you seeking to actively disprove it.
In simpler words... you took this more seriously than you should. At least some parts that is... There is a difference between wishful thinking and supporting that wishful thinking with arguments.
Example... A changeling lawyer might present some things on the table that a human cannot but ultimately might lose to knowledge or experience. Some sensible assumptions aside the changelings of this fic don't appear to be infiltrators at all. In fact from the two examples that I have seen actively describing changeling infiltration both are sloppy, reckless, and expose themselves in the end making me assume "How were they even a problem?"
I hate rhetoric. As one that grew in the country that Rhetory was born from I say it's only intellectual showoff. It's one stop lower from populism.
Why did you even use rhetory in the first place? You think it is kindness? Well perhaps it is but in my opinion, and through my experience rhetory has just been dishonest showoff. So I may be to blame for taking it the wrong way but could you tell me why we had to turn so serious and result to rhetory? This if a fanfic... not a worldwide shaking event.
I am Greek. Sometimes I do not understand, or express myself correctly in English. I still have a lot to go in expressing myself as a person too. But the thing is you also jumped to assumptions on me. You took things too seriously and as a personal attack. Was I not the first to say I am not exactly sure, or that I don't know everything?
As I said I do not claim to know how international politics work, and I have not delved into political events that much. I was not debating who is better, at least I knew that there would certainly be problems on the changeling lawyer area. But what I suggested is that there were things to be offered there, things we shouldn't ignore.
How can I say this differently... hmm... Remember how every state has different laws and stuff? What about the laws the changelings have... I mean what do they say about Chrysalis doing all this jazz? This is a curious thing I for one would like to see. I mean wouldn't it be interesting if her own changelings also had laws that went against all this shit?
No I thought I made some sensible assumptions. But as it turns out the changelings of this fic can't infiltrate for shit and are actually very crappy at their jobs ((at least the two examples we are given)), and they actually rely heavily on magical manipulation. Which really serves to break my suspense of disbelief sometimes. But that's not the point... the point is I thought I made logical assumptions, but as it turns out I have to thumbs down the changelings on their infiltrations as overalls. Which earns a thumbs down in that area from me and goes against the nature of the changelings as skilled infiltrators that I think them off.
It doesn't apply... but this story doesn't do any good in representing the changelings correctly and often goes against their elements, and against what they are good at. Sure you might say not all are like that, and that the most successful infiltrations are one none ever knows of, but then comes the question... If infiltration and integration are so good none understands them then shouldn't they know about legal systems? I mean they are involved in transports? Surely they had to justify or forge some documents right? But noooo all it seems here is that these changelings are brute magic using infiltrators... which really serves to make them feel lame to me.
Previous comment quotes:
Which means that the shitty political underlying business which makes Equestria feel like America continues. #IhateWHENequestriaISportrayedASamerica.
You kinda wonder why Esterman or Chrysalis haven't touched that subject yet. We simply know what they do... we do not know reasoning right now. As far as it goes right now for me this is only "for the lulz"
Assuming lives would even need to be expended.
That doesn't make any sense... how is the court even going to let her free because her lawyer wasn't trying? What the bloody hell does Scot-free mean? Whatever this wouldn't happen.
Which is?
It was NEVER a deal! You took it too seriously! I just "WONDERED WHY". Congratulations you have said why, and though I kinda knew why this still doesn't change the fact why none even mentioned of trying in the first place. Of course you might say "they all disappeared" but that leaves me shaking my imaginary masturbatory fist in disbelief of how the bloody hell did a population that could swarm Canterlot in minutes disappear. Another changeling writer that I asked literally said this was an asspull. I simply agree.
Translation. "This might not be the case, but this should be the case. I do not know if it is the case tho and I don't think either case is supported". Until now... as I said above twice already changelings in the fic seem to be crappy infiltrators and break my suspense of disbelief leading me to think "How where they even a problem"?
As far as I know not all lawyers work alone, some have assistants, and even Lyra offers some advice. Don't you think it'd make a considerable difference if all 3 ((human changeling pony)) were in there?
And here is YOUR assumption or as I'd like to say "You take the common fanon for granted" that the Hive Mind((if it exists)) equals one Big Brother propaganda hosted by yours truly Queen Chrysalis.
I don't get it. What the hell does Plausible deniability have to do with anything here?
I don't think anyone or she even would deny what she had done, let alone disprove it. Also she is facing the gallows, at least something like that here. The thing that she would be facing similar stuff in Equestria proves that this fic is biased against the ponies, and that often stretches shit like the effects of the pods. Hell Neo was better off than the ponies surviving are described to be.
Jesus fucking Christ fine calm down! Don't make such a deal about this shit! If it helped her wouldn't she be willing to do it? If it meant somehow having her win some points?
No of course not... They've already done so. *idiots*
Vouch for what exactly?
Oh I see what you mean... well as I said Chrysalis would have to procure a way to send a message... like an email or something. Otherwise things would likely not end up well. I still wonder why they even hide all of them. I mean would it take a lot to have a changeling be invisible or whatever come in come out? Eh... Entertaining this idea but it's not thought out.
*Paranoidly beating a dead horse is paranoid*
Maybe the changelings have detached themselves from her for now, maybe there's a coup, we don't even know how she got captured. Lots of maybes. Let's just hope the story explains... until that point I am deeming the "disappearance of a nation/the changelings" an asspull.
What I mean is that they don't actually have to feed solely on love. I mean... how did Chrysalis even feed for that long? Does she have reserves or something? This has not been explained therefore your assumptions are as wrong as mine on that matter.
Falls under the category above.
Back to this post:
Perhaps I mix argument with wishful or sensible assumptions but then again this isn't exactly a good/realistic story as many would have said. Because I really wonder if Chrysalis got captured, how did the rest escape and still "torment" the land". There are many inconsistencies, breaking of suspense of disbelief, and lots others. I only mostly follow this story for the events, not how it's written. I really don't like how each side is portrayed here.
Do not flatter yourself. This is simply to say that I don't appreciate your rhetory. As I don't appreciate sarcasm and mockery ((not suggesting you did either of those... yet)).
5650970 Huh?
If shining loves chickens so much do NOT let him go near a KFC.
Silly humans. Everyone knows Changelings eat canned pasta products.
And they evolved fangs in order to open the cans.
Aaw boo hoo Shining Armor. Humans eat 60 million chickens.
Per day.
PER DAY.
"And, as the old saying goes; 'We do what we must, because we can'.”
🎵For the good of all of us,
Except the ones who are dead!🎵
10035829
🎵But there's no sense crying over every mistake🎵