Empires of Legends Choices Doc

[Blacksheep]

Arranging the meet up with Konrad was thankfully simple, thanks to the communication crystals. The queen wasn't particularly pleased with meeting outside the heart of her kingdom, but she was intrigued enough by what Swift told her to risk it. Now he just had to bank on things falling through in a way that would please the queen. He flew with her to where they would meet Konrad and rested on the lip of the overhang. Swift was getting hungry at this point. He was better fed than the rest of the hive, but he had been on the same rations as everyone else since he had arrived, which amounted to not enough.

Konrad reached them a touch warily wings flared to let him take off immediately if necessary. Swift jumped down. "Konrad! You made it."

"Hey bud. You're looking hungry." Konrad hugged Swift giving him the chance to feed.

Swift had to hold back some and only take as much as he knew he could without tiring Konrad. "Thanks."

"So it is true. You willingly feed him," the queen marveled.

Konrad looked up at the queen and dipped into a bow. "Your majesty. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I just let him go hungry."

"Friends, hm? Even though you're his food?" The queen tested.

"Doesn't harm me, and he doesn't just feed from me. We hang out, joke, party, fight together. He's not the same as me, but I am a griffon among ponies. I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I judged him for not being the same as the others around here."

"And that is why you accept him? Because you're both different?"

"If I wanted to be among others that were the same I'd just seek out other griffons instead of sticking around Swift," Konrad told her. "I prefer being with him."

The queen nodded. "Well. It seems that this idea of yours isn't hopeless."

Swift grinned. "So we'll send out the changelings and go see the princesses?" Queen Scolopendra nodded. It was settled, they would be going to see the princesses while groups of changelings spread out among the ponies.

 

[Blacksheep]

Swift's plan was coming into focus. He had honestly thought it was a long shot. Better than a war, and he had done his best to balance out the difficulties to give the changelings the best chance possible to succeed. It went against a changelings' instinctual drive to trick and lie to outsiders though, and exposed them to their prey. It was still playing out. The communication crystals that Swift had held close were divided out, seven for team leaders, one for Swift, one for Konrad, and one for the queen. Six teams headed out into Equestria, one continuing to run the hive as a home base. Then it was time, and they traveled towards Solarius, capital of Equestria.

Konrad helped keep the edge of their hunger down. The queen and Swift both fed from him, once every two weeks. It wasn't enough for either of them, not with as powerful as they were, but it was enough to keep back to just an edge of hunger. Konrad had agreed to letting them do this, the queen disguising as Swift and them keeping which was which hidden when they fed. Konrad knew one wasn't Swift, but it was enough of a placebo to let Konrad give the queen what she needed as well. Swift couldn't be more grateful for Konrad. He didn't think he could have pulled this off without his friend helping him.

The forest around Solarius was beautiful. Everything seemed to exist with a kind of harmony Swift didn't quite know how to name. Not like everything was perfectly controlled, more like a symphony of various songs blending into one larger more wonderous piece. There was room for variation in the song even as it added to a larger whole. Solarius itself was even beyond that. The stone and marble forming the houses and streets were far beyond what Swift had seen anywhere on his journeys. He was well traveled, and he felt like a country bumpkin walking down the streets of this place. Even Queen Scolopendra's elegant alicorn disguise seemed a little smaller and less grand in this place. The ponies were all cheerfully happy too, filling the air with enough positivity that Swift could catch snatches from the air without any concern. It was easy. If he had had lesser control he could have easily lost himself consuming as much love as he could in this place.

The ponies were awed by Queen Scolopendra's form. She had designed this disguise to present herself as an equal to the princesses before revealing her true form. She had expected respect and awe, as she got from her hive. The ponies were certainly awed, but there was a feeling that they kept back out of politeness of being strangers, and not because she was above them. The queen stayed close to Swift. It had been a long time since she had left the hive. She was powerful enough that she could easily overwhelm the ponies if they turned against them, and she kept up to date on what her changeling infiltrators needed to know to blend, but it was different in a place like this. It was so far from the places where ponies were still recovering from Discord.

They reached the castle, and the two alicorn princesses stood at the entrance. Word of the arrival of a new alicorn must have spread ahead of the trio. Swift examined the pair. Tall elegant Celestia, with her pale coat and bright pink mane and tail, seeming to glow with the warmth of the sun and beaming down with welcome. Dark sleek Luna, with a lighter mane and tail that peered at them with the sharpness of the night and wariness. It was easy to see why Queen Scolopendra's alicorn disguise had not wrung as strongly. Despite being as long limbed as Celestia and Luna, despite her elegance, she simply didn't ring with the feeling of being more that the princesses carried.

Well, they had made it here. Swift stepped forward to introduce the queen.

[ ]Go for a warm welcoming feel
[ ]Try for shock and awe
[ ]Go for a terrifying feel
[ ]Write-in

 

[Whenyouseeyou]

[x] Go for both shock and awe but warm and welcoming meeting